Monday Prize Crossword/Oct 31
A Crux crossword full of clues that were really on my wavelength. When I showed this puzzle to my PinC (who has never tackled a Crux), she was very impressed by it, adding “a setter who really cares for surfaces”. I couldn’t agree more. Happily, Crux geared up a bit which made that, at least for me, solving this puzzle wasn’t a routine job – the top half being considerably harder than its counterpart. Nice crossword – not too many cryptic definitions [in my opinion, not Crux’s forte], and 24d? … any ideas in defence of Crux are most welcome.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PATENT | A licence is invalid without one |
| PATIENT (invalid) less I (one) | ||
| 4 | HARDSHIP | Suffering, as HMS Bounty must have been |
| Double definition, the second one making clear how tough that particular ship was | ||
| 9 | GIBBET | Large inverted stake was fatal to felons |
| GIB (reversal of BIG (large)) + BET (stake) | ||
| 10 | DOOMSDAY | When the Judge’s decision is final – literally! |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 12 | EYES LEFT | Observers taking over army command |
| EYES (observers) + LEFT (over) | ||
| 13 | ODESSA | Seadogs sozzled? Good to leave port |
| (SEADO[g]S)* , the deleted ‘g’ being ‘Good’ | ||
| 15 | RIAL | Part of Venice surrenders to foreign money |
| RIALTO (part of Venice) less TO | ||
| 16 | GHOSTWRITE | Stand in for the literarily challenged – sounds spooky |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 19 | IMPREGNATE | Soak in permeating fluid |
| (PERMEATING)* | ||
| 20 | OTIS | Boy in love . . .. it’s remarkable . . . |
| O (love) + (IT S)* | ||
| 23 | SUITOR | . . . he woos his girl with diamonds, say, or . . . |
| SUIT (diamonds, say [think card games]) + OR | ||
| 25 | SAPPHIRE | . . . perhaps one fantastic sparkler |
| (PERHAPS + I (one))* | ||
| Even though there is no causal cryptic connection in this double ellipsis, I did like it. The clue in the middle being my favourite (but the last one isn’t bad either). | ||
| 27 | DEALINGS | Business cards undergo them, you might say |
| Double definition, cryptically formulated | ||
| 28 | FINIAL | I come in last and get topmost decoration |
| I inside FINAL (last) | ||
| 29 | STEWARDS | Officials generally set off charges |
| (SET)* + WARDS (charges) | ||
| 30 | STENCH | A number in school smell, to put it mildly |
| TEN ( a number) inside SCH (school) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PIGS EAR | Ill-mannered people are awful – a real mess |
| PIGS (ill-mannered people) + (ARE)* | ||
| I wasn’t familiar with this expression meaning ‘a real mess’, so I went to my friend Wiki to ask for advice. Now, PIG’S EAR seems to be food in various countries: now that’s what I call a real mess ….. | ||
| 2 | TABLE LAMP | It should dispel the gloom on board |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 3 | NEEDLE | Saints avoid unnecessary anger |
| NEEDLESS (unnecessary) minus SS (Saints, being S plus S) | ||
| 5 | AGOG | Excited since putting on little weight |
| AGO (since) + G (little weight (gram)) | ||
| 6 | DUMB DOWN | Silly sort of clue, this, to make things easier |
| DUMB (silly) + DOWN (sort of clue, this) | ||
| 7 | HADES | Where it’s hottest, go topless with sunglasses |
| SHADES (sunglasses) minus the S at the start (topless) | ||
| Great surface, and a definition (‘Where it’s hottest’) that made this for me a hard clue. | ||
| 8 | PAYSAGE | Put money on a kind of green landscape painting |
| PAY (put money) + SAGE ( a kind of green) | ||
| 11 | OFFHAND | Absent worker with a careless manner |
| OFF (absent) + HAND (worker) | ||
| 14 | ASHTRAY | Smelly receptacle is missing around hospital |
| ASTRAY (missing) around H (hospital) | ||
| 17 | INTUITION | In teaching, women are known for it |
| IN + TUITION (teaching) | ||
| My way of teaching is based on structure ánd intuition (though I’m a man). Sometimes I say to male students: ‘now use your female intuition’ … because I think that really works! | ||
| 18 | SEMOLINA | Some nuts left in a pudding |
| (SOME)* + L (left) + IN A | ||
| One of the best clues in this crossword, I thought. | ||
| 19 | INSIDES | Stylish players can show guts |
| IN (stylish) + SIDES (players) | ||
| 21 | STEALTH | By which taxes go up as the last resort? |
| (THE LAST)*, the definition being cryptic | ||
| 22 | SPRINT | Second run off is needed in this race |
| S (second) + PRINT (run off) | ||
| Another fine clue, with ‘run off’ directing the solver the wrong way due to the surface. | ||
| 24 | INANE | Stupid how everyone starts and noone finishes |
| IN AN E | ||
| The idea is great, but this is debatable: ‘everyone’ does nót start IN an E. Luckily, ‘noone’ dóes finish in an E. | ||
| 26 | AGED | Old English penny, covered in silver |
| An English (E) penny (D) is an ED, so an English penny covered in silver (AG) might be an AG ED | ||
28A) I come in last and get topmost decoration (6)
Isn’t this a liberty by the setter? I thought the grammar in the cryptic reading was not correct.
1A) PATIENT (invalid) less I (one) – For PATIENT, the same clue would work with licence and invalid interchanged!
Loved most surfaces except for 30A.
Also thanks for the blog Sil, but I cannot understand the problem in 24D. ‘Everyone’ does start in an E, doesn’t it?
Well, David, for me, it starts “with” an and ends “in” an E.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Indeed, the cryptic grammar in 28ac is not right. We had a few discussions on that recently in the Guardian blogs. But I did not want to flag it up again. “I must come in last to get topmost decoration” would have been a way to solve this.
Thanks Crux for the puzzle and Sil for the blog.
28ac: I agree with the criticism. The time honoured solution of starting “I’ll come” would give a perfectly good surface here.
24dn: I take Sil’s point. I would more naturally say that “everyone” starts with an E. I would call it a blemish, rather than a serious error.
26dn: I think “covered in” is just an indication for “after” in a down clue.