Prize Puzzle from the Monday March 14 FT
This was a treat. If you missed this last week, go back and give it a go (without peeking below, of course). There’s plenty of ingenuity on display here. Standout clues for me were 1 across, 29 across and 4 down.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | PATE DE FOIE GRAS *(A PART OF GEESE I’D) Clue of the Day, right from the start. A wonderful anagram and &lit clue. |
| 10 | APHID hidden in epitAPH I Devised |
| 11 | EAST ENDER *(SEA) + TENDER (green) |
| 12 | BULLDOG dd |
| 13 | SET FREE SET (birds) FREE (on the house) |
| 14 | DONUT DO + N.U.T. (teachers [union]) |
| 16 | EUCHARIST EU (27 countries) CHAR (fish) IST (first) |
| 19 | OBEISANCE *(I CAN BE SO) + E[nglish] |
| 22, 20 | TWELFTH NIGHT cd |
| 25 | EMBASSY S.S. (ship) in *(MAY BE) I enjoy clues in which what appear to be meaningless connector words in fact are, or are part of, the anagram fodder |
| 27 | ENTERTAIN dd |
| 28 | BAIRN *(BRAIN) |
| 29 | LEAVE WELL ALONE d&cd Another very pleasing clue. |
| Down | |
| 2 | ASH-BLONDE *(BALD NO SHE) |
| 3 | ENDED TENDED (looked after) minus T[ime] |
| 4 | EVERGREEN dd Another gem! |
| 5 | OASIS dd |
| 6 | EYESTRAIN EYES (they inspect) TRAIN (school) |
| 7 | RIDER dd |
| 8 | SERPENT [re]SER[ve] (“central reserve”) + PENT (shut up) |
| 9 | BARBED B[ishop] in BARED (revealed) |
| 15 | TASK FORCE ASK FOR (request) in *(ETC) |
| 17 | COETERNAL E[astern] TERN (bird) in COAL (fire-maker) |
| 18 | INGESTION *(ISN’T GONE I) |
| 19 | OUTSELL cd |
| 21 | TRYING dd |
| 23 | EXTRA dd |
| 24 | HEAVE HEAVE[n] (“ecstasy,” almost) |
| 26 | BABEL BE (live) in LAB[our] reversed |
Thank you Agentzero,
as you said, a really good crossword, worth a Gold Medal for the truly stunning 1ac alone.
Another great anagram in 19ac (OBEISANCE), a cheeky device in BRIAN (28ac) and nice wordplay in LEAVE WELL ALONE (29ac).
I liked Crux describing FREE (as part of 13ac) by ‘on the house’, very appropriate within the surface.
2d (ASH-BLONDE) and 18d (INGESTION) were two more favourites.
The only clue I had some trouble with was 19d (OUTSELL).
Thought that it had to be a cd, eventually. But I still don’t fully get it (the second part of the clue, or is there a connection with 18d?). Cd’s are just not always on my radar.
Apart from that, sheer quality.
From a setter who is steadily heading for the Top Ten of (my) favourite setters.
I’d wish more solvers would discover Crux.
I came across the “pate de fois gras” anagram in an old book of apposite anagrams and used it first in the 1980s for a syndicated puzzle. I used it last in 2004 in the Guardian.
See, dear Rufus, I’m not long enough around to know all this.
It puts 1ac in a different light.
Could be, of course, that Crux ‘discovered’ it independently.
Does it affect my admiration for this crossword?
Well, a little bit.
[but don’t feel guilty about that :)]
I just couldn’t get 1a which meant I didn’t have the first letters for 3d,4d,7d&8d which I also couldn’t get.
Agree that 4d is very good as is 12a whcih I also couldn’t get.
Thanks for the blog