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 | ||
Comments are closed.