Monday Prize Crossword/Apr 2
A Dante puzzle that I completed in two sessions, which probably makes clear that I didn’t find this the easiest of Dantes. Some real gems in this puzzle (1ac, 30ac, 1d – to name a few).
Definitions are underlined and/or referred to in the blog.
| Across | ||
| 1 | HAMLET | Poor actor allowed role beyond his capabilities |
| HAM (poor actor) + LET (allowed) | ||
| Fantastic surface – is this what we call an &Lit? | ||
| 4 | HANDICAP | In which all entrants won’t come up to scratch |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 10 | MINUSCULE | Without a clue perhaps? That’s fine |
| MINUS (without a) + (CLUE)* | ||
| Great clue! | ||
| 11 | SUPER | Police officer’s half-hearted meal |
| SUP[p]ER | ||
| I must admit, I half-heartedly tried ‘dinner’ and ‘copper’ before the penny finally dropped. Doh! | ||
| 12 | SHED | Outhouse made redundant |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | OPPOSITION | Not the government’s workplace |
| OP (work) POSITION (place) | ||
| 15 | CAVE MAN | Club retainer who used to drag his wife along |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Many ‘clubs’ (jazz and pop) were to be found in ‘caves’ (or cellars), especially in the 60s and 70s. Not sure whether that’s still the case in the UK, but in Prague (a city I know quite well) it is. | ||
| 16 | ENLIST | Enrol recruit |
| Double definition | ||
| Double definition? I think this is one of the weaker clues in this crossword. | ||
| 19 | SEVERS | Parts always carried by a seagoing vessel |
| EVER (always) inside SS (a seagoing vessel) | ||
| 21 | FANATIC | In fact a wild enthusiast |
| (IN FACT A)* | ||
| Simple, but oh so neat. | ||
| 23 | DETRACTION | Not a direct form of slander |
| (NOT A DIRECT)* | ||
| 25 | ESAU | He sold his birthright in the sausage factory |
| Hidden solution: [th]E SAU[sage factory] | ||
| I am a convinced a-biblical person, but I knew one called ESAU. If you want the full story, click here . | ||
| 27 | RABBI | Teacher to talk for ages, short of time |
| RABBI[t] | ||
| 28 | HAIRSHIRT | An annoying habit of the conscience-stricken |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 29 | SET MEALS | Fixed menus that could be meatless |
| (MEATLESS)* | ||
| 30 | SELDOM | When models that have lost their shape are employed? |
| (MODELS)* | ||
| Another of these brilliant surfaces (with the longest anagrind I have ever seen). Is this another &Lit? | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | HOMESICK | Missing persons in the family? |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Now this is what I call a Cryptic Definition! | ||
| 2 | MANOEUVRE | Chap getting work in France has to move smartly |
| MAN (chap) + OEUVRE (work in France – French for ‘work’ (as a noun)) | ||
| 3 | EASY | It’s not difficult to name a novel midshipman |
| Double definition | ||
| “Mr. Midshipman Easy” is a 1836 novel by Frederick Marryet, brought to the Big Screen in 1935 (featuring Margaret Lockwood and a young Hughie Green, who later starred as a TV host (remember “Opportunity Knocks”?)). | ||
| 5 | AWESOME | Shocking in respect to certain individuals |
| AWE (respect) + SOME (certain individuals) | ||
| I had to come to terms with the definition (‘shocking’) as it is rather more negative than what AWESOME normally stands for, but it’s OK, I guess. | ||
| 6 | DISCIPLINE | One who follows another about in training |
| DISCIPLE (one who follows another) around IN | ||
| 7 | CAPRI | Grain leaving a tropic island |
| CAPRICORN (a tropic) minus CORN (grain) | ||
| A clue that reminded me of one in a recent Araucaria puzzle (themed around the signs of the Zodiac), in which he used a similar idea. | ||
| 8 | PARENT | Tear after father – or mother |
| RENT (tear) coming after PA (father) | ||
| I decided to take “mother” as the definition, but it could have been “father or mother”. Perhaps, that’s even better, but when I can avoid double duty, I will. So there you are :). | ||
| 9 | JUMP ON | Bound to be working to scold someone vigorously |
| JUMP (bound) + ON (to be working) | ||
| 14 | IMPERATIVE | Essential mood |
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | SATISFIED | Pleased to have met |
| Double definition | ||
| 18 | ACCUSTOM | Sounds like a habit to get used to |
| Homophone of A COSTUME (habit) | ||
| Not sure what the Homophone Police thinks of this one. | ||
| 20 | SATCHEL | Schoolchild’s book case |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| The only word in this puzzle I had never heard of. In hindsight, I cannot see anything cryptic or do I miss something? | ||
| 21 | FLORID | Lord, if drunk, becomes flushed |
| (LORD IF)* | ||
| 22 | ADORES | Loves someone so dear, madly |
| (SO DEAR)* | ||
| Simple, but such a good surface. Make love, not war. | ||
| 24 | TIBET | High place for a bird to live in |
| TIT (a bird) with BE (to live) inside | ||
| 26 | ISLE | Is half left in the water |
| IS + LE[ft] (half left) | ||
| The definition is a bit loose, but still a ‘different’ clue for a familiar solution. | ||
Thanks for the blog, Sil. I agree with you re the gems – but I think 18dn is a homophone of A CUSTOM. 😉
Many thanks. Dante, for a nice puzzle.
Hi Sil, thanks for the blog. My favourite clues were 28, 29 and 30 across. I failed to get 12A as a result of spelling MANOEUVRE wrongly — argh!! And I am with Eileen on 18 down.
Of course, both of you are right about 18d.
Silly me.
I couldn’t say this earlier because I was abroad [which wasn’t abroad in those days when the UK was abroad].
Didn’t do any crossword in the last two weeks, leaving me now with a back catalogue of some 30 interesting challenges ….
Thank you Sil for the blog. This postscript comes even later than yours, and for the same reason.
And thank you to Dante for a great puzzle, sparkling with real gems. See above.
Re 15 across: I thought your linking of ‘club retainer’ to cave de jazz ingenious, but a bit of a stretch. Isn’t it more likely to be a Dantesque reference to the cartoon cliché: stone-age man dragging his wife along by the hair with one hand … holding a club in the other?