Monday Prize Crossword/Apr 16
Quite a surprise to see a Falcon crossword on a Monday (instead of the expected Dante who, for once, took the Tuesday spot that week), but this neatly clued puzzle was certainly very welcome. Some fine cluing from the FT’s Everyman – not very hard, but elegant and effortless as ever [which I consider to be something positive].
Definitions are underlined wherever appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SCHILLER | Dramatist, first to stage terrifying work |
| S[tage] + CHILLER (terrifying work) | ||
| Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805), German dramatist whose “Ode to Joy” became part of Beethoven’s Ninth. | ||
| 5 | AS WELL | A grand in addition |
| A + SWELL (grand, as an adjective) | ||
| 9 | PANORAMA | Girl blocking parents’ view |
| NORMA inside PA/MA (parents) | ||
| 10 | JARGON | Slang used in joint? An element |
| J (joint) + ARGON (an element) | ||
| I wasn’t familiar with J for ‘joint’, but Chambers tells us that we should think of drugs (marijuana). | ||
| 12 | RUSTY | Honest, leader’s gone out of practice |
| TRUSTY (honest) minus T (its leader, ie first letter) | ||
| 13 | SAGE DERBY | Grand in bread? Yes, processed cheese |
| G (grand) inside (BREAD YES)* | ||
| 14 | LOVAGE | Adore eating a good salad plant |
| LOVE (adore) around A G (good) | ||
| 16 | SCORPIO | Sign of arachnid without sting? |
| SCORPION (arachnid) minus N | ||
| The sting is in the tail, they say, and certainly when talking about a scorpion. Therefore we must remove the tail (ie the last letter) of ‘scorpion’. Not sure whether it will satisfy the purists, but there is a question mark at the end. | ||
| 19 | BANKING | Forbid piece of financial activity |
| BAN (forbid) + KING (piece, in chess) | ||
| 21 | CANNON | What sounds like a standard piece of artillery? |
| Homophone of CANON (a standard) | ||
| 23 | VINGT-ET-UN | Five in tug and ten adrift in pontoon |
| V (five) + IN + (TUG + TEN)* | ||
| Pontoon is a card game, with winning 21 points as its object. VINGT-ET-UN is French for ‘21’. | ||
| 25 | LEAVE | Permission to go |
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | AVANTI | Film vehicle entering at one |
| VAN (vehicle) inside AT I (one) | ||
| In 1972 there was a Billy Wilder film called “Avanti!” – with an exclamation mark (but in Crosswordland we ignore punctuation). | ||
| 27 | DIMINISH | Shrink taking car round course? Just the opposite |
| DISH (course) round MINI (car), instead of the other way around | ||
| 28 | LEADEN | Dull, field study |
| LEA (field) + DEN (study) | ||
| Simple as it is, I like neat clues like this. | ||
| 29 | CARDINAL | One, perhaps, of fundamental importance |
| Double definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SUPERB | Excellent salesman aboard vehicle going north |
| Reversal of: REP (salesman) inside BUS (vehicle) | ||
| 2 | HANDS DOWN | Factory workers getting depressed easily |
| HANDS (factory workers) + DOWN (depressed) | ||
| 3 | LORDY | Expression of surprise from peer close to Hattersley |
| LORD (peer) + [Hattersle]Y | ||
| 4 | EN MASSE | All together in new manse on outskirts of Scone |
| (MANSE)* + S[cone]E | ||
| 6 | STAND DOWN | Resign from partnership losing money |
| STAND (partnership) + DOWN (losing money) | ||
| ‘Stand’ meaning ‘partnership’ was new to me. But as it is about cricket, one cannot blame me! The second part of the clue doesn’t fully convince me – I see the economical link, but still. | ||
| 7 | EAGER | Keenly interested in lacrosse, a German |
| Hidden solution: [lacross]E A GER[man] | ||
| 8 | LINDY HOP | Don & Phil excited about end of May dance |
| (DON + PHIL)* around [Ma]Y | ||
| A very nice clue, but the (amateur) setter in me thinks there is a missed opportunity here as Everly also ends in a Y. By the way, this particular dance (from the Roaring Twenties) was named after the aviator Charles Lindbergh. | ||
| 11 | AGES | Carries on ignoring wife for a long time |
| WAGES (carries on) minus W (wife) | ||
| 15 | ARISTOTLE | Emerge carrying dram left for philosopher |
| ARISE (emerge) around {TOT (dram) + L (left)} | ||
| 17 | PROBATION | Trial period for cricketer joining one cricket side |
| PRO (for) + BAT (cricketer) + I (one) + ON (cricket side) | ||
| 18 | ABOVE ALL | What Everest is especially? |
| Two definitions, the first one being Cryptic | ||
| 20 | GATE | Exit from building, a terminal |
| Hidden solution: [buildin]G A TE[rminal] | ||
| 21 | CANTINA | Insincere talk in a bar |
| CANT (insincere talk) + IN A | ||
| 22 | BETHEL | Bachelor girl in church |
| B (bachelor) + ETHEL (girl) | ||
| 24 | NYALA | Name a song about an antelope |
| N (name) + YALA (reversal of A LAY (a song)) | ||
| 25 | LAIRD | Landowner set out to cross river |
| LAID (set out) around R (river) | ||
Far harder than most Everyman crosswords for me.
Couldn’t get
21d I’m afraid I still don’t see why insincere talk =cant.If you can’t do something what is the connection with insincere talk?
29a
22d I have never heard of this
24d Ditto
28a
Thanks for the answers
Well, Wanderer, in real life I do not come across bethels and nyalas that often myself, but they have their place in Crosswordland.
As to CANT (21d), as a noun, Chambers gives us as Definition #1:
“A hypocritical, affected or perfunctory style of speech or thought”. So I think, “insincere talk” is OK.
Sorry to see you found it (unlike me) hard.