Monday Prize Crossword/Jul 9
It’s a well-known fact that Monday Prize Crosswords can be found at the easier end of the spectrum. This Falcon puzzle was no exception, but I hasten to say that it is quite a gift to write crosswords that are so smooth and elegant as this setter does on this particular level.
At least once a month in the FT, week in week out at another place as Everyman. I liked this puzzle very much and was delighted to be fooled by the German opera at 5d.
Definitions are underlined wherever appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | ANCHOR | TV presenter may get a new job shortly |
| A + N (new) + CHOR (job shortly, ie CHORE minus the final E) | ||
| 4 | OMISSION | Neglect old religious settlement |
| O (old) + MISSION (religious settlement) | ||
| 9 | CABLE | Message a bishop left inside church |
| {A + B (bishop) + L (left)} inside CE (church) | ||
| 10 | MARMALADE | Spoil mother and son with English jam |
| MAR (spoil) + MA (mother) + LAD (son) + E (English) | ||
| 11 | PALADIN | Peer, the French duke, in agony |
| {LA (the, in French) + D (duke)} inside PAIN (agony) | ||
| To avoid duplication with the previous clue, Falcon turned this LAD into a ‘the French duke’. | ||
| 12 | INITIAL | First home, one with tail wagging |
| IN (home) + I (one) + (TAIL)* | ||
| 13 | NOEL | Christmas verse taken from book |
| V (verse) taken away from NOVEL (book) | ||
| 14 | AFTER ALL | Last, in spite of everything |
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | OUTWEIGH | Exceed available balance |
| OUT (available) + WEIGH (balance) | ||
| ‘Available’ like in ‘the book’s out now’. | ||
| 19 | NOAH | Japanese drama about a Hebrew patriarch |
| NOH (Japanese drama) around A | ||
| Initially, I was pretty sure that the Japanese drama was NO and that H stood for Hebrew, but that left me with not understanding ‘about’. Then I found out that NOH was an alternative spelling for NO (and also, that NOAH was a Hebrew patriarch (of course, I’ve heard of Noah (recently in connection with The Whales), but I’m a atheist, ya know …. 🙂 ) | ||
| 22 | ON BOARD | Riding with us |
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | ARTISAN | Smith supporter? Not initially |
| PARTISAN (supporter) minus the P at the start | ||
| 25 | COURT CARD | Curry favour with eccentric king, perhaps |
| COURT (curry favour) + CARD (eccentric) | ||
| 26 | KNAVE | Unscrupulous fellow, 25, maybe |
| Double definition (25 referring to the previous clue) | ||
| 27 | MANDRAKE | Male duck exposes poisonous plant |
| MAN (male) + DRAKE (duck) | ||
| A drake is actually a ‘male duck’. And while MANDRAKE perhaps is poisonous, Mrs Chambers tells us that it’s “thought to have magical powers” and that its root was “formerly used to make sleep-inducing drugs”. So, perhaps a bit harsh on MANDRAKE? 🙂 | ||
| 28 | TROPHY | Left back extremely happy to get cup |
| TROP (reversal of PORT (left)) + H[app]Y | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | AL CAPONE | Gangster, unaccompanied, pinching crown |
| ALONE (unaccompanied) around CAP (crown) | ||
| 2 | CABALLERO | Spanish gentleman’s unusual role in support of secret plot |
| CABAL (secret plot) + (ROLE)* | ||
| 3 | OVERDO | Exaggerate concerning party |
| OVER (concerning) + DO (party) | ||
| 5 | MERRIE ENGLAND | Lame rendering, unfortunately, of a German opera |
| (LAME RENDERING)* | ||
| I think, this was very clever. I know a bit about music, so I thought turning ‘lame rendering’ into a German opera shouldn’t be too hard. Well, boys and girls, I had to google. The German here was no German at all – he was the English, perhaps Welsh, composer Edward German (1862-1936) . | ||
| 6 | STAMINA | Sustained energy at mains somehow |
| (AT MAINS)* | ||
| 7 | IMARI | Damage inside two Roman pieces of porcelain |
| MAR (damage) inside II (two, in Roman numerals) | ||
| Just a bit of a pity that Falcon used MAR again here, the first time being in the crossing MARMALADE (10ac). | ||
| 8 | NEEDLE | Pointer in joint with no lead, led off |
| NEE (joint with no lead, ie KNEE minus the K at the start) + (LED)* | ||
| 10 | MANSFIELD PARK | Guy’s line, connected with mean king, is novel |
| MAN’S (guy’s) + FIELD (line) + PAR (mean) + K (king) | ||
| 15 | LOOK SHARP | Be quick to appear keen |
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | CHANCERY | Dishonest opportunist, nobleman leaving county court |
| CHANCER (dishonest opportunist) + [count]Y | ||
| 18 | TRACTOR | Tower in area of land ahead of soldiers |
| TRACT (area of land) + OR (soldiers) | ||
| The ‘tower’ here is ‘something that tows’. | ||
| 20 | DOTCOM | Internet trader’s fortune probed by elevated court |
| Reversal of CT (court) inside DOOM (fortune) | ||
| Not sure whether every ‘dotcom’ is a trader, also not sure whether ‘fortune’ is always doom – but it’s all right. | ||
| 21 | STOKER | Author, one adding fuel to the fire? |
| Double definition | ||
| The author being Bram Stoker of Dracula fame. | ||
| 23 | BRUIN | Name for a bear, black one in stream |
| B (black) + {I (one) inside RUN (stream)} | ||
| BRUIN is in fact a Dutch word meaning ‘brown’. In Holland ‘Bruintje Beer’ (little brown bear) is the name of the cartoon character known to the rest of the world as Rupert Bear. | ||
Thanks for the blog, Sil.
We found this an entertaining Monday lunchtime solve, although IMARI & MERRIE ENGLAND were outside our general knowledge.
Good of you to place a link to the crossword pdf in your itntroduction, by the way. Thank you.
I couldn’t get 25a and therefore I couldn’t get 26a.
Not having 20d -I was convinced it was e something or other- was one reason why I couldn’t get 25a
Also failed on 18d where I was looking for a tall building but wouldn’t have got tract either.
I have done easier FT crosswords than this one.
Thanks for the comments.
Richard, when I started blogging just over a year ago, I was aware of the big time span between publication and blog.
I thought, why not include a link to the puzzle in the first part of my preamble (of course, without giving anything away) to give solvers the opportunity to tackle the puzzle as if it were a daily before looking at the rest of the blog.
You are the first person to say something about this, which is much appreciated.
I surprised no one else has commented on the appearance of repeat answers (clued similarly) in consecutive FT puzzles.
14ac: In FT 14,052, Jason clued AFTER ALL as “Last in spite of expectations.”
27ac: In FT 14,050, Mudd clued MANDRAKE as “Two males discovering plant.” What’s more, the answer appeared in the same location in each grid (bottom left corner).
Isn’t it the editors’ job to try to avoid such repetition?
Interesting point, Keeper.
Normally I would have done the puzzles you mentioned, but as I was abroad I restricted myself to the crossword I had to blog.
Personally, I cannot be bothered too much as long as it doesn’t happen too frequently and as long as the clues are not too similar.
But just last week we had another duplication as Styx and Falcon both clued BLUDGEON, on two consecutive days.
And coincidentally, in this week’s Guardian blogs there was a similar discussion due to the fact that both Qaos and Tramp made clear that they had to re-write one of their clues for this reason.
“Isn’t it the editors’ job to try to avoid such repetition?”
Good question, don’t know the answer yet.
Editors could also try to change the order of publication of cryptics with duplications. At least, in that case, the setter’s brainchild wouldn’t be affected – which for me, personally, is more important than the negative effects i.e. a solver saying “oh, I’ve seen that one before”.