Monday Prize Crossword/Sep 3
Sometimes it’s D-Day (i.e. Dante), sometimes it’s C-Day. C stands for Crux, a setter with a love for good surfaces. This particular puzzle which can be found here , was one that I experienced as considerably harder than usual. Perhaps, it was just me (I had even trouble to finish that week’s Everyman). Even though I had the answers, I couldn’t fully explain 16ac and 7d. Luckily I had the opportunity (Anax’s birthday bash) to ask the almighty [yes, right in front of me, I saw him solving a Nimrod puzzle within about 20 minutes!] Andy Wallace to help me. And there’s one clue (19d) that I probably did understand when solving the crossword, but cannot parse anymore. Ah well, we all get older and we know what that can do to the brain and/or one’s memory ……. 🙂
Definitions are underlined wherever possible or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | INVERTED COMMAS | Quotes that limit what people say |
| Cryptic definition, punning on two meanings of ‘quotes’ | ||
| 10 | ELUDE | Escape final Japanese offensive, we’re told |
| [japanes]E + LUDE (homophone of LEWD (offensive)) | ||
| 11 | ILL AT EASE | Uncomfortable being sick – relax! |
| ILL (sick) + AT EASE (relax) | ||
| I am not sure what to do with AT in this clue. Is it part of ‘relax!’ (as an exclamation)? Or is ILL positioned ‘at’ EASE? | ||
| 12 | OPENS UP | Frank takes to drink and talks freely |
| OPEN (frank) + SUP (to drink) | ||
| 13 | INFUSED | Find out about employment, as the tea maker did |
| (FIND)* around USE (employment) | ||
| 14 | LATTE | Flat terrace needed for coffee production |
| Hidden solution: [f]LAT TE[rrace] | ||
| 16 | PUBLISHER | Man with many titles damned by a duke |
| Double cryptic definition
The ‘titles’ are ‘books’ here, while the second part of the clue refers to the Duke of Wellington saying “Publish and be damned” when in 1824 a publisher wanted to tell the world about the Duke’s liaisons with Harriette Wilson. Now, it looks that I know all this, but that’s not the case. In fact it was only after Andy Wallace advised me to google ‘publisher’ & ‘damned by a duke’ that this came up. |
||
| 19 | POSSESSED | Owned property that’s haunted |
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | EARTH | Fireside’s not hot where we live |
| HEARTH (fireside) minus H (hot) | ||
| Crux doesn’t tell us which of the two Hs to remove and I think he should have (as leaving out the second H also gives a existing word) | ||
| 22 | ROBOTIC | Do nothing with jerky movement, unlike such dancers |
| ROB (do) + O (nothing) + TIC (jerky movement) | ||
| 25 | ELAPSES | Passes English with mistakes |
| E (English) + LAPSES (mistakes) | ||
| 27 | INNERMOST | Deepest swimming monster gets in first |
| (MONSTER)* with IN placed in front of it, signposted by ‘first’ | ||
| 28 | DROOL | Dogs may when master returns bearing duck |
| DROL (reversal of LORD (master)) around O (duck, meaning: nothing) | ||
| 29 | DOUBLE BREASTED | Style of blazers debaters exchange after a match |
| (DEBATERS)* positioned after DOUBLE (a match, for example in tennis) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | NAUSEATES | A US Senate review causes disgust |
| (A US SENATE)* | ||
| 3 | EVENS | Makes equal sides with the French eliminated |
| ELEVENS (sides, meaning: teams) without LE (the, in French) | ||
| 4 | TAILPIPES | Dog whistles seen at back of car |
| TAIL (dog, as a verb) + PIPES (whistles) | ||
| 5 | DELHI | A capital city possibly held one |
| (HELD)* around I (one) | ||
| 6 | OUT-OF-TIME | How item might be made too late |
| Reversed anagram: the word ITEM might be made ‘out of TIME’ | ||
| 7 | MEANS | Indicates an unpopular test |
| Double definition | ||
| I wasn’t familiar with ‘means test’ which appears to be an inquiry into the financial position of someone applying for financial aid. But Andy Wallace was, so – again – thanks mate! | ||
| 8 | SLENDER | Fine associated with 7 suggests modest income |
| In combination with ‘7’ (means) one gets ‘slender means’ which suggests modest income | ||
| 9 | RECOIL | Kick start |
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | ELECTORAL | Prospective test concerning voters |
| ELECT (prospective) + ORAL (test) | ||
| 17 | BED-SETTEE | Saint lets in tailless dog to sleep on this? |
| BEDE (Saint, English monk and scholar (672-735)) around SETTE[r] (example of a dog minus the last letter (tailless)) | ||
| 18 | HOROSCOPE | A prediction of dreadful things we’re told to manage |
| HOROS (homophone of HORRORS (dreadful things)) + COPE (to manage) | ||
| 19 | PARTIED | Had a good time and left, reportedly |
| This must be a homophone of something, but I cannot see of what. As I didn’t make a note re this clue, I must have understood how it worked a week ago. Today, I am in for some help though! | ||
| 21 | HASSLE | He admits Wally left to cause trouble |
| HE around {ASS (wally, a stupid person – lower case!) + L (left)} | ||
| 23 | BANTU | South African boycott starts to turn ugly |
| BAN (boycott) + T[urn] U[gly] | ||
| 24 | COOMB | Disheartened pack chase bird call into valley |
| MB (MOB (pack) without its heart) coming after COO (bird call) | ||
| 26 | AIDES | Helpful officers die as ordered! |
| (DIE AS)* | ||
Hi Sil surely 19d is just “parted”
Yes, flash, but that doesn’t really sound like ‘partied’, does it?
Notorious things homophones Sil as we know…
Thanks Sil and Crux.
PARTIED was the last one in, as like you, I had doubts about the dodgy homophone.
For 11a ILL AT EASE, I took “at ease” = relax, as in the parade ground command (shortened from “stand at ease”), the exclamation mark indicating it’s shouted more often than not.
Many thanks Sil and Crux and particularly for introducing me to Harriette Wilson.
Having had a sheltered upbringing, your revelations caused me to faint.
Luckily, Larry my butler had some smelling salts handy or who knows what would have happened?
19d Surely partied is pronounced par teed (as in golf ball) and parted is pronounced par (as in golf) and ted as in Ted Heath?
How can they be the same?