Monday Prize Crossword/Nov 5
Monday a week ago, I found Dante’s prize puzzle one of his more difficult crosswords. This time Crux made me work very hard. But let’s face it, what is hard after yesterday’s IO (and Boatman)?
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DOG-COLLAR | What churchmen assume will take the lead (3-6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 6 | TO WIT | Namely, how to move a trailer (2,3) |
| TOW IT (how to move a trailer) | ||
| Very nice. | ||
| 9 | APART | A short celebration on one’s own (5) |
| A + PART[y] (celebration, shortened) | ||
| 10 | ELABORATE | Fancy detail (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 11 | HOSPITABLE | Friendly sort of shop, one with food (10) |
| (SHOP)* + I (one) + TABLE (food) | ||
| Good clue, excellent surface. | ||
| 12 | SKUA | Seabirds return to find another (4) |
| Reversal of AUKS (seabirds) | ||
| 14 | STALLED | Not running, like horses in the stable (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| I would guess, both definitions here have the same origin. If so, not my CoD. | ||
| 15 | TWINGED | Part of chicken swallowed by boy caused slight pain (7) |
| WING (part of chicken) inside TED (boy) | ||
| 17 | OPENERS | Two bats in demand at picnics (7) |
| Double/Cryptic definition | ||
| My last entry. Although I was very sure about the solution, I couldn’t fully parse it. Now I can. ‘Bats’ are batsmen, openers in cricket of which there are two (am I right?).And when picnicking one needs bottle-openers as well as tin-openers. | ||
| 19 | CARAFES | Transport may be safe with these glass bottles (7) |
| CAR (transport) + (SAFE)* | ||
| 20 | EROS | God who’s angry when rejected (4) |
| Reversal of SORE (angry) | ||
| 22 | PICTURE HAT | Imagine that! Going topless in fancy headgear (7,3) |
| PICTURE (imagine) + [t]HAT | ||
| 25 | ALTIMETER | Pilot’s instrument change takes time (9) |
| ALTER (change) around TIME | ||
| 26 | AGREE | Not quite a colour match (5) |
| A + GREE[n] (colour, not quite) | ||
| 27 | LASSO | Western cowcatcher, possibly (5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| A poor cd, or is just me? | ||
| 28 | UNEASIEST | A foreign asset maybe gets one extremely nervous (9) |
| UNE (a, in French ie foreign) + {(ASSET)* around I (one)} | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DEATH | Curtains in short supply, lacking rayon primarily (5) |
| DEARTH (short supply) minus R[ayon] | ||
| 2 | GLASS CASE | Good girl on trial that’s just for show (5,4) |
| G (good) + LASS (girl) + CASE (trial) | ||
| 3 | OUTFIELDER | Man on boundary with rifle, due to get replacement (10) |
| (RIFLE DUE TO)* | ||
| 4 | LEEWARD | General hospital area away from the weather (7) |
| LEE (General) + WARD (hospital area) | ||
| 5 | REALLOT | Absolute fortune to share out again (7) |
| REAL (absolute) + LOT (fortune) | ||
| 6 | THOU | Subject once paired with art (4) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| ‘Thou’ is the subject in a sentence containing ‘Thou art’. It took me a while to find the answer, but I think it is a very nice clue. | ||
| 7 | WHACK | Wife cut one’s share (5) |
| W (wife) + HACK (cut) | ||
| 8 | THEM AND US | Tribal divisions, basically (4,3,2) |
| Cryptic definition, perhaps | ||
| Another cd that I think is poor – or is there more to it? | ||
| 13 | LIBRARIANS | Blair clashes with Iran’s bookkeepers (10) |
| (BLAIR + IRAN’S)* | ||
| Nice surface. | ||
| 14 | STONEWALL | Stand firm, partly thanks to new alliance (9) |
| Hidden solution: [thank]S TO NEW ALL[iance] | ||
| It took me some time to discover that this was a hidden. Quite a good clue. | ||
| 16 | GIFT HORSE | Inadvisable subject for oral examination (4,5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| See Eileen’s comment @1 for an explanation. | ||
| 18 | SHIATSU | It has us squirming, this massage (7) |
| (IT HAS US)* | ||
| 19 | COTERIE | Esoteric organisation? Certainly, second left (7) |
| Anagram of ESOTERIC minus S (seconds) | ||
| Bit strange that ‘Certainly’ which emphasises the definition, is placed before a part of the construction. | ||
| 21 | OATHS | Promises of loyalty host makes at regular intervals (5) |
| [l]O[y]A[l]T[y] H[o]S[t] | ||
| I found this a bit strange too. I think the clue should without “of” from a cryptic POV. And if you want to keep it (for the surface) “makes” is a bit odd, isn’t it? | ||
| 23 | THEFT | Newspaper article leads with crime (5) |
| FT (newspaper) with THE (article) coming first | ||
| 24 | AMMO | Abridged contents of magazine (4) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Ammo is short for ammunition which may be found in the magazine of a gun. | ||
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