Monday Prize Crossword/Nov 19
Good to see, once more, another setter than Rufus or Crux on a Monday. Armonie’s puzzles for the FT usually appear on a Tuesday (as do the crosswords by his alter ego Chifonie in the Guardian). Armonie mainly sticks to familiar devices and never crosses the line [meaning, doing something that might be seen as devious]. Meanwhile, the clueing is immaculate (although, this time I had some doubts about 9d (and its successor) – my PinC hadn’t) and full of smooth surfaces. It’s a skill, setting crosswords, isn’t it? The crossword can be found here .
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | COCKLE | Charlie King tucked into greens and shellfish (6) |
| {C (Charlie) + K (King)} inside COLE (greens) | ||
| 4 | STRAINER | Son’s shoe found in the kitchen (8) |
| S (son) + TRAINER (shoe) | ||
| 10 | LATECOMER | Meet Carol unexpectedly – she doesn’t appear on time (9) |
| (MEET CAROL)* | ||
| 11 | CADDY | Box for hoarding old copper in Cyprus (5) |
| {AD (hoarding, as a noun, meaning ‘billboard’) + D (old copper, short for ‘denarius, a penny (before 1971))} inside CY (Cyprus) | ||
| To be honest, it took me a while to get the AD bit. Coincidentally, last Monday …… | ||
| 12 | METZ | Came across Zionist leader in France (4) |
| MET (came across) + Z[ionist] | ||
| 13 | CONSIDERED | Thought to be against partiality of the left (10) |
| CON (against) + SIDE (partiality) + RED (of the left) | ||
| 15 | TRIBUTE | Commendation for US state beset by ethnic group (7) |
| UT (US state, Utah) inside TRIBE (ethnic group) | ||
| 16 | SENECA | Dramatist rewrites a scene (6) |
| (A SCENE)* | ||
| 19 | TEA SET | Ridicule tons of tableware (3,3) |
| TEASE (ridicule) + T (tons) | ||
| 21 | TRAPEZE | Capture Zulu in east European bar (7) |
| TRAP (capture) + {Z (Zulu) inside E (east) E (European)} | ||
| 23 | CROSSHATCH | Ford’s access door provides shade (10) |
| CROSS (ford) + HATCH (access door) | ||
| 25 | EMMA | Girl takes part in requiem mass (4) |
| Hidden solution: [requi]EM MA[ss] | ||
| 27 | MELEE | First person to find fish’s turned creates rumpus (5) |
| ME (first person) + LEE (reversal of EEL (fish)) | ||
| 28 | FELONIOUS | Foul noise disturbed criminal (9) |
| (FOUL NOISE)* | ||
| 29 | NOT AT ALL | A heavyweight, taken aback, gets high? Don’t mention it! (3,2,3) |
| NOT A (reversal of A TON (a heavyweight)) + TALL (high) | ||
| 30 | REWARD | Embarrassed about fighting for prize (6) |
| RED (embarrassed) around WAR (fighting) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | CALAMITY | US state accord is a disaster (8) |
| CAL (US state, California) + AMITY (accord) | ||
| 2 | CUT IT FINE | Allow little time to cook fettucini (3,2,4) |
| (FETTUCINI)* | ||
| 3 | LUCK | German composer is short of good fortune (4) |
| GLUCK (German composer, Christoff Williband – famous for Orfeo ed Euridice, and the aria forever linked with Kathleen Ferrier: Che faro senza Euridice) minus G (good) | ||
| 5 | THRUSTS | Hopes to keep husband in forces (7) |
| TRUSTS (hopes) around H (husband) | ||
| 6 | ACCIDENTAL | Sign for a note? That’s unexpected! (10) |
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | NADIR | Free from an upset when at rock bottom (5) |
| Reversal of {RID (free from) + AN} | ||
| 8 | RIYADH | Ray hid out in the capital (6) |
| (RAY HID)* | ||
| My first entry, and – as always – I‘d forgotten how to spell the word …. | ||
| 9 | IMPOSE | Take advantage of ‘obgoblin’s stockings (6) |
| IMP (hobgoblin) + [h]OSE (stockings, in the Cockney way) | ||
| I am not completely happy with this clue, but as I said before, my PinC is. Curious to hear from others! | ||
| 14 | SUBSISTENT | Loans ‘is shelter when managing to survive (10) |
| SUBS (loans) + IS + TENT (shelter) – perhaps some like the apostrophe-s here (in connection with the previous clue) but unfortunately it doesn’t work for me. | ||
| 17 | CREAM SODA | Drink a great deal during musical finale (5,4) |
| REAMS (a great deal) inside CODA (musical finale) | ||
| 18 | RELAPSED | Weakened queen slipped away (8) |
| R (queen) + ELAPSED (slipped away) | ||
| 20 | TEARFUL | Weepy toddler initially getting reprimand (7) |
| T[oddler] + EARFUL (reprimand) | ||
| 21 | TACKLE | Food the French block (6) |
| TACK (food) + LE (the, in French) | ||
| 22 | ACUMEN | Wit of copper getting in the last word (6) |
| CU (copper) inside AMEN (the last word) | ||
| 24 | OWLET | Bird giving cry of pain suffered (5) |
| OW (cry of pain) + LET (suffered) | ||
| 26 | ONCE | Individual caught cold in days gone by (4) |
| ONE (individual) around C (cold) | ||
Bogged down in Tyneside where I couldn’t get 4a,13a, 5d & 6d.
I’ve stared at “Sign for a note” and can’t see how it equals “accidental” -kindly enlighten me, please.
Bamberger, I admit, I had to dive into dictionaries to justify the other meaning of “accidental”, but it can be “a sign indicating a momentary departure from the key signature by raising or lowering a note” (in Music)[as the Oxford Dictionary tells me].