Monday Prize Crossword/Feb 11
A friendly starter of the week (a week ago, that is), one that can be found here. Not much to groan or moan about, although I realise that at another place, nowadays, this crossword might perhaps be dismissed as one not worth paying the price of the newspaper. Well, I guess Dante’s criticasters do not buy the FT anyway. But then, do I? Um …. 🙂
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DEPORT | Turn out a bad citizen, perhaps (6) |
| Cryptic definition, I guess? Bit macabre, to my taste. | ||
| 4 | ENDANGER | Peace-making counsel is put at risk (8) |
| An advice (‘counsel’) to make peace could be: END ANGER | ||
| 10 | SCRATCHED | Scored, but taken from the field (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 11 | TANGO | Colour and leave the dance (5) |
| TAN (colour) + GO (leave) | ||
| 12 | RAFT | Craft lacking a prow? (4) |
| CRAFT minus its initial letter (its ‘prow’) producing another ‘craft’ | ||
| 13 | CONSUMMATE | Study maths problem with friend, find total (10) |
| CON (study) + SUM (maths problem) + MATE (friend) | ||
| 15 | CULPRIT | A responsible person (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 16 | SAT-NAV | Took a seat on returning vehicle – one way to get home? (3-3) |
| SAT (took a seat) + NAV (reversal of VAN (vehicle)) | ||
| 19 | LOCKER | Cupboard key (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | CANOPUS | Star able to work (7) |
| CAN (able (to)) + OPUS (work) | ||
| Shouldn’t it be “is able to”? Canopus is the second-brightest star in the sky. | ||
| 23 | ASTONISHED | A dishonest organisation leaves one dumbfounded (10) |
| (A DISHONEST)* | ||
| 25 | VISA | Pole enters by way of travel authority (4) |
| S (pole, South) inside VIA (by way of) | ||
| 27 | CAIRO | Company about to declare capital (5) |
| CO (company) around AIR ((to) declare) | ||
| 28 | DEPOSITED | Banked left (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 29 | REFUNDED | Put more money in, or gave some back (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 30 | RANDOM | Fire at it and you’ll probably miss (6) |
| When you ‘fire at RANDOM’, you will probably miss the target | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DISTRICT | I’d set up rigidly defined area (8) |
| DI (reversal of I’D) + STRICT (rigidly defined) | ||
| 2 | PORTFOLIO | Opt for oil production as responsibility of minister (9) |
| (OPT FOR OIL)* | ||
| 3 | RATE | Value mid-afternoon tea-break (4) |
| [afte]R[noon] + (TEA)* | ||
| 5 | NUDISTS | They are not suited for camp life (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 6 | AUTOMATONS | They act unthinkingly, placing plant needing warmth in a sickly sun (10) |
| TOMATO (plant) inside {A + (SUN)*} | ||
| 7 | GENOA | Sail from Italian port (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | RHODES | Island’s anchorage in the sound (6) |
| Homophone of ROADS (anchorage) with a very appropriate indicator (sound = inlet/bay) | ||
| 9 | THROAT | It’s hard to say if you’ve got a bad one (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 14 | BROKEN DOWN | Cracked up, oddly enough (6,4) |
| Straightforward definition plus an allusion to the fact that one is ‘up’ and the other is ‘down’ | ||
| 17 | APPOINTED | Taken on and taken off without reason (9) |
| APED (taken off) around POINT (reason, as in “What’s the point?”) | ||
| 18 | ASWAN DAM | Mother chases a bird on the Nile (5,3) |
| A SWAN (bird) + DAM (mother), the definition being a bit loose as it is “something” that can be found on the Nile | ||
| 20 | RESIDUE | New rise to be paid now? Remains to be seen (7) |
| (RISE)* + DUE (to be paid now) | ||
| 21 | CHEEPS | The sound of free speech (6) |
| (SPEECH)* | ||
| 22 | SAUCER | Dressing right for part of the service (6) |
| SAUCE (dressing) + R (right) | ||
| 24 | THIEF | He’s taken to be a criminal (5) |
| Cryptic definition, or perhaps a Double if one reads “He’s taken” as “He has taken (something that doesn’t belong to him)” | ||
| 26 | ASIA | Like to take one over a continent (4) |
| AS (like) + I (one) + A | ||