Monday Prize Crossword/Apr 1
This Dante crossword was published on the 1st of April but lacked any topical clues. No references to the day, instead a lot of anagrams and the usual smoothness typical of this setter.
I can see from the use of two different colours of ink in my grid that I needed a second session to overcome the Middle East. Let’s blame it on 16 across.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DEFIANCE | Upset ace fined for open disobedience (8) |
| (ACE FINED)* | ||
| 5 | AVENUE | A meeting-place in the suburban street (6) |
| A + VENUE (meeting place) | ||
| 9 | BLESSING | Grace, opening batsman, gets unusual singles (8) |
| B[atsman] + (SINGLES)* | ||
| 10 | SNOOPS | Sneaks around courts (6) |
| Reversal of SPOONS (courts) | ||
| One of these clues that could work both ways. But the N of 6d leaves only one option. | ||
| 12 | SALON | Girl working in a hairdressers (5) |
| SAL (girl) + ON (working) | ||
| 13 | OPERATION | Medical treatment in battle (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 14 | SNIPER | Are all his shots singles through cover? (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 16 | GRINDER | Mouth organist? (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| I hope this is the right answer, thinking of teeth. I am not even sure whether I fully understand the clue. It is a cryptic definition, I guess? | ||
| 19 | SWEAR IN | Induct into office when I answer correctly (5,2) |
| (I ANSWER)* | ||
| 21 | CREEPS | Toadies engendering feeling of revulsion (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 23 | OTHERWISE | He swore it might be different (9) |
| (HE SWORE IT)* | ||
| 25 | DOWEL | Peg possibly owed a pound (5) |
| (OWED)* + L (a pound) | ||
| 26 | INLAYS | Inserts in songs (6) |
| IN + LAYS (songs) | ||
| 27 | ARTISTRY | Create a stir, try some skill (8) |
| (A STIR)* + TRY | ||
| 28 | HANDLE | Held with an awkward grip (6) |
| (HELD + AN)* | ||
| 29 | OPEN SHOP | Frank to inform against business accepting non-union staff (4,4) |
| OPEN (frank, lower case) + SHOP (to inform against) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DEBASE | Lower by degrees into river (6) |
| BAS (degrees, plural of BA) inside DEE (river) | ||
| 2 | FREELANCE | He works alone to import fish into European country (9) |
| EEL (fish) inside FRANCE (European country) | ||
| 3 | ARSON | The offence of one coming to light (5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 4 | CONTOUR | Outline of study-trip (7) |
| CON (study) + TOUR (trip) | ||
| 6 | VANDALISE | Destroy and put into a bag (9) |
| AND inside VALISE (a bag) | ||
| It took me a while to see the construction, but when the penny dropped a smile came to my face. | ||
| 7 | NAOMI | No, I am wrong, she was Ruth’s mother-in-law (5) |
| (NO I AM)* | ||
| 8 | ELSINORE | Location for Hamlet relies on redevelopment (8) |
| (RELIES ON)* | ||
| 11 | BERG | Plead a case for right Austrian composer (4) |
| BEG (plead) around (being ‘a case for’) R (right) | ||
| Alban Berg (1885-1935) | ||
| 15 | PORTRAYAL | Depicting characters performing in play or art (9) |
| (PLAY OR ART)* | ||
| 17 | DIPSWITCH | Wash hairpiece – it reduces the highlights (9) |
| DIP (wash) + SWITCH (hairpiece) | ||
| Nice hairy surface, “highlights” can be a bright tint in the hair (eg by dyeing or bleaching). Within the definition “highlights” should be seen as “high lights” ie the headlights of a car. | ||
| 18 | ASTONISH | Cause amazement to a holy man on his involvement (8) |
| A + ST (holy man, saint) + (ON HIS)* | ||
| 20 | NAIL | A love outwardly secure (4) |
| A with NIL (love, nothing) on the outside | ||
| 21 | CHEER UP | Take encouragement from acclamation at university (5,2) |
| CHEER (acclamation) + UP (at university) | ||
| 22 | PLAY UP | Misbehave and make too much of a story (4,2) |
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | HELEN | She loved Paris – not only in the spring (5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Classic romance with a nod to the Cole Porter song “I love Paris (in the springtime)”. | ||
| 25 | DEIGN | Hamlet, say, gives consent (5) |
| Homophone of DANE (Hamlet, say) | ||
Thank you for the blog, Sil. I agree that VANDALISE was cleverly amusing.
My theory was that 16 GRINDER was a double definition.
I failed on
10a Just couldn’t get either
16a Very difficult in my book
25a Couldn’t see it
6d Valise =bag too hard for me
11d Never heard of
17d Switch=hairpiece unheard of
25d Filed under too hard .
Thanks for the enlightenment
I failed on all of Bamberger’s list along with 5a.
Some are so simple but not until the penny drops.
Thanks to everyone for posting a comment.
Muffyword @1: “My theory was that 16 GRINDER was a double definition”.
Can you explain this please?
I thought GRINDER might be a term for a mouth (as well as a tooth). When added to (organ) grinder, this made two definitions. I now think I was wrong and this is a cryptic definition/play on organ grinder and grinder (molar tooth). Sorry to have created confusion.