We were expecting a tricky solve for the Prize Puzzle when we saw that it was Monk. We’ve been blogging for well over a year now but this is only the second Monk puzzle that we’ve blogged.
Thankfully there were a few easier ones to open up the grid and it also helped that we spotted the possibility of a mystery person hidden in the right and left end columns. It wasn’t until the very end that we saw another themed entry in the middle row. We don’t think that there is anything else.
However, a few of the clues have been tricky to parse and we may not have come up with the best or most accurate explanation. Any help would be most welcome.
| Across | ||
| 1 | Climber cut on 2nd section of Everest | |
| VETCH | ETCH (cut) after or ‘on’ second letter or ‘section’ of eVerest | |
| 4 | Caught golf pro making a mistake | |
| CLANGER | C (caught) + LANGER (this golf player) | |
| 8 | Greeting returned in Byagdi | |
| GDAY | Hidden and reversed or ‘returned’ in bYADGi | |
| 9 | Bird swallowed hot dog – possibly precarious | |
| TOUCH-AND-GO | TOUCAN (bird) around or ‘swallowing’ H (hot) + anagram of DOG (anagrind is ‘possibly’) | |
| 10 | Having demolished starter in soup tureen, I could eat a horse | |
| ESURIENT | Anagram of S (first letter or ‘starter’ in Soup) +TUREEN + I (anagrind is ‘demolished’) | |
| 11 | Cute lady, the first one to be held in cold hands | |
| CLEVER | EVE (the first lady) inside or ‘held in’ C (cold) + LR (hands as in left and right) | |
| 12 | Speculator failing to initiate corporate manoeuvres | |
| OPERATOR | Anagram of |
|
| 14 | Write about wife after a male relative | |
| NEPHEW | PEN (write) reversed or ‘about’ + W (wife) after HE (a male) | |
| 16 | Spicy item published by tabloid | |
| RAGOUT | OUT (published) after or ‘by’ RAG (tabloid) | |
| 17 | Lark’s flight around deserted airfield | |
| ESCAPADE | ESCAPE (flight) around AD (first and last letter of AirfielD or ‘deserted’) | |
| 18 | Hoax that was a bit of a swine | |
| GAMMON | Double definition. We had to look this one up to find that gammon can mean a hoax. | |
| 21 | It could be that young lady on left of stage | |
| SHOWGIRL | We think it is a cryptic definition although we tend to shy away from technical terms! GIRL (young lady) and on the left of her, SHOW (stage). Well, that’s the best we can do with the parsing. Maybe someone can come up with something better! | |
| 23 | Down in conflict, duke hides in a hole for protection | |
| EARTHWARDS | WAR (conflict) + D (duke) inside or ‘protected by’ EARTHS (hides in a hole) | |
| 24 | Hero left after promise of marriage | |
| IDOL | L (left) after I DO (promise of marriage) | |
| 25 | By the sound of it, some shellfish or a lot of beef | |
| MUSCLES | Sounds like MUSSELS (shellfish) | |
| 26 | Either way, it’s unacceptable | |
| NOT ON | A palindrome! We cannot write this without thinking of Monty Python and Bolton. If you have no idea of what we are talking about, follow THIS LINK. | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Note to look up loveless recording artist about drink | |
| VIDE SUPRA | VIDE |
|
| 2 | Dropping in from shivering wintery blast with this? | |
| TWYER | Anagram of W |
|
| 3 | Barbarian wants to laugh about time spent camping? | |
| HOTTENTOT | HOOT (laugh) about T (time) in TENT. We think that T has to be the second T in the middle of the word so that it can be ‘in a tent’ so that it can be said to be spending time camping! | |
| 4 | They may offset bills perhaps hidden from customers’ sight? | |
| COUNTERMEASURES | The MEASURES (bills) here are under the COUNTER so that they are hidden from the customers’ sight! | |
| 5 | One-off account about hard-hearted party | |
| AD HOC | We think that you have to parse this – H (hard) in the ‘heart of’ DO (party) with AC (account) around the outside or ‘about’ | |
| 6 | A shot chaser for one sort of spice drink | |
| GINGER POP | POP (shot) after or ‘chasing’ GINGER (sort of spice) | |
| 7 | Old Greek’s non-British accent | |
| ROGUE | ||
| 13 | Associates Arab uprising with capture of King Saud’s crown | |
| ROOMMATES | MOOR (Arab) reversed or ‘uprising’ + MATE (capture of King) + S (first letter or ‘crown’ of Saud) | |
| 14 | Jack in new school when beaten up | |
| NICHOLSON | Anagram of IN + N (new) + SCHOOL (anagrind is ‘beaten up’). We are sure most people will have heard of this actor. | |
| 15 | It can keep kippers warm before breakfast | |
| EIDERDOWN | A play on the fact that kippers or ‘sleepers may stay under this to keep warm! | |
| 19 | One third of Royal Marines deployed flowing advanced warning | |
| ALARM | An anagram of ALMA (one third of RoyAL MArines) the anagrind is ‘deployed’ after A (advanced) | |
| 20 | Additional note tagged onto opening of last post | |
| NEWEL | NEW (additional) + E (note) + L (first letter or ‘opening’ of Last) | |
| 22 | Spirit of change is thwarted when not everything is considered | |
| GEIST | Hidden within the clue – chanGE IS Thwarted | |
Thanks BertandJoyce for a lovely blog. I found this easier than many of Monk’s offerings, but excellent all the same.
Re SHOWGIRL – I wondered if it was S = left of stage + HOW = It could be that (?) + GIRL = young lady, plus a sort of jokey definition involving the whole clue. I can’t quite think of a sentence in which “how” and “it could be that” are interchangeable.
Came a cropper on 1 & 20dn, thinking the first was spelled VIDE SUPER and thinking the second might be DOWEL, a term I remembered from my model-making youth. This made 16 and 18ac a bit of a problem, and not helped by totally failing to get the theme. Still, did better than last week’s.
Thanks B&J for an excellent blog of what was indeed a pretty tough puzzle. I filled in several answers I could not parse at the time. In 19A I think your parsing has one two many “A”s. Is it just a random one-third of Royal Marines – L, A, R, M – after A?
Great workout, thanks to Monk.
s(tage) + [ how(=that, adv & conj.) + girl(=young lady) ] &Lit.
Hi Everyone
In 19dn, I think the idea could be that ROYALMARINES splits into thirds as ROYA, LMAR, INES, and you use one of these (in this case the second) to form the anagram fodder – it does not need to be four random letters out of the twelve.
After many a struggle with Azed and the likes of Monk my mind is now dangerously warped, but that’s the right analysis, I’m pretty convinced. Though for a true &lit, could you ditch the ‘it could be’? Just ‘That young lady on left of stage?’ does it for me!
Pelham Barton@5, yes I think that’s more convincing than my “random” suggestion.
Can anyone explain why the theme is George Orwell?
You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world.
Thanks for the blog B&J. Definitely needed the help sorting out a few of these.
DF @8: My guess is that it’s because Animal Farm was published on 17 August (in 1945). (FYI, there is also a reference to Animal Farm in today’s Polymath 723 in the FT. Perhaps that, too, was deliberate.)
I liked 13d, 1d & 12a (last in) and favourite was 24a IDOL, 11a CLEVER
I couldn’t parse 19d, 7d, 1a.
New words for me were TWYER, GAMMON = ‘hoax’, NEWL, HOTTENTOT = ‘barbarian’, VETCH, VIDE SUPRA.
I parsed 21a as Muffyword@1, and I agree with Pelham Barton@5 re parsing of 19d [ A (= advanced) + anagram of (roya)L MAR(ines).]
Thanks Monk & Bertandjoyce.
Many thanks to B&J for blog and to all for comments. 21ac is the &Lit given at #4 (and tightened at #6), and 19dn does indeed refer to the middle 1/3 as noted at #5. The Nina records my 101st effort for the Indy.
It’s a little late – probably no-one is reading the blog now but thanks to everyone for sorting out the parsings we had difficulty with and also to gwep@3 for pointing out Joyce’s error. We were busy hosting a family party for Joyce’s parents who are 90 this year and were not able to keep an eye on 225!
Thanks Monk for dropping by too and congratulations on the 101 Indy puzzles – plenty more to come we hope!
Thanks Keeper for flagging up the connection with Animal Farm
And also congratulations to Monk on your 101st compilation
Now all is fully understood!