Monday Prize Crossword/Aug 12
A typical Dante crossword that was, of course, no match for the two FT puzzles that followed (Redshank, Loroso) as far as difficulty is concerned. Yet, it took me a second session to finish this crossword.
Especially to find some solutions in the SW (24d, 27ac), plus 30ac which needed some extra thinking too. Quite a few full anagrams today – I counted no less than 10 of them.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CHEERS | Thank you, and goodbye! (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | CARRIAGE | Deportment of unusual air and grace (8) |
| (AIR + GRACE)* | ||
| 10 | ATHLETICS | His cattle wandered on the track, perhaps (9) |
| (HIS CATTLE)* | ||
| 11 | BRING | Conduct British band (5) |
| B (British) + RING (band) | ||
| 12 | FLUE | Outlet for dispersing fuel (4) |
| (FUEL)* | ||
| 13 | BREADKNIFE | A beef drink prepared and used in the kitchen (5,5) |
| (A BEEF DRINK)* | ||
| 15 | RATIONS | Fare allowances (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Although not so very cryptic if one, just like me, thinks of food when seeing ‘fare’. | ||
| 16 | NICKER | One stealing a pound? (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 19 | AD-LIBS | Unrehearsed parts of the actor’s speech (2-4) |
| Kind of double definition, perhaps | ||
| 21 | DEBATER | One arguing re a debt unsettled (7) |
| (RE A DEBT)* | ||
| 23 | TOWN-CRIERS | Old-fashioned news broadcasters (4-6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 25 | ERIC | If there’s a man around, he’s from the US (4) |
| With MAN around him, ERIC would become AMERICAN (from the US) | ||
| 27 | ABACI | On which adders slide to and fro? (5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| My last one in. I was initially thinking of snakes and a palindrome. But I saw just on time that the ‘adder’ here was someone who makes calculations. For example, on an ABACUS, shifting the beads ‘to and fro’. | ||
| 28 | GUARANTEE | Undertake to back mount and argue wildly about it (9) |
| (ARGUE)* around ANTE (reversal (‘back’) of ETNA (mount)) | ||
| 29 | DISINTER | Give someone a lift from the cemetery (8) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 30 | VERSUS | It comes between opposing sides (6) |
| When A and B are opposing sides, it’s A versus B: the word VERSUS comes literally between them | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | COAL FIRE | House-warming arranged for Alice (4,4) |
| (FOR ALICE)* | ||
| 2 | EXHAUSTED | He used tax form that’s expired (9) |
| (HE USED TAX)* | ||
| 3 | REED | Grass blown in the wind (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| The ‘wind’ in this clue refers to wind instruments in an orchestra. | ||
| 5 | ABSTAIN | Refuse to vote, putting Jack on the spot (7) |
| AB (Jack, sailor) + STAIN ((the) spot) | ||
| 6 | RUBIK’S CUBE | Puzzle that has many twists and turns before being solved (6,4) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 7 | ALIBI | It might be proof of convenient absence (5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 8 | EAGLES | They keep a sharp eye on German and US arms (6) |
| Double definition, more or less | ||
| 9 | FIBRES | They may be spun to make briefs (6) |
| (BRIEFS)* | ||
| 14 | ZODIAC SIGN | Cook sizing a cod or fishes, for example (6,4) |
| (SIZING A COD)* | ||
| 17 | ENTERITIS | Come in, it is not an infectious disease (9) |
| ENTER (come in) + IT IS | ||
| 18 | CRACKERS | Nuts and biscuits (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | SHINGLE | Bob, of English origin (7) |
| (ENGLISH)* | ||
| SHINGLE and ‘Bob’ are both hairstyles in which the hair is cut short. Not sure whether they are synonymous but then ‘fashion’ is not really my thing. | ||
| 21 | DURBAN | Died in a city in Natal (6) |
| D (died) + URBAN (in a city) | ||
| 22 | AT HAND | Like a neighbour being present (2,4) |
| Double definition, more or less | ||
| 24 | WRAPS | Winds blow in the west and south (5) |
| RAP (blow) inside {W (the west) + S (south)} | ||
| Clever clue! | ||
| 26 | CANE | Punishment for a murderer, we hear (4) |
| Homophone of CAIN (murderer) | ||