Monday Prize Crossword/Sep 23
I did not find this the easiest of Dante puzzles (one that can be found here) because of all these cryptic and double definitions – which were at times not that cryptic or double at all.
I also found writing the blog somewhat harder than usual – well, perhaps it’s just me.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SUPPER | Marvellous surroundings for quiet meal (6) |
| SUPER (marvellous) around P (quiet) | ||
| 4 | FLAMENCO | Sweetheart joins sergeant in dance (8) |
| FLAME (sweetheart) + NCO (sergeant, non-commissioned officer) | ||
| 9 | NIECES | Relatives might make a scene about one (6) |
| (SCENE)* around I (one) | ||
| 10 | CONSOMME | Study battle – when it’s clear of course (8) |
| CON (study) + SOMME (battle) – the definition being a clear soup served up by Dante in a cryptic way | ||
| 12 | SCORPION | Small creature aggressively reared (8) |
| (hardly a) Cryptic definition | ||
| 13 | SPADES | They may turn up trumps sometimes (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 15 | POEM | An ode for author getting married (4) |
| POE (author) + M (married) | ||
| 16 | WOODEN SHOE | One may put one’s foot in it – how does one wriggle out? (6,4) |
| (HOW DOES ONE)* | ||
| 19 | STAND TO WIN | Being upright has prospect of success (5,2,3) |
| In my opinion, a bit of a messy clue. One that leans heavily on two different meanings of ‘stand’. Not sure whether there’s always the right part of speech too. | ||
| 20 | EMIR | Ancient Mariner’s story brought back by Arab prince (4) |
| Reversal (‘brought back’) of RIME (Ancient Mariner’s story, the famous Coleridge poem) | ||
| 23 | RETYPE | Make another impression in the pool? (6) |
| Cryptic definition, the ‘pool’ here probably being used as in Definition no 12 in Chambers: ‘a group of people who may be called upon as required, eg, a group of typists’ | ||
| 25 | TERMINUS | End of semester in America (8) |
| TERM (semester) + IN + US (America) | ||
| 27 | UNSUITED | Being married holds us back if incompatible (8) |
| UNITED (being married) around SU (reversal (‘back’) of US) | ||
| 28 | MOHAIR | Doctor goes to hospital to look for material (6) |
| MO (doctor) + H (hospital) + AIR (look) | ||
| 29 | SERENATA | Musical composition for an Easter service (8) |
| (AN EASTER)* with a very unusual indicator (‘service’) | ||
| 30 | WHEEZE | Scheme to expire (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SENDS UP | Takes Mickey – to prison? (5,2) |
| Double definition – note that both of them need ‘takes’ | ||
| 2 | PHENOMENA | Wonders when phone exchange changed name (9) |
| (PHONE)* + (NAME)* | ||
| 3 | EXEMPT | Excuse may mean the taxman may ignore some charge (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | LOOP | Part of fingerprint found – the game’s up! (4) |
| Reversal (‘up’) of POOL (game) | ||
| 6 | MISSPENT | Dissipated female locked up (8) |
| MISS (female) + PENT (locked up) | ||
| 7 | NOMAD | Mr Runyan has to be put up, being domestically unstable (5) |
| Reversal (‘has to be put up’) of DAMON (Mr Runyan, American author and journalist (1884-1946) who is better known as Damon Runyon even though he was born as Runyan) | ||
| 8 | OVERSEE | Exercise supervision in place of a bishop (7) |
| ‘Exercise supervision’ in general and OVER a SEE (place of a bishop) in particular | ||
| 11 | MOLOTOV | Well-known Russian cocktail (7) |
| Cryptic definition (but then hardly) or Double definition (but then not so double) – take your pick | ||
| 14 | ADMIRER | A lover – married, unfortunately (7) |
| (MARRIED)* | ||
| 17 | HUMAN RACE | We are all involved in mortal competition (5,4) |
| HUMAN (mortal) + RACE (competition) | ||
| 18 | ADOPTION | The provision of a home for a small charge (8) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 19 | SPROUTS | Grows vegetables – from Brussels? (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | RESERVE | Book is in stock (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 22 | SMOOTH | Yet such talkers may not be on the level (6) |
| Cryptic / Double definition, punning on smooth talkers and smooth meaning ‘level’ (i.e. flat) | ||
| 24 | TASER | A stunning police device (5) |
| (another hardly) Cryptic definition | ||
| 26 | FEAT | Exploit a twist of fate (4) |
| (FATE)* | ||
I did like 5D. As well as pool reversed ‘the game is up’ presumably also refers to the criminal being caught on fingerprint evidence.
Thanks to Sil.
Thanks Sil. Re 12ac & 19ac – in both cases I thought I must be missing something in the parsing; but apparently not – I agree with you – hardly cryptic at all & a rather messy clue, respectively.
I thought that the clue for scorpion (12A) was fairly cryptic with ‘aggressively reared’ referring to the sting in its tail.
Well, ernie, perhaps I was a bit too harsh re 12ac.
I can see where you come from.
But while I hugely respect this setter, I still find this puzzle overall a bit underwhelming.