Monday Prize Crossword/Feb 10
A very enjoyable brain exercise from Crux. Plenty of variation, nice surfaces and a couple of morbid clues (5d, 23d) on top of that …..
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | ATHENA | She was wise to sunbathe naked – just a bit (6) |
| Hidden solution (‘just a bit’): [sunb]ATHE NA[ked] | ||
| Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom. | ||
| 4 | IDOLATER | What lazybones might say, as a pagan (8) |
| I DO LATER is ‘what lazybones might say’ | ||
| 10 | LARGESS | The generosity shown by great saints (7) |
| LARGE (great) + S,S (saints, S (saint) and another one) | ||
| 11 | ANNULET | A tunnel shaped like a small ring (7) |
| (A TUNNEL)* | ||
| 12 | HEAP | Wreck of a car in pile-up (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | PRESS BARON | Persevere, without lawyers, to expose media mogul (5,5) |
| PRESS ON (persevere) around BAR (lawyers) | ||
| 15 | RATION | No sailor returned without one share (6) |
| RAT ON (reversal (‘returned’) of NO TAR (no sailor)) around I (one) | ||
| 16 | POOR BOX | Third-rate fight once appreciated by the penniless (4,3) |
| POOR (third-rate) + BOX (fight) | ||
| 19 | CREDITS | Heartless cashier alters moneys paid in (7) |
| C[ashie]R + EDITS (alters) | ||
| 21 | TOPPER | Stop perspiration showing inside expensive hat (6) |
| Hidden solution (‘showing inside’): [s]TOP PER[spiration] | ||
| 24 | TIE IN KNOTS | Cause great confusion with identical speeds at sea? (3,2,5) |
| KNOT is a speed unit at sea. In a TIE there’s no winner, so TIE IN KNOTS may be clued by ‘identical speeds at sea’ | ||
| 26 | ASIA | A part of Thailand formerly located here (4) |
| A + SIA[m] (‘part of’ Thailand, formerly called Siam) – with the clue as a whole being the definition | ||
| 28 | SECRETE | Hide in middle of desert island (7) |
| [de]SE[rt] + CRETE (island) | ||
| 29 | MAESTRO | Ring-master to retrain as a conductor (7) |
| (O (ring) + MASTER)* | ||
| 30 | SALINITY | Feature of seawater that’s 51, within reason (8) |
| LI (51, Roman numerals) inside SANITY (reason) | ||
| 31 | TISSUE | Paper used to make up lies? (6) |
| Think: a tissue of lies | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ALL THERE | Nothing missing, being quite astute (3,5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 2 | HEREAFTER | Life in the future, present and past (9) |
| HERE (present) + AFTER (past) | ||
| 3 | NOEL | Heads of Nato offer everyone leave for Christmas (4) |
| Starting letters (‘heads’) of: N[ato] O[ffering] E[veryone] L[eave] | ||
| 5 | DEAD SHOT | Army sniper and (reversed) how he met his match! (4,4) |
| This sniper might be ‘shot dead’ (the solution, reversed) in which case he will meet his maker (or, to put it friendlier, his match) | ||
| 6 | LONG BARROW | Pine handcart discovered in ancient burial site (4,6) |
| LONG (pine) + BARROW (handcart) | ||
| 7 | TILER | Thatcher saw him as the competition (5) |
| Probably referring to the rivalry between two different style of roofers, thatchers with thatch and tilers with tiles. But if others have different ideas, I am happy to know. | ||
| 8 | RATING | Sailor’s rocket (6) |
| Double definition, ‘rocket’ as in ‘reprimand’ | ||
| 9 | USERS | Euros, oddly, support American addicts (5) |
| US (American) + E[u]Ro]S | ||
| 14 | GOLDEN MEAN | Two-thirds gin mixed with lemonade in ideal proportions (6,4) |
| (GN (two-thirds GIN, literally) + LEMONADE)* | ||
| 17 | OPPOSITES | They’re supposed to attract rich and poor, for instance (9) |
| Double definition, the second one par example | ||
| 18 | STONIEST | Most petrified girl imprisoned by crazy Tess (8) |
| TONI (girl) inside (TESS)* | ||
| 19 | AREA CODE | Some phone numbers are a hidden message (4,4) |
| ARE A + CODE (hidden message) | ||
| 22 | STASIS | Assist in motion or its opposite [i.e. of motion] (6) |
| (ASSIST)* | ||
| 23 | STUMP | Puzzle [is what] an axeman would leave behind (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | EXCEL | Extra large is said to be better (5) |
| What XL (extra large) sounds like ( ‘said’) | ||
| 27 | PERI | A beautiful fairy spells endless danger (4) |
| PERIL (danger) without the final L (‘endless’) | ||
I got all but 8d though I guessed it might be rating. I still don’t see why rating = reprimand-sorry.