Monday Prize Crossword/Apr 28
Many might say ‘the usual stuff from Dante’ which was indeed mostly the case. However, there were two rather unusual clues (for Dante, that is) and one (13ac) for which I possibly need some help.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | MASCOT | One’s lucky in races beyond a mile (6) |
| ASCOT (races) after M (a mile) | ||
| 4 | CRISIS | Little credit goes to academic stream in crucial period (6) |
| CR (credit, abbreviated) + ISIS (academic stream, the river Thames in Oxford) | ||
| 8 | SNOWMEN | Outstanding winter features (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 9 | SPEAKER | One giving a talk – on radio? (7) |
| Double definition, the second one a bit allusive (hence the ?) | ||
| 11 | SECOND WIND | Needed to retaliate if your opponent gets the first blow? (6,4) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 12 | NOTE | Record a piece of music (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | SOFIA | Capital school – initially having first-class backing (5) |
| SOF (school initially, the initials of School of the Future) + IA (reversal (‘backing’) of A1 (first-class)) | ||
| The solution is SOFIA, no doubt about that, but I am not 100% sure about the SOF-bit. I had no idea until a friend came up with School of the Future, something American (which is not indicated here). Any other suggestions are welcome. | ||
| 14 | MARCHING | Taking steps to protest for 31 days in Greek capital (8) |
| MARCH (31 days) + IN + G[reek]) | ||
| 16 | ANCIENTS | Greeks and Romans are different, for instance (8) |
| (INSTANCE)* | ||
| 18 | FLAIR | Gift is just about a pound (5) |
| FAIR (just) around L (a pound) | ||
| 20 | SHAM | Fraud that’s little short of a disgrace (4) |
| SHAME (a disgrace) without (‘a little short of’) the last letter E | ||
| 21 | NEAR ENOUGH | More or less ran one huge conglomerate (4,6) |
| (RAN ONE HUGE)* | ||
| 23 | STAND-UP | Kind of comedian to fail to keep a date? (5-2) |
| Double definition, the first with hyphen, the other without | ||
| 24 | CHANCEL | Risk getting left in church (7) |
| CHANCE (risk) + L (left) | ||
| 25 | CHEESE | It’s not chalk that’s used to score in skittles (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | PRISON | Its bars could be for those that drink too much (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | MANSE | It’s the minister’s place to designate names (5) |
| (NAMES)* | ||
| 2 | SAWN-OFF | Short of shot-guns (4-3) |
| Cryptic defintion | ||
| 3 | OVERDRAWN | So greatly tempted, got into debt (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | RAPID | Fleet Street contained an awful mixture of types (5) |
| RD (street, road) around {A PI (an awful mixture of types, in printing)} | ||
| Very unusual clue for Dante in which one has to split “Fleet Street” a la Alberich. It took me a while to get this but I must say I liked it. | ||
| 6 | STAUNCH | Stout aunt’s off to church (7) |
| (AUNT’S)* + CH (church) | ||
| 7 | SWEETENER | Somehow resent accepting small bribe (9) |
| (RESENT)* around WEE (small) | ||
| 10 | DISMISSAL | Unemployment act? (9) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 13 | SYNTHETIC | Mock the northern city’s affectation (9) |
| (THE + N (Northern) + CITY’S)* | ||
| 15 | REFRESHER | Is it paid to, or bought from, a barman? (9) |
| Double definition, a bit difficult to underline so I’ll leave it as it is | ||
| 17 | IMMENSE | Huge semi built to house males (7) |
| (SEMI)* around MEN (males) | ||
| 19 | ABOUNDS | Flourishes, as spring comes in (7) |
| BOUND (spring) inside AS | ||
| 21 | NOUNS | Words of love among sisters (5) |
| O (love) inside NUNS (sisters) | ||
| 22 | GLEAN | Gather information alternately with the French (5) |
| GEN (information) and LA (the, French) alternately interwoven | ||
| Another unusual device (and certainly for Dante). Nice. | ||
Thanks Sil and Dante,
Re SOFIA – I took “of” to approximate to “having”. EG Man of/having noble birth.