Monday Prize Crossword/Aug 25
Solving the Observer’s Everyman is my favourite way to start the day on a Sunday morning, so no complaints from the Dutch jury to assess another sound puzzle by the setter’s alter ego Falcon. Meanwhile a large part of England is probably more interested in Falcao ….
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 9 | ALEXANDER | Berlin bandleader getting by in a rowing club (9) |
| X (by, ‘times’) inside {A + LEANDER (rowing club, based in Henley-on-Thames)} | ||
| The definition refers to the Irving Berlin composition “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”. | ||
| 10 | VIOLA | Fiddle in plant (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 11 | BOSWELL | Old boy returned with excellent biographer (7) |
| BO (reversal (‘returned’ of OB (Old boy)) + SWELL (excellent) | ||
| James Boswell (1740-1795), biographer of Samuel Johnson. | ||
| 12 | SOLDIER | One coming in to join enlisted person (7) |
| I (one) inside SOLDER (to join) | ||
| 13 | TEA | Duck left out for a meal (3) |
| TEAL (duck) minus L (left) | ||
| 14 | WELLINGTONS | Western bandleader’s boots (11) |
| W (Western) + ELLINGTON’S (bandleader’s, The Duke) | ||
| 17 | MITRE | One identifies a bishop in US university connected with religious education (5) |
| MIT (US university) + RE (religious education) | ||
| 18 | NET | Catch number on the way back (3) |
| Reversal (‘on the way back’) of TEN (number) | ||
| 19 | OUTRE | Odd route, unconventional (5) |
| (ROUTE)* | ||
| 21 | DOUBLE-CROSS | Betray twin on trial (6-5) |
| DOUBLE (twin) + CROSS (trial) | ||
| 23 | NUT | Enthusiast in teachers’ union (3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | IN ORDER | Home rule appropriate (2,5) |
| IN (home) + ORDER (rule) | ||
| 27 | CARTOON | Humorous drawing showing duck in box (7) |
| O (duck, zero score in cricket) inside CARTON (box) | ||
| 28 | AMISS | A young lady, out of order (5) |
| A + MISS (young lady) | ||
| 29 | EARLIER ON | Worked near Loire, previously (7,2) |
| (NEAR LOIRE)* | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | GAMBIT | Good scope offered by chess opening (6) |
| G (good) + AMBIT (scope) | ||
| 2 | REDSTART | Bird reportedly studied, and found (8) |
| RED (homophone (‘reportedly’) of READ (studied)) + START (found, as a verb) | ||
| 3 | WATER WHEEL | Bad weather during most of spring does for old mill’s turbine? (5,5) |
| (WEATHER)* inside WEL[l] (spring, most of it) | ||
| 4 | IDOL | Superstar, one seen with puppet, endlessly (4) |
| I (one) + DOL[l] (puppet, endlessly) | ||
| 5 | PROSCIUTTO | For it, scout gets processed ham (10) |
| PRO (for) + (IT SCOUT)* | ||
| 6 | EVIL | Wicked monster beheaded (4) |
| DEVIL (monster) minus its starter (D) | ||
| 7 | DOMINO | One’s often spotted touching another in game (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 8 | LACROSSE | A pass splitting the French in game (8) |
| {A + CROSS (pass)} inside LA (the, French) | ||
| 15 | LONG CORNER | Unlikely to win, predicament leading to penalty hit (4,6) |
| LONG (unlikely to win) + CORNER (predicament) | ||
| 16 | GOODS TRAIN | Kind to pull group of freight wagons? (5,5) |
| GOOD (kind) + STRAIN (pull) | ||
| 17 | MADRIGAL | Admiral at sea welcoming good part-song (8) |
| (ADMIRAL)* around G (good) | ||
| 20 | TANDOORI | Grub up? I must be fed with a type of Indian cooking (8) |
| {TOOR (reversal (‘up’) of ROOT (grub)) + I} with inside (‘must be fed’) AND (with) | ||
| 22 | UTOPIA | One adult, after posh cap, finds ideal place (6) |
| {I (one) + A (adult)} coming after {U (posh) + TOP (cap)} | ||
| 24 | TENANT | Portable shelter sheltering an occupant (6) |
| TENT (portable shelter) around AN | ||
| 26 | DISC | Record kept in stand is classical (4) |
| Hidden solution (‘kept in’): [stan]D IS C[lassical] | ||
| 27 | CARD | Eccentric queen, for example (4) |
| Double definition | ||
Thanks Sil and Falcon,
Re 15 down: LONG probably refers to betting odds.
Agree with Muffyword about 15 down as in ‘a long shot’ (unlikely to win).
Sil, I assume that you were referring to ‘Everyman’ in your preamble. (I didn’t know that they were one and the same setter).
Thanks to Sil and Falcon
Thanks both, now corrected.
I’m not a better and wasn’t familiar with this meaning of LONG.
And, calling Everyman Everyone, well, that is probably a matter of ‘word blindness’ when writing and re-reading the blog.
Mea culpa.
Thanks Falcon and Sil
Nearly got windburn from doing this one – 13 minutes, a record for me … haha ! I don’t know if it was because i started at 4:46 am after waking up during the night and the mind was in complete lateral mode, that the puzzle was easier than normal or that the planets were really aligned.
Still, an enjoyable solve with the clever ALEXANDER the last one in.