Monday Prize Crossword/Dec 8
This crossword didn’t give me much trouble. Smooth clueing all the way. Only my LOI (13d)was new to me. A few solutions that may be connected to Christmas but that is perhaps purely coincidental.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BING CROSBY | Singer born in grand Merseyside town (4,6) |
| B (born) + IN + G (grand) + CROSBY (Merseyside town) | ||
| I don’t think he was! | ||
| 6 | STAR | Almost bald celebrity (4) |
| STAR[k] (bald, almost) | ||
| 9 | IRON MAIDEN | Group from golf club, by first (4,6) |
| IRON (golf club) + MAIDEN (first) | ||
| This successful heavy metal band, founded in 1975. | ||
| 10 | BRAG | Boast in British newspaper (4) |
| B (British) + RAG (newspaper) | ||
| 12 | NEW TESTAMENT | Collection of books to be found in mate’s tent, by implication? (3,9) |
| Reverse anagram, indicated by ‘by implication?’: NEW TESTAMENT = (TESTAMENT)* = ‘mate’s tent’ | ||
| 15 | WYATT EARP | Lawman with newly formed Tea Party (5,4) |
| W (with) + (TEA PARTY)* [* = newly formed] | ||
| An anagram that’s new to me, and a good one it is too! | ||
| 17 | DITCH | Date long depression (5) |
| D (date) + ITCH (long) | ||
| 18 | INNER | Ring in private (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 19 | PUNCHBOWL | Strike front of ship, with 50 on vessel (9) |
| PUNCH (strike) + BOW (front of ship) + L (50) | ||
| 20 | ENTREPRENEUR | Salesman René, in tune, possibly, with Rex, a middleman (12) |
| {REP (salesman) + RENE} inside (TUNE)* + R (Rex) [* = possibly] | ||
| 24 | HEEL | Last of such fish in list (4) |
| [suc]H + EEL (fish) | ||
| 25 | HIPPODROME | Trendy school and capital variety theatre (10) |
| HIP (trendy) + POD (school, e.g. of whales) + ROME (capital) | ||
| 26 | DIME | Obscure English coin (4) |
| DIM (obscure) + E (English) | ||
| 27 | UNCLE REMUS | Cruel men tortured American fictional character (5,5) |
| (CRUEL MEN)* + US (American) [* = tortured] | ||
| More about Uncle Remus here. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BRIE | Barrister forgoing fine cheese (4) |
| BRIEF (barrister) minus F (fine) | ||
| 2 | NEON | One dubious name for a volatile gas (4) |
| (ONE)* + N (name) [* = dubious] | ||
| 3 | COMMENTARIES | They may be running moment race is off (12) |
| (MOMENT RACE IS)* [* = off] | ||
| The clue as a whole should be seen as (something of a) definition. | ||
| 4 | ODIST | Poet from Brentwood is talented (5) |
| Hidden solution (‘from’): [brentwo]OD IS T[alented] | ||
| An odist is a writer of odes, poems intended to be sung. | ||
| 5 | BREASTPIN | Decorative item from Paris bent, unfortunately (9) |
| (PARIS BENT)* [* = unfortunately] | ||
| 7 | TURKEY TROT | Appropriate steps taken at the Christmas dinner dance? (6,4) |
| Cryptic definition (with ‘normal’ definition included) | ||
| 8 | RIGHT WHALE | Appropriate lament, we hear, for a hunted creature at sea (5,5) |
| RIGHT (appropriate) + WHALE (homophone (‘we hear’) of: WAIL (lament)) | ||
| This mighty creature is called ‘right’ whale because allegedly whalers think it’s the right one to hunt – the whalebone and its oil are really valuable. | ||
| 11 | HARD SHOULDER | Part of motorway difficult to bear (4,8) |
| HARD (difficult) + SHOULDER ((to) bear) | ||
| 13 | TWAITE SHAD | Fish as it thawed out (6,4) |
| (AS IT THAWED)* [* = out] | ||
| Never heard of the fish. But with all the crossing letters in place (and knowing that it’s an anagram) one could hardly go wrong. | ||
| 14 | MAINSTREAM | Style of jazz, most important, and current (10) |
| MAIN (most important) + STREAM (current) | ||
| Not just jazz, I think, but the dictionaries focus on that type of music. | ||
| 16 | ASPERSION | Slander a small individual I introduced (9) |
| A + S (small) + {PERSON (individual) with I inside} | ||
| 21 | NEPAL | Plane crashed in Asian country (5) |
| (PLANE)* [* crashed] | ||
| 22 | FORM | In favour of male cast (4) |
| FOR (in favour of) + M (male) | ||
| 23 | MESS | Disorder in Times Square (4) |
| Hidden solution (‘in’): [ti]MES S[quare] | ||
Thanks Sil and Falcon.
I too had never heard of 13d but had all the crossers to complete. A look-up on wiki confirmed the solution too. Would love for 21d to be now given a dignified burial. 15ac was refreshingly inventive.
Cheers
TL
All done apart from 13d where I reckon that swaite thad could equally have been right .
Thanks Falcon and Sil
Actually completed this one on the day, but only checked it off now. Found it a typically straightforward puzzle from this setter, finishing down in the SE corner with MESS the last in.
Also had to look up the previously unheard of fish at 13.