Monday Prize Crossword / Jun 1, 2015
The crosswords of Falcon (aka the Everyman Old Style) are always elegantly clued, accessible and easy-ish. No exception here.
That said, after a flying start filling about 75% of the grid – and starting in the SE corner as for some reason I nearly always do – I was seriously held up in the W/NW. Perhaps, it was this rather unexpected challenge that made me enjoy solving this crossword even more than the average Falcon puzzle.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TOOL SHED |
Garden hut he sold to eccentric (4,4)
(HE SOLD TO)* [* = eccentric] |
| 6 | CRAVAT |
A crown originally, plus tax, for an item of menswear (6)
A with CR (crown) coming first + VAT (tax) I think ‘originally’ tells us that CR comes first. Not seen this before, for me highly, um, original. |
| 9 | FAVOUR |
Good turn from Labour’s leader, out of character (6)
FLAVOUR (character) minus L[abour] For once, we have a setter who uses ‘Labour’s leader’ instead of ‘Labour leader’. |
| 10 | FETCHING |
Going to get fine engraving (8)
F (fine) + ETCHING (engraving) |
| 11 | BRIE |
Short set of instructions needed to make cheese (4)
BRIE[f] (set of instructions, shortened) |
| 12 | ELEVEN-PLUS |
Test team’s bonus? (6-4)
ELEVEN (team) + PLUS (bonus) |
| 14 | TARTUFFE |
Religious hypocrite in sharp sleeveless coat? (8)
TART (sharp) + [d]UFFE[l] (coat, sleeveless i.e. without the outside letters) Nowadays a general word but it is named after the leading character in Moliere’s 1664 play of the same name. |
| 16 | REEL |
Part of film is not fictitious, according to report (4)
Homophone (‘according to report’) of: REAL (not fictitious) |
| 18 | YOGI |
Mystic one Spanish painter almost knocked back (4)
Reversal (‘knocked back’) of: I (one) + GOY[a] (Spanish painter, almost) |
| 19 | TAXONOMY |
Classification of ox, to many, wrongly applied (8)
(OX TO MANY)* [* = wrongly applied] |
| 21 | MY LEFT FOOT |
Motor yacht went, to pay for film (2,4,4)
MY (Motor Yacht, abbreviated) + LEFT (went) + FOOT (pay, as a verb) My Left Foot: The Story of Cristy Brown is an award-winning Irish film from 1989 starring Daniel Day-Lewis. |
| 22 | READ |
Not quite willing to study (4)
READ[y] (willing, not quite) The third clue in which the last letter should be knocked off (after 11ac and 18ac). |
| 24 | BULAWAYO |
Bus son missed left from here, old city in Zimbabwe (8)
BU[s] (the deleted s = son) + L (left) + AWAY (from here) + O (old) Shame on me but I hadn’t heard of this city but it’s actually quite big with a population of nearly 700,000 (and the second largest city in Zimbabwe after Harare). |
| 26 | ON HIGH |
Freaked out after working aloft (2,4)
ON (working) coming after HIGH (freaked out) [corrected, with thanks to Bruce] |
| 27 | STRAIT |
Sound level for listeners (6)
Homophone (‘for listeners’) of: STRAIGHT (level) This is a clue I like very much. In the surface ‘sound’ and ‘level’ go really well together. But the solution’s ‘sound’ is different from the one in the surface, while the meaning of ‘level’ used for the homophone is also not exactly the same as its meaning in the surface. Perhaps, others cannot be bothered but to me this is splendid clueing. |
| 28 | ROLY-POLY |
Pudding poorly cooked, extremely lumpy (4-4)
(POORLY)* + L[ump]Y [* = cooked] |
| Down | ||
| 2 | ON AIR |
Being broadcast from Barcelona, I reported (2,3)
Hidden solution (‘from’): [barcel]ONA I R[eported] |
| 3 | LOOSESTRIFE |
Plant, most unrestrained, abounding (11)
LOOSEST (most unrestrained) + RIFE (abounding) A plant of the primrose family that often grows by water. Well, that’s what I thought. But if you really want botanical details, Cookie is your man @2. [Or woman, of course, if (s)he’s not a man 🙂 ] |
| 4,5 | HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOUR |
Hackney stained? That’s another thing altogether (5,2,1,9,6)
HORSE (hackney, esp. one for hire) + OF A DIFFERENT COLOUR (stained) |
| 6 | CUTTER |
Clipper ship? (6)
Double definition |
| 7 | ASH |
A quiet wood (3)
A SH (quiet) |
| 8 | AD NAUSEAM |
A manipulated Dane accommodating a US male, to a sickening degree (2,7)
A + {(DANE)* around A US} + M (male) [* = manipulated] |
| 13 | PARTNERSHIP |
Stand firm (11)
Double definition Here’s another one I particularly liked (for the same reason that I liked 27ac). The meaning that we need of both words is different from the ones used in the surface. A surface that is completely natural. Double definitions are not my first choice but this is a beauty, in my opinion. |
| 15 | AGONY AUNT |
Anton, a guy in trouble columnist exposed (5,4)
(ANTON A GUY)* [* = in trouble] |
| 17 | EXIT POLL |
Exploit amazingly large survey of those who have voted (4,4)
(EXPLOIT)* + L (large) [* = amazingly] |
| 20 | AT LAST |
In the end, book is printed on time (2,4)
ATLAS (book, one with maps) + T (time) |
| 23 | ANGEL |
A new member brought over backer (5)
A + N (new) + GEL (reversal (‘brought over’ of LEG (member)) |
| 25 | AGA |
Commander in Hedda Gabler (3)
Hidden solution (‘in’): [hedd]A GA[bler]
|
Thanks Falcon and Sil
For some reason this felt a lot harder than normal from this setter – in fact, found this one a bit more difficult than the Saturday prize of Magwitch.
Had 26a figured a little differently to you Sil – I had the definition of ON HIGH as aloft with HIGH (freaked out – or disoriented on drugs) after ON (working).
Also had not heard of BULAWAYO which I discovered was built on the site of the village of the last Matabele king, Lobengula.
The last few in were YOGI (where I initially entered in SOFI), LOOSESTRIFE (a new plant for me) and FAVOUR. TARTUFFE and ELEVEN PLUS (maybe could have been clued as ‘Test one, here?’) were both new terms as well.
Enjoyable test from Falcon!
Thank you Falcon and Sil. At 6.00 pm it is still too hot where I live to work in the garden, so after being treated to two relatively easy crosswords already today, thought I would have a go at this Everyman Old Style one, Allan Scott is much missed.
I particularly liked TARTUFFE, BULAWAYO, PARTNERSHIP, STRAIT and BRIE!
Sil, I think the LOOSESTRIFE being referred to here belongs to the Lythraceae, not the Primulaceae – Purple Loosestrife is a real pest around lakes and besides rivers in several parts of the world.
Much as I’d like to say that loosestrife and tartuffe were my first in ,I never got them and would never have got them.
Also didn’t get
9a Which I think is pretty tough having to spot character =flavour
18a Goya -who he?
21a Possibly the worst film I’ve had sat through except perhaps Born on the Fourth of July and which had been erased from my memory.
27a Would never have got that.
The new Everyman seems to have driven solvers away -less than 5 comments now compared to over 20 when Falcon was setting it.
Thanks Sil and Falcon.
A good solid puzzle this without too much difficulty. 15 mins at bedtime a 5 to pick off the stragglers this morning.
All well and clearly clued, and always like to learn just one or two new words as part of the solve – new to me were Tartuffe and loosestrife – both of which were derivable from the clue structure.
Again with BAMBURGER NEVER HEARD OF TARTUFFE AND NEITHER HAD MY CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY.