Monday Prize Crossword / Sep 28, 2015
85% easy, 15% making me think. Blame it on the cryptic definitions.
16 down (LEAST) defeated me and is, I think, the first clue in one of my blogs that I really couldn’t find.
Many thanks to Gaufrid for coming to the rescue.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CANARD |
Brief message about an unfounded report (6)
CARD (brief message, like a personal announcement in a paper (American use, I’m afraid)) around AN |
| 4 | CHAIN-SAW |
When cutting, it drives round the links (5-3)
Cryptic definition |
| 9 | ALCOVE |
Small space at which Capone stood at bay (6)
AL (Capone) + COVE (bay) |
| 10 | QUIETUDE |
Who goes to study in French peaceful state? (8)
QUI (who, in French) + ETUDE (study, also in French) |
| 12 | SNUB |
Cut to second point (4)
S (second) + NUB (point) |
| 13 | BOXER |
Dog may have a second helping (5)
Definition plus cryptic extension |
| 14 | HALT |
Limp to railway station (4)
Double definition |
| 17 | FINGER BUFFET |
Feel pound is enough for self- service food (6,6)
FINGER (feel) + BUFFET (pound) |
| 20 | SPEED OF SOUND |
M1 barrier? (5,2,5)
Cryptic definition The speed of sound is clearly a kind of upper limit (barrier). But what about the M1? It refers to Mach 1. Mach is the ratio of the speed of an object (u) and the speed of sound (c), so M = u/c. M is not really an abbreviation for Mach but it is there in the formula. M1 (Mach 1) may be an ultimate speed barrier. An object travelling at the speed of sound has Mach 1. Anything greater than Mach 1 is called ‘supersonic’. |
| 23 | UNIT |
One whole kitchen cabinet (4)
Triple definition |
| 24 | BENDS |
Hazards of drivers and divers (5)
Double definition The first one dealing with dangerous curves in roads, the second one referring to ‘the bends’ (decompression sickness). |
| 25 | SEMI |
House in the Home Counties by the Motorway (4)
SE (Home Counties, the South East) + M1 (Motorway, again!) |
| 28 | RANSACKS |
Smuggled wines and rifles (8)
RAN (smuggles) + SACKS (wines) |
| 29 | LATENT |
Hidden talent, perhaps (6)
(LATENT)* [* = perhaps] The first anagram and we’re already at 29ac! |
| 30 | DRESSERS |
They look after wardrobes and sideboards (8)
Double definition |
| 31 | CITRIC |
Sour and explicit Richelieu piece (6)
Hidden solution, indicated by ‘piece’: [expli]CIT RIC[helieu] |
| Down | ||
| 1 | CLASSIFY |
Grade Form 1 extremely firmly (8)
CLASS (form) + I (1) + F[irml]Y |
| 2 | NOCTURNE |
Turn once set to music (8)
(TURN ONCE)* [* = set] |
| 3 | ROVE |
Wander over lazily (4)
(OVER)* [* = lazily] |
| 5 | HOUSE OF LORDS |
Where members are entitled to sit (5,2,5)
Cryptic definition |
| 6 | IDES |
Date that is timeless (4)
ID EST (that is) minus T (time) |
| 7 | SQUEAK |
The informer’s narrow escape (6)
DEouble definition |
| 8 | WREATH |
Sad reminder from the war (6)
(THE WAR)* [* = from] The clue as a whole may be seen as the definition rather than what I underlined. |
| 11 | DOUBLE DECKER |
Transport for many, with a connecting flight (6-6)
Definition plus a cryptic extension |
| 15 | TEMPO |
Time for me to reverse and get into top perhaps (5)
Reversal of ME, indicated by ‘to reverse’, inside (TOP)* [* = perhaps (again!] |
| 16 | LEAST |
This said, repair is immediate (5)
Cryptic definition As I said in my preamble, this one went beyond me. Many thanks to Gaufrid for helping me out: “Least said soonest mended”. I knew that it would take something idiomatic to beat me (and it did!). |
| 18 | MULETEER |
Driver of train having crossed lines (8)
Cryptic definition |
| 19 | ADRIATIC |
CIA and Triad involvement between Italy and the Balkans (8)
(CIA + TRIAD)* [* = involvement] |
| 21 | PUTRID |
Rotten place to clear out (6)
PUT (place) + RID (clear out) |
| 22 | FIANCE |
Intended taking one quarter out of capital (6)
FINANCE (capital) minus N (North, one of the quarters therein) |
| 26 | BATS |
Cricketers attempt to get a rise (4)
Reversal, indicated by ‘to get a rise’, of STAB (attempt) |
| 27 | BALI |
Bail out in the Indian Ocean (4)
(BAIL)* [* = out] |
Thanks Sil and Dante.
Monday FT prize, Dante, with an expected load of iffy CDs and DDs should all be over in 20 mins shouldn’t it?
Well no actually – this was tough.
To start with, the grid means that it’s 4 puzzles in one. Then we have 4 x 5 letter words and 8 X 4 letter words each with only 2 crossers – always tough with Dante because of the ambiguities.
Remarkably, I got down to 24ac as my FOI.
And then I just ground them out.
I still don’t fully understand MULETEER. Why ‘crossed the lines’?
Not sure about ‘from’ as an anagrind in 8dn but I got it so I suppose it’s OK.
For 16, I think that ‘immediate’ is a bit loose. Quick would surely be better since the mend is not immediate.
M1 was fine for the speed of sound. I remember film of the in-flight speed display in Concorde showing ‘M 2.2’.
On the plus side, I thought that the clues for DOUBLE DECKER and IDES were excellent.
My LOI was BOXER. Only 390 words that would have fitted the crossers.
So thanks for the challenge – got there in the end.
Not that I got it, I think that the crossed lines refer to a mule being part donkey and part horse.
Didn’t quite see what limp has to do with halt? Failed to get 16d and 26d although 26d was me being thick now reading it!! Still I enjoyed this one after the awful Saturday debacle. Thanks bamberger for the crossed lines. I did get the answer just didn’t understand it.
Thanks Dante and Sil
I think that this is the hardest Roger Squires puzzle that I have done and as it turns out one of his most enjoyable. Think that it was brought about by a combination of unusual meanings of common words and some extra subtlety in some of the cryptic definitions (in particular M1 -.> Mach 1 -> speed of sound and MULETEER with the crossed line reference).
The last few in included the tricky LEAST, BOXER (which brought a smile when seeing the clever misdirection with ‘second’), SNUB (not quite sure why – just took ages to see NUB as a central point), SQUEAK (two unknown definitions of the word that were unknown) and HALT (also both unknown definitions).
Thought that IDES was one of the most simple surface clues with such clever depth in the cryptic construction of the answer. QUIETUDE was a clever use of French words to develop an English one – surprised that I hadn’t seen something like that before.
A good workout that took a lot longer than normal and didn’t provide the usual gimme solve on a Thursday for me.