Monday Prize Crossword / Oct 10, 2016
Pleasant and well-written Monday offering from Armonie.
With one or two head-scratching moments.
It took me too long to get the ‘analyst’ in 5d, despite having all the crossers.
In 3d, the ‘Victorian’ penny ultimately dropped.
And the last of the bunch, 27d, was actually quite a gem, in my opinion.
Definitions are underlined whever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DEARLY | Duke advanced at great cost (6) |
| D (duke) + EARLY (advanced) | ||
| 4 | SHARP END | Instrument included in mail for the front line (5,3) |
| HARP (instrument) inside SEND (mail) | ||
| 9 | AGENTS | A convenience for intermediaries (6) |
| A + GENTS (convenience) | ||
| 10 | DARTMOOR | Launch has reversing space in Devon (8) |
| DART (launch) + a reversal [reversing] of ROOM (space) | ||
| 12 | HOSE | Weed round first of seedlings and water (4) |
| HOE (weed) around S[eedlings] | ||
| 13 | GRASP | German has file to keep hold of (5) |
| G (German) + RASP (file) | ||
| 14 | MIEN | People adopting independent bearing (4) |
| MEN (people) around I (independent) | ||
| 17 | APOTHECARIES | Old chemists’ hop tea treated dental problem (12) |
| (HOP TEA)* + CARIES (dental problem) [* = treated] | ||
| 20 | RATIONALISED | Helping naughty ladies? That’s explained away (12) |
| RATION (helping) + (LADIES)* [* = naughty] | ||
| 23 | OMIT | Be sick after losing head and miss out (4) |
| VOMIT (be sick) minus the first letter (V) | ||
| 24 | RIDER | Equestrian qualification (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | FIRM | Settled business (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 28 | CONFOUND | Prisoner came across puzzle (8) |
| CON (prisoner) + FOUND (came across) | ||
| 29 | DECIDE | Settle for last month’s fish (6) |
| DEC (last month, i.e. December) + IDE (fish) | ||
| 30 | DILATORY | Laid out rightwinger for time- wasting (8) |
| (LAID)* + TORY (rightwinger) [* = out] | ||
| 31 | BROGUE | Bishop’s shoddy accent (6) |
| B (bishop) + ROGUE (shoddy) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DEAD HEAT | A tie is dated? That’s hard to swallow! (4,4) |
| DEAD (dated) + H (hard) + EAT (swallow) | ||
| 2 | AVERSION | Dislike adult adaptation (8) |
| A (adult) + VERSION (adaptation) | ||
| 3 | LUTE | Instrument left with Victorian pick-up (4) |
| L (left) + UTE (“Victorian” pick-up) “Victorian” should be seen as “from Victoria, Aus.”. An UTE is a pick-up truck and a word mainly used down under. |
||
| 5 | HEADSHRINKER | Analyst leads woman round bowling area (12) |
| HEADS (leads) + HER (woman) around RINK (bowling area) | ||
| 6 | RUTH | Daily grind’s hard for girl (4) |
| RUT (daily grind) + H (hard, again!) | ||
| 7 | EROTIC | Amorous man conceals books (6) |
| ERIC (man) around OT (books) | ||
| 8 | DARING | Setting out in drag shows bravery (6) |
| (IN DRAG)* [* setting out] | ||
| 11 | PRACTITIONER | Part in 7 play for skilled operator (12) |
| (PART IN + EROTIC (7, the solution at 7d))* [* = play] | ||
| 15 | CHEAT | Deceive bird touring Spain (5) |
| CHAT (bird) around E (Spain, i.e. Espana (IVR)) | ||
| 16 | REPLY | Answer is to have money in bank (5) |
| P (money, a penny) inside RELY (bank) | ||
| 18 | ASPIRING | Ambitious head of gerontology supports drug (8) |
| ASPIRIN( drug) + G[erontology] | ||
| 19 | ADAM BEDE | Confine to bed in A&E? That’s novel! (4,4) |
| DAM (confine) + BED, together inside A,E The first novel written by George Eliot, published in 1859. |
||
| 21 | FORCED | Contrived to get engineer into car (6) |
| CE (engineer, i.e. Civil Engineer) inside FORD (car) | ||
| 22 | SIGNAL | Gesture is out of the ordinary (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | LOOT | Rob finds Oscar in crowd (4) |
| O (Oscar) inside LOT (crowd) Exactly the same clue as Chifonie’s (in the Guardian), only a couple of days later. I knew that Rufus every now and then repeats himself but this is the first time I saw Armonie/Chifonie doing it. |
||
| 27 | PEAR | Fruit and veg. recipe (4) |
| PEA (veg.) + R (recipe) | ||
*anagram
Thanks Armonie and Sil
A very straightforward puzzle from Armonie that I completed in a few short gaps at work on publication day. Nothing that stood out although it was interesting to read the pot summary of ADAM BEDE, a book that I knew of but knew nothing about. .
Am doing the Guardian puzzles with quite a time lag now so missed on the double use of the LOOT clue – I wonder if beery’s clue database includes the FT as well to see how often the compilers who set in both papers double up on their clues.
Four off a full house -4a,7d,28a and 22d .
I’m sorry but I don’t see how “signal” =out of the ordinary. Please put me out of my misery.
Bamberger @ 2
eChambers has ‘signal’, adjective, remarkable, notable. For instance, ‘his efforts were a signal failure’.
hth