Monday Prize Crossword / Jul 24, 2017
The kind of accessible crossword that you may expect when seeing the setter’s name (Falcon).
And a pangram! (quite unusual for Falcon)
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | LA TRAVIATA | Artist in Baltic country volunteers for operatic work (2,8) |
| RA (artist) inside LATVIA (Baltic country), then + TA (volunteers) Opera by Giuseppe Verdi, first staged in 1853 in Venice. |
||
| 6 | ICON | I study computer symbol (4) |
| I + CON (study) | ||
| 9 | DINETTE | Place to eat? Daughter and I clear end of table (7) |
| D (daughter) + I + NETT (clear) + [tabl]E | ||
| 10 | RAW DEAL | Unfair treatment in chilly and damp Kent town (3,4) |
| RAW (chilly and damp) + DEAL (Kentish town) | ||
| 12 | FREE-FOR-ALL | Contest open to anybody – no entry fee? (4-3-3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | SKI | Leave out incomplete piece of sports equipment (3) |
| SKI[p] (leave out, not fully) | ||
| 15 | AFLOAT | At sea in a launch (6) |
| A + FLOAT (launch) | ||
| 16 | PILCHARD | Soft, the Italian vegetable and fish (8) |
| P (soft) + IL (the, in Italian) + CHARD (vegetable) | ||
| 18 | PINCE-NEZ | Eyeglasses suitable for the likes of van Gogh, ultimately? (5-3) |
| Definition with a whimsical extra Vincent van Gogh cut part of his ear off [I wouldn’t], so he couldn’t use glasses with with ‘earpieces’. I don’t think he ever wore glasses anyway. |
||
| 20 | STIGMA | Brand new mag after it’s found backing (6) |
| (MAG)* coming after a reversal [backing] of IT’S [* = new] | ||
| 23 | ROT | Corruption – zero tolerance cases (3) |
| Hidden answer [cases]: zero tolerance | ||
| 24 | INTONATION | Speech pattern not uncommon in one state (10) |
| (NOT)* inside {I (one) + NATION (state)} [* = uncommon] | ||
| 26 | IMPRESS | Have a favourable effect on independent politician on steamship (7) |
| I (independent) + MP (politician) + RE (on) + SS (steamship) | ||
| 27 | QUIBBLE | Revised edition of bible after question results in minor criticism (7) |
| (BIBLE)* coming after QU (question) [* = revised edition of] | ||
| 28 | WIDE | Extra fish got by wife (4) |
| W (wife) + IDE (fish) Cricket. |
||
| 29 | KNEE-LENGTH | Like some skirts in joint, to an extent? (4-6) |
| KNEE (joint) + LENGTH (extent) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | LIDO | Cover placed over old swimming pool (4) |
| LID (cover) + O (old) | ||
| 2 | TENDRIL | Climber to catch up on most of exercises (7) |
| Reversal [up] of NET (catch), + DRIL[l] (exercises, most of it) | ||
| 3 | AT THE SAME TIME | Still together (2,3,4,4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | ICEBOX | Diamonds put on top of carton in compartment of fridge (6) |
| ICE (diamonds) + BOX (carton) | ||
| 5 | TERRAPIN | Easy shot bagging stray reptile (8) |
| TAP-IN (easy shot, in football) around ERR (stray) | ||
| 7 | CHELSEA | Check complicated lease in residential district of London (7) |
| CH (check) + (LEASE)* [* = complicated] | ||
| 8 | NELLIE DEAN | Little Eleanor and Daniel covering English music hall song (6,4) |
| NELLIE (Eleanor) + DAN (Daniel) around E (English) See: Nellie Dean. |
||
| 11 | WILDCAT STRIKE | Aggressive type set out to bring about industrial action (7,6) |
| WILDCAT (agressive type) + STRIKE (set out) | ||
| 14 | PAY-PER-VIEW | Talk up opinion about a cable TV service (3-3-4) |
| Reversal [up] of YAP (talk) + VIEW (opinion), together around PER (a, for each) | ||
| 17 | JETTISON | Discharge spray can in this manner inside (8) |
| JET (spray) + TIN (can) around SO (in this manner) | ||
| 19 | NOTEPAD | Famous father’s come in for item of stationery (7) |
| PA (father) inside NOTED (famous) | ||
| 21 | GROWBAG | Joke about line written on black potting compost container (7) |
| GAG (joke) around {ROW (line) + B (black)} | ||
| 22 | UNIQUE | Solitary single only (6) |
| Triple definition Not sure how much these definitions overlap. |
||
| 25 | MESH | Netting’s border raised across third of base (4) |
| Reversal [raised] of HEM (border) around [ba]S[e] | ||
*anagram
Thanks Falcon and Sil
On the upper end of the Falcon difficulty spectrum – but still well down the general FT puzzle spectrum. And no … I cannot recall a pangram from him before either … having said that, I failed to spot it here anyway.
I went with the golfing version of a TAP-IN as being more closer to a shot.
The only complications here were attempts at self harm, when I initially rushed in RED CARD (thinking REDCAR which was only the length of the country away) at 10a and AT THE SAME RATE at 3d.
That being the case, INTONATION was my second to last in … followed by correcting 3d to AT THE SAME TIME.