Monday Prize Crossword / Oct 30, 2017
Some four or five years ago Crux was one the main Monday setters.
Nowadays we see him only sporadically, and his appearance explained why we had both Falcon and Dante in the week before.
Not very difficult, yet a bit more adventurous in style than the works of the aforementioned setters.
The Grumpy Old Man in me has always one or two niggles but there’s nothing here of which I’d say “You can’t do that!”.
Enjoyable crossword.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1, 5 | ALL THERE IS TO IT | Illiterate tosh is decoded as simple as that! (3,5,2,2,2) |
| (ILLITERATE TOSH)* [* = decoded] | ||
| 9 | COMMERCE | Use force to recruit thousands for the market (8) |
| COERCE (use force) around M,M (thousands, two of them) | ||
| 10 | CUP-TIE | Rod takes exercise with one for a decisive match (3-3) |
| CUE (rod) around {PT (exercise, physical training) + I (one)} | ||
| 11 | DIEHARDS | Ultra-conservatives dread his becoming revolutionary (8) |
| (DREAD HIS)* [* = becoming revolutionary] | ||
| 12 | AGHAST | Passage from The Gulag has them in shock (6) |
| Hidden answer [passage from]: The Gulag has them | ||
| 14 | OVERPOWERS | Masters with extra rules (10) |
| OVER (extra) + POWERS (rules) I had to think for a second or two about which one was the definition, masters or rules. I hope I chose the right one. |
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| 18 | OVERTASKED | Public invited but have too much to do (10) |
| OVERT (public) + ASKED (invited) The things in the middle (‘but have’) feel grammatically a bit odd to me but I decided that it just about works. |
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| 22 | NOSIER | More curious name applied to a basket maker (6) |
| N (name) + OSIER (a basket maker, flexible twig of a willow tree) | ||
| 23 | COME TRUE | Happen to regret going after a space-traveller (4,4) |
| RUE ((to) regret) positioned after COMET (a space-traveller) | ||
| 24 | OLD AGE | Former leaders of any genuine eurosceptics in the 90s? (3,3) |
| OLD (former) + starting letters [leaders] of “Any genuine eurosceptics” I liked this one. I guess it’s fine to include ‘in the‘ in the definition? I’ve gone with Andrew now (see comment 1). |
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| 25 | CUSTOMER | US general keeps order – he’s never wrong (8) |
| CUSTER (US general) around OM (order, Order of Merit) For those interested in generals and war, here is more about George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) . |
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| 26 | RHYTHM | It will be beaten in time, hopefully (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 27 | REPROACH | One who sells fish and carpeting (8) |
| REP (one who sells) + ROACH (fish) Very neat clue, perhaps my favourite. |
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| Down | ||
| 1 | ARCADE | Amusing place for Noah’s assistant, you might say (6) |
| Homophone [you might say] of: ARK AIDE (Noah’s assistant, with some imagination) For me, an ‘arcade’ is a place to have some amusement, not really an amusing place though. Of course, I see why Crux did it this way. |
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| 2 | LUMBER | Heading off to sleep – like a log? (6) |
| SLUMBER ((to) sleep) minus the first letter S It’s been a hard day’s night ….. |
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| 3 | HYENAS | Spotted carnivores with a sense of humour? (6) |
| Straightforward definition with an added cryptic element Hyenas are, as one will know, dog-like carnivores. The so-called laughing hyena (also called spotted hyena), technical name Crocuta crocuta, is one noted for its distinctive howl. |
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| 4 | RECIDIVISM | Offending repeatedly, First Division’s into various crimes (10) |
| DIV I (first division, Div. 1) inside (CRIMES)* [* = various] Alternatively, some might opt for: I (first) + DIV (division), together inside an anagram of ‘crimes’. |
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| 6 | STURGEON | The way to motivate fish (8) |
| ST ((the) way, street) + URGE ON (motivate) Why should I motivate fish? |
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| 7 | OUTRAGED | Mad, old-fashioned newspaper editor (8) |
| OUT (old-fashioned) + RAG (newspaper) + ED (editor) | ||
| 8 | TREATISE | Nurse is given low grade for this dissertation (8) |
| TREAT (nurse, as a verb) + IS + E (low grade, e.g. on exam papers) | ||
| 13 | IRRESOLUTE | Liberal Tories rule sitting on the fence (10) |
| (TORIES RULE)* [* = liberal] You won’t hear me about this! |
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| 15 | DOWNPOUR | Big fall in pound – row breaks out (8) |
| (POUND + ROW)* [* = breaks out] In cryptic grammar the anagram indicator should be plural, as ‘pound‘ and ‘row‘ are two distinct building stones. In my opinion, something like ‘row will break out’ is to prefer. |
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| 16 | FEAST DAY | Religious celebration, or its opposite without English input? (5,3) |
| If the E (English) is deleted, one gets F[E]AST DAY. Which might be seen as a day on which there’s not much to ‘celebrate’. I am not sure whether that is the case for religious people. But since I do not believe, I am not the one to ask. |
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| 17 | STRENGTH | Final couples in twist are dancing with determination (8) |
| Last two letters in four consecutive words: twist are dancing with | ||
| 19 | FETTER | Hamper containing goat’s cheese, we hear (6) |
| Homophone [we hear] of FETA (goat’s cheese) For me, as one from mainland Europe, this is not a homophone. I asked my British solving partner and she thought it to be all right (if pronounced quickly). |
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| 20 | CRIMEA | It’s an offence over a war zone (6) |
| CRIME (offence) positioned above A Not sure I would define ‘Crimea’ as a war zone, there are places in the world that are a lot worse. But, true, I wouldn’t want to go there spending my holiday next month. See also Andrew’s comment @1, sounds plausible. |
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| 21 | DEARTH | Shortage of food finally on the planet (6) |
| [foo]D + EARTH (planet) If anyone would like to add ‘of food’ to the definition, fine by me. I didn’t because I don’t like double duty. |
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*anagram
Thanks Sil. In 24a I would take “in” as link word, with “the 90s?” as the definition.
Crimea as a war zone probably refers to the Crimean war of 1853-1856 rather than its current state.
Thanks Crux and Sil
A slightly longer solve than normal for a Monday and enjoyed the change. Agreed with your take on 14a and your solving partner for the homophone.
Finished down in the SE corner with CUSTOMER, CRIMEA (which I had assumed referred to the same war as Andrew) and REPROACH the last few in
16 Fast is the opposite of Feast
Thanks for the blog Sil. I think you were a bit hard on ARCADE – I chuckled at this one.
For Fetter vs Feta, they trip off the tongue identically for me, and the OED has identical pronunciation descriptors.
The Crimean war is definitely the war zone in question, perhaps looming larger in English history than in most European histories, albeit practically ancient now.
For DOWNPOUR perhaps the connecting dash between POUND and ROW is intended to justify the singular anagrind?
I’m with you on motivating fish but who sells fish and carpets (27A)? Very bad combination!