Monday Prize Crossword / Aug 15, 2016
One can never qualify a Falcon crossword as really hard but this one struck me as relatively challenging compared to most of his output.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TWELFTH MAN | Reserve crew appearing after interval (7,3) |
| TWELFTH (interval, an octave and a fifth in a diatonic scale [music]) + MAN (crew) One of my last ones in as I was not familiar with ‘twelfth’ as it is used here. |
||
| 7 | BUMF | Wrong, female supplying superfluous documents (4) |
| BUM (wrong) + F (female) | ||
| 9 | SNAP | Unexpected shot (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 10 | MOCK TURTLE | Second chapter on king, almost utterly mad fictional character (4,6) |
| MO (second) + C (chapter) + K (king) + (UTTERL[y])* [* = mad] | ||
| 11 | COMPEL | Make company representative and the Spanish meet (6) |
| CO (company) + MP (representative) + EL (the, in Spanish) | ||
| 12 | OVER EASY | How eggs may be served if done slowly (4,4) |
| OVER (done) + EASY (slowly) The solution is apparently an Americanism. Perhaps, Brits serve eggs this way too – that said, I don’t like eggs anyway. |
||
| 13 | VENDETTA | Close Tate – vandalised after start of violent feud (8) |
| V[iolent] + END (close) + (TATE)* [* = vandalised] | ||
| 15 | ORYX | Antelope and steer crossing tracks (4) |
| OX (steer) around RY (tracks, railway) Never heard of this wildebeest but it was my first one in! |
||
| 17 | STAY | Speak about short time in lodge (4) |
| SAY (speak) around T (time, shortened) | ||
| 19 | UP IN ARMS | Rebellious at university, confronting elected members (2,2,4) |
| UP (at university) + IN (elected) + ARMS (members) | ||
| 22 | RESEARCH | Look into religious education examination (8) |
| RE (religious education) + SEARCH (examination) | ||
| 23 | INFORM | Advise some villain for money (6) |
| Hidden solution [some]: [villa]IN FOR M[oney] | ||
| 25 | FRAUDULENT | Crooked force? Untrue, lad discovered (10) |
| F (force) + (UNTRUE LAD)* [* = discovered] | ||
| 26 | MEGA | Huge girl? No end (4) |
| MEGA[n] (girl, with no end) | ||
| 27 | OMEN | Sign guides drag off (4) |
| DRAGOMEN (guides) minus DRAG | ||
| 28 | DESERT RATS | Soldiers recalled pitch covered by leaves (6,4) |
| Reversal [recalled] of TAR (pitch), inside DESERTS (leaves) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | WINSOME | Fetching a few following victory (7) |
| WIN (victory) + SOME (a few) | ||
| 3 | LAP UP | Delight in friend climbing, and winning (3,2) |
| Reversal [climbing] of PAL (friend) + UP (winning) | ||
| 4 | TEMPLATE | Agency worker not on time, establishing a pattern (8) |
| TEMP (agency worker) + LATE (not on time) | ||
| 5 | MUCH OF A MUCHNESS | Pretty similar, two small churches famous US men built (4,2,1,8) |
| (CH, CH (two churches, abbreviated) + FAMOUS US MEN)* [* = built] | ||
| 6 | NATTER | Chat coming from check-in at terminal (6) |
| Hideen solution [coming from]: [check-i]N AT TER[minal] | ||
| 7 | BARCELONA | Big city prohibition on clubs – no ale, bubbly . . . (9) |
| BAR (prohibition) + C (clubs) + (NO ALE)* [* = bubbly] | ||
| 8 | MALMSEY | Madeira wine and port unfinished? Yes, knocked over! (7) |
| MALM[o] (port, in Sweden, unfinished) + a reversal [knocked over] of YES I know a bit about wine (meaning I like it) but I’d never come across this one. And I’ve been in Madeira twice! |
||
| 14 | DAY RETURN | Type of ticket ordered ready to go off (3,6) |
| (READY)* + TURN [* = ordered] | ||
| 16 | SINISTER | Serving up endless wine is ominous (8) |
| RETSIN[a] (wine, endless) + IS, together reversed [serving up] | ||
| 18 | THEOREM | Article on more complex proposition to be proved (7) |
| THE (article) + (MORE)* [* = complex] | ||
| 20 | MR RIGHT | Bishop in power, a woman’s ideal man? (2,5) |
| RR (bishop, right reverend) inside MIGHT (power) | ||
| 21 | GROUND | Stadium beginning to get full (6) |
| G[et] + ROUND (full) | ||
| 24 | FEMUR | Father describing flightless bird’s bone (5) |
| FR (father) around EMU (flightless bird) | ||
*anagram
Thanks Sil and Falcon.
I seem to recall that one of the Plantagenets – a brother of Edward IV – was supposedly drowned in a butt of MALMSEY. Probably better than taking a trip to Zurich! Although he probably had no say in the matter.
I did have to look up DRAGOMEN after a vague recollection at the back of my mind.
Otherwise tougher than usual but still a few ‘is that it?’ moments.
But this is a Monday puzzle so fair enough.
Enjoyable puzzle which I found difficult enough. Same new terms for me as for our blogger. Even though the answer was clear, I had no idea how TWELFTH worked in particular. Missed MALMSEY – thanks to Hamish for providing the rather grisly historical context. BUMF, MEGA and the surface for MR RIGHT were my favourites.
Thanks to Falcon and Sil.
Thanks Falcon and Sil
Time wise, this was about normal for this setter, but there was a fair bit of work validating a lot of the wordplay. Didn’t know that musical definition of TWELFTH, had to look up the MALMSEY wine, needed to check up on DRAGOMEN and re-remind myself of the MOCK TURTLE.
Finished in the top left corner with BUMF (a word that I’ve only learnt through crosswords), the MOCK TURTLE and MALMSEY as the last few in.