Monday Prize Crossword / Oct 3, 2016
Last time no Rufus nor Dante, ‘this’ Monday they were both there.
Not many cryptic definitions but a lot of anagram based clues in this puzzle.
Always helpful for ‘improving solvers’.
And I need help too, for 12ac!
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SECTOR | Dry and stony hill area (6) |
| SEC (dry) + TOR (stony hill) | ||
| 4 | IN RELIEF | For pain alleviation it’s outstanding (2,6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 9 | INROAD | Attack as unsafe place for children to play (6) |
| Children should not play IN the ROAD – it’s not safe. The Urban Dictionary tells us: “Take your toys and go play in the road, idiot“. |
||
| 10 | PETER PAN | Safe to criticise one who never grew up (5,3) |
| PETER (safe) + PAN (criticise) | ||
| 12 | DUELLIST | Second employer (8) |
| (Must be a) Cryptic definition My last one in, and the answer is surely correct, but even after more than a week it still puzzles me. |
||
| 13 | STALIN | European leader made his mark when about fifty (6) |
| STAIN (mark) around L (fifty) It was in the 1930s that Stalin rose to fame (or was it: rose to shame?). The ‘man of steel’ (the actual meaning of the nickname Stalin) was indeed in his fifties then ….. |
||
| 15 | GRAB | Bag snatch (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | SECOND MATE | Naval officer back with wife? (6,4) |
| SECOND (back) + MATE (wife, for example) | ||
| 19 | OVER THE TOP | Into action without restraint (4,3,3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | VERA | She’s over acting in part (4) |
| Hidden solution [in part]: over acting ‘Overacting’ should surely be one word? |
||
| 23 | HAGGLE | Old crone gets leg broken into the bargain (6) |
| HAG (old crone) + (LEG)* [* = broken] I find Dante’s use of ‘into’ and ‘the’ as link words in this clue dubious. |
||
| 25 | UNDERDOG | Being grounded, perhaps, and made a scapegoat (8) |
| (GROUNDED)* [* = perhaps] For me, an underdog is not the same as a scapegoat. |
||
| 27 | LEAVINGS | Crumbs! Svengali’s gone mad! (8) |
| (SVENGALI)* [* = gone mad] | ||
| 28 | MENTAL | Crazy lament? (6) |
| (LAMENT)* [* = crazy] ‘Crazy’ being both the anagram indicator and the definition – not my cup of tea. Perhaps, the question mark does the trick. |
||
| 29 | OPENNESS | Quality of unconcealed hospitality (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 30 | ANGLES | They are all right in the square (6) |
| (Not so) Cryptic definition A square has four right angles, as simple as that. |
||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SHINDIG | Possibly sigh about unusual din coming from a party (7) |
| (SIGH)* around (DIN)** [* = possibly] [** = unusual] | ||
| 2 | CORRELATE | Match later restaged in the centre (9) |
| (LATER)* inside CORE (the centre) [* = restaged] | ||
| 3 | ORALLY | Love to head the fight-back by word of mouth (6) |
| O (love) preceding RALLY (fight-back) | ||
| 5 | NOES | Ones for reform – yet they vote against (4) |
| (ONES)* [* = for reform] | ||
| 6 | EVENTIDE | Balanced prepared diet rounds off the day (8) |
| EVEN (balanced) + (DIET)* [* = prepared] | ||
| 7 | IMPEL | Urge on the politician that is left outside (5) |
| MP (politician) with on the outside IE (that is) + L (left) | ||
| 8 | FINANCE | Intended to include new money (7) |
| FIANCE (intended) around N (new) | ||
| 11 | USHERED | Crafty ruse he’d introduced (7) |
| (RUSE HE’D)* [* = crafty] | ||
| 14 | BOLOGNA | Unusually long creeper seen round Italian city (7) |
| (LONG)* with BOA (creeper, a snake) around it | ||
| 17 | ANECDOTAL | Like some stories, can lead to novel (9) |
| (CAN LEAD TO)* [* = novel] | ||
| 18 | STALLION | Stop one on a horse (8) |
| STALL (stop) + I (one) + ON | ||
| 19 | OTHELLO | He didn’t trust his wife to look after a new hotel (7) |
| (HOTEL)* + LO (look) [* = new] | ||
| 21 | ANGELUS | Guardian supported by American in daily prayers (7) |
| ANGEL (guardian) + US (American) | ||
| 22 | DEMEAN | Humble cleric taking me to heart (6) |
| DEAN (cleric) with ME in the middle | ||
| 24 | GRAVE | Serious, but not acute (5) |
| Double definition ‘Grave accent’ as opposite to ‘acute accent’. |
||
| 26 | AGES | Gets older and agrees about being dropped (4) |
| AGREES minus RE (about) | ||
*anagram
Thanks Dante and Sil
Typical Dante type puzzle that took 2-3 shortish sessions when I could grab some time during the Tuesday after publication.
I saw DUELLIST early on and quite liked it. A second would be used / employed by a DUELLIST to attend the event (and I assume carry away his body if unsuccessful or whatever they did if he won) !
Agree with you on the SCAPEGOAT / UNDERDOG question mark.
Finished in the NE corner with PETER PAN, IN RELIEF and STALIN as the last few in,