Monday Prize Crossword / Feb 13, 2017
This took me slightly longer than the average Mudd.
Very enjoyable, with some naughtiness included too.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | WIGGLE | Shake leg that’s slipped on rug (6) |
| WIG (rug) + (LEG)* [* = slipped] | ||
| 4 | TANGIBLE | Brown cat with loose skin, for real (8) |
| TAN (brown) + GIB (cat, a castrated tomcat) + L[oos]E | ||
| 10 | MANGANESE | Element having unusual name, gas describing neon (9) |
| (NAME + GAS)* around NE (neon) [* = unusual] | ||
| 11 | BINGO | Dispose of green light for house (5) |
| BIN (dispose of) + GO (green light) | ||
| 12 | NUTS | Screwy fasteners? (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | WEIGHTLESS | Number among twelve evenly distributed on ship, floating (10) |
| EIGHT (number) inside the even letters of TWELVE, plus SS (ship) | ||
| 15 | SULTANA | A shrivelled up concubine? (7) |
| Kind of double definition The first part referring to dry food. |
||
| 16 | REPORT | Statement on the left (6) |
| RE (on) + PORT (the left) | ||
| 19 | KABOOM | Sound of explosion, a shocker in outskirts of Khartoum (6) |
| A + BOO (shocker), together inside K[hartou]M Typical Mudd (/Paul/Punk) clue. |
||
| 21 | TIE DOWN | Secure passport stamped with initial of evacuee, entering urban area (3,4) |
| ID (passport) around E[vacuee], then the whole lot inside TOWN (urban area) | ||
| 23 | CHAMBER POT | Two taps on orange sink, something to go on (7,3) |
| C,H (two taps, Cold and Hot) + AMBER (orange) + POT (sink) Perhaps, when I am older? |
||
| 25 | DELI | Sound Indian location for shop (4) |
| Homophone [sound] of DELHI (Indian location) | ||
| 27 | RAITA | Condiment from Agra, I take? (5) |
| Hidden solution [from]: Agra I take Raita is an Indian side dish with yoghurt, cucumber and spices. Wholly appropriate surface. |
||
| 28 | IMPARTIAL | Neutral island, military seizing power (9) |
| I (island) + MARTIAL (military) around P (power) | ||
| 29 | SHE-DEVIL | Remove villainous vixen (3-5) |
| SHED (remove) + EVIL (villainous) | ||
| 30 | THANKS | Cheers, seeing back of fish in aquaria (6) |
| [fis]H inside TANKS (aquaria) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WOMANISH | Feminine ambition gripping the country (8) |
| WISH (ambition) around OMAN ((the) country) | ||
| 2 | GENITALIA | Point of fork stuck up into melon, as bits tucked away? (9) |
| GALIA ((a kind of) melon, small with sweet, juicy, orange flesh) around a reversal of TINE (point of fork) And the definition? Mudd likes his body parts. |
||
| 3 | LEAD | Heavy metal front man? (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | AVENGER | One retaliating, losing rag even? (7) |
| (RAG EVEN)* [*= losing] I am not going to discuss anagram indicators with an expert like Mudd but I don’t think I have seen this one before (very often). |
||
| 6 | GOBSTOPPER | Fit on heads of Boy Scouts, hat that’s sweet (10) |
| GO (fit) + B[oy] S[couts] + TOPPER (hat) | ||
| 7 | BONCE | Head cold in skull, perhaps? (5) |
| C (cold) inside BONE (skull, for example) | ||
| 8 | EGOIST | Self-seeker, say, is found in the Bible (6) |
| EG (say) + IS, together inside OT (Bible? Just the Old Testament, isn’t it?) | ||
| 9 | GENERA | Classes in Shakespeare neglected, upset (6) |
| Hidden [in] in “Shakespeare neglected”, then reversed [upset] | ||
| 14 | RAZOR BLADE | Unknown quantity buried by labrador after chewing on end of bone that’s sharp (5,5) |
| Z (unknown quantity) inside (LABRADOR)* + [bon]E [* = after chewing] | ||
| 17 | RHODESIAN | Sheridan plays about old African once (9) |
| (SHERIDAN)* around O (old) [* =plays] | ||
| 18 | ANTILLES | Group of islands offering rival deal in uprising (8) |
| ANTI (rival) + reversal [in uprising] of SELL (deal) | ||
| 20 | MARTINI | Drink, having little eating skill (7) |
| MINI (little) around ART (skill) | ||
| 21 | TROUPE | Company relocating to Peru (6) |
| (TO PERU)* [* = relocating] A theatre company. |
||
| 22 | SCORES | Many notches (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | ALIVE | A story about a formation of flying geese is quick (5) |
| A LIE (story) around V (fromation of flying geese, i.e. its shape) | ||
| 26 | ARCH | Bend to cut top from tree (4) |
| LARCH (tree) minus the first letter [cut top] | ||
*anagram
Thanks Mudd and Sil
A slightly harder Monday puzzle than usual and nothing wrong with that. Hadn’t seen the GALIA melon or the BONCE term for the head before and for some reason had not parsed WEIGHTLESS.
No other real holdups, finishing in the NW corner with the Pauline GENITALIA (not so much seen in the FT guise of this setter), the shrivelled up SULTANA and GENERA as the last few in.