Monday Prize Crossword / Jul 17, 2017
Quite an ordinary Dante, in my opinion, with an overdose of cryptic definitions.
Unfortunately, they were not all that brilliant.
I have some other remarks too which add to my relative lack of enthusiasm for the crossword.
Better next time!
Definitions underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | ALUMNI | They are students of the past (6) |
| (Not such a) Cryptic definition The first one of the set and my FOI. Yet, I hesitated to enter the word because of it being so obvious. |
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| 4 | PENCHANT | An aptitude to write and sing (8) |
| PEN (write) + CHANT (sing) | ||
| 9 | SODIUM | Sum I do wrongly, although it’s elementary (6) |
| (SUM I DO)* [* = wrongly] The chemical element Na, therefore “it’s elementary”. |
||
| 10 | TERMINUS | The last place to find public transport (8) |
| Cryptic definition And one of a few that weren’t as cryptic as Dante’s best. |
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| 12 | ZERO HOUR | It’s when to start, but nothing’s on time (4,4) |
| ZERO (nothing) + HOUR (time) | ||
| 13 | PLAY UP | Badly behave and give undue prominence to it (4,2) |
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | SEEK | Look for the bishop’s office before the week-end (4) |
| SEE (the bishop’s office) + [wee]K | ||
| 16 | TOURNIQUET | Quite badly injured on journey north – need this? (10) |
| TOUR (journey) + N (north) + (QUITE)* [* = badly injured] I could – perhaps should – have underlined the whole clue. |
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| 19 | UP THE SPOUT | Expecting whale to blow here? (2,3,5) |
| Double / Cryptic definition | ||
| 20 | ECHO | Sound reflection (4) |
| Cryptic definition And another weak one, in my opinion. |
||
| 23 | UNEVEN | Odd description of something rough (6) |
| (Kind of) Double definition ‘Uneven’ can be seen as ‘ not even’ = ‘odd’. ‘Uneven’ is also ‘not smooth’ = ‘rough’. Whether the answer is ‘something rough’ is another matter! |
||
| 25 | AUTONOMY | Car goes round on my own control (8) |
| AUTO (car) around ON, + MY If one wishes, ‘my’ could be taken in to the definition – it would do double duty, then. |
||
| 27 | EDUCATED | Having been taught well, cadet due for promotion (8) |
| (CADET DUE)* [* = for promotion] Although Chambers Thesaurus gives ‘development’ for ‘promotion’ (as 10th choice!), I still cannot see ‘for promotion’ as a proper anagram indicator. |
||
| 28 | PATHOS | Feeling love in little ways (6) |
| O (love) inside PATHS (little ways) | ||
| 29 | ELEMENTS | Table set out for chemistry students (8) |
| Cryptic definition ‘Elements’ are the building stones of the periodic table. Once more a cd that doesn’t fully work for me. |
||
| 30 | DEADLY | Having grave consequences (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ASSIZES | One may have had a trying time at them (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 2 | UNDERFELT | Not above taking in hand material to ensure one’s pile lasts longer (9) |
| UNDER (not above) + FELT (in hand ?) Unfortunately, I had here ‘undervest’ which is wrong. Thanks to posts 1 and 2 for putting me right. |
||
| 3 | NOUGHT | Go out and hunt out duck (6) |
| ((GO)* + HUNT)** [* = out][** = out] I had to think about how this works. It is certainly not (GO)* + (HUNT)*. |
||
| 5 | EYES | They look for sounds of agreement (4) |
| Homophone [sounds of]: AYES (agreement, the ayes have it) | ||
| 6 | CAMELLIA | Order me a lilac – or another shrub (8) |
| (ME A LILAC)* [* = order] | ||
| 7 | ANNOY | A small number in New York get plague (5) |
| A + {NO (number, abbreviated) inside NY (New York)} | ||
| 8 | TOSSPOT | Throw crockery at old drunk (7) |
| TOSS (throw) + POT (crockery) | ||
| 11 | RUDOLPH | Christmas present drawer acting as a guide (7) |
| Cryptic definition And my LOI – I found it hard to set my mind on that time of year. |
||
| 14 | ARDUOUS | A dour disposition is, to us, hard to bear (7) |
| (A DOUR)* + US [* = disposition] | ||
| 17 | UNCLOTHED | He couldn’t go about in the nude (9) |
| (HE COULDN’T)* [* = go about] | ||
| 18 | DELEGATE | Representative to get instruction to remove barrier (8) |
| DELE (remove) + GATE (barrier) | ||
| 19 | UKULELE | It was handpicked by George Formby (7) |
| Cryptic definition A write-in after seeing the name George Formby. |
||
| 21 | ODYSSEY | A long wandering tale (7) |
| Cryptic definition Another write-in after I had the O at the start. |
||
| 22 | DONATE | Give academic a note (6) |
| DON (academic) + A + TE (note) | ||
| 24 | ETUDE | Musical study in France (5) |
| Double definition Actually, an overlapping double definition. ‘Musical study’ and the French word for ‘study’. |
||
| 26 | DEFT | Note the amphibian is adroit (4) |
| D (note, musical note) + EFT (amphibian) An eft is a kind of newt, a salamander-like creature. |
||
*anagram
Thanks Dante and Sil. For 2dn I have underfelt, keeping carpet pile lasting longer.
UNDERFELT for me too. Didn’t know dele for delete.
Thanks, you’re surely right.
I will tweak the blog.
So, ‘felt’ is ‘in hand’?
Thanks Dante and Sil
Pretty normal offering from Dante here. Only issues that I ended up with were not taking into account the mixing of GO with the mixing of HUNT to get the really correct parsing of 3d. Also missed the DELE definition with 18d – hadn’t seen that printers term before.
Initially had CARESS at 28a (CARE + S S with a loose definition for ‘feeling’) but eventually saw the way.
Finished with RUDOLPH which was rather slick when it finally dawned on me.