Prize Puzzle from Monday January 31
This was not difficult at all, except that it required a bit deeper cultural knowledge than usual. Andrew Motion is well known and frequently appears in crosswords; the interestingly named Wayne Sleep was not previously known to me.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CRASH PAD CRASH (accident) PAD (tramp) |
| 6 | STARCH STAR (celebrity) CH[urch] |
| 9 | INSANE S (piece of “Spode”) in INANE (senseless) |
| 10 | NORTH SEA *(EARTH SON) |
| 11 | PEAL E[cstasy] in PAL (mate) |
| 12 | IN EVIDENCE dd |
| 14 | LOTHARIO LOTH (reluctant) A RIO (Brazilian port) |
| 16 | CONK dd |
| 18 | LION hidden in DallagLIO Naturally; this is an &lit. since Lawrence Dallaglio was an English rugby star |
| 19 | SCORPION SCORPIO (house [of the Zodiac]) + N[ote] |
| 21 | SLEEP IT OFF I (one) in SLEEP (Wayne Sleep, renowned ballet dancer) TOFF (upper-class chap) |
| 22 | HEAT dd |
| 24 | EMOTICON C (about) in E[nglish] + [poet Andrew] MOTION |
| 26 | UPTURN UP (winning) TURN (act) |
| 27 | TEMPLE reverse hidden in hELP ME To |
| 28 | REDSHANK *(SHED) in RANK (row) |
| Down | |
| 2 | RANGE N[orthern] in RAGE (intense anger). |
| 3 | SMALL CHANGE dd |
| 4 | PREMIERE PREMIER (PM) E (last in “theatre”) |
| 5 | DANGEROUS CORNER DANGEROUS (hazardous) CORNER (hole). A 1932 play by JB Priestly. |
| 6 | STRAIN dd |
| 7 | ASH A S[pecial] H[ard] |
| 8 | CRESCENDO C[ollege] + *(CENSORED) |
| 13 | ESCAPE HATCH C[aught] in *(THE APACHES) |
| 15 | ORIFLAMME OR (gold) I (one) + M[ale] in FLAME (fire) |
| 17 | CONFOUND C (leader of “crew”) ON (working) FOUND (institute) |
| 20 | CIRCLE *(CLERIC) |
| 23 | APRON PRO (professional) in AN (article) |
| 25 | TOP dd |
Thanks Agentzero. Wayne Sleep was very famous a few years back. But I had never heard of Emoticon. And I had Crash bed. Bed probably means tramp as much as pad does, but clearly wasn’t going to fit with 4D.
Can you explain to me why leading lady = premiere
cheers
Hi John
“Premiere” is defined in Collins as 1. The first public performance of a film, play, opera etc. 2. The leading lady in a theatre company.
Regarding 1a, “tramp” and “pad” both refer to walking.
Solved mostly without aids but couldn’t see wordplay for 19a despite several attempts -so obvious now .