FT Prize Puzzle from Monday April 11
This blog is appearing one day earlier than usual, since the puzzle indicated that solutions were due by Tuesday (rather than the usual Wednesday), April 19.
Not a lot to say today, except that, as is often the case, my favorite clues were those that read so smoothly as to appear effortless: e.g., 8 down or 17 down. Thanks once again to Crux for a fine puzzle.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | DILIGENT D[etective] I[nspector] (detective) LI (51) GENT (nice chap) |
| 5 | ISOBAR A in *(BORIS) |
| 10 | VENOM hidden in we’VE NO Means |
| 11 | VIOLATING VIOLA (string instrument) TING (bell sound) |
| 12 | ROAD SENSE ROAD (way) SENSE (reason) |
| 13 | LARGO L[earner] in ARGO (fabulous ship) |
| 14 | STATUS STATUES (idols) minus E (“out east”) |
| 15 | SACKBUT SACK (fire) BUT (however). The best-named instrument ever. |
| 18 | ACRONYM A CRONY (close friend) M[arried] The acronym refers to Tax-Exempt Special Savings Accounts |
| 20 | SIMPLE dd |
| 22 | LOCUM cd; a LOCUM [TENENS] is a deputy, most commonly of a medical practitioner |
| 24 | MARGARINE GAR (fish) in MARINE (soldier on ship) |
| 25 | GHOST TOWN G[rand] HOST (army) + *(WON’T) |
| 26 | IVORY OR (gold) in IVY (the climber) |
| 27 | TEETHE An excellent cd. I wondered whether there was additional wordplay in this clue (which reads “get through the first set”); if TEE could be defined by SET, then “the first set” would also indicate the solution. However, I couldn’t find any such definition, so this was probably intended simply as a cryptic definition. |
| 28 | MEAN WELL MEAN (tight) WELL (fit) |
| Down | |
| 1 | DIVERS DIVERS[e] (not completely “different”) |
| 2 | LANCASTER *(CANAL) + *(REST) |
| 3 | GAME SET AND MATCH GAME (plucky) + E[nglish] in STAND (resistance) + MATCH (striker) |
| 4 | NOVENAS NOV[ember] (a month) + SANE (sound) reversed |
| 6 | STABLE COMPANION *(POLICEMAN’S BATON) |
| 7 | BRIER BRIE (cheese) = R (“Roquefort,” primarily) |
| 8 | RAGWORTS *(GROW) in RATS (deserts) |
| 9 | BOXERS BOX (pack) ER’S (the Queen’s) |
| 16 | BALTIMORE BALTI (spicy dish) MORE (extra) |
| 17 | FANLIGHT AN in FLIGHT (some stairs) |
| 19 | MAMMON M[any] AMMO (bullets, shells, etc.) N[ew] |
| 20 | STRANGE *(GARNETS) |
| 21 | JEKYLL Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego was Mr. Hyde, which is a homophone of HIDE (obscure). |
| 23 | CHORE CHO[re] (60% of “chore”) R.E. (Scripture) |