Monday Prize Crossword/Sept 5
A very enjoyable crossword by Crux who is mostly clever (eg 8d) and inventive (eg 20ac) but at times also chestnutty (like in 13ac or 5d). Plus that I think what happens at 21d is a real letdown. However, I would like to stick with Crux because there are too many clues here that I really like.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SMOKER | He’s good-hearted yet banned from pubs |
| The heart of SMOKER is OK (good), that’s basically it, but …. | ||
| …. there are a lot of words with OK at their heart. However when the definition is so clear as it is here I’m more than fine with it. | ||
| 4 | KICKBACK | Pass to goalkeeper, perhaps, displays a special gift |
| You might KICK a ball BACK to the goalkeeper, leading to KICKBACK which is indeed a special gift, often being a bribe. | ||
| 9 | ALBEIT | Consort lost right to one, even though . . . . |
| ALBERT (the Prince consort of Queen Victoria) with the R (right) replaced by I (one) | ||
| 10 | TEENAGER | . . . . English regent took in a troublesome youth |
| A inside (E (English) REGENT)* | ||
| Unfortunately there is no link with the previous clue other than that Albert may be called an English regent. In fact, the surface here doesn’t need 9ac at all.. Moreover, as a result, the insertion indicator (‘took’) is now (because of 9ac) in the past tense – something that purists do not like. | ||
| 12 | TIDEMARK | It goes round country (not north) as line on beach |
| TI (reversal of IT) + {DENMARK (country) less N (north)} | ||
| 13 | TSETSE | Set off more than once and finally fly |
| (SET)* + (SET)* , so ‘more than once’ | ||
| One of a few obvious chestnuts in this crossword. | ||
| 15 | ELMO | Saint associated with fire, wood, and love |
| ELM (wood) + O (love) | ||
| It did remind me of a typical (American) 80s song “St Elmo’s Fire” by John Parr – title track from the film of the same name. | ||
| 16 | STAGEHOUNDS | A hunt’s dogs might be if properly trained |
| (A HUNT’S DOGS)*, probably an &Lit | ||
| 19 | TANK ENGINE | Possibly Thomas, Ken and Ian get name confused |
| (KEN + IAN GETS N[ame])* | ||
| Our friend Thomas the Tank Engine | ||
| 20 | ABBA | They used to record blood groups |
| Three blood groups: AB, B and A | ||
| 23 | TYRANT | Twenty ran this, including Stalin, of course |
| Hidden solution: [twen]TY RAN T[his] | ||
| 25 | CATHOLIC | General gripes about new style of hat |
| COLIC (gripes) around (HAT)* | ||
| 27 | INACTIVE | Still popular and on the go |
| IN (popular) + ACTIVE (on the go) | ||
| 28 | LESSON | Period for wearing skimpier garments? |
| LESS ON (wearing skimpier garments) | ||
| For a long time I was focused on the answer being SEASON (for no cryptic reason). When I asked my PinC to help me on this one, she answered within 10 seconds: LESSON. Yep, that was it, although we both weren’t (fully) convinced by ‘Period’ as the definition. | ||
| 29 | ETHYLENE | Girl is told directions for manufacturing gas |
| (Homophone of ETHEL (girl)) + E,N,E (directions) | ||
| Even if the surface is not that bad, I initially found this a bit of an inelegant construction with ‘ so many directions’, but as scchua points out @1 it could also be seen as E,NE. | ||
| 30 | HEARTS | He acquires skills playing cards |
| HE + ARTS (skills) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | STARTLE | Rattles, surprisingly, can do this |
| (RATTLES)* | ||
| 2 | OMBUDSMAN | Commisioner gives order then shoots somebody |
| OM (order) + BUDS (shoots) + MAN (somebody) | ||
| 3 | ENIGMA | Mystery game in which you must change |
| (GAME IN)* | ||
| Chestnutty solution, although the anagrind is quite nice (and grammatically correct). | ||
| 5 | IDES | Dies out around mid-month for the Romans |
| (DIES)* | ||
| Another chestnut. | ||
| 6 | KINGSTON | Top royals not raised in the capital |
| KINGS (top royals) + reversal of NOT | ||
| Not sure whether ‘Top’ is of any use here [see also: comment #1]. The answer is of course ‘the’ capital of Jamaica, but the clue doesn’t really need ‘the’ in my opinion. That is, apart from the surface, of course. | ||
| 7 | ARGOT | Barbarians at heart understood this secret language |
| [barb]AR[ians] + GOT (understood) | ||
| 8 | KERNELS | Senior officers, it’s said, could be 30 |
| Homophone of COLONELS (senior officers), the definition being ‘hearts’ (=30ac) | ||
| 11 | PROTÉGÉ | Ward specialist needs time, say, and energy |
| PRO (specialist) + T (time) + EG (say) +E (energy) | ||
| 14 | UGANDAN | African with a gun violation also locked up |
| AND (also) inside (A GUN)* | ||
| 17 | NEBULISER | Blue rinse, restyle and spray |
| (BLUE RINSE)* | ||
| 18 | NEONATAL | Anyone on a talent show of newborn babies! |
| Here I was completely wrong, carelessly assuming that the answer was an anagram of ON A TALENT, which of course cannot be right because of the two Ts. Thanks to scchua (again!) to correct me. | ||
| 19 | TITMICE | Little birds time it badly and catch cold |
| (TIME IT)* around C[old] | ||
| 21 | ACCENTS | They stress a dollar’s value |
| A + C CENTS (100 cents = dollar’s value) | ||
| Sometimes Dante repeats himself, but Crux doing this is a relatively new phenomenon. This is the second time recently that Crux has a clue that is exactly the same as one in his previous crossword. | ||
| 22 | CHEESE | A last word before being shot? |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 24 | ROACH | Bird leaves hated insect for fish |
| COCKROACH (hated insect) less COCK (bird) | ||
| 26 | OVEN | Place for burning witches after beheading |
| [c]OVEN, ‘coven’ being an assembly of 13 witches – oh, those were the days! | ||
Thanks Sil and Crux.
As you say, an enjoyable puzzle, chestnuts, repetition and all.
I liked 16A STAGHOUNDS, 2D OMBUDSMAN and 17D NEBULISER.
Re: 29A ETHYLENE, I considered E(east) and NE(northeast) as being only 2 directions, and therefore perhaps not “too many”
6D KINGSTON, I thought that “top” signified the highest of the royals, ie. kings (and queens of course)
18D NEONATAL: I think this is hidden(“show”) in “AnyoNE ON A TALent”, hence why “anyone” is in the clue.