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Monday Prize Crossword/Oct 3
Before I tackle a crossword I always have a first run through the clues. Not to try and find already some solutions but to see whether the surfaces look ‘exciting’. Crux is one of those setters whose cluing style I find consistently attractive.
There is nearly always something going on in his puzzles and this one was no exception. I am still more or less puzzled by 15ac, and 21d had me almost April-fooled … Many thanks to Crux for another nice and gentle crossword, very enjoyable to solve.
| Across | ||
| 1 | RECREATION | Play about Genesis |
| RE (about) + CREATION (Genesis) | ||
| Nice little start to the puzzle. Concise and effective. | ||
| 6 | DOPE | Drugs advice for the unfit |
| DO PE (physical education) | ||
| This was my last one in and a fine clue it was. | ||
| 9 | OVERDRAFTS | Excessive withdrawal symptoms? |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 10 | STEP | Rear dogs eg for the stage |
| Reversal of PETS (dogs, eg) | ||
| 12 | OFF THE RECORD | Deleted from disc, so unprintable |
| Double definition, the first being cryptic | ||
| 15 | EARTHLING | In translation, ET’s term for “human being”? |
| Cryptic definition, or? | ||
| This clue is so wordy that there must be something more to it. Unfortunately, I do not see it. | ||
| 17 | SAUDI | Arab’s second German car |
| S (second) + AUDI (german car) | ||
| 18 | TAMIL | Dog bites Frenchman – the language! |
| TAIL (dog, as a verb) around M (Monsieur, Frenchman) | ||
| 19 | ARSENICAL | Premiership side has in charge a deadly combination |
| ARSENAL (Premiership side) around IC (in charge) | ||
| Oh, they wish they have! | ||
| 20 | ROMANTICALLY | Caesar was so involved with Cleopatra (his empire comes first) |
| In the solution ROMAN (Caesar’s empire) comes first | ||
| 24 | ENVY | It’s jealousy the ambassador shows, not love |
| ENVOY (the ambassador?) less O (love) | ||
| According to the dictionaries an envoy is ranked below an ambassador. Therefore my question mark. | ||
| 25 | FIBROSITIS | Lies around, restless, or is it backpain? |
| FIBS (lies) around (OR IS IT)* | ||
| 26 | RARE | Runs are few and far between |
| R(runs) + ARE | ||
| 27 | BELLADONNA | Lovely Italian lady brought a sparkle to the eye |
| Double definition, the second being cryptic | ||
| A lovely Italian lady is a “bella donna”, but belladonna is also another name for “deadly nightshade”. Poison, medicine and cosmetic in one. According to our friend Wiki the name is originating “either from its usage as cosmetic for the face, or, more probably, from its usage to increase the pupil size in ladies”. Which explains the second part of the clue. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ROOK | Overcharge a man on board |
| Double definition | ||
| 2 | CAEN | French city leaders, of course, are elected normally |
| Starting letters (leaders) of C[ourse] A[re] E[lected] N[ormally] | ||
| 3 | END OF THE LINE | Where rhyme goes with “buffer”, appropriately |
| Double/Cryptic definition | ||
| 4 | TRAIT | A renegade lacks or displays this feature |
| TRAIT[or] | ||
| 5 | OUTWEIGHS | Compensates for using antiquated manners, we hear |
| OUT (antiquated) + homophone of WAYS (manners) | ||
| 7 | OUT TO LUNCH | Dining at the Ritz, twelve-ish? That’s crazy! |
| Double definition, the first being cryptic | ||
| The Ritz – the obvious place to have a lunch, of course ….. | ||
| 8 | ESPADRILLE | It’s made solely of rope |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| An ‘espadrille’ is a sandal of which the sole is often made of rope. | ||
| 11 | PERSONALISED | Such posh notepaper has old passerine design |
| (OLD PASSERINE)* | ||
| 13 | YESTERYEAR | Twenty-ten, poetically speaking |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 2010: that was last year, but poets have their own way of dealing with it. | ||
| 14 | PRIME MOVER | Proper English male finished as original author |
| PRIM (proper) + E (English) + M (male) + OVER (finished) | ||
| 16 | ITALICISE | Write letters inclined to be wildly idealistic, almost |
| (I[d]EALISTIC)* | ||
| When you leave the “d” out, this is indeed “almost idealistic”. Normally, “almost” is used to indicate that the last letter(s) should be deleted. Not here though. My PinC says that it’s all right …. See comment #2 for a parsing that takes away my reservations. | ||
| 21 | APRIL | Pair getting sick about springtime |
| PR (pair) with AIL (getting sick, as a gerund) around it | ||
| Initially I was convinced that there was something wrong here. I went for (PAIR)* + yes, plus what? An L? Then I thought maybe the final IL has something to do with ‘ill’. But then I saw the light! I guess ‘ail’ is not just ‘sick’ here (should have been ‘sicken’ then), so I took ‘getting’ into account as well. | ||
| 22 | STUN | Shock: Bananas going up! |
| Reversal of NUTS (bananas) | ||
| 23 | ASIA | One-third of all land held by Vespasian |
| Hidden solution: [Vesp] ASIA [n] | ||
Re 15a
Let’s say that an ET, an alien, living on some remote planet, wants to refer, while speaking or writing, to a “human being”. The alien may, probably with some contempt, call the human being an EARTHLING. Is this how Crux wants us to interpret the clue?
Thanks Crux for the puzzle and Sil for this blog. I would justify 16dn by forming the anagram as ITALICISED and then dropping the last letter.
Further on 15ac: ET would not naturally speak English, so his term for a human would need to be translated – hence “In translation” in the clue. I think that is all there is to this clue, but would happily be persuaded otherwise.
Thanks, Rishi and PB, for the posts.
I still find EARTHLING a very strange clue, but so was ET it(?)self. 🙂
PB’s justification of dropping the D in 16d is an OK one, I think – and one I would go with now. So many thanks for that.
Hi Sil, I’m coming very late to this puzzle (just printed it out and solved it during a late lunch).
Thanks for these well done and nicely organised blog posts.
I had the same reaction as you to EARTHLING, and a similar reaction to 20 across, ROMANTICALLY. Is that all there is to it? Meaning, is there no subsidiary indication for “-TICALLY”?