Monday Prize Crossword/Nov 14
Crux is one of those setters whose crosswords I am always looking forward to. Many lovely touches and thoughtful cluing along the way.
However, sometimes I seem to expect a bit more than Crux actually offers, therefore having the feeling that the Real Corker is yet to come. Nevertheless, this was another good puzzle – no doubt about that – despite the fact that I am not on Crux’s wavelength when it comes to cryptic definitions: 11ac, 8d and also 2d [for some perhaps a fun clue] are just not my cup of tea. All in all, enjoyable stuff. Thanks Crux!
| Across | ||
| 1 | BILLOWING | Unpaid account affected by inflation |
| BILL OWING (unpaid account) | ||
| 6 | LEGIT | Escape may be allowed by law, shortly! |
| LEG IT (escape) and LEGIT being short for ‘legitimate’ (allowed by law) | ||
| 9 | IAMBI | Twice, I bring in a doctor for the feet |
| A MB (doctor) inside I I (twice I) | ||
| 10 | GREYBEARD | Terribly greedy Arab hasn’t a grandfather, perhaps |
| (GREEDY AR[a]B)* | ||
| 11 | REPRIMANDS | Rockets aimed always at one’s inferiors |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 12 | TEEM | Swarm heads off towards Europe every May |
| Starting letters: T[owards] E[urope] E[very] M[ay] | ||
| 14 | SUSTAIN | Soil surrounds us and gives support |
| STAIN (soil) surrounding US | ||
| 15 | LUCIFER | It was a match for Satan |
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | NESTLED | Curled up and listened without one being disturbed |
| (L[i]STENED)*, the deleted I being ‘one’ | ||
| 19 | COOKERS | Sorts of apple cores OK for recycling |
| (CORES OK)* | ||
| 20 | SPIN | Children put it on top – some doctors, too! |
| Children can put a SPIN on a spinning top, while SPIN can also be placed on top of ‘doctors’ to get ‘spin doctors’ | ||
| 22 | ESPLANADES | Places to stroll, in English suit, around endless countryside |
| E (nglish) SPADES (suit) around LAN[d] (countryside with the final letter missing) | ||
| Having only one L: ???L??????, I was convinced this would lead to ‘Boulevards’ – but alas. Although OK, I am not really happy with ‘land’ = ‘countryside’. | ||
| 25 | EASY TERMS | Ways to pay, popular with students, no doubt |
| Straightforward definition (ways to pay) with a nice extra bit (no doubt), squeezing in a cryptic one | ||
| 26 | ABASE | A foundation for what 11 are meant to do |
| A BASE (foundation) | ||
| 27 | TREAD | Walk-in centre – a disgrace |
| Hidden solution: [cen]TRE A D[isgrace] | ||
| 28 | SWEET MEAT | Tasty food, suitable for vegetarians, oddly |
| SWEET (tasty) MEAT (food) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BRIER | It’s made for smoking cheese – Roquefort, primarily |
| BRIE (cheese) + R[ocquefort] | ||
| 2 | LAMPPOSTS | On which setters, say, must make their mark |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 3 | ORIGINALLY | One spirit taken in by mouth, at first |
| {I (one) GIN (spirit)} inside ORALLY (by mouth) | ||
| 4 | INGRAIN | To impress, Carol and coach go topless |
| [s]ING (decapitalised ‘carol’ minus its first letter) + [t]RAIN (‘coach’ as a verb, also being topless) | ||
| 5 | GRENDEL | Tear into upraised limb of sea-monster |
| REND (tear) inside the reversal of LEG (limb) | ||
| 6 | LOBE | 80% of world could be site of a 24 |
| LOBE being 80% of GLOBE (world) | ||
| The solution of 24ac is ‘stud’, and one of its meanings is ‘an earring’ for which LOBE is the ‘site’. | ||
| 7 | GRAVE | Dignified foreign accent |
| Double definition, one of them referring to the ‘accent grave’ in the French language | ||
| 8 | TIDEMARKS | Transient shorelines, you might say |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 13 | ACCOUNTANT | Professional who’s briefly representative of California |
| A chief (or a chartered) ACCOUNTANT may be abbreviated as CA (California) | ||
| 14 | SONGSHEET | She gets on unconventional music programme |
| (SHE GETS ON)* | ||
| Very nice anagram fodder, but a solution that I couldn’t find in Chambers et al. | ||
| 16 | FIELDFARE | Bird providing ploughman’s lunch? |
| Straightforward definition (bird) plus a fine cryptic one | ||
| 18 | DESERTS | Appropriate rewards in parts of Africa |
| Double definition | ||
| I think ‘parts of Africa’ is a bit loose as a definition. | ||
| 19 | CELESTE | This French steel is used in keyboard instrument |
| CE (this, in French) + (STEEL)* | ||
| 21 | ISSUE | Problem child (female) is in the lead |
| IS being positioned in front of by SUE (child (female)) | ||
| ISSUE can mean ‘children’(plural) as a mass noun, so in this clue ‘child’ probably isn’t a second definition and must be linked to ‘female’. For me, just “Problem children” would have been a perfect clue. | ||
| 23 | SHEET | Shelter without sides shaped like a leaf |
| (SHE[l]TE[r])* | ||
| Initially, I wasn’t sure what ‘without sides’ meant. Could have been [s]HELTE[r], but here Crux wanted us to remove L (left) and R(ight) from ‘shelter’. Am I right that ‘like a’ is only there for the surface? | ||
| 24 | STUD | Sexual athlete associated with Press |
| Double definition | ||
| A STUD can be a sexually potent or attractive man (or one who thinks is, according to Chambers), and STUD can also be short for ‘press stud’, which is a clothes-fastener. | ||
Huge gaps in the NW.Couldn’t get
1a Very clever
11a I don’t think this is very good. Without any checking letters I think this is almost impossible to get.
14a
26a I really don’t like it when one clue refers to another -if you haven’t solved that one you are stuck. Is it just showing off? You seldom see it in the Times.
2d Very clever
4d Very hard -having to spot carol =sing and coach= train.
5d Never heard of it and didn’t have enough crossing letters to have a stab
23d That the blogger found it hard said it all.
Thanks for the blog -can’t say I enjoyed the puzzle.