Monday Prize Crossword/Dec 10
For some reason one day earlier than usual, I am happy to present another Dante blog. Mostly common ground, but as always one clue that made my brain cells work and work and work (26d, the last clue of the puzzle).
Definitions are underlined wherever appropriate and/or possible.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TAKE IN | Cheat with contract (4,2) |
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | WHO CARES | How races are organised? Noone’s interested (3,5) |
| (HOW RACES)* | ||
| 9 | CANVAS | Is able to get five to like the artist’s work (6) |
| CAN (is able) + V (five) + AS (like) | ||
| 10 | OVERAWED | Girl in love getting married was subdued (8) |
| VERA (girl) inside {O (love) + WED (getting married)} | ||
| 12 | ARMOURER | Arsenal manager (8) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 13 | FUNNEL | Fire-escape on board ship (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Perhaps, some considered ‘tunnel’ as the answer here (because of the escape option) but it is really FUNNEL: a metal chimney on a ship or steam engine. | ||
| 15 | AIDE | Assistant with first-class degree lost heart (4) |
| AI (first class, A1) + D[egre]E | ||
| 16 | TEAR-JERKER | Moving picture? (4-6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 19 | RESISTANCE | Withstanding underground movement (10) |
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | INCA | Trendy accountant lived in Peru (4) |
| IN (trendy) + CA (accountant, Chief Accountant) | ||
| 23 | SURELY | Certainly depend on American backing (6) |
| RELY (depend) following SU (American backing, reversal of US) | ||
| 25 | RED-FACED | Embarrassed-looking Marxist confronted (3-5) |
| RED (Marxist) + FACED (confronted) | ||
| 27 | DONATION | Serve the people present (8) |
| DO (serve) + NATION (the people) | ||
| 28 | COMBAT | Doctor in habit of fighting (6) |
| MB (doctor) inside COAT (habit) | ||
| 29 | EXPEDITE | Don’t delay construction of deep exit (8) |
| (DEEP EXIT)* | ||
| 30 | STRAND | Desert sometimes washed by the sea (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TOCCATA | Composition that calls for assurance of touch (7) |
| Straightforward definition plus a cryptic element added to that in the second part of the clue | ||
| It took me a while to make sense of the cryptic part of this clue. As Tony says @2: his “Chambers defines toccata as ‘a musical work intended primarily to display the performer’s touch…” – that’s just it, I fear | ||
| 2 | KING MIDAS | His contacts all turned out to be valuable (4,5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 3 | ICARUS | I take road transport to America – he tried flying (6) |
| I + CAR (road transport) + US (America) | ||
| 5 | HIVE | Workers’ home (4) |
| Cryptic definition, referring to bees | ||
| 6 | CAROUSEL | Girl secures employment as baggage carrier (8) |
| CAROL (girl) around USE (employment) | ||
| 7 | ROWAN | A worn out tree (5) |
| (A WORN)* | ||
| 8 | SADDLER | He’s no better, all he makes goes on horses (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 11 | SEVERAL | More than two part with a pound (7) |
| SEVER (part) + A + L (pound) | ||
| 14 | BRACKEN | Ferns get support in a mountain setting (7) |
| RACK (support) inside BEN (mountain) | ||
| 17 | KING COBRA | Royal Horse Artillery after a hooded killer (4,5) |
| KING (Royal) + COB (Horse) + RA (Artillery, in fact Royal Artillery) | ||
| 18 | ISOLATED | Divorced ladies to be rehabilitated (8) |
| (LADIES TO)* | ||
| 19 | RESIDUE | Balance to settle around mid-January (7) |
| RESIDE (to settle) around [jan]U[ary] | ||
| 21 | AUDITED | Made a searching examination, by all accounts (7) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 22 | AFLOAT | On the surface it’s a delivery vehicle (6) |
| A + FLOAT (delivery vehicle) | ||
| 24 | RUN UP | Raise the standard in course at university (3,2) |
| RUN (course) + UP (at university) | ||
| 26 | BOLT | Shot for security reasons (4) |
| Doublish definition | ||
| This was my last entry. There are so many words that fit the ?O?T bill. While being a macabre clue, from a cryptic point of view it is a rather ‘good’ surface. | ||
I couldn’t solve
27a-neverthought of present =gift, thought of present =now
24d first word
30a
You’ll have to spell it out for me on 1d, please. Composition =toccata I get but I don’t follow the rest of the clue. Calls, assurance, touch???
Thnaks
I also needed to seek help for 27a.
Re 1d my Chambers defines toccata as ‘a musical work intended primarily to display the performer’s touch….’
Meant nothing to me until I found this.
I rather liked tear jerker