Monday Prize Crossword/Dec 30
After two Dantes we were likely to get a Crux and yes indeed! Did I like this puzzle? Not sure.
My solving partner didn’t like the puzzle as a whole because of too many cryptic definition-like clues that were weak (in her opinion). I fear I have to agree. That said, there were as ever some very thoughtful clues (29ac and 27d being two of the best).
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | GOBLIN | Almost lose sight of mischievous spirit (6) |
| GO BLIND (lose sight) minus the final (‘almost’) D | ||
| 4 | ARMS RACE | Pre-war competition? (4,4) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 9 | SETTER | Man’s best friend, maybe, created this! (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 10 | ESSAYIST | Attempt is first of thousands for Montaigne, say (8) |
| ESSAY (attempt) + IS + T[housands] | ||
| 12 | EDEN | Garden shed enthusiasts have the prototype (4) |
| Hidden solution: [sh]ED EN[thusiasts] | ||
| Quite an original indicator, methinks. | ||
| 13 | TRURO | Faithful argue endlessly in cathedral city (5) |
| TRUE (faithful) and ROW (argue) both ‘endlessly’: TRU[e] + RO[w] | ||
| 14 | TINT | Colour can, with time (4) |
| TIN (can) + T (time) | ||
| 17 | EYE OF A NEEDLE | Easy passage for a camel, apparently (3,2,1,6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| My solving partner didn’t find this cryptic at all. | ||
| 20 | IN THE LONG RUN | Where steeplechasers go, sooner or later (2,3,4,3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 23 | ETON | Oral taken in college (4) |
| Homophone (‘oral’) of EATEN (taken) | ||
| 24 | ROOST | Does highest in pecking order rule it? (5) |
| Cryptic definition, punning on ‘rule the roost’ | ||
| 25 | NIPS | What some doctors do in return for little drinks (4) |
| Reversal (‘in return’) of SPIN (what some doctors do, spin doctors) | ||
| “She” liked this one! | ||
| 28 | MANNIKIN | Little chap reportedly mad to joinin (8) |
| Homophone (‘reportedly’) of MANIC (mad) + IN | ||
| 29 | LIBIDO | After fifty I offer love . . . . and lust! (6) |
| L (fifty) + I + BID (offer) + O (love) | ||
| 30,31 | TREAD THE BOARDS | A brother’s dated plays appear on stage (5,3,6) |
| (A BROTHER’S DATED)* | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | GAS METER | It may well be read below stairs (3,5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 2 | BUTTERED | Like the toast that’s mostly spoken (8) |
| Most of the solution is UTTERED (spoken) | ||
| 3 | ITEM | Matter brought up in arithmetic (4) |
| Hidden solution, reversed (‘brought up’): [c]ITEM[htira] | ||
| 5 | RESERVED LIST | Record of ex-officers, the retiring sort, it seems (8,4) |
| RESERVED (retiring) + LIST (sort), it seems | ||
| 6 | STAG | Such a night leads to serious trouble – and gaol! (4) |
| Starting letters (‘leads’) of: S[erious] T[rouble] A[nd] G[aol] | ||
| 7 | ACIDIC | Sharp spies about to ensnare detectives (6) |
| AIC (reversal (‘about’) of CIA (spies)) around CID (detectives) | ||
| 8 | ENTITY | Being like a bird in east New York (6) |
| TIT (bird) inside {E (east) NY (New York)} | ||
| 11 | FRENCH POLISH | Shine, bilingually (6,6) |
| Two languages (‘bilingually’): FRENCH and POLISH | ||
| 15,26 | OF ONE MIND | Men in food riot are united (2,3,4) |
| (MEN IN FOOD)* | ||
| 16 | GLAND | Girl donating heart and liver, for example (5) |
| G[ir]L (‘donating heart’ ie leave out the middle letters) + AND | ||
| 18 | BRAINIER | Black Prince turns out smarter (8) |
| B (black) + RAINIER (Prince, of Monaco) | ||
| 19 | INKSPOTS | Blotches skins develop, injecting drug (8) |
| (SKINS)* with POT (drug) inside | ||
| 21 | PERMIT | Authorise advice for hair treatment (6) |
| “PERM IT” might be an ‘advice for hair treatment’ | ||
| 22 | POUNCE | Jump like a big cat, under pressure (6) |
| P (pressure) + OUNCE (a big cat) | ||
| 26 | See 15 | |
| 27 | BIRO | Pocket item, one with rotating ball, appropriately (4) |
| I (one) with BRO (reversal (‘rotating’) of ORB (ball)) going around it (‘appropriately’, ie rotating or circling, something like that) | ||
While I agree that some clues seem to be lacking one way or the other, I think there is more to 27d than what you have mentioned.
I look at it this way:
Pocket item, – (def)
one – I
with – (link)
rotating ball, – ORB
appropriately – anag signal
A Biro has a rotating ball at the tip. That’s the additional beauty of the clue.
Agree with you Rishi!
I thought about that too and should perhaps have mentioned the semi-&Litishness of this clue.
Thanks, Sil & Crux.
Rishi @1: Re 27d, I think “appropriately” simply signals the semi-&Lit aspect of the clue. There’s no need for an anagram; as Sil notes, “rotating” turns ORB into BRO.
I’m not too sure about 17a. “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:23ff). The comparison is based on an understanding of how HARD is it for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, which is why “when the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?'” Nothing easy at all about the camel’s passage…
Upon further review, I think (similar to what Sil has) “appropriately” also indicates that BRO appropriates, i.e., takes in, the letter I.
Keeper @3
‘One with rotating ball’ will give only I BRO (orb <-)
As the answer is BIRO and not IBRO, I take 'appropriately' as the anag signal.
Keeper,
When I wrote #5, I had not seen #4 of yours.
It seems there are two ways of looking at that clue.
Wonder what the setter’s intention was.