Monday Prize Crossword/Mar 10
Nothing too taxing but a very well written crossword by Falcon.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | LABRADOR | Young man restraining supporter with golden retriever(8) |
| {LAD (young man) around BRA (supporter)} + OR (golden) | ||
| 5 | SHOW UP | Arrive at college on express (4,2) |
| SHOW (express) + UP (at college) | ||
| 10 | TRUSS | Kurt Russell’s surgical appliance (5) |
| Hidden solution (indicated by ‘s): [kur]T RUSS[ell] | ||
| 11 | DON CARLOS | Opera put on by Lorca, surprisingly – last from Strauss (3,6) |
| DON (put on) + (LORCA)* + [straus]S | ||
| 12 | IN GENERAL | Popular army officer, for the most part (2,7) |
| IN (popular) + GENERAL (army officer) | ||
| 13 | TRAMP | Derelict carriage across motorway (5) |
| TRAP (carriage) around M (motorway) | ||
| 14, 15 | SAFETY CURTAIN | A nasty fire cut off, using this device in theatre? (6,7) |
| (A NASTY FIRE CUT)* | ||
| 18, 20 | CUSTARD POWDER | Saw red product stirred? It helps to make a yellow sauce! (7,6) |
| (SAW RED PRODUCT)* | ||
| 22 | OUTRE | Mistaken about eccentric (5) |
| OUT (mistaken) + RE (about) | ||
| 24 | COMFORTER | Dummy in cot for me? Possibly right (9) |
| (COT FOR ME)* + R (right) | ||
| 25 | YAKETY-YAK | English painter, William, halfheartedly put in two oxen and rabbit (6-3) |
| ETY (English painter, William Etty, halfheartedly ie only one T) inside YAK YAK (two oxen) | ||
| 26 | DROWN | River in NI county in flood (5) |
| R (river) inside DOWN (NI county) | ||
| 27 | STYLES | Approaches where there was a mysterious affair involving Poirot (6) |
| Double definition, the second one referring to “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”, the TV episode in which David Suchet made his debut | ||
| 28 | ENTRANCE | Charm one’s way in (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | LET RIP | The French on outing act without restraint (3,3) |
| LE (the, French) + TRIP (outing) | ||
| 2 | BLUEGRASS | Sad? Sing country music (9) |
| BLUE (sad) + GRASS (sing, as in ‘inform’) | ||
| 3, 6 | ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER | Away, so the match becomes more intense, it’s said(7,5,3,5,4,6) |
| Is this just a cryptic definition or am I missing something? | ||
| 4 | ORDERLY | Neat hospital attendant (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | WILMA | Girl with the Italian mother (5) |
| W (with) + IL (the, Italian) + MA (mother) | ||
| 8 | POSTPONE | Put off job, one involving pressure (8) |
| {POST (job) + ONE} around P (pressure) | ||
| 9 | EN BLOC | All together, note, inside elevated plant (2,4) |
| NB (note, nota bene) inside ELOC (reversal (‘elevated’) of COLE (plant)) | ||
| 16 | AGENT NOUN | Emissary, knight, on about university lecturer, say (5,4) |
| AGENT (emissary) + N (knight) + {ON around U (university)} | ||
| 17 | ACRONYMS | A friend’s involving member of Aslef and Usdaw, maybe (8) |
| A + CRONY’S (friend’s) around M (member) | ||
| 19 | DECAYS | Goes off? Daughter, yes, amazingly, to cross Central America (6) |
| D (daughter) + {(YES)* around CA (Central America)} | ||
| 20 | PUMPKIN | Persistently question family getting fruit (7) |
| PUMP (persistently question) + KIN (family) | ||
| 21 | FRINGE | Bang bell cast in iron (6) |
| RING (bell) inside FE (iron, ferrum) | ||
| 23 | TOKAY | Temperature reasonable for wine (5) |
| T (temperature) + OKAY (reasonable) | ||
I think 3,6 Down is a pun with a misdirection referring to football i.e. an away match being more intense (i.e. difficult) in the football context.