Monday Prize Crossword/Aug 11
The usual not too spicy quality fare from Crux but, imho, once more let down by some weak cryptic definitions. So both ‘thanks’ and ‘sorry’ to the setter.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | LEAVE WELL ALONE | Don’t interfere! Sound advice for Jack and Jill? (5,4,5) |
| Double / Cryptic definition | ||
| Somewhere on the net I found this about “Jack and Jill”: The rhyme has traditionally been seen as a nonsense verse, particularly as the couple go up a hill to find water, which is often thought to be found at the bottom of hills. | ||
| 10 | SHEEN | Polish man goes in various directions (5) |
| HE (man) inside S,E,N (various directions) | ||
| 11 | ENCLOSURE | Rules once negotiated for the pound (9) |
| (RULES ONCE)* | ||
| 12 | IMPASSE | Deadlock caused by old fogey’s confession? (7) |
| I’M PASSÉ (old fogey’s confession) | ||
| 13 | EXTREME | It could be outrageous out of context, remember (7) |
| Hidden solution (‘out of’): [cont]EXT REME[mber] | ||
| 14 | GRAFT | A bribe to work hard (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | OLIGARCHS | Mostly crooked gas and oil-rich Russians? (9) |
| (GAS + OIL R[I]CH)* – I have underlined “Russians?” but I guess the clue as a whole is a better definition | ||
| 19 | TASTE TEST | The proof of the pudding? (5.4) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| I often commented on Crux’s cryptic definitions as being not my cup of tea – here’s another one. | ||
| 20 | ERASE | Cancel energy increase, by the sound of it (5) |
| E (energy) + RASE (homophone (‘by the sound of it’) of: RAISE (increase)) | ||
| 22 | EACH-WAY | Every method provides a less risky bet (4-3) |
| EACH (every) + WAY (method) | ||
| 25 | RAFFLES | Lotteries run by a very loud man (7) |
| R (run) + A + FF (very loud) + LES (man) | ||
| 27 | OCEAN WAVE | Heavy roller that has effect on pitch, no doubt (5,4) |
| Double / Cryptic definition | ||
| I’m afraid, I am lost in the cryptic part of this clue. | ||
| 28 | UTTER | Unqualified, say (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 29 | FISH OUT OF WATER | Save from drowning, perhaps, someone out of their depth (4,3,2,5) |
| Double definition – ‘their’? | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | EXEMPLARS | Old English MP seen with Scandinavian male models (9) |
| EX (old) + E (English) + MP + LARS (Scandinavian male) | ||
| 3 | VENUS | Goddess of victory and sunrise (5) |
| VE (victory, Victory in Europe (8 May 1945)) + NUS (reversal (‘rise’) of SUN) | ||
| 4 | WOEBEGONE | Dispirited, we catch nothing, then get lost! (9) |
| {WE around O (nothing)} + BE GONE (get lost) | ||
| 5 | LUCRE | Much-married Borgia’s money supply (5) |
| As far as I know the woman’s called Lucrezia but I guess Crux knew her so well that he may call her Lucre. Or is it meant to be an indirect hidden? See ernie’s comment @1 for a better explanation. | ||
| 6 | ABOUT FACE | Turnaround in the US army concerning self-respect (5-4) |
| ABOUT (concerning) + FACE (self-respect) | ||
| 7 | OF USE | Handy, round safety device (2,3) |
| O (round) + FUSE (safety device) | ||
| 8 | ELEVENS | Some sportsmen are a bit sexist (7) |
| The solution is the plural of eleven (sportsmen) in Roman numerals XI, so: XIS, which is hidden (‘a bit’) in [se]XIS[t] | ||
| 9 | ASKING | Sunbathing topless can be appealing (6) |
| BASKING (sunbathing) minus its first letter B (‘topless’) | ||
| 15 | TAE KWON DO | Weak do not train for this Olympic event (3,4,2) |
| (WEAK DO NOT)* | ||
| 17 | INTERLEAF | Extra blank page with free Latin translation (9) |
| (FREE LATIN)* | ||
| 18 | CHARLOTTE | Dessert of fruit, sponge etc served up with tart (9) |
| HARLOT (tart) inside CTE (reversal (‘served up’) of ETC) | ||
| 19 | TEES OFF | Gent, holding watch up, starts play (4,3) |
| TOFF (gent) around SEE (reversal (‘up’) of SEE (watch)) | ||
| 21 | ENSURE | Guarantee result if Romeo gets involved (6) |
| ENSUE (result) around R (Romeo) | ||
| 23 | CHESS | Southern half of county is ahead of the game (5) |
| CHES[hire] (half of county) in front of (‘ahead of’) S (Southern) | ||
| 24 | YEAST | Type of culture as yet to be discovered (5) |
| (AS YET)* | ||
| 26 | FAUNA | The non-vegetable kingdom, in a word (5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| Didn’t like this clue at all. | ||
Thanks Sil
I, too, wasn’t sure how 5D worked. Only thing that I can come up with is that the ‘much’ bit is telling us to take ‘much of’ LUCREzia.
Thanks also to Crux
Thanks Crux and Sil
Quite enjoyed this for a Monday puzzle – although only looked at it yesterday morning!
I think 27a gets a little bit lost in trying to create a misdirecting cricket surface, but the concept of a boat pitching about on an OCEAN WAVE is fair enough.
I parsed LUCRE exactly as ernie suggested.
23d was my first in as SCOUT and my last in as CHESS :).
Liked the two long clues at the top and bottom of the grid.
I’m guessing 5D works like this: Lucrezia Borgia, who was married four times, each time for financial gain (for her Dad, the Pope), supplies ‘the money’ in her name, LUCREzia. Simple!
Well, Musca, the woman’s married only three times according to my information. The 60s/70s band Blood Sweat and Tears wrote a song about her called Lucretia McEvil (yes, with a T).
Perhaps, she was evil.
Or just adventurous.
She became of a patron of the arts which is good.
That said, I think your parsing is not that ‘simple’.
Your storytelling explanation is quite nice but I am afraid I’ll stick with ernie from a cryptic point of view.
I can safely say that I would never have got 2d or 19a (agree your comment).Otherwise I few “should have got thats”
Thanks for the blog