Monday Prize Crossword/Sep 22
Fine puzzle by Crux with only a couple of sighs in the CD department. Curiously enough, this crossword has exactly the same grid as the one that precedes it (Mudd’s prize puzzle, blogged by Pete Maclean below). Not really important, just an observation.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | GRADIENT | Bank donation about to expire (8) |
| GRANT (donation) around DIE (to expire) | ||
| 5 | CHILLI | Cold? I could make a hot meal (6) |
| CHILL (cold) + I | ||
| 9 | MEATLESS | Take some time at lessons like Friday, perhaps (8) |
| Hidden solution (‘take some’): [ti]ME AT LESS[ons] | ||
| 10 | STIR UP | Purist is out to cause trouble (4,2) |
| (PURIST)* [* = is out] | ||
| 11 | NAKED APE | Man as defined by primatologist, say (5,3) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| “The Naked Ape” (1967) by Desmond Morris. | ||
| 12 | STASIS | Assist in motion? On the contrary! (6) |
| (ASSIST)* [* = in motion] | ||
| 14 | TREE OF LIFE | From which 11 can trace his descent (4,2,4) |
| Cryptic extension of 11 Across | ||
| 18 | THE GAME’S UP | Beaters have done their job so there’s no point going on (3,5,2) |
| Double / Cryptic definition | ||
| 22 | RADIAL | Like a starburst explosion the gunners face (6) |
| RA (the gunners, Royal Artillery) + DIAL (face) | ||
| I took the definition for granted but no doubt it’s right. | ||
| 23 | OLD STYLE | Roman calendar that’s out-of-date (3,5) |
| Double definition | ||
| We’ve had this before: Old Style is a method of calculating dates using the Julian calendar. | ||
| 24 | UNEASY | Jumpy as a crowned head, proverbially (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| “Uneasily lies the head that wears a crown”. | ||
| 25 | SCRAWLER | Society sycophant who’s a terrible writer (8) |
| S (Society) + CRAWLER (sycophant) | ||
| 26 | NATURE | Mother Earth, name only half true, oddly (6) |
| NA[me] + (TRUE)* [* = oddly] | ||
| 27 | IN FLOWER | Out of stock, for example (2,6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| This was my LOI and I think this must be the solution. Whether I fully understand it is another matter. I can see some kind of allusion (to plants) but there it stops. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | GEMINI | A tiny stone in one could be a sign (6) |
| GEM (a tiny stone) + IN + I (one) | ||
| 2 | ALASKA | Unfortunately a king gets overturned in this state (6) |
| ALAS (unfortunately) + KA (reversal (‘gets overturned’) of A K (king)) | ||
| 3 | ILLUDE | Practise deception – not well, and due to be replaced (6) |
| ILL (not well) + (DUE)* [* = to be replaced] | ||
| 4 | NOSY PARKER | Koreans pry outrageously, just like he does! (4,6) |
| (KOREANS PRY)* [* = outrageously] | ||
| I only underlined “he” as the definition but it is actually more or less the whole clue, of course. | ||
| 6 | HOT STUFF | Stolen property? [something that is] X-rated, apparently (3,5) |
| HOT (stolen) + STUFF (property, e.g. your personal belongings, “take your stuff with you”) | ||
| 7 | LORDSHIP | House with joint title (8) |
| LORDS (House, of Lords) + HIP (joint) | ||
| 8 | IMPOSTER | I am Bill, the charlatan (8) |
| I’M (I am) + POSTER (bill) | ||
| 13 | REPUBLICAN | Innkeeper about to start the party (10) |
| RE (about) preceding PUBLICAN (innkeeper) | ||
| 15 | STAR TURN | Begin the Ashes, possibly, with a fine performance (4,4) |
| START (begin) + URN (the ashes, possibly) | ||
| Rather macabre but as a cryptic clue very nice. | ||
| 16 | DEAD HEAT | Unresolvable photo finish? (4,4) |
| Cryptic definition, perhaps | ||
| 17 | MACASSAR | Mascara’s blended with a kind of hair oil (8) |
| (MASCARA’S)* [* = blended] | ||
| 19 | ASSAIL | Criticise a sketch initially on canvas (6) |
| A + S[ketch] + SAIL (canvas) | ||
| 20 | BY-BLOW | An incidental hit for a love child, once (2-4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | BEARER | Messenger wearing fewer clothes, we hear (6) |
| Homophone (‘we hear’) of: BARER (wearing fewer clothes) | ||
Re 27a Yes stock is used in the sense of a type of plant. ‘Out’ is used in the sense of ‘in flower’ as in ‘the roses are out now’.
Thanks to Sil & Crux.
Quite a few that I couldn’t get.
7d
17d I had ?a?a???r and knew it was an anagram but there were too many possibilities when I didn’t know the item
19d Didn’t know that assail meant criticise
23a Didn’t know style for calendar
24a Never heard of the quotation
27a Wouldn’t have got it but had by slip for 20d . I reasoned that a love child was an accident and therefore a slip.
Glad I didn’t have to blog this one.
Thanks Crux and Sil
Not sure what to make of this one … I commented on the Mudd one about how the grid turned it into four mini puzzles. This was made into more of a grind with all of the double and cryptic definitions.
Ended up getting it out, but clues like NAKED APE, TREE OF LIFE and IN FLOWER didn’t generate a high enjoyment level.
Had confidentially written in BOWL OVER at 15d which caused some pain in the SW corner. Did like THE GAMES UP when it finally dropped.
Finished up in the NW with GEMINI, ALASKA and NAKED APE the last few in.