Monday Prize Crossword / Mar 7, 2016
Falcon crosswords keep on coming nowadays.
It looks that he’s slowly taking over from Crux as a Monday regular.
Mostly easy but with a real sting in the tail: 10ac.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | COBALT | Junior sports team member lapping graduate, a blue (6) |
| COLT (junior sports member) around BA (graduate) | ||
| 4 | STOPPARD | Dramatist in bar having usual drink at first (8) |
| STOP (bar) + PAR (usual) + D[rink] Tom Stoppard, who was actually born in former Czechoslovakia in 1937. |
||
| 9 | NOT ON | Unacceptable concept I rejected (3,2) |
| NOTION (concept) minus I | ||
| 10 | MARROWSKY | Spoonerism in essence, produced by broadcaster (9) |
| MARROW (essence) + SKY (broadcaster) I had never heard of marrowsky [lower case] being a word for Spoonerism. Wonder where this word comes from. |
||
| 11 | USELESS | Ineffectual advice from a conservationist? (7) |
| USE LESS (advice from a conservationalist) | ||
| 12 | SPECTRE | Form of respect for ghost (7) |
| (RESPECT)* [* = form of] | ||
| 13 | SHOW | Appear in a theatrical production (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 14 | SCREWTOP | Bottle party during stay (8) |
| CREW (party) inside STOP (stay) | ||
| 17 | FLAWLESS | Perfect female canon, shorter (8) |
| F (female) + LAW (canon) + LESS (shorter) | ||
| 19 | ALSO | Further, therefore, by a length (4) |
| SO (therefore) preceded by {A + L (length)} | ||
| 22 | OSTRICH | Flightless bird – I check on unfamiliar sort (7) |
| (SORT)* + I + CH (check) [* = unfamiliar] | ||
| 24 | ABOLISH | Do away with blood group O? Is hospital to follow line? (7) |
| AB (blood group) + O + {IS + H (hospital) together coming after L (line)} | ||
| 25 | SLAPSTICK | Criticism involving drinks farce (9) |
| STICK (criticism) around LAPS (drinks) | ||
| 26 | TITLE | Let it out, showing evidence of ownership (5) |
| (LET IT)* [* = out] | ||
| 27 | ESPRESSO | Entrepreneur, primarily for that reason, bringing journalists in for coffee (8) |
| {E[ntrepreneur] + SO (for that reason)} around PRESS (journalists) | ||
| 28 | OXEYES | Looks after neat flowers (6) |
| EYES (looks) coming after OX (neat) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | CONQUEST | Conservative seeking victory (8) |
| CON (Conservative) + QUEST (seeking) | ||
| 2 | BETTER OFF | Gambler on cricket side becomes richer (6,3) |
| BETTER (gambler) + OFF (cricket side) | ||
| 3 | LANCER | Cavalryman about, in country road on right (6) |
| C (about) inside LANE (country road), then + R (right) | ||
| 5 | THRESHER SHARK | Three crossing quiet river (small) listen for fish (8,5) |
| {THREE around SH (quiet)} + R (river) + S (small) + HARK (listen) | ||
| 6 | PROTEST | Objection made by expert on trial (7) |
| PRO (expert) + TEST (trial) | ||
| 7 | ASSET | Plus point when fixed (5) |
| AS (when) + SET (fixed) | ||
| 8 | DRYDEN | Poet in study, in need of a drink first (6) |
| DEN (study) preceded by DRY (in need of a drink) | ||
| 10 | MUSICAL CHAIRS | Annie, perhaps, presides over game (7,6) |
| MUSICAL (Annie, for example) + CHAIRS (presides) | ||
| 15 | PALMISTRY | Maiden is taken in by pitiful fortune-telling (9) |
| {M (maiden) + IS} inside PALTRY (pitiful) | ||
| 16 | LOCH NESS | Look over church on headland, Scottish landmark (4,4) |
| LO (look) + CH (church) + NESS (headland) | ||
| 18 | AT ISSUE | A series under discussion (2,5) |
| A + TISSUE (series, as in a ’tissue of lies’) | ||
| 20 | MOUSSE | Shy type consuming second light dessert (6) |
| MOUSE (shy type) around S (second) UK people really love anything with chocolate. Since I am in this country, I don’t. But I remember us making ‘chocolate mousse’ quite often in the Netherlands. Light dessert? Not sure. |
||
| 21 | VORTEX | Maelstrom: series of letters from survivor, Texan (6) |
| Hidden solution, indicated by ‘series of letters from’: [survi]VOR TEX[an] | ||
| 23 | TRAMP | Vagrant in vehicle close to tip (5) |
| TRAM (vehicle) + [ti]P | ||
*anagram
Thanks Falcon and Sil.
I think that you need to hone your cooking skills Sil – mousses should always be light.
I looked up MARROWSKY, apparently it was the name of a Polish Count who had a similar bent to the good doctor.
Thanks Falcon and Sil
Pretty straightforward as usual from this setter and presented no real problems, although I did have to look up MARROWSKY (my second to last one in). From a quick Google, it does make reference to a Polish count pre-dating Dr Spooner, although the proposition was by an anonymous person that has not been corroborated – so assume that the origin does go down still as ‘unknown’. Didn’t equate MARROW to ‘essence’ either until coming here.
ASSET was the last one to physically go in.
Thank heavens, Sil, that we’ve reached the date when all can be revealed. Marrowsky defeated me, and as a result 7dn ASSET did too. Falcon is never that tricksy! The rest of the puzzle was as pleasant an amble as usual. I shall consign Marrowsky to that piece of my neuro filing system that will assume it will never be needed again. Many thanks to both of you.
Another one who could not get 10a. If you going to have an answer that no one on the planet will have heard of , then at least make the cryptic gettable. Even with m?r?o?sky, essence =marrow is hardly user friendly.