Monday Prize Crossword / May 23, 2016
Dante likes his double and cryptic definitions. But is that shocking news? No.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DECAMP | Leave the City in the wet (6) |
| EC (the City) inside DAMP (wet) Not all setters can be bothered but Dante does it right: City with a capital C. |
||
| 4 | LAUGHTER | Pointless massacre produces funny reaction (8) |
| SLAUGHTER (massacre) minus the S (point, South) at the start | ||
| 9 | LET RIP | Allow to rest peacefully? Quite the opposite (3,3) |
| LET (allow) + RIP (rest peacefully) The clue as a whole is the definition (but it is not an &lit). |
||
| 10 | ABOVE ALL | Particularly the highest (5,3) |
| Double definition The first of quite a few today. |
||
| 12 | FRENETIC | Frantic if centre is moved (8) |
| (IF CENTRE)* [* = moved] | ||
| 13 | RACKET | The noise of a fiddle (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | LARD | Fat boy runs inside (4) |
| LAD (boy) around R (runs) | ||
| 16 | CONTRABAND | This comes of ignoring established customs (10) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 19 | JOLLY ROGER | Standard requirement for pirates? (5,5) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 20 | WAIL | Complain when I get involved with the law (4) |
| (I + LAW)* [* = (get) involved] | ||
| 23 | CALLOW | Too inexperienced to express pain (6) |
| CALL (express) OW (pain) ‘Too’ is perhaps superfluous for the definition but it makes a better surface. |
||
| 25 | BLIND EYE | What Nelson turned to his advantage at Trafalgar? (5,3) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 27 | ANNOUNCE | Tell everyone girl’s gained weight (8) |
| ANN (girl) + OUNCE (weight) | ||
| 28 | FIBULA | Clasp one’s leg-bone (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 29 | SURGEONS | They may make nurses go out with them – to the theatre? (8) |
| (NURSES GO)* [* = out] The clue as a whole alludes to the solution. I am sure I saw a similar anagram before – was it Goliath? |
||
| 30 | BELTED | Expert in Judo beaten (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DOLEFUL | Old flue needs replacing, that’s sad (7) |
| (OLD FLUE)* [* = needs replacing] | ||
| 2 | CATHEDRAL | Lincoln is such a city – see around it (9) |
| Kind of Cryptic definition Lincoln is a cathedral city and the area around it is called a see. |
||
| 3 | MAIDEN | Miss that may be clapped on the cricket pitch (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | ALBS | A pound’s put on clerical wear (4) |
| A + LB’S (pound’s) | ||
| 6 | GIVE AWAY | Be generous with some incriminating information (4,4) |
| Double definition The second one is written as one word (so perhaps not a pure dd). |
||
| 7 | TRACK | Used by athletes, it helps to make a record (5) |
| Cryptic / Double definition I guess, it’s about athletes running on a track and records (LPs etc) consisting of tracks? |
||
| 8 | RELATED | King overjoyed when told (7) |
| R (king, Rex) + ELATED (overjoyed) | ||
| 11 | KIMONOS | Loose garments provided by Mikonos resort (7) |
| (MIKONOS)* [* = resort] | ||
| 14 | STEEPLE | Highest place in the church (7) |
| (Not so) Cryptic definition | ||
| 17 | AS A RESULT | Consequently how the product is expressed (2,1,6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 18 | CYNOSURE | Cyrus, one resolved to be the centre of attention (8) |
| (CYRUS + ONE)* [* = resolved) | ||
| 19 | JACKASS | Fool sailor on a ship (7) |
| JACK (sailor) + A + SS (ship) | ||
| 21 | LEEWARD | A welder renovating the sheltered side of a ship (7) |
| (A WELDER)* [* = renovating] | ||
| 22 | ENTICE | Draw ten out – of diamonds? (6) |
| (TEN)* + ICE (diamonds) [* = out] I think that little word ‘of’ is in a bit of an odd place. |
||
| 24 | LONER | One between the Left and the Right is unlikely to join a party (5) |
| Literally, ONE between L (left) and R(right) Nice clue, in which the clue as a whole serves as the definition. |
||
| 26 | ICON | An image of swindler admitting his crime? (4) |
| I CON is what a swindler might say admitting his crime | ||
*anagram
Thanks Sil and Dante.
Learnt a new meaning for FIBULA (type of clasp) and a new word (CYNOSURE) so those are positives.
Otherwise, and as in your notes Sil, there were quite a few “I suppose that’s it” clues.
But then, I thought that CONTRABAND was excellent.
Failed on 13a,16a,28a and 18d. I’d echo what Hamish said
Thanks Dante and Sil
Had a busy week and took the opportunity to ‘rush’ through this one and another he set on Tuesday. Got away with it on Tuesday – but not with this one !! LET LIE at 9a brought about my undoing – fitted the first part … and in the rush didn’t take enough care that it didn’t fit the second part – a nice clue in retrospect.
Needed JACKASS to show me that the unparsed CROSS BONES in at 19a was not correct which then enabled me to get CATHEDRAL (quite clever) and CYNOSURE (a new word for me and my last in).
Bit thick I know but why does City = ec? Thanks for the answers and the crossword.
Karen, EC is short for East Central, a London postcode area.
It covers almost all of the City of London (and a bit more).
Therefore, in crosswords, EC stands for ‘the City’.
[which Dante has rightly capitalised, in my opinion]
I was stuck on both 22D and 23A — but luckily for me, both turned up in The Week (crossword 1005) with slightly different wording. I couldn’t get CALLOW in either crossword by itself, but the two slightly different wordings helped with the parsing. For 22D the checking letters fell on different squares in each crossword, so I had more than three of the final six letters before I solved it. 🙂
Thanks Dante and Sil.