Monday Prize Crossword/Jan 26
Lots of charades and anagrams, yet far from a walkover. Falcon used some really original definitions and indicators, which had me thinking and ultimately added considerably to the fun.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | WASHINGTON | Saw nothing untoward in Irving (10) |
| (SAW NOTHING)* [* = untoward] | ||
| The ‘Irving’ in the clue is Washington Irving, an American writer (1783-1859), noted for tales like Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. As the definition is one by (a not obvious) example, the clue needs in my opinion a question mark. The anagram indicator is one that we don’t see very often. | ||
| 6 | IDEA | Clue would be perfect, if shortened (4) |
| IDEAL (perfect) minus the last letter | ||
| I think the clue can also be read as: [Clue] would become [perfect] if one would shorten [Clue]. Of course, that doesn’t give us a suitable solution. It’s perhaps ‘would be’ that leads to this ambiguous surface reading. Replacing it with just a simple ‘is’ might have done the trick. No real doubts about the answer (and Falcon’s intention) though. | ||
| 9 | SHOT-PUTTER | Athlete’s attempt with golf club (4-6) |
| SHOT (attempt) + PUTTER (golf club) | ||
| 10 | CAST | Mould in shed (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 12 | OVER AND ABOVE | In addition, finished a short book about food fish (4,3,5) |
| OVER (finished) + A + {NOVE[l] (book, shortened) around DAB (food fish)} | ||
| The addition of ‘food’ made this clue harder than it actually was. Nothing wrong with it, of course, as dab is indeed a fish used as food. | ||
| 15 | AUSTRALIA | Film of a lake in European country (9) |
| A L (lake) inside AUSTRIA (European country) | ||
| Here’s another interesting definition for a wordplay that we’ve seen many many times before. There are two films named ‘Australia’, a French one from 1989 (with Fanny Ardant and Jeremy Irons) and the 2008 movie starring Nicole Kidman. Take your pick! I would never have thought of defining ‘Australia’ this way but Falcon did. Perhaps, I should have known better as this setter often refers to films (also as Everyman in the Observer). | ||
| 17 | TRIPE | Food in centre of canteen, ready to eat (5) |
| [can]T[een] + RIPE (ready to eat) | ||
| 18 | CLASS | Form C girl (5) |
| C + LASS (girl) | ||
| 19 | FULL BOARD | Rich directors making a deal in a hotel? (4,5) |
| FULL (rich) + BOARD (directors) | ||
| 20 | STREETS AHEAD | Far superior thoroughfare’s coming up (7,5) |
| STREET’S (thoroughfare’s) + AHEAD (coming up) | ||
| 24 | ROLE | Function of burger bun, it’s said (4) |
| Homophone (‘it’s said’) of: ROLL (burger bun) | ||
| 25 | IVORY COAST | A victory so unusual for this country, in the past (5,5) |
| (A VICTORY SO)* [* = unusual] | ||
| The clue doesn’t need ‘in the past’ which I consider as padding to enhance the surface reading. [I am quite sure Falcon is thinking of Didier Drogba’s home country as a football nation that has become a force to be reckoned with. Yesterday (Tue 4 Feb) they actually qualified for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.] After seeing comment #1, and checking it, it is indeed so that the government wants the country to be called Cote d’Ivoire (in French). They like to see Ivory Coast as something from the past (even if it is an exact translation in English). | ||
| 26 | PEEP | Look one way, then the other (4) |
| Palindrome (‘one way, then the other’) | ||
| 27 | ARCHDEACON | Charade used to trick ecclesiastical dignitary (10) |
| (CHARADE)* + CON ((to) trick) [* = used] | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WEST | One Direction, lifeless boy band? (4) |
| WESTLIFE (boy band) minus LIFE | ||
| One Direction is clearly a gift for crossword setters. Here, Falcon made the most of it by cryptically connecting our lads to the Irish boy band Westlife, one of the all-time greats – that is, if you think boy bands are great. | ||
| 2 | SHOW | Exhibit pig fed by husband (4) |
| H (husband) inside SOW (pig) | ||
| 3 | IMPOVERISHED | Poor devil above, one stuck on top of outhouse (12) |
| IMP (devil) + OVER (above) + I (one) + SHED (outhouse) | ||
| 4 | GATOR | Short reptile, silver, turned up on hill (5) |
| GA (reversal (‘turned up’) og AG (silver)) + TOR (hill) | ||
| Here’s another intriguing definition. We all know what an alligator is. Americans sometimes call this creature a gator (or gater). So, it’s not the animal that’s short but the original word for this reptile. | ||
| 5 | ONE AND ALL | Preparation of belladonna, but not at first for everybody (3,3,3) |
| ([b]ELLADONNA)* [* = preparation of] | ||
| 7 | DIABOLICAL | Outrageous, a local bid, I suspect (10) |
| (A LOCAL BID I)* [* = suspect] | ||
| 8 | AT THE READY | A grant, finally – cash available for immediate use (2,3,5) |
| A + [gran]T + THE READY (cash) | ||
| 11 | CARTE BLANCHE | Complete discretion in tabernacle abroad? Check inside (5,7) |
| CH (check) inside (TABERNACLE)* [* = abroad] | ||
| 13 | WATCHSTRAP | Look at belt and a sort of band one may wear on one’s wrist (10) |
| WATCH (look at) + STRAP (belt) | ||
| 14 | ESPADRILLE | Paid seller anyway for just one sandal! (10) |
| (PAID SELLER)* [* = anyway] | ||
| What about this anagram indicator? | ||
| 16 | LIFESAVER | One who’ll help if several in distress (9) |
| (IF SEVERAL)* [* = in distress] | ||
| 21 | HARSH | Grating last of Cheddar into mince (5) |
| [chedda]R inside HASH (mince) | ||
| 22 | TALC | Powder in metal container (4) |
| Hidden solution (‘in’): [me]TAL C[ontainer] | ||
| 23 | STUN | Shock caused by dangerous feat? No end (4) |
| STUNT (dangerous feat) minus its last letter | ||
25A Isn’t Ivory Coast a former name for Cote d’Ivoire?
Thanks Falcon and Sil
Must say that this is certainly the most comprehensive blog of a puzzle that ive seen on the site, so a big thank you for that, Sil.
Good fun, although a pretty straightforward puzzle I thought. It was an unusual definition for AUSTRALIA and no worse for that.
Curious as to why you had ‘burger’ underlined as a part of the definition of ROLE, rather than as a part of the definition of ROLL.
He certainly let it be known how he felt about poor old ‘One Direction’ !
Thanks ernie and bruce.
I have updated the blog, I probably made things too complicated.