Solving Time: An hour, over two sessions. Roughly average for me and this crossword seemed to be about medium difficulty .. now that I have no statistics or leaderboard to consult, it is hard to say how others found it.
Dictionaries: The Club Monthly uses several dictionaries. The main ones are the Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD), Collins, and Chambers. I use Chambers, the online Collins dictionary, and the ODO. I use the online Oxford English Dictionary (OED) occasionally too.
If I have not explained an answer fully enough, do please ask…
Please note that the closing date for entries for this prize crossword is now the last day of each month …
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev. = reversed, anagrams are shown *(–), homophones indicated within “” and definitions underlined
| Across | |
| 1 | Rodent died after turning tail, last to go (5) |
|
bobac – OB (ie obit., died) rev., + BAC( |
|
| 4 | Arrest drastically delayed: after prison uniform (8) |
|
jugulate – JUG (prison) + U( |
|
| 8 | Twig — stick with fancy point — makes sense in Highlands (14) |
| rumblegumption – RUMBLE (twig, ie cotton on to) + GUM (stick) + *(POINT). Another interesting word presumably somehow related to rumbledethumps, mashed potato with this and that added | |
| 10 | Double salt initially mixed into bitter soup (9) |
| alembroth – M(ixed) in ALE (bitter) + BROTH (soup). Mercury amide chloride | |
| 11 | In pursuit of tips on cloth, one tries game wool supplier (5) |
| chiru – C(lot)H + I (one) + RU (tries game). A Tibetan antelope, apparently | |
| 12 | Old mnemonic devices in Latin which matter (6) |
| quipus – QUI (which, in Latin) + PUS (matter, ugh) | |
| 14 | Try and shoot bats (8) |
| crackpot – CRACK (try) + POT (shoot). Easy (but rather neat) clue to help get you started. | |
| 17 | Sceptics misled — if nicely — about stocks (8) |
| infidels – neatly hidden, rev., in miSLED IF NIcely. Of course, infidels are only sceptical about your religion. They can be as credulous as anything about their own. | |
| 18 | Squaddy’s haunt, regularly visited, recalled trading facility (6) |
| Nasdaq – hidden intermittently, rev., in sQuAdDyS hAuNt. | |
| 20 | What’s central to bellyache is keeping dry part of tongue (5) |
|
lytta – TT (dry, ie teetotal) in ( |
|
| 22 | Check out European city with one’s cab drivers there? (9) |
| vetturini – VET (check out) + TURIN (European city, home of Fiat) + I. In Italy vetturini drive a vettura .. | |
| 24 | Producer Slavonicized, strangely, within Denmark’s borders (5,1,8) |
|
David O Selznick – *(SLAVONICIZED) in D( |
|
| 25 | Vi, after drinking gin, back drying out (8) |
| xeransis – SNARE (gin), in SIX (vi) both rev. | |
| 26 | Spot Russian spy dropping off article (5) |
|
macle – a reference to the spy Donald Duart MACLE( |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Pub poured writer a port (12) |
| barranquilla – BAR (pub) + RAN (poured) + QUILL (writer) + A. A port in Colombia | |
| 2 | Pack up — and take part of the dessert (5) |
| bombe – MOB (pack) rev., + BE – take part of, presumably as in “You can be Cleopatra, and I will be Anthony” | |
| 3 | Like some finely made books that would get a younger one over the moon? (4-5) |
| calf-bound – “The cow jumped over the moon…” | |
| 4 | With jars holding one gallon, judges turn up (3-3) |
| jigjog – IG (one gallon) in JJ (judges) + GO (turn) rev. | |
| 5 | March girl up with woolly coat off and stop (8) |
| gemshorn – MEG (March girl, ie Meg March from “Little Women”) rev., + SHORN (with woolly coat off). Apparently a gemshorn is a type of organ stop. This clue reminded me of Shaun the Sheep, one of the great comic creations of that animation genius, Nick Park. | |
| 6 | See tailless parasite in running water (5) |
|
lotic – LO (see) + TIC( |
|
| 7 | Blue, inverted, crowned at the edges, like some corollas (3-6) |
| two-lipped – LOW (blue) rev. in TIPPED (crowned) | |
| 9 | Fine to grasp sensitive part in extract from book or cheap film (5,7) |
| quota quickie – QUICK (sensitive part), in AI (fine), all in QUOTE (extract from book), ie: quot(a(quick)i)e. A hard clue to solve purely from wordplay, if you are unfamiliar with the term. Mr Selznick helped me, ironically enough, by providing the K | |
| 13 | Seduce with hot text to Mrs Sprat? (9) |
| infatuate – Hmm, well we know that Jack Sprat would eat no fat, his wife would eat no lean. Does “In fat u ate” constitute a hot text? Not sure. Might be missing something here.. | |
| 15 | Immigrant settlers in church plan to keep move on ice (9) |
| chalutzim – CH(urch), + LUTZ (move on ice, usu. a double or triple one) in AIM (plan) | |
| 16 | Very good for ducks to be in? (8) |
| pluvious – .. cd. Means rainy, sometimes said to be good weather for ducks | |
| 19 | Birth control pioneer promoting pill in East London terraces? (6) |
| stoeps – (Marie) STOPES, with the E (pill, ie hallucinogen) moved up one. The East London in question being the South African one. | |
| 21 | Motorists coming across tackle powerful dog (5) |
| akita – KIT (tackle) in AA (motorists). Akitas are lovely dogs to look at but a trial (I guess) actually to own | |
| 23 | Goddess’s answer is one in patriarch’s heart (5) |
| isiac – ISAAC (patriarch) with the central A made into I. Isiac means “relating to Isis.” | |
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