NTSPP – 056 (Review)

Not The Saturday Prize Puzzle – 056 (Review)

A Puzzle by Prolixic

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

Looking back at the notes I made when I test solved this one, I did find some of it slightly trickier than usual, but it was still very enjoyable as it has a number of Prolixic’s trademark clues – you can always imagine the twinkle in his eye when he set them! Thanks to him for another great Saturday afternoon diversion – can’t wait for the next one.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

Across

9a   Architect’s car is dismantled for indicators (15)
{CHARACTERISTICS}   An anagram (dismantled) of ARCHITECT’S CAR – indicators of someone’s personality, perhaps?

10a  Run  on the way, way out (7)
{STRANGE} Not an exit but a way of saying out of the ordinary.   A two letter abbreviation for Street (way) and a word meaning to move or travel freely.

12a  First sign (7)
{INITIAL}  A double definition –  at the beginning or the letter which starts a name or sign.

13a   Nice boyfriend is able to return by the middle of July (7)
{BEAUTIFUL} – The boyfriend (would he come from Nice?) plus a three letter word meaning able (as in able-bodied) followed by the middle two letters of July –  nice also means agreeable or delightful.

14a   Loveless couple having first dance? (5)
{TWIST}  A dance that was all the rage when I was in my (very) early teens!   Remove the O from the number representing a couple (loveless) and add the abbreviation for first.

15a   Devalued communist accommodates dictator (7)
{REDUCED}   A term meaning lowered in value or price is obtained by inserting a four letter Italian word for leader (Mussolini referred to himself as Il ****)  into a term for communists (usually when they were found under the bed!).

18a  Amazed by the return of some golden nutshells (7)
{STUNNED}   A term meaning very amazed is hidden (some)  and reversed inside golDEN NUTShells.

21a  Guinea-pigs lack one somewhere underground (5)
{CAVES}  Remove the I (lacks one) from the genus of guinea-pigs and you should be left with underground hollows.

23a  A brick carrier? (9)
{STRETCHER}   A double definition – a brick laid horizontally in a wall or something a patient might be carried on.

25a   Deans lines on Virginia (7)
{VALLEYS}  I hadn’t heard of this spelling of deans in connection with elongated hollows between hills.   VA (abbreviation for the US State) plus L and LEYS (lines with magical or scientific significance).

26a  Take part in and finish up left out (7)
{COMPETE} – Remove the L from a synonym for finish, as you would do if you had done all this crossword and you are left with another word meaning to take part in, eg, a race, contest etc.

29a  Unorthodox priests venerate archetypes (15)
{REPRESENTATIVES} the second wonderful 15-letter anagram today –  unorthodox tells that a word meaning archetypes is obtained from PRIESTS VENERATE.

Down

1d    Aircrews regularly provide desserts (4)
{ICES}  Frozen desserts can be seen in the even letters (regularly) of aIrCrEwS.

2d    Shock finding sloth in personnel department (4)
{HAIR}  Personnel departments these days are usually known as Human Resources.   Insert a two letter name for the two-toed sloth  into the abbreviation for that department.  ‘Shock’ refers to a thick shaggy mass of this growth!

3d    Charismatic glamour grips the web (8)
{MAGNETIC}   Charismatic or having a personal quality that impresses, being attractive or strongly affecting others –   Insert another term for the WWW into a word meaning wonderful or enchanting.

4d    I support sex appeal – the very thing (6)
{ITSELF}   An emphatic pronoun meaning just what one is looking for.  A two letter term for sexual magnetism followed by a pronoun meaning myself or I.

5d    Items in the press may be definite (8)
{ARTICLES}  A double definition that should need no explanation from me.

6d    Help maintain one’s in the Queen’s Place (6)
{ASSIST}  Remove ER (the Queen) from a verb meaning to maintain or declare positively  and replace with IS (1’s) to get another verb meaning to help.

7d    A branch may be long? (8)
{DIVISION}   Another double definition – a section of something or school sums.

8d    One barracked about love may be maligned (8)
{ISOLATED}  I think here the definition of maligned must mean to seclude or separate.   I followed by a term meaning abuse or comment on unfavourably into which O (about love) has been inserted.

11d    At that point you once drunk a drop of rum (5)
{THERE}  The archaic form of the second person singular (you once) with R (a drop of rum inserted gives an adjective meaning in that place.

15d    Icy perversion – too exotic for this position? (8)
{RECOVERY} A compound anagram with a lovely indicator – exotic.  ICY PERVERSION TOO rearranged produces the POSITION into which unconscious casualties are placed whilst waiting for medical assistance.

16d    Produces photographs and enlarges (8)
{DEVELOPS}  Yet another double definition – the process of turning  film negatives into photographs or growing/advancing.

17d    Some land is astern!  Reverse (8)
{DISASTER}   The word reverse here is very misleading as I spent a while trying to find a reversal in the rest of the wordplay!    What I should have seen was the word ‘some’ as hidden in some lanD IS ASTERn  is a word meaning reverse in the sense of a misfortune or calamity.

19d    The best a crew member supported last month (8)
{ULTIMATE}  The best or greatest thing achievable –   the abbreviated Latin term for last month plus I (a) and the ship’s officer under the captain.

20d    Level on time in heat (5)
{EVENT}   Flat or level plus T (time) – heat here refers to a division in a contest.

22d    Country reports describe some French returning (6)
{SWEDEN}   Here we do have a reversal –  a Scandinavian country is obtained by inserting the French word for some, DE, inside  a term used for information on current events and then reversing the result.

24d    Speak of city in ceremony (6)
{RECITE}   To read aloud –  Insert the area of London in which the City is situated (EC) into a religious ceremony.

27d    Resent hearing short new version(4)
{ENVY}   Short implies that you need the initials of New and Version.   Say these out loud and you get a feeling of discontent at the good looks or fortune or another.  A clever use of the homophone.

28d    Without question, green and simple (4)
{EASY}  Remove the QU(estion) from a term meaning nauseous or squeamish – when you are quite likely to look green.   The remaining four letters are then ‘simple’ for all to see!

It is always a great pleasure to solve a Prolixic crossword, my particular favourites in this one were the 15 letter anagrams at the top and bottom of the grid.