NTSPP – 103 (Review)

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 103

A Puzzle by Alchemi

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

 Bigging It Up

Welcome back to Alchemi with a fun filled feast of anagrams (15) and other clues.  The review is a little brief as I am heading off for the Cruciverbalists’ Convention (aka drinking) at the Bridge House.

There is one major theme of compartives in the crossword and an large number of games too.

My favourite clue was 13a.  Drop by and let us have your comments.

 Across

1 Cold meal encourages like the devil. Not bad! (3,5)
{EGG SALAD} – A type of cold meal comes from a word meaning encourages followed by a French phase meaning like followed by the word devil with a word meaning bad removed.

6 No going back with fighting dead ahead (6)
{ONWARD} – A word meaning head comes from reversing the word NO followed by a word meaning fighting followed by the abbreviation for dead.

9 Fail to learn lines, although she should? (10)
{UNDERSTUDY} – This person shadows the principal actor in a play to take over should they fall ill.  However, if they did this literally, they would not have learned the lines.

10 Terribly loud contest on board (4)
{LUDO} – A anagram (terribly) of LOUD gives the name of a board game.

11 Kicking game makes foal bolt (8)
{FOOTBALL} – Another game, this one is an anagram (makes) of FOAL BOLT.

12 Quantity of pressure in three states (6)
{PASCAL} – The SI measure of pressure comes from adding together the abbreviations for the states of Pennsylvania, South Carolina andAlabama.

13 Bets whichever way the second half goes, it’s a ball game (4)
{POOL} – A word for bets (as they are collected together) is also a type of billiards and, if you reverse the final two letters, you have another form of game.

14 Princess going around the city, putting pressure on that woman to make out (8)
{DECIPHER} – A word meaning make out (as in interpret) comes from putting the diminutive form of crosswordland’s favourite princess around the postcode for the City of London and then adding the abbreviation for pressure and a word meaning that woman.

17 Extremely agitated as foreigner starts to collapse in Crete (8)
{FRENETIC} – A word meaning extremely agitated comes from the first letter (starts) of foreigner followed by an anagram (collapse) of IN CRETE

19 Note about mineral (4)
{MICA} – A type of mineral comes from one of the notes in the musical scale followed by an abbreviation for about..

21 Scavenger ending up in blurred image (6)
{MAGPIE} – A scavenging bird comes from the final letter (ending) of UP inside an anagram (blurred) of IMAGE.

23 Five-year dye mixed – it’s quite normal (8)
{EVERYDAY} – A word meaning quite normal comes from an anagram (mixed) of V (five) and YEAR DYE.

24 Phone message from insistent extortioner (4)
{TEXT} – A type of message you receive on your phone is hidden inside INISISTENT EXTORTIONER.

25 Little space in garbled newsbite for fence-sitters (2- 8)
{IN-BETWEENS} – Those who are fence sitters comes from an anagram (garbled) of NEWSBITE around one of the printers spaces.

26 Smelly cheese’s trace of fruit (6)
{LYCHEE} – A type of fruit is hidden inside the words SMELLY CHEESE.

27 Sole motion gives instruction to former Liberal leader thrown overboard (8)
{SWIMMING} – The mode of movement of the sole (as in a fish), if split 4, 4 might be what is said to a former leader of the Liberal party if he was thrown in the sea.

Down

2 Dugong incongruous as hunter’s help (3,3)
{GUN DOG} – An animal that helps a hunter comes from an anagram (incongruous) of DUGONG.

3 Show disrespect eating small square vegetable (9)
{SWEETCORN} – A type of vegetable comes from putting a word meaning small and a type of square inside a word meaning show disrespect.

4 Influential guitarist got pause wrong between lines (3,4)
{LES PAUL} – The name of an influential guitarist comes from putting an anagram of PAUSE inside two L’s (lines).

5 Shaken, subdued, I leave Lockerbie for travel around London (6-6,3)
{DOUBLE-DECKER BUS} – This means of travelling aroundLondon (and other places) comes from an anagram (shaken) of SUBDUED LOCKERBIE with the I removed.

6 Greek airline policy Macedonia’s first problem (7)
{OLYMPIC} – The name of the Greek airline comes from an anagram (problem) of POLICY and the first letter ofMacedonia.

7 Home Counties statute turned over across the border (5)
{WALES} – A principality across the border comes from reversing the abbreviation used for the Home Counties and an example of what a statute is.

8 Poorly fed, ran round blushing (3- 5)
{RED-FACED} – A word meaning blushing comes from putting an anagram of FED inside a word meaning ran round.

15 Jekyll’s alter ego gripped by terrible cramp sees a hippo or elephant (9)
{PACHYDERM} – A word that describes a hippo or an elephant comes from putting the name of Jekyll’s alter ego inside an anagram (terrible) of CRAMP.

16 Cheeseplant ruins my career (8)
{CREAMERY} – You need to split the definition to read CHEESE PLANT.  It comes from an anagram (ruins) of MY CAREER.

18 Things are often compared to this of a 5, an 6d 27 13, a 11 22 or 7 (3,4)
{THE SIZE} – Some of the answers in the crossword are used as comparatives of this.

19 Times are mostly dreadful for conductors (7)
{MAESTRI} – A word for conductors comes from an anagram (dreadful) of TIMES ARE with the final letter removed (mostly).

20 Heard clergyman knocking billiard balls together (6)
{CANNON} – A word describing knocking billiard balls together is an anagram (heard) of a type of clergyman (or woman).

22 Dark hole with central heating (5)
{PITCH} – A word meaning dark comes from a word for a hole followed by the abbreviation for central heating.