MPP – 020 (review)

Monthly Prize Puzzle – January 2014

A crossword by Prolixic

Reviewed by crypticsue

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Interesting that one of the simplest questions ever posed in the Monthly Prize Puzzle series, requiring no arcane knowledge, geographical, mathematical or language skills, just the ability to spot that the initial  letter of each clue told you where to look, should prove so tricky for many solvers!    If you didn’t ‘see’ it, I will let you have time to put your shin pads on (as it will hurt when you kick yourself), and reveal all in a grid at the end of the review.

Congratulations to  Kiwi Colin  who wins a copy of The Telegraph Centenary Crossword Collection, an extra special prize which BD will endeavour to get to him.  The book was kindly donated by Phil McNeill, the Telegraph Puzzles Editor, and has been  signed by Phil and six of the Telegraph setters who are featured in the book  (Elgar, Roger Squires/Rufus, Micawber, Peter Chamberlain/Cephas, Notabilis and Don Manley/Giovanni).

 

Across

7a           Times hit badly in organised siege (8)
EIGHTIES –    An anagram (badly) of HIT is inserted into another  (organised) of SIEGE.

9a           Had a right to behead academic (6)
EARNED –   Remove the initial letter (behead) of LEARNED (academic).

10a         European wearing hat band (4)
TEAM –  E (European) is inserted into TAM (a Scottish cap with a broad circular flat top).

11a         Implicated martinet with troops killer (10)
TERMINATOR –   An anagram (implicated)of MARTINET followed by OR (troops, other ranks of soldiers).

12a         Never-ending passage from Exeter newspaper (6)
ETERNE –   An archaic word meaning eternal, never-ending, is hidden in exETER NEwspaper.

14a         In contact with communist to arrest person in custody (2,6)
ON REMAND –  ON (touching, in contact with) followed by RED (communist)with MAN (person) inserted.

15a         Tight son eats nothing (5)
FASTS –  Tight in the sense of fixed, firm – FAST followed by the abbreviation for Son.

16a         I may be replaced by left in Labour’s strikes (5)
TOLLS –   Replace the I  in TOILS (labours) with an L to get strikes a large bell.

18a         A recipient with no desire for change (8)
INDORSEE –  An alternative spelling for an endorsee – someone to whom something has been assigned – is an anagram (for change) of NO DESIRE.

20a         Lad with attitude has problem welcoming Unionist (6)
POSEUR –  Insert the abbreviation for Unionist into a  POSER (problem).

22a         Last course – go in a blaze potentially (10)
ZABAGLIONE –   Potentially indicates an anagram of GO IN A BLAZE.

23a         Eruptions some teenagers produce (4)
ZITS –   A cryptic definition of what I always think of as an American term for teenage spots.

24a         Threads fifty keys together (6)
LISLES –   L (the Roman numeral for 50) and ISLES (keys) produce some long-stapled, hard-twisted cotton yarn.

25a         Trumpets executive demands (8)
EXCLAIMS  –   EX (executive) and CLAIMS (demands).

Down

1d           European city’s street is the best (6)
NICEST –   The French city of NICE and ST (the abbreviation for street).

2d           Reservation expressed by man in the morning (4)
AHEM –  Put HE (man) into AM (morning).

3a           Other woman‘s married I emphasise (8)
MISTRESS –   M (Married) I STRESS (emphasise).

4d           First Lord of the Treasury briefly leaves awful premiere with stranger (6)
EERIER –   The First Lord of the Treasury is also the Prime Minister  –   Remove the abbreviation  PM (briefly leaves) from PREMIERE and make an anagram (awful) of the remaining letters.

5d           Economist’s supporting tramp in routine jobs (10)
TREADMILLS –   TREAD (tramp here being a verb meaning to walk heavily) and MILLS (John Stuart Mill, the philosopher and economist – the S in the solution coming from economist’s)

6d           Ambassador’s superior returns with amazing ladies (8)
HEROINES –   HE (His Excellency the Ambassador) followed by a reversal of SENIOR (superior returns).

8d           Church teaching native about financial arrangement (6)
SERMON –  Insert ERM (Exchange Rate Mechanism – financial arrangement) into SON (native).

13d         Henry leaves dilapidated herbal store in salvageable condition (10)
RESTORABLE –   Remove H (Henry leaves) from an anagram (dilapidated) of HERBAL STORE.

15d         Arrangement of music for child not in the Orient (8)
FANTASIA –   Remove (not in) the IN from INFANT (child) and add ASIA (the Orient).

16d         Not a lot of sheep dash off when pursued by gutless collie (8)
TUPPENCE –  TUP (a ram)  PEN (write, dash off a letter) and CE (gutless telling you to remove the middle from ColliE.

17d         Something sweet – stockings worn by old flame! (6)
HEXOSE –  A sugar I’d never heard of – apparently it has six  carbon atoms to the molecule – hence the ‘hex’!   An EX (old flame) is wearing (or has on the outside) HOSE (stockings);

19d         Wet   form of publicity (6)
SPLASH –   Double definition.

21           Exhume bishop buried under a French prostitute (6)
UNTOMB –   UN (the French word for ‘the’) TOM (slang term for a prostitute) and B (bishop).

23d         Radical books thrown away in anger? (4
ZEAL –   Remove the OT (Books of the Old Testament) from a radical ZEALOT.

 

 

Yes, it was that simple – all you had to do was name the setter – Prolixic – to whom many thanks for another excellent crossword.  A big thank you  also to Phil McNeill for the prize and Mrs BD for once again so expertly casting the mystic runes.