MPP – 069 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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MPP – 069

Monthly Prize Puzzle (February 2018)

A Puzzle by Prolixic

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Why not have a go at our latest Monthly Prize Puzzle?

The winner will receive their choice of any of the Telegraph Crossword Books.

Please note that, due to punitive postal charges, while the competition is open to all, the prize is only available to UK solvers.

A review will follow after the closing date (17th February 2018).

The competition is now closed

The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.

Please read the instructions carefully. 

I’ve left this post open for comments, but if you don’t want your comment to be deleted then do not provide any help for other solvers or mention any detail about the puzzle, especially references to individual clues, until after the closing date.


31 comments on “MPP – 069

  1. Pretty tough I’d say. I have a filled grid and I have an idea for the answer; what I do not have is much confidence that I’m correct.
    Thanks to BD, Prolixic and reviewer.

  2. Well, with some head scratching, I think I have solved the puzzle. Now, I start the real head scratching of solving the riddle. Thanks to Prolixic (I think).

  3. I’ve got a nearly filled grid but two of the missing ones have asterisks so still a way to go yet.

    1. Think I have got it sorted now although there are still a few doubts about some of the groups. Have put in an entry so I can stop worrying about it any longer. I actually used a stronger word than pesky to describe some of the four letter answers in this one.
      Thanks Prolixic.

  4. Just about to make a start on this one – the previous comments aren’t making me feel overly confident!

  5. Glad to read comments I thought it was just me being thick. Every month (unless it is Radler) I bravely print MPP but very rarely get very far. One day.

  6. I would strongly recommend that, having solved the whole puzzle, the sixteen group members are written down and divided into four. Trying to guess the answer without having done this is fraught with problems!

  7. Well, I now have a completed grid, which I had imagined would make the next step relatively easy, but how wrong I was!

    Much further cogitation required methinks…

    Many thanks to Prolixic for some extremely clever clues.

    1. I’ve been cogitating on and off all morning without nothing much to show for it. Perhaps a break to watch the rugby at 15:00 will help.

    2. Right, I think I’ve got the required answers now, it’s not actually necessary to complete all the “groups” either, as I haven’t, just the relevant one.

      1. I have a feeling you risk coming horribly unstuck with that strategy. Either that or I’ve been barking up entirely the wrong tree!

          1. :phew: Finally got there but it was a struggle. Congratulations Michael on a well-crafted, challenging and very enjoyable puzzle.

  8. I think ‘tears of frustration’ just about covers it!

    Went through a stage of having six possible groups on the go, then of realising that several answers would fit into more than one group, then of discovering a few lurking ‘red herrings’ whilst all the time bearing in mind that I have one answer that I’m not at all sure about which could potentially wreck the whole shebang.

    And now I’ve got to wait a whole fortnight to get the answers……………

    1. I don’t want to give away too much, but when you have found the groups they are so obvious that you will wonder why it took so long.

  9. Still really struggling to compete the grid here…so little chance of my entering this month…..but I will persevere…for a while anyway….

  10. I made a start yesterday and filled half the grid, and have just picked it up again. Having read the comments, I think this might take a good while…if I ever even manage to complete!

      1. I now have two left…6D which bears an asterisk, and 32D. A few answers that I honestly can’t parse either, and no inkling as to the groups. But, as you say, there’s still time. Lightning may yet strike.

  11. I so much prefer the Prolixic I met with last week in London.
    This one seems to have turned to the dark side.
    I have a long way to go yet.
    As kiwicolin… These four letter words…

  12. 5d: In my last Indy puzzle (9690), I had

    “Wastrel let loose in banking sector (4,6)”

    great minds and all that

  13. I’ve finally sent in my entry, but with less than full confidence.

    Fascinating puzzle, Prolixic, but I have a horrible feeling that I may have missed something important.
    Thought 33a was a particularly excellent clue.

  14. Despite having completed the grid, I have failed to find the 4 groups. I have no confidence at all that my submission is correct!

  15. My foursome has the requisite 21 letters … but I am still missing a few solutions. Always love the MPP crosswords!

    Thanks to prollixic for causing me so much grief this month.

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