Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 001
An Indy Puzzle by Anax
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Foreword
The first in a series of additional weekend puzzles.
We mentioned on Saturday, 30th January that Anax was the setter for that day’s prize puzzle in the Independent (#7267). Now that the closing date for entries to the competition has passed, Mike “Eimi” Hutchinson, Crossword Editor, has kindly given permission for the puzzle to be published here. To those it may concern, this permission is in writing and with the following conditions: a) the Independent was credited, b) there is a link to the Independent website, c) the site was non-commercial and, d) the puzzle didn’t appear until a week after publication.
Next week we have a brand-new puzzle from Prolixic – our latest contributor turns setter.You can access the Independent website here.
A note from Anax
Firstly, huge thanks to Dave and to Eimi for allowing this puzzle to have a second airing.
Before anyone tries to solve it, though, can I just say it shouldn’t be approached as if it was just another daily cryptic. Eimi’s decision to make it a Saturday prize puzzle reflected the fact that it was probably the hardest of that week’s crosswords. It is a tough one.
I’d like to believe all the clues are scrupulously fair (I certainly hope so), but there’s a lot of trickery going on which may be hard to unravel if your usual preference is for easy or moderate crosswords.
I’ll try to bob in regularly today (Saturday) to answer any queries you have
The puzzle
If you prefer your puzzles on paper, click on the grid to download a pdf of the puzzle as printed in the Independent or a cleaner version, courtesy of Anax, from here. Additionally there is an interactive version of the puzzle here:
| Across | Down |
| 1 Gets hospital soap, mostly to strip nurses (7) | 1 Useless detectives turned up to arrest them (5) |
| 5 Manages to reach settlement after reporter… (5,2) | 2 There’s too much in society that’s corrupt (7) |
| 9 …handles statement by John Clayton III (2,6,3,4) | 3 Poetry describing a grotty royal palace (10) |
| 10 Credit card security feature covering cost of sending one (4,3,3) | 4 Second wallop, sadly not avoiding raised hand? (8,7) |
| 11 Line in blood where firing takes place (4) | 5 Nursery rhyme that man and boy finally do as double act? (3,6,6) |
| 13 Start to watch a good comedian (3) | 6 Vintage Times puzzle (4) |
| 14 Perhaps rough, wrinkly paper to wrap whisky in (4,7) | 7 Tongue was damaged with hot food (not cold) (7) |
| 15 Cooler 70s group has done new thing with old records? (11) | 8 Nervously greet a new child (9) |
| 17 Sound made by entrance buzzer (3) | 12 Lead removed from mud under pipe, one on home soil? (10) |
| 18 Cut into metal, glass and all that’s hard (4) | 13 In which boobs are mostly raised immediately skyward? (9) |
| 19 “Mine’s a large one”, admits company investor (10) | 16 Chanel’s bottles available as containers, naturally (7) |
| 22 Brand’s demonised for abusing tolerance (5-10) | 17 One road heading north from tube with no separate car park? (5-2) |
| 23 Brakes can restrict acceleration, making you stop (7) | 20 Nice stone in river (5) |
| 24 Sinner’s bent and mercenary’s bent – there’s no place for me (7) | 21 Clue that is hampering start of Down answer (4) |