Across
1. Fall for farmers’ market trick, perhaps. (3,1,3,2,1,4)
9. Book narrative – repeat it from memory, endlessly. (5)
10. Avoid cult realignment of egg escape tube. (9)
11. Leader and La Toya upset ere Shakespearean prince returns. (9)
12. God loves a very old German city, one hears. (5)
13. Hunts for the truffle (Nestles). (7)
15. Silver has thickhead horrified. (6)
17. Radio transmitter hosts automatic message to begin with. (3)
19. Comment regarding German coin. (6)
20. Over-serious fellow, it’s said. (7)
23. Athenian philosopher has some fancy nickname! (5)
25. Power out of the bunker an engrave glass this way. (9)
27. Cats arise, move around and attain a higher plain with this. (9)
28. Halt! I swing an Eastern version of the shillelagh. (5)
29. Children’s game, as may be said of champignons. (3,2,3,6)
Down
1. Low price contract. (7)
2. Heartlessly, you get little measure with a cassava. (5)
3. Purposefully heated pebble or reformulated bio-petrol. (9)
4. Feeding on the dead soul – high excitement! (8)
5. Turndowns one hears from the horse’s mouth. (6)
6. Young fowl left…pout about it. (5)
7. Bird – it climbs after wee kitten and gets sort of weak. (9)
8. Chlorine, argon and French wine. (6)
14. Dislike in troubled Zaire for tax-farmer’s jurisdiction. (9)
16. Scarlet blouse, bright fish. (9)
18. Miller’s wife gives sauce. (8)
19. Disqualify from participation if hermit loses pound. (6)
21. Small birds…they are linked to a computer after it comes up with a kind of bar. (7)
22. Not straight, as lanterns reveal. (6)
24. With key to little organization, I show dog. (5)
26. 17 across most likely over this. (5)
Notes
E-mail your solutions of The Very Logical Prize Puzzle No. 218 by the closing date of 4 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, March 17 to stephaniepiro@gmail.com and include your name, postal address and your choice of a Strip T’s shirt, should you be the drawn winner. Please include a second choice (design number and size) just in case we are out of stock of your favorite t-shirt. The items on Café Press are not in our stock and consequently are not available as prizes.
Solutions can also be faxed, if you prefer, to USA code 1-603-755-2926, or mailed to John Nolan, 27 River Road, Farmington, NH, 03835.
All answers, except proper names, appear in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary tenth edition and/or The Chamber’s Dictionary. In this "British-style" crossword, punctuation marks in clues are best ignored, as a rule.
The solution to The Very Logical Prize Puzzle No. 218, along with the name of the winner, and everyone else submitting correct solutions, will be published on this site towards the end of March.
And the "winner" is ...
The "winner" of TVLPP No. 217 (in a strictly non-competitive way, he indicates - so winner, this month, may not really an appropriate term) is Jim Siirola of Salt Lake City, Utah. Kudos and laurel leaves to Jim.
Other correct solvers this time around were Calfan Dary, The English Lads - Keith Williams, Ian Laming and Mark Nichols - and the NH quartet - Barbara Trow, Chris Rogers, Randy Taylor and Jim Horrigan, previous winners all.
All going slightly awry at 24 across, with SHARK rather than SNARK, was that international web of puzzlers: Huguette R-M, Keith and David Simmonds, Condell the D-less Simmons, and Annie and Janine Bonnet. (Think Lewis Carroll, folks)
Also close with STALK instead of SNARK and an inspired guess at 4 down was Nancy Mooney Hebert.
Please enjoy TVLPP No. 218 above.
Recent winners
No. 115 - Andy Knap of London, SW20, England
No. 116 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 117 - Chris Rogers of Farmington, New Hampshire, USA
No. 118 - Don Parent of Hanover, Maine, USA
No. 119 - Karen Muller of Kohimarama, Auckland, New Zealand
No. 120 - Nancy Mooney Hebert of Palm Bay, Florida, USA
No. 121 - Carl E. Damuth of Wells, Maine, USA
No. 122 - Don Parent of Hanover, Maine, USA
No. 123 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 124 - Karen Muller of Kohimarama, Auckland, New Zealand
No. 125 - Carl E. Damuth of Wells, Maine, USA
No. 126 - Joan Bittrolff, Somersworth, New Hampshire, USA
No. 127 - Not posted due to the stress and pressure of vacation
No. 128 - Chris Rogers of Farmington, New Hampshire, USA
No. 129 - Nancy Mooney Hebert of Palm Bay, Florida, USA
No. 130 - Carl E. Damuth of Wells, Maine, USA
No. 131 - Joan Bittrolff, Alford, Florida, USA
No. 132 - Slipped through cracks due to computer crisis
No. 133 - Karen Muller of Meadowbank, Auckland, New Zealand
No. 134 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 135 - Don Parent of Hanover, Maine, USA
No. 136 - Paul Noack of West Broomfield, Michigan, USA
No. 137 - Carl E. Damuth of Wells, Maine, USA
No. 138 - Don Parent of Hanover, Maine, USA
No. 139 - Barbara Trow of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 140 - Bonnie & Kevin Bergeron, Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 141 - Nancy Mooney Hebert of Palm Bay, Florida, USA
No. 142 - Karen Cleary of St. Johns Park, Auckland, New Zealand
No. 143 - Chris Rogers of Farmington, New Hampshire, USA
No. 144 - Veronique Bonnet, Rodez, France
No. 145 - Carl E. Damuth of Wells, Maine, USA
No. 146 - Huguette R.-M. Simmonds of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
No. 147 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 148 - Pierre Gaillard, Olemps, France
No. 149 - Reynir Axelsson, Mosfellsbaer, Iceland
No. 150 - Paul Noack of West Broomfield, Michigan, USA
No. 151 - Régine Privat, Naucelle, France
No. 152 - Don Parent of Hanover, Maine, USA
No. 153 - Barbara Winter, Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 154 - Joan Bittrolff, Alford, Florida, USA
No. 155 - Condell Lovell Simmons of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
No. 156 - Nancy Mooney Hebert of Palm Bay, Florida, USA
No. 157 - Karen Cleary of St. Johns Park, Auckland, New Zealand
No. 158 - Barbara Trow of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 159 - Paul Noack of West Broomfield, Michigan, USA
No. 160 - Sylvie Chauchard of Belmont Sur Rance, Belmont, France
No. 161 - Carl E. Damuth of Wells, Maine, USA
No. 162 - Yvette Gaillard of Olemps, Rodez, France
No. 163 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 164 - Calfan Dary of Anggabaya, Bali, Indonesia
No. 165 - Keith Simmonds of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
No. 166 - Chris Rogers of Farmington, New Hampshire, USA
No. 167 - Joan Bittrolff of Alford, Florida, USA
No. 168 - Betty Bardy of Albi, France
No. 169 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 170 - Bonnie & Kevin Bergeron, Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 171 - Paul Noack of West Broomfield, Michigan, USA
No. 172 - Barbara Trow of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 173 - Barbara Winter of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 174 - Nancy Moony Hebert of Alton, New Hampshire, USA (in summer)
No. 175 - Jim Gaudet of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 176 - Keith Williams of Kings Worthy, Winchester, Hampshire, England
No, 177 - Karen Cleary of St. Johns Park, Auckland, New Zealand
No. 178 - Calfan Dary of Anggabaya, Bali, Indonesia
No. 179 - James O. Horrigan, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
No. 180 - David Simmonds of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
No. 181 - Chris Rogers of Farmington, New Hampshire, USA
No. 182 - Madeleine Dupierre of Rodez, France.
No. 183 - Paul Noack of West Broomfield, Michigan, USA
No. 184 - Jim Siirola of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
No. 185 - James O. Horrigan, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
No. 186 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 187 - Joan Bittrolff of Alford, Florida, USA
No. 188 - Natalie Ryder, Bremen, Georgia, USA
No. 189 - Barbara Trow of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 190 - Héloïse Bonnet of Rodez, France
No. 191 - Jim Gaudet of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 192 - Calfan Dary of Anggabaya, Bali, Indonesia
No. 193 - Keith Williams of Kings Worthy, Winchester, Hampshire, England
No. 194 - Huguette R.-M. Simmonds, Tunapuna, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies
No. 195 - Terry Towle, Strafford, New Hampshire, USA
No. 196 - Vidya Singh of Sidcup, Kent, England
No. 197 - Jim Sempsrott, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
No. 198 - Condell Lovell Simmons of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
No. 199 - Trudy Metzger, Caroline Williams, Laura Bradford of Westport I., Maine, USA
No. 200 - Norbert Bonnet of Rodez, France.
No. 201 - Barbara Bierweiler of Ossipee, New Hampshire, USA
No. 202 - Paul Noack of West Broomfield, Michigan, USA
No. 203 - James O. Horrigan, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
No. 204 - Randy Taylor of Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
No. 205 - Chris Rogers of Farmington, New Hampshire, USA
No. 206 - Nancy Mooney Hebert of Palm Bay, Florida, USA
No. 207 - Wayne Maricheau of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
No. 208 - Mark Nichols of Rugby, Warwickshire, England
No. 209 - Keith Williams of Kings Worthy, Winchester, Hampshire, England
No. 210 - Jim Sempsrott, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
No. 211 - Calfan Dary of Anggabaya, Bali, Indonesia
No. 212 - Joan Bittrolff of Alford, Florida, USA
No. 213 - Barbara Trow of Dover, New Hampshire, USA
No. 214 - Keith Simmonds of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
No. 215 - Ian Laming, Chippingham, Wiltshire, England
No. 216 - James O. Horrigan, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
No. 217 - Jim Siirola of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (technically a non-competitor)