Thursday 3 May 2018

No 12307, Thursday 03 May 2018, xChequer


ACROSS
7   Gets mad about America reinforcing support (6) GUSSET {G{US}SET*}
8   Close scrutiny of poorly grasped English you used once, maybe twice (5,3) BEADY EYE {B{E}AD}{YE}{YE}
9   Glee from silly spat starting to go wrong (4-4) PART-SONG {SPAT+wRONG}*
10 Secret to treasure over concealed rock (6) TOTTER [T<=]
11 Coloured and gilded gold ornament (5) ADORN {AD{OR}N*} Coloured as AInd?
12 Hoover's lacuna (6) VACUUM [DD]
14 Shed core aspiration with loss of air supply? 'ear, 'ear! (4,4,7) DROP ONES AITCHES*
17 Former yield reportedly better (6) EXCEED {EX}{CEED}(~seed) (Correction - {EX}{CEED}(~cede) - See comments)
18 Stupidly looks 'within' empty spaces (5) GAWPS {GA{W}PS}
22 Left in own, bottomless, recurrent void (6) HOLLOW {HOLd}{L}{OWn}
23 Pointless note sent in, that is brazen (8) IMMODEST {MeMO} in {ID EST}
24 Bailiff lists recovery of excess fine (8) TIPSTAFF {TIPS}{FAT<=}{F}
25 Servant's need to be called important (6) LACKEY (~lack){LAC}{KEY}

DOWN
1   Already decided to make caddy turn (3,3,3) CUT AND DRY*
2   Prepared his pitch for a goddess (6) ISHTAR {HIS*}{TAR}
3   Havens put up for pet (5) STROP<=
4   Pole tuning guitars grooves in the snow (8) SASTRUGI {S}{GUITARS*}
5   Mess city created affecting all parts (8) SYSTEMIC*
6   Memory blocks released by pieces of eight? (5) BYTES [CD]
8   Bankrupt son's conviction is mind-boggling (7,6) BEGGARS BELIEF {BEGGAR}{S} {BELIEF}
13 Clerk providing pound tip for pretty escort (3-6) PEN-PUSHER {PEN}{Pr...y}{USHER}
15 Count possibly short, cannot be matched (8) PEERLESS {PEER}{LESS}
16 Pet to display say, collars and ties (8) NECKWEAR {NECK}{WEAR}(~ware)
19 Sailor on vessel gets spirit away (6) ABDUCT {AB}{DUCT}
20 Pulled up zip tags to poison (5) TOXIN {TO}{NIX<=}
21 Minor beats up lad, going unnoticed in these days (5) SMALL {LAMS<=}{Lad}

GRID

37 comments:

  1. 22a (own bottomless) recurrent(twice) hold own ->hol ow. My understanding

    ReplyDelete
  2. 11AC coloured = distorted. So, could work as anagrind.
    My doubt is about gilded here.
    Whether gilded can mean inclusion? Normally, you gild outwardly, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gild: to cover something with a thin coating of gold or something similar.

      Delete
    2. But what's the problem in the clue? AND* is outward

      Delete
  3. Easier compared to yesterday? We have a few weird words as expected, which only Vasant can remember if repeated later!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Far easier Paddy. But with words like Ishtar,Sastrugi, Strop one might sooner become Gajani(with short time memory loss!)

      Delete
  4. 1d: already decided = cut and dried.
    Is 'cut and dry' grammatically correct?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Both mean fixed beforehand or decided in advance

      Delete
    2. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/34793/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-cut-and-dried

      Delete
  5. The boyncer and the dancer - Part 25

    Having woken up with a start, SS found the obese cop shouting at the person next to him.

    " What are you carrying in that SMALL vial? TOXIN?"
    The SYSTEMIC circulation of SS was now regulated.
    Kayal having come straight from her performance seemed to be dressed IMMODEST. She was a foreigner in Poland.
    BEADY EYED cop: "You there. Are you being ABDUCTED?"
    "Not Sir. I am a dancer booked for my next assignment in America and going there". She showed her papers.
    Random questions thrown and not in a CUT AND DRY fashion.
    The grand finale: The cop was beaten HOLLOW when he stretched his hand towards the PEERLESS SS asking for his papers.
    What happened next and what did he show?

    ReplyDelete
  6. All the best for S&B meet at Coimbtore!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Quite tough for me, particularly with many new exprerssions/words like gawp, sastrugi, tipstaff, ishtar, beggars belief

    ReplyDelete
  8. Of late, I am coming across, in The Guardian Cryptic Crosswords, a particular way of cluing, which is not understood by me. The clue in today's crossword is here:
    16AC and 11AC: Controlling back of Wallace and Gromit in animation (10)
    The answer is MODERATING, which is fine.
    But it is bifurcated in the grid as 16AC:MODE and 11AC as RATING!
    Can you explain what type of cluing is this? Is it acceptable?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Similar clue on 2nd May:
      16DN and 14DN 100 locks for furniture (6)
      Solution, of course, is C+HAIRS
      and broken down into:
      16DN as CHA and 14DN as IRS

      Delete
    2. Since both are independent words on their own, I think it is just laziness on the part of setter to combine them into one clue.
      What type of cluing-lazy cluing😀😀

      Delete
    3. 1st clue is fine- 2 independent words. But the second IRA ? (even if cha is for tea.) I agree with you about casual,lazy cluing.

      Delete
    4. Vasant, IMHO, the def applies to each after splitting. Mode is a way of operating/controlling. Rating/dominating/controlling. IRS is Bureau.

      Delete
    5. Writing a single clue for two words in two slots - I have seen this before years ago. MODE RATING is OK. The division must be natural. It can't be MODERA TING or MOD ERATING. Each division must be a word in its own right. The other G clue I don't like. In any case TH IA sw doesn't admit the device.

      Delete
  9. This has ref. to yesterday's discussion- clue in today's ET
    You should not reveal this leg (3)

    ReplyDelete
  10. 5a: mis(hil̷l̷)t
    10a: menisci – m(e̷t̷i̷c̷u̷l̷o̷u̷s̷l̷y̷)+(incise*)
    14a: take it from me (cd)
    4d: clip the wings of (cd)
    7d: hecatomb: {(macbeth)+(b̷a̷n̷q̷u̷)o}*

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete

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