ACROSS
1 - See how many letters there are to contend with (8,5) - MEASURES WORDS [CD] See or sees?
8 - Marches airborne troops around Delaware (7) - PARA{DE}S
9 - Foreign body hostile to army chief (7) - ANTI{GEN}
11 - Publicly exercise in Lyon in an eccentric way (6) - O{PE}NLY*
13 - One doesn’t feel obliged to see Tangier’s ruins (8) - INGRATES* One doesn't feel or They don't feel?
15 - Done by deceit to frame someone (5) - SETUP [E]
16 - Leave the port when social cliques become ill (3,4) - {SET S}AIL
18 - More anaemic, doctor gives poor (7) - {PALER}{MO} ??????????????
19 - Played to produce an effect (5) - ACTED [E]
21 - Make fast with lines on expanse of textile land (8) - {MOOR}{LAND} I don't see the connection between textile land and moorland?
23 - Margaret going over the border with a headache (6) - {MEG}{RIM}
25 - Zero on to him to find subterranean plant (7) - RHIZOME*
26 - Catches in the river and locals are worried about (7) - COLLA{R}S*
28 - Doesn’t allow to go free! (5,2,6) - HOLDS TO RANSOM [E]
DOWN
2 - Serious matter for listener to find place of rest (7) - {EAR}{NEST}
3 - Sorrowful attorneys returning (3) - SAD <- )
4 - Gave one’s seat to the lady (4) - ROSE [DD]
5 - Not against development of non-progressive state (10) - STAGNATION*
6 - Trot out east for a large aquatic fish-eating carnivore (5) - OTT{E}R*
7 - Dig it out with Al for a calculation by numerical method (7) - {DIG}{IT}{AL}
8 - Is he always in low water? (4,7) - POOR SWIMMER [CD]
10 - Changes in Mars astound the astrologer (11) - NOSTRADAMUS*
12 - All in Peru fold front of a coat (5) - LA{PE}L
14 - Severe strain unsettled the man (10) - ASTRIN*{GENT}
17 - Have knowledge of an armed conflict in East (5) - {A}{WAR}{E}
18 - It may qualify as part of an agreement (7) - PROVISO [E]
20 - To the navy trouble is on the way! (7) - {TO}{RN}{ADO} [CD] Is this statement an Amphiboly? What kind of clue is this?
22 - Dolly can turn over for him (5) - LLOYD*
24 - Mark left by crash of vehicles (4) - SCAR*
27 - The French point out to him (3) - {LE}{N}
GRID
Well Colonel
ReplyDeleteI see that you are as confused about Palermo and moorland as I am. And the amphi whatever too.
Maybe someone in the blog will be able to enlighten us
Is 21 across a typo error? fertile instead of textile
ReplyDeleteFertile and textile doesn't appear to be a typo, typo's will generally have a letter out of place and not three as in this case
ReplyDeleteTalking of typos, maybe it is port instead of poor giving meaning to Palermo
ReplyDeletefertile and textile - May not be a typo, but it looks like a misread word. f/t and r/x get mixed up by OCR software too.
ReplyDeleteMore errors to add to your list:
6D: The wordplay gives (TROT)* + E, and not (TROT+E)*.
17D: AWARE can be 'knowledgeable' or 'having knowledge'. 'have knowledge of' will give 'BE AWARE' and not 'AWARE'.
12D: The clue says "All in Peru fold", but to get LAPEL we need "Peru in all folded".
ReplyDeleteThe clues are quite unimaginative. 20D should be interpreted as (TO)R(N)ADO* where N stands for Navy and the letters outside the parantheses are an anagram of road (for on the way)
ReplyDelete7D Dig it out with Al for a calculation by numerical method (7) - {DIG}{IT}{AL}
ReplyDelete"out" suggests anagramming when "DIG IT" isn't even getting anagrammed.
Plus the defn is in the wrong part of speech. DIGITAL is an adj, meaning 'pertaining to numerical calculation'. 'calculation by numerical method' can only lead to a noun.
Looks like there is general agreement that today's crossword is a disaster. Not that Col. Gopinath did not warn us a few days ago about what to expect from Manna.
ReplyDeleteTo balance the over-negative strain of comments, let me add that I think 5D, 10D and 14D are brilliant :) Cogent surfaces, and pleasantly deceptive wordplay especially in 5D.
ReplyDelete20D: Col's annotation looks more plausible to me. @Vikram: What is to indicate that (ROAD)* will go around N?
Nothing. That's why I said the clues are unimaginative. I wanted to address the "on the way" annotation in the clue. If you assume RN stands for Navy, the "ado" part of the answer does not relate in anyway to the annotation provided.
ReplyDeleteI guess the compiler was attempting an &lit of some sort. A tornado would cause trouble to the navy.
ReplyDeleteThat would account for "ado", as trouble = ADO.
Poor clueing allows many interpretations of the clues, none of which are entirely consistent with the annotations given. The joy of having solved a crossword to me is akin to that of identifying the meter of a piece of poetry. Poor clues rob you of that joy.
ReplyDeleteA tornado that causes trouble to the navy is a
ReplyDeleteWaterspout
We just have to grin and bear it for another 4 days
ReplyDeleteYes Colonel.Grin and do the ET Crossword, which is consistently good and correct, except for repeats once in a while.
ReplyDelete