ACROSS
1 - Last month I had leaders coming back with verdict (8) - DECISION {DEC}{I}{S'1ON<-}
5 - Community members succeeded in French capital (6) - PARSIS {PAR{S}{IS}
10 - Present… present… not present (7) - NOWHERE {NOW}{HERE}
11 - Elevator not working? Go up! (4,3) - LIFT OFF {LIFT} {OFF}
15 - Smooth-talking Ohio youth leader trapping the Italian (4) - OILY {O}{IL}{Y}
16 - Pasta for ratty crowd leaving new stringed instruments (10) - VERMICELLI {VERMIn}{CELLI}
18 - Snorting, he resorted to cutback (10) - SHORTENING*
20 - Roll small nail (4) - SPIN {S}{PIN}
23 - Battle excessively in public box, e.g.? (8) - OUTFIGHT [CD] (Correction - {OUT}{FIGHT} - See comments)
24 - Feeble in company (6) - INFIRM {IN}{FIRM}
26 - Relating to marriage up in Latin quarters (7) - NUPTIAL{N{UP}TIAL*}
27 - Relaxed, I consumed stuff (7) - SATIATE {SAT}{I}{ATE}
28 - Step down — or stay for another term? (6) - RESIGN {RE-SIGN}
29 - Being mischievous, char drops Doctor Sen's son (8) - ARCHNESS {CHAR*}{SEN+S*}
DOWN
1 - What one may encounter riskily while driving on the road to
Priestley's play (9,6) - DANGEROUS CORNER [DD]
2 - She has to take care of steer (7) - COWGIRL [E]
3 - Pieces scattered — they are coins (6) - SPECIE*
4 - Frank appeal to writer? (4) - OPEN{O}{PEN}
6 - A student, almost new, gets company in the cool air (8) - ALFRESCO {A}{L}{FRESh}{CO}
7 - Such assets are between husband and wife (7) - SPOUSAL [CD]
8 - The more the count, the more the freedom from danger (6,2,7) - SAFETY IN NUMBERS [CD]
9 - Grant boy much, male servants a little time (9) - ALLOTMENT {AL}{LOT}{MEN}{T}
14 - As we speak, Henry is caught in dirty trick (9) - MEANWHILE {MEAN W{H}ILE}
17 - Hitting out? Wonderful! (8) - STRIKING [DD]
19 - A short month to work on a sea creature (7) - OCTOPUS {OCT}{OPUS}
22 - Grab son, chant deliriously (6) - SNATCH {S}{NATCH}
25 - Exploitative type's trick moving right down (4) - USER (-r)USE(+r)R
Put down PARISH for 5A but did not get stuck because 8D came easy. Missed out on Parsis. Did not see s to mean succeeded.
ReplyDeleteStill cannot see how S can stand for succeeded. I cannot even find this abbreviation on Abbreviations.com, which has a pretty exhaustive list.
DeleteSuresh, from Chambers :
Deletes or s. abbrev
Second(s)
Section
Shilling
Singular
Son(s)
Succeeded
Okay.
Delete23 - Battle excessively in public box, e.g.? (8) - OUTFIGHT [CD]
ReplyDeleteThis might be a charade with:
in public = out
box eg = fight
That is the way I had it, Bhavan
DeleteWell, Gridman usually has some authority behind him whenhe uses abbreviations. S for 'succeeded' does appear in a specialist dictionary. I guess it is used in brief biographical notes in reference works.
ReplyDeleteE.g.,
Mr Y. blah blah s. Mr X in 2010 blah blah
where s. is succeeded
29 - Being mischievous, char drops Doctor Sen's son (8) - ARCHNESS {CHAR*}{SEN+S*}
ReplyDeleteSuggest
{CHAR*}{SEN*}{S}
Doctor SEN = SEN*
Here, two AnagrInds are used - drops (for CHAR) and doctor (for SEN).
I am unclear on the use of drops as an Anagram Indicator. I have foung it to be generally used to indicate something which is for deletion.
I think there is a part-of-speech problem as well: being mischievous does not lead me to a noun. It is the first time I am hearing the word; I would usually take it to mean importance as in arch enemy etc.
DeleteReminds me of 'wellness' which I came across quite late in life. That is what I am in now. So far so good. :)
DeleteTook a while to get alfresco as I always think of it as 2 words. Also archness - could get it to fit the grid but not the definition. For me "archness" implies an evil intent rather than a mischief, but resolved my worries by referring to a dictionary. Really enjoyed today's gridman. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi, could it be an effect of your stay in an Arab country for some time, having had to come across "Al ...", "Al ..." many times over? Just kidding. :) Maybe Kishore would like to have a say, with his own experience in Oman.
ReplyDelete