Thursday 19 June 2014

No 11115, Thursday 19 Jun 2014, xChequer


xChequer increasing his quota? I've been KAYOED today.
ACROSS
1   Issues surrounding radical hot spots (7) TROPICS {T{R}OPICS}
5   Slabs or boards over top of tombs (7) TABLETS {TABLE{T}S}
9   Set of various modules to cook, hence range (9) KITCHENER {KIT}{HENCE*}{R} &lit
10 Romantic evening spent in desert (5) NEGEV EVENinG* Romantic as AInd?


Illustration by Rishi
11 All parts joined with a hammer (6) MALLET {M{ALL}ET}
12 Sweep leg-cutter? (7) SURGEON {SURGE}{ON} (See comments)
14 and 22. Mind-blowing fake of recent origin’s withdrawn (4,7) TAKE OFFENCE {FAKE+OF+rECENT}* Withdrawn?
15 Pasta formed in little rings, stuffing in pork (10) TORTELLINI {T{pORk}TELLINI*} &lit (See comments)
19 Perhaps one always looking at the mirror in cars sits properly (10) NARCISSIST*
20 and 21dn. By this you say you accept it but not if this clue is wrong (4,2,4) SUCH IS LIFE* Seems to be an error in the fodder (Addendum - {iF+tHIS+CLUE+IS}*)

25 Known to a select few, being part of team? (6) INSIDE {IN}{SIDE}
27 Feet in poetry one may associate with a metre by the way it sounds (5) IAMBI {1}{A}{M}{BI}(~by)
28 Perverted cases of being aggressive (3-6) TWO-FISTED {TW{O-F}ISTED} (See comments)
29 Aquatic creature rushed back home through barrier taking short cut (7) NARWHAL {NAR<=}{W{H}ALl}
30 This gives you right to employ idle vagrant (7) YIELDER {Y{IDLE*}E}{R} (See comments)

DOWN
1   Dog chain in empty kennel (4) TYKE [T]
2   Person living in remote area dismissed a sponsor (9) OUTBACKER {OUT}{BACKER}
3   Whiff of some rain reportedly holding up batting (6) INHALE {IN}{HALE}(~hail)
4   Society's measures introducing nuclear restrictions (9) SANCTIONS {S}{A{N}CTIONS} (See comments)
5   Spells words (5) TERMS [DD] (See comments)
6   Fund flow anticipated by financial institution (8) BANKROLL {BANK}{ROLL}
7   Bird in pet cage flew but always within limits (5) EAGLE {pEt}{cAGe}{fLEw}
8   Given these, you're asked to lay them straight (5,5) SEVEN EIGHT [GK] (Addendum - {GIVEN+THESE}* &lit ) Back to KG and housie ...
                                              Cartoon by Bhargav
13 Booming trade in stone art (10) STENTORIAN*
16 Witness, simple chap, scratching head during cross (9) TESTIMONY {TEST{sIMON}Y} (See comments)
17 Sister's days are numbered maybe after I get buried (9) INUNDATED {I}{NUN}{DATED}
18 An expression of disgust is hard to conceal, essentially candid but cruel (8) FIENDISH {FIE}{caNDid}{IS}{H}
23 Object favourite for dogs primarily, a bone? (5) FEMUR Anno pending {(-d+f)FEMUR} - See comments)
24 Energy and time taken by salmon running upstream fetches praise (5) EXTOL {E}{X{T}OL<=}
26 River in central Europe flowing north, bordering Germany (4) ODER {peO{DE}Rue<=} &lit (See comments)

GRID HERE

35 comments:

  1. Across
    12 SURGE ON
    28a TWO FISTED anno not clear
    30 Y(IELD*)E R

    Down
    3 IN HALE ~ HAIL
    4 S A(N)CTIONS
    5 TALKS 2
    6 BANK ROLL
    7 pEt cAGe fLEw
    16 TEST(sIMON)Y
    23 +F-dEMUR
    26 ODER (gk)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A real toughie ! 18d ;-) But I enjoyed it ... Yet to get 9a

      Delete
    2. 26d was worded like a cryptic and led to euROpe N G and Google confirmed that a river by that name existed. I had RONG in till I got 30a and found that rong was wrong

      Delete
    3. I think 26 is ODER ... O(DE)R<= with DE = Germany

      Delete
    4. 5 Spells words (5) TERMS (DD) fits better than TALKS with the crossings?

      Delete
    5. 5d is TERMS dd
      and 9a is (KIT)(CHENE*)R

      Delete
    6. Thanks, B, for the ODER anno. I got terms when I got kitchener ...

      Delete
    7. Can 26d be considered &lit as well, Bhavan? Since wiki says
      The Oder (Czech and Polish: Odra) is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows (generally north- and northwest-ward) through western Poland, later forming 187 kilometres (116 mi) of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder–Neisse line.
      which in essense is what the clue says ...

      Delete
    8. Yes I think it is an &lit

      Delete
    9. "River" plays no part in the wordplay.
      The same goes for "pasta" in 15A
      So, not an &lit, in the strictest sense (semi &lit?)

      Delete
  2. 9 Set of various modules to cook, hence range (9) KIT + CHENE* + R
    15 Pasta formed in little rings, stuffing in pork (10) TORTELLINI (IN LITTLE* outside pORk)
    28 Perverted cases of being aggressive (3-6) TW(O-F)ISTED

    ReplyDelete
  3. 23 Object favourite for dogs primarily, a bone?
    23 Object - DEMUR
    favourite for dogs primarily, - F for D
    [after needed sub]
    a bone - def
    ? - QM for unusual WP

    ReplyDelete
  4. Time to cool off with some breakfast now :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very good crossword.Some nice clues

    ReplyDelete
  6. 17D- Buried- Inundated?
    I thought inundated is only flooded/ submerged. I could not get any dictionary meaning as 'buried'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Do any of you know if Hindu online edition has stopped carrying the crossword? The crossword app has not worked 3 days in a row.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This has ben commented upon in this blog for the last 2 days. The grid appears above in this blog for those who want to solve on line.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for posting the link to the grid. Since the online edition of the paper does not have a link to the crossword today, I have manually added it . You should now be able to solve today's crossword interactively on the THC Online app.

      Delete
  9. Paddy is over-whelmed and buried in thoughts regarding inundation....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Bhargav, I was until MB came to my rescue and pulled me out. Thank you MB.

      Delete
  10. Replies
    1. Looks like 5a too. And maybe 9a, 19a and 20a ...

      Delete
    2. Can &lits paired with different types of clues be a theme?

      Delete
    3. So will that be a &Liteme ?

      Delete
    4. In fact, the whole puzzle is an &lit for 18d ! ;-)

      Delete
    5. @ DG @1016

      & lithe, me? No chance!

      Delete
  11. Enjoyable and a tough one. Glad I did not have to finish it bu 8:30

    ReplyDelete
  12. Extremely FIENDISH crossie, today. SUCH IS LIFE !

    Gautam: Venkat's Online is back on stream. No 22, has been numbered 25 though, thus causing subsequent errors and a YIELDER word has been blockaded ! It was ok for me !

    Paddy is right. There have been comments here when online was introduced by him..
    Serves us great !

    ReplyDelete
  13. 12 Sweep/ leg//-cutter? (7) SURGEON {SURGE}{ON}
    'leg' = ON is not part of the definition (cutter).
    Needs to be removed from highlighting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leg side = On side
      Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_side

      Delete
  14. No one noticed and nor did I until Bhala brought it to my notice that 8D was an anagram plus &lit

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com