Tuesday 3 February 2015

No 11308, Tuesday 03 Feb 2015, Mac


I'm generally confused on the usage of 2D, due to which I'm unable to get 13A. Stumped on 1D as well. On the whole a nice one from Mac

ACROSS
9   To function, drug user consumed last bit of weed left (7) OPERATE {dOPER}{ATE}
10 Ring concealed in wooden closet (7) ENCLOSE [T]
11 Motivate heads of academic committee to undertake administrative tasks efficiently (7) ACTUATE Acrostic
12 Allow one to lie, to disguise absence of love (7) ENTITLE {oNE+To+LIE+To}*
13 Revolutionary respected and given sovereign authority in America (9) ??R/E?T?R?D (Addendum - SCEPTERED* - See comments)
15 Humble sailor at stormy sea (5) ABASE {AB}{SEA*}
16 Eccentric recasts leading lady (7) ACTRESS*
19 Splendidly renovated gallery (7) REGALLY*
20 Believer's beheaded for theft (5) HEIST tHEIST
21 University teacher of journalism accepted extreme offer (9) PROFESSOR P{ROFFE*}SSOR Anno pending (Addendum - {PR{OF}ESS}{OffeR} - See comments)
25 Timekeeping device originally set in dual configuration (7) SUNDIAL {Set}{UNDIAL*}
26 Associate's year-end net return (7) PARTNER {PARTNE}{Raey}<=
28 Backward woman in foul settlement (7) VILLAGE  {VIL{LAG<=}E}
29 Charm by speaking a lot (7) ATTRACT (~ a tract)

DOWN
1   No bit of information in mails or in messages (6) ?O?A?? (Addendum MORALS M(+or-i}ORALS
2   Core of recent development (6) CENTER* or is it CENTRE*
3   Island language (4) JAVA [DD]
4   Mysterious remote celestial object (6) METEOR*
5   Full-back fed up with finisher (8) DEFENDER {DEF<=}{ENDER}
6   Clever perspective - it's not obtuse (5,5) ACUTE ANGLE [CD]
7   Sport fancy boot in season (8) FOOTBALL {F{BOOT*}ALL}
8   A place to rest in peace (8) CEMETERY [CD]
14 Agitatedly tail the car in a dramatic manner (10) THEATRICAL*
16 Devise a compound with hydrogen inside - a sticky paste (8) ADHESIVE {AD{H}ESIVE*}
17 Model's exceptionally large in figure (8) TRIANGLE {T}{RIANGLE*}
18 Stock pile-up disassembled aboard ship (8) SUPPLIES {S{UPPLIE*}S}
22 Her parents are late (6) ORPHAN [CD]
23 Sailor commits crimes endlessly? Despicable! (6) SINBAD {SINs}{BAD}
24 Right to equality with no trace of prejudice? That doesn't happen very often! (6) RARITY {R}{pARITY}
27 Religious observance is ethical, by the sound of it (4) RITE (~right)

50 comments:

  1. A very neat one from Mac. But I felt there was an overdose of anagrams, full & partial

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    1. 13 Revolutionary respected and given sovereign authority in America (9) SCEPTERED* (American spelling)

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  3. Surprisingly only 4 entries received for the Prize special and I'm not saying if they are correct, so there is still time till 8:30 tonight.

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    1. Unable to get a couple of answers. :(

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    2. It's a wicked puzzle, certainly not my cup of tea. I'll send in an unfinished grid with answers about which I'm sure of

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    3. IF SP can't crack a couple add a zero for me to make a 'score'!
      Very hard indeed- jumbo in hardness too.

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    4. Got excited by getting 1D straightway and then it was hard labour. Gave it up at a point :(

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  4. A very neat one from Mac. But I felt there was an overdose of anagrams, full & partial

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  5. 21 University teacher of journalism accepted extreme offer (9) {PR{OF}ESS}{O(-ffe)R}

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  6. 21 University teacher of journalism accepted extreme offer (9) PROFESSOR P{ROFFE*}SSOR Anno pending

    PR(OF)ESS O R

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  7. 21 University teacher of journalism accepted extreme offer (9) PROFESSOR P{ROFFE*}SSOR Anno pending

    PR(OF)ESS O(ffe) R. Just a doubt whether it should be 'extremes' for OR to come out of OFFER?

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    1. I feel this clue is a bit iffy ... Few areas of concern . Is Journalism = Press ? If so the placement of accepted correct?

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    2. Maybe you have a point. Extreme offer may indicate just R.

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    3. From freedictionary.com. Journalism = 'the' press. I think the container ind is OK. But 'extreme' gives only 'one end point'

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    4. I thought the container indicator was fine... But agree that it should be 'extremely/ extremes of'... IMO extreme offer couldn't give one end point either... 'Extreme of' perhaps ..

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    5. I still have doubts about the container ind placement . My reading of this would OF + P (OR) RESS . Because I feel it suggests that journalism accepted extreme offer.

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    6. Shrikanth,

      Then you should also have a doubt about this container ind here:

      1 No bit of information in mails or in messages (6) ?O?A?? (Addendum MORALS M(+or-i}ORALS

      'in' coming inside M ALS?

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    7. But here , in is the container indicator. so no confusion

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    8. Forget the rest and see this in isolation:

      (of) (journalism accepted) = ?

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    9. Of, press accepted = of accepted by press ? Not sure

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    10. Very nice puzzle Mac.

      Ajeesh, I parsed it in a way similar to this:

      Rider, jacket clad ...

      which basically means the first word is inside the second

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    11. A clue I'd set a really long time back. In hindsight, I'm not convinced with 'extreme offer' either. Should have been 'extremes of offer' or something similar.
      But [X, Y accepted] for [X accepted by Y] seems fine to me
      Likewise, in 1D, it's [X, Y in] for [X, with Y inside], which works for me.

      Also, lots of anagrams, agreed. A result of not setting clues together, and not giving the grid much afterthought, either

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  8. It is 'Hey'day! Extremely delighted to claim my samosa and that too before 8.30. Bit of a struggle on NW corner.
    Anagrams -yes, but I thought they were all handled neatly and interestingly.
    Thank you Mac.

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  9. 12 Allow one to lie, to disguise absence of love (7) ENTITLE {oNE+To+LIE+To}*

    Three 'Os' removed for one 'O'?

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  10. Following the blog about Arden, Shuchi has now come up with a brilliant analysis of Buzzer's puzzles. Fantastic article ... http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2015/02/buzzer-trivia.html

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  11. Nice one, Mac. Time for the Mac-arena?

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  12. Hot samosas today thanks to Mac

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  13. Could someone please explain the annotation for 26A. I guessed it right. Year end = r. How does the rest of the answer come about?

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  14. Where is the anagram indicator in 1D?

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    1. No bit of information in mails=mals
      , or in = or inside = morals

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    2. No anagram I goes out of MAILS and OR comes in. Though not at the same location

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  15. Nice one from Mac. A Samosa day to celebrate after coming back from Nellore, where I had no Net facility. Thanks, Mac. :-)))

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  16. Now I shall try my hand at solving the 'wicked' jumbo Anneversary special of Sunday!

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  17. Nice one. Captivating clues.No out-of-currency usage.7d- relished the trickiness in the clue which involves American autumn.26a-equally nice.'entrap' for net.quite nice. Its a nice experience especially for people like me, the beginners. Thanks Mac.

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  18. Sorry.With nice repetitions it has become overnice.

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  19. Finally got time to actually try this... Enjoyable by all means...loved the acrostic in 11A..along with village, attract, football, defender and orphan .. Unable to pick a COD as such .. Too many good clues..

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    1. After further consideration I'm happy to go with 11A as COD..

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