Wednesday 22 July 2015

No 11453, Wednesday 22 Jul 2015, Exa


Exa seems to have visited many locals to guzzzle beer while setting this one.

ACROSS
1   Agent’s grudge against journalist showed (11) REPRESENTED {REP}{RESENT}{ED}
9   Green? It could make one number (7) INTEGER*
10 Fugitive paces around with drugs (7) ESCAPEE {PACES*}{EE}
11 Neighbour’s home is a delightful place (4) EDEN {E}{DEN} E for neighbour? See comments
12 Power affected sincere engineer — a remarkable power (10) PRESCIENCE {P}{SINCERE*}{CE}
13 Old family member dances to ragtime records (8) ANCESTOR [T] Nice telescopic. Didn't get it till the end
16 Sweet stall (5) FUDGE [DD]
17 Stores — vessel stores a constituent of draught beer (5) SHOPS {S{HOP}S}
19 Learner gears up in a contest with that which can improve concentration (8) EARPLUGS {L+GEARS+UP}*
21 Aint too bad entering pub in periods of stress (10) INTONATION {IN{AINT+TOO}*N}
23 Pledge bachelor beer in conversation (4) BAIL {B}{AIL}(~ale)
26 Scared if iceberg submerges house (7) EDIFICE [T]
27 Shooting model in bold setting (7) DARTING {DAR{T}ING}
28 Rate site URL exceptionally for printed materials (11) LITERATURES*

DOWN
1   Gather fresh air at a corner (5) RAISE {AIR*}{SE}
2   Pet bird demonstrated a standard way of moving (7) PATTERN {PAT}{TERN}
3   Lead editor’s aged at heart (4) EDGE {ED}{aGEd}
4   Beginners in empirical research role often repeat this mistake (5) ERROR Acrostic
5   Chest guard (9) TREASURER [CD]
6   Crafty cryptic FT clue I'd cracked by end of puzzle (9) DECEITFUL {FT+CLUE+I'D+p...lE}* Does the clue really indicate the E is part of the Anagram fodder? (Addendum - {DEC{p..lE}ITFUL*} - See comments)
7   Unwrapped a dictionary for writer to go through (6) OPENED {O{PEN}ED}
8   Runs into view that’s extremely nice and peaceful (6) SERENE {SE{R}E}{NicE}
14 Rock salt seen around island is indispensable (9) ESSENTIAL {ESSENT{I}AL*}
15 Questionable matter, hospital department’s medication (9) TREATMENT {MATTER}*{ENT}
17 Split a bit of strong beer (6) SWIPES {SWIPE}{St...g} Didn't know this was a Brit slang for Beer. (Addendum - SLIVER - {S}{LIVER} - See comments from Exa)
18 Acquire boat at sea that’s modern (6) OBTAIN {BOAT*}{IN}
20 Girl and I clear off a large block of ice (7) GLACIER {G}{I+CLEAR}*
22 Love Arden endlessly — right sort (5) ORDER {O}{aRDEn}{R}
24 Designs look great on some tops (5) LOGOS {LO}{G}{O}{S}
25 Twitter started contributing at an earlier time (4) ERST [T]

GRID

39 comments:

  1. 11 Neighbour’s home is a delightful place (4) EDEN {E}{DEN} E for neighbour?

    I assumed E to be neighbour of 'S (in bridge)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. N,S,E,W termed as Partners or Opponents in bridge is okay but the term neighbour is not used in Bridge

      Delete
    2. Crossword Unclued: http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2010/11/game-of-bridge-in-cryptic-crosswords.html

      Opponents are also neighbours, those bidding against each other, or rivals playing tricks.

      Times 24629: Bread, tea and hamburgers two neighbours at table missed ... (8) CHAPATTI
      CHA (tea) PATTIES (hamburgers) – ES (two neighbours at table)

      Delete
    3. "Neighbours at a table" leading to bridge players seems fairer than just having "neigbour" leading to a bridge player. I think Col's point is valid

      Delete
  2. Failed to swipe a samosa today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too got stuck at SWIPES :(

      Delete
    2. Actually, I intended this to be S LIVER

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    3. In that case I get my samosas back!!

      Delete
    4. You mean Liver like Dweller?

      Delete
    5. I find myself in good company of the greats! Lost samosas because of SLIVER! Enjoyed solving the rest.

      Delete
    6. In fact I couldn't place 'liver' for 'beer'. Googling for a while also did not yield any result. So I simply took it as SPLIT = SLIVER without annotating it.

      Delete
  3. Oooh! Narrowly missed a centum! Filled in 17Dn as SLIVER. An absorbing puzzle. Thanks Exa. Loved solving it. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well MB, you read Exa correctly. So you did get your Centum

      Delete
    2. 17D- liver for beer- is it 'be' (live) er? In that case should there be an indiaction?
      Thank you Exa for the interesting and intriguing CW. Enjoyed solving it- and your interview yesterday.

      Delete
  4. 6 Crafty cryptic FT clue I'd cracked by end of puzzle (9) DECEITFUL {FT+CLUE+I'D+p...lE}* Does the clue really indicate the E is part of the Anagram fodder?

    What if I take anno as {FT CLUE{p...E}ID} Sir? Anind being 'crypric' and 'E' cracked/broke the angram feed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You seem to read Exa well today. 'Cracked by' explains E coming in the middle.

      Delete
    2. That's right MB, I missed out on 'cracked'

      Delete
  5. Typically nice and neat one, Exa. Feel 17d needed a perhaps/ maybe as beer for liver is unusual. Trying to get the meaning in 19a.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no problem with 'beer' for liver, but as 'beer' is not 'beer' perhaps some indication such as even a QM at the end might have been in order, I think.
      Recently in a CWC I used inhabitant for the component liver (instead of organ).
      Because it is live-r the judge demurred and likened it to crosswordese banker or flower for river.
      But, in my opinion, liver is a noun in its own right. It is indeed recorded in some dicts. We speak of 'high livers', for instance.
      I didn't argue with the judge, though.

      Delete
    2. Re 19d "that which can improve concentration" suggests that the reqd word is a singular but the solution is in plural.

      Delete
    3. I too have no problem with beer for liver. In fact, it is good for the kidneys and the urinary tract also.

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    4. What ding? Or is it a typo? ))

      Delete
  6. I get it now. I was getting confused with earphones.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Highly entertaining puzzle...i missed out on sliver as well as shops...many things learnt today from the blog...thanks all

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And a big thanks to Bhavan for posting the clues very early in the hub...

      Delete
  8. What is the connection between beer and liver? Sorry, didn't understand.

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  9. live=liver be=be'er ? (cryptic)

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  10. Be -ER all and end all for the LIVEr ? Leave Be, er !! Isn't it taking cryptic cluing Be-ing taken too far?

    Please Be-ar with me ! and don't y - ALe at me !!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. EXcellent -EXA !! Great PUB_ HOP-ping for BEer !! Be- LIVE(r) Me !!

    Chest guard for TREASURER -- very 56 '' !!!

    ReplyDelete

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