Saturday 8 August 2015

No 11468, Saturday 08 Aug 2015, Scintillator


A good deal from Scintillator :-) Though I'm stumped in the NE corner.

ACROSS
1   No other way to refer to these agricultural tools (6) SPADES [C&DD]
4   Fleece of an animal - jackal or fox, maybe (8) ?O?F???N (Addendum - WOLFSKIN - {WOLFS}{KIN} - See comments)
9   A diplomat needs skills to get to the bottom lines (6) HEARTS {HE}{ARTS}
10 See Barbie girl playing a game (8) CRIBBAGE {C+BARBIE+G}*
12 Little son goes for exam without strength (8) MEAGRELY MEA{-s+gre}GRELY
13 Some leaders seen to be drunk after quarter (6) ?U???S (Addendum - QUEENS - {QU}{SEEN*} - See comments}
15 Platform to knock someone with a punch (4) DOCK [DD] (Correction - DECK [DD] - See comments)
16 A letter from the skies? (10) AEROGRAMME [CD]
19 Dine at one? It's detrimental, they would say (10) DIETITIANS {DINE+AT+1+ITS}* Semi&lit
20 Leader's begging when not required (4) KING asKING
23 Miserable afternoon - cloudy, then blacks out (6) ABJECT Anno pending (Addendumm - {A}{B}{JE{C}T} - See comments)
25 Thoroughly examine everyone entering/ turning up at European city (8) VALLETTA {V{ALL}ET}{TA<=}
27 Plants that could yield rose teak (3,5) OAK TREES*
28 To some extent, westbound trade never reached level terms (6) EVENED Anno pending [T<=] See comments
29 Beloved hugging king in dim light (8) DARKLING {DAR{K}LING}
30 Reach across hill range on second level (6) BRIDGE {B}{RIDGE}

DOWN
1   Disadvantaged people taking heed to earn money hatched a plan (7) SCHEMED {SC}{HE{M}ED}
2   Landslip can have a large fallout (9) AVALANCHE {CAN+HAVE+A+L}*
3   Gain by violence — formerly a wrongful act (6) EXTORT {EX}{TORT}
5   Wicked one is somewhat retrogressive (4) OGRE [T]
6   By far, rue being broke in this time of the year (8) FEBRUARY*
7   Church centre reports a dishonest person (5) ??A?? (Addendum - KNAVE (~nave) - See comments)
8   Massages said to remain as requirements (5-2) NEEDS-BE (~kneads){NEEDS}-{BE}
11 Reformation necessary in a large independent country (7) ALGERIA {A+LARGE+I}*
14 Talk at length about deplorable thugs (7) GOONDAS {GO ON}{DAS<=}
17 Doctor paid attention, peeled skin and applied some water (9) MOISTENED {MO}{lISTENED}
18 Hosting is very structured, clear and intuitive (8) VISCERAL VISCERAL {V}{IS}{CLEAR*}
19 It's hard to crack degree papers held on a Monday (7) DIAMOND {D}{I{A}{MON}D}
21 Nobleman in Greece and Eastern Spain (7) GRANDEE {GR}{AND}{E}{E}
22 College sweetheart brings prosperity (6) CLOVER {C}{LOVER}
24 Comedian is not quite an idiot? All right, accepted (5) JOKER {J{OK}ERk}
26 Eager to continue changing signs (4) KEEN Anno pending (Addendum - KEE(-p+n)N - See comments)

GRID

35 comments:

  1. Waiting for Sandhya to fill in the blanks

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    Replies
    1. I didn't complete the crossword. :( Going out - no time.

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  2. Happy Birthday to Crossword Unclued on entering the Eighth year. Great going Shuchi

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  3. 26 Eager to continue changing signs (4) KEEN Anno pending
    ---
    P (sign for 'parking') in KEEP (continue) changed to N (don't know what sign' this one is)

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    Replies
    1. I took it signs +ve & -ve ( so p & n)

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    2. Thanks. I was wondering about what N meant if P was parking. Positive and Negative make sense though I don't know where they are used as such.

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  4. 28 To some extent, westbound trade never reached level terms (6) EVENED Anno pending
    It is telescopic reversal from TRAde neveR

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  5. 23 Miserable afternoon - cloudy, then blacks out (6) ABJECT Anno pending

    This took me a little while.
    B is black.
    JET is also black.
    Both B and JET are outside of something.
    A is afternoon, I think, though this abbr. may not be accepted by some editors.
    Then?

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  6. C for cloudy as in weather maps. Remember the time when The Hindu used to publish weather map with C for cloudy, S for sunny, R for rain?

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  7. 13 Some leaders // seen to be drunk / after quarter (6) ?U???S
    (QU)(EENs*)

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  8. I think 15A is DECK - Collins defines to deck as "to knock (someone) to the floor or ground." And it does mean platform, too.

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    Replies
    1. Deck is also a theme word & fits better. So no samosas today :(

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  9. This was hard work. I can't say honestly that I enjoyed all of it, but was left feeling very happy once all the answers went in! I liked many clues, with 1a, 27a, and 24d standing out for the surface treatment.

    I couldn't parse MEAGRELY at all - great job on that, DG!

    Re. KEEN - the only context I can remember in which I can remember P and N as signs is in the indicators on an automatic car.

    Thanks to Scintillator and DG!
    - In

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  10. Seems that cards are on the cards ....

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    Replies
    1. I was about to comment that the theme is CARDS when I saw your comment and understood what you meant... Rounding off in a roundabout way...

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    2. I thought that is what the Col. pointed to in his comment "A good deal from Scintillator"

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    3. Yes, Ramesh... I did note Deepak's comment ....more on yhis later

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  11. Thanks Col. for standing in for me. Liked this one from Scintillator. Was a bit of a struggle to get to the other side, but enjoyable nevertheless.

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  12. Clover is also a theme word

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  13. Tough one and very nice surfaces.

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  14. AD , taking one more step today :-)

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  15. Best wishes to Shuchi on completion of seven years of CU.

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  16. Beaten square & dry by Scintillator...could get only extort & hearts in NW corner..was beaten by Goondas(!)& many more in the SE corner..saving graces for me were the NE & SW corners...
    Which shows I have a long way to go...

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