Wednesday 19 August 2015

No 11477, Wednesday 19 Aug 2015, xChequer


As usual xChequer has totally foxed me.

ACROSS
7   Second childhood party gate crashed (6) DOTAGE {DO}{GATE*}
8   Leather tack for carpet (8) (Addendum - LAMBASTE {LAM}{BASTE} - See comments)
9   Launch, missing bearing, able to drift on small swell (5-3) BLAST-OFF {ABLe*}{S}{T-OFF}
10 International games played as doubles (6) IMAGES {I}{GAMES*}
11 Bribery can be hard work (5) GRAFT [DD]
12 Choose first class on return to earn miles with best conditions (6) OPTIMA {OPT}{I{M}A<=}
14 Do suppose a lemon's deviously conveyed! (4,7,1,3) SOLD SOMEONE A PUP* &lit
17 Bent to escape daughter planting kiss (6) FLEXED {FLE{X}E}{D}
18 Instrument outlaw presented to sweetheart (5) BANJO {BAN}{JO}

22 Makes harsh noises with angry looks when girl is born (6)  BLARES (-g+b)BLARES
23 Very drained bucking a goddess of fate (8) (Addendum - VERDANDI {V}{DRAINED*} - See comments)
24 Hawker's rum a farce, Colonel's deprived of solace (8) FALCONER {A+FaRce+ColONELs}*
25 Venom from nearly all infesting vermin, say (6) MALICE {M{ALl}ICE}

DOWN
1   Infallible Charlie's evidence (9) FOOLPROOF {FOOL}{PROOF}
2   Service provided in a compact range (6) MASSIF {MASS}{IF}
3   Bird that another one nests (5) HERON [T]
4   Dream of one working beyond reach (8) OPTIMISM {OP}TIMISM (Addendum - AMBITION {AMBIT}{1}{ON} - See comments)
5   Epic of Indian king filled with so-called worldly perception (8) RAMAYANA {RA{MAYA}NA}
6   Sprinkle essence of herbs in jug (5) STREW {ST{heRbs}EW}
8   Fairy tale films following publicity round book club (4,9) (Addendum - LIFE PRESERVER {LI{F}E} {P{RESERVE}R} - See comments}
13 Interim loan, ultimately expended in drink, awaiting legal settlement (3,6) SUB JUDICE {SUB} {JU{e...eD}ICE}
15 Hollow cement supports deviate dispersing energy, a beam can thus split (8) DIFFRACT {DIFFeR}{A}{CemenT}
16 Submissive love is a parting gift (8) OBEISANT {O}{BE{IS}{A}NT}
19 Good to grow fit following a reverse (6) ARABLE {A}{R}{ABLE}
20 Pressure to head petition (5) PLEAD {P}{LEAD}
21 Body resistance comes through stature (5) FRAME {F{R}AME}

GRID

16 comments:

  1. 23 Very drained bucking a goddess of fate (8) {V}{ERDANDI}*

    ReplyDelete
  2. 8 Leather tack for carpet (8) LAM (leather) + BASTE (tack)
    14 Do suppose a lemon's deviously conveyed! (4,7,1,3) SOLD SOMEONE A PUP (DO SUPPOSE A LEMON)*

    8 Fairy tale films following publicity round book club (4,9) LI(F)E + P(RESERVE)R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is 14A an &lit? What's the def if it is not?

      Delete
    2. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/life_preserver#Noun

      life preserver (noun) : (dated) A short club with a weighted end

      Delete
    3. From ODE:

      SELL SOMEONE A PUP : (Brit. informal) swindle someone by selling them something worthless.

      So yes it looks like an &lit

      Delete
    4. Life Preserver /Life-preserver: a short, often weighted club intended for self-defense. (WIKI)

      Delete
  3. 4 Dream of one working beyond reach (8) OPTIMISM {OP}TIMISM

    AMBIT I ON

    ReplyDelete
  4. 4 Dream of one working beyond reach (8) {AMBIT}{I}{ON}

    ReplyDelete
  5. Replies
    1. Bacardi is a brand of Rum mainly known for it's white rum. I'm a Gin/Vodka drinker, not particularly fond of Rum

      Delete
    2. A different type of army man who does not like rum.

      Delete
  6. Phew!sweated..huffed & puffed but NW corner beat me...could get only Dotage & Heron there....kicked myself for not getting Foolproof....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Half went in easily, most of the rest took ages to decipher, and had to finally give up on two of them: ARABLE and VERDANDI (the latter I can live with; not getting the former is galling!). Great puzzle as usual, xChequer - thanks for the enjoyable workout!

    Thanks to Col for the blog, to Sandhya for VERDANDI, and to Bhavan for the parsing of LIFE PRESERVER!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thoroughly enjoyed the music of "Dueling Banjos" ! Thank you Sir for the link. :)

    ReplyDelete

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