Monday 5 October 2015

No 11517, Monday 05 Oct 2015, Neyartha


ACROSS
1   Lively rower at sea in the Chinese waterway (6,5) YELLOW RIVER*
9   Tunic, ornate, hides a mythical creature (7) UNICORN [T]
10 The beginning of a printing process (6) OFFSET [DD]
11 A dark one might be an unexpected winner (5) HORSE [CD]
12 Leave with the American tout's apprentice to the castle (7) SCARPER SCA(-l+r)RPER
15 Start off with a mistake in a place for prayer (4) APSE lAPSE
16 Broken rattle in the middle of a food shop counter was neglected (3-7) ILL-TREATED {RATTLE}* in {ILED} <=
18 Watch the baseball wicket-keeper's stunner (3-7) EYE-CATCHER {EYE}-{CATCHER}
20 Leaders of the native inhabitants look enthusiastically at the waterway (4) NILE Acrostic
23 Green foliage in the road that is a part of the staged revue (7) VERDURE {RD} in {REVUE}*
24 Members of a certain religion need no introduction to this waterway (5) INDUS hINDUS
26 Preserved in a can with a hollow brought about by boxing at home (6) TINNED {IN} in {DENT<=}
27 A musical composition on the mercy of the queen making way for a model (7) QUARTET QUARTE(-r+t)T R for Queen is there in Chambers
28 Land between two major waterways, site of many an ancient civilization (11) MESOPOTAMIA [CD] Also found between 7 and 8 :-)

DOWN
2   French missile collection reportedly spotted behind the exhibition without power (6) EXOCET {EXpO}{CET}(~set)
3   Floor covering with the animal's name moved up slightly (4) LINO LI(+n)NO(-n)
4   Court Washington with the voice of an axe wielder in a forest (10) WOODCUTTER {WOO}{DC}{UTTER}
5   Strangely reconfirm Charlie's absence for the spy (8) INFORMER {REcONFIRM}*
6   A factor in the natural environment (7) ELEMENT [DD]
7   Parsee hut damaged by a waterway (9) EUPHRATES*
8   Waterway in Haiti? Grist production in Iraq depended on it (6) TIGRIS [T]
13 Timepiece used in communication with a type of bedside alarm (5,5) CLOCK RADIO {CLOCK} {RADIO}
14 Bad luck to clean dirty vase (9) ADVERSITY*
17 Admirer of the lawyer's no good at the ball with a provocative courtship dance (8) FANDANGO {FAN}{DA}{N}{G}{O}
19 Couple of Orientals confiscating timer sent up by a Christian recluse (7) EREMITE {E}{REMIT<=}{E}
21 Write and accuse in speech (6) INDITE (~ indict)
22 I'd go up before raising a directive on the island festival (6) DIWALI {DI<=}{WAL<=}{I}
25 Lung aiding divers? (4) AQUA [CD]

GRID

15 comments:

  1. I think the theme is ancient civilizations not just rivers. If so Mesopotamia & unicorn are also theme words.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 12 Leave with the American tout's apprentice to the castle (7) SCARPER SCA(-l+r)RPER

    Does "apprentice to the castle" indicate a substitution? If there was no 'to' it is fine as is the case in the usual Neyartha substitution clues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. does it mean 'going'/ 'falling' to the castle?

      Delete
    2. I took it as ' has apprentice to the castle' to in the sense of 'as compared with"

      Delete
  3. Easier offering from this setter, I felt.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting theme. I also took it to be waterways until I saw the blog. Did well for a Neyartha offering. I am sure he is lowering the bar rather than my doing better. Felt bad for missing our own Diwali- was looking for some remote island fstival.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Replies
    1. Yes Suresh. That is why I mentioned rook. Just wanted confirmation. Thank you.

      Delete
  6. Verdant, Indict were some of the near ones. Of course these mistakes led to trouble with crossings.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Missed out on exocet & scarper...nice geographical /civilization tour by Neyartha

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice one from neyarta. Took some help from google for exocet .. i was expecting something exos...typed french missile exo and voila exocet which is a term i am unfamiliar with. Still cannot understand why set is spotted... i thought it would have eyed or i for spotted. Scarper i couldnt parse till google reminded me tout is scalper :) theme took me back to mid school :) quartet ttook me a while since i had aqua initially as gillb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Collection gives set. Spotted is a positional indicator

      Delete
  9. Very nice puzzle. Took me to school days. 12a - could not parse but letters crossing came to my rescue.10a -a good wordplay. Enjoyed. All stated thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. Thank you Neyartha.

    ReplyDelete

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