Friday 20 November 2015

No 11554, Friday 20 Nov 2015, Skulldugger


IXL participants will note that the Bogyman has struck again at 23D!!

ACROSS
1   Say, cricket's core group (6) INSECT {IN}{SECT}
4   Struck out, did not strike out (6) SCORED [DD]
9   Spike exhibited by beginner ahead of pro (4) LACE {L}{ACE}
10 Arose, speechified, had a drink (10) ORIGINATED {OR{1}{GIN}ATED}
11 Lady of the house reportedly does not attend (6) MISSES {~missus}
12 Chattier, animated and suited to the stage (8) THEATRIC*
13 Engineer division's personal downsizing (9) BEHEADING {BE}{HEADING}
15 Will not contracted to supply habit (4) WONT {WON'T}
16 Agitation and stress primarily make one sloppy, regressive (4) STEW {St..s}{TEW}<=
17 Pop's gun is peculiar, considering... (9) SUPPOSING*
21 Commanders ground pita in containers (8) CAPTAINS {PITA}* in {CANS}
22 Refreshed, revolutionary ate, set out (6) RESTED {SET}* in {RED}
24 Weird poems involving earth, air (10) ATMOSPHERE {POEMS+EARTH}*
25 Consort gobbled up by feral lynx (4) ALLY [T]
26 Overwhelmed and decapitated with haste (6) RUSHED cRUSHED
27 Disasters worsened after aid is withdrawn, leading to tension (6) STRESS diSaSTERS*

DOWN
1   Think of a Byzantine enigma (7) IMAGINE*
2   Is the future in their mind's eye? (5) SEERS [CD]
3   Mad journalist passed over (7) CROSSED {CROSS}{ED}
5   Plunder and loot, for instance, changing hands in certain regions (6) CRIMES C(-l+r)RIMES
6   Feedback upon reviewing actioners (9) REACTIONS*
7   A bad one might say “Touché” often (7) DUELIST [GK]
8   Noted dissident I hug wildly (13) DISTINGUISHED*
14 An excess of these might dispel positivity (9) ELECTRONS [CD]
16 “Go away,” Lawrence roared initially, “Disperse” (7) SCATTER {SCAT}{TE}{Ro...d}
18 Pastor standing around female is tense (7) PERFECT {P}{ER{F}ECT}
19 Provokes with instruments (7) NEEDLES [DD]
20 Facial feature found in feeble pixies, leprechauns and elves' heads (6) DIMPLE {DIM}{Pi...s}{Le...s}{El..s}
23 (Clue missing) SPACE fits very well here, I wonder if that was Skullduggers intention


20 comments:

  1. I think 23d is deliberate. Space is the solution. A rebus type clue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Should the clue number appear in the clue sheet?

      Delete
    2. Maybe the guys at The Hindu thought it's an error and left out the clue number. It should have been there

      Delete
    3. It may be a mistake in layout.

      While flowing the set-up matter, the clue for 23d may have gone out of the text box provided.

      Of course it would have sat in another text box on the side but the sub/layout man may not have noticed it.

      If it was an incomplete line like clue no and part of the clue, the sub checking might have noticed it and removed the necessary number of blank lines in the text box as clues have been spaced out, and let the excess matter fit into the box.

      As it was a complete clue he -- or she -- may have overlooked it.

      If a sub is aware of this danger he would check if all clues are in - by checking clue numbers and index numbers in cells. But you don't see such studiousness among the new crop of subs.

      A photo caption on Page 2 of Chennai edition today is a horror with typo after typo..

      Delete
  2. 13a As they say in Bihar. Chhe inch height kam kar diya

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Raju, for your late comment yesterday. Mombasa brings some memories... Of cycling daily from Whitesands to Bamburi, both on the beach and the road; my friend Igor who helped me redeem some forgotten Russian; excellent seafood and piripiri at Tamarind

    ReplyDelete
  4. Off topic. Today is 'World Toilet Day'. Wonder what kind of greeting will be suitable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was yesterday. I let to spoil the loo.

      Delete
    2. I too wondered how we celebrate the World Toilet Day.
      Do we go, go, go?
      Or do we keep the toilet clean by not going?
      Or do we Harpic it and deodorize it?
      Or in villages we give a holiday to those poor people called 'scavengers'?
      Or do we ignore it as many hundreds in India celebrate it every day with what is called 'open defecation'?


      Delete
    3. Modi could have used it for his 'Swacha Bharat' campaign. Maybe opened a few usable toilets!

      Delete
  5. 1 Think of a Byzantine enigma (7) IMAGINE*
    Where from the other "I" comes?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Skulldugger appearing after a long time..lovely xword..nice mix of clues...liked 8d..11A...23D..unique

    ReplyDelete
  7. 26 Overwhelmed and decapitated with haste (6) RUSHED cRUSHED

    Does 'and' interfere in the clue? It seems as if 'and' is to decapitated. Should a 'comma' have been used instead?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Was 23 down a deliberate omission to fill it as SPACE as a clue? If so, this is a new take on clue making --- on the lines of a mere . (dot) as a clue? even then , the compiler has to give some hint?

    Or is my imagination roaming in SPACE--- anthareeksh?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oops had misses as Missus and so missed Samosa :( but nice going on ... had 23d as Space too :) enjoyable xword otherwise by Skulldugger..

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have a doubt. I have seen "in" used as a connector between wordplay and def in some clues. If that is valid, then 5D could be CLIMES as well?

    ReplyDelete

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