Friday 4 March 2016

No 11641, Friday 04 Mar 2016, xChequer


Stumped as usual :-(

ACROSS
7   Guys are endlessly forced to become mushy (6) SUGARY {GUYS+ARe}*
8   No more mobile selfie sticks, large and small (8) LIFELESS {L}{SELFIE}*{S}
9   Close, recalling its cast (8) STIFLING {STI<=}{FLING}
10 Military commander of old chambering round in silent weapon (6) SHOGUN {SH}{O}{GUN}
11 Titles regularly screened gathering fan club raves (5) IDOLS {DO} in {tItLeS}
12 Best cut, carbon-free, twinkling stone (6) UTMOST {cUT}{MO}{ST}
14 One can get lost in these non-realistic fantasies essentially getting built (7,2,3,3) CASTLES IN THE AIR Anno pending  (Addendum - {THESE+Non+ReALISTIC+fantAsies}* &lit - See comments)
17 Exa — nothing short of full measure (6) ENOUGH {E}{NOUGHt}
18 Loop sound bite (5) BIGHT (~bite)
22 Playful sweetheart, intimate, but drawing line (6) JOCOSE {JO}{ClOSE}
23 Exam preparation is over in courses (8) REVISION* &lit
24 Fixed costs initially paid, one covered overhead (8) CANOPIED CANO{Paid}{I}ED Anno pending (Addendum - {Costs + PAID + ONE}* - See comments)
25 Recite from Bible, bringing about unity twice (6) INTONE {1}{NT}{ONE}

DOWN
1   Line spoken at audition varied daily (9) QUOTIDIAN (~queue){Q}{AUDITION*}
2   Having authority, left miserable (6) LAWFUL {L}{AWFUL}
3   Thrown like close to many a boomerang (5) KYLIE {LIKE+manY}*
4   Not working, also withdrawn, keeping quiet in effect (8) OFFSHOOT {OFF}{SH}{OOT<=}
5   Drink accepting fate, extremely terrible for one to share (8) ALLOTTEE {AL{LOT}{Te...lE}E}
6   Poser as afterthought, proper in retrospect (5) PSEUD {PS}{EUD<=}
8   Digital colour profile of thief? (5-8) LIGHT-FINGERED Anno pending
13 Best part wasted on purpose (4,5) HIGH ?O?N? (Addendum HIGH POINT {HIGH} {POINT} See comments)
15 Dinosaur one admired in time capsule (8) THEROPOD {T}{HERO}{POD}
16 Rampant rage to cross through European Community widely followed (8) EXOTERIC {X}{OT}{ERI} <= in {EC}
19 Embedded displays in circles (6) INSETS {IN}{SETS}
20 Quiz on all plants of a region (5) ZONAL [T]
21 A useless duck (5) AVOID {A}{VOID}

16 comments:

  1. 13 Best part wasted on purpose (4,5) HIGH POINT

    ReplyDelete
  2. 13 Best part wasted on purpose (4,5) HIGH ?O?N?

    Wasted (intoxicated): HIGH. Purpose: POINT

    ReplyDelete
  3. 24 Fixed costs initially paid, one covered overhead (8) CANOPIED CANO{Paid}{I}ED Anno pending

    C+PAID+ONE* Fixed: anagrind

    ReplyDelete
  4. 14 One can get lost in these non-realistic fantasies essentially getting built (7,2,3,3) CASTLES IN THE AIR

    anagram of THESE NON-REALISTIC fantAsies - ONE

    ReplyDelete
  5. 8 Digital colour profile of thief? (5-8) LIGHT-FINGERED Anno pending

    CD
    Colour: Light
    Digital: Fingered

    ReplyDelete
  6. Samosa sellers are going to proceed against eXchequer for spoiling their business

    ReplyDelete
  7. Phew...not a struggle but a full fledged long drawn out battle today !! Stumped by psued at the end :( and kicking myself for taking so long over some of the simpler ones - some of them are deviously simple :) Xchequer hats off to ya

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beaten square & dry by xchequer...prolonged mental gymnatics yielded 80% of solution...a long way to go before attaining mastery ...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Could fill ZONAL only.Totally stumped. Even the annotations make my swim. The crossie was in a different class altogether. Not a pleasant day.

    ReplyDelete

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