Sunday 26 June 2016

Special, Sunday 26 Jun 2016, Avtaar


Welcome to ur new setter Avtaar. Bouquets and Brickbats welcome.

Three answers per commenter (Annotations compulsory) as usual till 6 PM
Please provide all your answers in one comment.



ACROSS
1   Female pauses,say,.. ?(7)
5   Harry's extraordinary bluff about a ring (7)
9   More worried  about one's royalty (7)
10 Dance became ribald…secretary stripped (7)
11 Flyer's extremely sharp, pointed weapon (7)
12 Starts acquiring vacant land for guards (7)
13 Return British school memo (4)
14 Semaphore's blueprint (3)
16 You get money from these hollow little things (4)
19 It cuts wrought iron clips unevenly (7)
24 Having left, will start to transact one of 28 (7)
25 Treated  this girl escaping from  violent  past (7)
26 This means there is no alternative way to pass (2,2,3)
27 Cunning openers of Sri Lanka get two boundaries (7)
28 Properties, say, covered by eaves at both ends (7)
29 Olympic rider participating in foxtrot never retreats (7)

DOWN
1   Making someone happy is simple… as in gifting rings (8)
2   Once again joins lost parents, having left at first (8)
3   Stupid error by young satellite star/model (6)
4   Tube's not working… was torn badly (5)
5   Rears bulls (5)
6   Bow every now and then, disturbing detectives’ make-up(6)
7   Toxic air shrouds dirty cloth, wood and stone figure (8)
8   To set bus on fire's most stupid (8)
14 Smooth, rotating disk's turned,  trapping river fish (8)
15 That’s designed to become  part of model directly (4,5)
17 Taking cap off, standing drunkenly,  I may go in for a cocktail with an Italian flavour (3,3,2)
18 Man's symbol's not quite like trees, perhaps? (8)
20 Wolf-dog set off (6)
21 Best to be undressed, you say, when going off to seek the hand of partner (6)
22 Got branch to take agent finally (6)
23 Pearl Harbour?(6)

Across Lite version can be accessed at AVTAAR 1

Enjoy.

49 comments:

  1. 8 d To set bus on fire's most stupid (8)OBTUSEST*
    27A Cunning openers of Sri Lanka get two boundaries (7)S L EIGHT
    19 A It cuts wrought iron clips unevenly (7)IN( CIS )OR*

    ReplyDelete
  2. 26A DO OR DIE (CD)
    20D STODGE (dog+set)*
    14A MAP (T)

    ReplyDelete
  3. 23 don: OYSTER- Home- shelter, harbour for oyster - ( Very cryptic !)

    14 across: MAP- seMAPaphore : blueprint

    13 across: NOTE- reversal-ETON- Broitish school

    Welcome aboard, Avatar avargal -- auspicious beginning

    ReplyDelete
  4. 5A: BUFFALO. {BLUFF}*O
    24A: TESTATE. {T}{ESTATE}
    25A: HISTORY. {THIS}*{-gORY}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reminded me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo although instead of 5 Buffalo, we have 8 there.

      Delete
    2. Correction to 5A.
      5A. BUFFALO. {BLUFF A O}*

      Delete
  5. 2D REPLANTS - {L(-eft)} in {PARENTS}*
    15D - POST HASTE {THAT'S}* in {POSE}
    17D GIN AND IT {(-s)TANDING}* over {I}

    ReplyDelete
  6. 14 Smooth, rotating disk's turned, trapping river fish (8)({MAC}{KE{R}ELS})<-

    18 Man's symbol's not quite like trees, perhaps? (8)TRISKELE {LIK(-e)+TREES}*

    21 Best to be undressed, you say, when going off to seek the hand of partner (6)ESCORT {(-b)ES(-t)}{CO(-u(~you))RT}

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good one Avtaar! Keep them coming :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Replacement for MAP & NOTE- already solv4d by Gita & MB respectively.

    2 down: REPLANTS- anagram of PARENTS and L from Left

    14 down: MACKERELS- fish smooth- SLEEK - ROTATING DISK - cam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These two have been solved by Col & Sandhy ma'am!

      Delete
    2. OK !

      11 across: SPARROW- extremely sharp =SP = pointed = ARROW- flyer- Sparrow

      9 across: EMPEROR- anagram of MORE and PER -

      Delete
    3. sorry- I hit the end button too fast ! ONE for PER

      Delete
    4. Anno for 9A is {PER} in {MORE}*

      Delete
  9. 11a. SP (extremely sharp) arrow - nice clue :)
    22d Bough + T = Bought
    3d. Orrery = Error + Y

    ReplyDelete
  10. Avery challenging cryptic crossie .

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ah ! at last ! two hours of Marathon, solving this re- creation by Avtaar !

    I hope 1 & 10 across does'nt peeve any females here ?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Quite a few of them are such simple clues but so arcane ! especially 29 across stares you in the face !

    Good job, Avtaar, creating this incarnation.

    ReplyDelete
  13. 1 Female pauses,say,.. ?(7) PERIODS CD?
    10 Dance became ribald…secretary stripped (7) ..CA..+ ..BA.. +…RET…
    29 Olympic rider participating in foxtrot never retreats (7) EVENTOR [T] <-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. well done, Raghu. 100 % on the mark.

      Delete
    2. I don't find EVENTOR in Collins & OED.

      A copy paste gives...

      Definition of eventer in English:

      eventer
      Pronunciation: /ɪˈvɛntə/
      NOUN

      British
      A horse or rider that takes part in eventing.

      Delete
    3. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/eventer?q=EVENTER

      Delete
    4. This was a mistake. Sorry about it

      Delete
  14. Replies
    1. I thought this was the simplest but took quite long to be solved.

      Delete
  15. 4D: STRAW ; {WAS TORN - ON}*; Defn: Tube
    7D: ACROLITH ; { AIR CLOTH}* ; Defn: wood and stone figure

    ReplyDelete
  16. To be solved

    Across - 12, 16

    Down - 5, 6

    ReplyDelete
  17. 12A: SHIELDS ; { SHIE L(-an)DS} ; Defn: guards

    ReplyDelete
  18. 5D BACKS [2]
    6D FABRIC ARC disturbing FBI D: make-up

    ReplyDelete
  19. A super duper debut puzzle! Keep them coming, Avtaar. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. While agreeing that some clues are very good, may I point out that the fill-in grid may not be acceptable (if submitted for newspaper publication) as it is clearly divided into two sections - top and bottom.
    Consecutive blocks should not run the entire length or breadth of a square.

    ReplyDelete
  21. who gets the money for the last remaining 16 across clue left out? Hollow T hollow S ? Can I put in TINS? but the place of I has been usurped by T ? Finders , keepers !

    ReplyDelete
  22. To finish off,
    16A: ATMS (AT(o)MS) def = you get money from these, little things = ATOMS, hollow=>remove 'O'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The enu should have been (1,1,1,1)? That's the only issue in this lovely puzzle. Good show Avtaar.

      Delete
  23. There you are ! surprising surmise ! If I were to put in TINS which also means money,( as for hollow little things) the only other correct connecting word would have to be ACROLIEIN which does not make any sense ! We have to get the enunciation from Avtaar ! Your guess is as good as mine Ramki, since we can at best only conjecture ! Any way, this minor flaw does not deny the fact that the whole puzzle was otherwise set very wisely and intricately contrived.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I though ATM is a commonly used word and also listed in the dictionary and hence enumeration of 4 is fine.

      7D is ACROLITH. In Ancient Greece a figure with head made of stone and torso of wood - OED.

      Delete
  24. Replies
    1. It has been my pleasure Col. Hope to do another one some time

      Delete
  25. Thanks everyone for the encouragement and feedback. It has been a great experience.

    Sorry about 29A - the correct word is EVENTER not EVENTOR

    Gridman Sir's feedback on grid is most valuable - will take care in future.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Nice grid SSV ciukdnt get triskele and orrery. Liked 25Ac, 1d, 14d best... thanks

    ReplyDelete
  27. Apologies for commenting two days late...could get to solving the puzzle now. Loved the clues immensely. Keep em coming Avtaar!

    ReplyDelete

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