Monday 4 July 2016

No 11743, Monday 04 Jul 2016, Skulldugger


ACROSS
5   Recommendation for short story writer: Attempt verse! (6) POETRY {POE}{TRY}
6   Steer clear of vulgar wretches lacking essential courtesy (6) ESCHEW WrEtCHES*
9   Radio channel taking steps to pull off first quarter (6) AIRWAY stAIRWAY
10 Boat at sea, crew leader on shore (8) SCHOONER {Crew+ON+SHORE}*
11 Dunderhead's lot too radical (4) DOLT Anno pending (Addendum - COOT {C}{TOO*} - See comments)
12 Ambassador's greatness (10) EXCELLENCY [DD]
13 Planning to fashion open-air trap (11) PREPARATION*
18 Cool, having showered after nap (10) RESTRAINED {REST}{RAINED}
21 Darling left after wedding vow (4) IDOL {I DO}{L}
22 Kickapoo leader wearing tutu welcomes a doctor to faraway land (8) TIMBUKTU {T{1}{MB}U{Ki...o}TU}
23 Ridiculously animated, dematerialising at first (6) MAIDEN ANIMatED*
24 Hearty/heartless organisation (6) FILING FILlING
25 Slippery gears malfunctioning at junction (6) GREASY {GEARS*}{Y}

DOWN
1   Crumpled wastepaper (short pages) that fills the deep (8) SEAWATER WASTEpApER*
2   Pattern for clergyman heartily embraced by the spirit (6) ARGYLE {cleRGYman} in {ALE}
3   Bulb's energy source: primarily carbon and hydrogen aplenty (8) ESCHALOT {E}{So...e}{C}{H}{ALOT}
4   Fender decoration from Switzerland or from the east of Maine (6) CHROME {CH}{OR<=}{ME} It's all plastic nowadays
5   Preferred drink with Hawaiian dish: scotch or negroni, for starters (6) POISON {POI}Sc...h}{Or}{Ne...i}
7   The place from which girl's horse rode up? Spain (6) WHENCE {W(+h)HENC(-h)}{E}
8   ...at the same time, involved chorus with setter and so on (11) ISOCHRONOUS {CHORUS+I+SO+ON}*
14 Blueprint by commander for boat bed (8) PLANKING {PLAN}{KING}
15 Novel (old, very short) rivaling Gone with the Wind (8) ORIGINAL {O}{RIvALING*}
16 Theory that some meat has unholiness at its core (6) BELIEF {u..oLIn..s} in {BEEF}
17 Beautiful flower banks adjoining county Merseyside's borders (6) COMELY CO{Me...dE}LY Anno pending (Addendum - {CO}{Me...dE}{LilY} - See comments)
19 Writing surface like a table, for the most part (6) TABULA TABULAr
20 Duke shut up, being modest (6) DEMURE {D}EMURE Anno pending (Addendum - {D}{EMURE}(~immure) - See comments)

GRID

16 comments:

  1. 17 Beautiful flower banks adjoining county Merseyside's borders (6) COMELY

    Not sure, but I took flower to be LILY
    County: CO

    {CO}{M...E}{L..Y}

    ReplyDelete
  2. 11A Dunderhead's lot too radical (4){C}{OOT}*

    ReplyDelete
  3. 20D D = Duke IMMURE = Shut up,
    when combined sounds like demure.
    But is HP missing here?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monday morning blues!Woke up late expecting Incognito..encountered a moderately tough one from Skulldugger..lots of holes..had also put dolt in place of coot & missed out on whence & chrome

    ReplyDelete
  5. 4D:kosher to indicate a down clue reversal with "from the east"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Missed the question mark in above query

      Delete
    2. Yes, questionable, but being done by a few setters.

      Delete
  6. I didn't understand 7D and 20D, even after the annotations. Could someone please help?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The place from which girl's horse rode up? Spain (6) WHENCE {W(+h)HENC(-h)}{E}
      The place from which =Defn
      Girl = Wench
      Horse = H
      Rode up = taken up i.e H in Wench goes up to become Whenc
      Spain = E (Espana)

      Delete
  7. 7D- see comments above
    20D- Wench= girl
    When H(orse) moves up, it becomes 'Whenc'.
    I do not know the E part. From Spain?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you Ramesh, for the Spain part. E seems to take many avatars!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Afew clues were trickily contrived . Somewhat a cranium cracker !

    ReplyDelete
  10. 11 Dunderhead's lot too radical (4) DOLT Anno pending (Addendum - COOT {C}{TOO*} - See comments)
    Does lot mean C

    ReplyDelete
  11. Missed sending in my comment yesterday.. the online version comes up a bit ahead but it does not invite much discussion so do not comment there and here I can see wits sparkle and parse any clues left etc.. This was a classic one .. flowed rather quickly except for tabula.. did land flat there for a while till crossings helped :)

    ReplyDelete

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