Friday 11 August 2017

No 12083, Friday 11 Aug 2017, Scintillator


ACROSS
1   Plan to get second child? At last, wife and myself must come together (6) SCHEME {S}{CH}{wifE}{ME}
4   Second-best servant not showing up for work (8) STOPPAGE {S}{TOP}{PAGE} Is the definition apt?
9   Enquired about doctor's missing charger (6) EQUINE ENQUIrEd*
10 Sacrifice, I think, will protect millions behind time (8) IMMOLATE {IM{M}O}{LATE} Is this definition correct?
12 They like to box her gifts properly (8) FIGHTERS*
13 Second half of Hobbit's plot following a format (6) BITMAP {hobBIT}{MAP}
15 Relaxed face (4) DIAL [DD?] Anno pending (Addendum - LAID<= - See comments)
16 Authorities ran us ragged with cases (10) ASSURANCES {RAN+US+CASES}*
19 Well-planned at times, shifting for neutral in sync (10) SYSTEMATIC {AT+TIMES}* in {SYnC}*
20 Enemies of church expelled from army (4) FOES FOrcES
23 Mom logged out of chatroom after babble with partner (6) COHORT CHaTROOm*
25 British author with a passion largely hidden for nation (8) SLOVAKIA {S{LOVe}AKI}{A}
27 One needing to score? (8) NINETEEN [CD] Needing or Needed?
28 Partners exude sedative stuff (6) SNOOZE {SN}{OOZE}
29 Humming inside, discover your game (8) S?S?R?U? (Addendum - SUSURRUSS - {SUS{UR}{RU}S} - See comments)
30 Horse-rider, engineer ... and a cheat (6) JOCKEY [MD]

DOWN
1   Gathered feed has to be bundled (7) SHEAFED*
2   Attractive figure that can keep time (9) HOURGLASS [DD]
3   Small, brightly-coloured salamander reported south of Michigan (6) MINUTE {MI}{NUTE}(~newt)
5   Life sentence (4) TIME [DD]
6   Near the middle, in favour of side to hit back (8) PROXIMAL {PRO}{XI}{LAM<=}
7   Let's not smell a rat, evoking a sense of danger (5) ALARM {sMelL+A+RAt}*
8   Previous lover vacates (i.e., gets lost) and provides relief (7) EXEMPTS {EX}{EMPTieS}
11 Turn on the waterworks and mix salt, a form of salt (7) CRYSTAL {CRY}{SALT}*
14 On corruption, bail due to be heard (7) AUDIBLE*
17 Steady mechanism to attain record employment (9) CLOCKWORK {CLOCK}{WORK}
18 On surgery, find hidden gland (8) SECRETOR {SECRET}{OR}
19 Tennis players against displacing drug in little time (7) SECONDS {SE(-e+con)CONDS}
21 He plays shot that's elegant (7) SHAPELY*
22 Rendition at vesper's no good delivery, all the same (4,2) EVEN SO {VESpErs+NO}* No good=PRS? (Addendum - EVENSOng - See comments)
24 Manual workers (5) HANDS [DD]
26 List of Shogun emperors overthrown midway (4) MENU [T<=]

GRID

23 comments:

  1. 29A: SUSURRUS (U R - you are + RU (Rugby Union - game) in SUSS (discover)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 22D: I think the anno is:
    Vesper = EVENSONG
    No good delivered => remove NG
    def = all the same

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Correction: Rendition at vesper => EVENSONG (vesper is archaic term for evening)

      Delete
  3. 15 Relaxed face (4) DIAL [DD?] Anno pending

    Relaxed = LAID back

    ReplyDelete
  4. Scintillating tribute to father time

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sorry for the beyond time appearance.
    Barring 29AC, almost all clues fell without much difficulty.
    Thanks Scintillator!

    ReplyDelete
  6. 27a one is in need of nineteen to score. Needing: is in need of

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just wondering about the 'to' before score. Does it make it a verb, or can we consider it as 'leading to'?
      would 'of' instead of 'to'have been better? (say like a batsman in need of score)

      Delete
    2. One needs nineteen to (become) 20.

      Delete
  7. STOPPAGE and SYSTEMATIC could also form part of the theme?

    ReplyDelete
  8. 10A Immolate (OED)

    kill or offer as a sacrifice, especially by burning.
    "Chinese kings would immolate vast numbers of animals"
    synonyms: sacrifice, offer up, offer as a sacrifice, kill as a sacrifice; kill, slaughter, burn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Immolate by itself would not mean sacrifice it could be one of the means to carry out a sacrifice.

      Delete
    2. from Chambers

      2 literary to give up (something highly prized or valued)

      From https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/thesaurus/immolate
      sacrifice, offer up, offer as a sacrifice, kill as a sacrifice
      kill, slaughter, burn

      Delete
  9. Clue in today's Guardian puzzle by Paul: In season, blossoming(9)
    'Blossoming' is the definition and also part of wordplay. Is it kosher?
    What do others think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi... is it Sprouting?

      Out in spring. It's &lit then I think, so fine

      Delete
  10. Sprouting?
    Out(blossom) inside spring(season)?
    If this is the intended logic, at first glance I'd say not kosher..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Scintillator has failed to titillate me today. Too many tricky ones . Jackeys may not appreciate being likened to cheats. What is the engineer doing in this clue ?

    Assurances =authorities?

    ReplyDelete

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