Sunday 22 October 2017

The Sunday Crossword No 2966, Sunday 22 Oct 2017


ACROSS
1   Dull, not married, longed to be in a relationship (8) ATTACHED {mATT}{ACHED}
6   Avoid work making bakery product (4) LOAF [DD]
10 Sloping surface around hard new frame (7) CHAMFER {C}{H}{FRAME*}
11 United in support for innovator (7) PIONEER {PI{ONE}ER}
12 Monsieur with set of principles about French wine (5) MEDOC {M}{CODE<=}
13 Start development of giant site (9) INSTIGATE*
14 Still trendy, doctor with edge grew plant yielding essential oil (7,8) EVENING PRIMROSE {EVEN}{IN}{G P}{RIM}{ROSE}
17 Deprived of right to vote since friends had changed (15) DISENFRANCHISED*
20 Gesture brought about by a direct love for sculptor (9) DONATELLO {NOD<=}{A}{TELL}{O}
22 Unacceptable hesitation in proposal (5) OFFER {OFF}{ER}
23 Tale of horror in country around lake and river (7) CHILLER {CHI{L}LE}{R}
24 Opening with some soporific effects (7) ORIFICE [T]
25 Turned back with yen for ascetic discipline (4) YOGA {Y}{AGO<=}
26 Separate revolutionary agents infiltrating different side (8) DISPERSE {REPS<=} in {SIDE}*

DOWN
2   Tourist, initially with bundle, led astray? That's nonsense (7) TWADDLE {To...t}{WAD}{LED*}
3   One under influence, just about consumed with love (14) AFFECTIONATELY {AFFECT}{1}{ON{ATE}LY}
4   Herald getting hot and bothered bearing first of reports (9) HARBINGER {H}{BEARING}*{Re...s}
5   Cheats held up essential cases (5) DUPES [T]
7   Newspaper covering latest in cuisine with duck and herb (7) OREGANO {OR{c...nE}GAN}{O}
8   Distant church in absurd situation (5) FARCE {FAR}{CE}
9   One going into swirling mud's heroic old salt (6,8) SODIUM CHLORIDE {1} in {MUDS+HEROIC+OLD}*
10 Two thousand in company stop and salute (7) COMMEND {CO}{MM}{END}
15 Bitter artist with wit stifling exclamation of surprise (9) RANCOROUS {RA}{N{COR}OUS}
16 Advocate in conclusion less good, lacking weight (7) ENDORSE {END}{wORSE}
18 Wrong monarch in decline (7) SINKING {SIN}{KING}
19 Sentimental types thus following obligations (7) SOFTIES {SO}{F}{TIES}
20 Editor coming up with modest enticement (5) DECOY {ED<=}{COY}
21 Sensational club without boundaries, free (5) LURID {cLUb}{RID}

GRID

27 comments:

  1. Leaderboard for the 5th round as well as cumulative position uploaded. 51 cumulative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think now it is very difficult for those above 30 to come to 20 or less, unless a miracle happens. The top solvers do not allow even the other top solvers between 21-30!!!
      Best of luck folks!

      Delete
  2. Ram,
    Short for Ramani?
    MB,
    Leave the leader board alone- we seem to be having a close race within the race!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am A. R. SubRAMANIam alias Ramani.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... and I had marked Ramani as a female on the copy of the leaderboard that I maintain !!

      Delete
    2. Col: do you maintain the leaderboard position in a spreadsheet?

      Delete
  4. Thank you Ram. Did not know earlier. Needed help from leader board.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Subramaniam Arunachalam Rajeswaran alias Ram & Ramani. :)

      Delete
    2. Ram, Ramani, Rajeshwaran
      Tara ra um pum pum
      (Like John , Johny, Janardhan)
      Very musical.

      Delete
    3. ram was the name given by 'google' when I started commenting here.

      Delete
    4. Thank you Google. Otherwise.....
      Subramaniam Arunachalam Rajeswaran alias Ram & Ramani. :)

      Delete
  5. 9D: Recently came across this clue for sodium chloride
    One found in sea or briefly in barNACLes

    ReplyDelete
  6. Blistering barnacles? Nice one.
    As I said yesterday, one comic I am conversant with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The clue I came across in a delightful book on cryptic crosswords: How to crack cryptic crosswords by Tim Moorey.

      Delete
  7. Yesterday I went to a book shop(my favourite, Reader's Paradise in Indore). I saw the complete set of in Tintin Books costing Rs. 7800!

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  8. Tough one today; took 54 minutes to submit.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Missing black in the corner square in today's IXL grid

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is tough today, Vasant. I spent an hour to submit.
      Suresh, this missing black, I feel, may not cause confusion to the regular solvers, who know about the symmetry, right?

      Delete
    2. IXL 2017 27a ENU is 6 or 7?
      It's shown as 6! But 7 blanks are seen to be filled in!

      Delete
    3. It has been corrected since.
      I thought today's cluing was very good with some very good surfaces

      Delete
    4. 6 is correct. The last square was not coloured black by mistake. They have corrected it now.

      Delete
  10. I concur with ye-all, I took a whole two hours to submit ! Toughst yet ever in this series ! Its a shame that in a competition they cause errors ! One doesn't wait for the correction to appear as one is already engrossed . They ought to be more careful in the final editing more so since it is a time-bound competition. Bottom R H corner block was missing and that caused a lot of confusion in my mind in the crossings. I was almost to give up but plodded on ! I have put in a ? in the blank block ! Again, 19 down is an RMDC type in spelling !

    All in all, a time-consuming and stressful morning was spent by all ! However since the choice to participate is one's own and since we'all enjoy participating , I defer to the orgnizers for putting up a tough one !

    I came on to this blog after completion and SUBMIT and saw that many of us are sharp in our observing flaws like this.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tough. Had to submit with a couple of blanks. I wasted a lot of time to find the missing black square. Should make it a point to check grid symmetry first. As Raju said, it keeps nagging our minds and not able to concentrate.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It wasn't merely tough; it was Blue Whale of a grid with a gremlin to boot !

    ReplyDelete

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