Tuesday 12 December 2017

No 12186, Tuesday 12 Dec 2017, Afterdark


Any rookie commenter to provide answer for 7D with annotation and without seeing the answer using the reveal option. Seasoned commenters may wait till 10 AM before providing the answer.

ACROSS
9   Court official gets bond provided by female (7) BAILIFF {BAIL}{IF}{F}
10 Instrument set in silence (7) MUSETTE {MU{SET}TE}
11 Shrink is a cheat — drops son and picks up a date (7) DWINDLE (-s+d)DWINDLE
12 Parliament guards found in joint with model (7) KNESSET {KNE{SS}E}{T}
13 It's obvious — nothing is in the declaration (9) MANIFESTO {MANIFEST}{O}
15 Eat away frequently, dear foodie (5) ERODE {dEaR+fOoDiE}
16 Some offbeat lesson by band (7) BEATLES [T]
19 Tears flowing, but dry inside and torn (7) TATTERS {TA{TT}ERS*}
20 Small cut in grant (5) SPARE {S}{PARE}
21 Legs tangled between broken rails for the vendor (9) SALESGIRL {SA{LESG*}IRL*}
25 A day without substance — Insurer on getting third policy can become happy (7) IDYLLIC {1}{DaY}{L{poLicy}IC}
26 Unknown girl getting mixed up with English player and German brickmaker (7) ZIEGLER {Z}{GIRL+E+E}*
28 Food supplier in terrace party (7) CATERER*
29 New users receive first edition (current) with a copy (7) REISSUE {R{Ed...n}{I}SSUE*}

DOWN
1   Lass is not admissible to settle in the same place (6) IBIDEM aDMIssIBlE*
2   Man in moon getting new servant (6) MINION {M}{IN}{IO}{N}
3   Compassionate mother-in-law? Definitely first (4) MILD Acrostic
4   A fine treat, exquisite range, superb starters and dessert (6) AFTERS Acrostic
5   Expose king embroiled in some scandal abroad (5,3) SMOKE OUT {SMO{K}E*} {OUT}
6   These girls are our leading lights, say (10) USHERETTES [CD]
7   Even lacks controls to manage a device (8) ?T?S?O?E (Addendum - OTOSCOPE -{cOnTrOlS}{COPE} - See comments)
8   Overcomes becoming weak, Theresa is cured (8) WEATHERS {W}{THERESA*}
14 Malar gets a needless warning (5,5) FALSE ALARM {MALAR}* [RA]
16 Britain's riches accumulated by robbing mass? Dirty (8) BESMIRCH {B}{ES{M}IRCH*}
17 Experts find insects running around alleys hungry (8) ANALYSTS {AN{ALleYS}TS}
18 Had cross-spun a rope (4,4) SASH CORD*
22 Elizabeth has fear, half-dead seeing a reptile (6) LIZARD {LIZ}{feAR}{D}
23 Sue and maltreat (3-3) ILL-USE {SUE}* [RA]
24 Guard left to replace wife in storeroom (6) LARDER (-w+l)LARDER
27 Impressive record in centuries (4) EPIC {EP}{I}{C} I/in C/Centuries?

GRID

34 comments:

  1. EVEN of cOnTrOlS i.e OTOS needs (=lacks) manage =COPE
    Answer is OTOS COPE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even lacks means even letters or odd letters?

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    2. Ram: by no stretch of imagination you can be called a rookie commentator :-)

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    3. That question always pops up with AD. But why lacks? Clue should be fine without it.

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    4. even withdrawls (lacks), imho

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  2. Beautiful puzzle. Loved the smooth surfaces and wp. Thanks AD.

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  3. Col: Nice device to make commentators answer a clue. Brings a welcome change in the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. I feel those placed above 50 in IXL 2017 Overall leader board should be considered as rookies!

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    2. Those might be rookie solvers and that too is doubtful. Rookie commentors would be those new to blog and crossword puzzles, wouldnt they?

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    3. +1. By no stretch of imagination, Ram is rookie!

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  5. Completed an AD puzzle fully after a long long time. Nice & enjoyable. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I put 20D as S(take). One of the meanings is a prize awarded/ granted.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Any answers to questions on 27D?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. According to Chambers:
      I is a preposition and short form of IN
      AND
      C for century or centuries

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    2. Prasad that seems plausible

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    3. but my first instinct was IP(record) in CE with record double duty (return).

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  8. There seems to be no other alt. to what you have suggested.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Maybe DD
    Impressive/record in centuries

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  10. MB @ 10.02: Please make it 50 and above, so that I am in your list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :) You are barred from entering the elite group of 50 and above!

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    2. :-)
      I stand at the bottom supporting all of you!

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  11. In spite of using it often , missed out on Otoscope.

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  12. Can it be EP -extended play i and c

    ReplyDelete
  13. 9A and 13A both have root issues, IMO. Also, would like feedback on 1D "Lass is not admissible to settle in the same place (6)". For the letters of "lass" to be deleted, doesn't the clue need to read as "Lass is not in...". Of course, that would require the surface to be recrafted, but it somehow doesn't seem right to me the way it is worded right now. Also, if "L A S S" are not being removed in the same order, would that need to be indicated too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All valid questions.

      In some anagram of 'admissible', the letters 'l a s s' might appear together, so a second anagram indicator (while nice to have) would not be necessary I think.

      Delete
    2. How 9A & 13A have root issues?
      Does Bailiff comes from Bail+If+F etymologically?I dont think so.
      Manifesto: does it come from manifest+o? I dont think so...
      That is nitpicking IMO..

      Delete
    3. Bailiff and bail share same root. So you basically clued only for if + f

      Manifest and manifesto share same root. So the clue was only for "O"

      Delete
  14. The beauty of AFTERDARK's puzzles is that one gets to use the clues with a bit of knowledge of Thesaurus and one sails through. Then one sits down to parse and gets the gist.

    I liked USHERETTES-- very good leading light ! (pun intended !) Thanks AD !

    Ye-guys go into the semantics , syntax and grammar too deep !

    ReplyDelete
  15. A nice enjoyable quote from ET editorial-
    While this shakahari strategy might not be something to scoff at as a recipe for success, it could chime ironically with the slogan popular during the Bihar chieftain’s heyday, “Jab tak rahega samose mein aloo/ Tab tak rahega Bihar mein Lalu.”

    ReplyDelete

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