Tuesday 9 January 2018

No 12210, Tuesday 09 Jan 2018, Afterdark


Answer and annotation for 10A left for a rookie commenter till 10 AM.

ACROSS
9   Queen in a car crash across the bend (7) CZARINA {IN+A+CAR}* over {Z}
10 An extremely short girl following one engineer at centre (7) A?E?A?E (Addendum - AVERAGE {A}{VERy}{A}{G}{E} - See comments)
11 A fruit having nut lacks core nutrition (7) ALIMENT {A}{LIME}{NuT}
12 Selection containing cold dessert (4-3) CHOC-ICE {CHO{C}ICE}
13 King's certain to overcome resistance, about time to raise from the dead (9) RESURRECT {RE}{SU{R}RE}{C}{T}
15 Often sent away being a snitch (5) SNOUT {SeNt}{OUT}
16 Boss put to ground at boarding place (3,4) BUS STOP*
19 Setback in plant at school (7) COLLEGE {COL{GEL<=}E}
20 Men seize power in anarchy giving away nothing (5) CHAPS CHA(-o+p)PS
21 Spells of chill weather similar to long-standing records after cloudy start (4,5) COLD-SNAPS {Cl...y}{OLD SNAPS}
25 Assist official touring Long Island (7) RELIEVE {RE{LI}EVE}
26 Associate Inspector, say takes money to get beer after getting bowled out (7) COMPEER {CO{M}P}{bEER}
28 Nurse is working out at dawn (7) SUNRISE*
29 Time to give best feedback is after the quarter's sales is at close (7) SESSION {SE'S}{s..eS}{NO1<=}

DOWN
1   Heard it’s easy to hide away (skipping break) candy (6) ECLAIR (~easy){EC}{LAIR} Comments
2   No resistance — suffers from decay (6) CARIES CARrIES
3   Conduct constant drill (4) ?I?E (Addendum - PIPE {PI}{PE} - See comments)
 Potato? Eat it, digest after some time (6) TATTIE {Time}{EAT+IT}*
5   Managed to go back near bed and take a first course of sedative (8) NARCOTIC {RAN<=}{COT}{1}{Co...e}
6   Fish smells old — one is spoiled (5,5) LEMON SOLES {SMELLS+O+ONE}*
7   Damaged ovaries, onset of cyst inside leads to a vein condition (8) VARICOSE {VARI{Cyst}OSE*}
8   Cooked penne, ate 2/3rd — necessitated hospital entry to have a drug (8) NEPENTHE {PENNE+aTE}* over {H}
14 Method of grilling naan — On receiving order add some salt upfront instead of later (10) ROTISSERIE {ROTI}{(+s)SSERIE(-s)}
16 Brackets make a support (8) BACKREST*
17 A design seen in picture is of a vehicle (8) SEAPLANE {SE{A}{PLAN}E}
18 Choose eel over river fish (8) PICKEREL {PICK}{E{R}EL}
22 Insect found in tamarillo custard tart (6) LOCUST [T]
23 A male? I happen to be a woman pilot (6) AMELIA {A}{MALE+I}*
24 Counter is across road in beach (6) STRAND {ST{R}AND}
27 Some shady contents in web (4) MESH [T]

GRID
Bhargav's Tale

She was found sitting on her swivel chair with a cushioned BACKREST like a CZARINA.
She was AMELIA (a namesake) and member of the NARCOTIC wing.
A quick assignment...
She gets into her car. ( No need for any SEAPLANE).
The CHAPS in the COLLEGE BUS STOP were sitting ducks for her.
But the catch was only NEPENTHE.
She went back and looked foward to another SESSION.


32 comments:

  1. In today's puzzle 20A (among the less thaan a dozen clues I solved!) was
    a delightful one.
    The whole clue reads like a sentence describing coup scenario
    or such a chaotic revolution. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
    And 28A the anagram for Sunrise was well disguised.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 3 Conduct constant drill (4) ?I?E ()
    Is it (PI)(PE) meaning conduct

    ReplyDelete
  3. 17d: {SE(A)-(PLAN)E}
    'n' is deleted from 'seen', but deletion indicator not found.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1d lair is hideaway: without space(break)!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has always bugged me when such words are used like UNDERWAY & UNDER WAY interchangeably !

      Reminded me of the streamers in the TV news with such glaring mistakes in spelling.

      Rapped amd Raped being confused ! Rape of the language !

      Delete
  5. Since 10AM is long past, hope this can be put to rest - AVERAGE, Anno: A VER(-Y) A G E

    ReplyDelete
  6. In Mathematics, average is the midpoint or centre.
    Strange though, while solving I considered average but thought it may not fit!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AFTERDARK takes us through dark alleys with all his additions and deletions.

    NEPENTHE put me to LETHE land !

    Bend can be S 0r Z in Czarina or TZARINA .

    Very FISHY crossie-- SMELT terrible ! Could have burst a VARICOSE vein due to DVT !!

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1 Heard it’s easy to hide away (skipping break) candy (6) ECLAIR (~easy){EC}{LAIR} Comments

    Homophone clues are always contentious given the varied pronounciations. We also have certain location specific (and widely accepted / dictionary backed) ones like the cockney accent.

    I'd personally never accept 'EC' and 'easy' as homophones. Even if the clue said ' Heard locally easy' or some such. There is only one way to pronounce 'easy' which is 'ee-zee'

    ReplyDelete
  9. My Mother-in-law who stays with us passed away at 12:30 this afternoon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SORRY TO HEAR. May her soul rest in peace.

      Delete
  10. So sorry to hear the sad news , Deepak. May God keep her soul in eternal peace . Please accept our heartfelt condolences to all in the Family. Raju & Sapna

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very sorry to hear the sad news. Heartfelt condolences.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So sorry to hear the sad news. My condolences on the passing of your Mother-in-law, Sir.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sorry to hear the sad news. Pl. pass on our condolences to your wife. A mother is always missed irrespective of age.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very sorry to hear the sad news. May her Soul rest in peace

    ReplyDelete
  15. So sorry to hear the sad news. Heartfelt condolences!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sincere condolences, Col. May her soul rest in peace.

    ReplyDelete

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