Wednesday, 14 May 2025

No 14484, Wednesday 14 May 2025, Pixie Dust

Solution to 1A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance. 

Open for anyone to solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS
1   This formula was epic! Swear...amazing! (6) R?C?P? (Addendum - RECIPE  {RECIPE+WAS}*={EPIC+SWEAR} [CA] - See comments)
A hit is humbling (8) ABASHING {A}{BASHING}
9   Dry a wet Roan, tied on and off (6) AERATE {A+wEt+RoAn+TiEd}
10 Husband with irritation about boundless love leading to spiritual awakening? (8) HANGOVER {H}{ANG{lOVe}ER}
12 It's a trivial sum, we hear to former Vice-President (8) TWOPENCE (~to pence)
13 Sneer at casual top and soft shoe (6) BOOTEE {BOO}{TEE}
15 Sadly cut my lip, repeatedly in mass? (12) MULTIPLICITY* Letterbank
18 How to make tech order confidential? (3,3,6) OFF THE RECORD {TECH+ORDER}* [RA]
21 A short writer meets a biblical character (6) AQUILA {A}{QUILl}{A}
22 Ebenezer, for one has no love for a Spanish bum (8) SCROUNGE {SCRO(-o+un}UNGE}
24 Trend with each custom and disappear (4,4) FADE AWAY {FAD}{EA}{WAY}
25 Scan reels (intermittently fast forwarding) lol! Entertaining from the beginning (6) RIFFLE Acrostic
26 Research from broken nails, say (8) ANALYSIS*
27 Rebel maniac touts sandwiches (3,3) ACT OUT [T]

DOWN
1   Strangely I met Lear! Live... (4-4) REAL-TIME*
2   Spooner's usual chills in shared rides? (3,5) CAR POOLS (~par cools to car pools)
3   Extravagant life! Play, act and chat... It's an illusion, literally! (8,7) PATHETIC FALLACY*
5   Solicitor's nib (4) BEAK [DD] Judge, yes. But solicitor?
 Leo say, reprogrammed 'Cheat with Food Sizing!' (4,2,3,6) SIGN OF THE ZODIAC*
7   Request popular antioxidant perhaps (6) INVITE {IN}{VIT E}
8   Some stone dragon erected in park (6) GARDEN [T<=]
11 A pass year, extremely tame for follower (7) ACOLYTE {A}{COL}{Y}{TamE}
14 Groan! Notice about credit (card history mainly) (7) SCREECH {S{CR}EE}{Card}{Hi...y}
16 Despicable person, say, controls neighbourhood's main croaker, briefly - going up and down (2,3,3) TO AND FRO {TOA{Ne...d}D}{FROg
17 Supporter can be heard with e-book (8) ADHERENT {HEARD*}{E}{NT}
19 Port city in Germany? Yes, couple of fellows naturally acclimatised from the beginning (6) JAFFNA {JA}{FF}{Na...y}{Ac...d}
20 Plain hard nutmeg bottles brought up (6) TUNDRA [T<=]
23 Try one whose business is picking up? (4) TAXI {TAX}{1}

Reference List
Husband = H, A in Spanish = UN, Each = EA, Year = Y, Credit = CR, Book = NT(New Testament), Yes in German = JA< Fellow = F

Tuesday, 13 May 2025

No 14483, Tuesday 13 May 2025, KrisKross

Solution to 12A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance. 

Open for anyone to solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS
1   Section of restaurant counter sadly messy, drab (5,3) SALAD BAR {ALAS<=}{DRAB*}
5   Group roasts nuts (6) ASSORT*
9   Marks setter's run, end to end (8) IMPRINTS {I'M}{(-s)PRINT(+s)S}
10 Stock spinach and lettuce sandwiches (6) HANDLE [T]
12 Head of Enterprise overwhelmed by gloom, lost in space, gets navigational aid (6,3) G?O?L? M?P (Addendum - GOOGLE MAP {G{OOGL{En...e}M*}AP} - See comments)
13 Animal in European territory (5) ELAND {E}{LAND}
14 Home without walls - basically in terrible neglect (4) OMIT {hOMe}{In}{Te...e}
16 Honour son instead of daughter? Mean! (7) SIGNIFY (-d+s)SIGNIFY
19 Last complete question for the audience (4,3) HOLD OUT (~whole doubt)
21 Parts of Ellora really exceptional (4) RARE [T]
24 Christmas clothes, very new (5) NOVEL {NO{V}EL}
25 Attractive shot - perhaps 4 scored? (6,3) SQUARE CUT {SQUARE}{CUT}
27 When troubled, one hug is adequate (6) ENOUGH*
28 Most weighty article pinched by cunning thieves (8) HEAVIEST {HE{A}VIEST*}
29 Cook hosting large celebration (6) SALUTE {SA{L}UTE}
30 Alone KrisKross programmed, without tip from overseer (8) ISOLATED {I}{S{Ob...r}LATED}

DOWN
1   Like Scrooge, starting to save money - heartless fellow! (6) STINGY {Save}{TIN}{GuY}
2   Wash cover for computer (6) LAPTOP {LAP}{TOP}
3   Exercise to make well? (5) DRILL [DD]
4   Try a couple of times - mostly futile (7) ATTEMPT {A}{TT}{EMPTy}
6   Supreme Court - one delivering justice for a street cleaner (9) SCAVENGER {SC}{AVENGER}
7   Do all fans primarily talk in ancient language? (3,5) OLD LATIN {DO+ALL}*{Talk}{IN}
8   They come once a week performing duets, say (8) TUESDAYS*
11 Love to discharge work (4) OPUS {0}{PUS}
15 Spooner says "Crazy person may take up two jobs" (9) MOONLIGHT (~loon might to moonlight)
17 Fiddles welcoming Harvard's top intellectuals (8) THINKERS {T{Ha...d}INKERS}
18 Snake bites? Honey could be a home remedy (5,3) CLOVE OIL {C{LOVE}OIL}
20 Expression of irritation about a job (4) TASK {T{A}SK}
21 Jazzy resort possessing high-class network devices (7) ROUTERS {RO{U}TERS*}
22 A sick pet having case of colic in stomach (6) ACCEPT {A}{ColiC}{PET*}
23 Announced revised dates around end of August (6) STATED {S{a...sT}ATED*}
26 Party dance, securing victory (5) REVEL {RE{V}EL}

Reference List
European = E, Son = S, Daughter = D, Very = V, Large = L, Time = T, High-class = U, Victory = V