ACROSS
1 - Seaman posted as missing (6) - {AB}{SENT}
4 - Harridan therefore sent back on vessel (6) - {OGRE<-}{SS}
8 - Fruit belonging to us included in bribe (7) - S{OURS}OP
10 - Vegetable cut, cut and cut again (7) - {PAR(-e)}{SNIP}
11 - Other ranks put in awful place in China? (9) - P{OR}CELA*{IN}
12 - Following behind, close to mother (5) - {LATE}{R}
13 - Be a role model giving group a suitable warning (3,1,4,7) - SET A GOOD EXAMPLE [CD]
15 - Suit’s failure to fulfil an engagement? (6,2,7) - BREACH OF PROMISE [E]
18 - Small musical instrument, piercing (5) - {S}{HARP}
20 - Article on reptile leaving peninsula (3,6) - THE LIZARD [CD]
22 - Sit near suspect, crying (2,5) - IN TEARS*
23 - Boy catching breath in town (7) - S{WIND}ON
24 - French girl, one under ten, fixing plug (6) - N{AD}INE Anyone for the connection between AD and 'fixing plug'?
25 - Take out retired National winner (3,3) - RED RUM<- )
DOWN
1 - Sit up following a storyteller (5) - {A}ESOP <- )
2 - Lady’s maid bringing new berets out (9) - SOUBRETTE*
3 - Gets gen about savings (4,3) - NEST EGG*
5 - Interrogate, about ring, a thug (7) - G{O}RILL{A}
6 - Painter from southern state (5) - ERNST [T]
7 - Replace wonderful watch set with diamonds (9) - {SUPER}SE{D}E
9 - Instruments producing different pair of notes (11) - PIANOFORTES*
10 - Fast mail service could be £25, say (4,7) - PONY EXPRESS [CD]
13 - A bassinet, possibly for Alonso’s brother (9) - SEBASTIAN*
14 - Ralph and Enid unwisely flirt (9) - PHILANDER*
16 - Skipper, international, leading reserves at home (7) - {CAP}{TA}{IN}
17 - Opening of poem about gold and diamonds? Just the opposite (7) - {OR}IF{ICE} Anno of if not clear
19 - In fact, Edith Evans did (5) - ACTED [T]
21 - Material excavated from below (5) - DENIM <-
Reg 17 Dn, 'IF' is a very famous poem by Rudyard Kipling.I used to have a laminated poster of the poem on my wall during my college days.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If%E2%80%94
@French girl, one under ten, fixing plug (6) - N{AD}INE Anyone for the connection between AD and 'fixing plug'?
My take - Plug is the conatiner indicator. AD might be the short form for adhering ~fixing.
AD and fixing plug.
ReplyDeleteFrom Chambers: plug: to din into the ears of the public (for advertising purposes); to din into the ears of the public..
So Ad here should be advertisement.
24a: Agree with Bhargav. 'plug' is often used in internet lingo these days, when people leave comments on famous websites dropping a link to their own, with a sheepish 'shameless plug' prefixed to it. 'fixing', as in 'setting in place', would be the c/c indicator.
ReplyDelete17d: In addition to maddy's explanation, another nuance in the wordplay is turning around of the container-content relation. The first part of the clue says: IF around OR + ICE, then "just the opposite" implies inverting it. So we get: OR + ICE around IF.
ReplyDeleteShameless plug: Wordplay inversion ;)
On July 13, answering a query, I wrote in Bhargav's Orkut community CROSSWORDMANIA:
ReplyDeleteA "plug" is not blatant advertising - not the display ads that the newspapers carry.
A plug might be a news item written by a reporter but with all praise and commendation and details so that it serves as a sort of publicity for the product or company.