ACROSS
1 - To be laid off is something a golf pro hates (6) - BEDRID ? (Addendum - {BAD LIE}* - Thansk to Suresh, see comments below)
4 - Discourage putting the tin into a glass container (8) - DE{CAN}TER
10 - A blockbuster! (7) - ICEPICK [E] ? Should have been (3,4)
11 - Junior officers of ancient rank (7) - ENSIGNS Why ancient rank?
12 - With “Auf Wiedersehen” or “so long”, see off (4) - SEND [CD]
13 - It tells you where the missing letter's gone (10) - APOSTROPHE [CD]
16 - A rascal turned out to be an Oriental sailor (6) - LASCAR*
17 - General notion chief engineer has on training (7) - {CON}{CE}{PT} Con from ?
20 - Deny profits help (7) - {GAINS}AY Connection between HELP and AY ?
21 - The French lies about for him (6) - {LE}{SLIE*}
24 - Pop out of a tree? (6,4) - SPRING B?R? (BIRD ?) (Addendum P?R?N? B?R?)
25 - Let go without payment (4) - FREE [DD]
27 - Girl Saul ran round after for the yearly publications (7) - {ANN}{UALS*}
29 - Concern for one keeping watch (7) - LOOKOUT [DD]
30 - Praised highly then led the old lot out (8) - {EX}{TOLLED*}
31 - The poor fellow has something to eat in the pub (6) - B{EGG}AR
DOWN
1 - Alone in being bothered by the fly-bites (2,6) - BY ITSELF*
2 - Make a colourful change at the top (3,4,4) - DYE ONES HAIR [CD]
3 - She gets Henry out from relating to Ireland (4) - IRIS(-h)
5 - Turn inside out as revealed in the eastern version (8) - {E}{VERSION} New word for me.
6 - Not paying attention, was removed (10) - ABSTRACTED [DD]
7 - Pull forcibly to haul (3) - TUG [DD]
8 - Ribbed cotton and woollen material used less in old city (6) - {RU}{SSEL} <- )No indicator for reversal.
9 - Passes inattentively (5) - SKIPS [E]
14 - It's a strain pleasing everybody! (7,4) - POPULAR SONG [CD]
15 - Military service? (10) - CANNONBALL [CD] ?
18 - Reprimand for having given wrong seat to skipper (8) - LAMB{ASTE*} What's the connection between LAMB and Skipper?
19 - The agent — the one sitting in the dining room with a gun (8) - {REP}{EATER}
22 - A drug ring. The head one is incarcerated (6) - ?S?A?E ({E}NCASE or {E}NCAGE) (Addendum - {O}{P{I}ATE} Thanks to Dan, see comments below)
23 - Physician confronts ailment handled by dentist (5) - {DR}{ILL} Ailment - ill ?
26 - Lightship without an engineer (4) - {NO}{RE} Don't ask me why after you see what's at the link?
28 - Fabric, knotted into meshes (3) - NET [DD]
GRID
Good morning Deepak and all
ReplyDelete18D - Reprimand for having given wrong seat to skipper (8) - LAMB{ASTE*} What's the connection between LAMB and Skipper?
Looks like the reference is to Allan LAMB, former England cricket captain.
Richard
Good morning Colonel
ReplyDelete23A: ill (noun) = ailment, as in 'he suffered through many ills during his jungle expedition'
18A: My first thought was, 'skipper' because a lamb skips. Then again, could it be a reference to Allan Lamb, who was the skipper of the English cricket team for a brief spell?
18 D Usually a lamb is said to SKIP about.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the compiler was 6D at many places.
ReplyDeleteRichard
Many epithets spring in the mind to describe today's puzzle- 'shabby' is the first and 'frustrating' is the last!!!
ReplyDelete@Shuchi,
ReplyDeleteWhat would one say if he suffered only one ailment during his jungle expedition ;-)
@Richard
ReplyDeleteYou have hit the nail with your head Manna I think has had no hand in today's CW and it is the work of his assistant Mr Hyde.
Yes, I agree that I have hit the nail with my head. It really hurts now. :)
ReplyDeleteRichard
"The poor man! What ill has befallen him?"
ReplyDelete24 Ac is SPRING BARK
ReplyDelete@Shuchi,
ReplyDeleteThanks, I was only joking and not doubting your explanation.
@Venkatesh,
ReplyDeleteCan you give us an idea as to what Spring Bark is?
I thought 1A was Birdie.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure 24A is Spring BARK
22A - is it ESCAPE?
ReplyDeleteReckon Spring bark's Manna's creation (if it's the answer.) There seems to be no reference of it anywhere on the internet. Or could be that I'm not looking in the right places.
ReplyDelete22A: Could it be ESTATE?
@Gita,
ReplyDeleteNo Golf Pro would hate a Birdie as a Birdie is one stroke lesser than PAR and it is what a golfer aspires for at each hole
btw, here's what the wikipedia entry for ENSIGNS (11 AC) says under the para 'United Kingdom';
ReplyDeleteUntil 1871, when it was replaced by Second Lieutenant, Ensign was the lowest rank of commissioned officer in infantry regiments of the British Army (except fusilier and Rifle regiments, which always used Second Lieutenant). It was the duty of officers of this rank to carry the colours of the regiment. In the 16th century "ensign" was corrupted into "ancient," and was used in the two senses of a banner and the bearer of the banner. Today, the term "Ensign" is still used by the Foot Guards regiments, for instance during the ceremony of Trooping the Colour. The equivalent cavalry rank was Cornet, also being derived from the name of a banner.
Could this be it?
ReplyDelete22 - A drug ring. The head one is incarcerated (6) OPIATE
A drug = Opiate
ring = O
The head = PATE
one = I
I is inside PATE
@Dan,
ReplyDeleteGood one there OPIATE looks convincing in which case 24A needs something other than SPRING BARK !
I think 1A may be 'bad lie'. Should be two words.
ReplyDeleteGood on Dan. Maybe 24A is Parent Bird
ReplyDelete@Suresh,
ReplyDeleteExcellent, Yes a golf Pro would definitely hate a Bad Lie
See the explanation at LIE for Bad Lie
ReplyDeleteColonel. Most amateurs would also hate a bad lie
ReplyDelete24A Should be something like P?R?N? BURR, as Burr is a cancerous outgrowth on a tree. Andamans is very famous for PADAUK BURR which is a rarity and requires a licence for procuring it.
ReplyDeleteParent Bird is probably right. Parent for pop
ReplyDeleteA parent bird is one which is looking after its young
ReplyDeleteBURR is also known as BURL
ReplyDeleteI've had enough, my head spins by just looking at Manna's offering today.
ReplyDeleteAbsolute silence after Colonel signed off?!!
ReplyDeleteAfter all, the boss commands so much of awe ! :)
ReplyDeleteRichard
20 A- Deny profits help- I thought it was BARGAIN.
ReplyDeleteBAR - for deny and after all bargaining does help one
Colonel,
ReplyDeleteAnno for 17A: {C{ON}CE}{PT}.
based on chief engineer = CCE
1A - Can it not be BUNKER?
ReplyDeleteBunker will not fit the crossings
ReplyDeleteAlso Bad lie is an anagram of 'be laid'
ReplyDeleteI agree with Suresh on 1 Ac.
ReplyDeleteBAD LIE (3,3) - (be laid)*
is the right answer.
It means a ball in the rough which golfers hate.
MManna appears to have erred in giving it as a single word(6)
20 Ac GAINSAY may be split as (GAIN) profits +(SAY) help (as in giving example)
@ COL:
10 Ac ICEPICK The typology should be CD and not E as it is cryptic - block has to be interpreted as block of ice.
A casual solver might take the popular meaning as applied to film or theatre, denoting a very popular/successful production. The word evolved as a theatrical slang referring to a play which was so successful that competing theatres on the block were 'busted' or driven out of business.
However, the actual origin of the word can be traced to World War II when it was used as a RAF slang for an extremely large bomb (as much as 8000 pounds), capable of destroying an entire city block of buildings. The advertising industry appropriated this word in the 1950s.
That is why MManna has given '!' at the end.
Thanks Suresh, makes sense. I'm not into Golf and after reading about basic Golf terminology (thanks to wikipedia), I completely agree that "BAD LIE" is one thing the golfers hate. On the other hand, bunker is equivalent to a bad lie that golfers hate!
ReplyDeleteSONG occurs twice in this puzzle - 12 & 14 Ac (second word in Popular Song)
ReplyDelete12 Ac: so long - see (lo) off = song