ACROSS
1 - Correspondence in flight (7) - AIRMAIL [E]
5 - Can a CEO rib about this sort of exercise? (7) - AEROBIC*
9 - Medical procedure to cure postnatal ranting? Almost (15) - TRANSPLANTATIONg*
10 - Tom, with honour unknown, is easily remembered (6) - {CAT}{CH}{Y}
11 - Single male composer with reversed part (8) - {BACH}{ELOR<-}
13 - Mathematical expression? No, quite a variant (8) - EQUATION*
15 - Kind of trade for British Sappers to follow (6) - {RE}{TAIL}
18 - Singing group caught close to heresy by superior monk 's office (6) - {ABBA}{C}{Y}
19 - Nearby, Edward is shut away in private (8) - {CLOSE}{TED}
22 - Signal that left everyone without doubt? (3,5) - ALL CLEAR [CD]
24 - Fungus found in a cigar, oddly (6) - AGARIC*
27 - Possible reason for ending wedlock (15) - INCOMPATIBILITY [CD]
28 - Blow up in a dark room perhaps (7) - ENLARGE [CD]
29 - An intellectual to goad the chief (7) - {EGG}{HEAD}
DOWN
1 - Henry, replacing royal in raid and beginning to excite embassy official (7) - {ATTAC(-k+h)H}{E}
2 - Old dictator upset, finding ring in cooked meat (5) - {R{O}AST<-}
3 - Artistic techies at play (9) - AESTHETIC*
4 - Flower of the timid one's liver (4) - LILY [DD]
5 - Toughen the metal, girl! Aluminium! (6) - {ANNE}{AL}
6 - The right everyone has to arrive (5) - {R}{EACH}
7 - Ingenious British worker grabs Billie, avoiding extremes (9) - {BR}{bILLIe}{ANT}}
8 - Old Andhra leader in unflappable command (7) - {CO{NTR}OL} My COD
12 - Quarrel about water treatment beginning to work (3) - {RO}{W}
14 - Inseparable, like a baby's connection to mother (9) - UMBILICAL [CD]
16 - Relaxed and, with no difficulty, leaving (9) - {EASY}{GOING}
17 - Small family pest! (3) - FLY
18 - Greed makes a girl climb, they say (7) - {AVA}{RICE}(~rise)
20 - Rotten action, trapping accountant close to victory (7) - {DE{CA}{Y}ED}
21 - Friend consumed by the ability to appreciate different flavours (6) - {PAL}{ATE}
23 - Primate seen in a Salem urban locale (5) - LEMUR [T]
25 - Famous flower of Europe (5) - RHINE [CD]
26 - Opium smoker's gateway to dreams! (4) - PIPE [CD]
1 - Correspondence in flight (7) - AIRMAIL [E]
5 - Can a CEO rib about this sort of exercise? (7) - AEROBIC*
9 - Medical procedure to cure postnatal ranting? Almost (15) - TRANSPLANTATION
10 - Tom, with honour unknown, is easily remembered (6) - {CAT}{CH}{Y}
11 - Single male composer with reversed part (8) - {BACH}{ELOR<-}
13 - Mathematical expression? No, quite a variant (8) - EQUATION*
15 - Kind of trade for British Sappers to follow (6) - {RE}{TAIL}
18 - Singing group caught close to heresy by superior monk 's office (6) - {ABBA}{C}{Y}
19 - Nearby, Edward is shut away in private (8) - {CLOSE}{TED}
22 - Signal that left everyone without doubt? (3,5) - ALL CLEAR [CD]
24 - Fungus found in a cigar, oddly (6) - AGARIC*
DOWN
1 - Henry, replacing royal in raid and beginning to excite embassy official (7) - {ATTAC(-k+h)H}{E}
2 - Old dictator upset, finding ring in cooked meat (5) - {R{O}AST<-}
3 - Artistic techies at play (9) - AESTHETIC*
4 - Flower of the timid one's liver (4) - LILY [DD]
6 - The right everyone has to arrive (5) - {R}{EACH}
7 - Ingenious British worker grabs Billie, avoiding extremes (9) - {BR}{
8 - Old Andhra leader in unflappable command (7) - {CO{NTR}OL} My COD
12 - Quarrel about water treatment beginning to work (3) - {RO}{W}
14 - Inseparable, like a baby's connection to mother (9) - UMBILICAL [CD]
16 - Relaxed and, with no difficulty, leaving (9) - {EASY}{GOING}
17 - Small family pest! (3) - FLY
18 - Greed makes a girl climb, they say (7) - {AVA}{RICE}(~rise)
20 - Rotten action, trapping accountant close to victory (7) - {DE{CA}{Y}ED}
21 - Friend consumed by the ability to appreciate different flavours (6) - {PAL}{ATE}
23 - Primate seen in a Salem urban locale (5) - LEMUR [T]
26 - Opium smoker's gateway to dreams! (4) - PIPE [CD]
Apropos 9a,
ReplyDeleteWe are all born with two kid knees. And then we need replacements.
8d was 7d.
Very enjoyable fare today from Sankalak.
ReplyDelete27A is a simple and straight-forward clue of the E/S type. There is nothing cryptic about it.
27A-Venkatesh has a 27A with the clue!
ReplyDeleteYes, Kishore.8D is indeed 7D,though I could not crack the old Andhra leader part.
A nice interesting fare today-shall I say typical Sankalak?
2 people have rated the CW 'Poor'. Wonder if any of them would care to explain.
ReplyDelete25 - 'Rhine' a flower? Wonder if it is a typo or if I am missing something here.
ReplyDeleteVikram
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I don't set any store by the ratings.
And I won't - as long as these are anonymous.
Over the years I have praised clues and I have criticised clues - but always in the Comments section with my identity known to the readers.
Anyone has the liberty to say a certain crossword is poor - or great. But that must be backed by the rationale. Without the reasoning any classification is meaningless.
Re Rhine as flower.
ReplyDeleteThis is an old, well-worn trick in crosswordese.
Read flower as flow-er, that which flows, which is what the river Rhine is.
Thanks, CV
ReplyDeleteThe pig in your cartoon is damn cute
ReplyDeleteI didn't mark anything in this rating, but I think I can guess why this might be considered poor. A22, 27 and 28, D14 and 26 were all CDs, but I wouldn't say any of them were outstandingly cryptic. At the other end of the spectrum were the CDs in 17D and 25D - they were delightful.
ReplyDeleteGenerally one or two CDs per crossword is fine but today the number was pretty large. The solvers may think that CDs are just an escape route for the setters as they do not have to rack their minds cooking up a wordplay.
A minor correction: 17D looks great to me as it is a semi-&lit - the whole clue can be taken to be the definition and a wordplay is present in one part: small family - fly. (as ppl. write on invitations!)
ReplyDeleteSuresh admiring pigs? You are also a wodehouse fan!?
ReplyDeleteMy father was a Wodehouse fan and had a collection of first editions. I have read and enjoyed a number of them, even though they are all alike.
ReplyDeleteBut this comment has nothing to do with the Empress.
Maybe then, the Pride of Matchingham ;-)
ReplyDelete@Shyam: Agree that sometimes the CD's fail to drop the penny, but I am not sure if the reason can be wholly attributed to the setter's laziness to cook up word play. Given the number of clues that Sankalak has set, it should not be too much trouble cooking up wordplay for a couple more. Rather, reading Sankalak's interview at CU and looking at his usual style I would think he is sprinkling the CWD with enough easy answers to allow for really quick solving by those that give it a quick whirl with an old cup o' joe and never think about it again. For people like us (I know I am generalizing here, but hopefully atleast partly true), for whom cryptics are more of a hobby than a quick fix, these seeds are not all that tasty compared to other well disguised clues. Whether the intellectual quick fix neesd such easy clues is another opinion, but I imagine the setter is entitled to cater to his view somewhat. So, I guess, c'est la vie.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you, veer. My comment was because I had 30 mins today morning to solve and given it was Sankalak, I thought I could breeze my way. Sadly, with all those CDs, I quit midway :(
ReplyDelete