Wednesday 7 March 2012

No 10404, Wednesday 07 Mar 12, Arden

ACROSS
1   - Boats at sea become old — destroy (8) - SABOTAGE {BOATS*}{AGE}
5   - Alpine feature brought up in the space city (3,3) - ICE CAP <-
10 - Study mostly covers a passage on the disease (7) - CHOLERA {C{HOLE}RAm}
11 - Not sure he is related to a Russian leader (7) - UNCLEAR {UNCLE}{A}{R}
12 - On principle there is mention over Henry's inclusion (5) - ETHIC ET{H}IC (addendum - {ET{H}IC<-} - See comments)
13 - Perhaps high spirited when it comes to promoting culture (5,4) - PETRI DISH {H+SPIRITED}*
14 - Plots by some witch doctors around the country (12) - MACHINATIONS {MACHI{NATION}S}
18 - One would present it on call (8,4) - VISITING CARD [CD]
21 - Instrument in the cockpit shows you time — real time may vary (9) - ALTIMETER {T+REAL+TIME}*
23 - Behind a jail, old scene of siege and massacre (5) - ALAMO {A}{LAM}{O} Does Lam by itself  mean jail? Jail break would have been better.
24 - Royal not one to put another at risk (7) - IMPERIL IMPERIaL
25 - Joy when, say, the mother-in-law loses her head (7) - ELATION rELATION
26 - Extremely sorry to stop the whole organisation (6) - SYSTEM {SorrY}{STEM}
27 - How secret coteries are broken? (8) - ESOTERIC*
DOWN
1   - Told to walk casually with a bag (6) - SACKED [DD] (Correction - SACHET (~sashay) - See comments)
2   - Cubicles built initially for a shoot out (6) - BOOTHS {B}{SHOOT*}
3   - Incisive, could be a fault by the worker (9) - TRENCHANT {TRENCH}{ANT}
4   - Take the bull by the horns, otherwise strangle the pet (5,3,6) - GRASP THE NETTLE*
6   - Examples of spinal growth (5) - CACTI [CD]
7   - Director recast Shylock, for example (8) - CREDITOR*
8   - Acquire some leverage (8) - PURCHASE [DD]
9   - Trying to save time and money by reconstructing, may be (7,7) - CUTTING CORNERS*
15 - A word against is missing for the shrew (9) - TERMAGANT {TERM}{AGAiNsT}
16 - A 6 on the sign houses many fliers (8) - AVIARIES {A}{VI}{ARIES}
17 - Such elementary anomalies would affect spies too (8) - ISOTOPES*
19 - Blade's got a delicious thing in his Rolls Royce (6) - RAPIER {R{A}{PIE}R}
20 - After the first course, can go back for a drink (6) - COGNAC {C}{OG<-}{NAC<-}
22 - Come together only around midnight (5) - MERGE {MER{G}E}



14 comments:

  1. 1 - Told to walk casually with a bag (6) - SACKED [DD]

    SACHET (~sashay)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 12 - On principle there is mention over Henry's inclusion (5) - ETHIC ET{H}IC

    Small correction in anno

    ET{H}IC<

    mention=cite, over=<

    2 - Cubicles built initially for a shoot out (6) - BOOTHS {B}{SHOOT*}

    Reminded me of John Wilkes Booth and his shooting...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore, See the link over 'mention', that also seems to work

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Col.

      Delete
  3. 5A-
    'brought up' as a reversal indicator in an across clue? There was a similar one yesterday also. If I remember right, there was a discussion on this a few days ago.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shyam, Suresh and Deepak:

    Very ouell pronounced and clarified. Deepak, OI don't you verify your target before you shoot?? Caught up in the travails of travel?

    Oui had fun though.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dashed through it this morning - everything seemed to gel perfectly. Very enjoyable. I too had sachet, and am now going to sashay towards the kitchen in search of breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't quite dahs through it, but found the grid enjoyable nevertheless (apart from a few things like the 'lam', mentioned by the Col.).

      Colonel,
      9D is missing the complete anno.

      Delete
  6. 9D is an anagram of reconstructing and Col. has marked it so. (maybe being the anind)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What I was trying to say is that, the fodder wasn't provided alongside the answer. Compare, for instance, 4/9/17D with 13A. In both cases, the fodder is highlighted in pink within the clue, but in the case of the latter, the anagram is explicitly shown.

      Just a nit-pick, I suppose. :)

      Delete
  7. Navneeth in the case of 4/9/17D the fodder comprises of complete words that's why I have not indicated it alongside the answer, whereas in the case of 13A only 'H' is to be taken instead of 'high' that's why the difference

    ReplyDelete
  8. 2 - Cubicles built initially for a shoot out (6) - BOOTHS {B}{SHOOT*}

    I have learnt over time that when I discuss clues and pick nits, a lot of times it is just due to my own inadequacies as a solver.

    And Arden is one of the more responsive setters who cares about the integrity of the clue posed to the solver.

    The clue for 2D is probably in that category of my own ignorance because I was thrown off by the word "for" linking two parts of the subsidiary indication. Though I ended up solving the clue based on crossings, if the clue were independently given with no grid, I would have read it as "Word play" (Cubicles built initially) "Linkword" (for) "Definition (a shoot out)and probably never gotten to the solution. I wonder if that is the only correct grammatical way to read the clue or if our sometimes hard-to-fathom crossword grammar allows the interpretation afforded in the clue as written.

    ReplyDelete

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