Saturday, 10 March 2012

No 10407, Saturday 10 Mar 12, Mover

Got all but 5 (1A, 23, 24 & 25D) without the grid within 5 minutes! Must be some kind of record for me.
ACROSS
1   - Purchase a trotter unseen? (3,1,3,2,1,4) - GET A PIG IN A POKE [CD] (Correction - BUY A PIG IN A POKE [CD] - See comments)
10 - More than one spoke — lines from the centre to the circumference (5) - RADII [E]
11 - Bolt partner follows fool for underground fare (6,3) - MONKEY NUT {MONKEY} {NUT}
12 - The first part Monsignor lost so badly (7) - MORNING MONsIGNoR*
13 - Mortification produced by broad smile following tea (7) - CHAGRIN {CHA}{GRIN}
14 - Maharani taken partly by her (5) - ANITA [T]
16 - Sworn statement, excited diva had a tiff about (9) - AFFIDAVIT {A}{FFI{DIVA*}T<-}
19 - The only one in a suit having undershirt on (9) - SINGLETON {SINGLET}{ON}
20 - More uncommon and very lightly cooked (5) - RARER [DD]
22 - Make ground sausage more mild (7) - ASSUAGE*
25 - Thing found in a magazine? (7) - ARTICLE [CD] (Correction - [DD] - See comments)
27 - Lawless person combs scant hair (9) - ANARCHIST* Is that true Suresh?
28 - Girl I moan about! (5) - NAOMI*
29 - Flabbergasted, orator departed without delivering? (4,10) - LEFT SPEECHLESS [DD]
DOWN
2   - Ensuring five hundred somehow subscribe (9) - ENDORSING Should be the answer but there is something wrong with the fodder as well as the crossing with 19A. The fodder leads to 'SUNDERING' How stupid of me!! (Addendum - UNDERSIGN (D+ENSURING)* - See comments)
3   - Excuse politician in first class (5) - ALIBI {A{LIB}1}
4   - Newcomer ramming it accidentally (9) - IMMIGRANT*
5   - One coin tossed for a Greek order (5) - IONIC {I}{COIN*}
6   - Alex and queen together see Macedonian king (9) - ALEXANDER {ALEX}{AND}{ER}
7   - How Nero holds one in possession (5) - OWNER [T]
8   - Vanished when former partner went before time in Connecticut (7) - EXTINCT {EX}{T}{IN}{CT}
9   - Muddled Emir in California or in European peninsula (6) - CRIMEA {C{EMIR*}A}
15 - Topless flirtations can result in marriages (9) - ALLIANCES dALLIANCES
17 - Attractive, but in fact, sat uncomfortably (9) - FANTASTIC*
18 - Truthful source via confusion (9) - VERACIOUS*
19 - Awes all about the main defence (3,4) - SEA WALL*
21 - Once again correct dieter somehow (6) - REEDIT*
23 - Greedily eat neckwear! (5) - SCARF [DD]
24 - Get rid of priest from French in pursuit (5) - ELIDE {ELI}{DE}
26 - Will another take up this variety of music? (5) - TONAL [T<-]



26 comments:

  1. 27 - Lawless person combs scant hair (9) - ANARCHIST* Is that true Suresh?

    ;-)

    I also remembered D'or baaala when doing this

    2 - Ensuring five hundred somehow subscribe (9) - ENDORSING Should be the answer but there is something wrong with the fodder as well as the crossing with 19A. The fodder leads to 'SUNDERING'

    UNDERSIGN*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. a la Shetty from Bollywood. But he did not even have scant hair.

      Delete
    2. D'or baaala! Baal baal bach gaye from someone's wrath.

      Delete
    3. A hirsute Shsmmi crooning 'Baal baal dekho, hazaar baal dekho'

      Delete
  2. 2 - Ensuring five hundred somehow subscribe (9) - ENDORSING

    I put this down as {UNDER*}{SIGN}

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1 - Purchase a trotter unseen? (3,1,3,2,1,4) - GET A PIG IN A POKE [CD]

    BUY not GET

    ReplyDelete
  4. 2 - Ensuring five hundred somehow subscribe (9) - UNDERSIGN

    To clarify
    ensuring + d (five hundred) is the fodder
    somehow is anind
    subscribe is def

    ReplyDelete
  5. 2Dis undersign and 1A is put a pig on a poke///

    ReplyDelete
  6. Got all but 5 (1A, 23, 24 & 25D) without the grid within 5 minutes! Must be some kind of record for me.

    Nice. Yes this one was one of the easiest. But to pick a louse egg, whither 25d?

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Kishore: Thanks for the clarification of UNDERSIGN.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 25 - Thing found in a magazine? (7) - ARTICLE [CD]

    I think it is a DD

    ReplyDelete
  9. 13 anagrams today and 13% less than yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Proves that 13% top coverage gives one abilities to do hair pulling math ;-)

      Delete
  10. Another easy one which is perhaps ok, but clues like the one for Alexander today and yesterday's strained could have been better.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 27 - Lawless person combs scant hair (9) - ANARCHIST* Is that true Suresh?

    Right. Lawful persons do not comb their scant hair.

    The only lawless I have seen has a lot of hair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, those in black coats who went berserk on March 2. Kishore from Bangalore will vouch for it. They had rich hair.

      Delete
    2. that is a DIFFERENT kind

      Delete
  12. THC seems synonymous with anagrams these days

    ReplyDelete
  13. Clues like 6D get to me. Alex (as it stands) in the fodder for ALEXANDER. Seriously?

    [Semi-constructive comment follows]: crosswords like this one and yesterday's could be moved, sorry shifted, to Young World perhaps, to encourage youngsters into solving cryptic crosswords.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Richard, wrt to your yesterday's post, when I picked up the TH today, the top of the front page informed me that there was no 'Joy in the morning' (with apologies to Plum)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, clue-writers occasionally do give a component gratis to the solver but if I remember right it's usually 'a' 'the','of' (or similar) and never any word that has more than three letters.

    I think the recent couple of instances is OTT.

    The criticism about too many anagrams in a crossword (which means less variety in clue-type) is also valid. I have not made any count but if there are more than five anagrams in a crossword containing 30 clues, it tends to pall. OTOH, there can be a completely anagram crossword in which every light is clued as an anagram clue (note: anagram clue not mere anagrams as we see in some publications). If Mover, given his/her penchant for anagrams offers one such, will we appreciate the effort?

    Harking back to 6d, here is our instant cwc. Take any word of your choice and write a patent clue. I will start:

    Resounding plan by gent (8)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meira, speak with hestitation (7)

      Bill elaborated after Will: I am... (7)

      ... not with Stan and loveless wild dog, nevertheless (15)

      Delete
  16. Meira, speak to the queen / Meira, speak with hesitation (7)

    Bill elaborated after Will: I am... (7)

    ...not with Stan and loveless wild dog, nevertheless (15)

    ReplyDelete

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