ACROSS
1 - Excellent siesta at sea? Very manageable (7) - EASIEST {E+SIESTA}
5 - Clever, if skull were to be operated upon (7) - SKILFUL*
9 - Former spouse recalls thrills (7) - EXCITES {EX}{CITES}
10 - Preparation hasn't begun for getting a shower (7) - RAINING tRAINING
11 - Nervous model seen fidgeting (5) - TENSE {T}{SEEN*}
12 - Mock southern city, then go off (9) - SYNTHETIC {S}{CITY+THEN*}
13 - Rash speed, rash speed! (9) - DESPERATE {SPEED*}{RATE}
15 - Having faith left the king crownless (5) - LOYAL {L}{rOYAL}
16 - Hesitation to enter brown boat (5) - FERRY {F{ER}RY}
18 - Making it to an abstainer's demise (9) - ATTENDING {A}{TT}{ENDING}
21 - Engineers and programmers described resistance devices (9) - RECORDERS {RE}{CO{R}DERS}
24 - Glitter originally highlighted during function (5) - SHINE {S{H}INE}
25 - Help revise broadcast about the speed of light (7) - SERVICE {SERVI{C}E*}
26 - Allows curse to be reciprocated by the French (7) - ENABLES {ENAB<-}{LES}
27 - Orders extremely stealthy stalks (7) - SYSTEMS {StealthY}{STEMS}
28 - Made a speech without a date, in costume (7) - DRESSED adDRESSED
DOWN
1 - Chosen, even without the leader (7) - ELECTED sELECTED
2 - Supports small time swindler at first (7) - SECONDS {SECOND}{S}
3 - Very old time merely recollected (9) - EXTREMELY {EX}{T}{MERELY*}
4 - Jumbo growths? (5) - TUSKS [CD]
6 - Part of eye hospital from a place in Europe (5) - IRISH {IRIS}{H}
7 - Loud litany rendered without clarity (7) - FAINTLY {F}{LITANY*}
8 - Reasonable neighbourhood offered shelter to soldier (7) - LOGICAL {LO{GI}CAL}
14 - A good head shows knowledge (9) - AWARENESS {A}{WARE}{NESS} Is it permissible to use 'good' in the sense in which it is used here? I thought it was only 'goods'
15 - Scenery with exotic places all around (9) - LANDSCAPE {L{AND}SCAPE*}
16 - Lots of trees alternatively seen in celebrations (7) - FORESTS {F{OR}ESTS}
17 - Diaries of fish found around river (7) - RECORDS {RE}{CO{R}DS}
19 - Indifferent people spread lies about government head (7) - ICICLES {I{CIC}LES*}
20 - Supposed girl improperly uses editor (7) - GUESSED {G}{USES*}{ED}
22 - Told to flatten a hike in salary (5) - RAISE (~raze)
23 - Source outlining pilgrim's first expedition (5) - SPEED {S{P}EED}
14 - A good head shows knowledge (9) - AWARENESS {A}{WARE}{NESS} Is it permissible to use 'good' in the sense in which it is used here? I thought it was only 'goods'
ReplyDeleteThe term 'a good', odd as it sounds, is used in Economics.
My nit was about RECORDS and RECORDERS in the same crossie, and that too sharing a sea between them
ReplyDeleteGood = ware is OK I think.
ReplyDeleteI thought 13a was quite brilliant. Also liked 12a, 7d. I like the care given to cryptic grammar - no intrusive connectors, no indicators in the incorrect part of speech. And with all that, meaningful surfaces.
I agree about RECORDS and RECORDER. Another nit with the surface of 18a...one could make it to a funeral but to a 'demise'?
Shuchi, is 12A any specific reference? I can't get the surface! 15D is my COD; clever use of AND. Have some issues:
ReplyDelete1A: Is Excellent = E standard abb.? Don't think it is in the C. Ditto with G=girl in 20D, but it is widely used though.
5A: The cryptic grammar of the anagrind is a bit iffy here.
10A: Not sure if 'Getting a shower' and RAINING can be equated.
19D: CIC for government head is very obscure for me.
Well, 12a makes sense when read in context but I'd rather not elaborate...don't want to start a North-South fight!
DeleteI agree about 10a, the rest look OK to me. Since the Hindu does not specify Chambers as its reference for abbreviations, I think it's fine if a widely-known abbreviation is used in the crossword. [Incidentally, The Independent and FT crosswords follow the same policy wrt abbreviations.]
I've come across CIC in Don Manley's puzzles pretty often.
What's wrong with 5a?
Well, I cannot think of some place where E=excellent is used; I have only found AI in my solving experience.
DeleteReg 5A, I think 'if' is doing double duty. A*=if A were to be operated upon sounds good. Or A* could be 'A has to be operated upon', in which case, the 'were' is intrusive.
E for excellent is used I think in some Universities as a grading.
DeleteRe 14A: I was stumped by this one - not only by the usage of "good" but the fact that "head" refers to "ness" (:(!
ReplyDeleteGoods and wares are , I thought used in plural always? I'm not solving these now as I'll have to wait till I get back to Coimbatore from Bombay.I shall try them by and by. Meantime, enjoying the unusually excellent weather of Bombay-- where it should be sizzling heat (as in Coimbatore) by now and also trying my hand at the Hindustan Times. What a far cry from the Hindu crosswords. Checked the comments and I feel we should not give too much licence to the setters and where we feel criticism is due we must be barb out.
ReplyDeleteI still feel that some sense and order is sustained in the setting or else, we all take a bow to NJ.
we must barb out.(barb as a verb?)
ReplyDelete1 A :-)
ReplyDeleteWhile I have all the answeres, I'm not quite able to figure out where the AND in 15D comes from. Is it the 'with'?
ReplyDeleteGrid was enjoyable; and thought I haven't gone through them in detail, the surfaces were quite nice.
Yes it is the with
DeleteThanks, Suresh.
DeleteA new setter for me. Thought this was very good with some excellent surface readings. Last answer to go in was awareness - thought it had to be but couldnt equate head and ness. Looking forward to more of the same!
ReplyDeleteIn continuation to good/goods, can anyone clarify 'quarters' / 'premises' be used both as singular and plural?
ReplyDelete