As usual I've been 'checkmated' by Scintillator.
ACROSS
ACROSS
1 - In six years, this is Shahrukh's first appearance (6) - VISAGE {VI}{S}{AGE}
4 - A special pro, holding a very ‘ grand ' position formerly
(8) - KASPAROV [CD] (Addendum - {K}{A}{S}{P{A}RO}V} - See comments)
9 - Frenchmen digging into French Open soil that is sticky (6) - CLAMMY {CLA{MM}Y}
10 - Salivating doctor loves fish (8) - DROOLING {DR}{OO}{LING}
12 - Don't be nervous about, that is, being dutiful (8) - OBEDIENT {OBED{IE}NT*}
13 - Where one finds Buzzer when preoccupied (6) - BONNET [CD]
15 - Prepared to roll cheese (4) - EDAM<-
16 - Many regaled at a bash (1,5,4) - A GREAT DEAL*
19 - Kinky sex intent is, in part, missing (10) - INEXISTENT {SEX+INTENT+Is}*
20 - Majestic image in the computer? (4) - EPIC {E}{PIC}
23 - Calm priest's left sour (6) - P?G?E? (Addendum - PLACID {P}{L}{ACID} - See coMments)
25 - Distressed, having heard a burst around vessel (8) - HARASSED {HARA{SS}ED*}
27 - Where to steal when in need? (2,1,5) - AT A PINCH {AT A} {PINCH}
28 - Ambit of party chief (6) - DOMAIN {DO}{MAIN}
29 - Finishing day with penguin dances (6,2) - ENDING UP {EN{D}ING UP*}
30 - Keep producing hundred Tesla coils (6) - CASTLE {C}{TESLA*}
DOWN
2 - Tired partner: you can't make any advances now (9) - STALEMATE {STALE}{MATE}
3 - Doctor: “Walk around, move!” (6) - GAMBIT {GA{MB}IT}
5 - Look up anagram for ‘city' (4) - AGRA [T]
6 - Sports corruption involving 50 administrators (8) - PROVOSTS {PRO{VO}STS*}
7 - Where ignorant members sit on the throne (5) - REIGN [T]
8 - Not very sensitive? Relax and turn up late (7) - VEGETAL {VEG}{ETAL<-} Anno for VEG not clear (See comments)
11 - Nobles of dark times, say (7) - KNIGHTS(~nights)
14 - Excellent physicist and from hearsay, excellent person (7) - AEONIAN ? Anno pending (Addendum - FEYNMAN (~fineman) - See comments)
17 - By the way, snap at Sen sneakily (2,7) - EN PASSANT*
18 - So the Italian ace's an islander (8) - MILESIAN ? M{IL}ES{I}{AN} (Addendum - SICILIAN - {SIC}{IL}{I}{AN} - See comments)
19 - A new piece created when weapons are put down (2,5) - IN PEACE {A+N+PIECE}*
21 - Hostile Deccan Sultanate's final fall (7) - CADENCE {DECCAN*}{E}
24 - Champion presents a granny diamonds (5) - GRAND {GRAN}{D} (Addendum - ANAND {A}{NAN}{D} - See comments)
26 - Piecrust may assume this colour (4) - ECRU [T]
Enjoyed the puzzle today with its chess theme.
ReplyDeletekasparov, castle, stalemate, gambit, knights, en passant, sicilian, anand.
Did I miss any?
8 - Not very sensitive? Relax and turn up late (7) - VEGETAL {VEG}{ETAL<-} Anno for VEG not clear
ReplyDeleteVEG: Engage in passive relaxation. "After a hard day's work, I veg out in front of the television" (WordWeb)
Some answers:
ReplyDelete4 A special pro, holding a very ‘ grand ' position formerly (8) KASPAROV (CD) K + A+S+P(A)RO + V
23 Calm priest's left sour (6) P?G?E? P + L + ACID
1 What's about a nucleus of dicot ovule? (7) VACOULE [GK] (A + C + OVULE)*
8 Not very sensitive? Relax and turn up late (7) VEGETAL {VEG}{ETAL<-} Anno for VEG not clear
veg (v)
(often with out) to laze about or engage in mindless activity, esp after exertion
14 Excellent physicist and from hearsay, excellent person (7) AEONIAN ? Anno pending FEYNMAN (~fine man)
18 So the Italian ace's an islander (8) MILESIAN ? M{IL}ES{I}{AN} SIC + IL + I + AN
24 Champion presents a granny diamonds (5) GRAND {GRAN}{D} A + NAN + D
Still don't get the K & V in Kasparov :-(
Delete@Colonel:
Delete4 A special pro, holding a very ‘ grand ' position formerly (8)
A = A
special = S
pro = PRO
pro holding a = P(A)RO
very = V
grand = K
grand position formerly = K goes to the front.
Thanks Bhavan,
DeleteSo does that make it an &lit? Anyway it was too conoluted for me to get the Anno even though I had all those components in my mind.
4A, 1D and 26D were intended to be (semi) &lits, Col.
DeleteThanks S
Delete14 Excellent physicist and from hearsay, excellent person (7) AEONIAN ? Anno pending FEYNMAN (~fine man)
ReplyDeleteI just read 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!' last month and missed to see this one.
1 D VACOULE - Spelling VACUOLE
ReplyDeleteBuzzer in the bonnet?
ReplyDeleteWhat next?
Very enjoyable puzzle. Got stuck on Samosa for some reason.
ReplyDeleteAgree Suresh. Except for a nit to pick in 15A. The reversal indicator in the middle was equally applicable to either side making the clue ambiguous until some crossings were available.
DeleteThanks for all providing the annos, Bhavan. I'd say 15A is more grammatical this way. In the other way, 'to' does not have a role to play, while here it is part of the infinitive.
DeleteAs usual I've been 'checkmated' by Scintillator.
ReplyDeleteWith an 8.30 deadline I would have been checkmated. Tks to more time, Google and other aids it gets done.
Suresh, I do understand software dictionaries being used for text search patterns, but if I may ask, how would you use Google to solve a crossword? Just curious :)
DeleteGoogle would basically be used to check out an answer, for example unless one is a serious Physics freak, I dont think one would latch on to the answer of 14D, nor would a text search pattern be of any help, whereas a Google search for Physicists would throw up a lot of names.
DeleteProbably the googling part makes it more interesting and of course the chess terms. I got the samosa alright but missed out on the champions-did not connect to the chess theme.
ReplyDelete'Sicilian'- though I got it right, I don't get the anno for 'sic'.
sic /sik or sēk/ (Latin)
DeleteSo, thus (often printed within brackets in quoted matter to show that the original is being faithfully reproduced even though incorrect or apparently so)
Thank you Bhavan. Kasparov is quite complicated- probably as complicated as his game!
ReplyDelete15A- I first filled in 'made' after considerable thought and had to change it to 'edam'.
The counter is behaving erratically. I saw it at 6001583. Refreshed the page and it became 6001578.
ReplyDeletedid nothing and it is going up again.
Thank you Scintillator for dropping in here. Even though I am a computer novice, I still use it to clear my doubts and checking references. I am sure you must have seen a lot of leads given by Col. along with his solutions. Of course, one must have something basic to search for and surprisingly one gets to the correct word or field thanks to search engines. I find that many times google search very useful in locating. I am sure you may also be looking up while compiling the CW. A few examples come to mind- names of old movies,books,authors,operas,places and some leading personalities.
ReplyDeleteChess theme was very good and enjoyable. Thank you. You can read a lot about chess and terminology in google.
ReplyDeleteScintillator.
ReplyDeleteDeepak has answered the question of how google helps. For inst. if you have a quote from literature or are looking at glossary on a particular subject, or merely confirming an answer.
Dictionaries and Thesaurus(es)are very useful and I use them a lot.
Very occasionally, when lazy or dealing wit words in Botany, Musical terms and other such 'difficult' subjects I use pattern searches.