ACROSS
1 - Spy receives garbled clue about group of atoms (8) - MOLECULE {MO{CLUE*}LE}
5,10 - The seal of the unthinking yes-man? (6-5) - RUBBER-STAMP [DD]
10 - See 5
12 - Faithful Das at fest suffers (9) - STEADFAST*
13 - Oblivion for a member beginning to overdose (5) - LIMBO {LIMB}{O}
14 - Musical entertainment in Hyderabad is congenial (5) - DISCO [T]
18 - Disharmony in a tale about resistance (8) - FRICTION {F{R}ICTION}
20 - Sailor, American, returns to a city in Gujarat (5) - SURAT {SU}{RAT}<-
24 - Fibre found here in some plants is also used in making rope etc.
(5) - SISAL [T &lit]
25 - Ape gouged out by teacher (9) - PEDAGOGUE*
27 - A flat case to hold body of written work (9) - PORTFOLIO [CD]
28 - Sound appreciation for a good meal? (5) - BELCH [CD]
29 - Forceful attack to curtail the plant disease (6) - THRUST {THe}{RUST}
30 - Old English king who made Ms. Barrymore embarrassed (8) - ETHELRED {ETHEL}{RED}
DOWN
1 - Improperly handled phone card returned by American editor (7) - MISUSED {MIS<-}{US}{ED}
2 - Footwear for dolittles (7) - LOAFERS [DD] Is that 'dolittles' or 'do littles'?
3 - Roman god gets a prize and identity (5) - CUPID {CUP}{ID}
4 - The French motor, small inside, for sailor (6) - LASCAR {LA}{S}{CAR}
6 - The point of attachment of a mother-to-be with the baby (9) - UMBILICUS [GK]
7 - Gondolier, born to love the soul (7) - BOATMAN {B}{O}{ATMAN}
8 - OED word developed for a tall tree (7) - REDWOOD*
9 - Great delight in grabbing when royal replaces conservative
(7) - RAPTURE (-c+r)RAPTURE
15 - Does better in deception in cooking souffle but without a trace
of enthusiasm (9) - OUTBLUFFS {SOUFFLe+BUT}*
17 - Collect a fortune supporting Internet address (7) - COMPILE {.COM}{PILE}
18 - Fine American place for fastidious chap (7) - FUSSPOT {F}{US}{SPOT}
19 - Risk-taking is his business (7) - INSURER [CD]
21 - Soldier conforming to conventional standards (7) - REGULAR [DD]
22 - Cut baby cutters (7) - TEETHED [CD]
23 - Clever notice the French king placed on time (6) - ADROIT {AD}{ROI}{T}
26 - Old hero who was good and fit (5) - GABLE {G}{ABLE}
Loved the crossword and loved the cartoon, though P-T may now be replaced by P M on the stamp stand. At first look, the name on the table was not very clear, so went in for enlargement to confirm the hand that rocks the cradle and rules India.
ReplyDeleteThat begs the question, would PM make a good President, or Prime Minister? Of course, the rumour making the rounds is, give him any post, but get him out of the post of FM.
ReplyDeleteRumours seem to be based on the present financial status (or the lack of it!)
ReplyDeleteP-T -?
Good CW - again interesting and also easy flowing. Loved it, but "in the red" since I could not get it.Knew neither the English king nor Barrymaore.
Could you please explain 9Dn? How does "rapture" fit, although it means great delight?
ReplyDeleteCould you please explain 9Dn? How does "rapture" fit, although it means great delight?
ReplyDeleteRapture- Def.
ReplyDeleteGrabbing- Capture
"royal replaces conservative"- change C with R
maradnusro9:56 AM IST
ReplyDeleteCould you please explain 9Dn? How does "rapture" fit, although it means great delight?
grabbing - capture. Replacing C with R you get rapture
Nice, and mostly straightforward. Familiar with 'Drew', but had to google to confirm an 'Ethel' Barrymore.
ReplyDeleteThanks and regards
ReplyDelete. Padmanabhan and Vasu
Couple of gripes, if at all one could call them that.
ReplyDelete24A is almost a blast from the past.
17D - I was for a long time looking for an answer with URL in it. COM (or .com) isn't an address in itself; it's just a component thereof. The clue would have been technically slightly more precise and, IMHO, served with a better surface, if it had been '...internet domain', even though, to be correct, 'com' is an example of a top-level domain.
Like Bhala, I was thinking of the other, currently more famous Ms. Barrymore and didn't find the answer.
Learnt via Wikipedia that Ethel Barrymore was the great-aunt of the currently more famous Ms. Barrymore.
DeleteThe Barrymores sound like the Kapoors of the Hindi film industry. Full clan of actors spanning generations.
Agree about 17D.