Entertaining puzzle from Arden which by now is a norm.
ACROSS
9 Throw some light on cost involving back up assistance (7) RADIATE (RATE outside AID<=)
10 Took many inside the thing containing implements (4,3) TOOL,KIT (L inside TOOK + IT)
11 In a changing scenario shun love like poison (7) ARSENIC (SCENARIo)*
12 Performance review: Having partly seen it among the cast (7) MATINEE (<= T)
15 Closes in finally on the area after class (5) NEARS (Acrostic)
16 Maintenance paid for any fancy car parked inside (7) ALIMONY (LIMO inside ANY)
19 Mentions possessing English jackets (7) REEFERS (REFERS outside E)
20 Heard doing rounds by mistake (5) LAPSE (~LAPS)
21 Places to see, when they have positive charges (9) LOCATIONS (LO + CATIONS)
25 Profess to have mostly unadulterated drink (7) PURPORT (PURe + PORT)
26 Could it be real fun? Definitely not (7) FUNERAL (REAL FUN)*
28 Daily undergoing loss, burnt badly (7) CHARRED (CHAR + RED)
29 Sinatra cast as a journeyman (7) ARTISAN (SINATRA)*
DOWN
1 Initial hesitation to carry money for a short trip (6) ERRAND (ER + RAND)
2 No side surfaced when he switched on the light first (6) EDISON (NO SIDE)*
3 Rod’s got a new cowshed (4) BARN (BAR + N)
4 Save the soldier, may be use cycle (6) RESCUE (RE + USE C*)
5 Its spray causes a cat to rise unsteadily (8) ATOMISER (A + TOM + RISE*)
6 A group happy to imbibe gin cocktail (10) CONTINGENT (CONTENT outside GIN*)
7 It may be important to a model, but fear grips the family (8) SKINCARE (KIN inside SCARE)
8 They do not have any faith in hastiest reproduction (8) ATHEISTS (HASTIEST)*
14 Straightforward, nothing under the table (5,5) ABOVE, BOARD (E)
16 Special student troubled by Herb (8) ALLSPICE (SPECIAL + L)*
17 Royal admitting one is in danger (8) IMPERIAL (A inside IMPERIL)
18 Every other character with jealousy turns up for some water festival (8) YULETIDE (jEaLoUsY <= + TIDE)
22 Able to hold back in a loose dress (6) CAFTAN (CAN outside AFT)
23 Therefore returns to the ship like a monster (6) OGRESS (ERGO <= + SS)
24 It makes sense to keep lithium in solution (6) SALINE (LI inside SANE)
27 Shock over such crazies (4) NUTS (STUN <=)
A beaut!
ReplyDeleteVery enjoyable. Even tough ones can be cracked because there's good integrity in the clueing
ReplyDeletesuperb, unfortunately my IQ is so subnormal that i understood the clues only after checking the answers. could not complete 7 of them.
ReplyDeleteHi, you don't have to be so hard on yourself. It's all about practice and nothing else.
DeleteShould I say + 1 ?
ReplyDeleteI did not feel very bad about not getting 17 & 18D. I was very close to it. Water sport led me to think about Holi etc. I should have separated sport from water! 16D was one of the last to fall in and I felt happy. Most enjoyable morning, thank you Arden.
It is not about IQ, but learning to spot the def. and word play. I am still on the learning curve.
ReplyDeleteI have read all of Harry Potter, but did not remember Mundungus Fletcher being referred to as Dung. Initially I thought that Dung was some minor character, till I saw Deepak's link
ReplyDeleteOr, rather, Bhavan's link
DeleteI solved it without finding the link to Harry Potter since I knew dungaree for overalls from my Engg. college days !
DeleteOh! I solved it too. Just could not figure out who Dung was
DeleteDid not know that kaftan is also known by the other spelling - caftan.
ReplyDeleteSame here.I would not have filled in but for the crossings.
DeleteRemember Abhi's excellent debut crossword? Well here is an equally good follow-up.
ReplyDeleteOh that's awfully nice of you. Thanks Bhavan :)
DeleteThanks Abhi.loved first one.will try the second soon.
DeleteWonderful as usual.
ReplyDeleteToday's crossword was a
A triple straw trap. (3-5)
Hat trick !
DeleteAbsolutely no uproar is heard (5)
DeleteDaru da Langar to invoke the rain Gods ? I was told that Andy Capp's wife was looking for him some where in Punjab after reading this heady news ? However, his wife also confirms that it will be 'Finders keepers' for any one who can trace him there !!
ReplyDeleteWhere did CHAR come from in 28A?
ReplyDelete'char' refers to daily routine.
ReplyDeleteI think charwoman for a cleaning lady comes out of this.
ReplyDeleteEquivalemnt to a bai in the Indian Household. Dericved from Chore-- a daily house keeper who cleans the house and does other chores. They are not very charitable to the Lady of the House though, especially in Bombay,.
DeleteRecently, there was a feature in the TV Show 'Crime Patrol' on bonded child labour of an underage girl abducted from Jharkhand and sold to a middleclass household in Delhi as bonded labour. In this 2ist century in Mera Bharat Mahaan !!
Blogger clock is working now :-P
ReplyDeleteI would add Arden to my favourites as CW setters like Sankalak and Gridman
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of fun-erals:
ReplyDeleteThey moved slowly off with bowed heads, like a couple of pallbearers who have forgotten their coffin and had to go back for it.
Speaking of fun-erals, apparently, the duo also left the other two behind since at least four are needed to carry a coffin...
ReplyDelete