ACROSS
8 - One river flowing around Nevada city (4) - RENO {R}{ENO}<-
9 - Went through and tried to reach an agreement (10) - NEGOTIATED [DD]
10 - Vague amount required for Chinese food (6) - DIMSUM {DIM}{SUM}
11 - Offends, repels us somehow (8) - REPULSES*
12 - Despatched ten cents in settlement (8) - SEDIMENT {SE{DIME}NT}
14 - Preservative got when two boys get together (6) - NATRON {NAT}{RON}
16 - Spice provided by staff (4) - MACE [DD]
17 - Often visit hot female relative (5) - HAUNT {H}{AUNT}
18 - Engagement on a particular day (4) - DATE [DD]
19 - Talkative person on board a zeppelin (6) - GASBAG [DD]
21 - Silk fabric from Italian city bean (8) - (Addendum - PADUASOY {PADUA}{SOY} - See comments)
23 - Change last dessert to get course outline (8) - SYLLABUS SYLLABU(-b+s)S
26 - Perfect world is more ideal (6) - ICONIC ?? (Addendum - UTOPIA [CD] - See comments)
27 - Broken pottery; see hackneyed image (10) - STEREOTYPE*
28 - Proverbially dead bird, repeatedly urged to perform (4) - DODO {DO}{DO}
DOWN
1 - Necessary things trade ideas around (10) - DESIDERATA*
2 - Biblical character who was turned into a pillar of salt
(4,4) - LOTS WIFE [GK]
3 - Social breakdown shown by distraught oriental Naomi (6) - ANOMIE {E+NAOMI}*
5 - Go faster and get rid of a bug (4,2,2) - STEP ON IT [DD]
6 - Allow one who overacts before Shakespearean role (6) - HAMLET {HAM}{LET}
7 - Pesky dog! Keep out! (4) - PEKE*
13 - Donald’s winning card? (5) - TRUMP [DD]
15 - Unable to decide between Tweedledee and Tweedledum (2,3,5) - OF TWO MINDS [CD]
17 - Egghead elated by Bronte’s first line (8) - HIGHBROW {HIGH}{B}{ROW}
18 - Suit a girl’s best friend (8) - DIAMONDS [DD]
20 - Crude rock shot up matador’s jacket (6) - BOLERO {BOL}{ERO}<-
22 - Put out by act that is not new (6) - EXILED ?? (Addendum - DOUSED {DO}{USED} - See comments)
24 - But I am Big Foot’s cousin (4) - YETI {YET}{I}
25 - Wood pieces, reportedly crossed by the dead (4) - STYX (~sticks)
ReplyDeleteGood morning everyone.
Southwesterly winds were rough, except 27A. Rest was smooth sailing, all shipshape.
Suresh may have enjoyed doing the c/w today, what with anagrams like STEREOTYPE and DESIDERATA. Liked DIMSUM, REPULSES, SEDIMENT, IN TWO MINDS, DIAMONDS, AGAR, MACE, ANOMIE, HAMLET and some others.
2D - LOT'S WIFE - In Bible, she turned into a pillar of salt for defying the directive not to look back. Curiosity killed Lot's Wife. That was her lot. Interestingly, her name is never mentioned in the Bible. However, Jewish tradition mentions it as Idis.
That's quite a lot about Lot's wife's lot. Now that you have given out her name, some one will use it to clue in Idlis.
DeleteI am idly waiting for it.
DeleteYou will get your just desserts!
DeleteHIGH-B-ROW stuff here: Shakespeare peeping through in 6d and 21a, Lewis Caroll in 15d, Emile or Charlotte in 17d, and of course, the OT in 2d.
ReplyDelete1d DESIDERATA reminded of Vitalstatistix’s baggy wife IMPEDIMENTA. Nice puzzle despite the grid malfunction NE of centre.
Small nit: the ‘more’ in 26a. False capitalisation is ok, but not sure if the reverse (more for More) is ok.
You're right.
DeleteAs per convention, false capitalisation is OK but a word that requires capitalisation in its own right must have it.
Here the clue should have been written in such a way that it began with the word 'more'. While on surface reading it may have meant 'increased', in sub ind it would have referred to the writer.
BTW,17d HIGHBROW is an excellent clue and the clue-writer can justifiably be proud of it.
Neat wordplay; smooth surface reading; subsidiary indications and components all falling in place; good def. "Bronte's first line" is a superb collocation.
21 a is paduasoy?
ReplyDeletethat would make 22d= doused. is that correct?
ReplyDeleteBoth 21a and 22d given by you are correct.
Delete21 - Silk fabric from Italian city bean (8) - P
ReplyDeletePADUA SOY
26 - Perfect world is more ideal (6) - ICONIC ??
UTOPIA, ref to Thomas More
22 - Put out by act that is not new (6) - EXILED ??
DO USED
first time in history, i solved everything here... wow. i think my day is going to be great... thanks mover. i totally love you. :D
ReplyDeleteYou are an EYEcon for all of us.
DeleteShe gets rid of waterfalls...
DeleteWonder how tears will flow after the removal...
DeleteSalt here too!
Deleteyou have a way with words, richard.:D
Deleteyes, paduosoy, utopic, in two minds and doused, am i correct?
ReplyDeleteUtopia or Utopic, one is in two minds/of two minds. If in two minds, then Nitron would have to change to Nitric, which I feel is not an indepedant word, but a prefix/adjective. But I am not comfy with Nitron, either...
DeleteWhat is the discomfort on NATRON? It is a kind of salt.
DeleteYou are now rubbing salt into my wounds :-)
DeleteAfter pillar of salt, now filler of salt...
Delete26A - I took it as UTOPIA.
ReplyDelete14 ac is nitric? nitric is a preservative?? so 15 D is in two minds? or is it of two minds...geez! stuck.
ReplyDeleteBoth of us are of two minds. Ref. my 840 which crossed your post.
Deletemind made up finally, kishore? what is it? nitric or nitron?
DeleteWhat is mind? No matter.
DeleteWhat is the matter? Never mind.
Very simple.
Nice puzzle today.
ReplyDelete4 - A fish culture medium (4) - AGAR [E]
This is A + GAR ( fish) with "culture medium" as the definition
24d calls for a repeat post of:
ReplyDeleteYet I think I met a Yeti
We had crossed the upper snow line,
And left it far behind.
To see the Yeti, a fond hope of mine,
Was at the back of my mind.
The mountainside was steep and cold,
My hands were feeling rubbery.
There was hardly any crag to hold,
The climb was very slippery.
Suddenly I saw something very queer,
Large footprints in the snow.
And saw as I went some more near
Small footprints were in tow !
Large feet in front, small feet behind,
Almost like a reverse kangaroo.
Another thought jumped into my mind
Was it one or were there two ?
I looked for it everywhere around,
Up and down and all about.
I thought it might be behind a mound,
And felt I should check it out.
When I neared the snowy outcrop,
I noticed a smell almost like a goat.
Then I climbed over the mound top,
And saw it came from an old fur coat.
As I saw more my heart beat faster,
That she was not all alone.
In her lap was her li’l young master,
A small kid, her little clone !
To see a Yeti, many climbers dub
As their carreer’s pinnacle.
But to see a Yeti and her little cub
Was nothing but a miracle !
I stood still, my heart quickly beating,
Snowing had now increased.
The magical moment was fast fleeting,
As visibility became decreased.
I heard a loud growl behind my head,
And turned around to see,
The father, eyes glowering bright red.
It was time for me to flee.
Shouting, jumping and scared I fled,
Waking up in the dark night.
Found myself safe in my warm bed,
Woken up early by my fright.
I had "in two minds" and then had to have "nitric" - is Nit a name tho (Nat would be), but no problem with Ric.
ReplyDeleteNice enjoyable puzzle today, a little puzzling though.
ReplyDeleteI had it as Utopia,Nitric, In two minds. Troublesome SE?
By the way, referring to yesterday's doubts- it was 'ingels' after all ! I leave it to the experts to clear the air.
Thank you Kishore for the nice one on Yeti.
It was written when I was snowed-in in the Himalayas.
DeleteWicki tells us that Sodium Nitrate is a preservative.
ReplyDeleteToo many blanks today. Did not get 14a,21a,22d. Got syllabus from crossings & definition but was not able to explain it till I looked at the solution.
ReplyDeleteOver all today's puzzle was :
Amusing to bury English nettle. (11)
Interesting, Ramesh !
Delete:)
DeleteIt is NATRON and OF TWO MINDS.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can all be of one mind now.
See the link provided with NATRON in the main post. NATRON was used in Egyptian mummification because it absorbs water and behaves as a drying agent.
ReplyDelete@Kishore: Great poem!
ReplyDeleteMy dictionary says BOLERO is women's jacket!
ReplyDeleteRe CV's comment and Kishore's doubt on capitalisation.
ReplyDeleteIn today's SMS language capitals do not have a place. So maybe crossword conventions also need to change with the times.(or with The Hindu)