Tuesday, 25 December 2012

No.10653, Tuesday 25 Dec 12, Textrous

Christmas wishes to everyone

Textrous is in great touch with this puzzle as is his wont.

ACROSS
6 Is able to see you score (7) CANTATA (CAN + TATA)
7 Run away from girl hugging a date (5) EVADE (EVE outside A D)
9 To wander around an orchard’s no good (4) ROVE (gROVE)
10 Clay pit is fashioned with low-grade skill (10) SPECIALITY (CLAY PIT IS E)*
11 Brilliant erotic novel people didn't finish at first (8) METEORIC (EROTIC* after MEn)
13 American model in couch taken into custody (6) BUSTED (US + T inside BED)
15 Notes England make slow progress (4) WADE (WAD + E)
17 Small story, not novel (5) STALE (S + TALE)
18 Smoke vent, by the sound of it (4) REEK (~WREAK)
19 Pen word oddly to describe custom (6) WRITER (WoRd outside RITE)
20 Our biggest star’s turning point? (8) SOLSTICE (CD)
23 Contrived one to fill in for a phony (10) FICTITIOUS (FACTITIOUS with I for A)
26 Cheat // sheets, 500 of them (4) REAM (DD)
27 Brief letter, senseless in part (5) TERSE (T)
28 Mean to have a drink without starters (7) AVERAGE (A + beVERAGE)

DOWN
1 Former worker, excellent and extraordinarily decent (10) ANTECEDENT (ANT + E + DECENT*)
2 King and queen go after spirits around lunchtime (6) KAISER (KAS + ER outside 1)
3 Innocent to lose heart somewhere in the church (4) NAVE (NAiVE)
4 Sapper obligated by law to be trustworthy (8) RELIABLE (RE + LIABLE)
5 Labour act hauled up bank (4) WALL (L + LAW)<=
6 Fine to be fitted into revolutionary car part (5) CHOKE (OK inside CHE)
8 New term described by river’s farthest point (7) EXTREME (TERM* inside EXE)
12 Stylish // group of people (5) CLASS (DD)
14 Hot tar complaint? (4,6) SORE, THROAT (HOT TAR)*
16 Suffer terrible fit, right to be taken in emergency transportation (7) AIRLIFT (AIL + FIT* outside R)
17 Agents showed up around hotel for a drink (8) SPRITZER (REPS<= outside RITZ)
21 Pay attention to directions on catalogue (6) LISTEN (EN on LIST)
22 Conservative to knock down a fad (5) CRAZE (C + RAZE)
24 Ripped off shops endlessly (4) TORE (sTOREs)
25 Form of casual avocation making a comeback (4) OVAL (T<=)


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28 comments:

  1. Deepak Gopinath25 December 2012 at 08:32

    Nice one freom Textrous, though I am invariably stumped by his four letter words like I was today by 15A, 18A & 5D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh25 December 2012 at 09:45

      I had a problem as well, particularly when the missing letters are 1st and 3rd.

      Delete
  2. VJ25 December 2012 at 09:16

    Bhavan, 28A, since it's spelled BEVERAGE I don't think you get AVERAGE by removing B and E, the way you've put it.

    So probably A(-be)VERAGE would be a better interpretation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Col_Gopinath25 December 2012 at 09:30

      The last word 'starters ssems to have confused the issue

      Delete
    2. Nadathur Rajan25 December 2012 at 12:12

      28A a drink without starters
      A + [-be]VERAGE = AVERAGE (mean)

      Delete
    3. Bhavan25 December 2012 at 12:13

      Thanks VJ. You are right of course.

      Let me blame this on too much eggnog

      Delete
  3. RameshJ25 December 2012 at 09:22

    12 A : Stylish is class ? Shouldn't it be classy ?

    I didn't do too badly for a Textrous. 6,15,18 Across and 3 D were the holes. Loved 20A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VJ25 December 2012 at 09:30

      I think it's all right. Class is also an adjective which could be synonymous with stylish.

      Delete
    2. RameshJ25 December 2012 at 09:42

      I couldn't think of a sentence where I could replace stylish with class . Hence the question.

      Delete
    3. RameshJ25 December 2012 at 09:50

      The website thesaurus.com seems to confirm it. It lists classy/high-class but not class as synonym for stylish

      Delete
    4. VJ25 December 2012 at 10:29

      You're prolly right, but you know, the word is often used in so many informal ways - like "He's class" and stuff like that. So thought Class could be synonymous with Stylish.

      Delete
  4. Krishnan25 December 2012 at 09:34

    Merry christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Suresh25 December 2012 at 09:46

    Merry Christmas

    ReplyDelete
  6. Richard25 December 2012 at 10:36

    Merry Christmas to everyone out here.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bhalchandra Pasupathy25 December 2012 at 10:36

    Liked this a lot. for 21D, seems that catalogue is on directions, not the other way around, though it didn't create any problems.

    Good use of 'notes' in 15A. Not sure if 'England make' or 'England makes' makes for correct reading, perhaps both?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown25 December 2012 at 10:55

    Merry Christmas all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Richard25 December 2012 at 11:40

    My special salute to Bhavan for selecting the most apt illustration for 13A, although the clue had nothing to do with Santa or Christmas.

    Brilliant, I would say.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous25 December 2012 at 13:16

    Merry Christmas to everyone on this blog!! May the Christ in Christmas bless you all abundantly.

    ReplyDelete
  11. VP25 December 2012 at 13:43

    Merry Christmas everyone. Had a few holes today which the blog duly resolved.
    Could not agree with class==stylish, otherwise an excellent puzzle with smooth surfaces and lovely word play.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bhavan25 December 2012 at 14:11

    From ODE:

    Class (adj) : Showing stylish excellence.

    eg: Tendulkar's a class player

    I see no problem with that association

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP25 December 2012 at 16:14

      Thanks Bhavan, with your explanation makes sense now.

      Delete
  13. Padmanabhan25 December 2012 at 14:31

    Joining in late. Wishing everone a Merry Christmas. May Santa bless all kids even if he is busted!

    ReplyDelete
  14. raju umamaheswar25 December 2012 at 15:22

    Richard and all others: A very Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and all other bloggers and sloggers.

    Deepak: Back to CBE and noticed that you had a grand birthday fete. God bless and many happy returns to you plus the number of days already spent after the great day. Though belated this comes form the heart. !!

    No Xmas special? Will there papers tomorrow? No indications from anywhere !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard25 December 2012 at 17:39

      Thanks Raju for the special mention. So kind of you. Wish you a great 2013 in advance.

      Delete
  15. Padmanabhan25 December 2012 at 16:00

    There will be Hindu tomorrow sine there is no mention of holiday and generally they don't close for Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh25 December 2012 at 16:28

      Hindu has 5 holidays a year (or is it 6).Pongal, Tamil New Year, Vinayaka Chathurthi, Ayudha Puja (Dasara in some centres) and Deepawali.

      Delete
  16. Col_Gopinath25 December 2012 at 16:38

    Nowadays the Hindu has an online edition on days when there is no print edition, so there is a CW everyday

    ReplyDelete

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