Buzzer is as devious as ever, but enjoyable all the same.
ACROSS
9 The art of speaking in a chapel (7) ORATORY [DD]
10 A spinning shot in tennis is hard to stop (7) ABOLISH {A}{BOL<=}{IS}{H}
11 Distinctive characteristic of a stethoscope (5) ETHOS [T]
12 However crazy, Nancy is a sweetheart (2,3,4) IN ANY CASE {NANCY+IS+A+swEet}*
13 Inelegant drawing of a rose (9) EGLANTINE*
14 Caption contest (5) TITLE [DD]
15 Weekend begins with pals? (7) FRIENDS {FRI}{ENDS} Friday ends and weekend begins
17 Basic shapes minus for example rectangle (7) CENTRAL ReCTANgLE
19 Advantages of pawn and queen endings in counterattack chess
(5) PERKS {P}{ER}{K}{S}
20 One with good horse sense (9) STABLEMAN [CD]
22 Avoid travel (3,6) GET AROUND [DD]
24 Young girl in novel turning on companion (5) WENCH {WEN<=}{CH}
25 Country fish receives mark of approval (7) TUNISIA {TUN{ISI}A}
26 Siren over time becomes reticent (7) ENTICER RETICENt*
DOWN
1 Unable to appreciate music from jarring note/notes (4-4) TONE-DEAF {NOTE}*-{D}{E}{A}{F}
2 Girl’s desire to enter rugby league (6) RACHEL {R{ACHE}L}
3 Those in rhythm and not? Oui (10) CONSONANTS [CD]
4 Serves as an example of sorts about providing unity (8) TYPIFIES {TYP{IF}{1}ES}
5 Car port around sideroad is rubbish (6) GARAGE GARbAGE 'B' is a sideroad? - See comments
6 Kid is just over eight years tops (4) JOEY {J}{O}{E}{Y}
7 Rest said to spell doom (8) DISASTER*
8 Say price to live on moon (6) PHOEBE (~fee){PHOE}{BE}
14 Get involved in changes to tighten law (6,4) TANGLE WITH*
16 Stirring stand in the middle over time becomes a thorn in the
flesh (8) IRRITANT {stIRRIng}{sTANd}{T}
17 Retail merchant’s deal accepted by creditor (8) CHANDLER {C{HANDLE}R}
19 Regret stealing 1000 $ pen (6) PIGSTY {PI{G}{S}TY}
21 Seles perhaps was once aimless (6) MONICA Anno pending (Addendum - {ONCE AIMLESS}* - See comments)
23 Arctic explorer’s men northbound on ship (4) ROSS {RO<=}{SS}
In certain countries, I think, main roads are indicated by the letter A followed by a number. Side roads could conceivably be B1, etc. I haven't come across the latter abbr., though.
ReplyDeleteMost of the roads around, barring the national highways, appear to be C-grade.
Delete21 Seles perhaps was once aimless (6) MONICA Anno pending
ReplyDeletesomething to do with ONCe+AIM. But not fully sure. Deepak, This clue reminded me of you.
I also thought aimless could mean directionless, which would indicate deletion of E from ONCE. But gave it up due to possible double duty.
DeleteWas possibly influenced by Shuchi's pointless article ;-)
DeleteKishore
DeleteI was struggling for the anno. Thanks for showing the way. I agree. I think it is anag of WASONCE, 'perhaps' being the AInd. Is the deletion of E from anag fodder indicated by 'aimless? I ama fraid I can't go with that!
Kishore @ 8:39,
DeleteWhat in the clue reminded you of me?
Could it be something to do with MIA (Missing in action)?
DeleteCV, cant be anagram of WASONCE, but can be of ONCe AIM. Deletion of E by aimless, would be similar to the use of pointless or directionless. But then aim would be doing double duty.
DeleteDeepak @8:47: I have met the lady at your birthday party
Kishore you really are great at 2+2
DeleteNo points for guessing Gaurav's favourite song ...
DeleteI like 15a. Weekend begins with pals?
ReplyDeleteNice wordplay. None-too-difficult. The QM is appropriate.
Incidentally, the link word here is 'with'. Gridman too uses it but I remember having read somewhere that 'with' is regarded as a less inferior or a no-no as a link word. Is this true? What do readers think?
Reposted with corr:
ReplyDeleteB- road: a secondary road, in U.K. from thefreedictionary.com
Aimless maybe referring to drifter. Seles was born in Yugoslavia and settled in U.S.?
Young girl in novel turning on companion (5) WEN<-CH
ReplyDeleteI don't get to solve THCs!
I just now noticed the above clue. So beautiful! Wordplay, cryptic grammar, surface reading, plausibility, evocation of image - look at the clue from whatever angle. It is good.
Once upon a time I was gobbling books by the likes of Harold Robins, Sidney Sheldon - why, our homegrown Shoba De (who in one novel has a young woman playing with a seth) in which young girls were turning on companions of whatever age.
This clue also made me smile for a bit of ambiguity on the surface:
Delete'turning on' can mean both acting hostilely or arousing
Sorry, Kishore, I didn't do a proper jumble.
DeleteYour explanation is apt.
No prob in 'aimless' doing DD but that's 'no big deal'. Get me?
Not sure if I do. Are you referring to what is euphemistically referred to in The God of Small Things?
DeleteAs Rengaswamy mentions elsewhere the clue
ReplyDelete19 Regret stealing 1000 $ pen (6) PIGSTY {PI{G}{S}TY}
is damn good.
Except, in writing it will be $1000 pen, I think. so shall we revise it to
Regret stealing 1000-dollar pen (6)
Yes, the $ after 1000 did confuse me nad I could not get it. It is much more decipherable, the way you have put it.
DeleteCV,
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you find time for THCs?
I get to see THCs or even set some of them, but not solve them!
DeleteB Road is a secondary road in Australia. From the setter's country.
ReplyDeleteAny Friends fans here? I am one. Loved the theme. Thanks Buzzer!
ReplyDeleteIt went completely over my head!
DeleteWhat a restricted life I have!
I at first thought that the clue meant the 'Friends' serial aired over the weekend.
Delete...Considering that the setter in one light had given a hint to the theme he was using, those of us who couldn't spot the theme can only regret what we miss in life.
DeleteGosh, Shuchi, missed it. Phoebe and Chandler should have got me buzzing, not to mention Rachel, Monica, Joey, Ross. Any more? Apart from the word FRIENDS itself.
Delete17+19a: CENTRAL PERKs
DeleteNo wonder I didn't get the theme as I am not a fan of FRIENDS in fact I hate TV shows with canned laughter.
DeleteI agree about the canned laughter- very distracting as well as irritating.Because of it you sometimes miss the joke itself!
DeleteAgree about canned laughter. But I enjoyed this show enough to tune out this irritant from my viewing experience!
DeleteIf I liked the show I wouldn't mind it. So in my case, it was more to do with the characters and the quality of show. Arrested Development is one example of a sitcom that works brilliantly without the need for a laugh track.
Delete@Buzzer: Loved the theme - I am a fan of Friends.
Delete@ Buzzer @ Shuchi Enjoyed the xword Because of "FRIENDS".Liked 21D.
DeleteMissed Central Perk. Awesome theme!
Delete23D- 'men northbound' giving OR?
ReplyDeleteCan someone pl. explain?
Men: OR: Other Ranks (NCOs). Reversed: RO
DeleteThank you Raghunath.
Delete@Shuchi thanks for spelling the theme out
ReplyDeleteI didn't want the theme answers to put those (like CV) unaware of the serial at a disadvantage which is why I didn't call them out explicitly.
@Colonel, Kishore, CV, Raghu : Looks like I have a clue to answer to today too?
I saw 21d as :
perhaps = anag indicator
was = link word
once aimless = (monica seles)*
That's great cluing. Wonder how it escaped our attention?
DeleteHow does HAND H N become in LONGHORN?
Nice try there, but is was a proper link word?
DeleteHow does HAND become H N in LONGHORN?
Delete@VJ, if we can accept "is" and "are" why not "was"?
Delete@Raghu ... hand often (regularly) = h.n.
Bhavan, well as I see it, "is" is a better link word. The tense seems all right in case of "is" when compared to "was." If we say wordplay was definition or definition was wordplay, what is it now? The definition and wordplay not in sync in the present when it really matters?
DeleteThanks, Bhavan. Let us remain 15 for ever. I, for one, will remain 15 forever, as my name indicates.
Delete@VJ, fair enough. I had chosen to use "was" to match "once" in the clue but what you said sounds true.
DeleteFriends always gave me a headache. Never could get what the hype was all about.
ReplyDeleteAnywho, well played with the theme.
+1 for my reasons in my 12:09 comment above
DeleteSee no good alternative in hand often for beef (8)
ReplyDeleteSee - LO
no good - NG
alternative -OR
in - c/c ind
hand often - H N ? is 'often' used in he sense of 'regular' to indicate that you pick up the letters H N which occur regularly in the word hand?
for
beef - (def)
The above reply was written before Bhavan's expln appeared.
DeleteCV and Bhavan. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDoes this sound acceptable to VJ?
21 Seles (+was) perhaps (-was) once aimless (6) MONICA
Brilliant puzzle. Like one reads a good passage in a book repeatedly, many clues here tempt rereading.
ReplyDeleteMonica Seles was simply superb. Being an avid Tennis follower, I wonder how I could have missed it, even after filling it! I took 'perhaps' for any one with the surname of Seles and I filled in and of course crossings helped. I know you specialise in concealed anagrams, but this is the best ever!
ReplyDeleteI had heard of Chandler in snatches of conversations between my relatives, discussing friends, but never saw a full length episode.
ReplyDeleteSo that makes 4 non-friends viewers
DeleteWhy are they inimical?
DeleteNon- friends of Friends:) I never watched any Eng serials. Just their movies.
DeleteCol,
ReplyDeleteMinor typo, missing anagram mark* above TONE in 1 DN.
Thanks Raghu I have amended it.
DeleteExcellent run by Buzzer as always !
ReplyDeleteWas too caught up with Seles, spinning shots & chess that I totally missed the theme spelt out so beautifully.
Buzzer;s crosswords are always a delight to solve. I too got stumped with VISAKHAPATNAM = well-conjured to befuddle the solvers' minds, in yesterday's puzzle. Unfortunately, today I git the chance to complete 10 days crossies at one go. A huge backlog I had built up. This summer of discontent is driving me crazy in CBE, what with the power cuts for 15 hours, and that too erratically and a bit sadistically on the consumers. Hopefully, I'd catch up with ye-all.
ReplyDeleteToday's N Indian Express' grid made me to grit my teeth. How do they manage to bring out such bloopers?
Otherwise the crossies in it are again a delight but not for the optically challenged.
And here we have it! Typical Buzzer! I completely agree with Afterdark's assessment of the clues. I mean, they are the simplest of sentences, yet for us, the solvers, it is at a completely different level. Today I actually did take the time to go through almost every clue once again. Very hard to choose a CoD.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm in the minority of those who solved the Seles clue with anno. in hand. Ironically, as someone who has watched and re-watched episodes of Friends many times, I completely missed the theme. I suppose it's because I took a long time to complete the grid -- due to both the struggle (but a struggle which I enjoyed) of finding the answers and also due to general interruptions in life -- that I'd forgotten the references in the solved clues.