Another entertainer particularly liked 24A.
ACROSS
4 Complete reversal in a fight at first for champion (5-4) ABOUT-FACE {A}{BOUT}-{F}{ACE}
9 Married men don’t begin to show tempers (7) MELLOWS {M}{fELLOWS} Is that so?
10 Wrong to bring out in conversation (7) ILLICIT (~elicit)
11 Going to films if prohibited (3-6) OFF-LIMITS*
13 Note blunt sword in a primitive dwelling (6) TEEPEE {TE}{EPEE}
18 Box containing three-quarters of game accessories (5,3) CHESS SET {CHES{S} {S}{E}T}
19 They might be for bowling everyone out? Yes (6) ALLEYS {ALL}{YES*}
22 Drive cattle (5) STEER [DD]
24 I for one fight with mail recipient (6,3) LETTER BOX {LETTER} {BOX}
26 Wearing slim pig’s tail is the current craze (2,5) IN THING {IN} {THIN}{G}
27 Unsure of French transport carrying ten (7) DUBIOUS {DU}{B{10}US}
28 Courageous behaviour from girl’s network hear (9) GALLANTRY (~gal lan tree) (Correction - {GAL}{LAN}{TRY} - See comments)
DOWN
1 Break item say (4-3) TIME-OUT {ITEM}*
2 Kapil, a fine selection of course (5) PILAF [T]
3 New moon rises in space (9) ROOMINESS*
4 Strike a deal on the phone (6) ASSAIL (~a sale)
6 Discussion about university in collectorate (5) TALUK {TAL{U}K}
8 Hospital department taking fall for board (7) ENTRAIN {ENT}{RAIN}
14 Basic description of Aluminium? (9) ELEMENTAL {ELEMENT}{AL}
16 Part of drill, it’ll bore right away (6,3) ROLLER BIT {IT'LL+BORE+R}*
17 Stopper on door’s beginning to come off (3,5) RED LIGHT {RE}{D} {LIGHT}
18 No hesitation in dressing up estimated price (7) COSTING COSTumING
20 Prejudiced people live within hollow societies (7) SEXISTS {Soci{EXIST}etieS}
21 Unimaginative script — old, ghastly in the extreme (6) STODGY {ScripT}{OlD}[GhastlY}
23 Article/thing dipped in painter’s dish (5) RAITA {R{A}{IT}A}
Quite a large number of duplicated leTTer words: meLLows, iLLicit, oFFlimits, tEEpEE, cheSSSet, aLLeys, stEEr, leTTerbox, gaLLantry, rOOminess,aASSail, roLLerbit, arC-Cosine. CHESSSET, of course, has three Ss continuously. Further, the crossing with the middle S is also a double S making 4 Ss sitting next to each other. Just like buZZer ! More so in i-ll-icit, che-sss-et, le-tt-erbox, a-ss-ail, the repeated letter was sandwiched between identical letters.
ReplyDeleteMy COD was 24a: Liked the use of I. For some time, I mused, I can mean setter, but how letter. And then the peNNy droPPed.
Liked the PILAF with RAITA.
A good observation!
DeleteSetters as they gridfill occasionally hit upon some such idea and carry it out!
In the past too have used double/triple letter sequences in grids.
You forgot the SS in roominess
DeletePl read:
DeleteIn the past I too have used double/triple letter sequences in grids.
Yes, Col. How could I have missed the Schutzstaffel
DeleteYou forgot the SS in roominess
DeleteToo err iss humman
16 Inspector took man for woman (7) DISTAFF {DI}{STAFF} Shouldn't that be 'women'?
ReplyDeleteThis question, raised by the Col. yesterday, was not answered, I think.
He has a point. The word 'distaff' means 'women considered as a group'. Perhaps it cannot be used to mean just one woman.
(The clue as a whole is very good; nice wordplay (man is noun sing. in surface reading, but in wordplay it as a verb leads to 'staff'), smooth, plausible surface reading).
Also, the word is usually used as a modifier to mean 'of or concerning women'. For example, we might say "Some of the remarks that the male commenters here make may not be quite palatable to the distaff members of the blog."
As I was writing this, I did some dictionary search and found that there is indeed dictionary support for the meaning 'woman' (in sing.) for 'distaff'. So Buzzer is right!
So we have come a full circle.
The English language is such that ultimately it is the knowledge, perceptions, feelings, etc., of the writer that matter in his usage. I, for one, would not use the word 'distaff' to mean 'woman'. I might use it as an adj.: "This decision may not pelase the distaff side of the family."
Actually, we could as well avoid the use of this term that has a pejorative sense. Originally 'distaff' meant "a staff with a cleft end for holding wool, flax, etc., from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand." Nowadays women hold more things than the distaff! (Members may enumerate!)
Now, do you know the opposite of 'the distaff side'?
***
Suresh in a late Comment yesterday draws our attention to an entry from an unexpected quarters to my recent clue-writing task!
Good one from Buzzer. Liked the use of 'wearing' for IN in 26 AC. I took it as wearing as in "one's in a suit/ dress". Hope that is what he intended. In 19 AC, anagrind and fodder separated by a ? mark, is probably rarely used. Think it is fair. In 28 AC both LAN and TREE are networks, so is something missing here, or is LAN TREE a word? Is there a typo in 'hear' in the same clue?
ReplyDeleteVery enjoyable puzzle from Buzzer. Maybe we should now call this type a buZZle.
ReplyDeleteBuzzer's use of anagram fodder so well masqueraded is one of its kind.
One doubt though! Can bull be equated to star sign ?
28A - where is the tree coming from?
Taurus is referred as 'Taurus The Bull'.
DeleteCourageous behaviour = def
ReplyDeletegirl = gal
network = lan
hear = try, as in a court of law
It was not meant as a homophone clue, although hoping it will mislead the solver's into thinking of as one.
I'm not sure in this case whether the surface is OK with 'hear' without any punctuation marks. I initially thought it was 'heard' with 'd' missing.
Delete'S added for surface reading? I was wondering if there is a S somewhere in the solution.
ReplyDelete18A- three quarters leading to S,S & E, meaning directions?
ReplyDeleteI found 12A a little different, addition being used instead of deletion.
ReplyDeleteFelt bad for missing 25D, being an ardent fan of Borg. Strange as it may seem,he was far from natural as a player having adapted exceedingly well.
ReplyDeleteJust going through yesterday's late comments and noticed a doubt being raised if 'let' may be called a hindrance. Just wanted to draw attention to tennis, when a correct serve touches the netcord on the way, a 'let' is called and the server is allowed to serve one more.
ReplyDeleteIn tennis it is short for 'let it be played again', I think.
DeleteMaybe. I used to wonder why it is called so.I just wanted to highlight the net being the hindrance part and 'let' being connected to it.
ReplyDeleteAnother three-letter word like 'let', another three-letter word that is also a sporting term, another three-letter word that means 'obstacle' is ...
ReplyDelete.
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(Snooker players might know)
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(In snooker) it refers to a lump on the playing surface
rub
Bhala plays snooker
DeleteDid not know this one.
DeleteI play snooker and billiards too, but this is not a commonly known term. In fact, I cannot even find it on Wiki as part of the glossary of terms.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete'Let' us not 'rub' it in...
DeleteThat is news to me.
ReplyDeleteSuresh
ReplyDeleteRead
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/rub-of-the-green.html
Thanks. The origin seems to be from Bowls.
DeleteRe: 28 A. Is the surface alright? Buz has provided the anno at 9.49
ReplyDelete
Deletethe clue is missing a full stop before 'hear' and an Explanation mark after it.
That is what I too thought.
ReplyDeleteTypical Buzzer fare, for the most part.
ReplyDeleteQuibbles:
10A I don't understand how 'Elicit' and 'Illicit' can be homophones.
28A Not sure what the surface means.
Listen to ILLICIT and ELICIT at the links over the word and your quibble will vanish
ReplyDeleteAnother really nice one from Buzzer. Missed the double-letter connection though.
ReplyDeleteReg. 'let' in tennis it is used to call replay for both the ball touching the net and if a ball comes onto your court (from say an adjacent court). The second is an example of the ball being a 'hinderance' to the player.
Also in this day and age of challenges, when a ball is called out and it is actually in, the replay of the point is also called a 'let'. In this case the incorrect call is the hinderance to the player :)
Delete