An elephantine CW today from Scintillator, who has me stumped as usual.
ACROSS
1 European social worker gathers help to heal animal (8) ELEPHANT {E}{HELP*}{ANT}
5 Write off Mandela’s men being in prison without a term (6) CANCEL {C{ANC}ELl}
9 Coup threatening delayed mate (8) COPULATE {COUP*}{LATE}
10 Charm of poking at a stubborn person (6) AMULET {AT+MULE}*
12 Ugly bro’s pic features big nose (9) PROBOSCIS {PROB{OS}CIS*}
13 Frenzy should extinguish eventually (5) MUSTH {MUST}{H}
14 Critical of regressive characters in Vedic Age (4) ACID [T<=]
16 Get down from French coach (7) DETRAIN {DE}{TRAIN}
19 Honest politician jailed on riot ending with blast (7) TRUMPET {TRU{MP}E}{T}
21 A posh country (4) PERU Anno not clear (Addendum - {PER}{U} - See comments)
24 Block in vacuum flask after replacing central part (5) DEBAR DE(-w+b)BAR Just 'DEWAR' cannot mean vacuum flask.
25 Brilliant star unreasonably ravenous to gain popularity
initially (9) SUPERNOVA {SU{P}ERNOVA*}
27 World organisation’s quite unfair (6) UNJUST {UN}{JUST}
28 Constant good to be changed with a variable (8) AVOGADRO Anno pending (Addendum - {GOOD+A+VAR}* - See comments}
29 Police officer can second dharnas (3-3) SIT-INS {SI}{T-IN}{S}
30 "Here’s to following fantastic shot in match” (4-4) TRUE-THAT ? [CD] (Addendum - FREE-SHOT {F}{REE-SHOT*} - See comments)
DOWN
1 Key to take to your heels (6) ESCAPE [DD]
2 Use a recipe not seen in Mylapore cooking (6) EMPLOY MYLaPOrE*
3 What a tragedy to get rid of books! (5) HELLO otHELLO
4 Saw fit to be subdued by no education (7) NOTICED {NO}{TIC}{ED}
6 Teacher has a following outside school (4,5) ALMA MATER {A}{L{MAM}ATER}
7 Food firm and liquid as well (8) COLESLAW {CO}{AS+WELL*}
8 Making secure marriage differing at the start (8) LATCHING (-m+l)LATCHING
11 Worn out, very drunk (4) USED [DD] (Addendum - overUSED - See comments) (Addendum1 - soUSED - See comments)
15 Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON Anno pending {CAP{A}RIS}{ON} ON for LEG, a cricket term, but a bit far fetched to imagine here.
17 Crook admits us in sporting arenas (8) STADIUMS*
18 Big airliner, though not big enough for 1 ac. (5,3) JUMBO JET [CD]
20 Sound of disapproval on biting bend in tooth (4) TUSK {T{U}SK}
21 Work’s done with topping of soft cake (7) POPOVER {P}{OP}{OVER}
22 Who had adjusted this seat? (6) HOWDAH*
23 A giant rider, say (6) MAHOUT [CD]
26 One of urchins involved in bloody gore? (5) ROGUE {ROG{U}E*} Semi&lit
28A Constant good to be changed with a variable (8) AVOGADRO Anno pending
ReplyDeleteGOOD A VAR* (VAR short for variable) - Is this OK?
Looks OK to me
DeleteThat makes the two of us, at least...;-)
DeleteGood morning Colonel.
ReplyDeleteConstant good to be changed with a variable (8) AVOGADRO
(GOOD + A + VAR)*
Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON
CAPRIS (trousers) around A, ON (leg - from cricket)
Capris = trousers is doubtful though. Capris are mid-calf pants, trousers are ankle-length pants.
18A - Now three of us, Col...
DeleteThanks Shuchi,
DeleteI stumbled onto CAPARISON just before your comment came in
15D - Good cracking, Shuchi!
DeleteI suppose it should be ok as both lead to some kind of pants, length not-withstanding
DeleteNot convinced. Would you agree with shorts = trousers?
DeleteBhavan's 9:59 below clarifies
DeleteOK, Chambers wins over popular lingo :-) This, incidentally, is its take on tracksuit.
DeleteAny ideas on 30A
ReplyDeleteI took it as free shot (Here's to f)*
DeleteWhat's the definition? 'Shot in match'?
DeleteYes. But shot appearing in the defn makes it less likely to be right
Delete'What' is the connection with 'hello'?
ReplyDeleteAs an exclamation
DeleteHad to be that. Not fully convinced. IMO,Hello is more of a greeting than exclamation.
ReplyDelete30A I also had FREE SHOT an anagram of Heres to f(for following). Not happy because shot as a word is present in the clue
ReplyDeleteSuresh, just noticed that your profile now carries the NO ENTRY sign...
Delete21 A posh country (4) PERU Anno not clear
ReplyDeleteA = per (for each)
posh = u (upper-class)
___________________________________________
11 Worn out, very drunk (4) USED [DD]
I haven't come across 'used' meaning drunk, but the wordplay suggests:
Worn = overused
very = over
drunk = (over-) used
______________________________________________
15 Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON
Chambers:
Capri pants (also Capris) plural noun : women's tapering trousers ending above the ankle, with a short slit on the outside leg.
Thanks Bhavan. I put in DD without checking
DeleteI think 'user' & 'used' are generally used with drugs & not drinks.
Delete10 Charm of poking at a stubborn person (6) AMULET {AT+MULE}*
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's an (indirect) anagram. He probably means Stubborn person (Mule) poking AT, but the word play seems faulty.
6 Teacher has a following outside school (4,5) ALMA MATER {A}{L{MAM}ATER}
Is MAM: Teacher? Isn't it MAAM or MARM
15 Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON Anno pending {CAP{A}RIS}{ON} ON for LEG, a cricket term, but a bit far fetched to imagine here.
+1.
18 Big airliner, though not big enough for 1 ac. (5,3) JUMBO JET [CD]
Don't get what the clue means.
I suppose he means the Jumbo Jet is not big enough for a Jumbo(Elephant)
DeleteI thought so too, but it's been done earlier i.e they have been transported in planes.
DeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteApologies for a few bad/uncooked clues here; I ran into some serious time constraints. 30A is a particularly poor goof-up: I had actually intended 'stroke' instead of 'shot'. 28A veers towards an indirect anagram, and does not have a def-by-example indicator either. Note to self: never underestimate the importance of double-checking clues!
11D: I meant drunk=SOUSED, very=SO. Guess the comma makes it unximenean.
15D: ON=leg was very common, I thought. Maybe that's not the case in THC..
I had no problem with on = leg. It is acceptable.
DeleteI feel it is a little difficult to connect on & leg without a hint of cricket or at least 'side'.It has been used that way before in TH. Thank you,anyway,for the clarifications.
ReplyDeleteSomething different for a change form Scintillator. Expected some convoluted cluing and was proved right. NOT the clue of my day : SURE SHOT. Flagrant violation of MY cluing rules: to repeat the word in the clue as well as the answer. Even PERU. Musth is an English word?
ReplyDeleteSPAM above my head!
ReplyDeletePadmanabhan,
Watch this hilarious discussion on the use of 'Hello/Hullo' as an exclamation of surprise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xXSw07zrio
Leg = On: I don't think it's unfair, although I never quite got the anno even after I filled in the boxes with a lucky geuss.
Aren't words from naval parlance (without any explicit reference to the navy) used to indicate location/letters (e.g. port = L)?
11 Worn out, very drunk (4) USED [DD]
ReplyDeleteDrunk = SOUSED
out very = - SO
Defn: worn [-so]USED
This has already been indicated by Scintillator @ 2:12 above
Delete17D-
ReplyDeleteIs'n't plural of Stadium Stadia.instead of Stadiums.
Both 'stadia' and 'stadiums' are plural form of 'stadium'.
DeleteI find many words related to an elephant have been highlighted in green letters like : ELEPHANT, MUSTH, TRUMPET, JUMBO, TUSK and CAPARISON. I am not getting how the last word is related to an elephant.
ReplyDeleteTo the list mentioned above MAHOUT and ROGUE too could be added.
DeleteElephant gone wild is a ROGUE elaphant.
ReplyDeleteThat's correct, Raghu ji. My doubt is how the word 'caparison' is related to an elephant ?
DeleteCaparison is a saddle/ decorative covering (generally on a horse).
DeleteThanks, Raghu ji. I believe, elephants too have such decorative coverings during festivals etc. Am satisfied now :)
DeleteA couple of other elephant-related terms: PROBOSCIS and HOWDAH.
ReplyDeleteSo, it seems, in all we had ten such terms related to an elephant. Really a Jumbo list !!
DeleteOh, and re:my 04:56, lest someone thinks that I'm calling Raju Umamaheshwar a spammer, there was spam before my comment, but it has now been removed.
ReplyDelete