Tuesday 7 October 2014

No 11208, Tuesday 07 Oct 2014, xChequer


xChequer calls for a lot of head scratching as far as I am concerned. Liked 21D immensely.

ACROSS
7   Kind of drone with an echo (6) HUMANE {HUM}{AN}{E}
8   After beginning of sunset, artist left for a break (8) SPLINTER {Sunset}{P(-a+l)LINTER}
9   Unusual limit for money invested in working capital (8) ATYPICAL {AT{moneY}PICAL*}
10 Grasping edge of gutter piping (6) GREEDY {G}{REEDY}
11 States opposed cut (5) AVERS [DD] (Addendum - AVERSe - See comments)
12 Savage burst through in a loud manner to usurp power (6) FIERCE (-p+f)FIERCE
14 Lost hope that fasting can create history (1,5,2,3,4) A THING OF THE PAST*
17 Vessel returned to oven after draining liquid with this cloth (6) NAPKIN {NAP<=}{KIlN}
18 Clever way to overcome ruin (5) SMART {S{MAR}T}
22 Zebra crossing obstructed by a thorny barricade (6) ZAREBA {ZEBRA*}{A} or is it {Z{A}REBA*}
23 Being slow to leave, wedding doesn't commence on time (8) TARRYING {T}{mARRYING}
24 Practical person yet dense leader (8) HARDHEAD {HARD}{HEAD}
25 This person can provide a balanced review (6) VIEWER* &lit

DOWN
1   Fetching across vital supply for farm (9) CULTIVATE {CU{VITAL*}TE}
2   Check if heart & courage is missing (6) HAMPER {H}{AMPERsand}
3   Get pretty lost in golf (5) FETCH FETCHing
4   Member of governing body, not quite old, seen with cigar shaking hands (8) OLIGARCH {OLd}{CIGAR*}{H}
5   Highly involved in store, stocking what is necessary (4-4) KNEE-DEEP {K{NEE-D}EEP}
6   Sells against margins (5) VENDS {V}{ENDS}
8   Insurer checks loose ends left if caused by one's own actions (4-9) SELF-INFLICTED {SELF-INF{LIC}TED}
13 Drive following direction without a compass and get separated (9) ESTRANGED {EaST}{RANGED} What's the role of 'compass'? (Addendum - {EaST}{RANGE}{D} - See comments)
15 Public voice finally broke free in implied criticism (8) INNUENDO {INN}{U{voicE}NDO}
16 Leave positions to be successful (2,6) GO PLACES {GO} {PLACES}
19 Month after month allowing man to create chaos (6) MAYHEM {MAY}{HE}{M}
20 Political group coming by a measure of heat over rating (5) HAMAS {H}{A}{M}{AS<=} Not sure of Anno (Addendum - CABAL {C{AB}AL} - See comments)
21 The sauce of it, deserting the force! (5) GRAVY GRAVitY

GRID

30 comments:

  1. 13 Drive following direction without a compass and get separated (9) ESTRANGED

    I took this to be {E(-a)ST}{RANGE}{D}
    RANGE: compass
    D: drive

    ReplyDelete
  2. 11 States opposed cut (5) AVERS [DD]

    Not a DD: AVERS(-E)

    ReplyDelete
  3. 22 Zebra crossing obstructed by a thorny barricade (6) ZAREBA {ZEBRA*}{A} or is it {Z{A}REBA*}

    I feel it could be either. 'A' can come inside or at the end, as both mean obstruction or stop

    ReplyDelete
  4. 20 Political group coming by a measure of heat over rating (5) HAMAS

    Could this be -
    {H}{AMAS}
    AMAS: Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale

    ReplyDelete
  5. 20 Political group coming by a measure of heat over rating (5) HAMAS {H}{A}{M}{AS<=} Not sure of Anno

    I feel it's CABAL. CAL: Calorific value, over AB = Sailor = Rating.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 2 Check if heart & courage is missing (6) HAMPER {H}{AMPERsand}

    Nice clue, but is 'is' to be 'are'?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sometimes two close ideas joined by & are treated as a singular.
    It is an accepted grammatical rule.
    When I was in college, my heart and mind was not in physics. It was in English.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blue and gold is a nice colour combination

      Delete
    2. Mine was the other way round, hence my query ;-)

      Delete
    3. In Kishore's sentence, the is comes in because combination is in singular. I wonder if in the clue 'and' was used in place of '&' whether 'is' is OK?

      Delete
  8. Not completing the crossword before 8.30 AM IST could soon be A THING OF THE PAST.

    You, the VIEWER have to be SMART and CULTIVATE a habit of an ATYPICAL approach without being GREEDY.

    If you are regular in attempting the crosswords things that HAMPER your progress will soon vanish. You will never be in
    KNEE-DEEP trouble.

    The MAYHEM will go away and you could well FETCH your plate of samosas along with a NAPKIN.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow! CGB is back with what he does best!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Glad to have got a few tough ones like Innuendo, Self inflicted, Gravy, Estranged,..... but still in knee deep trouble in NW corner.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Is it a fetching CW or is it only for go getters?!

    ReplyDelete
  12. No Samosas today! Going to bed on an empty stomach!! :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. Took 3 hours to complete. But at last cracked it .. Takes a lot of resolve. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brainstorming session! I did not have the resolve and gave up after an hour. After all, what is the blog there for?

      Delete
  14. 14A : Lost hope that fasting can create history (1,5,2,3,4) A THING OF THE PAST*

    Anagrind please - Lost or Can Create?

    ReplyDelete
  15. 1 Fetching across vital supply for farm (9) CULTIVATE {CU{VITAL*}TE}

    A doubt. 'Supply' is the anagind. Should it not precede 'vital'. If it was 'supplied' it would have been OK.


    17 As per rules, report purchase, contract, then record the charge (2,3,4) BY THE BOOK (~BUY THEn BOOK)

    Here though the clue is not an anagram, 'contract' conveys the right instruction to cut short 'then'.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Today's date 4.10.2014 is a PALINDROME which means that the date reads exactly similar reading backwards .

    ReplyDelete
  17. The last two days of Exchequer's crossies is simby whorled class !! I enjoyed them immensely !! On first sight, they looked almost impossible but as one went along, the jig fitted into the saw perfectly, though the NW corner gave a bit of acute cerebral thrombosis ! !

    Maybe, if i had concentrated well away from the TV and its shenanigans in Bangalore, I could have cracked it sooner !

    Well done, Exchequer !!

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com