A reasonably happy bunny lives to fight another day. Thanks xChequer. 1D has me stumped.
ACROSS
1 Tyrant flycatcher gets public health award, catching insects essentially (6) PHOEBE {PH}{O{
10 and 11ac. One essentially set upon any path by a dissatisfied person (3,1,5,5,) NOT A HAPPY BUNNY {
11 See 10ac
12 Is filling included with gold tooth? (7) INCISOR {INC}{IS}{OR}
13 Rakish bent to cap of Indian hunter (7) SHIKARI {RAKISH*}{I}
14 Swallow piece of tobacco going the wrong way (4) GULP <=
15 Audience displaying number in a town ball (10) ATTENDANCE {A}{T}{TEN}{DANCE}
19 Carthorse sadly led amiss in church (10) CLYDESDALE {C{SADLY+LED}*E} Needed Google help on this one
23 Outrage to examine backward youth (7) SCANDAL {SCAN}{DAL<=}
26 Corpse stands (7) REMAINS [DD]
27 Drunk man will be loose-limbed (5) LITHE {LIT}{HE}
28 Similar instance earlier brought pressure to withdraw book (9) PRECEDENT {P}{RECEDE}{NT}
29 Highlights in primarily straight hair (8) STRESSES {S
30 Joined latter half of battle with courage (6) METTLE {MET}{
DOWN
1 Approaching nail biting finish, header in goal (7)
2 Jerk, boring, over-friendly by sight (9) OPTICALLY {O}{P{TIC}ALLY}
3 Man in supreme command (6) BEHEST {BE{HE}ST}
5 Donkey crossing through gorge (5) ABYSS {A{BY}SS}
6 Resolution framed to make reforms (8) REBUILDS {RE{BUILD}S}
7 End up nursing an obsession (5) MANIA {M{AN}IA<=}
8 Chaotic rent controls way out of hand (7) HAYWIRE {H{WAY*}IRE}
9 Lively trip dies off (8) SPIRITED*
16 Swollen, becoming rather big in conclusion (8) ENLARGED {EN{LARGE}D}
17 Offhand, one can leave gelignite stable without nitrogen (9) NEGLIGENT {GEL(-i)GNITE* over N} Stable as Anind?
18 Unnecessary social security bound to irritate (8) NEEDLESS {NEEDLE}{SS}
19 Social circles perhaps without large, palatial buildings (7) CASTLES {CAST{L}ES}
21 Decorative ribbon reflecting gold-trimmed sofa (7) ROSETTE {RO<=}{SETTE
22 Block covered by slim pedestrian (6) IMPEDE [T]
24 A prison in riot (5) ASTIR {A}{STIR}
25 Interval for drinks beginning to end (5) LAPSE {LAPS}{E
GRID
1d ( (p (end) in) g
ReplyDeleteThanks Ramesh
Delete'in' on double duty? Header in goal- G and directly as 'in'.
ReplyDeleteCol.'s header is very apt.
ReplyDelete17 Offhand, one can leave gelignite stable without nitrogen (9) NEGLIGENT {GEL(-i)GNITE* over N} Stable as Anind?
ReplyDeleteStable maybe meaning fixed, balanced etc.
Perhaps stabilize/ fix the anagram fodder?
Delete'Unstable' as anind could have been better, I think.
DeleteNail=pin
ReplyDeletebiting = c/c indicator
finish = end
header of goal =g
Superb clue!
Delete+1
Delete+ Superb solving by Ramesh !
DeleteThank you Ramesh.
ReplyDelete+1 for the header. Retiring with high self-esteem :)
ReplyDeleteSomewhat a happy outing today! Could manage 80%. Nice puzzle. Thanks, xChequer. :)
ReplyDeleteSecond Col's opening comment, though I don't think he would not need to fight against the one to follow.
ReplyDeleteNice to get a tip from the Ghost who walks?
DeleteRaghu @ : 11:02 am reg.
DeleteTomorrow it's Kishore and the day after Buzzer. If I am not mistaken, Col Sir, will have to wait till Sunday for the intended fight!
I realised that after posting. Anyway you look at he will still find it easier.
DeleteYes, Sunday puzzles of Everyman seem to be much easier for Col Sir.
DeleteI meant anyway he'll find it easy even when not blogging.
DeleteYes, he will certainly. :)
DeleteRaghunath
DeleteRe Your Comment above, viz.,
Second Col's opening comment, though I don't think he would not need to fight against the one to follow.
Do you mean to say "...I don't think he would need to fight against the one to follow" ?
Oops! I did not notice that. I meant what you've written.
Delete13A : Rakish bent to cap of Indian hunter (7) SHIKARI {RAKISH*}{I}
ReplyDeleteA similar clue appeared in Round 7 of IXL 2014 on 26th Oct.
23A : Dal vessel left America at last with one great Indian hunter (7) SHIKARI.
Could someone help me pl with the anno of IXL answer?
SHIKARA (boat) is found on the Dal lake in Srinagar. Remove (americ)A at the end and add I(one)
DeleteDal vessel = Shikara ( Boat is Dal lake, Kashmir)
DeleteLeft = Deletion indicator
America at last = A
With = Connector
One = I
Great Indian hunter = Defn
So becomes Shikar(-a)(+i)
Thanks Raghu and Ramesh. I did enjoy myself a Shikara ride on Dal Lake, (maybe) three decades ago when I was serving in IAF. The word 'dal' made me think of cereal/pulse etc.! Hence the confusion. :)
DeleteThat was the setter's intention ;-)
DeleteThought it was Col's work all along.
DeleteBut I filled in SHIKARI correctly and had the satisfaction of scoring a centum in that round! I knew hunter means 'shikari' in Hindi, so there was no problem in getting the answer. The problem was with the anno!
DeleteWhat was my work?
DeleteI had marked you as the setter for IXL
DeleteAll this talk reminds me of a singer. A similar clue
ReplyDeleteGorgeous singer leaves America's borders with setter, one that is a hunter (7)
If it's SHAKIRA it does not work
Deleteexchanges instead of leaves work?
DeleteWhy? My only doubt was whether it should be "setters" or "setter." Went with the latter 'cause I thought it was sufficient.
DeleteAnno VJ?
DeleteSorry. I absentmindedly was annotating SHIKARA.
DeleteSHAKIRA = SH(-a)(+I) K(-i)(+A) R(-a)(+I). Aren't two Is reqd?
Deleteone?
DeleteSHAKIRA. minus AA= SH_KIR_. With I = SH(+I)KIR_. One that is a = I becomes A. so SH(+I)K(+A)(-i)R_. The last I comes from?
DeleteSplendid xie.10 a seed to be tough. But somehow managed.1d- I could crack it taking the cue from 'impending' having the same meaning. Nice clues.nice day.Thanks XC.
ReplyDeletetypp-pl.read as 'seemed'instead of seed.
ReplyDeleteThe first two Across clues reminded me of another setter (I won't name names ;-)). Apart from those, it was a set of highly enjoyable surfaces with many well-hidden/well-thought containers and indicators thereof.
ReplyDeleteGreat grid today... most of them good clues, some brilliant clues (1D my fav - got it as the last one). Some ones I am not sure of ... using BUILD/REBUILD LARGE/ENLARGED made me a bit queasy since the roots of the words are the same. Would love to hear the comments on this from the experienced setters here. Also, 5D, is the cryptic reading OK?
ReplyDeleteGot around to the crossword very late today. Very enjoyable puzzle indeed - thanks a ton to xChequer and to DG!
ReplyDeleteYet another coincidence across setters and publications, this time a very unusual word: today's Independent puzzle by Morph has HARRUMPH too!
1D Nail= Pin is ok but biting as indicator of it surrounding ' finish=end' does not seem to be satisfactory. At least ' header' is there to indicate that the first letter of 'goal' is to be taken but in several clues, one has to take the first letter of a word or the first 3 letters ( 6A) without any indication.Besides, ' pending' is used more in the sense of something still to be done and ' impending' is nearer to the meaning ' approaching'. For those accustomed to use a word in a particular connotation all the time, this could be misleading.
ReplyDelete2D- Jerk=Tic; Friendly= Pally. The first letter of over 'o' is to be taken ( but no indication.) Then what is ' boring' ? Is it an indicator that ' pally' has to surround 'tic'? If so, I would call this a boring clue. In solving such clues, you do not get the same pleasure as in doing something much simpler, as in ,say " You may write this in pencil or in pen(5)" or " The problem of sin in China ( 3,7) etc. Of course this my personal view, only meant as constructive criticism.
SS,
DeleteI see no problem in BITING being an indicator for containment.
In 6D we are not taking first 3 letters from RESOLUTION as RES is the recognised abvn for it.
In 2D 'O' comes from OVER as in cricket. Yes BORING is an indicator for insertion
Why do you find finish=end, jerk=tic, friendly=pally, pending=approaching etc. unsatisfactory? These are regular words and their corresponding synonyms found in any good thesaurus. For instance: http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=finish&title=thes .
DeleteRes. is an abbreviation for 'resolution'. http://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=res.&title=21st (Similar to how H is used in place of 'hospital' in another clue.)
Over(s) is abbreviated O in cricket, and it's an oft-used feature in crosswords.
"For those accustomed to use a word in a particular connotation all the time, this could be misleading."
Not misleading, just new. Don't you think that it would be rather unreasonable to ask the setter to create puzzles to suit each of his/her solvers? One of the pleasures of doing a crossword puzzle, besides solving of course, is learning new words and new contexts in which known words are used. No doubt there will be moments when you'll have to look up a dictionary or a thesaurus once in a while, but that's part of the process -- no-one can be expected to know every word and each of its meanings that has ever existed.
Boring: 'bore' as in to drill. (Think of bore wells.) It is an indication that TIC has to bore into PALLY.
In solving such clues, you do not get the same pleasure as in doing something much simpler...
To paraphrase JFK, we (or at least I) choose to solve crosswords, not because they're simple, but because they're hard. :D Not that solving crosswords ever approaches the difficulty and importance of even one tiny calculation involved in sending men to the Moon.
+1
DeleteBrilliant crossword XChequer. Thoroughly enjoyed solving it. Several smooth surfaces and just the right level of challenge.
ReplyDelete