ACROSS
6 Language of north India (5) HINDI [T]
7 Dupe/liar misused a drug (8) EPIDURAL [DUPE LIAR]*
10 Animal work sounds wonderful (7) OPOSSUM [work=OP + ~wonderful=AWESOME]
11 A torque about Earth’s central line (7) EQUATOR [A TORQUE]*
12 Puzzled by not making a profit (2,1,4) AT A LOSS [DD]
13 Guided a horse without hesitation (7) STEERED [horse=STEED outside hesitation=ER]
14 Primarily, Asian men are captivated by divine pickle (11) PREDICAMENT [Asian + MEN inside divine=PREDICT]
19 Airlines to repair its missing wing part for flight control (7) AILERON [AIRLINES TO - ITS]*
21 Sailors' remains at sea (7) MARINES [REMAINS]*
23 Massive trouts I zealously netted (7) OUTSIZE [T]
25 Essentially crisp fish, meat and spice dish (7) RISSOLE [cRISp + fish=SOLE]
.jpg/640px-Meat_rissoles._Easy_as_1-2-3_(2179666929).jpg)
27 Military unit's essential, I hear (5) CORPS [~essential=CORE]
DOWN
1 Carped on about pit found in a fruit (8) ENDOCARP [CARPED ON]*
3 Authorisation for every assignment (10) PERMISSION [for every=PER + assignment=MISSION]
4 Extra // thick (4) WIDE [DD]
5 Following obtained from flattery, essentially (6) LATTER [T]
6 Catch hold of a heroin-smoking pipe (6) HOOKAH [catch hold of=HOOK + A + Heroin]
8 Stringed instrument Luke played in the French University earlier (7) UKULELE [LUKE* inside University + the French=LE]
9 A bit crass and vulgar (5) CRUDE [Crass + vulgar=RUDE] &lit
13 They c-can get r-repetitive in speech? (10) STAMMERERS [CD]
15 Working grannie's making money (7) EARNING [GRANNIE]*
16 Brown in color with extraordinary odor, one's been cooked in an Indian oven (8) TANDOORI [brown=TAN + ODOR* + one=1]
17 Boat for stormy ocean (5) CANOE [OCEAN]*
18 Escorts the woman (head of state, previously) into the United States (6) USHERS [State + the woman=HER inside US]
20 Unusually tall, he can be deadly (6) LETHAL [TALL HE]*
22 Internally, entire section's surgically cut out (6) RESECT [T]
24 Has tea mixed with a bit of sugar (4) EATS [TEA* + Sugar]
A breeze from Mac. :) Isn't Epidural a drug delivery mechanism, than a drug by itself ??
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteSmooth and neat clues.
27 Military unit's essential, I hear (5) CORPS [~essential=CORE]
All along I was pronouncing CORPS as CORPSE! :(
Ha! You should have asked me
DeleteAsked Col. or Me! or the baby in the picture?!
DeleteBoth DG and K are reluctant to grow up! ;-)
DeleteGreat one, Mac. Looking forward to a Big Mac one of these days.
ReplyDeleteYou mean a Jumbo 21x21 ;-) TH will be at a loss to find a corner for it
DeleteTHCC to the rescue...
DeleteBig Mac likely to emerge on the afternoon of 21.12.2014...
Delete...IXL 2014 Grand Finale.
Delete:-))) :-))) :-))) Enjoyment, Enjoyment, Enjoyment all the way!!! Thank you Mac for making my day. Neat and crisp clues. My COD was PREDICAMENT.
ReplyDeleteI did not know 'Pickle' as a meaning- had to confirm though it fell with crossings.
DeleteYes, enjoyment and samosas all the way! Thank you Mac for a nice enjoyable fare.
Endocarp was the last to fall since I had misspelt 'opossum'.
Thank you Bhavan for making Endocarp so lucidly clear.
+1. Very smooth indeed
Delete@Col,Sir ,
ReplyDeleteThe grid link in the hub is not working properly :( Can you please give the link for the grid here .
Thanks in advance .
LV, I just tried it out it's working properly
DeleteOk sir ,maybe it is not working properly in my ipad .will check it in my PC .
DeleteDid you receive my mail sir ?
Not received any mail
DeleteI have resend it .
DeleteUnhesitatingly I would say this is a good crossword with many neat clues.
ReplyDeleteYes, I too thought epidural is a medical treatment in which an anaesthetic is administered. Yet I now find it might also refer to an anaesthetic (drug) that can be given thus(can it not be given in any other manner?). So Mac may explain if he considered this and went ahead. I wish jaggu comes along in the evening.
I wish I had had his email ID to write to him whenever we need any medical explanation (should he miss the day's blog).
16d is good but Mac should have avoided the use of the US spelling 'odor'. Please see THC specs sheet.
I along with a few others here got an epidural around 11 months back. It was fun! Remember the "Back number"?
DeleteThere is a convention that in a 15x15 blocked standard crossword with some 30 clues, only one or at best two hidden clues are used.
DeleteThat is because the telescopic clue, though it may be a toehold into the grid, is too easy to spot and solve.
Very nice surfaces. Particularly liked 11A, 23a, 5D. 4 hidden type clues and all were well constructed.
ReplyDeleteMac is as smooth as ever.
6A brought a smile as I'm one of those who has recently had to pick up Hindi due to a shift in location.
ReplyDeleteRe 6ac
ReplyDelete"Language of north India" is a clue that I have used but as my dB doesn't show it, I must have written it in some other crossword and not for TH.
Of course, I am not claiming any originality or suggesting Mac is plagiarising (!) but am merely pointing out that it's quite possible for two clue-writers to come up with the same clue.
Yet in the case of a former THC setter we just could not say this because of the overall patchiness in the same set of clues (error-ridden clues along with a couple of brilliant clues).
Now, should a clue have adherence to reality as well as solid wordplay? That is, is it correct to say Hindi is a language of north India? Is it not spoken in other parts?
What do you think?
Controversial issue
DeleteI had my doubts before filling in, but confirmed after all crossings. It IS a fact that Hindi is a North Indian language. Consider the fact that West has Marathi,Gujrathi,Punjabi etc. and the East is dominated by Bengali. Of course,we know about South. We may also recall that politically the North is called the Hindi belt (esp. when it comes to elections,voting pattern etc.)
DeleteIf the clue fits in some factual references, it makes the clue more entertaining, I feel.
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle. My COD 20D. Reminded of my friend lambu ram ;-)
ReplyDeleteLol Ajeesh ! ...
DeleteEnjoyed the puzzle - thank you, Mac. Many clues with great surfaces and wordplay - especially liked 10a, 3d, and 24d - all concise and very neatly done!
ReplyDeleteA couple of nitpicks about definitions:
- Following = LATTER? Latter is typically used to indicate the last-mentioned of two *preceding* choices. I am not sure I agree with following as a definition for it.
- I share the reservations expressed above about EPIDURAL defined as drug - when used as a noun, epidural does refers to the anaesthetic that is given, but it is still describing the manner of adminstration rather than the drug itself.
Thank you, DG, for the blog.
"...epidural does *refer* to..."
DeleteSorry for the typo!
Elegant puzzle. Several lovely clues. Plenty of anagrams.
ReplyDeleteYesterday in 1Across we played our 100 th game with a community CW . I am giving the link
ReplyDeleteBelow
http://crossword.info/somsram/Game100V2
Please do try & give us your feedback :)
It was fun. Sowmya is super organiser ;-)
DeleteTough going. Could solve only half but saved to tackle it later!
Delete@col sir,
ReplyDeleteI had send a mail to you asking for permission to post this link here :) Now I thought I will post the link then ask your permission ;)
No problem
DeleteWhat a breeze! Thanks Mac. Days like these make me feel good about solving crosswords! :-)
ReplyDeleteAny day, anytime, and all times, solving any crossword makes me feel good as they are so varied and challenging from each compiler !
Deletecakewalk.A stroll in the park thanks to anag.ridden clues.Thanks Mac.
ReplyDeleteWhat an ultra smooth puzzle ! Easily one of the best I've solved. Mac knows how to entertain.
ReplyDelete25 A is poetic with a rhyming device if anyone noticed
ReplyDeleteHadn't noticed. Thanx
DeleteThanks Mac for Samosas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments. Seems like the easier it gets, the more people like it:)
ReplyDeleteRe EPIDURAL --- I had the anaesthetic used during labour in mind, which is, in itself, also called an epidural (n) .
Re TANDOORI --- US spellings discouraged even if part of the clue, and not solution? I'll keep that in mind.
Re HINDI --- Aside from the fact that this is just meant to be a [definition // wordplay] clue, I think "Language of north India" seems fair to describe Hindi, just like "Language of South India" for, say, Kannada. I don't think the statement suggests that it's spoken by everyone in the north, or that it's not spoken elsewhere.
Re LATTER, On second thoughts, the definition does seem a bit iffy. I did mean it in the "latter part of the year" sense, and not the "latter of the two options" sense.
Mac: the samosa eating people are the hoi polloi
DeleteAnd the solvers who don't care for samosas but katin kaanae ka cheez, what are they called?
DeleteKhatin Acroot - Hard Nut(s). आम लोग ki पसंद - SAMOSAS !!!
DeletePerhaps Shuchi must add that to her crossword jargons blog ..
DeleteSamosas already added on 17-11-2014. :)
DeleteI was talking about hard nuts :) ..
DeleteI think 'hard nuts' will find it hard to get in there :)..
DeleteHard nuts might elicit the same comment that 16a did yesterday...
Delete:P
DeleteNo comments :)...
DeleteSeems like the easier it gets, the more people like it:)
ReplyDeleteAre there THC setters who fall on "easy" side or "hard" side most of the times?
Or does the same setter purvey "easy" on one occasion and "hard" on another?
They are evenly balanced, CV Sir. One day it's :-) : The other day it's :-(
DeleteGood one
Delete:)
DeleteMB.
ReplyDeleteThat is nice. On seeing the first part, I was wondering how you are going to depict the hard part until I saw the open bracket. Perfectly correct.
:)
DeleteThanks Mac for an easy & enjoyable CW :)
ReplyDeleteWhy is Following != Latter?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chambers.co.uk/search.php?query=latter&title=thes
While Chambers doesn't explicitly list 'following' as one of the synonyms, it does have the equivalent 'succeeding' and 'ensuing'.
And thanks for the crisp clues, Mac. While on the whole it was on the easier side -- which we heathens symbolically represent as >:( ( ;-) ) -- many of the clues were succinct and well written, without wasted words or components.
FLASH NEWS !!
ReplyDeleteIXL 10th Round Solutions are on display now!
Happy to have scored a centum!
Now that the IXL online rounds are over I will be resuming the Sunday Specials from tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThose interested please start sending in your entries.
Eagerly awaiting our 'Specials', Sir.
Delete+1
ReplyDeleteAt last! A centum in the 10th round! It has taken me so long- wish there were a few more!
ReplyDelete