Saturday 6 December 2014

No.11259, Saturday 06 Dec 2014, Arden


Arden has really mastered the art of entertaining with his puzzles. Lots of fun clues today, too many to list, but lovely stories and/or definitions especially in NITRE, MARMOSET, RABBI, NEUTRAL, TANNERIES, EDICT, ANGEL DUST, DRILL.

ACROSS
1 Meeting barring one — on at sister's place (7) CONVENT [meeting=CONVENTion]
5 Entails representation if prominent (7) SALIENT [ENTAILS]*
9 Time to regret and run — to be a bit more exact (5) TRUER [Time + regret=RUE + Run]
10 Driven men make this their stock answer (5,4) NEVER MIND [DRIVEN MEN]*
11 Little bitter, but that's no big deal (5,4) SMALL BEER [little=SMALL + bitter=BEER]
12 Salt for two eggs, nothing less (5) NITRE [egg=NIT + egg=RoE]
13 Review Indian music — it will promote culture (4) AGAR [Indian music=RAGA<-]
15 Krypton could be from Tangiers (5,3) INERT GAS [TANGIERS]*
18 Monkey finds some bananas in shop.... (8) MARMOSET [SOME* inside shop=MART]
19 .....so the brute comes back (4) ERGO [brute=OGRE<-]
22 Teacher will keep talking endlessly (5) RABBI [talk endlessly=RABBIt]
24 By hand, I'll do a wild animal (9) ARMADILLO [hand=ARM + ILL DO A*]
26 Moderated by a theologian in a small city (5,4) TONED DOWN [a = ONE + theologian=Doctor of Divinity inside small city=TOWN]
27 Iceman's home is superior with it (5) INUIT [home=IN + superior=U + IT]
28 Not taking sides, nervous and tense inside (7) NEUTRAL [Tense inside nervous=NEURAL]
29 Author narrated short story “Missing Monarch” (7) TOLSTOY [narrated=TOLd + STOrY]

DOWN
1 Most beautiful clip is in Paris (6) CUTEST [clip=CUT + is in French=EST]
2 Complaint of breaking rule again (9) NEURALGIA [RULE AGAIN]*
3 Sign on as missing from New Orleans (5) ENROL [ORLEaNs]*
4 Attempts to protect girl and hides in such places (9) TANNERIES [attempts=TRIES outside girl=ANNE]
5 Separate school, always (5) SEVER [School + always=EVER]
6 Glasses broken — no letter writing finally (9) LORGNETTE [NO LETTER writinG]*
7 Bull caught in rising water (5) EDICT [Caught inside water=TIDE<-]
8 Cleaned after it rose and departed (6) TIDIED [IT<- + departed=DIED]
14 What’s left of principal — making loss every second year (9) REMAINDER [of=RE + principal=MAIN + D + yEaR] Not sure where D comes from (Addendum -[making loss = in the RED over principal = MAIN + yEaR] - See comments)
16 The cafe and most of the property outside belong to me (9) ESTAMINET [property=ESTATe outside belong to me=MINE]
17 Dealt with guns, dealt with drug (5,4) ANGEL DUST [GUNS DEALT]*
20 The idiot will regularly accrue money (6) CRETIN [aCcRuE + money=TIN]
21 Storyteller will have a go at verse (6) POETRY [storyteller = POE + have a go at=TRY]
23 Taliban turned down admission to tribal (5) BANTU [T]
24 Everyone gets to the Island (5) ATOLL [everyone=ALL outside TO]
25 Teach // a baboon (5) DRILL [DD]

18 comments:

  1. My take on 14D

    {RE{MAIN}D}{(-y)E(-a)R} RED from 'making loss' though how MAIN goes into RED is not clearly specified

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If we take d = debt (loss), everything falls in place, I think.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Colonel, I suppose we need to read 'making loss' as 'in the red' which takes care of the containment indicator

      Delete
    3. That's how is.

      Several good clues. Liked marmoset, tanneries, angel dust.

      In 20 D, 'will' seems redundant. Probably 'to' would have been better?

      Delete
  2. Wholesome entertainer. Lots of chuckles. 4D takes the cake in non sequiturs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A very engaging CW. Had to struggle a bit, but still a few left out. Enjoyed it all the same.
    After 8.30, the tendency is to look into the blog. Maybe, curiosity kills the cat.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kishore- w.r.to yesterday's post (saw it very late)

    Thank you for the good old nursery rhyme. I was not sure of its lyrics and thanks also for the explanation of 'Paddywhack'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Btw one of mine, presently somewhere in the pipeline in the south eastern sector, has Black Maria too ...

      Delete
    2. Any similarity in the clue too?

      Delete
  5. One short of samosas today. Nice clues.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a lovely set! The CW wasn't particularly hard, but it's not always the case in relatively easy crosswords that one notices the surfaces all the time; whereas here, I always had to a take a second or two to admire the construction before or after filling in the answer.

    Having said that, I do have a few questions about some clues:

    24A: Hand = ARM?
    16D: Had the same question as Aakash Sridhar, but thinking about it I realised that 'belong to me' is simply '(are) mine' in the same way that 'belongs to me' is '(is) mine'. Is this interpretation correct?
    23D: With the 'down' in there, I was expecting some sort of reversal and was stuck at the clue for awhile.

    29A: Why is the R in 'Monarch' highlighted? Isn't it simply deleting R ( = Monarch/King)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. about 16d .. I had felt that the part of speech doesn't match.. 'mine' would be 'belonging to me'..
      my intention was not to nitpick however.. just a gentle point..

      Delete
  7. Smooth puzzle today - thanks Arden! Enjoyed Angel Dust and Rabbi, specially.

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  8. Gosh.... what a lovely puzzle. I sitting in my home surrounded by boxes, and I found an hour to work on this - made my day!!. Thank you Arden. Really something to aspire for, as a budding setter... Bravo!!!

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  9. Full day power cut :( - Anyway happy to get samosa. Angel Dust and Inuit are the last to fall.

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  10. Very smooth indeed. Got time to get to the puzzle only in the evening. Had to check annos for remainder, nitre & rabbi

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