In another wonderful one with superb clues, too many to name individually, Arden once again displays his seamanship ... at home (or at sea?!) with these things and a couple of port cities
Across
1 Used gas lamp— no good for hot stuff (6) PLASMA (GAS LAMP - G)*
4 She's wearing something like 27 for example- looks angelic (8) CHERUBIC (HER in CUBIC=27 for example, is 3^3) Good misleading by use of 27
9 The most recent city trial (6) LATEST (LA TEST)
10 Stole under the flounce (8) FURBELOW (FUR BELOW)
12 Spanish chronicle— terror forces conservative out (8) HISPANIC (HISTORY-TORY+PANIC)
13 The beast over time, runs (6) ONAGER (ON AGE R)
15 Makes it hot — easier for one to create a ruckus (5, 3, 4) RAISE THE ROOF (HOT EASIER FOR)*
18 Strengthened the cover he'd over me (4-8) CASE HARDENED (CASE H'ED around ARDEN) One of the best self references by a setter that I've seen
21 How circle becomes ice? (6) EVENLY (CD- In crossword lingo
22 Bit of a breeze there, a little airy (8) ETHEREAL (T)
24 Name employed is 'thick skinned', perhaps (8) CALLUSED (CALL USED)
25 A line before a goddess is basic (6) ALKALI (A L KALI) imo, basic=alkaline and base=alkali. Does it work if 'is basic' is taken as the defn.? People who accept of usage of 'in India' as defn. without specifying city would have no problem accepting this without saying 'it is basic'. Purists might raise an eyebrow here...
26 Again ask to rebuild the city (8) NAGASAKI (AGAIN ASK)*
27 What's wrong with the last dress? (6) SWATHE (WHAT'S*
Down
1 Fish sauce over vegetable (8) PILCHARD (LIP< CHARD)
2 Skillful in transporting it twice in cars (8) ARTISTIC (ITx2 CARS)*
3 One is needed, reportedly in such places (7, 8) MASSAGE PARLOURS (CD, one is ~kneaded there)
5 Transport //cargo (4) HAUL (2)
6 Puck's cross about game he follows (5, 10) ROBIN GOODFELLOW (cross=ROOD about BINGO, FELLOW=he)
7 Its presence forms a bulge at sea (6) BELUGA (CD)+(A BULGE)* Semi&lit
8 Chicken and fish sent up as uncooked inside (6) COWARD (RAW< in COD)
11 May be the girl will help one start smoking (7) LIGHTER (THE GIRL)* .. and the other eyebrow here ...
14 Both have to go through- ignore ring dimension (7) BREADTH (READ in B
16 Deal with the last base entering home ground (8) INTERACT (E in IN TRACT)
17 Girl gets help in the city (8) ADELAIDE (AID in ADELE)
19 Church worker becomes a guide with Bishop at the helm (6) DEACON (it becomes BEACON with B in the fo'c's'le)
20 Lethargy of a girl to go up by plane (3, 3) JET LAG (GAL< by JET)
23 The dork gets a twitch (4) JERK (2)
Googled for Puck, otherwise I would never have solved it. Had a tough time today
ReplyDeleteLuckily I had written a clue for it in the Incog. series of clues and I had seen 'The Dead Poets Society'
DeleteRobin Williams did well in the movie, but a young Robert Sean Leonard (later well known as a doctor. in Dr. House, MD) was a surprise package.
DeleteOn the tougher side- for eg. 12A. 3 synonyms and a deletion. I could never have got it. In fact I would not have been able to interpret the given answer. Thanks again to the blog.
ReplyDeleteAgain,me= I= Setter= Arden. Ingenious! (possibilities are endless)
I was watching India-Oz test match and it helped me to get Adelaide!
25A- I agree with Kishore that it should have been 'base' in stead of 'Basic' to be precise. Maybe, surface needs a bit of twitching.
ReplyDeleteLiked 'Cherubic'. I was indeed trying to fit in 27A in several ways and no doubt failed in both.
ReplyDeletePosted late night after solving yesterday's"The beauty of Arden's craft with words is that one gets to decipher the clues so spontaneously !! Even the anagrams of long words !
ReplyDeleteSheer delight in solving his crossies !! Keep it up Arden.
We seem to have a new record for number of comments today ;-). Deepak might know if we've got a new high!
ReplyDeleteLong time since this has happened. Do I need to have weekday specials also ;-)
ReplyDeleteCan anything be more 'special' than a puzzle like this from Arden?!
DeleteThough on the tough side, the clues were just superb! My COD: Cherubic
ReplyDeleteIt's been a great run for the last 3 days, in addition to today ... Thanks Arden
ReplyDelete