Thursday, 5 March 2015

No 11334, Thursday 05 Mar 2014, Afterdark


It's A-D all the way today

ACROSS
1   Approximately by end of June, certain to get foodgrain... (6) CEREAL {C}{junE}{REAL}
4   ...announces politician (not individual) (6) STATES STATESman
9   A book you reportedly hid inside for a relative (4) AUNT {A}{U(~you)}{NT}
10 Agitated schoolteacher discarded her sweets (10) CHOCOLATES SCHOOLTEACher*
11 Appoint guerrilla to capture pair with son (6) CHOOSE {CH{OO}{S}E}
12 Assisted earl to survive outside at Germany after queen's retreat (8) RELIEVED {RE<=}{LI{E}VE}{D}
13 Assert about Dutch ties wrongly to publicize (9) ADVERTISE {A{D}VER}{TIES*}
15 Acts against spends without latitude (5) PLAYS {P{L}AYS}
16 A smaller number, in passion to get a wife, desert Vatican (5) FEWER FE(-v+w)WER
18 Approved cheat's business and ended without substance (9) CONFIRMED {CON}{FIRM}{EndeD}
22 Accepted Bond's advance inside (8) WELCOMED {WEL{COME}D}
23 Avoid adventure without, say a condition (6) ESCAPE ESCAPad(~add)E
25 Asked to send quote, I disposed (10) QUESTIONED*
26 A single item auntie stripped without a point (4) UNIT aUNTIe*
27 Arise awkwardly after taking drug, get more relaxed (6) EASIER {E}{ARISE*}
28 Am about to follow one girl with extremely envious thoughts (6) IMAGES {1}{MA<=}{G}{En...uS}

DOWN
1   Demolished compact disc in hurry at Spain (7) CRUSHED {C{RUSH}{E}D}
2   Duration in which to find relationship (5) RATIO [T]
3   Damaged container with missing gold is antique (7) ANCIENT CoNTAINEr*
5   Draw co-ordinate for a tram, maybe (6) TROLLY {TROLL}{Y}
6   Drifter is a cashier concealing a bit of rands, australs and vatus (9) TRAVELLER {T{R}{A}{V}ELLER}
7   Drafted screenplay with new pal out of backdrop (7) SCENERY SCREENplaY*
8   Drug taken by an Irish band at watering hole’s gin cocktail equivalent (13) CORRESPONDING {CORR{E}S}{POND}{GIN*}
14 Disturbs board member to take side in stock exchange scandal initially (9) EXERCISES {EXE{R}C}{In}{S...k}{Ex...e}{Sc...s}
17 Deliver English sweet late? No earlier (7) EXECUTE {EX}<=>{E}{CUTE}
19 Doctor returned after agent secured king's release (7) FREEDOM {F{RE}ED}{MO<=}
20 Devoid of alternative, Tories follow English politician's issues (7) EMPTIES {E}{MP}{TorIES}
21 Domain of peer I'm readjusting is... (6) EMPIRE*
24 ...defended by one hundred and fifty peacekeepers going on thousand (5) CLUNG {CL}{UN}{G}

GRID

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25 comments:

  1. Rengaswamy5 March 2015 at 08:42

    Nice one. All Across Clues starting with A and Down Clues starting with D - Making AD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore5 March 2015 at 09:38

      Curiously though, many lights start with C or E

      Delete
    2. Richard5 March 2015 at 11:42

      'B" seems to have been left out. To B or not to B....

      Delete
  2. Chaturvasi5 March 2015 at 08:43

    Friends
    I learnt a new word today and it so happens that it starts with an A and ends with a D!

    The word is ASPERAND.

    I am not disclosing its meaning.

    Please check and you will wonder why you had known that useful word till now.

    If any of you had already known this word, please tell me and I will, well, ApplauD you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore5 March 2015 at 09:37

      I did not know this word. But it looks like a snake on a badly defined errand, or an ampersand which had some spelling problem.

      Delete
  3. Chaturvasi5 March 2015 at 08:47

    After I posted that I learned that it is also known by other terms - all coinages that may not have gained much currency.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard5 March 2015 at 08:56

      It is CV@his best. Most email ID-holders should have known it, but may not..

      It is new to me as well. Thanks CV.

      Until now, I had only known other words like ampersand and tilde signs.

      Delete
  4. Raghunath5 March 2015 at 08:55

    Never heard of that word.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Raghunath5 March 2015 at 08:57

    Good one AD. Something novel always!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Padmanabhan5 March 2015 at 09:34

    A....D
    Well done and well spotted by Col.(and explained by Renga)
    Nice CW, but I had problems in SW & the drug at 8D! Looking for all sorts of drugs.
    25A-So nicely worded that I did not even realise that it is an anagram.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kishore5 March 2015 at 09:40

    O/T
    I see a letter in TH from on of our flock ...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Padmanabhan5 March 2015 at 09:47

    Saw

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mukundala Balasubramanyam5 March 2015 at 12:03

    Nice puzzle. I too, like Paddy, had to struggle a bit in the South-West corner. Couldn't get 16A and 14D.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Padmanabhan5 March 2015 at 12:36

    MB,
    Add gin cocktail to the list.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Subbaraman5 March 2015 at 19:38

    It looks as if, to do THC, you have to familiarize yourself with certain rules and conventions not found elsewhere, such as D for Germany, E for Spain, the first letter e standing for earl and some approximations in the meanings of words such as, Appoint= choose, Thoughts= images, Assisted= relieved etc. I am not a regular with THC; these are my impressions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VMA Nair5 March 2015 at 20:00

      These are standard abbreviations and the words you mentioned are direct synonyms I guess.
      Nice effort AD though I feel 1 D is wrong cryptically and didn't quite get surface reading of a few clues maybe because of the theme constraints

      Delete
    2. Shrikanth5 March 2015 at 20:02

      Though it is my crossword, I am answering on behalf of all the setters. Yes there are certain rules and conventions as you say, but not found elsewhere is wrong. These are used all across. And there are specific dictionaries for xwd abbreviations. On meanings, I would not accept setters use approximations. I can certainly say that you will find these as synonyms in Chambers. If nothing of these are there, it won't be a cryptic crossword but a Quick cwd.

      Delete
  12. Arvind Ramaswamy5 March 2015 at 21:35

    A..D!! Enjoyable grid... Couldnt complete though..

    8D- E for drug is not clear... Can anybody help with the anno please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VMA Nair5 March 2015 at 21:39

      ecstasy (MDMA). So you got 27A drug? :-D

      Delete
    2. Arvind Ramaswamy5 March 2015 at 21:41

      Thanks Ajeesh... No obviously 27A anno was also not clear... I

      Delete
  13. Arvind Ramaswamy5 March 2015 at 21:36

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. raju umamaheswar5 March 2015 at 22:13

    AfterDark is an expert in Additions, Deletions and Elisions-- very elusive ! cure for lesions in the brains ?

    ReplyDelete

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