As usual, a cracker of a CW from xChequer. Pulling up my socks worked. One down one to go.
ACROSS
7 Lots of small pins (6) STACKS {S}{TACKS}
8 Female basically deemed horribly vile (3-5) SHE-DEVIL {SHE}-{D
9 Fine crackers passed round in break (8) INFRINGE {INF{RING}E*}
10 Harry's undercover agents getting tense (6) MOLEST {MOLES}{T}
11 Contract value for animals (5) ASSES ASSES
12 Reach a time to reciprocate all the rage (6) ATTAIN {A}{T}<=>{T}{A}{IN}
14 So we mean sitting idly? (7,4,4) WASTING ONES TIME* &lit
17 Variable salary protecting yen without limit (6) PATCHY {PA{
18 Confuse beer drinking theologian (5) ADDLE {A{DD}LE}
22 Nearly a thousand couples missing (6) ALMOST {A}{L{M}OST}
23 River being normal in sound for one from the country (8) NATIONAL
24 Involves matters of importance (8) CONCERNS [DD]
25 Personification of a boring, average sailor (6) AVATAR {AV}{A}{TAR}
DOWN
1 Holds one's opinion in policy dispute (6,3) STANDS PAT {STAND}{S PAT}
2 Rare to be caught in panic (6) SCARCE {SCAR{C}E}
3 Posture adopted by Atlas — an aspect (5) ASANA [T]
4 Penetrate through flesh and ultimately bone (8) PERMEATE {PER}{MEAT}{
5 Highly connected firm in construction (4-4) WELL-KNIT [DD]
6 Primary class when 15? (5) FIRST [DD]
8 Affectionate words exchanged — it's then we snog (5,8) SWEET NOTHINGS*
13 Condition met, as all round Royal suspect trickery (5,1,3) SMELL A RAT {SMELL A {R}AT*}
15 Highest score is Excellent (3-5) TOP-NOTCH {TOP}-{NOTCH}
16 Building or any cottage essentially used for swimming (8) NATATORY {OR+ANY+
19 Love on date, darling goes round tree (6) DEODAR {DE{O}{D}AR}
21 Engine driver possibly heading for station at eleven (5) STEAM {S
GRID
SWEET NOTHINGS, AVATAR all WELL KNIT TOP NOTCH clues
ReplyDeleteIf normal = n
ReplyDelete(-r+n) ational
rational = sound
Thanks Ajeesh
DeleteTo go with Col.'s preamble, I too could pull up my socks,...but half way only! Nevertheless an enjoyable puzzle.
ReplyDeleteSome excellent clues, Bravo!
ReplyDeleteCol.'s warning seems to have worked for me too. I bent my elbow- not for drinking, but for pulling up my socks!
ReplyDeleteGot caught in the SW corner, mainly because 'natatory' was new to me and I put 'Top class' in stead of 'Top Notch'.
Far better than my normal score.
John 'in' after a long time- and starting the chat, at that. Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteThank you Paddy sir ;-)
ReplyDelete4 Penetrate through flesh and ultimately bone (8) PERMEATE {PER}{MEAT}{bonE}
ReplyDeleteFirst I thought of raising a doubt reg PER meaning THROUGH but decided to visit Free Dic and this is what I found there :
Per (Prep) : One of the meanings given : Per = By means of; by; through: Send it per messenger.
Always happy to learn something new per our blog!
For sending through somebody- 'per bearer' is a normal usage. That is what I thought of while filling,when I also had a doubt.
DeleteAgree with MB
ReplyDelete17a yen=itch! yearn...long for
DeleteThere is a famous limerick which I am quoting from memory. May not be verbatim.
The ladies inhabiting Venus
Have signalled us saying they've seen us.
They add, "There's a yen here
For getting some men here --
And nothing but space is between us."
:)
This was new for me
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely brilliant, xChequer - congratulations, and thank you! It is perhaps appropriate that the first entry I could crack at first pass was WASTING ONE'S TIME, and also apt that it appeared bang in the centre of the puzzle - I was reminded of Colin Dexter's observation that solving crosswords is "...the most serene and civilised way of wasting time that I...have as yet discovered."
ReplyDeleteThe north-west corner contained the best clues, IMO - STANDS PAT, INFRINGE, ASSES, SCARCE - all top-notch indeed! I hadn't a clue to the parsing of NATIONAL - hats off to Ajeesh for getting it! And thanks to DG for the blog.
I got the anno the moment I saw the clue and the answer but lost my post while trying to send it from my iPad. Nothing like the desktop but the on/off toggle switch has got stuck and needs to be fixed.
ReplyDeleteN for Normal might be used in weather maps/tables.h
TH used to carry weather map (not satellite chart) in which I think we used to see some areas marked N, maybe of rainfall.
I got the signal from the ladies of Venus
ReplyDeletePronto I wanted to go leaving my missus
But try as I might
With means slight
And great, I couldn't cut the long distance.
Someone can make up a limerick for the 'Men from Mars'.
DeleteI am worried about the words rhyming with the last word mentioned...
DeleteTo be honest, the word 'snog' in 8 Dn was new to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd it has a nice meaning.
Have you ever snogged?
Same here, initially I thought it was a typo for song. As regards snogging, I m sure we have all snogged :-)
Delete:)
DeleteOverlooked looking up the meaning of 'snog'. Thank you for the reminder. i suppose your query is addressed to all bloggers, gender neutral.
ReplyDeleteRichard on Mars-
ReplyDeleteA simple 'Horse' will rhyme with Mars. Why worry?!
I didn't understand the answers for 12A and 8D (although I guessed it). Could somebody explain this for me please? Thanks.
ReplyDelete8D is an anagram of the letters 'it's then we snog' indicated by exchanged ...
ReplyDelete12A A time (AT) is reciprocated/gone all back to give TA... All the rage is IN.. Not sure about the initial AT though... 'A time' is probably on double duty ...
Nice puzzle today...
12A- A TT (time to reciprocate) A IN(for Rage or the 'in' thing)
ReplyDelete8D- Anagram of (It's then we snog) with Exchanged being the Anagram indicator.
SUJATHA: Reach-- ATTAIN-- a time- AT -to reciprocate-- AT reverse TA-- all the rage-- IN
ReplyDeleteSWEET NOTHINGS a phrase used when two lovers sit with each other, enjoying each other's company, whispering sweet nothings.They have so many things to tell each other but remain too shy to share !! This is what they do when they are dating !! Of course, if love abides even married couples exchange sweet nothings and then snog !
SNOG is to kiss and caress and fondle affectionately. Very romantic expression - Sweet nothings.
EXCHEQUER: I found this crossie very easy except for a few sticky annotations.
AN ASIDE:
Wonder how some of our veterans here had not heard or seen the word SNOG, though they claim to be seasoned in singing songs and experienced snogging !!