Wednesday, 6 May 2015

No 11387, Wednesday 06 May 2015, xChequer


For once I finished an xChequer CW in time without having to pull up my socks.
What's up? Setters playing 14A in this cycle, first it was Scintillator followed by Skuldugger and now Sunnet.

ACROSS
7   New city built without engineer — a notable distinction (6) NICETY {N+CITY}* around E
8   Gets expert remedies (8) PROCURES {PRO}{CURES}
9   Large scale sacrifice at home involved eating cold cabbage essentially (8) HECATOMB {HE{C}ATOM*}{cabBage}
10 Message sent from vehicle provided guidance (6) CABLED {CAB}{LED}
11 Not quite stupid to allow parking in shed (5) SPILL {S{P}ILLy}
12 Nothing at all around site prepared for carnival (6) FIESTA {F{SITE*}A} FA from Fanny Adams
14 Kill, skin and reportedly mount — Spooner says, avoid being seen (4,4,3,4) PLAY HIDE AND SEEK (slay){PLAY} {HIDE} {AND} {SEEK}{peak} Never liked Spoonerisms. Don't know if this anno is correct
17 Drink for every meal (6) SUPPER {SUP}{PER}
18 Exorcising daughter from demons' curses (5) EVILS dEVILS
22 Be independent owning stretch of land (6) BRUNEI {B{RUN}E}{I}
23 Cross given to be carried by Jesus leading to protests (8) INVEIGHS {I{GIVEN*}HS}
24 Opposes matters without hesitation (8) COUNTERS {COUNT{ER}S}
25 King watching and providing inputs (6) KEYING {K}{EYING}

DOWN
1   Explosive fruit? (9) PINEAPPLE [DD]
2   Tell a story about dog (6) RETAIL {RE}{TAIL}
3   Easy, no doubt, to hold a clerical meeting (5) SYNOD [T]
4   Mass event to sacrifice one old snake (8) MOCCASIN {M}{OCCASIoN}
5   Take responsibility to prevent programming errors becoming nightmares (8) BUGBEARS {BUG{BEAR}S}
6   Petition by alien father (5) BEGET {BEG}{ET}
8   Sublime piece revolving around new dangers to society (6,7) PUBLIC ENEMIES {SUBLIME+PIECE}* around N
13 Communication device in secure room attached to blower (4,5) CELL PHONE {CELL} {PHONE}
15 Long Beach coming inside ocean? Could be either way (3,3,2) YES AND NO {YE{S AND} N}{O}
16 Rogue broadcast is defective (8) IMPAIRED {IMP}{AIRED}
19 Nowadays I avoid entertaining upwardly social group (6) VAISYA [T<=]
20 Burn barn and castle (5) BROOK {B}{ROOK} B for Barn? See comments
21 Recall very fine ties, extremely expensive (5) EVOKE {Expe{V}{OK}nsivE}

GRID

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32 comments:

  1. RameshJ6 May 2015 at 08:37

    Nice & relatively easier one from xChequer.
    Submitted my cw very late. It may appear later in the cycle

    ReplyDelete
  2. Raghunath6 May 2015 at 08:37

    Spooner's anno is correct. Hp and Spoonerism in one clue.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SandhyaP6 May 2015 at 08:41

    20 Burn barn and castle (5) BROOK {B}{ROOK} B for Barn?

    BARN: a unit of nuclear cross section, equal to 10 −24square centimeter.
    Abbreviation: b. (Dictionary.com)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shrikanth6 May 2015 at 08:59

    The challenge is xChequer's puzzles is digging the anno after being very sure about the answers. And another pitfall is complicating a straightforward clue thinking that it can't be anything but devious :) guess I will be better prepared tomorrow now that I know who will appear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath6 May 2015 at 09:09

      My deduction as to why xChequer's CW are tough is linked to the design of the grid. If you notice 18 out of the 26 words in this grid have their first letters in a square which is not connected to any other word so also 14 of the last letters. I have experienced that such words where the first or the last letter is placed in such a manner becomes all the more difficult to solve.

      Delete
    2. Kishore6 May 2015 at 10:03

      You are absolutely correct about the first and last letter thingy. With that guessing becomes much easier. But xC's clues are devious too ...

      Delete
    3. Padmanabhan6 May 2015 at 10:39

      Good point Col. I agree with both the views.
      For example, in 9A both the word and word play are very difficult. If one of them is easier, it might lead to a surer solution.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous6 May 2015 at 13:16

      You are absolutely right. I remember telling this to xChequer once.

      Delete
  5. Kishore6 May 2015 at 10:05

    "What's up? Setters playing 14A in this cycle, first it was Scintillator followed by Skuldugger and now Sunnet."

    yeS, yeS and yeS!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mukundala Balasubramanyam6 May 2015 at 11:28

    8A : Typo in anno pl. Extra 'S'

    ReplyDelete
  7. VMA Nair6 May 2015 at 12:06

    Brilliant one xChequer. Got almost all gridless :-) missed 23A.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath6 May 2015 at 14:45

      Gridless!!!

      Delete
    2. Richard6 May 2015 at 16:08

      I tried with a pencil today. It was pointless...

      Delete
    3. Kishore6 May 2015 at 16:11

      The miracle of toddy, Ajeesh? :-)

      Delete
    4. Kishore6 May 2015 at 16:13

      Richard, if you had been a little sharp(n)er, you would not need a rubber ... Oh sorry, eraser!

      Delete
    5. VMA Nair6 May 2015 at 19:27

      No toddy today Kishore :-( I woke up early today around 7ish and saw Col posted clues in the hub. :-)

      Delete
  8. Mukundala Balasubramanyam6 May 2015 at 12:54

    O/T
    Sometime back when Kishore had stated that he was abstaining from blogging for a period of three months or so, becuase of ill health, a few commenters here advised him to practise YOGA. Hope he is continuing that. But here is a FLASH NEWS! Kishore's attention sought. ;-)

    B K S Iyengar practised Yoga all his life and died at the age of 96.
    Khushwant Singh drank Whisky all his life and died at the age of 99.

    Moral of the story?

    Whisky gives a 3 year edge over Yoga!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore6 May 2015 at 13:00

      My dear MB, for me no W and no Y,
      I shall be young and alive till I die !

      Delete
    2. Mukundala Balasubramanyam6 May 2015 at 13:02

      God bless you! :)

      Delete
  9. Padmanabhan6 May 2015 at 13:40

    Bravo, Kishore. Someone said age is just a number. It is all in how you feel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore6 May 2015 at 14:42

      Btw, Paddy, kishoraavasta in Sanskrit means youth, kishore being a young chappie

      Delete
  10. Padmanabhan6 May 2015 at 15:10

    Be young,feel young! Keep punning.

    ReplyDelete
  11. ranger6 May 2015 at 15:42

    My COD 23A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam6 May 2015 at 16:14

      Deceptive anagram 'cross' in 23Ac had me thinking about nothing but the cross carried by Jesus! No wonder I missed the answer!!

      Delete
    2. Mukundala Balasubramanyam6 May 2015 at 16:16

      Pl read 'anagram ind' "cross"

      Delete
  12. Padmanabhan6 May 2015 at 17:25

    MB,
    I have had the same problem with many of Exchequer's aninds- probably he chooses one with the same no. of letters and it becomes difficult to find which is the word and which anind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam6 May 2015 at 18:35

      Well, deception is the name of the game, and I welcome such a challenge!
      Remember this - "Each failure is a step closer to success" ?!

      Delete
  13. Arvind Ramaswamy6 May 2015 at 23:02

    Awesome puzzle xChequer!! Missed out on Inveighs and Brook... Had to google Hecatomb... Overall an enjoyable one.. Thanks Bhala :-) :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Unknown7 May 2015 at 12:31

    This is an awesome list. Thanks!
    Return Gifts | Indian Gift Shop Online

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com

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