I told the Colonel yesterday that I would write today's blog so that he can have a hassle-free journey to CBE. At his destination, he might perhaps tackle this crossword unhurriedly.
I invite reader participation in this blog. Please see queries/suggestions below.
Across
7 Successive punches numbering a dozen (3-3) ONE-TWO
:: I didn't bend down to buckle my shoe; I think 12 (ignoring the hyphen) gives 'a dozen'; 'successive punches' are lost on me. What indeed is the def. here? Reader comment welcome
8 Alarm spread by legend - empty talk (8) MALARKEY :: (ALARM)*KEY :: 'key' / 'legend' as in maps and charts
9 Crude oil's end overcoming universal misconception (8) DELUSION :: U in (OILSEND)*
10 Radical breaks result in cinch (6) ENSURE ::
11 Embroiled chief of company controls anger (5) MIRED :: IRE in MD
12 Leader leaving Oriental behind (6) ASTERN :: deleting E from Eastern
14 Easy pickings with little effort involved, poorly done from beginning to end (5,3,3,4) MONEY FOR OLD ROPE :: new phrase for me; there are many old ropes lying around and I must try exchanging them for dollars ::had to do some paper work for the anno - (POORLYDONEFROM)* plus E (beginning to 'end')
17 Runs in, smashes, goes off (6) BURSTS :: R from runs in BUSTS
18 Arbitrary command in Alaska backfiring in operation (5) UKASE :: rev of AK in USE
22 Composite picture of seaman first class wearing medal (6) MOSAIC :: M (OS AI)C
23 Concerning the patient man at work (2,3,3) ON THE JOB (ref. to the Biblical character) :: In a crossword that I set recently, I wrote a clue for this very phrase but I am now unable to recall the WP that I used.Thank God for this short memory, for clues in my crosswords or others' still have freshness
24 Souvenirs essentially to recollect moments gone past (8)
25 Revolutionary medicine provided a stimulus (6) FILLIP :: rev of PILL IF
1 One with right to receive, maybe heir to one essentially? (9) INHERITOR :: anag of HEIRTO [o]N[e]
2 Harmonize VAT in consumed food (6) ATTUNE ::
3 Reportedly stitch top having three dimensions (5) SOLID :: hom. of 'sew' plus LID :: Don't think of women's tops. Are there tops for men?
4 Sad ringer made a bloomer (8) BLUEBELL :: straight cha. of blue bell :: Can we put a comma after 'sad' and slightly empathise with the church official?
5 Publicity is about queen becoming hostage (8) PRISONER :: cha of PR is on ER
6 Picked up acceleration, drove around (5) HEARD :: a in herd
8 Scaled-down way to distribute society's aid (13) MINISTRATIONS :: Had to think a little for the anno but no prob. :: cha of mini st. ration s
13 Occasional small photo included when stylish (9) SPASMODIC :: as mod in s pic :: I had first seen the anno wrongly but checked myself later
15 Need intermittently suppressed, married couple hugged (8) EMBRACED :: m. brace in [n]E[e]D
16 Set fire to colony evacuated in violence (8) FEROCITY ::
19 Cry left mouth of youth with enthusiasm (6) KEENLY :: cha of keen L Y :: The surface reading doesn't seem to make much sense, does it?
20 Chap's tense with desire (5) COVET :: cha of cove T
21 Formal body (5) STIFF :: DD :: stiff, not just the upper lip, Kishore?
Thank you CV. Though I got in by 4AM, I was too sleepy to tackle a xChequer CW and seeing it now I am sure I would have been found wanting today.
ReplyDeleteThanks CV for the blog. XC is to be tackled only after a dozen (one-two?) strong kaapis...
DeleteOr for thise who indulge, a couple of stiff uns
Delete21d CV, Reminds me of a joke ... will try to get the exact wording
ReplyDelete16d FIRE TO C(olon)Y*
One version on the net: A middle-aged man takes up ballroom dancing but turns out to be quite bad. During one disastrous two-step he treads all over his partner. He apologises, saying, ‘I’m so sorry, but I’m a little stiff from badminton.’ His partner replies, ‘I don’t care where you’re from. Keep off my bloody feet.'
DeleteThere was another version playing on the name of the town Reading,but I cannot recollect it
Man with two left feet?!
DeleteAnno for 2D
ReplyDeleteHarmonize = Definition = ATTUNE {AT{TUN}E}
VAT =TUN
in = Inserticator
consumed food = ATE
2d TUN in ATE
ReplyDelete10 Radical breaks result in cinch (6) ENSURE : ENSU(R)E
ReplyDelete24 Souvenirs essentially to recollect moments gone past (8) MEMENTOES : E from souvEnirs in MOMENTS*. Is it an &lit?
2 Harmonize VAT in consumed food (6) ATTUNE AT(TUN)E TUN= Vat/ cask
16 Set fire to colony evacuated in violence (8) FEROCITY :: FIRE TO+ C...Y anagrammed. Set: signal for that
Tough one.
24A souvEnirs in MOMENTS*
ReplyDeleteSorry. A couple of annos repeated by me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, mates.
ReplyDeleteNow i have to go to hospital for a routine.
Meanwhile, re 8dn, how can we be expected to get the plural sol from the singular def 'aid'?
***
Did anyone notice that for second day running the setter has used the same fill-in grid?
I think he did so last time around also
DeleteYou're right about the sing def getting the ans in plural. The 's does count in the def, as was pointed out in an earlier THC puz
DeleteAid used with s becomes something quite different. Aid encompasses more than one act of help. All the best for your ketchup, CV!
DeleteThe good reverend's effect?
DeleteYes, he was cooking kitchen in the chicken ...
DeleteSame grid as in Wednesday's used forThursday. ! In fact, I did the one of Thursday on Wednesday itself as the THCC
Deleteonline produced it !! I have not seen the one for Wednesday in THCC Online., though I had gone through he blog comments. Does it mean that I'm now on Friday? I'm in a Time warp !!
24 Ac= The 8-letter solution will be MEMENTOS, without the extra E.
ReplyDeleteAppears to be an inadvertent typo. I have corrected it
DeleteOn his toes?
ReplyDeleteA good learning experience. It was a tough job (patient?)
ReplyDeleteThank you CV. Happy to note you are back to normal and fit enough to tackle Xchequer (at his devious best, as Col. put it yesterday)
CV's comment for 3d- "Are there tops for men?"
ReplyDeleteMen can easily be 'topless' and no one will notice!
T shirt?
One can ask Salman Khan...
DeleteFared much better than yday. Still it was not without a fight. Some lovely clues. 15D was the best IMO. Also shows how setters think differently and spend lots of effort to get an interesting surface.
ReplyDeleteDo not quite get 1D. Where do the 'I' and 'R' come from?
ReplyDeleteOne with right to receive is doing double duty. Never enjoyed doing it.
DeleteThis one is & lit. So it is fine
DeleteIn fact, it is damn good
DeleteActually I and R receive/take in the anagram NHERITO
DeleteExactly what I noticed and wrote in my10:38
DeleteRe CV's remark about the stiff upper lip, not just that can be stiff ... I mean neck, of course, if anyone had any doubts ... well, a correspondent's joke is stated below, a bit paraphrased ...
ReplyDeleteA husband and his wife, always at logerheads, both got epitaphs carved for each other in advance.
Husband's contribution: HERE LIES MY WIFE, COLD AS USUAL
Wife's version: HERE LIES MY HUSBAND, 21 AT LAST.
Some KONAR notes required. Tube light.
DeleteAnd another one from that very same correspondent, duly edited ...
ReplyDeleteA young socialite, with a deep-necked dress, happened to be tapped for a dance by a middle-aged miner who had rather conservative views on how deep a neck could plunge..
After introducing himself and mentioning his calling, he -wanting to bring up the boldness of the dress- whispered 'Ma'am, I like everything about you. But I must confess I have just one thing to hold against you....'
'Yes, I can feel it -it's that stick of dynamite and it's about to explode,' she replied.
The said correspondent, no doubt, was aiming to get me rusticated from this forum, so I had to edit the jokes ... ;-)
ReplyDeleteDo I hear a tut-tut from halfway around the world
DeleteI think you are referring to a Particular Person ...
DeleteTo save that person's trouble of stepping in, I say it now, 'Incorrigible boys!'
DeleteSounds music when it comes from a Particular Person ...!
DeleteKishore in his elements.. or is it the (imaginary?) correspondent?
ReplyDeletePaddy: You will find his mention in the comment below this and the comment above yours ...
DeleteYou might be wondering who the shy correspondent is ... Tom, Dick or Harry ? Well, Dick is his short form, and when it is expanded, Dick (note: this is not false capitalisation that you people are used to) becomes .....
ReplyDeleteHe wanted me to go easy on the tabasco ... easy, I just replaced with piri piri /peri peri ...
DeleteIt is well that you changed the comment at 1148. I did see some other meaning in that.
DeleteThat meaning is still there, couched in some padding ...
DeleteI had to go to the dictionary to know that tabasco is a hot sauce.(brand name?)
DeleteA riddle wrapped in a mystery in an enigma!
ReplyDeleteRe 23a, in India, we use this phrase to mean that somebody is working on it, but British slang has other connotations. One of my newly married juniors was repeatedly using that phrase to tell a British client that he was working hard on their assignment. Reaching a point of frustration, i got a call from London, complaining about it. When I mentioned to him that this chappie was recently married and hence constantly on the job, the Englishman had a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteLol
DeleteGlad to see Kishore breaking loose from his self-imposed exile!
ReplyDeleteSeems to be breaking all barriers...
DeleteAt sea too
DeleteSuresh, ;) The Order of the Untersee Boot
DeleteAs usual you have sent the foxes at me.
Delete+1
ReplyDeleteChristopher Lee (Dracula, Scaramanga, Saruman, Count Dooku and Jinnah) is no more. RIP. Hope Dracula rises again!
ReplyDeleteOne-two is boxing terminology, a combination of punches
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Delete