ACROSS
1 Violently lunge at food (starter) and swallow up (6) ENGULF {LUNGE*}{F
5 Come back and harvest fruit (8) REAPPEAR {REAP}{PEAR}
9 “Everyone, get out of coach — last stop” (8) TERMINUS {T
10 The first believer in god (6) THEIST {THE}{1ST}
11 One from Mumbai, or Jamaica, perhaps (4,6) WEST INDIAN [CD]
12 Lower part of the leg (4) CALF
13 Old fashioned belts worn by Omanis originally are extremely outdated (8) OBSOLETE {O}{BS{O
16 In retreat, one repents (6) ATONER [T] &lit
17 Abode renovated to include grand wine cellar (6) BODEGA G in ABODE*
19 Finish second (of eleven) in contest (8) COMPLETE {COMP{
21 They espy, essentially (4) EYES [T] &lit
22 These intimidating figures on the field stir up soccer wars (10) SCARECROWS*
25 Second-grade villain’s marked accent (6) BROGUE {B}{ROGUE}
26 Profit-making company admitted to questionable income (8) ECONOMIC CO in INCOME*
27 Clean and sober beginning, without drugs (8) SPOTLESS {S
28 Solution wears off bit of Nickel placed inside (6) ANSWER {N
DOWN
2 Relative’s centrepiece’s fancy sceptre is missing! (5) NIECE CEN
3 Man embraced by a French stranger is not satisfied (5) UNMET {UN}{M}{ET}
4 Groom-to-be has no money (7) FINANCE {FI{N}ANCE}
5 Agitated and always upset about IT’s rise (7) RESTIVE
6 Feeler of an insect has sensation problem, so it’s operated upon and removed (7) ANTENNA {ANT}{
7 Academic institution’s president’s great, I hear (9) PRESCHOOL {PRES}{CHOOL} (~cool)
8 A bishop loves playing by the (holy) book ... he forgives sinners (9) ABSOLVENT {A}{B}{LOVES*}{NT}
14 Snare made from black tool, essentially, with rotating part (9) BOOBYTRAP {B}{
15 Govt. hires organisation for administration (9) OVERSIGHT*
18 Frugal eater surprised us — got stuffed! (7) AUSTERE US in EATER*
19 Exotic scarlet wines (7) CLARETS*
20 My abnormal uterine mass in retrospect’s a malignant tumour (7) MYELOMA {MY}{ELOM<=}{A}
23 Stir trouble over nothing, causing commotions! (5) RIOTS {O} in STIR*
24 Colour mixed with a bit of ecru (5) WHITE {WITH*}{E
GRID
I spent a few minutes with this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteDid I complete the puzzle? No!
At the place I was in and in the few minutes that I had, I completed the lower half of the puzzle before I had to answer the call 'Next!'.
I enjoyed every moment.
In Tamil there is a proverb - Just one cooked grain is a test for the taste.of a whole pot of rice.
So I never returned to complete the upper half.
* * *
Do people who have turned setters continue to solve puzzles?
I for one do little solving nowadays. But remember I began this dodge in the Sixties as a college student.
Maybe even such long-standing solvers will continue to do the puzzles but if one has turned into a setter the urge to solve perhaps becomes blunt.
No., I am not saying solving becomes easy for the practised solver. It is just that the setter wants to keep an open mind about wordplay when he comes to writing clues!
Dear setters - weekday or Sunday Special - what is your experience?
I feel people who have turned setters continue to solve puzzles. Just because one becomes a writer one does not stop reading books
DeleteSetting hasn't stopped me from trying to solve puzzles. One thing I have noticed is that on the days I am setting, I tend to pun/rhyme in casual conversations more often than usual.
Delete12 Lower part of the leg (4) CALF [GK]
ReplyDeleteI took this to be a DD. 1st meaning: one that lows/moos
DeleteNice explanation. I could not figure that out but knew that it was unlikley to be a simple gk one
Very intelligent clue
DeleteScientist's puzzle unravelled by Sandhya ma'am a la Miss Maple!
Delete:D
Delete...Forgetting that it's Miss Marple.
DeleteThanks CV Sir. It wasn't a typo. Don't know how I missed that 'R' from Miss MaRple. It could be an oversight, I think.
Delete"The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea"
ReplyDelete-- Gray's Elegy.
5 Agitated and always upset about IT’s rise (7) RESTIVE {EVER}* about {STI<=}
ReplyDeleteEVER<- about IT's<-
Upset can be an Anagram indicator as well. In this clue I feel it is better used as an Anagram due to the reason of it being split around ITS<=
DeleteIn which case, Deepak, it becomes an indirect anagram.
DeleteI would classify it as rev C/rev C where the first C is container and the second, content.
Thanks CV
DeleteAn enjoyable puzzle. The ones that I failed to parse are TERMINUS & MYELOMA. Spent extra time solving 24Dn. Smooth surface reading here!
ReplyDeleteI had problems with Calf & Preschool.
ReplyDeleteStill have a doubt- how to take 'PRES" out of president and I am never confident with homonyms.
"It is just that the setter wants to keep an open mind about wordplay when he comes to writing clues!"- CV
ReplyDeleteVery good point. I have always wondered about this- how one setter's ideas/ style 'is/ is not' influential about other setters. It is bound to happen as long as you keep discussing various clues, but as long as it is for the better (for improvement) it should be fine.
For example,of late, I have noticed a frequency of elimination clues- eliminating a few letters of a longer word or a set of words. Not just by one setter but in general
Thank you Mac for the samosas. Enjoyed solving the clues.
ReplyDelete25Ac = BROGUE (second grade villain)
ReplyDeleteHow is this connected to "marked accent"?
What I know is that brogue is a type of shoe.
From thefreecictionary
Deleten.
A strong dialectal accent, especially a strong Irish or Scottish accent when speaking English.
& the link
Deletehttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/Brogue
Wikipedia link to Brogue is there in the main post
DeleteI didn't see the main post :(
DeleteVery smooth surfaces as usual from Mac.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed 9a, but for EACH, the equivalent would be 'every one' instead of 'everyone'.
I wasted a lot of time trying to delete 'all' for everyone
DeleteI filled in 'Terminus' from the def. and crossings. Learned about the wordplay only after seeing the blog.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed todays puzzle.Just strung together the words in the clues and things started falling to places.11A- really an acid test for your ability of lateral thinking.13A- the word
ReplyDelete'fashioned' is fashioned after a new fashion. 7d&15d- definion very much appealing and brought out-of-the-box. In fine an entertaining & ingrossing type of puzzle.we really enjoyed . ThanksMac.
Smooth puzzle. Have some doubts on the nounal anagram inds used today ; organisation , trouble and problem . Do they correctly convey solver to make anagrams of fodder ? For instance , shouldn't it be *organisation of* ?
ReplyDeleteI think they do.
DeleteI don't mind them... But some people do.. It's subjective.
DeleteHmmm
DeleteMac Mac Mac Mac Mac! Lovely clues! Extremely enjoyable grid.. Thanks for the fun!
ReplyDeleteExcellent puzzle and surfaces as usual ..lots of clues to like ...
ReplyDelete22 A is very nice ..
9A is superb.. But is there a grammar mismatch? Thought it should've been everyone 'gets' out of coach to work.. But I could be wrong..
No mismatch, as it's a verbal order that's why it's in quotes. As regards everyone see Shuchi's comment at 11:12 above
DeleteAh Ohkay! Yes, Thanks :)
DeleteA very valid question Aakash. Verbal order is OK. Question is whether you should consider 'each' as a single entity or as a collection of individual letters. (to figure out whether 'get' or 'gets' is the right instruction). There's been a lot of discussion on this
Delete