ACROSS
1 Resist transformation into religious woman (6) SISTER*
4 Leading international cricket specialist heads matters (6) TOPICS {TOP}{I
9 Doctor's son got rid of yen (4) URGE
10 March for yielding (10) PROCESSION {PRO}{CESSION}
11 Gathers dark sugary syrup without gold kernel (6) MASSES M
12 Italian noblewoman leaving South Africa tribes' heartless disputes (8) CONTESTS {CONTES
13 Subject of French writer: depression (9) DEPENDENT {DE}{PEN}{DENT}
15 Bulgarian potentate's first dispatched east to get the Sun (4) STAR (-t)S(+t)TAR
16 Attention-seeking interjection used by tense people (4)
17 Deviously procured by egghead's method (9) PROCEDURE {PROCURED*}{E
21 Accessory for pre-noon requiem needing no introduction (8) ORNAMENT {
22 Dreamy seaman's medical speciality (6) ABSENT {ABS}{ENT}
24 Creatures known for their upbringing? (10)
25 Because Edison's legacy divided for a long time (4) AGES {A{GE}S}
26 Henry in revolutionary communist bar (6) HINDER {H}{IN}{DER<=}
27 Prison guards comprised of small, organised gangs of men (6) SCREWS {S}{CREWS}
DOWN
1 Stokes' primitive mug to emerge (7) SURFACE
2 Discards scraps, chucking away rubbish for starters (5) SHEDS SH
3 Vulnerable erstwhile lover modelled (7) EXPOSED {EX}{POSED}
5 Canoes at sea here? (6) OCEANS* &lit
6 Looked into unusual deceptions after Opposition leader was exiled (9) INSPECTED DECEPTI
7 Moped, shed copious oodles of tears, even raved initially (7) SCOOTER Acrostic
8 Focus of thief on cash allowance (13) CONCENTRATION {CON}{CENT}{RATION}
14 Leave organisation, moving into promotion (9) ELEVATION {LEAVE*}{INTO*}
16 Meticulous duck going across (7) THROUGH TH
18 Always in lecture, under the weather for the most part (7) CLASSIC {CLAS
19 Letters torn by heiress regularly (7) RENTERS {RENT}{
20 Household husbands deteriorate (6) MENAGE {MEN}{AGE}
23 Beef slice it is said, it kills vampires dead (5) STAKE (~steak)
Reference list
Of french = DE, Tense = T, Henry = H, Small = S, Duck = O
GRID
A digression friends: I request you to vote for my story here:
ReplyDeletehttps://litagram.com/story/546481/no-murder-tonight
>> 24 Creatures known for their upbringing? (10) PUPIPAROUS [CD] Had to cheat for this
ReplyDeleteI had this as RUMINATORS , animals that bring up cud
>> 1 Stokes' primitive mug to emerge (7) SURFACE SUR{FACE} Anno for SUR pending
Stokes = S [cgs unit of kinematic viscosity]
primitive = UR
The Oxford Dictionary on my Mac, as well as most of the online sources I can find, give the abbreviation for Stokes as St, not just S. Is the latter right usage?
DeleteI had 16a as They
ReplyDeleteI had16Ac as AHEM and was struggling for a while! Could score 80%. Overall a nice puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ramesh on THEY at 16a (fits the wordplay better than THEM) and with Bhavan on RUMINATORS at 24a (better fit for the CD).
ReplyDeleteOverall, I found this a bit of a struggle, especially in the NW corner. Managed to get all of it in the end except for MENAGE, which was in retrospect the easiest clue of the lot. :( I really liked the clue for THROUGH!
Thank you, Skulldugger and DG!
I had 16A as T{HEY}. But THEM works too.
ReplyDeleteBlanks in North West corner :(( - Urge, Masses and Sheds denied me centum.
ReplyDeleteVery nice puzzle...superb surfaces...missed out on 24A & 23 d
ReplyDeletePP: Your narrative is an excellent piece of prose, written n simple English by a kind-hearted mind. But how did the chick survive inside a closed hamper, wrapped in a wet cloth, given the friskiness of its ilk? I don't have a face book account and my wife keeps it as a secret from me and not all ow me to use it either ! Hence, my comments are posted here in our favourite blog. Hope the Col will permit this trespass ?
ReplyDeleteYou can never write a murder mystery, you can't even kill a chicken !!
lol! Thanks ru! The chick was named silkie even though it didn't belong to that ilk out of affection! It is the usual procedure for chicken thieves to wrap the birds with wet towel in which condition the chicken keep silent. I guessed the wicker basket might provide enough ventilation for the bird to survive! The judgeswillt be caught between the horns of dilemma getting confused if this may be considered a crime story!!!
ReplyDelete