ACROSS
1 Firm medium size iron wedge (8) COMPRESS {CO}{M}{PRESS}
5 Reluctant to declare second income’s limit (6) AVERSE {AVER}{S}{
9 Lead step constructed for support (8) PEDESTAL*
10 Ruin malt whiskey (6) SCOTCH [DD]
12 Earth losing a very large bird (5) EGRET {E}{GRE
13 I have our bloodline’s leader’s eccentric attitude (9) BEHAVIOUR {I+HAVE+OUR+B
14 Sad to let go of top two that made a distinct impression (6) ETCHED
16 Relevant danger man endlessly concealed (7) GERMANE [T]
19 Ravan running wild after returning in a state of bliss (7) NIRVANA {NI<=}{RAVAN*}
21 Last mythical beast (6) DRAGON {DRAG ON}
23 Stay left in a group sport (9) WRESTLING {W{REST}{L}ING}
25 Coherent chapter on king in tragedy (5) CLEAR {C}{LEAR}
26 Deadly war ends without a trace of diplomatic solution (6) ANSWER {WAR+EN
27 Deposit quarter and ten cents in account finally (8) SEDIMENT {SE}{DIME}{
28 Forgiving nature of southpaw leaving France for Northern Ireland (6) LENITY LE(-f+ni)NITY
29 Material used to make fireproof structures like top quality windows, say (8) ASBESTOS {AS}{BEST}{OS}
DOWN
1 Catch for every policeman (6) COPPER {COP}{PER}
2 One restoring order to a meeting primarily (9) MODERATOR {ORDER+TO+A+M
3 End of subroutine interrupting sleep to initialize a counter to zero (5) RESET {RES{
4 Cut off bad bets (7) STABBED*
6 Save king stumbling after transgression? The other way around (4,5) VICE VERSA {VICE} {SAVE+R}*
7 Fraction missing four complex numbers for starters is still a fraction (5) RATIO
8 Enter the criminal network (8) ETHERNET*
11 Yank smuggling heroin is a felon (4) THUG {T{H}UG}
15 Breathe awkwardly at any instant (9) HEARTBEAT {BREATHE*}{AT}
17 Payment from single male breaking a shelter (9) ATONEMENT {A}{T{ONE}{M}ENT}
18 Plant overcomes new drop in precipitation (8) SNOWFALL {S{N}OW}{FALL}
20 Area, one that goes over the boundary around central line (4) AXIS {A}{XIS<=}
21 Wander with one German wearing negligee, say (7) DIGRESS {D{1}{G}RESS}
22 Speaks of old values (6) ORATES {O}{RATES}
24 Judge’s sentence protecting European city (5) ESSEN [T]
25 Church covering borderline offence (5) CRIME {C{RIM}E}
Reference List
Medium = M, Second = S, Earth = E, Left = L, Chapter = C, Quarter = SE, King = R, Heroin = H, Male = M, New = N, Area = A, German = G, Old = O, Church = CE
GRID
Leaving home early, will be back by lunch to carry out corrections if any
ReplyDeleteEasy and nice one from setter. Could finish at Lightning speed. Enjoyed to note Asbestos as best operating system.
ReplyDelete28Ac Southpaw (slang): a left-handed person, actually a left-handed baseball pitcher.
ReplyDeleteIn baseball, the diamond is arranged with the batter facing east to avoid the afternoon sun.
A left-handed pitcher facing west would have his pitching arm towards the south of the diamond.
Now, it has come to mean any left handed person.
2D restoring - Anagram Indicator
ReplyDeleteThe whole clue reads as &lit
2 One restoring order to a meeting primarily (9) MODERATOR {ORDER+TO+A+Me...g}* Order on Double Duty?
ReplyDeleteI took RESTORING to be the anagram indicator.
I thought it was &lit
DeleteAn excellent puzzle from Lightning. My last one is 23Ac. Had to wrestle for it! Full enjoyment today. Thank you Lightning. :-)))
ReplyDeleteTypo : 'last one in'
DeleteIs Ethernet by itself a network??
ReplyDeleteYes. Network cable & ethernet cable are used in place of each other
DeleteWoke up early & found the Col had posted the clues in The Hub at 3:45 AM!What a help that is for people like me who have no access to the print edition. Thanks Col.
ReplyDeleteAs for the puzzle could complete in lightning speed..very enjoyable..last in was AXIS..nice clue that
Lost samosas by a CENTRAL LINE :-(( axis
ReplyDeleteI had a couple of more than that. So, not missing it so close!
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that the list of abbreviations entered at the end of the blog here everyday is really a must because these are all to be found in books of CWD abbrs. and also online lists.
ReplyDeleteBut having started by Ramesh and then picked up by the Colonel, this list is growing. I am just wondering if someone is making an omnibus of these abbrs.- collecting them from each day's blog and putting them together in a file.
If that is done in such a way that the abbrs. and the expansions can be put in A-Z order at any time, then we will have a list of abbrs. used in THC.
Again, I am not suggesting that someone do it. All that I am saying is that if it is done, there will be a purpose for it.
Else, having explained the letter(s) and the expansions within the body of the blog, where is the need for this separate listing at the bottom.
Hi Sir, I am copying the abbr. in a file not in alphabetical order, whenever I find time & have patience to do so :)
DeleteYes I thought so too, but added it when someone mentioned that it was good. I think I will discontinue the procedure. Ramesh is welcome to continue with it. In case compilation is required it can be done at the end of the year by just clicking on Ramesh's name under 'Labels' and all the CW's blogged by him will get selected from which then these abvns can be extracted into a list
DeleteGood idea, Sir!
DeleteRegular bloggers are (quite) familiar with the abbreviations listed here but now and then a few unknown ones crop up and that's when this list becomes handy. Take for example this clue of latest Everyman puzzle :
Delete9 Composer having bad manners has job capturing hearts (8,6)
I took 'bad' as anind and tried to solve but no success. After getting the answer JOHANNES BRAHMS with 'net' help, I could realize that 'B' was the abbreviated version for 'bad'! (b manners has job)*
I am yet to know what's the anind in this clue!
You've got it wrong MB
DeleteComposer = Definition {MANNERS+HAS+JOB}* around {H} = {JO{H}ANNES BRAHMS*}
having
bad = ANIND
manners has job = Anagram fodder
capturing = Insertion Indicator
hearts = H
You are right, Sir. Thanks a lot. Git it now :) Should have paid some more attention to get the right anind.
DeleteTypo : Got it now.
DeleteLooks I got the right anind but failed to annotate the solution properly!
DeleteNot related to today.s CWD or blog
ReplyDeleteQn: In a clue, if we have "... extremely xxxxxy", where xxxxxy is a word, do we take y alone or both the first x and the y?
How would you, dear solver, interpret?
I would take Y only, for taking either end it would have to be either 'both ends' or 'extremes'
DeleteBut the example I found in 'Cryptic Crossword Dictionary' has this to say :
DeleteEXTREMELY
May be a bits-and-pieces indicator indicating the first and letters of a word, for example:
Extremely rude = RE
Extremely silly = SY
Copy pasted.
Typo in 'copy pasted' version too! It should be 'first and last letters of a word'.
DeleteIt can be either way, depending upon the defn, I think.
ReplyDelete