ACROSS
6 What happens in reality, not necessarily by law (2,5) DE FACTO [CD]
7 Farmer’s disastrous spell (7) CROPPER [DD]
9 Never degrade self-confidence (5) NERVE*
10 Sold curio that became dirty (9) DISCOLOUR*
11 Tool reporter observed (7) HACKSAW {HACK}{SAW}
13 Remarkably tough woman had gone to war (6) FOUGHT {TOUGH+F}*
15 Byzantine slang primarily used with African languages (6,7) LINGUA FRANCAS {SLANG+U
19 Sensex consultants who have served a term (2-4) EX-CONS [T]
20 Southern men swim in river to reach estate land (7) DEMESNE {S+MEN}* in {DEE}
23 Things related to flowers (9) HYDRAULIC [CD]
24 One can only go up from here (5) NADIR [CD]
26 People will remain powerless without him (7) LINEMAN [CD]
27 Note: Inert substance not working like pepper spray (4,3) TEAR GAS {TE}{AR G
DOWN
1 Spanish tennis player is backed by Ethiopian people (4) AFAR <=
2 Obtain admission (6) ACCESS [DD]
3 Excessive perspiration caused by infections? To start with, have food (4,5) COLD SWEAT {COLD S}{W
4 Work effectively on dress using books (2,2,4) GO TO TOWN {G{O T}{O T}OWN}
5 State supports stitching red bags which are serviceable (2,3,5) UP FOR GRABS {UP} {FOR} {R+BAGS}* Serviceable or Available?
6 Boat discovered while riding hyenas (6) DINGHY [T]
7 Clues often lead to perfect meeting point (4) CUSP {C
8 Fish with a red eye is said to be uncommon (6) RARITY {RA{R}{I(~eye)}{T}Y} T from ?
12 Tin dice con rolled at the same time (10) COINCIDENT*
14 Build and estimate using a phone ultimately (9) PREDICATE {PREDIC{A}T}{
16 Police officer with weapons escorting daughter to terrace (8) GENDARME {GEN}{D}{ARM}{E} E for terrace?
17 Students consuming the wrong vitamin is dangerous (6) LETHAL {L{THE*}{A}L}
18 Variant of red is black? That’s rubbish! (6) DEBRIS {RED+IS+B}*
21 Simple snack consisting of starters from north India (6) MENIAL {ME{N
22 Family is able to hoard money (4) CLAN {C{L}AN}
25 Probes on excavations (4) DIGS [DD]
GRID
I am not sure if 'simple' is quite an apt synonym for 'menial'.
ReplyDelete'Menial' as an adj means 'of work that is considered servile' or 'relating to a servant'.
Some synonyms such as degrading, lowly, unskilled, humble seem to work as synonyms.
Yes, 'humble' may have the syn. 'simple' but whether it works as syn. for 'menial', I am not sure.
I don't know if the setter picked up the syn. 'simple' for the required word from a list of syns. in some thesaurus.
I am of the opinion that we just can't pick a syn. from a list. We must have its usage in our mind.
Synonyms have nuances which are explained in some bigger thesauruses. Or we can guess from our awareness of usage.
True. Have noticed that some setters deliberately use a not well used synonym to mislead :)
Delete16 Police officer with weapons escorting daughter to terrace (8) GENDARME
ReplyDeleteWeapons leads to ARMS
A naturally sweet offering from Aspartame :) thanks
ReplyDeleteLoved the puzzle..lovely surfaces...
ReplyDeleteAnd the doubts remain...menial=simple....terrace=E....T in RARITY..one more doubt..woman=female=f?...the clue could have been written...remarkbly tough female had gone to war
ReplyDelete