Wednesday, 26 August 2015

No 11483, Wednesday 26 Aug 2015, Exa


ACROSS
1   Tempt graduate to join IT (4) BAIT {BA}{IT}
3   The hacks I'd engineered for dummies (10) THICKHEADS*
10 Journalist drinking rum is no longer social (9) ESTRANGED {E{STRANGE}D}
11 Float up in the air (5) ALOFT*
12 Hall, in that corner, will have a bar (7) THEATRE {THE{A}{T}RE}
13 Loser desperate to have sex is wandering aimlessly (7) LOITERS {LOSER}* around {IT} Shouldn't that be Sex appeal? See comments

14 Correspond with a girl over phone at last (5) AGREE {A}{G}{RE}{p..nE}
15 Synthesised drugs are right away sprinkled (7) SUGARED {DRUGS+ArE}*
18 Essentially spent dollars to have trimmed pants and chain (7) PENDANT {sPENt}{D}{pANTs}
21 Cover diamonds on ship (5) DRESS {D}{RE}{SS}
24 Paper boat I'd folded went around lake (7) TABLOID {BOAT+I'D}* around {L}
26 Top southern wrestler (7) SPINNER {S}{PINNER}
27 I court what's accurate (5) EXACT {EXA}{CT}
28 Shabby bar set I meant to be thrown out (9) ESTAMINET*
29 Harry Potter eyes: a trait that's grown stale with time (10) STEREOTYPE*
30 Foreigner invested in banks for business stakes (4) BETS {Busi{ET}nesS}

DOWN
1   Wash clothes on air (6) BREATH {B{RE}ATH}
2   Good to feed poor, thin men for the most part (2,3,4) IN THE MAIN {A1} in {THIN+MEN}*
4   He kept longing to have some gin as it's a healthy practise (7) HYGIENE {H{Y{GIn}EN}E}
5   Cooks long-bodied fish with bits of dill laid evenly (7) CODDLES {COD{Dill}{Laid}{Ev...y}S}
6   Partner consuming sandwiches and throwing up (7) HEAVING {H{E}AVING}
7   Emerged with revolutionary army to out opponents (5) AROSE Anno left for other solvers (Addendum - {AR<=}{O}{SE} - See comments)
8   Model in the beach is meant for something more special (3,5) SET ASIDE {SE{T} ASIDE}
9   Joking bartender left the German drunk (6) BANTER  BARTENder*
16 Managed to take organ up at church — it gives out an amplified sound (9) RESONANCE {R{ESON<=}AN}{CE}
17 Southern-side grass not as much clean (8) SPOTLESS {So...n}{POT}{LESS}
19 Position beer bottles for champion (7) APOSTLE {A{POST}LE}
20 Liquid diet it’s most systematic (7) TIDIEST*
21 Student's workplace had to initially part with a sort of computer (7) DESKTOP {DESK}{TO}{Part}
22 Riddle in game needs to be worked out (6) ENIGMA*
23 Cases fancy art in extremely romantic place? Yes! (6) CRATES {r...iC}{ART}*{p..cE}{yeS}
25 Splendid bachelor party (5) BRAVE {B}{RAVE}

GRID

38 comments:

  1. 7 Emerged with revolutionary army to out opponents (5) AROSE

    {AR<-}{O}{SE}

    ReplyDelete
  2. Exa continues to delight us with his excellent crosswords!

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  3. So, SPINNER was our APOSTLE.

    You will agree that the SUGARED BAIT held ALOFT by him was EXACT.

    IN THE MAIN let us hold our BREATH that the TABLOID would make this
    placement a STEREOTYPE.

    Thanks for the BRAVE step. And now let us SET ASIDE other things and have our samosas !!

    ReplyDelete
  4. From Chambers:

    IT: 3 colloq sexual intercourse.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A minor point in 2D. A1 = AI is usually for best, top class, excellent. 'Good' is lesser than the best

    ReplyDelete
  6. Off track-
    Gridman gets a mention in a British article on CW's.

    http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2015/aug/24/crossword-blog-merl-reagle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Taking cue from your comment @ 12:19 p.m.

      Thank you Paddy for leading me there.

      It was nice to see Gridman getting a mention in a British article on CWs.

      Delete
  7. A doubt about 18A- Is pendant a chain or part of chain?

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  8. Loved 29A- 'Harry' as an anind sits so very nicely on potter!

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  9. 7D0 Is 'emerged' doing double duty as a reversal indicator?

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  10. Very nice work with container indicators.

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  11. Looks like Spinner is followed by 'Exa'ct in the puzzle too.

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  12. Super puzzle I would say! One of his best offerings, I think. Keep up the good work, Exa. Enjoyed solving it thoroughly. Thank you. :-)))

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  13. There were many nice clues but the ones that I liked most were 27A EXACT and 17Dn SPOTLESS.

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  14. Great one Exa... made me scratch my head sev times. New word estaminet for me.. had to tk help of tech for that. 27a was a delight :) 3a was wat i was feeling like but had to be 25d and 8ded my reservations till i 7d and finished it

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  15. Great one Exa... made me scratch my head sev times. New word estaminet for me.. had to tk help of tech for that. 27a was a delight :) 3a was wat i was feeling like but had to be 25d and 8ded my reservations till i 7d and finished it

    ReplyDelete
  16. Just visited Shuchi's Crossword Unclued to read the latest post. Congrats, Sandy!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you Richard for leading me there.
    Sandy has a double delight! Great & well deserved too.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for an entertaining puzzle, Exa! Some very nice clues in there - my COD was APOSTLE.

    A couple of niggles:
    - 5D is a lovely clue but it doesn't really work because the plural of COD, the fish, is just COD (no S at the end), which means that the wordplay doesn't account for the S.
    - In 18a, the definition seems to be inadequate: a PENDANT hangs on a chain; it is not the chain itself.

    Thanks to DG for the blog!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Except Chambers other online dics give CODS as plural

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...and according to experts, Chambers is the final authority!

      Delete
    2. The Oxford dictionary too has the plural as just COD.

      Delete
  20. We do not like darkness, Mr. Dark

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  21. Great clues, as expected.
    1A is my CoD

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  22. Couldnt solve in the morning..due to work pressure...loved the clues..

    ReplyDelete

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