Put in {O{CU}LAR*} for 29A and spent ages in the SE corner.
ACROSS
1 Find direction in a daze (6) TRANCE {TRA{N}CE}
4 Dance with a Bedouin, say in the desert (8) SARABAND {S{ARAB}AND}
10 Sprinkle on Italian sausage (9) PEPPERONI {PEPPER}{ON}{I}
11 A ship perhaps arrived and left (5) CAMEL {CAME}{L}
12 Rose is out with a boy — it denotes strength of attraction (7) OERSTED {ROSE*}{TED}
13 A cry of admiration from the back — girl's so hot! (7) HOSANNA {H}{OS}{ANNA}<=
14 God man had somehow entered United States from Europe (5) SADHU {S{HAD*}U<=}
15 Head priest told to charter boat (8) HIERARCH (~hire ark)
18 Overlook our current state (8) MISSOURI {MISS}{OUR}{I}
20 Drink no good, cut short dance (5) RUMBA {RUM}{BA
23 Routine win for a county (7) RUTLAND {RUT}{LAND}
25 Fish bait and line assembled (7) ANNELID*
27 Maybe well groomed, but leaders missing — whom to follow? (4,5) ROLE MODEL {
28 It's refreshing to see American featured in a French paper (8) LEMONADE {LE}{MON{A}DE}
29 For copper to get into oral agreement makes sense (6) ACUMEN {A{CU}MEN}
DOWN
1 Winding path by river leading to tavern (8) TAPHOUSE {PATH*}{OUSE}
2 Aimed to disguise despair (7) ASPIRED*
3 Horses from revolutionary escapades brought up (9) CHESTNUTS {CHE}{STNUTS<=}
6 Flies in a curve over America (5) ARCUS {ARC}{US}
7 A little crazy, not showing interest in the table (7) ALMANAC {A}{L}{MAN
8 Every one wears blue when raised in Texas (6) DALLAS {D{ALL}AS<=}
9 New creed without old should be ignored (4-10) COLD-SHOULDERED {C{OLD}-{SHOULD}ERED*}
16 One coming or going wrong on crop production? (9) AGRONOMIC {A}{COMING+OR}*
17 Instrument will work — work with a short string (8) MANDOLIN {MAN}{DO}{LIN
19 Meanwhile it's middle of winter at the border (7) INTERIM {
21 Dike works — growing bananas (7) MILLDAM {MILL}{DAM<=}
22 Fear wild Oliver will lose interest for girl (6) GROVEL {OL(-i+g)GVER}*
24 One gets through on fliers (5) AVIAN {A{VIA}N}
GRID
Use an answer word in a sentence and give a retort as the Col has done...
ReplyDeleteFather: "Be smart, my son. Have a ROLE MODEL in your life. You'll come up very well."
Son: "Thank you, Daddy. I will straight-away go to the corner bakery and have a roll. Please give me fifty rupees."
Reminded me of the column "I don't know, son! " that used to appear long back (in Blitz?)
DeleteYes, Blitz (R.K.K.). Right bottom on a left page !!
DeleteNeed two contributions for the Sunday specials on 13 and 20 Sep. 27th onwards it will be IXL so the Sunday specials will be on hold till the online rounds get over.
ReplyDeleteCol: I'll try and put together one, for the 20th as 13th is too close a call !
DeleteWhy is there a delay in giving the code number for IXL? Every one seems to be on tenterhooks !
Father: "Go dance a rumba"
ReplyDeleteSon: "No, not "a" dad. I want to dance with Ramba"
Tough one. Gave up after filling in OCULAR for 29A.
ReplyDeleteOCULAR was my fourth or fifth entry in the grid...
ReplyDelete29A always seems to be tricky, isn't it Colonel? Not necessarily through a thug though :)
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteHa! Gut wrenching!
DeleteMore 'hair tearing', I think today. I think we all lacked the answer though?
DeletePity nothing left on my head to tear. I could only scratch and scratch with little success. :-(
DeleteMy friend, MB, I urge you to hear,
DeleteIf there's nothing on the head to tear,
Scratch and scratch,
That large bald patch,
Till you are scratched from ear to ear!
Thank God I am not alone in finding it tough and entering 'Ocular'.
ReplyDelete14A- Liked the use of 'entering U.S. from Europe' as reversal indicator. It is another matter that I could not get it.
ReplyDeletePhee... arden tuff one today. Put alien instead of avian :) so missed samosa.. me too put ocular and took ages to complete that corner. Saraband was last to fall in place. Tech helped me out on hierarch and check saraband and milldam
ReplyDeleteI put ocular and then got stuck, so put pendular for work with a string and then got totally jammed. A lot of new stuff for me today - Saraband, Oersted, Rutland, Milldam. A good learning experience though.
ReplyDeleteSE was the toughest..annelid was the last in...3rd & 4th of this run very tough....Arden raising bar..
ReplyDeleteOthers merely raise a glass or two, Arden raises the bar ...
DeleteAtlas?
DeleteI have an App named THCrossword Version 2.4 by Cherookie Labs, on my android phone, however it works only if the CW edition is available in the online paper.
ReplyDeleteIm at a loss to which one to pick as the clue of my day ! ALL !! Excellent word play and anagrammatizing that's literally spell-binding . This series of Arden keeps one rooted beckoning to take up the challenge to test your prowess. I solved this in stages over a period of an hour and a half without a reference to any source, sitting in the Bank lobby, in the car and at home !! I confess , I go stuck only with MILLDAM having put in MACADAM !!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading today's comments , I see that I'm not alone in heaping praises on Arden.
ReplyDeleteCan any zoologist here clarify whether fish falls in the phylum Annelida ? Or does it refer to the bait fed to the fish?
Not fish ... Worms
Delete