Tuesday 15 September 2015

No 11500, Tuesday 15 Sep 2015, Skuldugger


Too obscure to be doing, early in the morning, at the airport! The NW corner has be foxed.

ACROSS
1   Gradually, Italian co-ops reordered boxed English article (4,1,4) POCO A POCO Anno to be given by any commenter  (Addendum - {COOP}* {A} {COOP}* - See comments)
6   Mischievous sprite has plum cake regularly (4) PUCK {PlUm}{CaKe}
8   Lively dance by girl with sporadic interest (romantic chiefly) in boy (8) GALLOPED Anno pending (Addendum - GALLIARD - {GAL}{L{I}A{Ro...c}D} - See comments)
9   In which the 11 is not very accommodating: heart of Tartarus (6) DETAIL {DE(-v+ta)TAIL}
10 A giant Airbus fan malfunction might be one heck of a deal (8,7) FAUSTIAN BARGAIN {A+GIANT+AIRBUS+FAN}*
11 “Unadulterated evil” describes underworld boss (5) DEVIL [T]
13 Spooner's firework plant (8) LARKSPUR from SPARKLER
15 Hottest Serrano peppers initially far from hot (8) SPICIEST {Se...o}{Pe...s}{ICIEST}
18 After death, spirit appears in Hades following typo (5) SHADE* (Addendum - (+s)SHADE(-s) - See comments)
20 11ish phosphate in lime compound (15) MEPHISTOPHELIAN*
23 Nonsense spouted by bookish characters on a bender after love-loss? (6) KIBOSH BOoKISH*
24 Slips careless, dropping last two at Ashes final (8) NEGLIGES {NEGLIGEnt}{S}
25 Little 11s instigating minor, paltry sins chiefly (4) IMPS Acrostic
26 An exotic bloom profaned her bodice (3,6) BEE ORCHID*

DOWN
1   11's preferred fashion brand excellent, Dad admits (5) PRADA ? (Addendum - {P{RAD}A} - See comments)
2   Little officer is so revolutionary in Gargantua and Pantagruel, for instance (7) COLOSSI {COL}{OSSI<=}
3   Setter takes taxi at the beginning of autumn, returns in the summers (5) ABACI {n...uA}{BAC}{I}<=
4   Could be thirteenth nobleman beheaded in the heart of Male (7) ORDINAL {lORD}{IN}{mALe}
5   12 for 11 or 'hardly improved' (3,5) OLD HARRY*
6   Cauldron takes forever to make soups (7) POTAGES {POT}{AGES}
7   Wept, overwhelmed, quit performing for being judged (9) CRITIQUED {CRI{QUIT*}ED}
12 Crumbling empire turning to mush after king kicked the bucket, for instance (9) EUPHEMISM Anno left for any commenter (Addendum - {EMPIrE+MUSH}* - See comments)
14 Married British leader concealed terrible shame — an Indian mistress (8) MEMSAHIB {M}{SHAME*}{I}{B}
16 Upset ejaculation breaks musical partnership (7) CAHOOTS Anno left for any commenter (Addendum - {CA{HOO<=}TS} - See comments)
17 Beat badly, centurions in hostilities finally decamp (7) TROUNCE CENTURiOns*
19 The bloke's gained a couple of pounds, he has no energy and is extremely unpleasant (7) HELLISH {HE{LL}IS}{He}
21 Voracity without moderation ultimately results in more fat (5) HUGER HUnGER
22 Change effected by people in this day and age (5) AMEND {A{MEN}D}

GRID

22 comments:

  1. 1a coops= coop coop . Anno is poco(a)poco*

    ReplyDelete
  2. 12 Crumbling empire turning to mush after king kicked the bucket, for instance (9) EUPHEMISM
    (EMPI[-r]E+MUSH)*; CRUMBLING - AnagrInd

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. Looks like both are correct & fit the crossings The wordplay too can be interpreted to fit either one. Galliard is the more common word.

      Delete
  4. 17d Defn= beat. Badly= Anagrind

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  5. Agree with Col.'s comment- not just at the airport. From the comforts of home too!

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  6. Will update main post after recharging laptop

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  7. Wat a devilish xword :) lots of new words .. google rushed to rescue sev times... gaillard pocoapoco colossi .... fantastic . Thanks skulldugger

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  8. Zero marks for me.Will take days to complete ( without external aids). Yearning for Sankalak.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Took ages to complete the NW corner..challenging..but njoyable..new words..poco a poco...galliard...kibosh...
    Thought anno for SHADE=[+S]HADE[-S]

    ReplyDelete
  10. One duplicate of a member and two duplicates of another deleted.

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  11. Wow. This took forever. We do need such brain teasers. I am learning a lot!

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  12. Difficult one, and I was happy to solve most of the clues.

    ReplyDelete

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