Sunday 20 December 2015

The Sunday Crossword (2872), Sunday 20 Dec 2015


ACROSS
1   Red borders in fleece (7) CRIMSON {C{RIMS}ON}
5   Airman with uncertainty in film, not aggressive (7) PACIFIC {P{AC}{IF}IC}
9   Rare object, endlessly old, sorted then crushed (4,2,3,6) THIN ON THE GROUND {THINg} {O}{N THE*} {GROUND}
10 Domain covered by clear enactment (5) ARENA [T]
11 Alien, quite altered alien back in good form (9) ETIQUETTE {ET}{QUITE*}{TE<=}
12 English spies in division with unknown strength (10) SPECIALITY {SP{E}{CIA}LIT}{Y}
14 Price? Not even shilling (4) ODDS {ODD}{S}
16 Endured weary drill (4) BORE [MD]
17 Record retreat involving me in denial (10) DISCLAIMER {DISC}{LAI{ME}R}
20 Dispatched to guard area with stuff for ritual (9) SACRAMENT {S{A}{CRAM}ENT}
22 Extracted opinion in hearing (5) MINED (~mind)
23 Regardless of circumstances in romance, hero is prepared (4,4,2,5) COME RAIN OR SHINE*
24 Bad snag ruined element of flood protection (7) SANDBAG*
25 Licences, tons ending in pile in rubbish (7) PATENTS {PA{T}{pilE}NTS}

DOWN
1   Kind of sword characters regularly seen in court always use (7) CUTLASS {CoUrT}{aLwAyS}{uSe}
2   Song from one with nice whim, far out of order, grabbing attention (2,1,4,1,4,3) IF I WERE A RICH MAN {1}{F I WER{E A R}ICH MAN*}

3   Fresh crop said to be scattered (8) SPORADIC*
4   Fool about with ingredient of gunpowder (5) NITRE {NIT}{RE}
5   Sanctimonious tips I cite after conversion (9) PIETISTIC*
6   Relax initially during cruise at sea, ignoring eastern cloud (6) CIRRUS {Re..x} in  {CRUISe}*
7   Boundary hostility brought about hard, gloomy time (6,9) FOURTH DIMENSION {FOUR}{T{H} {DIM}ENSION}
8   Chapter on start of disco set in American clubs (7) CUDGELS {C}{U{Disco}{GEL}S}
13 Lingering, having injured leg in riot (9) LOITERING*
15 Spoil second series of games, being a monkey (8) MARMOSET {MAR}{MO}{SET}
16 Crosses, dry in parts (7) BISECTS {BI{SEC}TS}
18 Put clothes on again? Correct (7) REDRESS [DD]
19 Capital city some remember, gazing northward (6) ZAGREB [T<=]
21 Bad time coming up for military unit (5) TROOP {T}{ROOP}<=

GRID

10 comments:

  1. phew.. wow for parsing 9a and 7d. thanks. pls help with 25a PATENTS - is pants supposed to be rubbish? overall a rather smart xword today .. is there a sunday special happening??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Srividya,
      For pants = rubbish, read
      http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-pan4.htm

      Delete
    2. That's right; see the link given

      Delete
  2. Special at 10:30 by new setter Sridhar Krishnan

    ReplyDelete
  3. Didn't do the puzzle; just went through the post; appears to be a classic puzzle.
    Sunday mornings are devoted to the Cryptic Master, Rufus( Sunday Times, Mumbai edition)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe you should be doing that puzzle interactively after doing necessary efforts prior to solving.
      Every Sunday I look at the puzzle as printed in ToI, I say "Thoo..."
      The same puzzle in the main section and the supplement in tiny font.
      Why they can't print cryptic in one place and Quick in another by using bigger font, I cannot divine... Why, I can, they don't even look at what they are printing when using material received from agency.
      Numbers of letters sent to Editor have gone to pants, I mean dirty, dirty underpants.

      Delete
  4. If I were a rich man...
    I would try to become richer and richer by hook or crook so I am among top ten in India's wealthy people list.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Could not get cudgels, thin on the ground and fourth dimension. Otherwise easier one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Could not get cudgels, thin on the ground and fourth dimension. Otherwise easier one.

    ReplyDelete

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