My nemesis is as fiendish as ever today!! Completed after a 3 hour battle (with liberal breaks in between).
ACROSS
7 Good lines, a blooming vintage vessel (6) ARGOSY {A}{R{G}OSY}
8 Falls around date to enter events (8) CASCADES {CAS{CA}{D}ES}
9 Partial employment rise perhaps merely goes to show partial employment (8) NEPOTISM {E
10 Old band together through parole (6) ORALLY {O}{RALLY}
11 You might cross these when talking to kid (5) TEASE (~ t's)
12 Organisation without a vice? Better to be here, perhaps (6) CASINO {C{A}{SIN}O}
14 Edited clip hid the queen's decision making method (6,9) DELPHI TECHNIQUE*
17 Card-carrying guard entering PIN (6) ARDENT
18 Fights in resort town close to Cannes (5) SPATS {SPA}{T}{
22 Bit of code language to start with (6) MORSEL {MORSE}{L
23 Maintained power in rhythmic cycle through controlled drumming (8) RATAPLAN {RA{TA{P}LA}N}
24 Pre-school clothes means socks? (8) CLOBBERS
25 Absolutely dull, empty library) (6) FLATLY {FLAT}{L
DOWN
1 Envious of new watch, craving to own (5-4) GREEN-EYED {GREE{N}-{EYE}D}
2 Holy men for one being reportedly holy but easily crossed (6) POROUS P(-i+or)OROUS
3 Contribution from agency nicknamed 'Doubting Thomas' (5) CYNIC [T]
4 Floor remains carpeted, is not fancy (8) ASTONISH {ASH} around {IS+NOT}*
5 Vehicle running during key election's back outside delivering some food (8) MACARONI {MA{CAR}{ON}I
6 Haggard blackbird? (5) MERLE [DD]
8 Companion primarily alongside fighting random armies (7-2-4) COMRADE-IN-ARMS {C
13 Dummy in game, South in relation to partner (4,5) AUNT SALLY {AUNT} {S}{ALLY}
16 Cast idle, snug in featherbeds (8) INDULGES*
19 Completely opposed park cutting tree (6) POPLAR {PO{P}LAR}
20 Hide loss of last month, post money order (5) MOULT {MO}{ULT}
21 Solid state hard substance (5) STUFF {S}{TUFF}(~tough)
GRID
Not a satisfactory solve. It was a struggle to parse. Too many crazy clues.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Col
Tough!
ReplyDelete9A: I took partial employment as the definition & the first partial as letter picker
There is no letter picking in the clue only a deletion
DeleteI considered the latter partial employment as anagrind.
Delete4 Pre-school clothes means socks? (8) CLOBBERS [DD] Why pre-school?
ReplyDeleteI think Clothes: CLOBBER and pre school means before S.
Okay thanks
Delete9A. Nepotism is partiality in employing people and in this puzzle, use of selected (partial) letters from the clue.
ReplyDeleteThere is a problem with 7A. Online, it was not accepting ARGOSY, it accepts AROGSY.
Use of partial letters means either the beginning or end is removed it cannot be used for removing random letters
DeleteI agree.
DeleteTotally horrible xword. Most clues were totally irrelevant and not at all helpful.
ReplyDelete17 Card-carrying guard entering PIN (6) ARDENT ? [T] Definition not clear. What is the relevance of PIN?
ReplyDeleteCard-carrying: (adj) Avidly devoted to a group or cause [Free dict]
PIN: telescopic indicator
Couldnt get orally..rataplan..merle...
ReplyDelete2D. POROUS. The parsing is not clear to me. What indicates deletion of 'i' and insertion of 'or'?
ReplyDeletemen for one = OR(Other Ranks - military) for I
DeleteThank you.
Delete10 Old band together through parole (6) ORALLY {O}{RALLY} Orally/parole?
ReplyDeletePAROL: by word of mouth. More properly parole. A French word, which means literally, word or speech. {Free dict}
"through' is a homind?
DeleteI assumed PAROLE to be an alternative sp for PAROL and THROUGH to be a linking word.
DeleteNote, xChequer has used THROUGH as a linking word in 23A too.
DeletePronunciation of PAROL and PAROLE is the same
DeletePartial employment rise perhaps merely goes to show partial employment (8) NEPOTISM {EmPlOyMeNT+rISe}* What's the role of 'partial employment'?
ReplyDeleteThe PARTIAL at the beginning of the clue indicates picking only few letters of EMPLOYMENT RISE. The PARTIAL EMPLOYMENT at the end of the clue is the defn.
Partial employment: Showing favouritism at work
DeleteThe 1st 'partial' adds to the surface without any part in letter picking which is done by 'goes'
DeleteYou are right!
DeleteThats how I parsed it
DeleteIn which case it is extraneous
DeleteOops, Didn't realise Vasant & Prasad VDS had already commented about this clue!
DeleteSandhya. In 23 A:Maintained power in rhythmic cycle through controlled drumming (8) RATAPLAN {RA{TA{P}LA}N}
DeleteI felt 'through' is not a link word but a container ind. TA(P)LA going through RAN. There is no other container ind. to work with.
You are right again! :)
DeleteSome beautiful clues. As usual the long anagrams are very nice. P is for 'parking' but as 'park'?
ReplyDeleteThink it comes from Automatic cars. P=Park, N=Neutral etc. OED has it as well
DeleteYou're right.
DeleteA tougher one today. I had quite a few holes when I decided to throw in the towel & come over here for the solution.
ReplyDeletePartial employment as defn for nepotism was my defn of the day
Driving me nuts and driving me out of crosswords!
ReplyDeleteLost my bearings!
DeleteWhich ones? Wheel or Main Shaft 😂
DeleteBoth ;-)
DeleteEngine bearings. GPS also malfunctioning.
DeleteA total breakdown!
DeleteA few good clues today..the online version threw a few unnecessary spanners in the works - unnecessary, as the xword is tuff enuf :) w/o online making it worse :) Merle good lord :) rataplan another.. Macaroni rather a poor clue IMO.. also porous .. but other than that fine.. :) however not like the usual xchequer.. hmmm
ReplyDeleteWhat we have here are 128-bit encrypted clues. The setter will make a great cryptologist.
ReplyDelete