ACROSS
1 Set about — a time to soothe (7) PLACATE {PLAC{A}{T}E}
5 Young man's suffering, he's a hero (7) PALADIN {LAD} in {PAIN}
9 American woman will show you your place (5) USHER {US}{HER}
10 Sino-Tibetan unrest, not in a cussed way (9) OBSTINATE S
11 Around lunch time Tuesday, people come in for redemption (9) ATONEMENT {AT ONE} {MEN}{T}
12 Turn it, fill at equal intervals before... (5) UNTIL {
13 ...leaders betray intent and show prejudice (4) BIAS Acrostic
15 Wasted a new coin featuring the King (8) ANOREXIC {REX} in {A}{NO{REX}IC*}
18 Bill's got good coverage but bad lifestyle (8) DECADENT {DEC{AD}ENT}
19 Talks too much, revert to control breeding (4) YAPS <=
22 Dog not born as one with a keen eyesight (5) EAGLE
24 Long to have naval organisation making landfall (9) AVALANCHE {NAVAL}* in {ACHE}
26 Original confirmations, not from the conductor (9) TOSCANINI C
27 Oliver's unfulfilled desire — featuring in Times... (5) TWIST {WIS
28 ...for say, youngster he must have plenty of it (7) PROTEIN {PRO}{TEIN}(~teen) &lit
29 Angered in other words (7) ENRAGED*
DOWN
1 They are from Poland — on a mountain range (6) PLURAL {PL}{URAL}
2 Staff enter strike, protected by monkey goddess (9) APHRODITE {AP{H{ROD}IT}E}
3 Yes, it's mature to hold on (5) AGREE {AG{RE}E}
4 Old one — slate clear (9) EXONERATE {EX}{ONE}{RATE}
5 Place to rest by a river (5) POSIT {PO}{SIT}
6 Flowers? Definitely in Adagio (9) LEISURELY {LEI}{SURELY}
7 Stupid to keep writing a pay order (5) DRAFT {D{R}AFT}
8 Want license? Banks get a pointer (6) NEEDLE {NEED}{L
14 Too old to have sex? It's a dilemma (9) STALEMATE {STALE}{MATE}
16 Exclude when it's coarse ground (9) OSTRACISE*
17 Making a difference to one — lawmaker's playing a role (9) IMPACTING {1}{MP}{ACTING}
20 Enclosure for sheep bursting at the seams (4-2) PENT-UP {PEN}{T UP}
21 Damaged contract, truly (6) DENTED {NT} in {DEED} truly = indeed
23 Relish asking US to take part (5) GUSTO [T]
24 Prominent when disrobed, strange! (5) ALIEN
25 Men not allowed in building maternal shrine (5) ALTAR
GRID
Re 14d: Are all old men and women in that sort of dilemma ?
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteI guess this sort of dilemma need not be associated with age!!! Ha, ha!!
DeleteSoul is willing but...
DeleteA chance for MB to come up with one of his 'inaiyaththil irundhu sutta thamaash'.
DeleteWhile on the subject of 'sex'...here is one from me...
DeleteAn 80 year old man went to his doctor's office to get a sperm count. The doctor gave the man a jar and said, "Take this jar home and bring me back a semen sample tomorrow. "The next day the 80 year old man reappeared at the doctor's office and gave him the jar, which was as clean and empty as on the previous day. The doctor asked what happened and the man explained:
"Well, doc, it's like this - First I tried with my right hand, but nothing. Then I tried with my left hand, but still nothing. Then I asked my wife for help. She tried with her right hand, then her left, still nothing. "She even tried her mouth, first with the teeth in, then with her teeth out, and still we even called up Earleen, the lady next door and she tried too, first with both hands, then an armpit and she even tried squeez'n it between her knees, but still nothing. "The doctor was shocked!
"You asked your neighbor? "The old man replied, "Yep, but no matter what we tried we still couldn't get the damn jar open!"
Ha ha,MB!Nice!
DeleteA bit easier than yesterday's but still had to stretch..TUP in pent up was a new word..
ReplyDeleteDeletion clues are good today. Better than yesterday.
ReplyDelete'Tup' has appeared before in THC.
ReplyDeleteTo cite a couple of instances:
(Nita Jaggi) The French ram has small intervals (6)
- Surface reading doesn't make much sense
(Phantom) Ram butts, as a result, run in a daze (6)
Thanks Sir for the references
DeleteNJ:LETUPS
Phantom:(UPT)*(URN)*..
is upturn right?
What's synonym of 'daze'
DeleteFind synonym of 'daze'
DeleteStupor. {S{TUP}O}{R}
DeleteNice clue & well solved Ramesh
DeleteNice and straight fwd one from Arden today.. ha ha ha for stalemate :) Yep CVji i do remember Tup; used often enough now..
ReplyDeleteNice crossie. Liked APHRODITE, USHER, AGREE, DRAFT to name a few.
ReplyDeleteOne doubt about 5A: Young man's suffering, he's a hero for PA(LAD)IN - what is the container? If it is 's, then it translates to LAD around PAIN and not the other way around? Not sure what I'm missing in reading this clue.
Suffering: In pain
DeleteThanks Raghu.
DeleteRam: If I'm not wrong: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak ! Staleness does not matter for the mate !
ReplyDeleteRam: If I'm not wrong: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak ! Staleness does not matter for the mate !
ReplyDelete21 Damaged contract, truly (6) DENTED {NT} in {DEED} truly = indeed
ReplyDeletewhat is NT in the clue.....I had the answer from the crossings ....can someone please explain ...Thanks
NT: No trumps a sort of contract in bridge (game)
Delete
ReplyDeleteVery interesting crossie. Enjoyed it thoroughly, though filling it alongside playing scrabble with wifey, (as is our wont when there is a power shutdown ) took a longer duration.
STALEMATE got me checkmated ! though the enunciation is crisp. Recently, in Punjab a septuagenarian couple got a baby born for them ! So no stalemate there , so don't lose heart, mate CV !
Very interesting x'ie. All these 3days I could make it successfully,of course, with brainstorming sessions till late night. The encouraging factor is I could tease out the knots 100%. Today I was simply stunned at the texture of the clues.For eg. 18A,8d(I relished banks indicative of 'le' in needle.)14d-old couple for stale mate &so on.Simply put I have become an ardent fan of Arden.Thank you sir.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't solve a few even after two sittings, but the rest were very satisfying...
ReplyDelete