ACROSS
6 Making fun as it's a blunder (5) SNAFU*
7 Ways to gain intelligence, being hungry (8) RAVENOUS {R}{AVE}{NOUS}
10 Pasquinade – the French satellite gains momentum (7) LAMPOON {LA}{M{P}OON}
11 Back at the front, all tousled (7) RUMPLED {RUMP}{LED}
12 Drug – it's simple to get around VT now (7) ECSTASY {E{CST}ASY}
13 Referee's card, essentially for Luis Suarez (7) ARBITER {
14 No country loses the right to make money – may be occasionally (3,3,5) NOW AND AGAIN {NO}{
19 Selfpromotion by middlemen before they received final notice (3,4) EGO TRIP {
21 Child left in misery, or taken away to another miserable place (4,3) SKID ROW {KID} in {S
23 Sack worker who's taken ill (7) PILLAGE {P{ILL}AGE}
25 Not working? working behind river barge (7) PONTOON {PO}{NOT*}{ON}
26 It's part of original triangle (8) INTEGRAL*
27 Letter sent finally to go through articles (5) THETA {THE}{
DOWN
1 Vessel carrying troops rejecting Italian cheese (8) PARMESAN {P{ARM
2 Choice between air and heavenly light (6) AURORA {AUR{OR}A}
3 It's sweet to have a drink break (6,4) BRANDY SNAP {BRANDY} {SNAP}
4 Hesitate to ignore wife, I swear! (4) AVER
5 Round tube made to cover two lengths (6) BULLET {TUBE}* around {LL}
6 Money is raised, Romeo loses nothing (6) SILVER {IS<=}{L
8 Main problem before starting regular jihad in a country (7) NAMIBIA {MAIN*}{B
13 A container of soap bubbles placed under the jaw (5,5) ADAMS APPLE {A}{DAM}{S APPLE}
15 Distortion over green leaf (7) WARPAGE {RAW<=}{PAGE}
16 Harry or Andrew came closer (8) NARROWED*
17 Work with weatherman raising the rate (5) TEMPO {OP}{MET}<=
18 It has gone through war and destruction (6) RWANDA* &lit
22 Fire poor foreign minister, informers let off (6) IGNITE {
24 Raze out a pound, may be (4) EZRA*
Not so difficult serve.
ReplyDelete18D is setters' favourite country. Have seen several variants on this.
It appears twice today- in 14A also!
ReplyDeleteGrid mismatch in Chennai print edition.
This must be the one Arden missed in his quota.
...and also 'page' appears in 23Ac & 15Dn with two different meanings.
DeleteThough filled in most (after choosing the on line version) had to visit the blog to get a few annos.
ReplyDeleteBiter required a deep (!) knowledge of football.
Nice grid - Liked 9D, 18D, 20D to name a few. Shouldn't "pound" in 24D be capitalized since it refers to a person (Ezra Pound)?
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+2
DeleteYes, I think Pound should have been capitalized
DeleteAn out of turn Arden..very enjoyable..a few tough ones(Adam's Apple, Brandy Snap, Warpage) made it an entertaining one..Poor Suarez..Setter's wont leave him forever(Remembered Picaroon's clue in the Guardian for Back Biting)..also remembered Ezra Pound who was called " the better craftsman" by T.S.Elliot
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the VT now reference... THCC on the track of evolution :) keep the standards high but have some fun !! and what makes it well THCC would be some local references.. nice thanks Arden
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle. Could complete it with great struggle but found wanting in annotating a couple of answers, namely ADAMS APPLE, NOW AND AGAIN. Nevertheless feeling happy. Thanks, Arden. :)
ReplyDeleteJust a feedback for all bloggers. As I work at The Hindu now ( their digital side ) I did reach out to the powers that be with the concerns about the new design in the print edition. And ... they were promptly dismissed. Apparently they had multiple discussions with the designers and took the call + they are getting very encouraging feedback for the new design.
ReplyDeleteI wonder who gave them 'encouraging feedback'!!
DeleteMaybe Sudoku people! Certainly not cruciverbalists!!
DeleteSudoku is even worse. An 138 year old organization. Slow
DeleteThe link on the LHS does not show THCC Families? How to view these?
ReplyDeleteRaghu the links feature just disappeared one day. I forgot that the link k to the THCC families was there, will add it again
DeleteLoved the grid. 21ac was super. and 12 ac...
ReplyDelete