Monday, 6 February 2017

No 11923, Monday 06 Feb 2017, xChequer


Interesting the 1/15 combination isnt it? xChequer has us queuing up :)
This one did take me longer than the usual Monday solve .. esp in the wee hours of the morning :)
In the altogether is a new term for me, especially since I wasnt sure of the fodder; Corner again I needed crossings for, also Eggar
8 did and still continues to puzzle me..13 is a bit inelegant .. and not a fan of 16 in the way it parses though the surface is rather neat !

ACROSS
7 Stressful hearing (6) TRYING (DD)
8 Modern girl, clear-cut, so very sensitive (8) ALLERGIC (GIRL + CLEAr)* Modern is anagram indicator?
9 Characteristic feature of husband — everyone's impression (8) HALLMARK (H)(ALL)(MARK)

10 Auditor's group feeling … (6) CARING (CA)(RING)
11 … justified later for vigilance (5) ALERT (LATER)* justified as anagram indicator?
12 Beheld no freedom around sheltered pet (6) FONDLE (RT)
14 Left wearing attire eh? Then go starkers (2,3,10) IN THE ALTOGETHER (L+ATTIRE+ EH+ THEN+GO)* Does Wearing here play both containment and anagram indication? Or is starkers on double duty?
17 Very objective gold trader (6) VENDOR (V)(END)(OR)
18 Potato, say, returned to counter (5) TUBER (REBUT)<==

22 Hog's plight (6) CORNER (DD)
23 They frequent pubs and puke at lounges (8) BARFLIES (BARF)(LIES)
24 Fluid (water) streaks on a set of crockery (8) FLATWARE (FL+WATER+A)*

25 Female in blue clothes showing entry (6) INFLOW (IN)(F)(LOW)

DOWN
1 In blackjack primarily, dealer may bust, 15 standing to benefit from this? (9) BREADLINE (IN+B+DEALER)*

2 Average banks poorly providing support (6) PILLAR ILL in PAR
3 Insect in climbing frenzy defied by gravity (5) EGGAR G in (RAGE)<==

4 Boy with need to perform before girl gets depression (5,3) BLACK DOG (B)(LACK)(DO)G
5 Blue bananas turn ripe (8) PRURIENT (TURN RIPE)*
6 Monster runs away from mate (5) FIEND (FrIEND)
8 Keep Russian currency beyond demand and invite risks (3,3,7) ASK FOR TROUBLE (ASK)(FORT)(ROUBLE)
13 Spy in place, observes working (3,4,2) SET EYES ON (SET)(EYES)(ON)
15 Those essentially disadvantaged perhaps? (4-4) HAVE-NOTS (CD) (Addendum - (THOSE+d...dVANt...d)* &lit - See comments)
16 Barman pouring large drinks, nothing strange (8) ABNORMAL (BARMAN + O + L)* (Addendum - (O) in (BARMAN)*(L) - See comments)
19 Improvement in state transport (6) UPLIFT (UP)(LIFT)
20 Passionately dedicated, investing time (5) HOTLY T in HOLY
21 Rumour has it that British university leads (5) BRUIT (BR)(U)(IT)

GRID

Solution; Definition, Letters in word play, Indicators (anagram, containment, addition/removal/placement etc)

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20 comments:

  1. Padmanabhan6 February 2017 at 08:32

    I think 'Modern girl' leads to 'gal'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Padmanabhan6 February 2017 at 08:32

    (gal clear)*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao6 February 2017 at 08:51

      No Paddy, Srividya is right.
      where will you account for I in allergic then/

      Delete
  3. Padmanabhan6 February 2017 at 08:38

    16D- Strange is the def., with nothing (0) being part of anagram fodder.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Raghunath6 February 2017 at 08:40

    15 Those essentially disadvantaged perhaps? (4-4) HAVE-NOTS

    (THOSE + disadVANtaged)* &lit

    ReplyDelete
  5. sree_sree6 February 2017 at 08:41

    IMHO modern -> new fashioned -> new construct, should be fine as anagram indicator

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath6 February 2017 at 08:45

      exactly.

      Delete
    2. Kolluru Koteswara Rao6 February 2017 at 08:47

      Modern is inventive too. It works fine as anagrind.

      Delete
    3. Chaturvasi6 February 2017 at 10:23

      'Modern'is a well-accepted anag ind. I have seen it used in clues before.

      Delete
  6. Raghunath6 February 2017 at 08:43

    What's problem with 16D?
    16 Barman pouring large drinks, nothing strange (8) ABNORMAL (BARMAN + O + L)*

    BARMAN* + L Around (Drinks ) O

    ReplyDelete
  7. raju umamaheswar6 February 2017 at 08:51

    Exchequer had checked me out with a few tough and unusual words like EGGAR, BRUIT and BLACK DOG. Thoda Bheja Fry ho gaya !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao6 February 2017 at 08:53

      Yes, Raju. I am with you

      Delete
    2. Suresh6 February 2017 at 10:33

      Yes. The answers were easy enough to get. But Dictionary work was required to check the meanings

      Delete
  8. Chaturvasi6 February 2017 at 09:57

    I opened the post. I didn't know/remember who the blogger was. I stared reading the inro. When I read the words 'In the altogether...' my heart stopped but fortunately the phrase was not followed by a pronoun.
    I breathed easy.

    ReplyDelete
  9. raju umamaheswar6 February 2017 at 10:32

    CV: If you SET YOUR PRURIENT EYES on IT, You are ASKING FOR TROUBLE. Of course, the stethoscope will hear BRUIT and your heart will skip a beat.The FIEND in you will certainly see a BLACK DOG. Good that you got to breath easy. Take heart . So HAVE NOTHING ON IT. -IN THE ALTOGETHER !

    ReplyDelete
  10. Padmanabhan6 February 2017 at 11:40

    Raju in splendid form!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Vasant6 February 2017 at 13:13

    Couldnt do the puzzle..came back now to read the blog..thought it was a typocal XChequer puzzle..tough but enjoyable..
    The blog too was quite superb with a detailed preamble

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ramki Krishnan6 February 2017 at 21:29

    11A: Chambers gives one of the meanings of "justify" as "arrange (text)". In that sense, IMHO it works as an anagrind.

    ReplyDelete

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