I'll tip my hat to anyone who says that he/she completed the CW today without help from Google.
ACROSS
7 Ruling queen on a bottled drink (6) REGINA {RE}{GIN}{A}
8 Snake, to wit, term yielding traitor, primarily (3-5) TWO-TIMER {TO+WIT+
9 16 in England and a saint? Nonsense (4,4) JOHN BULL {JOHN} {BULL}
10 Pupils admitted in institute essentially (6) TUTEES [T]
11 Savages in reclaimed ghetto controlling area (5) MAULS {A} in {SLUM}<=
12 Blot on society, slander say, in retrospect (6) SMUDGE {S}{MUD}{EG<=}
14 Women's bash — they debate showers to celebrate new arrival (3,3,5,4) WET THE BABYS HEAD {W+BASH+THEY+DEBATE}*
17 Old ass without energy or wildcat? (6) OCELOT {O}{C{E}LOT}
18 Disciplinary power being very easily corrupted (5)
22 Iron fist ultimately used in state security (6) SAFETY {SA{FE}{
23 No chance to act at West End in London (8) TURNDOWN {TURN}{DO}{W}{
24 Sambar for one, very thoughtful (8) RUMINANT [DD]
25 New school books (6) NOVELS {NOVEL}{S}
DOWN
1 Explosive latent, blasting cap does this (9) DETONATES
2 Full skirt, navy, stocked by finished length (6) DIRNDL {DI{RN}D}{L} With help from Google
3 Lawyer with guts, in fact (5) DATUM {DA}{TUM}
4 Dished inside out, toothy rogue, seen in Tom and Jerry for instance (3,5) HOT TODDY {D
5 Golden tin periodically placed here? (8) FIFTIETH
6 Throw one of this and die for this figure (5) SEVEN
8 I know right and wrong to be ultimately baseless (4,2,5,2) TELL ME ABOUT IT {TO+BE+ULTIMATEL
13 Yes, a wall to be built on Mexico's border — why not? (3,2,4) MAY AS WELL {M
15 Groom to help at home? Then one in couple normally set to row (8) THOLEPIN {TO+HOLE}*{IN} What's the role of 'Then one in'?
16 Anonymous underwriter tipped to cover extremely ordinary person (8) EVERYMAN EVER{
19 Dine, raving over shelled ingredient in salad (6) ENDIVE {DINE}*{
20 Done for retired neighbour, extremely urgent (5) KAPUT {PAK<=}{U
21 Get normal in prison (5) BRING {BRI{N}G}
GRID
18 Disciplinary power being very easily corrupted (5) ?E?A? pVENAL
ReplyDeleteThanks Raghu
Delete5 Golden tin periodically placed here? (8) FIFTIETH Anno pending
ReplyDeleteFIF(TIE)H
Sorry, I read it as pin for tin
Delete5 tin atomic number is 50
ReplyDeleteThank you
Delete6 Throw one of this and die for this figure (5) SEVEN Anno pending
ReplyDelete1 + 6?
'die'- a singular for dice?
DeleteThrow a seven means to die. I found it through google machan
DeleteWhy Google alone? I needed host of dictionaries too! Ha, ha!!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI needed a liberal help from the on line version as well!
Delete1 Explosive latent, blasting cap does this (9) DETONATES Anno pending
ReplyDelete(l-)[ATENT + DOES]*
Thanks Bhavan. DOES on double duty?
DeleteExplosive is the anagrind
DeleteSemi & Lit since latent is not part of definition?
DeleteNot sure how latent fits into the definition.
Delete16 Anonymous underwriter tipped to cover extremely ordinary person (8) EVERYMAN EVER{o...rY}{MAN} Anno pending
ReplyDeleteNAM(VERY)E <=
I still don't get it! What is EMAN?
DeleteIt is 'nmae', I think.
DeleteName=Anonymous underwriter?
Delete... and what is NMAE?
Deleteanonymous underwriter (as in an authority I think) = name
Deletetipped = reversed
ordinary person = def
The def needs to be changed in the anno. Sorry MB to steal your thunder!
DeleteSeems MB has gone to England to see the Champions Trophy live!Not very active here since the championship started😀
Deleteanonymous=unknown=Y
DeleteunderwriteR = MAN as in bailsman/bondsman
extremely = EVER
6 Throw one of this and die for this figure (5) SEVEN Anno pending
ReplyDeletethrow (or chuck)a seven
1 informal Die.
6 is it a ref to game of craps, where one gets out if he throws a seven before he hits a point?
DeleteBadly mauled by XChequer.
ReplyDeleteBlatantly cheated to complete the grid & checked the anno. Thanks all for the annos
I clicked on show solutions.
DeleteToday is the first Anniversary of no posts on Crossword Unclued 😁
ReplyDeleteNot one to remember. I was myself wondering.
DeleteBadly miss the posts on CU
DeletePhew! This took a lot of time and referencing.
ReplyDelete15 Groom to help at home? Then one in couple normally set to row (8) THOLEPIN {TO+HOLE}*{IN} What's the role of 'Then one in'?
ReplyDeleteTHOLEPIN around I(one) = TO+HELP+IN*
THOLEPIN around I(one) = TO+HELP*+IN
DeleteCol: You may as well doff your hat 99% atilt as I could solve mainly by instinct and then look for annotations. Just as well. One often hears of 'might as well' rather than 'may as well'. Just as well. Tell me about it . Is THOLEPIN's etymology from Kerala? Baby showers has been heard but do they wet the baby's head with hot toddy, without men in a women's bash? I have become a TUTEE now in cryptic crosswords thanks to this blog. Thanks to you, Exchequer .
ReplyDelete17A ass=clot?
ReplyDelete23A how to get turn do from act?
25 s for school from?
3D guts=tum? how?
Don't follow the question.
DeleteDo means act
S is a standard abbreviation for school. Like DPS etc.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/205441/usage-of-tum-in-english-speaking-countries-other-than-the-uk
DeleteThght it would be interesting read on tummy
Clot=Foolish Person=Ass
ReplyDeleteFor 23A I had it as : No=Defn, Chance=Turn etc
Guts=Stomach=Tum
23A Definition corrected
Delete25A S for School
Thanks.
DeleteI thought gut was intestine but even then if gut=stomach, guts should be tums right? S for school i didnt find in dictionary so asked
Mauled by this one... barely got half the grid... :-)
ReplyDelete