Wednesday 7 June 2017

No 12027, Wednesday 07 Jun 2017, xChequer


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+tERM}*
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 bashthey 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) ?E?A? (Addendum - VENAL  (-p+v)VENAL - See comments)
22 Iron fist ultimately used in state security (6) SAFETY {SA{FE}{fisT}Y}
23 No chance to act at West End in London (8) TURNDOWN {TURN}{DO}{W}{l...oN}
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 Anno pending (Addendum - {lATENT+DOES}* - See comments)
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 {Di..eD} in {TOOTHY}*
5   Golden tin periodically placed here? (8) FIFTIETH Anno pending [CD] - See comments
6   Throw one of this and die for this figure (5) SEVEN Anno pending [DD] - See comments
8   I know right and wrong to be ultimately baseless (4,2,5,2) TELL ME ABOUT IT {TO+BE+ULTIMATELy}*
13 Yes, a wall to be built on Mexico's border — why not? (3,2,4) MAY AS WELL {Me...o}{YES +A+WALL}*
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{o...rY}{MAN} Anno pending (Addendum - {VERY} in {NAME}<= - See comments)
19 Dine, raving over shelled ingredient in salad (6) ENDIVE {DINE}*{oVEr}
20 Done for retired neighbour, extremely urgent (5) KAPUT {PAK<=}{Ur..nT}
21 Get normal in prison (5) BRING {BRI{N}G}

GRID

44 comments:

  1. 18 Disciplinary power being very easily corrupted (5) ?E?A? pVENAL

    ReplyDelete
  2. 5 Golden tin periodically placed here? (8) FIFTIETH Anno pending

    FIF(TIE)H

    ReplyDelete
  3. 6 Throw one of this and die for this figure (5) SEVEN Anno pending

    1 + 6?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'die'- a singular for dice?

      Delete
    2. Throw a seven means to die. I found it through google machan

      Delete
  4. Why Google alone? I needed host of dictionaries too! Ha, ha!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1 Explosive latent, blasting cap does this (9) DETONATES Anno pending

    (l-)[ATENT + DOES]*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bhavan. DOES on double duty?

      Delete
    2. Explosive is the anagrind

      Delete
    3. Semi & Lit since latent is not part of definition?

      Delete
    4. Not sure how latent fits into the definition.

      Delete
  6. 16 Anonymous underwriter tipped to cover extremely ordinary person (8) EVERYMAN EVER{o...rY}{MAN} Anno pending

    NAM(VERY)E <=

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still don't get it! What is EMAN?

      Delete
    2. Name=Anonymous underwriter?

      Delete
    3. anonymous underwriter (as in an authority I think) = name
      tipped = reversed
      ordinary person = def

      Delete
    4. The def needs to be changed in the anno. Sorry MB to steal your thunder!

      Delete
    5. Seems MB has gone to England to see the Champions Trophy live!Not very active here since the championship started😀

      Delete
    6. anonymous=unknown=Y
      underwriteR = MAN as in bailsman/bondsman
      extremely = EVER

      Delete
  7. 6 Throw one of this and die for this figure (5) SEVEN Anno pending

    throw (or chuck)a seven
    1 informal Die.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 6 is it a ref to game of craps, where one gets out if he throws a seven before he hits a point?

      Delete
  8. Badly mauled by XChequer.
    Blatantly cheated to complete the grid & checked the anno. Thanks all for the annos

    ReplyDelete
  9. Today is the first Anniversary of no posts on Crossword Unclued 😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not one to remember. I was myself wondering.

      Delete
    2. Badly miss the posts on CU

      Delete
  10. Phew! This took a lot of time and referencing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 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'?

    THOLEPIN around I(one) = TO+HELP+IN*

    ReplyDelete
  12. Col: 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 .

    ReplyDelete
  13. 17A ass=clot?
    23A how to get turn do from act?
    25 s for school from?
    3D guts=tum? how?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't follow the question.
      Do means act
      S is a standard abbreviation for school. Like DPS etc.

      Delete
    2. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/205441/usage-of-tum-in-english-speaking-countries-other-than-the-uk

      Thght it would be interesting read on tummy

      Delete
  14. Clot=Foolish Person=Ass
    For 23A I had it as : No=Defn, Chance=Turn etc
    Guts=Stomach=Tum

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 23A Definition corrected
      25A S for School

      Delete
    2. Thanks.
      I 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

      Delete
  15. Mauled by this one... barely got half the grid... :-)

    ReplyDelete

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