ACROSS
9 Cunning hens catching bus — is this even possible? (3,4,6,2) CAN SUCH THINGS BE*
10 Musical instrument master left in that place (7) THEREIN THERE
12 Activity favoured by posses and cougars! (7) MANHUNT [CD]
13 She might save our sphere, amazingly (9) SUPERHERO* &lit
14 Point westwards to Michigan city (5) MIAMI {AIM<=}{MI}
15 American funk caused when not-all-there chap (Republican) trafficked in voodoo regularly (7) MALODOR {MAL
18 Doubt she could have done the crime (7) SUSPECT
21 Spirit modern, say folks (5) NUMEN (~new){NU}{MEN}
23 Furbelow in the Antipodes! (4,5) DOWN UNDER {DOWN} {UNDER}
25 One particular interesting stimulation out of lots (7) MINUTIA
26 Sanction for animals initially lacking (7) INDORSE {
29 Wormhole defined whimsically as "back of beyond" (6,2,7) MIDDLE OF NOWHERE*
DOWN
1 Animal appendage that's small and oddly crusty (4) SCUT {S}{C
2 Operating these days... and formerly (4) ONCE {ON}{CE}
3 Perturbed but not tense, recombined but not mixed (8) PUREBRED PER
4 Buchanan centre and courthouse gutted by accident (6) CHANCE {
5 They are used to clean locks! (8) SHAMPOOS [CD]
6 My heartless Italian grandmother's radical alias (6) ANONYM {MY}{NO
7 Bluecoats beginning to go off for a kiss (8) OSCULATE
8 Moderate central European nation's leaders have secret meeting, reportedly (8) CENTRIST {C
11 African's exclamation of surprise on encountering North American country (5) HAUSA {HA}{USA}
15 Little women, they can't get any littler! (8) MINIMUMS {MINI}{MUMS}
16 Alderwomen losing heart and turning to drink (8) LEMONADE ALDE
17 Cool mountain lodges brought up first class heater (8) RADIATOR {RAD}{AI<=}{TOR}
19 Turn off to open up? On the contrary (8) SHUTDOWN {SHUT}{DOWN}
20 Mate ends it when he's overwhelmed by extremely cheerless feelings (5) CHESS {C
22 Felt tense, but came back content as bug (6) NETTLE [T<=]
24 Colt's sound when partially discharged by tavern yard (6) WHINNY {WH}{INN}{Y}
27 Animal raised in grass (4) REED <=
28 Turned over threepenny bit for fencing material (4) EPEE [T<=]
GRID
29 Wormhole defined whimsically as "back of beyond" (6,2,7) MIDDLE OF NOWHERE [C&DD]
ReplyDeleteAnagram of Wormhole defined
29 DD even if it's anagram. I am still learning the terms of clueing. Pls explain.
ReplyDelete'Whimsically' is used as anagram indicator of (Wormhole defined) to give the def.
DeleteThats how I understood. My doubt is on classification terminology which I learn from this blog.
DeleteThanks Raghu. I was careless there.
DeleteHad to google to confirm that super heroine is also called super hero.
ReplyDeleteDid not know 'indorse' as a variant- of course with clue and crossings it fell easily, but for confirmation.
Antipodes was done nicely.
Off track-
Col.,
There is an article in the Chennai edition of Jawa club meeting in Hotel Ashoka. I believe they keep meeting every month.
What's Hind Horse?
ReplyDeleteHind is a female deer
DeleteYou mean indorse?
DeleteOh yes. Nice one
DeleteIsn't 18 A a DD?
ReplyDeleteYes it is. I had a doubt and I didn't enter it as a DD, now that you mention it I have corrected it
DeleteSkulldugger at his best again. It took me longer time in solving four clues.
ReplyDelete20DN: Filled in CHECK in hurry and without fully reading the clue.
18A 'Do a crime' is a novel use
ReplyDeleteConventionally, we say 'Commit a crime' or 'Do something illegal'.
Do people who osculate indulge in lip-locking in a more elaborate, studied, time-consuming, artful manner than when they simply kiss?
ReplyDeleteDepends upon the dental hygiene of the other party!!!
DeleteDo they have the time and mood to check on hygiene?!
DeleteDoing a tangent without oscillating has to be time consuming. On the other hand much easier when one has dental specialist(MDS) at home.
DeleteCV Sir's question: when you osculate or kiss, other sensations take over..whether it is elaborate or not would depend upon the response one gets😀😀
DeleteWhat a lot of adjectives- skillfully done.
ReplyDeleteLoved this one from Skull Dugger..the other day I was reading the old blogs from 2012..SD's debut puzzle was a lot tougher..this was a pleasant solve with some delightful cluing..liked the long ones and the & Lit and rest of the clues. Thanks SD & Col for an instructive blog
ReplyDeletecv: YUM, YUM, OSCULUM. kiss can be peremptory like mwaa , as socialites do, whereas, osculate would require time, study and motion of the oscillations of a pendulum --- I mean, premeditated preparations and stimulation of the senses.
ReplyDeleteSUPERHERO: not gender specific? Why is it that one sees even actresses being termed as actors? Why not a common denomination for both male and female as MR only?
ReplyDeleteYes, I had the same doubt aw well and on checking I found that Superheros include heroines as well.
ReplyDelete