Wednesday, 6 September 2017

No 12105, Wednesday 06 Sep 2017, Anon


ACROSS
1   Stumbles on backside, lags (5,6) FALLS BEHIND {FALLS} {BEHIND}
9   Master to wildly shout at elephant keepers (7) MAHOUTS {MA}{SHOUT}*
10 Returning laggard not completely in charge of Scandinavian (6) NORDIC {DRONe<=}{IC}
11 Enough to start off test (5) AMPLE sAMPLE
12 Conflict separating majority of embankment (7) BULWARK {BUL{WAR}K}
15 Swallow overturned cake (4) GULP<= Plug/Cake? See comments
16 Limit couple to overcrossing (10) FOOTBRIDGE {FOOT}{BRIDGE}
18 Coteries in England grow old during visits (10) ENTOURAGES {EN}{TOUR}{AGES} (Correction - {EN}{TOUR{AGE}S} - See comments)
20 Gremlin is initially with group of Zulu warriors (4) IMPI {IMP}{Is}
23 Careless, losing regularly knit house gown (7) NEGLIGE NEGLIGEnt
24 Lead singer left band? Nonsense! (5) TRIPE sTRIPE
26 Good man goes round for walk (6) STROLL {ST}{ROLL}
27 Messenger, worker at show (7) PAGEANT {PAGE}{ANT}
28 Plethora of suspense for doctor (11) PROFUSENESS*

DOWN
2   Think in the present, be entertained (6) AMUSED {A{MUSE}D}
3   End of the Spanish street (4) LAST {LA}{ST}
4   Embargo on well-organized regular trek (quest) for benches (10) BANQUETTES {BAN}{TrEk+QUEST}*
5   Equipment in North Indian town has energy source (8) HARDWARE {HARDWAR}{En...y}
6   Fasten stick to cat’s tail (7) NAILROD {NAIL}{ROD}
7   Confused ambler, left out, goes to barrier (9) EMBARGOES {AMBlER}*{GOES}
8   Man, first two imps at place of worship (6) CHAPEL {CHAP}{ELf} (Correction - {CHAP}{ELves} - See comments)
13 Long leases unusual in US city (3,7) LOS ANGELES*
14 Draw alien steed, headless, running wild (9) DELINEATE {ALIEN+sTEED}*
17 Negotiates laybies (5,3) PULLS OFF [DD]
19 Loudspeaker for one using social network (7) TWEETER [DD]
21 Adult to replace Oriental girl in open space (6) MAIDAN MAID(-e+a)AN
22 Good man grows old in phases (6) STAGES {ST}{AGES}
25 Sleeps looking up at bridge (4) SPAN <=

GRID

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29 comments:

  1. sree_sree6 September 2017 at 08:38

    15a plug: a cake of pressed tobacco for chewing

    ReplyDelete
  2. RameshJ6 September 2017 at 08:42

    For 8d I had it as first two of elves.
    For 17d, Is the plural of 'pull off' 'pulls off' or 'pull offs'?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satyen Nabar6 September 2017 at 08:50

      Plural of Pull-off (noun) must be Pull-offs (not pulls-off). For that matter plural of Layby should be Laybys (not laybies), if am not mistaken.

      Delete
    2. Kolluru Koteswara Rao6 September 2017 at 09:02

      +1

      Delete
    3. Padmanabhan6 September 2017 at 09:13

      17D- I had put in 'deals out'.

      Delete
    4. Chaturvasi6 September 2017 at 09:26

      These mistakes are disturbing. Setters must double-check such tricky words and ensure accuracy.

      Delete
    5. Col_Gopinath6 September 2017 at 09:29

      In the army earlier Prisoners of War was written as POWs, nowadays it is written as PsW

      Delete
    6. Vasant6 September 2017 at 09:50

      17D:negotiates=pulls off..isnt that correct verb form(if we consider negotiate to be verb)
      Didnt find laybies as plural of layby

      Delete
  3. Mukundala Balasubramanyam6 September 2017 at 08:52

    Good puzzle and a satisfactory solve! Thanks Arden.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kolluru Koteswara Rao6 September 2017 at 09:03

    26AC I felt the sentence was leading to ST ROLLS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao6 September 2017 at 09:23

      Similar doubt on 7DN: The wordplay is in singular form whereas the answer is in plural form.

      Delete
    2. sree_sree6 September 2017 at 09:36

      I think the def is "to barrier" -> embargoes verb( 3rd person present).

      Agree with 26ac roll 3rd person singular (goes->rolls).

      Delete
  5. Padmanabhan6 September 2017 at 09:08

    Is entourage equivalent to coterie?
    IMO, coterie is a group of equals and entourage is a retinue of followers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree6 September 2017 at 09:25

      Me too had a doubt probably because of its usage or the context of the usage I hear in news/political debates. The dictionary meaning includes circle/association/retinue for coterie also

      Delete
    2. Chaturvasi6 September 2017 at 09:42

      A synonym list is not dependable as it doesn't differentiate between shades of meanings of words. A good thesaurus gives explanatory notes and illustrations in sentences to bring out the niceties and nuances. People who are aware of these niceties may be unhappy with mere substitutions of words in definitions in crossword clues.

      Delete
  6. Padmanabhan6 September 2017 at 09:10

    Got stuck in NE corner- nailrod,banquette et al.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kolluru Koteswara Rao6 September 2017 at 09:13

    Taking MB's role today!
    18AC:{EN}{TOUR[AGE]S

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vasant6 September 2017 at 09:45

    While enjoyed most of the clues, some of them left me a bit unsatisfied...7D goes is given gratis,the singular-plural problems of 7d, 17d

    ReplyDelete
  9. sree_sree6 September 2017 at 09:47

    28d. I remember the discussion on the blog sometime ago about first substituting (pro-forma>for) and anagram (doctor). Is it becoming standard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant6 September 2017 at 09:59

      I think it has become expected. I find this quite frequently in English daily:Guardian, Times,FT and Independent

      Delete
  10. Chaturvasi6 September 2017 at 10:22

    Doctor, verb imperative, as anag signal must precede fodder. It coming after fodder is plain careless clue writing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath6 September 2017 at 11:35

      You're right, but I think that rule's been given a miss nowadays

      Delete
  11. raju umamaheswar6 September 2017 at 10:44

    No answer for nuances ! when the crossie doc says so, it is imperative to eat the fodder cake !! ANON to take note.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rita Mathur6 September 2017 at 10:52

    6D had me foxed for a while. Also wondered what 'laybies' were!

    ReplyDelete

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