ACROSS
1 "I will return" – breaking story on being human (8) FALLIBLE {FA{I'LL<=}BLE}
5 Huge growth of blood samples (6) BAOBAB {B}{A}{O}{B}{AB}
11 Exotic, tropical, large forbidden fruit (7) APRICOT TROPICA
13 Get a fix with China tea, perhaps (9) ORIENTATE {ORIENT}{TEA*}
14 Rituals he may perform in an unprofessional manner (12) AMATEURISHLY*
18 One goes for 'in camera', like Obama (4-8) AFRO-AMERICAN {A}{FOR+IN+CAMERA}*
21 Garam masala, it goes into artist's cocktail (9) MARGARITA {GARAM*}{R{IT}A}
24 It's exhausting, so Carol’s taken a seat (7) SPEWING {S{PEW}ING}
25 Figurative writing, picture on line (7) IMAGERY {IMAGE}{RY}
26 Things reviewed by an artist (6) TITIAN {IT<=}{IT<=}{AN}
27 Obscene minded, exposed for a change (8) INDECENT {
DOWN
1 Cheat and run away – close borders (6) FLEECE {FLEE}{C
2 Prayer at sea – salinity is gone (6) LITANY
3 Complaint that each aim is different (9) ISCHAEMIA*
4 Saga about fighter on entering the test arena (4,2,3,5) LORD OF THE RINGS {FIGHTER+ON}* in {LORDS}
6 Taxi rank allowed in old US city... (5) AKRON {O} in {RANK}* Taxi as Anind?
7 ...it's long after second complaint (8) BACKACHE {ACHE}<=>{BACK}
8 Incidentally, extras swallowed half of them (2,3,3) BY THE BYE {BY{TH
9 Run initial data, characters become broad-minded (14) LATITUDINARIAN*
15 However, it could be canine, say... (2,3,4) IN ANY CASE*
16 ...rodent in shop, not acceptable for monkey (8) MARMOSET {MAR{MO
19 Opponents in a game played at the riding school (6) MANEGE {N}{E} in {GAME}*
20 Criminal syndicate loses aid, will go into a shell (6) ENCYST SYN
22 I'm going through two articles on our inner self (5) ANIMA {AN}{I'M}{A}
GRID
I always thought it was 'By the by'. Incidentally, it was used a lot in old South Indian movies, esp. Telugu.
ReplyDeleteI too thought it was South Indian colloquialism.
DeleteEngaging one.
ReplyDeleteNever thought a word could be formed out of blood groups!
Yesterday it was 'left open' for removing firat & last letters. Today it is 'minded exposed' in 27A. Innovative and enjoyable.
Could not parse a few and needed dic. for a few as well.
6D. Taxi anagrind as in transport, travel etc.
ReplyDeleteOld city is the def.- not taxi. To be changed.
DeleteSory. Just city.
DeleteThanks Paddy. Corrected it.
DeleteBoth 'by the by' & 'By the bye' are okay as per Free dic.
ReplyDeleteNice one.Was just that much more difficult to stretch one's grey cells.
ReplyDeleteSanity returns after finishing of the Grid feast in 1 Across. Yesterday's was particularly challenging.
How true ! It took the best part of my mornings each day ! No more leaderboard announcements today, as yet ?
DeleteLeaderboard announcement withheld after round 11.
DeleteAnnotating things like orient is e, artist is ra (incidentally, why is this) and many other such short hand - does this come intuitively to everyone here or by experience? I’m often left clueless about these things. And sometimes there are different short hands for the same word, it’s almost frustrating :(
ReplyDeleteAlso why is line ry?
DeleteShort for railway.
DeleteDear Ananthakrishnan, I can understand the frustration but there is a clear remedy.
DeleteThere are several online resources that provide the list of commonly used abbrevs which you can access. Listing a few below...
http://www.clueclinic.com/index.php/all-abbreviations/
http://sphinx.mythic-beasts.com/~mark/random/indicators/
The comprehensive option is to buy The Chambers Dictionary and The Chambers Crossword Dictionary to get acquainted with abbrevs as well as understand why they came about. Both are truly fascinating volumes.
Of course as you keep solving, most of these abbrevs will indeed become second nature through experience.
See http://www.crosswordunclued.com
DeleteDr.S.N.,
DeleteHalf way through your book. Enjoying the language and the subtle humour right through, even in serious situations. I am sure, language-wise, it should be one of the best (if not the best) among contemporary novels.
Very much honoured and delighted Paddy! Thanks for the kind words indeed :)
DeleteWhich book?
Delete"A Bolt of Lightning". Vasant read about Dr Satyen under the link 'THC Setters'
DeleteThanks Sir.Shall read.
DeleteI have another area where I could use some advice - take 1d - after judiciously seeing this blog everyday, I immediately abbreviated cheat to con and was trying to figure out a word for close borders. But as usual the word meaning happened to be cheat. So how does one differentiate the fodder from the part that actually refers to the meaning of the word in question. This is probably a CW 101 question but the answer certainly eludes me
ReplyDeleteMost of this also comes from experience, I think. To zone on the definition for example. In this case the crossing letters were helpful. The C as the second last letter helped. So ClosE borders had to be CE and since run away=flee then cheat=fleece hrlped. Of course all this logic hapens in a flash and you get a satisfying solve
DeleteThe only thing that guides is that the def. is either at the beginning or at the end- never in the middle. So, if it is not borders/ close borders (obvious) it has to be cheat. This is just a layman's explanantion. experts may come up with something better to guide you.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteDoc,
ReplyDeleteI loved this sentence-" (After college days) Fun and games end and then the living starts.The guys who invented the English language had a very quirky sense of humour for sure."
Now I can understand the surface reading of your clues!
Thanks Paddy :) Hope you like the rest of it as well!
DeleteExplanations by Vasant & Padmanabhan quite helpful. 4A, I got it as it fitted nicely but can anyone explain how the fighter figures?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I mean clue 4D
ReplyDeleteSaga = Definition
ReplyDeleteabout = Anagram indicator
fighter on = Anagram fodder
entering = Insertion indicator
the test arena = LORDS
Anagram of {FIGHTER+ON} in {LORDS}
Saga = {LORD{OF THE RING}*S}
Loved : UTILITARIANISM. MANEGE.ENCYST & BAOBAB. Each day from ARDEN is refreshingly educative. Baobab reminded me of these trees prevalent in Kenya.
ReplyDeleteUtilitarianism? If it is 'Latitudinarian', you have taken a wide latitude!
ReplyDeleteHA HA !! sorry ! After the 1ACross series my mindneeded some platitude to be an utilitarian and hence took a longitudial latitude !! Thanks Paddyji !
DeleteVMT, Shri Gopinath!
ReplyDeleteShowing up very late today as otherwise busy!
ReplyDeleteArden's mark is felt in some clues. Quite an enjoyable one. Took longer time in solving.
18 One goes for 'in camera', like Obama (4-8) AFRO-AMERICAN {A}{FOR+IN+CAMERA}*
ReplyDelete17 Turn ripe, red and blue (8) PRURIENT*
"goes" and "red" are the anagrinds? New for me!