Monday 18 December 2017

No 12191, Monday 18 Dec 2017, Spinner


Answer and Annotation for 12A left for any rookie commenter till 10 AM.

ACROSS
1   Perhaps I must clue about love with lady extremely carefully! (12) METICULOUSLY {I+MUST+CLUE}* over {O}  and {LadY}
10 Tactic lacking good scope (5) AMBIT gAMBIT
11 Get rid of upper class boxed mentality inciting needless argument at the beginning! (9) ELIMINATE  {ELITE} over {Me...y}{In...g}{Ne...s}{Ar...t}
12 Beat batsman essentially with a bit of angled flight (6) S?A?R? (Addendum - STAIRS {ST{An...d}IR}{b..S..n} - See comments)
13 Gets killed while going around water bodies due to ailments! (8) DISEASES {DI{SEAS}ES}
15 Diaper designed to trap secretion and leave no trace! (9) DISAPPEAR {DI{SAP}PEAR*}
16 Locks with hard beam (4) HAIR {H}{AIR}
20 Book without covers is bound (4) EDGE lEDGEr
21 Follow one another, playing Teen Taal interspersed with some Relas (9) ALTERNATE {TEEN+TAAL}* over {Re..s}
24 Hed sing extraordinarily to gain leading awards/titles! (8) HEADINGS {HED+SING}* over {Aw...s}
26 Soldiers returning gold buried in locality (6) TROOPS {SPO{OR}T}<=
28 Academic expert in favour of capturing English vessel (9) PROFESSOR {PRO}{F{E}{SS}OR}
29 Mindful of a contest with Exa (5) AWARE {A}{WAR}{E}
30 Men outside rushed down to strike upset old relatives (12) GRANDPARENTS {G{RAN}{D}{RAP<=}ENTS}

DOWN
2   Spinner returns, getting ready for hugging! (9) EMBRACING {ME<=}{BRACING}
3   Batting to somehow avert loss by break time! (8) INTERVAL {IN}{AVERT*}{L}
4   Old dues settled (4) USED*
5   Started to nag editor crookedly to induct setter (10) ORIGINATED {NAG+EDITOR}* over {I}
6   Basically entered in, evaluated and took over! (6) SEIZED {S{En...d}IZED}
7   Pines when knight’s away for long stretches of time (5) YEARS YEARnS
8   Swallows drug on failure (5) LAPSE {LAPS}{E}
9   Cuts cess on plastic, overcoming resistance (7) CENSORS {CESS+ON}* over {R}
14 Australian opener set to eclipse record asked for forgiveness (10) APOLOGISED {Au...n}{PO{LOG}ISED}
17 NASA employee, say, arranged NASA tour on time (9) ASTRONAUT {NASA+TOUR}*{T}
18 Spinner’s initial following maybe happier in Spinner’s absence, probably! (7) PERHAPS {Sp...r} after {HAPPiER}*
19 Become greater with sincere dancing, captivating audience, primarily! (8) INCREASE {SINCERE}* over {Au...e}
22 Came in running to spot where flicks are played (6) CINEMA*
23 Firstly, Australia smashes hapless English strugglers in battle for the urn! (5) ASHES Acrostic
25 Slam on grass held in between (5) AMONG [T]
27 Time rolled back by acceleration in space (4) AREA {ERA<=}{A}

GRID

31 comments:

  1. Song of these days (after introducing clue for rookie) "chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaye". Soft flow clueing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 12A) Beat = stir; batsman essentially = s; with letter a;
    stairs is the word

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  3. The Guardian has stated that Rufus had decided to retire and his first crossword has been published in the paper today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sad news indeed. He is one of the most popular with a prodigious volume of work. His crosswords will be missed.

      Delete
  4. Lovely flights of Spin. After missed doing yesterday's special, today's loopy turns of Spinner was most enjoyable

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  5. Seems all commentors are glued to TV for the election results

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  6. ...that and other distractions (including Ashes test) kept me away from Spinner for a while. Enjoyable as ever. Felt clues were unusually longer this time,though precise.
    Rookie clue well solved and pretty quickly too.

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  7. 12A- Why angled? Just flight should be good enough for stairs?

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    Replies
    1. I took bit of angled for picking up A.

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    2. Thanks, I think that is mor like it

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    3. But 'a' is already there- just as A.

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    4. A bit of angled for 'a'.

      Somehow just 'bit of X' doesn't sound right in a sentence.

      Delete
    5. Agreed. Thank you Srivatsan.
      Doing a 'Kutchery' this year? Where & when?

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    6. Hello, already done with five. My next one is at Vani Mahal, 10am on 22nd December.

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    7. Will be there. I live close by. Looking forward to it.

      Delete
  8. ELECTION SPECIAL

    We have to wait until tomorrow for the Newspaper HEADINGS.
    Meanwhile, all and sundry including the PROFESSOR and his GRANDPARENTS PERHAPS are glued to the TV. One is seen at his seat EDGE!
    The commentators are METICULOUSLY analysing the incoming results!

    HAIR splitting moments for the contestants. BP of some might INCREASE.
    Who AMONG them is going to win?

    But the brouhaha will DISAPPEAR in a few days. The seasoned politician is USED to all this drama and more!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I now think that the single 'a' is for surface reading.
    Would the clue reading- 'Beat batsman essentially with a flight'? a looks redundant now.

    ReplyDelete
  10. A good entertainer and refreshing one.18d,17d& 26A- lovely jugglery.9d- superbly clued esp.'plastic' used as anind.All told a consummate puzzle with due credence to author. Thank you sir.

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  11. The clue for Disappear (15A) was humorous.I do not understand 20A; does bound mean edge? --Vanchinathan

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, CV sir has parsed it right below. Bound = Limit or Edge.

      Delete
  12. 'Bound', usu. 'bounds', also has the meaning of 'boundary'.

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  13. My take:
    A ledger is usually a BOUND BOOK.
    Edge is a synonym of Bound.
    So (-L)EDGE(-R)

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  14. For example, one might write: "Young adolescents in fun parties may be rambunctious but their acts must always be within the bounds of decency."

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  15. Shakespeare's word was 'bourn' In Hamlet he has:

    Who would fardels* bear,
    To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
    But that the dread of something after death,
    The undiscovered country from whose bourn
    No traveller returns...
    -----------------------
    *fardels - burdens

    ReplyDelete

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