Answer and annotation of 8A left for a rookie commenter till 10 AM.
ACROSS
8 Hundreds of thousands provided in recession from public treasury (6)
9 Unaided, caught top gangster (2,6) AL CAPONE {AL{CAP}ONE}
10 Forcibly fit digging tool through cut (8) SHOEHORN {S{HOE}HORN}
11 Prepare to stop (4,2) DRAW UP [DD]
12 Submit gooey junk for review? I can't believe it! (3,4,2,6) YOU MUST BE JOKING*
14 Doctor cutting a narrow path around or near the kidneys (7) ADRENAL {A}{DR}{LANE<=}
16 Proclaim it a tear inducing parody (7) IMITATE [T]
19 Make an anagram correspond with another (8,7) EXCHANGE LETTERS [DD]
22 Starting off ham radio broadcast with a bang? (6) HAIRDO {H
24 Press chasing actors very hard (4-4) CAST-IRON {CAST}{IRON}
25 Fine writer Elia's other avatar (8) PENALISE {PEN}{ELIAS*}
26 Wise bird losing head and one's heart (6) OWLISH {
DOWN
1 Wealthy and affluent to keep an eye out for capital (8) RICHMOND {RICH}{MON
2 Squeal when jet's cold with temperature dropping (6) SCREAM S(-t+c)CREAM
3 Dabs lotion to deal with discolouration (10) BLOODSTAIN*
4 One hopeful catch ends in drop (7) WANNABE {WAN{NAB}E}
5 Turning ten was excellent (4) ACED <=
6 High quality rump steak son rejected after ordering (8) UPMARKET*
7 One after the other from jail picked up (2,4) IN TURN (~intern)
13 Masses join in moving spontaneous performance (3,7) JAM SESSION*
15 Fine cricket here, all-round absorbing (8) ETHEREAL [T]
17 Fabulous winner to scale over peaks of tennis order (8) TORTOISE {TO}{T
18 Fruits of exercise, pain and suffering (7) PEACHES {PE}{ACHES}
20 Did a security job by calling out raid (1-5) X-RAYED {X}{RAYED}(~raid)
21 Time to look for pudding (6) TRIFLE {T}{RIFLE}
23 Notice in passing, old piece of information (4) OBIT {O}{BIT}
Reference List
Top=CAP, Writer=PEN, Heart=H, Exercise=PE, By=X, Look for=RIFLE
Colour/Font Scheme
Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous
Bhargav's tale
A night club in downtown RICHMOND.
The JAM SESSION is in full swing.
ETHEREAL.
All of a sudden a female with some BLOODSTAIN shouts.
Oh My God. It is AL CAPONE.
Many experience an ADRENALine rush.
Meanwhile an old man with an OWLISH look remarks: YOU MUST BE JOKING.
Another IN TURN joins him.
"But his hat is missing. And that sure is not his HAIR DO. It is just someone trying to IMITATE him."
Later he asks everyone to DRAW UP to him and shows the OBIT in his smart phone.
The New Year Celebration continues with a WANNABE Pole Dancer.
8A fiscal. lacs +if in recession
ReplyDeleteGood show Earl!!!
DeleteWell done Dr Murali
Delete6D upmarket s out of rumpsteak
ReplyDelete3D bloodstain anagram
ReplyDelete5D aced deca reversed
ReplyDelete4D wannabe nab in wane
ReplyDeleteDr Murali you are still following Fridays format
ReplyDeleteI too managed to finish before my rounds. Relished it .
DeleteVery nice grid as usual from Buzzer. Liked TORTOISE, SCREAM, SHOEHORN a lot.
ReplyDeleteQuestions: 22A - "Heading off" indicates taking the first char? Shouldn't it be "heading of"? I thought "heading off" would be used to remove the first char.
Well, it can be interpreted as starting of xxx is yanked out and taken as a component in the charade.
DeleteFor the first time I could complete the Crossword in two hours time and without much references. Thanks to all members of this great blog, who explained every clue/solution meaningfully. It was a great experience for beginners like me.
DeleteGanesan Pancharatnam
Start off means 'to begin'. The race started off with a bang
DeleteWell done Abhishek.
DeleteGreat surfaces!
DeleteStart off= begin, hence first letter selection; but head off/ heading off would be first letter deletion I think?
'Starting off'kept me guessing about the anno until 'radio broadcast' clinched it.
ReplyDeleteNote 'Losing head' in 26A for first letter deletion.
CGB hitting the headlines. Great enjoyable work.
ReplyDeleteHappy to see CGB getting the well-deserved place
DeleteThe iconic Hare and the Tortoise story set as a crossword puzzle is. well, fabulous. The entire crossword was very enjoyable and satisfying, especially for beginners like me. All the clues followed the basic principles of crossword setting.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
There will be no special tomorrow in view of the IXL Finals
ReplyDeleteCould get to solving the puzzle now while travelling and on my cell. It is difficult to navigate on the cell and it is difficult to appreciate the grid fully.
ReplyDeleteFound the puzzle extremely enjoyable as expected from Buzzer.