Satyen Nabar's Sun Spl analysed

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Monday, 25 December 2017

No 12197, Monday 25 Dec 2017, Arden


Tough one today with some unusual words. 

 Solution and Anno of 9A left for a rookie commenter till 10 AM

ACROSS
1   Silent worker in the house, almost an apparition (7) PHANTOM {P}{H{ANT}OMe}
5   Maybe reusable to a limited extent in a country (7) BELARUS REUSABLe*
9   Attach if tense, pain will reduce (3,2) T?G?N (Addendum - TAG ON {T}{AGONy} - See comments)
10 Church worker carries bag, under strain perhaps (9) SACRISTAN {SAC}{STRAIN*} What's the role of 'carries' and how is bag 'under'?
11 Sedge, a fashionable girl in Tempest (9) GALINGALE {GAL{IN}{GAL}E}
12 It's good to have examination by first of March (5) MORAL {March}{ORAL}
13 Shock over bananas (4) NUTS<=
15 "Very fast" — I mention freely (2,2,4) IN NO TIME {I}{MENTION*}
18 Cut a length from maple instead — in other words, rush (8) STAMPEDE {MaPlE} in {STEAD}*
19 Peter did have a sex change, to start with (4) FADE (-m+f)FADE
22 How do you say tea is served? Fail! (3,2) ACT UP Anno pending (Addendum (A}{C{T}UP} - See comments)
24 Delay of the French revolution (9) DEFERMENT {DE}{FERMENT}
26 Soon going into test barber's work (9) TONSORIAL {T{SOON*}RIAL} Going as AInd?
27 Liquor bottles start to leak (5) BOOZE {Bo...s}{OOZE}
28 Currently it's considered an assault (7) BATTERY [DD]
29 Americans look for a negative response, are regressive (7) YANKEES {SEEK}{NAY}<=

 DOWN
1   Story teller will follow, in soup (6) POTAGE {TAG} in {POE}
2   Badly tangled? American comes in to take you on a trip (5,4) ANGEL DUST {US} in {TANGLED}*
3   Tension as there is no Spanish agreement to join (5) TENON TENsiON
4   Seminal work done about a drug derived from mushroom (9) MESCALINE {MES{C}ALIN*}{E}
5   Book on soccer, the contents are about an Italian game (5) BOCCE {B}{sOCCEr}
6   Recurring theme of title, I'm confused (9) LEITMOTIF*
7   Spinner can spin both ways (5) ROTOR [CD]
8   Some of the lines go up doddering (6) SENILE [T<=]
14 Signal aids English plan to venture inland (9) SEMAPHORE {S{E}{MAP}HORE}
16 Necessarily Spooner asks you to give the fool some food (9) NEEDFULLY (-f+n)FEED(-n+f)NULLY Nully/Fool?
17 Crazy about study of coral (9) MADREPORE {MAD}{RE}{PORE} Thanks to Google
20 Refusal to award a bachelor's degree from Cambridge (6) CANTAB {CAN'T}{A}{B} What's the role of Degree?
21 Anguish of girl under strain (6) STRESS Anno pending (addendum - diSTRESS - See comments)
23 Wine drinking, key to religious doctrine (5) TENET {TEN{E}T}
24 It carries news from parliament by day's end (5) DAILY {DAIL}{daY}
25 Examining exposed redbreast (5) ROBIN pROBINg

GRID

at

15 comments:

  1. P. Venkatesan25 December 2017 at 08:34

    9a: (T+(agon(-y))* = tag on = attach

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhavan25 December 2017 at 08:47

    21 Anguish of girl under strain (6) STRESS Anno pending

    Strain = stress
    Anguish = Di(girl) stress

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree25 December 2017 at 09:21

      Strain:distress
      Under:curtailed/sedated ->remove di

      Delete
  3. Kolluru Koteswara Rao25 December 2017 at 09:04

    Great offering from Arden.
    Liked 28AC very much

    ReplyDelete
  4. sree_sree25 December 2017 at 09:40

    20d I think it's BA (a bachelor degree) to order(award).
    16d nully https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/nully

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree25 December 2017 at 10:06

      10a bag:sack
      Under->short
      : Sac
      Carries->gets/has for surface reading perhaps. My understanding.

      Delete
    2. Nadathur Rajan29 December 2017 at 04:50

      The Artium Baccalaureatus (A.B.) Degree is the same as a Bachelor's in Arts (B.A.).
      Some degree abbreviations appear to be backwards because the Universities follow the tradition of Latin degree names.

      Delete
  5. Unknown25 December 2017 at 09:51

    22Ac T in a cup?

    ReplyDelete
  6. sree_sree25 December 2017 at 10:03

    Where did Bhavan's comment on 22ac go? Was it deleted since doc deleted his original comment?

    ReplyDelete
  7. C.G. BHARGAV25 December 2017 at 10:13

    A scene in BELARUS.
    Early morning and the ROBIN is still in its nest. In the nearby lawn PHANTOM is busy playing BOCCE.
    IN NO TIME his phone rings.
    No time for the DAILY BOOZE and TONSORIAL routine...
    NEEDFULLY he has to leave immediately as the YANKEES are after him.
    As he reaches NASA the SEMAPHORE is in the act.
    The BATTERY is already on and the huge ROTOR is in motion. Soon the rocket is going to FADE away in the sky.

    ( My wife: Are you NUTS?? Your coffee is getting cold.... )

    ReplyDelete
  8. C.G. BHARGAV25 December 2017 at 10:32

    A scene in BELARUS.
    PHANTOM is found casually playing a game of BOCCE. In a nearby tree the ROBIN is still in it's nest.
    IN NO TIME the phone rings. No time for his DAILY BOOZE and TONSORIAL routine.
    The YANKEES are calling him. NEEDFULLY he has to leave immediately to NASA.
    The SEMAPHORE is in his act. BATTERY is switched on and the ROTOR swings into motion.
    Soon the rocket is going to FADE away in the sky.
    (My wife: Are you NUTS?? Your coffee is getting cold...)

    ReplyDelete
  9. V.L.SRIDHSRAN25 December 2017 at 10:40

    18A rush
    Stampede
    Maple minus al in stead
    Gets the answer

    ReplyDelete
  10. Satyen Nabar25 December 2017 at 10:54

    Sorry did not realise Bhavan's comment was tagged to mine!

    Bhavan's parsing of clue 22A--

    Tea in A CUP....A C(T)UP

    ReplyDelete
  11. Vasant25 December 2017 at 14:09

    Did the puzzle in the print edition while travelling on the way back.
    Found it tough all the way and with no dictionary help, there were a lot of unfilled blanks..had to guess most like Sacristan, Bocce, Galingale.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Narayana Swamy D25 December 2017 at 20:14

    Nice grid.... Had to struggle to solve...

    ReplyDelete

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