Tuesday 13 February 2018

No 12239, Tuesday 13 Feb 2018, The Phantom


Answer and Anno for 4D left for a rookie commenter till 10 AM.

ACROSS
1   Painful contraction compressing rib (6) TRAGIC {T{RAG}IC}
5   Through a road crossed over inclination to reach plantation (8) VINEYARD {VI{YEN<=}A}{RD}
9   Fiery discharge surrounding blaze of oil (7) VIOLENT {V{OIL*}ENT}
10 Elegant turban employee's carrying (6) URBANE [T]
11 Proposition movie star? (6) PLANET {PLAN}{ET}
12 Pompous lad had his faults not having succeeded (3-2-3) LAH-DI-DAH (Correction - {LAD+HAD+HIs} - See comments)}*
13 Flipping top, old judge let off steam (9) EVAPORATE {PAVE<=}{O}{RATE}
15 Pickpocket following one in the van (5) THIEF {TH{1}E}{F} Van meaning ahead? See comments
17 Admit getting on in years (5) AGREE {AG{RE}E}
19 Cooker left in dirty area in an odd manner (9) STRANGELY {ST{RANGE}{L}Y}
22 “Deploys ship to carry junk” charged one (8) STATIONS {S{TAT}{ION}S}
23 Dream to consume nectar (6) TRANCE*
25 By the way sailor left base to protest (6) OBJECT {OB}{abJECT}
26 Dire sin to practice, unfair trading of this kind … (7) INSIDER* &lit
27 Mention about court's judges (8) REFEREES {REFER}{SEE<=}
28 Female supporter in passion about to get close (6) NEARBY {Y{BRA}EN}<=

DOWN
2   Celebrate in bar having got promotion (5) REVEL<=
3   Old wine that's not available in club (5-2) GROWN-UP {GRO{WiNe}UP}
4   Animal’s preserve consists of grass that’s basically green (8) C?E?T?R? (Addendum - CREATURE {C{R(grEen}AT}URE} )
5   Gathering list activists display a model's set of curves perhaps (5,10) VITAL STATISTICS {LIST+ACTIVISTS}* over {A}{T}
6   Batsman finally about to depart caught for duck (6) NAUGHT {b...aN}{cAUGHT}
7   Ill-bred individual's part of strange hobby (7) YOBBISH {I'S} in {HOBBY}*
8   Society everyone's having to live in is vaguely familiar (4,1,4) RING A BELL {RING} {A{BE}LL}
14 Plant perhaps betel, gave nuts (9) VEGETABLE*
16 To criticize without any right is unfair (8) PARTISAN {P{A}{RT}{IS}AN} A for Any? See comments
18 Height in metres etched in old oak for example (7) EXTREME {EX}{TRE{M}E}
20 A thousand pounds every year for relative (7) GRANDPA {GRAND}{PA} What's the role of 'pounds'? See comments
21 Steel trunk comprises couple of joints (6) BOTTLE {BO{T}{T}LE}
24 Plant reduced carbon emissions (5) CAROB CARBOn*

GRID

41 comments:

  1. 15A: Van as in vanguard meaning front = F

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  2. Van is the leading units moving at the head of an army
    As per wordweb

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  3. 20D- Thousand pounds is 'Grand'- usually it is $1000.

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    Replies
    1. Grand is normally used in the US for $1000

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    2. not sure if we can extend it to Pounds

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    3. Please check: http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk

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    4. Oops! Sorry Col. Copied the deleted post again @ 949

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  4. Several good clues- some making us think out of routine.
    Liked 17A for its simplicity.
    27A- EE from courts?

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  5. 5A vineyard is also nicely done.

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  6. Phantom makes us work a little harder, but enjoyable all the same.

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  7. I could not get rag= criticise=rib. Could only get it after seeing the blog.

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  8. The Phantom was unusually easy today! Even the 15-letter clue was a giveaway

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  9. 4D How is grass reduced to RAT ? Pardon my ignorance

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    Replies
    1. Grass is informer..Rat is also informer

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    2. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/thesaurus/rat
      informer, betrayer, stool pigeon
      informal snitch, finger, squealer, nose
      British informal grass,

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  10. Internet connectivity problem. Solved late. Few tough ones. Col, 5d typo in anno.

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  11. 12a anag of lad had his - s for succeeded?
    8d is vaguely familiar = RINGS A BELL?
    15a Is 'in the' doing double duty? 'In the van'= in front.... just van may not be enuf

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    Replies
    1. Van: Vanguard: 'a leading position'
      Does it 'ring a bell?' : is it vaguely familiar?.

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    2. Esha visiting the blog after a long time. Nice to hear from you again!

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  12. 12A- 'not having succeeded' is for removal of 's' from 'lad had his'.
    8D- Yes, 'Rings a bell' is being vaguely familiar (reminds you of something)
    15A- Just'van' is for front- pl. read the first 2 comments.

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  13. "Phantom leaves a permanent mark"Old Jungle Saying or new crossword saying.
    This was a beautifully done puzzle:crisp clues with the right amount of difficulty. Thanks Mr. Walker

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    Replies
    1. Yes. I agree with you that his puzzles have his trade mark stamped- meticulously correct with just that right level of difficulty.

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  14. Col:During the Sunday special puzzle comments you expressed your anguish on the low number of participation by old commenters and the low votes for the best clue for the Anniversary Special: while the latter is a matter of concern, the former may have been pouched by such fora as FB. But newer commenters keep on coming to the blog..deriving knowledge from explanation of clues, solving the specials
    I for one have developed thanks to you and the blog...and as I observe my daughter(16 years old)...enthusiastically following the blog..learning daily..forever asking questions...this reinforces that the blog is alive, kicking and continues to
    inspire.

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    Replies
    1. Nice to hear,Vasant. Earlier you had said that she is more into making a CW than solving. I felt both go hand in hand.

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    2. Thats still true Paddy..but she reads the blog..from the blog she figures out how clues are formed..tries to make her own clues..ro the blog makes both solvers & setters!

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  15. Vasant: The day Col announced here that the young lass was your daughter, I had made my comments congratulating her and you. Did you see my comments ? If she has the talent for compiling rather than solving, she should contribute to this blog for Sunday specials.

    There must be many more budding solvers and o compilers out there lying low , thanks to this blog. They will all have to be brought out by new ideas that the Coll has introduced here, giving them the chance to comment. When I came here first, I too felt a bit daunted by the overwhelmingly few members , who I thought , were '' favourites @@and slowly, I realised that it was mot so. Many of them are not appearing any more .


    I share the Col's concern. However, He should soldier on undeterred as they say : the old giveth unto the new :

    I still feel that the Col should announce the few entries of favourites that hee had received and wonder what stops him .

    I also didn't see the answers -grid of KKR's alphabet puzzle as promised by the Col to be published on MOnday following ! Or has it got gobbled up in the cloud space ?

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    Replies
    1. Raju:I did see the solved grid put up by Col.

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    2. Raju:she has contributed one puzzle(Mystique).She is working on her second puzzle

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