Satyen Nabar's Sun Spl analysed

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Wednesday, 28 February 2018

No 12252, Wednesday 28 Feb 2018, Arden


Answer and anno for 16D left for a rookie commenter till 10 AM.

ACROSS
1   Spooner wagers, he manages somehow (4,2) GETS BY (~bets guy)
4   A group of politicians swallow a crook — like this does! (8) ANACONDA {A}{N{A}{CON}DA} Semi&lit
9   Peace finally — turns out to be otherwise (6) UNREST {p..cE+TURNS}* Semi&lit
10 People in the UK take supplement — it goes to show (8) BRANDISH BR(-it+and)ANDISH
12 He doesn't strike as a poet, carries a weapon (8) SCABBARD {SCAB}{BARD}
13 Encourage operator to take Sunday off (4,2) URGE ON sURGEON
15 Terrible night, in gloom holding two jobs (12) MOONLIGHTING*
18 A long time goes into making things impure (12) ADULTERATION {ADULT}{ERA}{INTO*}
21 Friendly, not changing locations (6) SOCIAL LOCAtIonS*
22 Hamlet's castle relies on trade (8) ELSINORE*
24 Port is left, no way it can be right (8) LARBOARD (-st+l}LARBOARD
25 Oil transformed nation (6) ANOINT*
26 He is no good, always carrying broken idol (8) EVILDOER {EV{IDOL*}ER}
27 Agent gets shelter, wants to lie low (6) SLEEPY {S{LEE}PY}

DOWN
1   Terrible resume, go away (8) GRUESOME*
2   Bull fighter to put one in correct order (8) TOREADOR {TO}{RE{A}DOR*}
3   It's round, it's very hard, understand it's a sporting venue (8,7) BASEBALL DIAMOND {BALL} {DIAMOND} under {BASE}
5   "Managed to raise a thousand", he informs (4) NARK {RAN<=}{K}
6   Business cover taken by citizen face to face (15) CONFRONTATIONAL {CO}{N{FRONT}ATIONAL}
7   Caught as one went to sea, reversed direction initially (6) NAILED (-s+n)NAILED
8   Partners carry two articles, Capital! (6) ATHENS {A}{THE}{NS}
11 Daily breaks record, easy to break (7) FRAGILE {F{RAG}ILE}
14 Tower — metal casing pressurized up to a point (7) STEEPLE {STEE{P}L}{E}
16 Nothing can stop fine extraction from tobacco (8) ?I?O?I?E (Addendum - NICOTINE {NIC{O}{TIN}E} - See comments)
17 Descent — maybe can try to get two points (8) ANCESTRY {E}{S} in {CAN+TRY}*
19 I peddled drug, she drank a potion (6) ISOLDE {I}{SOLD}{E}
20 Tax on Peru upsets Puerto Rico (6) OCTROI {puerTO+RICO}*
23 Not against poetry or language (4) ERSE vERSE

GRID

at

48 comments:

  1. sree_sree28 February 2018 at 08:34

    23d verses minus vs, my understanding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao28 February 2018 at 08:39

      +1

      Delete
    2. Raghunath28 February 2018 at 08:39

      v and vs, both are fine

      Delete
    3. Deepak Gopinath28 February 2018 at 08:42

      Why verses? Verse is poetry and V is the abvn for versus

      From Chambers
      v or v. abbreviation 1 velocity. 2 verb. 3 versus. 4 very. 5 vide (Latin), see, refer to. 6 volume.

      Delete
    4. Kolluru Koteswara Rao28 February 2018 at 08:47

      Yes, Col. You are right.

      Delete
    5. Raghunath28 February 2018 at 08:50

      You could be right. Poem maybe verse/s but poetry is verse.

      Delete
    6. sree_sree28 February 2018 at 08:52

      technically verse is a succession of metrical feet written, printed, or orally composed as one line; one of the lines of a poem. multiple lines grouped as stanza is a poem/poetry.

      Delete
    7. Raghunath28 February 2018 at 09:00

      From chambers online:
      poetry
      n
      verse, lyrics, rhyme, rhyming, versing, poems,

      Delete
    8. Kolluru Koteswara Rao28 February 2018 at 09:02

      VERSUS=AGAINST BOTH V AND VS ARE ACCEPTABLE

      Delete
  2. KARTHIK28 February 2018 at 08:48

    16D) nothing = O; can = TIN; fine = NICE; {OTINNICE}*; NICOTINE is the solution

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kolluru Koteswara Rao28 February 2018 at 08:49

    18AC Does it not lead to ADULTERATING?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KARTHIK28 February 2018 at 08:50

      +1

      Delete
    2. sree_sree28 February 2018 at 09:13

      noun vs verb.

      Delete
    3. Vasant28 February 2018 at 10:11

      The whole clue reads as if it is a process(noun). A long time ago ( something-adulteration) goes into making things impure

      Delete
  4. Padmanabhan28 February 2018 at 09:09

    Several good enjoyable surfaces. Nice play of words- (e.g.) Peru upsets Puerto Rico.
    NDA is a favorite of Arden.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kolluru Koteswara Rao28 February 2018 at 09:32

    11DN DAILY=PAPER=RAG
    Looks far-fetched

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath28 February 2018 at 09:36

      Not farfetched. Rag is colloquial for Newspaper/Daily

      Delete
    2. sree_sree28 February 2018 at 09:49

      in the 1800 may be upto 1870s, newspapers were printed on rag papers. wood pulp came in late.

      Delete
  6. Dr. Krishnamoorthy. A, Vellore28 February 2018 at 09:37

    16d: nicotine - {(o - nothing)+tin(can)+nice(fine)}*

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kolluru Koteswara Rao28 February 2018 at 09:50

    14DN We all know P=Pressure.
    Can we use P for pressurised too?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dr. Krishnamoorthy. A, Vellore28 February 2018 at 11:20

    Then
    Nic(o)(tin)e ?

    ReplyDelete
  9. cheguvera28 February 2018 at 12:05

    What is semi and lit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant28 February 2018 at 13:00

      An & Lit Clue is one where the whole clue is the definition and all the words are part of wordplay but in a Semi & Lit clue the whole clue is the definition but not all words are part of wordplay

      Delete
  10. vdsprasad49@gmail.com28 February 2018 at 13:08

    12A. Scabbard is a sheath for sword or the like. This being so, can "carries a weapon" be the definition?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant28 February 2018 at 13:15

      A sheath or cover carries the sword in addition to protecting the sword carrier from getting cut!

      Delete
    2. Prasanna Rao28 February 2018 at 21:53

      Today's clue seems to be hard. Except 1A and 15d

      Delete
  11. Padmanabhan28 February 2018 at 13:13

    Col. has carefully marked 'Carries a weapon' as def., meaning a sheath. He seems to have anticipated your doubt!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. vdsprasad49@gmail.com28 February 2018 at 13:34

      I do not mean to quibble but if "carries a weapon" is the definition, the answer has to be a verb, not a noun. Perhaps the clue itself should have been worded differently?

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan28 February 2018 at 17:10

      Seems to be alright to me- scabbard carries a weapon- something like FITB.

      Delete
    3. vdsprasad49@gmail.com28 February 2018 at 18:41

      Thank you. I accept it that way!

      Delete
  12. raju umamaheswar28 February 2018 at 15:07

    Whats a Bets Guy? Wages= bets and he=guy ; Spooner will turn in his grave ! Spoonerism taken too far ! Slip of tongue to tongue of lisp ?

    ANACONDA - group of politicians= NDA? Again , like yesterday _ A Di, today A NDA ? crook= con swallowed and anaconda swallows an article a ? !

    A Arden to clarify !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree28 February 2018 at 15:57

      Metoo feel bets, guy taking spoonerism too far. But Anaconda did not swallow anything.

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan28 February 2018 at 17:13

      Yes, all A's are taken care of.

      Delete
    3. Bhavan1 March 2018 at 04:26

      I'm curious to know what according to you is the criteria which puts this spoonerism over some line which makes it crossing an imaginary boundary?

      Delete
  13. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 February 2018 at 18:29

    Spoonerism clues...Not my cup of tea!

    ReplyDelete

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