Wednesday 4 April 2018

No 12282, Wednesday 04 Apr 2018, Lightning


Answer and anno for 15D left for a first-time commenter till 10AM.

ACROSS
1   Extremely explosive grenade set off by outlaw (8) RENEGADE {e...vE+GRENADE}*
5   Caretaker of farmhouse missing first recipe (6) RANGER {gRANGE}{R}
9   Expensive fine I have for showing hand gesture (4,4) HIGH FIVE {HIGH} {F}{I'VE}
10 Small shelf, rather imaginary one in stories (6) HOBBIT {HOB}{BIT}
12 County parish Ireland sheltered (5) SHIRE [T]
13 Are wicked males finally subject to humiliation? (9) ABASEMENT {ABASE}{MEN}{s...cT}
14 Weak have to consume bread for starters to get energy (6) FEEBLE {FEE{Br..d}L}{E}
16 Kelvin’s eating meat in hot wind? (7) KHAMSIN {K{HAM}S}{IN}
19 Mistake in printing word for word (7) LITERAL [DD]
21 Core engineer that one replaces to interfere (6) MIDDLE M(-e+i)IDDLE
23 Certain about maid paying final and additional expense (9) SURCHARGE {SUR{CHAR}{p...nG}E}
25 Planet’s core moved end to end (5) EARTH (-h)EART(+h)H
26 First attempt filling void every year (6) ANNUAL {ANNU{At...t}L}
27 A belief in peculiar, vast resemblances to ancestors (8) ATAVISMS {A}{TAV{ISM}S*}
28 Fellow leaving dinner party by oriental river on holy day (6) EASTER {fEAST}{E}{R}
29 Comprises expenses to secure poles on island (8) CONSISTS {CO{N}{S}{I}STS}

DOWN
1   Man goes back into reckless subject without any change (6) REHASH {R{HE<=}ASH}
 Leg in cast? Fellow is careless (9) NEGLIGENT {LEG+IN}*{GENT}
3   Old man curtailed mistake (5) GAFFE GAFFEr
4   Kapil’s next one had to move away (7) DEVIATE {DEV}{1}{ATE}
6   A stroke in anticipation (9) AFOREHAND {A}{FOREHAND}
7   Bet millions wasted for feature in a wall (5) GABLE GAmBLE
8   Flipping grade, about to rise (8) ROTATING {R{TO<=}ATING}
11 Diamonds on boat are not bright (4) DARK {D}{ARK}
15 Joke about earth falling in danger to natality (9) B?R?H?A?E (Addendum - BIRTHRATE {RIB<=}{THR(-e)AT(+e)E}- See comments)
17 Closes risk for the most part revising hard condition (9) SCLEROSIS {CLOSES+RISk}*
18 Dance move glide, a sliding step primarily (8) GLISSADE {GLIDE+A+Sl...g+Step}* Semi&lit
20 Abridged tales on dead ruler (4) LORD {LORe}{D}
21 Expert engineer packing sailing aid brings back gold (7) MAESTRO {MA{E}ST}{OR<=}
22 Article Swiss oddly provided for dissertation (6) THESIS {THE}{SwIsS}
24 Bring stealthily smuggled ornaments (5) RINGS [T]
25 Tricksters quietly breaking ledges (5) ELVES shELVES

GRID

36 comments:

  1. 18d whats anag indicator? Is it semi&

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Move is the AInd in my view and is on Double duty. Can't be semi&lit as it's not a sliding step as seen at the link

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    2. Glissade in French is sliding. https://www.britannica.com/art/glissade

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    3. If- is an anind, it is something new.

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    4. GLISSADE: a sliding ballet step. From Chambers on line

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  2. Cracking crossword. Challenging in parts especially the NE corner but enjoyable. Thanks Lightning.

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  3. 7D- millions, 11d- diamonds- Is the plural required in both cases?

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    Replies
    1. While D works only for Diamonds, M works for both singular and plural.
      Refer to Chambers.

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    2. DIAMONDS-SUITE of cards. M is standard for millions as per ISO. http://www.onlinegrammar.com.au/writing-about-millions-and-billions/

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  4. 15D BIRTHRATE - Joke(rib) about(t) (earth) falling in danger(anagram indicator) to natality- (RIB+T+EARTH)*

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    Replies
    1. My anno is
      Joke about = {RIB<=} = BIR
      Danger = threat
      earth falling in danger = THRATE
      BIRTHRATE is the solution

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    2. "about" is reversal indicator

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    3. Raghu- Is earth falling in danger is (THREAT)*?

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    4. Earth indicates letter "E" which falls from threat and becomes "thrate"

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    5. Yes Karthikeyan. You are right.

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    6. Well cracked Karthikeyan

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    7. More simply put natality is birthrate.

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  5. Replies
    1. Joke about- Rib
      Earth falling- (Earth)*
      {(bir)(earth)}*
      T is missing. That is not explained. It cannot be from about.

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    2. +1
      Kartikeyan's attempt leads to indirect anagram, right?

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    3. No anagram is involved. Only letter shifting.
      (BIR<)+THR(-e)AT(+E)

      Delete
  6. Thank you KKR. But I still think singular will work without affecting the surfaces.

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  7. Can someone list out the theme words. I have nevre read Lord of the Rings

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  8. EARTH!
    It is always ROTATING around itself and around the Sun. Not in lightning speed!
    One full rotation in 24 hours. The THESIS that the earth is flat was broken long back. Yes, it is a globe and a spinner. It spins during day and after dark. Can we not call it a nitya rotator?
    I am digressing. The hero of our story is not incognito or a Dr. X. He is Rex GABLE son of LORD Paul a forest RANGER, a hefty MIDDLE aged person.
    Paul wanted his son to turn a film actor but Gable was NEGLIGENT to that idea.

    ...to be continued

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  9. He wished to become an ardent astronomer. Even at the age of five he knew that saturn and neptune have RINGS. Received a HIGH FIVE for that from his kindergarten teacher for that.
    He spoke of stars as scintillators. Looking at the longitudes and latitudes on his mac one could say he was a gridman of sorts.
    (Story takes a turn here)
    By the time he was ten he read a lot of comics often dressing himself like a batman or The Phanthom.
    By the time he was twenty he was a MAESTRO on the piano.
    He was intelligent no doubt. Pressed the buzzer first in KBC.
    Life CONSISTS in changing interests and attitudes...
    At fifty he was a top politician and an expert in skullduggery!!

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  10. Wow!!
    Not only puzzle words,but all setters have also been roped into your THESIS.
    Lightning
    Spinner
    Afterdark
    Anitya
    Incognito
    Dr.X
    Ranger
    Scintillator
    Gridman
    Phantom
    Buzzer
    Skulldugger

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  11. AFOREHAND, ATAVISMS & SCLEROSIS were very well composed. Especially, A FORE HAND. FORE -Lightning must be a golf player ? HIGH FIVE is a new -age cheer ! High five to the copiler for introducing such new age language ! Brain tingler of a puzzle that I could complete in less than 20 minutes !

    CGB: OH, I forgot to thnk you for not having aken a hoilday from poetizing on my Sunday Special too !

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    Replies
    1. 20 minutes is great timing!I also saw that you got a full score in the Bud puzzle which was one of the toughest puzzles I encountered. Great solving!Congrats!

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