Across
1. One's second child, a girl (6) ISABEL {I}{S}{ABEL}5. Beam at first taking extortion money (7) TRANSOM {T
9. Neck-deep in sand needlessly, suppressing a tingling sensation (4,3,7) PINS AND NEEDLES (T)
11. Pollution in air not helping (6) RATION {AIR+NOT*}
12. Following one rule breaking knave, queen or king? (4,4) FACE CARD {F}{ACE} {CA{R}D}
13. Birthmarks? I have a number all over (5) NAEVI {{I'VE}{A}{N}}<=
14. European country withholding man's right to vote (9) FRANCHISE {FRANC{HIS}E}
16. Opening batting, 1&2 for Australia key to reach peak (9) INAUGURAL {IN}{AU
18. Place to have tuck (5) PLEAT {PL}{EAT}
20. 2 AM brought back into bar, officer's personal attendant (8) BATWOMAN {BA{TWO}{AM<=}N}
22. Put off touring island, one that is challenging (6) DEFIER {DEF{I}ER}
24. Unplanned R and R; take it in your stride (8,6) CONSIDER NORMAL
25. Cosy retreat houses are most dear (7) NEAREST {NE{ARE}ST]
26. Old forgotten copies showing Persian ruler (6) XERXES {XER
Down
2. Knock down comedy sketch lacking a story (7) SKITTLE {SKIT}{T3. Premium to be paid for giving a gift (9) BESTOWING {BEST}{OWING}
4. Stretched out // pant (4) LONG (DD)
5. Vocational training out of college in vain (2,2,5) TO NO AVAIL {VO
6. English singer in South Australian city giving out aid (5) ADELE {ADEL
7. Bill say for ordering several courses (7) SYLLABI {BILL+SAY*}
8. I'm turning down volume, electronic tuner suffered failure (12) MISADVENTURE {IM<=}{SAD}{V}{E}{TUNER*}
10. He left 14 Ac heading to Britain, a conservative statesman (7,5) FRANCIS BACON {FRANC
14. Company losing leader to cry heavens! (9) FIRMAMENT {FIRM}{
15. Attendant serving wine fit for pub career (3-6) CUP-BEARER {PUB+CAREER*}
17. Batsman ten naturally cowed? Part of cricket (7) ANTENNA (T)
19. Private investigator trapped in lift to lose one's hair (7) EPILATE {E{PI}LATE}
21. Nothing to desire for suppose (5) OPINE {O}{PINE}
23. Bull seen around New York, it is ornamental (4) ONYX {O{NY}X}
Reference List
One=I, Following=F, One=Ace, Rule=R, Knave=Cad, Number=N, Batting=In, Key=G, Place=Pl, Island=I, Old=O
College=C, Volume=V, Electronic=E, Conservative=Con, Company=Firm, Nothing=O, New York=NY
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
24. Unplanned R and R; take it in your stride (8,6) CONSIDER NORMAL Anno not clear
ReplyDeleteR AND R SEMI COLON*
+1
DeleteGreat solving.
DeleteGreat work Raghu
DeleteSuperb!
DeleteLovely!Both clue & solve. As they say in CCS, SOTM(solve of the month)
DeleteCredit to the setter.
DeletePlenty of good clues. Enjoyed solving
ReplyDeleteEntertainment, thy name is Buzzer!
Delete24AC semicolon appearance is abnormal and giveaway!!
But I could not find it. Nor did Ramesh (surprisingly) for that matter.
DeleteOne has to look out for every letter, every punctuation mark. Great.
18a to have ->eat. Pleat->tuck my understanding.
ReplyDeleteProbably the def. is not highlighted?
DeleteIs it &lit?
DeleteI don't think so.
DeleteIt's not an &lit
DeleteThe bouncer and the dancer - Part 27
ReplyDeleteSunder Smith's head did not have any ANTENNA! Still, the cop not taking the ID card from his hands he did not CONSIDER NORMAL.
Kayal's brilliance comes to the fore. She OPINES that they change track and get down in the NEAREST station. Their mission should not end as a MISADVENTURE.
After getting down they rested awhile in the station and came out to find the INAUGURAL function of the FRANCHISE of a famous chain of restaurants.
Fun and joy all round.
FRANCIS! BACON and eggs for me cried one guest. A CUP BEARER came to their table and took order.
The crowd grew. Someone had slipped a FACE CARD and a picture of an ONYX dragon in front of SS. Seeing that he
felt PINS AND NEEDLES in his legs...
What happened next?
Francis Bacon nicely brought in.
DeleteIndian James getting to his flash back? Good one.
DeleteTypically Buzzer fare with Trademark T's. The patent for this is his own.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I found the going a little tough today, esp. for a few annos. Aha moments after seeing the blog. Even the anagrams are so well disguised by apt surfaces.
Very nice clue and solve. I have a small doubt. In this clue the equivalence is between an icon and its given name which is used as an anagram fodder. But if we use a synonym in a clue[word to word equivalence], then it would become an indirect anagram which is not kosher. Would appreciate some views from the experts
ReplyDeleteThat's a valid observation
DeleteAgree with you both. But as ; has only one possible meaning we could say it is fair.
DeleteCertainly indirect..but since it is one off & a trick clue I'd say allowable..it certainly gives a high after spotting the device
DeleteThe above comment is regarding 24 across
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable grid as always from Buzzer.
ReplyDeleteMany clues to like - 1A, 11A, 5D, 17D (nice def!)
Got 24A but could not anno till I saw the blog - Yes, a tad indirect but I suppose it can be reverse-engineered :)
17D- Batsman in the clue definitely (mis)leads one to the game of cricket. Another tricky clue- enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteOne small doubt. In 16A does ‘peak’ lead to ‘Ural’ ? I think it’s a range, not a peak. Maybe I’m missing something.
ReplyDeleteAs the symbol ; very clearly leads to SEMICOLON, there is no indirectness. That comes when a substitute word is used instead of the very word as anagram fodder - as several possibilities may be there. Here ; is SEMICOLON and nothing else.
ReplyDeletePostScript
ReplyDeleteI think ranger too means only what I have said above.
Today's Times had this clue:a quadruple definition for the word flush. It is difficult to make out it is a MD as it has a very plausible surface.
ReplyDeleteLook ashamed, maybe even, promising hand with money (5)
Look ashamed= going red
Maybe even=fitting tightly
Promising hand= having good poker(or teen pati)cards
With money=Rich