Thursday, 1 November 2018

No 12461, Thursday 01 Nov 2018, Dr. X,


ACROSS
1   What celebrities adore? Snaps featuring torrid love (5,3) PHOTO OPS {P{HOT}{O}OPS}
5   Terrible cough overwhelms a South American cowboy (6) GAUCHO {G{A}UCHO*}
10 Brief mention in heartfelt narration (7) RECITAL {RE{CITe}AL}
11 Previous result of synchronising watches? (3-4) ONE-TIME [DD]
12 Briefly visit force holding a military operation (3,2) POP IN {P{OP}IN}
13 Propose to include one united agenda (9) TIMETABLE {T{1}{MET}ABLE}
14 Tricky romantic relationship for those fond of geometry? (4,8) LOVE TRIANGLE {LOVE} {TRIANGLE}
18 False account by government workers featured in film (12) MISSTATEMENT {MIS{STATE}{MEN}T}
21 Discussion to bury fight with wife (9) INTERVIEW {INTER}{VIE}{W}
23 Acting rude around new subordinate (5) UNDER {U{N}DER*}
24 Attending to fault in shaky rung (7) NURSING {NUR{SIN}G*}
25 Something electric held by crew! Showing sign of shock (7) REELING {R{EEL}ING}
26 Impresses and gets female to go out (6) ETCHES fETCHES
27 Square root of -1? Few evaluate this mathematical function (8) ISOMETRY {1}{SOME}{TRY}

DOWN
1   Garnet, possibly coppery, lacks carbon (6) PYROPE cOPPERY*
2   Trophy secured by unduly coy people (6) OCCUPY {OC{CUP}Y*}
3   Both batsmen dismissed! Perfect (3-3-3) OUT-AND-OUT [DD]
4   Use influence to withdraw section of the orchestra (4,3,7) PULL THE STRINGS {PULL} {THE STRINGS}
6   Warn cartel slyly shifting cocaine (5) ALERT cARTEL*
7   Cheat to gain point in card game (8) CRIBBAGE {CRIB}{BAG}{E}
8   Astonished to be awake? (4-4) OPEN-EYED [DD]
9   What student might say to teacher? "Pay attention to what I say!" (3,4,2,5) YOU MARK MY WORDS [DD]
15 Mad revolutionary nursing hatred to ridiculous excess (2,7) AD NAUSEAM {AD{NAUSEA}M*}
16 Be manic, excited consuming ecstasy and spirit (8) AMBIENCE {BE+MANIC}* over {E}
17 Obscure drunkard in largely creepy club (8) ESOTERIC {E{SOT}ERIe}{C}
19 Goalless Germany involved in a fight (6) ADRIFT {A}{D}{RIFT}
20 Extraordinarily good, racy boxing at last in ‘Rocky’ (6) CRAGGY {G+RACY}* over {b...nG}
22 One going in to demolish? Quite the opposite! (5) RAISE {RA{1}SE}

GRID

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23 comments:

  1. sree_sree1 November 2018 at 08:44

    22d I read it as r(a)ise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath1 November 2018 at 08:59

      See the link over the word demolish in the main post

      Delete
  2. sree_sree1 November 2018 at 08:46

    20d IMU, simple anagram.

    ReplyDelete
  3. sree_sree1 November 2018 at 08:51

    Thanks doc for a smooth flowing serve. The return was as smooth.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Padmanabhan1 November 2018 at 09:36

    Thank you Doc. Enjoyed solving it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Padmanabhan1 November 2018 at 09:36

    Pyrope was new to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kolluru Koteswara Rao1 November 2018 at 10:04

    Thanks Dr.X.
    Easier than expected.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vasant1 November 2018 at 10:09

    A puzzle that brought a smile on my face and brightened up the whole day. Thanks Dr. X

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mukundala Balasubramanyam1 November 2018 at 11:27

    2D Anno...One parenthesis after cup is missing, Sir.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant1 November 2018 at 11:30

      MB in his elements after a long time!:-)
      Bahut der kar de, Huzoor aate aate.

      Delete
  9. Chaturvasi1 November 2018 at 11:52

    Very enjoyable.
    May I ask a question, Dr.X?
    Do you write the clues after you've filled a grid?
    Or do you write at least some (e.g. 4d, 9d) clues first and place them in the grid (before the
    crossings take over)?
    Do you write clues when there is no grid at all in front of you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satyen Nabar1 November 2018 at 12:07

      Thank you CV Sir! You made my day :) Yes, I started the grid with the 2 long Down clues already written. Then I choose the crossing words that seem interesting to clue. I set the clue for each word before progressing ahead. Sometimes, of course the grid fill doesn't permit a word eventually. So then that word goes into the next crossword to kickstart that grid. Of course, after the whole grid is done, there is a lot of refining of the clues overall. As you well know Sir, sometimes it all falls in place beautifully and sometimes it's a real struggle! :)

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan1 November 2018 at 12:48

      Good question and an interesting answer. CV chose the right clues as example- they satnd out as though they just did not 'happen'. Good place to start with. I was also thinking that long words have to go in first. Interesting process.
      'I choose the words that seem interesting to clue'
      I always appreciate your pithy humorous clues. Gives me a sense of satisfaction when I have filled in. thank you once again Doc. Looking forward to tomorrow.

      Delete
    3. Vasant1 November 2018 at 15:06

      Doc: Do you use a software(crossword compiler,etc) for grid filling or is it manual-auto?

      Delete
    4. Satyen Nabar1 November 2018 at 15:46

      Hi Vasant! I use Crossword Compiler 9.

      Delete
    5. Vasant1 November 2018 at 15:51

      Thanks Dr.

      Delete
  10. Lakshmi Vaidyanathan1 November 2018 at 12:00

    Enjoyed solving the cw Doc :) Lovely !

    ReplyDelete

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