Monday 10 December 2018

No 12493, Monday 10 Dec 2018, Aspartame


ACROSS
9   Cool teahouses often come prepared for dessert (9,6) CHOCOLATE MOUSSE {COOL+TEAHOUSES+CoMe}*
10 Rows are regular for him (7) OARSMAN [CD]
12 Surplus that's too old to be useful (7) OVERAGE [CD]
13 Treat daughter having an insect bite around fingertip (9) DISINFECT {D}{1}{SIN{Fi...p}ECT*}
14 Unit protects one northern animal (5) RHINO {RH{1}{N}O}
15 Eccentric coward has debts (7) CURIOUS {CUR}{IOUS}
18 Retaking possession that's seen during bridge (2-5) RE-ENTRY Anno pending
21 Mad villain killed a leftist leader with tool (5) ANVIL V1lLAIN*
23 Starting off with message to keep moderate urbane, happy (9) EXUBERANT {tEX{URBANE*}T}
25 Vital Phosphorus vial to be maintained (7) PIVOTAL {P+VIAL+TO}*
26 Plants ought to be sheltered to yield grains (7) SHADOWS {S{HAD}OWS} Ought/Had? Definition a bit far fetched
29 Note — trainee is taking meal as part of a learning program (9,6) REFRESHER {RE}{FRESHER}{COURSE}

DOWN
1   Remains of English politician (4) ECHO {E}{CHO}
2   Addresses made to the second person in a year included old and upper class (4) YOUR {Y{O}{U}R}
3   Sitcom man dodges concealed fighter (8) COMMANDO [T]
4   Sandwich made from fresh sardine duke discarded (6) SARNIE SARdINE*
5   I adopt a round mammal (3,5) SEA OTTER {SE{A}{O}TTER}
6   He pretends to feel apologetic about burning spoons regularly, at first (6) POSEUR {sPoOnS}{RUE<=}
7   Writer took the crown from sassiest youth doctor (8) ESSAYIST {sASSIEST+Y}*
8   Man got good money demonstrating leadership (8) HEGEMONY {HE}{G}{MONEY}*
11 A water droplet reportedly signifies goodbye (5) ADIEU {A}{DIEU}(~dew)
15 Dictionary boy sold to get penny for drinks (7) CHAMPERS CHAM(-b+pe)PERS
16 Give energy to umpire having caught 66 yorkers at the start (8) REVIVIFY {RE{VI}{VI}F}{Yo...s}
17 Man has tasty cocktail in secret (8) STEALTHY ?
19 Muscle used to reach a higher level (8) ELEVATOR [DD]
20 Come back to regional heads meeting at central cinema to start watching.. (5) RENEW {REg...l}{ciNEma}{Wa...g} Heads for first two letters?
22 ...maybe a film about leaders of Turkish tribes (6) LETTER {LE{Tu...h}{Tr...s}ER<=}
24 You say nurse is bad? That's doubtful (6) UNSURE (~you){U}{NURSE}*
27 Stores kept raw vegetable (4) OKRA Anno pending
28 Foundation stone (4) SEED [DD]

GRID

19 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. +1
      One of the meanings given is surplus.

      Delete
    2. I thought it was Over(surplus) +Age(too old) with an extended definition

      Delete
  2. 18a I took ref to bridge game, repechage format.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I also thought of Bridge game, but it is not very clear from the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chambers defines RE-ENTRY as:
    A card allowing a hand to take the lead again

    ReplyDelete
  5. Replies
    1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat_tip

      Delete
    2. As given in the link hat tip is a way of saying thank you.

      Delete
    3. Thank you Prasad 7 Vasant. I could not get the expasion for HT. Now it's clear.

      Delete
  6. When I opened the blog there is this tempting picture of chocolate mousse right at the top!
    Thank you Col.!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Trust Vasant and KKR have done well in IXL 9th round and climed up in the rank list. I miss their comments on their time-taken and the nature of the grid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since the round started late I didn't actually keep track of the time taken. I thought it was quite easy. The others in the Leaderboard must also have done well and I believe there won't be major change in Cumulative Leaderboard.

      Delete
    2. Sorry Ram. I missed to respond earlier.
      Yes, the round must have been easy for all. I have one clue which is doubtful. Otherwise, I finished in less than 50 minutes.

      Delete
  8. ^can you please explain 17down, 22down and 28down? Annos* please

    ReplyDelete
  9. 17D:There is something wrong with the clue as given by Col. The setter perhaps in tented anagram of he(man) +Tasty+L(which cannot be accounted for).
    22D: Definition is Maybe a. A is a letter of the alphabet. Rest is given in the blog
    28D is a double definition. Both words point to seed. Usually two word clues are DDs

    ReplyDelete

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