Thursday, 27 December 2018

No 12508, Thursday 27 Dec 2018, Skuldugger


ACROSS
1   Centre of moustache left incomplete, ridiculous looking fuzz (9) POLICEMEN INCOMPLEtE*
6   Nick, old Bob replacing rector's cloak (4) MASK MA(-r+s)SK
8   Smells gas in piecrust every so often (8) PERFUMES {FUMES} in {PiEcRuSt}
9   Secure sorry hound from the pound? (6) RESCUE*
10 "She's a doctor", injured marine exclaimed (7,8) MEDICAL EXAMINER*
11 Advantage puts liberal ahead in projection (5) LEDGE {L}{EDGE}
13 Great leader of 1 to give part of self (8) S?L?N?I? (Addendum - SPLENDID {SP}{LEND}{ID} - See comments)
15 Can't shift for oneself without domestics (8)  HELPLESS {HELP LESS}
18 Detailed animal insignia (5) BADGE BADGEr
20 Give up hope to net worthwhile building (5,2,3,5) THROW IN THE TOWEL*
23 Take over eastern wing (6) ANNEXE {ANNEX}{E}
24 Fiction exam said to be dark and heavy? Nothing could be further from the truth (8) LIGHTEST (~ lie test)
25 Ain’t it concealed, according to nature? (4) ISNT {I{SN}T} Anno for SN pending See comments
26 Brew of red teas bottled in years past (9) YESTERDAY {Y{RED+TEAS}*Y}

DOWN
1   A bit of calm, one might say (5) PIECE (~peace)
2   Throwing up in entrance to guardroom under attic (7) LOFTING {LOFT}{IN}{Gu...m}
3   Butterfly that interrupts mid-sentence! (5) COMMA [DD]
4   Commander's albatrosses possibly observed here (7) MASTERS [DD]
5   Molly ran off routinely (8) NORMALLY*
6   Calling woman from the South numero uno (7) MISSION {MISS}{NO1<=}
7   Cramming for special quiz Gene rewrote (9) SQUEEZING {S}{QUIZ+GENE}*
12 Creatures with wrinkled ashen pelt (9) ELEPHANTS*
14 Labour uniform of French heads (8) DELIVERY {DE}{LIVERY}
16 Launch undertaking (7) PROJECT [DD]
17 Stalkers regularly found under park benches (7) SETTLES {SET}{sTaLkErS}
19 Taken in by publicity around transport depot (7) ADOPTED {A{DEPOT*}D}
21 Bird decapitated pooch (5) EAGLE bEAGLE
22 Dissertation on South Africa in abridged, oral format (5) ESSAY (~sa)

GRID

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33 comments:

  1. sree_sree27 December 2018 at 08:33

    13a leader of policemen:SP
    To give:LEND
    Part of self:ID

    ReplyDelete
  2. KARTHIK27 December 2018 at 08:35

    13A) Defn: Great; Soln: SPLENDID; Anno: SP{LEND}ID
    SP is leader of 1AC; LEND from give; ID from "part of self"

    ReplyDelete
  3. sree_sree27 December 2018 at 08:35

    25a SN: secundum natural. According to nature

    ReplyDelete
  4. Deepak Gopinath27 December 2018 at 09:00

    Back after a great and rejuvenating 3 days with relatives at a remote home stay close to Khopoli near Lonavala. The place had no internet, no mobile signal and no TV so it was time only for bonding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao27 December 2018 at 09:07

      I love this idea, Col

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 11:06

      +1

      Delete
    3. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 11:09

      Last year we went to Topslip and from there deep into the forests among western ghats in Kerala, courtesy Kerala Tourism. We felt like we were totally cutoff from the world with even roads being only a kind of cart track! But that was only for half a day.

      Delete
    4. Vasant27 December 2018 at 19:00

      Nice way to unwind & enjoy!

      Delete
  5. Chaturvasi27 December 2018 at 09:11

    In 24a what is the def?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 11:02

      Col. has marked 'Dark and heavy?Nothing could be further from the truth'.
      I take it as Heavy is further from the truth (lightest) But I am in the dark about 'dark'.

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 11:04

      Should it be 'farther' or 'further'?

      Delete
    3. vdsprasad49@gmail.com27 December 2018 at 11:15

      I took light as the opposite of both dark and heavy.

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 11:17

      Yes, I think you are right.

      Delete
  6. Chaturvasi27 December 2018 at 09:38

    For simple foreign components such as le, we give "French article", alluding to the original lang. Now, for a big, not-so-well known Latin phrase secundum naturum - which incidentally yields SN, an abbr. - shouldn't the setter give the solvers a hint to its classical origin?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao27 December 2018 at 09:55

      +1

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 11:05

      Definitely +1.

      Delete
    3. sree_sree27 December 2018 at 18:56

      There was a view that if it is in the OED, it is not necessary to indicate origin. But I don't have a OED to check the instance word. I found it in the merriam websters online.

      Delete
  7. vdsprasad49@gmail.com27 December 2018 at 11:08

    8A. The parsing should be FUME in PERS.

    ReplyDelete
  8. P. Venkatesan27 December 2018 at 11:10

    8a:there is one extra "s" in the anno which is from "fumes". I think it should be "fume".

    ReplyDelete
  9. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 11:15

    Col.,
    Thank you for the link under Albatross. I never knew the golf connection- I had heard only up to eagle. BTW have you got any of these- hole in one, eagle,albatross?
    I had heard it only in connection with sailors.

    ReplyDelete
  10. vdsprasad49@gmail.com27 December 2018 at 11:18

    15A. Is it not a DD?
    20A. I like the way the clue is worded.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sujatha27 December 2018 at 14:46

    I didn't understand 6A. Could someone please help explain? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 14:59

    6A- Nick is a mark on something. In this R is replaced by S, which is for (Pound) Shilling/ old Bob.
    So Mark becomes mask.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 15:01

    R is from rector.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sujatha27 December 2018 at 16:29

    Thank you very much.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sarathi27 December 2018 at 18:14

    13 across : Fiction = Lie ( Ligh, said to be ) , Exam =
    Test , : LIGHTEST

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sarathi27 December 2018 at 18:18

    Correction 24 across and not 13 across

    ReplyDelete
  17. Vasant27 December 2018 at 18:42

    Isnt this a Pangram. All letters are there I think.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Vasant27 December 2018 at 18:45

    Came back to doing puzzles after a 3 day break having promised myself a 6 day break. But then de-addiction couldnt last that long!
    Found this tough; couldn't get Masters.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Padmanabhan27 December 2018 at 21:48

    Golf links!
    Did not notice the Pangram. Thank you. 3 day break helped you.

    ReplyDelete

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