Monday 18 February 2019

No 12552, Monday 18 Feb 2019, Neyartha


It's grape season here in Bangalore as well

ACROSS
1   Frustrating arrangement traps Oscar in a borderline unethical public relations exercise (12) ASTROTURFING FRUSTRATING* over {O} Never knew this
8   Consult a naturalist for the provision of a grape variety (7) SULTANA [T]
9   Princess leaving the old-timer at sea with a grape variety (6) MERLOT OLdTiMER*
11 Abandoned in a state of flux (9) UNSETTLED [DD]
12 Grape variety from a Greek character getting a century on return (5) PINOT {PI}{TON<=}
14 An order of mammals requiring the corn Ravi cooked with a vitamin (9) CARNIVORA {CORN+RAVI}*{A}
16 We're getting the energy to go in front with a pitcher (4) EWER (+e)EWER(-e)
18 Send out the inverted timer after removing the cap (4) EMIT TIMEr<=
19 Vani sung off-key after consuming the old French grape (9) SAUVIGNON {VANI+SUNG}* over {O}
21 A time for bats to fly with the speaker's chess piece (5) NIGHT (~knight)
22 Firm British sailors hunt for something likely to be seen in an American field (9) CORNSTALK {CO}{RN}{STALK}
23 Grape variety to laugh at? That is right! (6) RIBIER {RIB}{IE}{R}
25 Single Yankee sent out by the Democrat to get a tight-fitting garment (7) UNITARD UNITAR(-y+d)D
26 Adamant Rani's netting in tatters (12) INTRANSIGENT*

DOWN
2   Egocentric description of the portions in a buffet? (4-7) SELF-SERVING [DD]
3   Come by again to treat tainted segment (8) REATTAIN [T]
4   Cattle herd supervisor's coin flip welcomes the storyteller upset by a follower (5,4) TRAIL BOSS {T{LIAR<=}{B}OSS}
5   Poem in recital by daughter covered with frost (5) RIMED (~rhyme){RIME}{D}
6   Enter uninvited into an Italian website featuring a low vibrating sound from the south (6) IRRUPT {I{PURR<=}T}
Slime made from grinding of offal originally (3) GOO Acrostic
8   Countess made to go around Switzerland to get the family shields (10) SCUTCHEONS {SCUT{CH}EONS*}
10 Description of a person in a birthday suit? (5,5) STARK NAKED [CD]
13 Left out landowner has no hesitation in re-development for a profit occasionally (3,3,5) NOW AND AGAIN {lANDOWNer}*{A}{GAIN}
15 Samurai in trouble after hiding half a pound in the fish tanks (9) AQUARIUMS {SAMURAI}* over {QUid}
17 Grape variety for a sweet white wine (8) RIESLING [GK]
20 Sense a narrow focus? (6) STRICT [DD]
22 Vatican court gets an article to barter for the old trinket (5) CURIA CURI(-o+a)A
24 Bird needing no introduction to the Maori tribes (3) IWI kIWI

GRID

12 comments:

  1. I found several sour grapes!
    The rest are fine and sweet

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lot of the grapes had to be eaten with letter guessing from WP. Thankfully didn't use Google.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good to know about all the varieties of Grapes. Thanks Neyartha

    ReplyDelete
  4. +1 for KKR. If I had been early I would have myself said the same thing.
    I had more time with paper in hand,but no net. Otherwise I would have had more sour grapes (I kept on trying without giving up).
    Learned a lot about grapes. Thank you Neyartha.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Today's Guardian quiptic had this clue for extra
    Special rate covers 10+(5)
    Fair?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Col. my query was is special a valid anagrind? Is + a correct def?

      Delete
    2. Special also means unusual. So, it works as anagrind, I think

      Delete
    3. Further, extra also means plus. Here, the setter symbolised. I think it is ok

      Delete
  6. I feel it can be. Special is something different,isn't it?
    Also, it passes Bhavan's test of being an adjective.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Col. KKR Paddy. Actually when I got the answer & anno it gave me a high.. But just wondered if it is fair.. especially for a quiptic

    ReplyDelete
  8. 20 Sense a narrow focus? (6) STRICT [DD]

    Can some one explain this? how is it DD when the answer is adjective...

    ReplyDelete

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