Satyen Nabar's Sun Spl analysed

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Saturday, 23 February 2019

No 12557, Saturday 23 Feb 2019, Vulcan


Across

1. New head of state to continue causing controversy (11) CONTENTIOUS {State+TO+CONTINUE*}
8. Mark of designation (4) SIGN (T)
9. Things about a man shown in a film (10) GOODFELLAS {GOOD{FELLA}S}
10. As a matter of reality, it's not quite fine, shoddy work (2,4) IN FACT {FINe*}{ACT}
11. Asian queen featuring in one article (7) IRANIAN {I}{RANI}{AN}
13. Less cryptic clue in lower case (9) MINUSCULE {MINUS}{CLUE*}
15. Ship's course on river (5) LINER {LINE}[R}
16. Team's in decline — loss sinking in (5) SLIDE {S{L}IDE} Defn in the middle?
18. Exotic green site/place in Africa (9) SERENGETI {GREEN+SITE*}
22. Traveller from Michigan gets concession (7) MIGRANT {MI}{GRANT}
23. Teams regularly having troubles with communication systems (1-5) E-MAILS {tEaM}{AILS}
26. 1/2 O? (10) SEMICIRCLE (CD)
27. Article is quite meaningful in part (4) ITEM (T)
28. Right mixture of Tin and Titanium firstly added to this component (11) ENTITLEMENT {E{TIN*}{Titanium}LEMENT}

Down

1. Wine from China, it is awful (7) CHINATI {CHINA+IT*}
2. Person in Japan showing expertise in martial arts, that's his thing (5) NINJA (T)
3. It is about a plant disease and therefore it is taken up with conservationists initially (7) ERGOTIC {ERGO}{IT<=}{Conservationists}
4. So, it's time for a drinking spree (4) TOOT {TOO}{T}
5. Shoe // with cloth (6) OXFORD (DD)
6. Fancy new ceiling fixtures eventually cutting off sound (9) SILENCING {N+CEILING+fixtureS*}
7. This home overwhelms anyone basically (6) PALACE {P{Anyone}LACE} &lit
12. Circular // one in the skies (5) FLIER (DD)
14. Inferior launch drawing criticism (5,4) UNDER FIRE {UNDER}{FIRE}
17. Idle American measure with nothing in it (6) LOITER {L{O}ITER}
19. Biblical scholar, say, residing in English town for the most part (7) EXEGETE {EX{EG}ETEr}
20. Most difficult examination, everybody's consumed by it (7) TALLEST {T{ALL}EST}
21. Recruit some keen listeners (6) ENLIST (T)
24. Accept an offer that's excellent primarily (5) ABIDE {A}{BID}{Excellent}
25. Tail — it's small/shortened (4) SCUT {S}{CUT}

Reference List
One=I, Article=An, River=R, Loss=L, Michigan=MI
Time=T, Nothing=O, Small=S

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  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

Bhargav's Talepiece

ABDALBARI

Abdalbari was an IRANIAN and INFACT the TALLEST in the school. He was one of the GOOD FELLAS and never got into any CONTENTIOUS issue.

The SIGNS of one who had studied in OXFORD and an upbringing in a PALACE could easily be seen.

One thing not known to anyone - he was a NINJA, well trained in NINJUTSU.


GRID
at

19 comments:

  1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao23 February 2019 at 08:45

    16DN Is it something like composite anagram?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant23 February 2019 at 22:55

      You mean 16A?
      It is I think as annotated a container clue. The def as indicated in the blog is in the middle. This is a rare instance but it does appear and if it is clued as clearly as in this instance, solvers don't have any problem

      Delete
  2. Padmanabhan23 February 2019 at 09:20

    Can it be- since slide is the solution word and not a component part?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Padmanabhan23 February 2019 at 09:21

    Oxford is also cloth?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ramki Krishnan23 February 2019 at 09:23

      Yes - learnt it today!
      From TFD:
      ox·ford (ŏks′fərd)
      n.
      1. A sturdy, low shoe that laces over the instep.
      2. A cotton cloth of a tight basket weave, used primarily for shirts.

      Delete
    2. sree_sree23 February 2019 at 11:03

      "the Oxford shirt is so-called because it is constructed from a fabric using a unique basket weave, originating in Scotland during the 19th century.

      The story goes that a Scottish mill named four fabrics after the four famous institutions: Cambridge, Yale, Harvard and most importantly Oxford (hence the name). Polo players were the first to wear the Oxford during their matches. This could be why it is associated with a preppy and smart-casual style"

      Delete
    3. Padmanabhan23 February 2019 at 15:34

      Thank you Ramki & Prasad. We keep learning new words or new meaning to old words.

      Delete
  4. Padmanabhan23 February 2019 at 09:22

    Nice sketch CGB.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sree_sree23 February 2019 at 11:07

    26a 1/2=semi, o=circle. &lit?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant23 February 2019 at 13:42

      I thought it was a rebus clue. Had long ago read the clue
      O for Circular Letter.

      Delete
    2. sree_sree23 February 2019 at 15:13

      (, would be rebus. No?

      Delete
  6. Ramani23 February 2019 at 13:56

    1d requires correction CHI AN TI

    ReplyDelete
  7. Padmanabhan23 February 2019 at 15:19

    1D is actually (China+it)* giving CHIANTI.
    'is' connector & awful anind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree23 February 2019 at 15:28

      Ram was hinting at the typo (chinati, as posted). His autocorrect led to a typo in cryptic language

      Delete
  8. Padmanabhan23 February 2019 at 15:32

    I think so too. Autocorrect could be irritating.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Samvid K23 February 2019 at 21:08

    Hello all,
    I am Samvid, and am learning to solve crosswords. Could anyone explain what the annotation for EXEGETE is? I know the primary is biblical scholar, and that the "most part" of the English town in EXETE(r). Where did the EG come from?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Padmanabhan23 February 2019 at 21:15

    From 'say' (for example-eg)

    ReplyDelete

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