ACROSS
9 Drama troupe won't adapt linguistic hybrid exemplified by Bollywood (11,4) PORTMANTEAU WORD*
10 Slower alternative: having tubes tied (7) OBTUSER {O{TUBES*}R}
12 Run away from Sun critic (7) SCARPER {S}{CARPER}
13 Clergies acting upset due to this (9) SACRILEGE {CLERGIES+A}* &lit
14 Mo gives it a go, in a manner of speaking (5) TRICE (~tries)
15 Brogues' distinctive features (7) ACCENTS [DD]
18 South American maidens besieged famous Red Indian chiefs (7) SACHEMS {SA}{CHE}{MS}
21 Palpitation suppressed by smooth robber (5) THROB [T]
23 Venerated institution worried about advancing bully (6,3) SACRED COW {S(-c)A(+c)CRED}{COW}
25 Knights disturbing tranquillity donning sackcloth and ashes (7) PENANCE {PE{N}A{N}CE}
26 Repertoire of talents needing special utensil (7) SKILLET {SKILLsET}
29 Unplanned current spike? (4-2-3-6) SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT [CD]
DOWN
1 Capable of ignoring our patron's oddities! (2,2) UP TO {oUr}{PaTrOn}
2 Extremely dry British channel (4) BRUT {B}{RUT}
3 Discharge duty in pursuit of revenge finally (8) EMISSION {r...gE}{MISSION}
4 Right of admission that's enjoyed after 15 (6) ENTREE [C&DD]
5 They refuse to pay queens from Cardiff! (8) WELSHERS [C&DD] Cheated on this one after getting Welsh
6 Advanced new creature collared by freak (6) MUTANT {MUT{A}{N}T}
7 Drug the geezer smuggled in after social uprising (8) MORPHINE {PROM<=}{H{IN}E}
8 Dreadful old sores undetectable by Bill in the U.S. (8) ODORLESS*
11 Mostly uninspired cold white wine (5) BLANC {BLANd}{C}
15 Appetiser before lasagne? Not quite (8) ANTEPAST {ANTE}{PASTa}
16 Jointly managed depleted uranium and fermium nucleus with this mineral (8) CORUNDUM{CO-RUN}{D}{U}{ferMium} D/Depleted? (Addendum - {CO-RUN}{DU}{ferMium} - See comments)
17 Has misgivings about defective space suits missing cores (8) SUSPECTS {SPaCE+SUiTS}*
19 Direct or indirect loan shark (8) CREDITOR*
20 Deer sounds akin to cattle cries (5) MOOSE (~moos)
22 Sweet Parisian goods (6) BONBON {BON}{BON}
24 Remains here after setback, gutted and distraught (6) CASKET SETbACK*
27 Property right initially unavailable for foreign national (4) LIENaLIEN
28 Skirt, shirt you called for repeatedly (4) TUTU {T U}{T U}
GRID
9 Drama troupe won't adapt linguistic hybrid exemplified by Bollywood (11,4) PORTMANTEAU WORD*
10 Slower alternative: having tubes tied (7) OBTUSER {O{TUBES*}R}
12 Run away from Sun critic (7) SCARPER {S}{CARPER}
13 Clergies acting upset due to this (9) SACRILEGE {CLERGIES+A}* &lit
14 Mo gives it a go, in a manner of speaking (5) TRICE (~tries)
15 Brogues' distinctive features (7) ACCENTS [DD]
18 South American maidens besieged famous Red Indian chiefs (7) SACHEMS {SA}{CHE}{MS}
21 Palpitation suppressed by smooth robber (5) THROB [T]
23 Venerated institution worried about advancing bully (6,3) SACRED COW {S(-c)A(+c)CRED}{COW}
25 Knights disturbing tranquillity donning sackcloth and ashes (7) PENANCE {PE{N}A{N}CE}
26 Repertoire of talents needing special utensil (7) SKILLET {SKILL
29 Unplanned current spike? (4-2-3-6) SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT [CD]
DOWN
1 Capable of ignoring our patron's oddities! (2,2) UP TO {
2 Extremely dry British channel (4) BRUT {B}{RUT}
3 Discharge duty in pursuit of revenge finally (8) EMISSION {
4 Right of admission that's enjoyed after 15 (6) ENTREE [C&DD]
5 They refuse to pay queens from Cardiff! (8) WELSHERS [C&DD] Cheated on this one after getting Welsh
6 Advanced new creature collared by freak (6) MUTANT {MUT{A}{N}T}
7 Drug the geezer smuggled in after social uprising (8) MORPHINE {PROM<=}{H{IN}E}
8 Dreadful old sores undetectable by Bill in the U.S. (8) ODORLESS*
11 Mostly uninspired cold white wine (5) BLANC {BLAN
15 Appetiser before lasagne? Not quite (8) ANTEPAST {ANTE}{PAST
16 Jointly managed depleted uranium and fermium nucleus with this mineral (8) CORUNDUM
17 Has misgivings about defective space suits missing cores (8) SUSPECTS {SP
19 Direct or indirect loan shark (8) CREDITOR*
20 Deer sounds akin to cattle cries (5) MOOSE (~moos)
22 Sweet Parisian goods (6) BONBON {BON}{BON}
27 Property right initially unavailable for foreign national (4) LIEN
28 Skirt, shirt you called for repeatedly (4) TUTU {T U}{T U}
Bhargav's Talepiece
After wearing his BRUT Eau de toilette and party dress Paul took his car out.
It was a SPUR OF THE MOMENT decision of Paul on sighting his heart THROB in a TUTU gown walking down with her friends.
He stopped his car and took out the packet of Lacto BONBON chocolates from the glove compartment and offered it to them and invited them for brunch (he had a fancy for that PORTMANTEAU WORD).
He switched off the video in the car and the movie Teenage MUTANT Ninja Turtles faded.
Ordering was LEFT to his choice. He looked at the list of ANTIPASTI and ordered Funghi Trifolati. ENTREE was Chicken Chow-mein. Other dishes followed.
What happened next?
GRID
16d u-235 is represented as DU (depleted uranium)
ReplyDeleteRather uranium grade that contains less quantity of u-235 fissile than naturally occurring.
Delete+1 on 5DN
ReplyDeleteA13, 14, 26, D1, 17 and 22 were my favourites. I liked the use of oddities in 1A. Sachem and scarper were new for me. Couldn't parse morphine.
ReplyDelete23a is NOT an indirect anagram as one might think momentarily but a 'letter shift' clue as rightly mentioned by our respected blogger.
ReplyDeleteOur artist of talepiece will never skirt any dress of a woman.
ReplyDeleteWas a bit surprised to find 2 consecutive unches in 13a and 23a. Not sure if this is a new grid or just something I've never noticed before. Some tricky wordplay gave me pause and made me notice this. Many good clues
ReplyDeleteSkulldugger has used this grid earlier, the last time around was in No 12460 on 31 Oct 18
DeleteIt is just that some setters may not pay careful attention to the grids that they use.
DeleteThe spec sheet given to us THC setters clearly mentions that there should be no two or more consecutive unches yet it has crept in. Also, three letter words also creep in.
We setters should perhaps look at our library of permitted number of grids and remove the ones that do not adhere to rules.
Re grids, unches, crossers, please read the following note by a Commenter (Dr. Whatson) in 15sqd under Brummie CWD:
Quote
There’s something about Brummie you folks may find interesting. His puzzles have the most helpful crossers of all setters here. This is following the notion that the more unusual the letter (e.g. Z, J) the more helpful it is as a crosser, the more common (e.g. E, T) the less helpful. I won’t go into details, but you can calculate the helpfulness via entropy, and his numbers are statistically significantly higher than the average. At the other end of the spectrum is Chifonie, with Pan nipping at his heels. Nobody else stands out. I don’t imagine this is intentional on any of their parts, but rather a side-effect of their grid-filling methods/software.
How is this useful? Probably not much, except if you’re stuck on a Brummie, maybe that crosser is a B or a C.
Unquote
... three letter words also creep in.
DeleteI don't understand what is the problem with three letter words.
Unch is a new word for me. Wiktionary explains it as "An unchecked square: one that is part of only one entry (i.e., across or down, but not both)". But this does not help me. Can I request one of you experts to explain the term with 13A and 23A as examples?
ReplyDeleteThe masters are talking abt the boxes "CR" in 13a and "LL" in 23a. Two consecutive boxes that do not have a crossing with a down clue , in this instance.
DeleteSorry its "DC" for 23a.
DeleteThank you, I see it now.
DeleteWhat is meant is that the consecutive whites are not part of any crossing. They are boxed up on both sides. I came to know about it in this blog sometime earlier.
ReplyDeleteNice talepiece CGK with lot of difficult words neatly fitted. Great!
ReplyDeleteSorry. CGB. Overwhelmed?
ReplyDeleteWe had a yesteryear tennis player by name C.G.K.Boopathy.
This was a tough one! Though I got the two long ones but struggled to get many.
ReplyDeleteBhargavji: Which Indian girl nowadays sport a bindi with a Tutu or skirt and blouse ? It is fashionable for lasses and married ladies to shed this beauty- enhancer spot in the forehead, much less display their marital status by not wearing a mangalsutra and sindoor. It is so boring to see most females, prototype style copying the western culture by straightening their hair and shoving one shock to the back and the other to the front. Indiana girls and women have a myriad ways of doing up their hair traditionally and look prettier than their western counterparts. Gone are the days of plaits, bouffants and buns tied neatly covered by lace and adorned by flowers of various colours and fragrances.
ReplyDeleteI fond today's Skulldugger's creation to be very delectable, though tough on the long phrases. Mo=trice- tries is a very creative . Ahgain, SACRED COW v ADVANCING BULLY - how does one classify this clue ? Antonymic ?
ReplyDeleteAntipast, o, a , e , i == why not u to start the Italian fare which is my favourite- Antipastu
To bully (v) = to cow. Simple charade. Did I miss something raju ji.
DeleteWhat "portmanteau word "means?
ReplyDeleteIn the Guardian Quick Crossword a clue reads as"Rectangular two dimensional figure(6)Will any gentleman/madam explain?
"Rectangular two dimensional figure (6)"
ReplyDeleteThe answer could be OBLONG.
- Gentleman Chatur Vasi
A "portmanteau word" is one which is formed by combining parts from (usually) two words.
ReplyDeleteE.g., moped, modem, napalm.