Tuesday 2 April 2019

No 12589, Tuesday 02 Apr 2019, Scintillator


ACROSS
1   Silence is so valuable (6) GOLDEN [DD]
4   Save government, harp about informative statistical chart (3,5) BAR GRAPH {BAR}{G}{HARP*}
9 Letter from doctor boy's about to receive (6) LAMBDA {LAD}{A} over {MB}
10 Blank cheque for a fettered being? (4,4) FREE REIN [CD]
12 Cast lacking in talent for Doctor Strange? (8) WONDROUS Anno pending (Addendum - {WO}{N{DR}OUS} - See comments)
13 Pressure maintained along this is excluding old punctures (6) ISOBAR {O} in {IS}{BAR}
15 Food burning? Maid gives out a chime (4) RING charRING
16 Peace organizations overseeing onset of peace — one cast away going scot-free (10) UNPUNISHED {UN}{Pe..e}{UN}{1}{SHED}
19 From being in good spirits, fell off with hue and cry (10) CHEERFULLY {FELL+HUE+CRY}*
20 Incognito, a colleague of mine (4) ANON [DD]
23 Forsaken woman with a weapon advanced near husband (6) AGUNAH {A}{GUN}{A}{H}
25 Remarkable scenery surrounding river in county (8) SOMERSET {SOME SET} over {R}
27 Behind bars; June eighth: he escaped mysteriously (2,3,3) IN THE JUG {JUNE+eIGHTh}*
28 Indian brain and heart suffering outside India? That's not new (6) BIHARI {BRAIn+H}* over {I}
29 In concert — on time, got here after a struggle (8) TOGETHER {T}{GOT+HERE}*
30 One is terrible, not just at making omelette (3,3) BAD EGG [CD]

DOWN
1   Trouble in the Middle East to overwhelm intelligence agency, in retrospect (4,3) GULF WAR {GULF}{RAW<=}
2   I'm unclean, getting cleaned gives brightness (9) LUMINANCE*
3   Last? Last, definitely not first! (6) ENDURE {END}{sURE}
5   Milieu in the interior of the restaurant (4) AURA [T]
6   Northbound engineer is somewhat mortified like a rock (8) GNEISSIC {ENG<=}{IS}{SICk} Mortified/Sick?
7   Reporters can find Djokovic possibly bitter (5) ACERB (~ a serb)
8   Under extremely hard conditions, for ten decades (7) HUNDRED {UNDER+HarD}*
11 Expel from assembly (7) TURNOUT [DD]
14 First person transferred to second, it's said, thousands in valuable metal (7) BULLION B(-i+u)ULLION
17 Nod hard to get along with vocal Dubai leader (9) HANDSHAKE {H}{AND}{SHAKE}(~sheikh)
18 Trinket of gold — quote a bid (8) ORNAMENT {OR}{NAME}{NT}
19 Burn up paper during Yatra ride (7) CHARIOT {CHAR}{TOI<=}
21 Getting trimmer? Cannot hinge on squat (7) NOTHING [T] Definition not clear See comments
22 It signals on seeing faulty train blocking terminal in Pune (6) RETINA {TRAIN}* over {punE}
24 Take the label off junta government (5) UNTAG [T] 'Off' on double duty? "Remove label from junta government" would have been better.
26 Dash for control (4) RULE [DD?]

GRID

27 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I did too. This was a DNF(did not finish) for me. Also didn't get Wondrous

      Delete
    2. Sick:
      INFORMAL
      disappointed, mortified, or miserable.
      "he looked pretty sick at that, but he eventually agreed"

      Delete
  2. 12AC LACKING=WITHOUT=WO
    TALENT=NOUS; DOCTOR=DR
    WO N[DR]OUS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What is the role of cast?

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    2. If Dr has to be thrown in then I guess cast has to be near Dr. There seems to be something else going on in the clue.

      Delete
  3. Today's Gaurdian criptic has many aha moments....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. While cryptic is becoming easier, Everyman is getting harder every week. I am yet to solve five clues in last Sunday grid

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    2. I solved only three!May soon join MB in not doing Everyman

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    3. KKR, I have sent you a WHatsApp message

      Delete
  4. 21D Definition is Squat. Not sure how getting trimmer can be a containment indicator. Or does trimmer mean cane somehow?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. +1 cropper would have been better both trimmer and cane (the plant) are croppers.

      Delete
    2. What's the relation between Squat and Nothing?

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    3. Squat, us slang (shortened form of didly-squat), lest bit/anything at all, very little.

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    4. So it is a small worthless amount and not nothing

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    5. https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=Nothing&title=21st

      Nothing:"3 a very little;
      b something of no importance or not very impressive; c no difficulty or trouble. 4 an absence of anything"

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    6. Oxford Dictionary says: NOTHING AT ALL

      Delete
  5. Hi all,
    Could anyone explain how 'quote a bid' is NT?

    ReplyDelete
  6. SCINTILLATOR : One of his kind and unique. I tried to do an anagram of his name and what did it throw up ? SCINTILLATOR !

    ReplyDelete

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