Monday 6 May 2019

No 12618, Monday 06 May 2019, Dr. X


ACROSS
1   Quickest to escape tax (8) FLEETEST {FLEE}{TEST}
5   Wear down and badger a rogue abandoning girl (6) ABRADE {BADgER+A}*
10 Start to thrash spineless jerk (5) TWEAK {Th...h}{WEAK}
11 Corrupt side protecting rake in debate (9) DISCOURSE {DI{SCOUR}SE*}
12 Criticize prudish article penned by socialist (9) REPRIMAND {RE{PRIM}{AN}D}
13 Delicious cake cut by wife on vacation (5) SWEET {S{WifE}ET}
14 Brief love for one ailing (6) INFORM INF(-i+o)ORM
15 Snakes concealed in topiary try to escape (7) OPHIDIA {tOP{HID}IAry}
18 Mongrel bites scoundrel beginning to overpower caretaker (7) CURATOR {CU{RAT}{Ov...r}R}
20 Trail, extremely wild, going through valley (6) DAWDLE {DA{WilD}LE}
22 Not good to complain and provoke (5) ROUSE gROUSE
24 Banks in decline, overwhelmed by concessions (9) GRADIENTS {GRA{DIE}NTS}
25 Feeling euphoric with a drug on which one gets an attitude of superiority (4,5) HIGH HORSE {HIGH}{HORSE}
26 Pursue and run after model (5) TRACE {T}{RACE}
27 Moving smoothly, new driver exits railway track used for shunting (6) SIDING SlIDING
28 Fine girl beginning to economize in current recession (8) ETHEREAL {HER}{Ec...e} in {LATE<=}

DOWN
1   Approaching female for business in dress designing (6) FUTURE (-co+f)FUTURE
2   Wake-up call that’s a real surprise (3-6) EYE-OPENER [DD]
3   Spilled hot tea in kitchen? Grin and bear it (4,2,2,3,4) TAKE IT ON THE CHIN*
4   Team member’s pitching style (7) SIDEARM {SIDE}{ARM}
6   Exposes illegal activity and stops the game? (5,3,7) BLOWS THE WHISTLE [DD]
7   A mysterious Earl killed in lofty place (5) AERIE {A}{EeRIE}
8   Projected net value’s falling (8) EVENTUAL*
9   Familiar with duets about love (4,2) USED TO {DUETS}*{O}
16 Mark’s girlfriend consuming ecstasy in front of bar (9) DELINEATE {D{E}{LINE}ATE}
17 Breaking records, champion drives rapidly (8) SCORCHES {SCOR{CH}ES}
19 Judge rose to restrain reactionary newspaper (6) REGARD {RE{RAG<=}D}
20 Speech in exotic citadel (7) DIALECT*
21 Too advanced and stylish (2,4) AS WELL {A}{SWELL}
23 Pushed spurious drug around England (5) URGED {URG{E}D*}

Reference List
Rake = SCOUR, Article = AN, Cake = SET, Valley = DALE, Drug = HORSE{Heroin), Model = T, Rose = RED

GRID

29 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. +1. But with the DDs and puns. Liked especially Take it on the chin and Blows The Whistle.

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  2. Agreed. But this looks more typical of Doc. As you said some restraints were there,being a competition.

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    Replies
    1. Paddy Have you seen my view regarding Ramki's guess on setter in yesterday's comments?

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    2. I saw it Ram. But Ramki's guess was not very specific. There were many setters in IXL. What we expected was a name [as we really still don't know who all were the setters in IXL]

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    3. I infer that the middle X was Ramki's guess - Ramki, are you listening?

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    4. Just checked it Ram.You may be right.

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  3. Nice grid as always. GRADIENTS was my COD. Thanks Doc!

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  4. Such a long anagram in 3 Dn was nice with funny surface. In 27 Ac. I guess 'driver' indicates the first letter. Is that so?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Vanchinathan. New driver = L (as in Learner) thanks Ramki.

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    2. I was right for the wrong reasons. Thanks for clarifying.

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  5. I didn't understand 13A and 28A even with the annos. Could someone help?
    13A - how do you get set? What is the indication to take only W and E from wife?
    28A - how do you get late?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sujatha!

      13A Cake (verb) means to harden/solidify/stiffen/set

      On vacation is an indicator for deletion of central letters. As in on evacuation/emptying. Thus Set around W(-if)E

      28A Late (adj) means Recent, up-to-date, current. Recession is rev ind. Thus HER+E in LATE rev.

      I hope it is clear now.

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    2. Very kind of you to help. Thank you.

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  6. 28a: late=new=current, recession=recede=move back
    13a: set=cake, wife, vacating(on vacation)=emptying if
    May be I am wrong !

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  7. What’s with W in most of your grids , Doc ? Uxorious ? Haha ! Any unWritten understanding with Wifey ?

    To get off or ride a high horse is a phrase to allude to hubris but ‘high horse’’ by itself is a galloping guess ! But I can take it in the chin !


    I erred widely in my guess as to the authorship as quite a few words in yesterday’s grid made me jump the gun ! Sorry for that ! I didn’t know that you have become a national asset like Gridman in the world of cryptic crosswords. Way to go , Doc ! That’s an eye-opener.

    Waiting for a hat-trick tomorrow With Wide aWake eyes.


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    Replies
    1. National Asset, indeed!

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    2. Thanks for the kind words Raju. Sorry for delayed response. On a brief holiday in Goa :)

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    3. Which one doc! The normal or actual!

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    4. Susegad? My poor Hindi.
      Just now looked up Bhrashtachar- as the group discussion was going on.
      Nowadays, they freely use a lot of Hindi words as though everyone knows about them- probably not so in the South ( in spite of my boasting to know and having converesd in Hindi) Ghatbandan was another word- probably the negative shade of it in which it is being used.

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    5. Susegad is the Goan way of life! Take it easy! Relax! What's the hurry?(it is Konkani..learnt it from Kishore)

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  8. Have a good time Doc.- as good a time as we are having solving your CW!

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