Monday, 11 November 2019

No 12777, Monday 11 Nov 2019, Dr. X


ACROSS
1   Revised total contains only a little error (8) ADJUSTED {AD{JUST}{Er..r}D}
5   Information concealed by Anti-Terrorism Squad operatives (6) AGENTS {A{GEN}TS}
10 Almost mention about eating beef! That’s dangerous (5) TOXIC {CITe<=} over {OX}
11 Confusing and clamorous after English exit without agreement finally (9) EQUIVOCAL {E}{QUIt}{VOCAL}
12 Actress flying first-class enters flight (9) STAIRCASE {ST{A1}RCASE*}
13 Fish in river snatched by hawk (5) TROUT {T{R}OUT}
14 Silly sot, entering drunk, went berserk (4,2) LOST IT {L{SOT*}IT}
15 Rushed to drink peg, getting soused (7) STEEPED {S{TEE}PED}
18 Charge to consume alcoholic drink? On the contrary, it’s on the house (7) FREEBEE {F{BEER<=}EE}
20 Insane Conservative ruined (6) CRAZED {C}{RAZED}
22 Ready to eat special American dish (5) PASTA {PA{S}T}{A}
24 Immature one lost temper after a little objection typically (2,7) ON AVERAGE {O}{NAiVE}{RAGE}
25 Restraining journalist interrupting band (9) SHACKLING {S{HACK}LING}
26 Germanic God triumphed, conquering capitals of Troy and Asgard (5) WOTAN {WO{Troy}{As...d}N}
27 Reckon one million spent for property (6) ESTATE ESTimATE
28 Accepting suggestion on reflection, agree to resolve unclear situation (4,4) GREY AREA {RAY<=} in {AGREE}*

DOWN
1   Short mock trial is most appropriate (6) APTEST {APe}{TEST}
 Put together project to secure vote by bit of artifice and pretence (9) JUXTAPOSE {JU{X}T}{Ar...e}{POSE}
3   Model cut by English rogue now welcomes impassive one providing reassurance (8,7) SECURITY BLANKET {S{E}{CUR}IT}{Y{BLANK}ET}
4   Member wearing dress, neat and fashionable (7) ELEGANT {E{LEG}ANT*}
6   Reveal a plan to spill a crucial catch perhaps? (4,3,4,4) GIVE THE GAME AWAY [DD]
7   Found in kitchen, a chocolate tortilla chip (5) NACHO [T]
8   Very drunk, perhaps due to loneliness (8) SOLITUDE {SO}{LIT}{DUE*}
9   Force groom to accept union (6) DURESS {D{U}RESS}
16 Inferior lyricist and writer, a little trashy, rates poorly (9) POETASTER {POE}{Tr...y}{RATES*}
17 Operation to rescue couple of fellows on precarious site away from regular ski runs (3-5) OFF-PISTE {O{FF}P}{SITE*}
19 Stimulating quote about admitting errors essentially (6) EROTIC {CITE}<= over {erROrs}
20 Outrage after college student’s indiscretion (7) CLANGER {C}{L}{ANGER}
21 Girl in a messy medical problem (6) HERNIA {HER}{IN+A}*
23 Hardly any study time (5) SCANT {SCAN}{T}

Reference List
English = E, River = R, Peg = TEE, Conservative = C, Special = S, American = A, Million = M, Vote = X, Union = U, Fellow = F, College = C, Student = L, Time = T


29 comments:

  1. High quality puzzle and no shame in accepting I was found wanting in a few.
    Needed lateral thinking in many plaves- flight for stircase, peg for a golf tee, vote for X to mention a few.
    Thank you Doc. and of course the blog for all clarifications I needed.

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  2. I was trying to fit in 'Ring' for 'Sling' in 25A. Of course when it is Doc. sling is more appropriate. We then have hernia,scan...

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  3. 16DN & 17DN never heard of. Or at least I don't remember.

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  4. 16D- I have come across in CW.
    17D- I have heard about it,but could not connect here,stopped with off.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. Some of them we don't remember unless and until we use them regularly.
      What I mean is filling it with the help of proper annotation and deciphering is fine. But if we don't remember the def. it will leave us in doubt.
      In these two cases, the cluing is very straight. All one needs to do is refer the dictionary for confirmation.
      Thanks Doc for a wonderful grid.

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    2. 1 KKR. 17d has been my tag for quite some-time. 16d is entirely credit to cluing, (familiarity of setter helped). it was between pen and poe.
      thanks Doc.

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    3. Forgot to add 26AC too. The cluing [and crossing of course]helped, my God!

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  5. Replies
    1. Well spotted KKR! A first for me. Possibly had to include a few relatively lesser known words to that end. Of course, tried my best to make the clues for those very unequivocal.

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    2. Sorry, could you please explain more in the pangram? I couldn't figure out. Thanks.

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    3. Hi Sujatha, a pangram means all the letters of the alphabet appear in the solution at least once.

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    4. Because I figured out it is a pangram -foolishly filled pizza for pasta & was stuck for scant. Later realised -crazed is there.

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  6. Col. has properly recorded it and I see it after your comment!

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    Replies
    1. I too noticed after my comment. Sorry, Col!

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    2. No need to be sorry. It was not there initially, I added it later after Satyen pointed it out.

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  7. A smooth solve for me today! Got all the answers without hesitation. Thanks, Dr X.

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    Replies
    1. Nice cw. Got in in about 90 minutes with a couple of guesses. New words like 26A and 18A (new spelling) had precise wordplay. Tutor for journalist was new to me. 8D, 13A, 12A were particularly nice

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    2. Thanks for taking the time to solve SSv :)

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  8. Tutor for journalist?
    We have hack for journalist in 25A.

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  9. Nice grid. Enjoyed solving it

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  10. A late solve for me. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Security Blanket, Juxtaposed and Hernia took a lot of time to crack. The pangram was an icing on the cake. Thanks Dr. X.

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  11. In 28ac ray is suggestion? As in ray of hope?

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