ACROSS
1 Swimming sea coral — not a fish (7) ESCOLAR {SEA+CORaL}*
5 Rock diva catches girls starting to elope (7) STAGGER {STA{GG}{El..e}R}
10 Goan articles, essentially about greeting (4) CIAO {gOAn}{artICles}<=
11 Fever, returning last month after leaving South Africa is controlled (10) INFLUENCED {INFLUENza}{DEC<=}
12 A priest — he’s in trouble once again (6) AFRESH {A}{FR}{HES*}
13 French tree is trimmed and shaped for cutting board (8) TRENCHER {fRENCH+TREe}*
14 Cool fellow returning for love at Virginia is New York's pro (2,5,2) IN FAVOR OF {IN}{F} and {FOR}{O}{VA}<=
16 A pretty grave (5) ACUTE {A}{CUTE}
17 I seal ground passage (5) AISLE*
19 See leaders of Glasgow accepting royal invitation to host marriage function (9) LOGARITHM {LO}{Gl...w}{Ac...g}{Ro..l}{In...n}{To}{Host}{Ma...e}
23 Paying respects to newly anointed sultan, I start to genuflect (8) SALUTING {SULTAN+I}*{Ge...t}
24 Santa’s close to the rider (6) CLAUSE[DD] (Addendum - {CLAUS}{thE} - See comments)
26 Warehouse with gold stocks is recovered by Dollar Bank's customers (10) DEPOSITORS {DEPO{IS<=}T}{OR}{S}
27 Stone — cut all round, polished and luminescent, originally (4) OPAL{O}{Po...d}{And}{Lu...t} Why 'cut all'? (Addendum - {stOne}{Po...d}{And}{Lu...t} &lit - See comments)
28 Wives, on vacation, getting nervy about monsters (7) WYVERNS {WiveS} over {NERVY}*
29 Senile fogy Haroldson stripped at one party after another (3,4) OLD DODO {harOLDson}{DO}{DO}
DOWN
2 Avtaar ditches son's snack filled with essence of wheat starch (7) STIFFEN {S}{TIFF(-i+e)EN}
3 Gas measurement unit (5) OZONE {OZ}{ONE}
4 “Hoot” is a high sound from a hooter (7) ATISHOO*
6 Nomadic outsiders went around like this with sis (6) TOURED {OUTsiDERs}*
7 Half-cooked gnocchi decays in absence of hard bacteriae (9) GONOCOCCI {COOked+GNOCChI}*
8 Vote guys for Conservative party (7) ELEMENT {ELE(-c+men)MENT}
9 A dietician’s advise to an anorexic, possibly, is useless (1,3,3,2,4) A FAT LOT OF GOOD [DD]
15 Ninety nine out of hundred and two students end, say, in first class (3,3,3) ALL BUT ONE {LL}{BUT}(~butt) in {A ONE}
18 Ludicrously, Stokes is dismissed in a nonsensical manner (7) INANELY{IN}{A}NELY Anno pending (Addendum - INsANELY - See comments)
20 Bill getting extremely casual about America’s charge (7) ACCUSAL {AC}{Cas{USA}uaL}
21 Married male employee having drive (7) HUSBAND {H{USB}AND}
22 Attendant’s touching underskirt (6) MINION {MINI}{ON}
25 Upcoming star gets over bypass (5) AVOID {DI{O}VA<=}
Reference List
Girl = G, Priest = FR, Fellow = F, Love = O, Gold = OR, Dollar = S, Party = DO, Son = S, Conservative = C, Student = L, Bill = AC, Over = O
1 Swimming sea coral — not a fish (7) ESCOLAR {SEA+COR
10 Goan articles, essentially about greeting (4) CIAO {
11 Fever, returning last month after leaving South Africa is controlled (10) INFLUENCED {INFLUEN
12 A priest — he’s in trouble once again (6) AFRESH {A}{FR}{HES*}
13 French tree is trimmed and shaped for cutting board (8) TRENCHER {
16 A pretty grave (5) ACUTE {A}{CUTE}
17 I seal ground passage (5) AISLE*
19 See leaders of Glasgow accepting royal invitation to host marriage function (9) LOGARITHM {LO}{G
23 Paying respects to newly anointed sultan, I start to genuflect (8) SALUTING {SULTAN+I}*{G
24 Santa’s close to the rider (6) CLAUSE
26 Warehouse with gold stocks is recovered by Dollar Bank's customers (10) DEPOSITORS {DEPO{IS<=}T}{OR}{S}
27 Stone — cut all round, polished and luminescent, originally (4) OPAL
28 Wives, on vacation, getting nervy about monsters (7) WYVERNS {W
DOWN
2 Avtaar ditches son's snack filled with essence of wheat starch (7) STIFFEN {S}{TIFF(-i+e)EN}
3 Gas measurement unit (5) OZONE {OZ}{ONE}
4 “Hoot” is a high sound from a hooter (7) ATISHOO*
6 Nomadic outsiders went around like this with sis (6) TOURED {OUT
7 Half-cooked gnocchi decays in absence of hard bacteriae (9) GONOCOCCI {COO
8 Vote guys for Conservative party (7) ELEMENT {ELE(-c+men)MENT}
9 A dietician’s advise to an anorexic, possibly, is useless (1,3,3,2,4) A FAT LOT OF GOOD [DD]
15 Ninety nine out of hundred and two students end, say, in first class (3,3,3) ALL BUT ONE {LL}{BUT}(~butt) in {A ONE}
18 Ludicrously, Stokes is dismissed in a nonsensical manner (7) INANELY
20 Bill getting extremely casual about America’s charge (7) ACCUSAL {AC}{C
21 Married male employee having drive (7) HUSBAND {H{USB}AND}
22 Attendant’s touching underskirt (6) MINION {MINI}{ON}
25 Upcoming star gets over bypass (5) AVOID {DI{O}VA<=}
Reference List
Girl = G, Priest = FR, Fellow = F, Love = O, Gold = OR, Dollar = S, Party = DO, Son = S, Conservative = C, Student = L, Bill = AC, Over = O
18D
ReplyDeleteINSANELY (ludicrously) -S (Stokes), def = in a nonsensical manner
In 7ac, 'advice' preferable to 'advise', v. in Br Eng.
ReplyDelete25d: The solver gets 'diva' for star quickly from its use in 5ac. (With good intentions and not just to criticise a good puzzle.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the feedback sir.
DeleteNice puzzle. Missed ATISHOO TRENCHER and A FAT LOT OF GOOD. Liked 2D
ReplyDeleteA comment on 7D. Bacterium is singular, bacteria is its plural form. Bacteriae is what, a hyperplural? I know some medical writings have bacteriae to refer to different species of bacteria (like fishes) but this is not standard. Opinions please
+1, why this neologism?
DeleteA good puzzle is this indeed! Did a fat lot of good to one's thinkbox. Thanks, Avatar. Wheres everyone ? Or am I too early ?
ReplyDeleteAnother word commonly used in anatomy and pathology writings is septae. Septum is singular, septa its plural. What then is septae? Dr.Sathyen Nabar your opinion
ReplyDeleteGood point RKE. Bacteriae is wrong - non standard . Thanks for pointing out
DeleteIt is wrongly pluralized as 'Septae'. As you correctly point out Doc, 'Septa' itself is the plural of 'Septum'.
DeleteCol.,
ReplyDelete27A was intended as an &lit.
st(O)ne cut all round +P,A,L
Ok thanks
Delete24AC Is it not CLAUS+E [e from close to the]?
ReplyDeleteYes it is
DeleteThanks KKR
DeleteYes. It is CLAUS+E
Delete5a and 25d was a nice puzzle like mathematical substitution. diva=star and vice-versa. please clarify, that how come Diva (avid<---) gets reverse in 25d as the definition is bypass.
ReplyDeleteUpcoming in a down clue works as a reversal . Over is O
DeleteThanks Mr Sreeni. The word "down" you meant to say that the puzzle given in "down" clue. is it so.
DeleteYes, Prasanna
DeleteA toughie! In the first pass could only get a few: Aisle, Saluting, All But One.
ReplyDeleteHad put Radon in 3d and I was in trouble in the NW corner; then saw CIAO which made me correct 3d to Ozone and the anagram at 1A yielded. Once Stagger fell in 5A, the NE corner yielded. LOI was A Fat Lot Of Good.
Thanks Avtaar for the challenge.
Thanks for the feedback Vasant
DeleteRe 14A (IN FAVOR OF) = Is American spelling commonly found in THC? Was "New York's pro" an indicator of this?
ReplyDeleteAmerican spelling and Americanism should be indicated. You are right New York's Pro indicates that.
DeleteAs a rule, British/Indian sp must be used. When painted into a corner, American sp, duly signalled, may be used. But, every effort must be used to avoid US sp.
ReplyDeleteIf indicated, as US spelling , it is fine IMO
ReplyDeleteThat will be an easy way out. I think such a device (Ind to US sp) must be resorted to only when a mistake is discovered at the last moment before publication and it could be saved by a fix of that kind. Otherwise when setting Br sp must be adhered to. If there arises a hitch, setters need to rework the relevant corner and complete the work. This is MO. Better to ensure the word finder sw uses Br sp.
ReplyDelete