Wednesday 4 March 2020

No 12874, Wednesday 04 Mar 2020, Afterdark

ACROSS
Constructed outhouse to keep a pet primarily (6) SHAPED {SH{A}{Pet}ED}
4   Pieces of used ginger found on the surface of soup (6) SHREDS {SH}{RED}{Soup}
9   Work in northeast? Not a chance (4) NOPE {N{OP}E}
10 Amazing that writing could stop South’s revolt (10) SURPRISING {S}{U{R}PRISING}
11 Keep actors on line before end of scene (6) CASTLE {CAST}{L}{s..nE}}
12 Brilliant story and climax concealing theme to the extremes (8) TALENTED {TALE}{EN{ThemE}D}
13 Carrier of germs seen suffering (9) MESSENGER*
15 Centre admits rebellion first off (5) MIDST aDMITS*
16 Explicit footmark (5) FRANK [DD] (Addendum - {F}{RANK} - See comments)
18 Set and stable, in another way, is hard (9) ESTABLISH {STABLE*}{IS}{H}
22 Wizard and wise men on a vessel, perhaps touring Italy (8) MAGICIAN {MAGI}{C{I}AN}
23 Belgians dismiss engineering degree; broadcast message (6) SIGNAL beLGIANS*
25 Slow eatery receives reprimand (10) DELIBERATE {DELI}{BERATE}
26 Everyone with money ultimately band together (4) ALLY {ALL}{m..eY}
27 Two small toffees with hole in the middle given as desserts (6) SWEETS {S}{WEE}{To..eS}
28 Outlook of a party’s to seize power (6) ASPECT {A}{S{P}ECT}

DOWN
1   Depot for fruit’s not new, it’s behind the road (7) STORAGE {ORAnGE}<=>{ST}
2   Operator has time book (5) AGENT {AGE}{NT}
3   Oriental Insurance finally adjusts rates by the middle of the month (7) EASTERN {i...cE}{RATES*}{moNth}
5   Hot lady dancing without Romeo! Not quite (6) HARDLY {H}{A{R}DLY*}
6   Typical of mess, opening late at Tenali; irritating (9) ESSENTIAL {mESS}{TENALI*}
 Perhaps Michael Jackson and John Lennon are in Germany aboard a ship (7) SINGERS {S{IN}{GER}S}
8   Relatives upset over last sister’s evil act (8-2-3) BROTHERS-IN-LAW {B{s...eR}OTHER}{SIN}{LAW}
14 School's invitees becoming problematic (9) SENSITIVE {S}{INVITEES*}
17 By changing sides, guides become teaching assistants (7) READERS (-l+r)READERS
19 A four point rejoinder on the beginning by head of state gets reactions (7) ANSWERS {A}{N)(S)(W)(E}{Re...r}{State}
20 Small vehicle on lease; red in colour (7) SCARLET {S}{CAR}{LET}
21 Dumb and slow at the start, after interval begins to get fast (6) SILENT {Slow}{In...l}{LENT}
24 Reserved for great party (5) GRAVE {G}{RAVE}

Reference List
Used = Second Hand = SH, Ginger = RED(Colour), Work = OP, Writing = R, Line = L, Foot = F, Hard = H, Italy = I, Engineering Degree = BE, Small = S, WEE, Power = P, New = N, Road = Street = ST, Book = NT(New Testament), Hot = H, Romeo = R, Germany = GER, SHIP = SS, School = S, Point = N,S,E,W, Great = G


40 comments:

  1. FRANK was a TALENTED MAGICIAN, who had ESTABLISHed a performing troupe, in which his two BROTHERS IN LAW were the SINGERS of interludes. He would often call upon someone from the MIDST of the audience to be his ALLY in performing some tricks. He would ask the person to tear up a playing card to SHREDS and he would wave a handfan, DELIBERATEly to scatter the shreds, catching one piece which he would turn into an egg, SURPRISING the audience no end. The secret was in the SCARLET cloak he wore, which had an invisible pouch SHAPED STORAGE area where the egg had been placed and he only managed to pull it out in a sleight of hand.Timing was ESSENTIAL and his GRAVE manner and voice, served to distract the audience, who HARDLY could see the hidden egg.. He had learnt the 'rope trick' during his EASTERN trips. And NOPE, he would never reveal the secret of his magic ANSWERing all questions with a SILENT smile. A SIGNAL moment in his career was being featured on the READER's Digest.

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    Replies
    1. Now-a-days reader's digest could not see many of the places. only few knows about this. I learned a lot from RD. Nice to see the RD from RKE's desk.

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  2. Replies
    1. Unless copy is rechecked before submission such mistakes are bound to happen. Visual checking while writing clues in a text editor doesn't help. A printout needs to be taken and the annotations checked. This by writing out the answers on paper and striking off components as we read the clues. In the absence of a test solver, the onus is on the setter.

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    2. Expected a more formal setup given the new payment regime.

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    3. I can't make head, tail or waist of the Comment at 09:23.

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    4. +1
      Prasad is an expert in cryptics!

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    5. Prasad meant: Now that the Hindu is a payment option, they should recruit a test solver or crossword editor.
      Am I right Prasad?

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    6. Well solved KKR. Yes,it comes after CV's comment about test solver.

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    7. A setter is expected to have a test solver, that is what I meant.My comment was not wrt TH. If the setter does not have one, it is up to the setter to check and double check. Not every UK newspaper has a Crossword Editor. The role of crossword editors in two newspapers may differ. Mistakes have been noted even in newspapers with CE. There is less/more intervention by him/her.

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    8. Very correct Sir. Merely having an editor may not solve the problem. If there are errors in the grid, they are always attributed to the setter.

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    9. Partly yes KKR ji. but there is no offficial policy or document from TH on the process to make any actual suggestion. whatever I know is what is ahared on this blog and so did not want to make it as official. but the type of errors across the process of publication of thc and not just the clue's or grid (for eg we had no enu's for online version few days back) suggest THC is still following the informal process as discussed here. to say the setter is responsible might be OK for the thc-setter relationship but is it ok for customer-thc relationship! to leave it at that.Obvioulsy not. but as i said i dont know because they havent come out with a policy disclosure or document on that. in this ERA, any formal process starts from having such disclosure with the customer. let them have a disclaimer at least saying, it is published as it is submitted and the errors are not their responsibblity.

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    10. Who says the setter alone is responsible? I didn't.. I only said the setter must take as much care as possible. I didn't say THC does not go through editorial staff. We would not know of mistakes eliminated. Mistakes of the kind like absence of enus alongside clues, wrong grid with a set of clues, absence of a clue, repetition of the same clue in two slots happen in UK crosswords as well - technological problems may be blamed for it but I also add ultimately a human must take responsibility for any feature. I don't understand what is meant by an informal policy or document that a paper should come out with. Anyway I don't speak for anyone but me. I am a setter and I am on this side. I won't participate further in this discussion.

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    11. When I said "In the absence of a test solver, the onus is on the setter" I meant test solver that a setter may have among his relatives or friends or one hired and paid for by the setter or a mere volunteer. If we do not have one, we must take extra care.

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  3. Didn't get anno for 4A SHREDS.Bravo Col

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    Replies
    1. Don't you remember the Sherlock Holmes story The Red-Headed League?

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    2. Yes and I have heard of ginger red as a colour,but I haven't seen any red streak in ginger (at least the ones we get here)

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    3. Its red ginger, a variety of ginger flower limited to Pacific's.

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    4. Red Hair or Ginger hair, see the following link

      GINGER HAIR

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    5. never heard about ginger hair....but col. perfectly placed the link. thanks for the spontaneous clarification. By the by today's clues were very interesting. solved more than 8 puzzles. Thnx. to col and RKE's Tale piece...

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  4. SH - secondhand - used. Abbr. used in classifieds in British newspapers.

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  5. 14d I took school as anagram indicator.

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  6. Several good clues today- liked deliberate,sweets,aspect,silent (lent was used nicely).

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  7. 16 footmark = postmark ?

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    Replies
    1. Probably a lift and separate - frank f rank - foot mark. Not sure!

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    2. Foot = f in chambers

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    3. Yes,I also thought F rank (though mark is not directly rank)

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    4. And to answer you, Paddy, rank is mark as per Chambers Thesaurus

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  8. Oh! Really! Thank you- one learns new words/meanings every day.

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    Replies
    1. whenever the teacher was marking the answer sheets , she was grading/ranking us!

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  9. While this xword clues are excellent, the expert solvers comments are equally enjoyable!

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  10. Replies
    1. Midst & Deliberate were the last to fall for me. Took some time to place 'Rebellion'.

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