Saturday 7 March 2020

No 12877, Saturday 07 Mar 2020, Dr. X


ACROSS
1   Cable in electric vehicle contains electronic part (8) TELEGRAM {T{E}{LEG}RAM}
5   Practical union, long-lasting, needs time (6) USABLE {U{StABLE}
10 Prince involved in scrap with a model (7) REPLICA {RE{P}LIC}{A}
11 Rushed back with speed to report (7) NARRATE {RAN<=}{RATE}
12 Money wasted! Experts in America making a bloomer (5)AVENS {mAVENS}
13 Rise and unite to break barricade after force leaves (9) EMERGENCE {fE{MERGE}NCE}
14 Where money might be // under one’s control (2,4,6) IN ONE'S POCKET (DD)
18 Essentially shady politician thrashed with fervour by soldiers in stadium (12) AMPHITHEATRE {shAdy}{MP}{HIT}{HEAT}{RE}
21 Grave start to suspenseful novel! Hercule Poirot’s debut (9) SEPULCHRE {Suspenseful}{HERCULE+Poirot*}
23 Signal to the audience to stand in line (5) QUEUE {~CUE}
24 I shout to rescue English female in steep part of glacier (7) ICEFALL {I{C{E}{F}ALL"
25 Simple man left grain for hermit (7) EREMITE {mERE}{MITE}
26 Most artful fashion styles (6) SLYEST {STYLES*}
27 Retired groups tackling hunger pangs (8) STITCHES {SETS<=} around {ITCH}

DOWN
1   Manage to protect husband in peril (6) THREAT {T{H}REAT}
2   Slips in Singapore on vacation, overwhelmed by drinks (6) LAPSES {LAP{SingaporE}S}
3   Musical effects represented as sliding (9) GLISSANDI {AS+SLIDING*}
4   Online, a cheat slyly entraps man to get a hidden advantage (2,3,2,3,4) AN ACE IN THE HOLE {ONLINE+A+CHEAT*} around {HE}
6   Unhealthily thin person close to despair, overwhelmed by heroin (5) SCRAG {SC{despaiR}AG}
7   Old nonconformists steal cocaine concealed in boxes (8) BEATNIKS {BEAT{NIcK}S}
8   Workforce involved in manufacture of steel components (8) ELEMENTS {STEEL*} around {MEN}
9   Where an attestor might sign showing restraint (14) UNDERSTATEMENT {UNDER}{STATEMENT}
15 When asked for, ace accepts a little risky mission (2,7) ON REQUEST {ON }{Risky}E}{QUEST}
16 Complains about idiot’s drunken revelries (8) WASSAILS {W{ASS}AILS}
17 Boy about to explode violently at last in extreme anger (8) APOPLEXY {A{POP}LEX}{violentlY}
19 Unknown man climbing to rescue fool in peak (6) ZENITH {Z}+{HE<=} around {NIT}
20 Start to joust with slippery characters stealing wife’s pearls (6) JEWELS {Joust}{E{W}ELS}
22 Lots of fellows drinking alcohol heartily (5) LOADS {L{alcOhol}ADS}

Reference List

Electronic=E, Union=U, Time=T, Prince=P, Money=M, Force=F, Politician=MP, Soldiers=RE, English=E, Female=F, Man=M
Husband=H, Man=He, Cocaine=C, Unknown=Z, Wife=W

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Opposite indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous


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28 comments:

  1. RKE7 March 2020 at 08:30

    The EMERGENCE of a PANGRAMmatist
    ON my REQUEST, Dr.X, who is at the ZENITH of fame as a setter of bones and cryptic crosswords, consented for an interview.
    Me: Welcome Dr.X, can you NARRATE an interestng anecdote from your surgical career?
    Dr.X: Yes. In the days of my training, the operating theatre was more like an AMPHITHEATRE, what with all the duels between the surgeons, anaesthetists and matrons, all of them in their ELEMENTS, let alone the patient. I was a SCRAGGY young intern and I was given the job of putting up the STITCHES at the end of the operation. Once, I had just finished doing so, when the scrub nurse said a forceps was missing in her count. The chief surgeon nearly had an APOPLEXY and THREATened to banish me for my LAPSES. To say I was scared s***, would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. At that moment, the circulating nurse, nervously knocked over the REPLICA of a skeleton kept in the theatre and fell down. Lo abnd behold, the forceps fell from withIN the POCKET of the kleptomanic nurse, ending my agony!
    Me: Now, turning to your passion of setting crosswords. How have you become AN ACE IN THE making of the SLYEST of clues that are as brief as a TELEGRAM?
    Dr.X: I owe it to my wife, from whom I have learnt that brevity is the soul of not only wit, but also a happy married life. For example, when she wants to buy LOADS of JEWELS, I check my tongue and with the air of an EREMIYE, say a single word "yes" It might burn a HOLE in my pocket, but happiness reigns,
    Me: Thank you doctor, for that USABLE advice. We shall broadcast this interview with GLISANDI in the background. Wishing that there will be a QUEUE of newspaper editors to publish your cryptic offerings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satyen Nabar7 March 2020 at 12:44

      Thank you Doc for a very entertaining interview indeed!

      Delete
    2. Satyen Nabar7 March 2020 at 12:46

      And thanks for the blog Ramesh.

      Delete
    3. Prasanna Rao7 March 2020 at 13:24

      Doctor's week. wonderful Tale piece & Puzzles by DR,Dr....the debate was awesome between Dr & Dr.X. with permission of Col. let me save this tale piece one of the master piece.

      Delete
    4. Vasant7 March 2020 at 13:29

      Wow! Dr. RKE an out of the world tale piece befitting a wonderful puzzle.

      Delete
    5. RKE7 March 2020 at 15:27

      Thanks all

      Delete
  2. Padmanabhan7 March 2020 at 09:14

    WoW1 Interview of the month,year....?
    Fortunate to have creative doctors among us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao7 March 2020 at 09:47

      +1
      I also see lot of surgical "spirit" in the interview as well as crossword

      Delete
  3. Padmanabhan7 March 2020 at 09:15

    Had problems in the SW corner and even Hercule Poirot could not help. I never tried to dissect him.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Padmanabhan7 March 2020 at 09:17

    It seems that nowadays money is safe only in 14A!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree7 March 2020 at 10:39

      Money in the pocket eats itself (inflation!)

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan7 March 2020 at 12:28

      YES,but you are at least left with Something!

      Delete
    3. Kolluru Koteswara Rao7 March 2020 at 12:53

      But if someone picks the pocket, you will be left with a big hole in your pocket!!!

      Delete
  5. Padmanabhan7 March 2020 at 09:20

    Thank you Ramesh for the excellent blog. One request- please change the colour of homophone indicator. It is hardly visible.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Padmanabhan7 March 2020 at 09:26

    Telegram was nicely done and took a long time to solve,probably because it no longer exists.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kolluru Koteswara Rao7 March 2020 at 09:50

    Thanks Doctor for the unlimited entertainment!
    Glissandi; Avens needed google help.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown7 March 2020 at 09:54

    Your fan's queue is becoming longer and longer

    ReplyDelete
  9. RKE7 March 2020 at 10:03

    Sorry about the typos in the interview. I typed while being driven out of town for a conference

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amita Baviskar7 March 2020 at 15:16

    Excellent puzzle! I didn't get 12A: AVENS -- learnt this new word today! Thanks, Doc.

    ReplyDelete
  11. raju umamaheswar7 March 2020 at 19:09

    Fantastic grid, Doc. And that's an understatement . You seem to be competing with yourself in compiling.

    Incidentally, what's your hang up with drugs, heroine, cocaine ,beatniks, wife and husband etc? Were you a beatnik in your college days ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satyen Nabar7 March 2020 at 19:18

      No hang-ups! I would not go so far as to say 'normal' but not a Beatnik... :) It's just that these words provide well-known abbreviations that help to reduce use of the cliched primarily, essentially, finally etc... And also hopefully give the surface reading some spice!

      Delete
    2. raju umamaheswar7 March 2020 at 21:40

      Thanks ,Doc. For a very insightful reason. My comment was in a lighter vein.

      Delete
  12. Sudha A7 March 2020 at 19:15

    Both the doctors, Dr RKE and Dr X were outstanding in their creativity....

    ReplyDelete

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