Monday, 9 March 2020

No 12878, Monday 09 Mar 2020, Dr. X


ACROSS
1  Worn out, overwhelmed by grind — plan escape or remain silent (4,4,5) HOLD ONES PEACE {H{OLD}ONE}{ESCAPE*}
8   Wife is hot! Great body (5) SWELL {S{W}ELL} (Addendum - SHELL S(-w+h)HELL - See comments)
9   Miserly groups backing Government’s last check for financial assistance (5,4) MEANS TEST {MEAN}{SETS<=}{g...nT}
11 Prepare old Mafia boss for final conflict (10) ARMAGEDDON {ARM}{AGED}{DON}
12 Fellow quits ecstasy permanently (4) EVER fEVER
14 Orthodox Conservative presently in charge (7) CANONIC {C}{ANON}{IC}
16 Were boy to run wild, this might be raised (7) EYEBROW*
17 Characters around island following love birds (7) ORIOLES {O}{R{I}OLES}
19 Broadcast reviewing ebullient politician’s cause for inflation? (3, 4) AIR PUMP {AIR}{UP<=}{MP}
21 Sock left in drain (4) SLAP {S{L}AP}
22 Mobs making noise around front of stage in impromptu musical event (3,7) JAM SESSION {JAMS}{NOI{Stage}SE<=}
25 Bolster to support legs given by couple of partners (5,4) DUTCH WIFE [DD] (Addendum - {DUTCH}{WIFE} - See comments)
26 Time to manage rebellious husband (5) EPOCH {COPE<=}{H}
27 A great experience that Moby Dick had perhaps? (1,5,2,1,4) A WHALE OF A TIME [C&DD]

DOWN
2   Supervisor is extremely abrupt in Gulf nation (7) OVERMAN {O{VERy}MAN}
3   Meticulously raise cover, start to inspect in a gradual manner (10) DILIGENTLY {LID<=}{In...t}{GENTLY}
4   Revolting faculty head grabbing maiden identified (5) NAMED {DE{M}AN<=}
5   Serial appears too outlandish — waste of time (4,5) SOAP OPERA {APPEARS+tOO}*
6   Give up cocaine! Quit for happiness (4) EASE cEASE
7   Heartless captor about to pull out knife (7) CLEAVER {Ca..oR} over {LEAVE}
8   Look to protect impatient daughter dogged by ill luck (4-7) STAR-CROSSED {STAR{CROSS}E}{D}
10 Essentially alter impression about a president after quarrel and attack with fist (5,1,5) THROW A PUNCH {alTer}{H{ROW}{A}{P}UNCH}
13 Review way to limit dreadful rot (10) RETROSPECT {RE{ROT*}SPECT}
15 Get rid of scoundrel controlling secret police before start of elections (4,5) CAST ASIDE {CA{STASI}D}{El...s}
18 Sweating endlessly? Terribly agitated (2,1,4) IN A STEW SWEATINg*
20 University rule about Indian female outfit (7) UNIFORM {U}{N{I}{F}ORM}
23 Personality consuming heroin in bar (5) SHELF {S{H}ELF}
24 Old ruler of Iran largely accepts single branch of Islam (4) SHIA {SH(1}Ah}

Reference List
Wife = W, Hot = H, Fellow = F, Conservative = C, Island = I, Left = L, Husband = H, Maiden = M, Time = T, Cocaine = C, Daughter = D, President = P, University = U, Indian = I, Female = F, Heroin = H


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31 comments:

  1. Ramki Krishnan9 March 2020 at 08:36

    I think 8A is SHELL - Great is SWELL, wife is hot -> replace W with H, def = body

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ramki Krishnan9 March 2020 at 08:38

    Thanks for the entertainment Doc. Nice clues as usual! Loved the intricate wordplay in 10D. Had to google for 25A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satyen Nabar9 March 2020 at 09:41

      25A The parsing is Dutch also means wife (partner) and wife= partner. Hence, couple of partners.

      Delete
    2. Satyen Nabar9 March 2020 at 10:44

      Thanks a lot Ramki :)

      Delete
  3. RKE9 March 2020 at 09:08

    The SOAP OPERA crew had A WHALE OF A TIME in the JAM SESSION, held to celebrate the completion at last of the shooting of a serial NAMED "ARMAGEDDON". Now, don't think of that CANONIC final battle between good and evil. It was only an EVERgreen saas-bahu battle going on-and-on for an EPOCH! In the past, the protagonists would at the most THROW A PUNCH or SLAP each other, but this new serial had CAST ASIDE such sissiness and had the STAR CROSSED duo go at each other with a CLEAVER from the kitchen SHELF, with them defending the attack using the DUTCH WIFE from the bedroom. Throughout the fight, their DILIGENTLY made up EYEBROWS would not show a drop of sweat and the menfolk would be at EASE, they being content to HOLD their PEACE. In RETROSPECT, there is a tedious UNIFORM formula that such dramas had to follow as the producers think they would be IN A STEW and lose out sponsors, if they dared to step out of line. Anyway, the ordeal was over for the crew and they inflated balloons with an AIRPUMP to decorate the party stage. The letters on the balloons read "it is all finally OVER, MAN".

    ReplyDelete
  4. Padmanabhan9 March 2020 at 09:09

    Superbly constructed. There were a few gaps for me,but happy to have got as many. Initially it looked very daunting. Thank you Doc. for sharpening our wits to start the day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. RKE9 March 2020 at 09:12

    I wasn't sure about SWELL that I had filled in. Now thanks to the blog, I know. Thank God, I didn't use it in the tale

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan9 March 2020 at 09:14

      Doc.swaps husbands and wives quite frequently,so we have to be on the lookout.

      Delete
  6. Kolluru Koteswara Rao9 March 2020 at 09:37

    Thanks Doctor for the entertaining puzzle!
    My fav is Armageddon

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vasant9 March 2020 at 13:27

    Beautiful Puzzle! Had Swell and also missed out on Dutch Wife; neverthless had a Whale of a Time. Thanks Dr. X.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amita Baviskar9 March 2020 at 13:34

    Intricate puzzle. Got them all except 13D: RETROSPECT, despite all the cross letters being in place (and then felt silly for missing the obvious!). Thanks, Doc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satyen Nabar9 March 2020 at 16:08

      You are most welcome Amita. Re 13D I guess that can happen at times. Meaning of 'Respect' in the sense of 'way' is not immediately apparent.

      Delete
    2. D N M Rao9 March 2020 at 16:43

      Yes. Respect for way does not occur readily particularly when we are "puzzled". It is however interesting that when I searched,I found 'respect' in synonyms of way, but there is no 'way' in respect synonyms.

      Delete
    3. D N M Rao9 March 2020 at 16:44

      Thank you for an interesting cwd.

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan9 March 2020 at 17:51

      Apart from dic. meaning,we use respect (with the meaning of way) as 'in respect of'- by way of. But obviously it will not occur to us here.

      Delete
    5. Satyen Nabar9 March 2020 at 18:03

      Dear Mr Rao it is there both ways. Check the Collins Dictionary section here. Posting both links below for your reference.

      https://www.thefreedictionary.com/respect

      https://www.thefreedictionary.com/way

      Delete
    6. D N M Rao9 March 2020 at 18:15

      Thank you. My source was only Thesaurus.com. I did not look for other sources.
      My comment was just made in a lighter vein.

      Delete
    7. Satyen Nabar9 March 2020 at 18:23

      Of course, I agree with you it is not a question of picking out some arbitrary synonym from a list. I use it only if the synonym can be substituted in a sentence. For eg 'they are similar in every respect' 'they are similar in every way'.

      Delete
    8. D N M Rao9 March 2020 at 18:57

      I agree completely. Enjoyable conversation. Thank you again.

      Delete
  9. raju umamaheswar9 March 2020 at 18:10

    Another TRIP with Doc,what with heroin, wife, husband, double Dutch,star crossed or otherwise,I had a whale of a time, with no raising of eyebrows ,I hold my peace!😀

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satyen Nabar9 March 2020 at 18:23

      Really glad you had a whale of a time Raju :)

      Delete
  10. Padmanabhan9 March 2020 at 21:54

    Thank you again Doc. for all the references and explanations. It is a pleasure to know the setter's point of view. we are a privileged lot.

    ReplyDelete

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