Friday 22 May 2020

No 12942, Friday 22 May 2020, Dr. X

Day 59 of 68 Stay safe at home
(I am maintaining lockdown till 31 May)

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS ON FRIDAYS ONLY

All those who are not regular commenters but who are rookie commenters or silent followers of the blog are requested to post answers with annotations in the comments section. In your own interest please avoid looking up the answers from the interactive version. Don't hesitate to post your annotations, in case you make a mistake in the annotation someone will correct it with the right annotation.

PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

Each commenter is requested to post only 5 answers thereby giving others also a chance to participate. Please provide all your answers in one comment.

Regular solvers/Veterans can post 1 answer each, but after 11 AM only

The regular blog will replace the clues at 4 PM.

Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.

ACROSS
1   Deny arresting American dissenter (8) RECUSANT {REC{US}ANT}
5   Start to admire Dravid say, one with special defence (6) ABATIS {Ad...e}{BAT}{1}{S}
10 Found strength to give up cocaine for good (5) FORGE FOR(-c+g)GE
11 Unstated reversal in plan to go to live in the country (9) RUSTICATE {RUS{TACIT<=}E}
12 Keep cuddling wife after wine for a sensational reaction (5, 4) SHOCK WAVE {S{HOCK}{W}AVE}
13 Clothes stand (3-2) GET-UP [DD]
14 Ridicules many getting sick aboard steamer (6) SCOFFS {S{C}{OFF}S}
15 Times of terrible unrest over citizenship essentially (7) TENURES {UNREST}* over {c...zEn...p}
18 Suckers for old-time therapy? (7) LEECHES [C&DD]
20 Outlaw at townhouse arrested around capital city (6) OTTAWA [T<=]
22 Small compact chip (5) SHARD {S}{HARD}
24 Sponge cake prepared by chefs heartily in department (9) MADELEINE {MADE}{L{chEfs}INE}
25 Charge of care given incorrectly (9) GRIEVANCE*
26 Select good bank (5) GLEAN {G}{LEAN}
27 Graceful maiden starting to bathe in river (6) NIMBLE {NI{M}{Ba..e}LE}
28 Consequences of America infiltrating territories (8) STATUSES {STAT{US}ES}

DOWN
1   Most widespread fires raging at southern border of rainforest (6) RIFEST {FIRES*}{r...sT}
2   Skill in bed essentially increases! Get tablet (9) CARTOUCHE {C{ART}OUCH}{incrEases}
3   What a preacher might do to guess who’s here? (5, 2, 3, 5) SPEAK OF THE DEVIL [DD]
4   They invaded England from heart of France, breaking usual rules (7) NORMANS {NORM{frANce}S}
6   Group perhaps got in trouble about exposing (8, 2, 5)  BRINGING TO LIGHT {B{RING}{GOT+IN}*LIGHT}
7   Characteristic flair backed by sex appeal (5) TRAIT {ART<=}{IT}
8   Model in court facing trial is most unreasonable (8) STEEPEST {S{T}EE}{PEST}
9   Climb a trail (6) ASCENT {A}{SCENT}
16 Unruly behaviour in bank with outcry over money lost in cock-up (9) ROWDINESS {ROW}{DIN}{mESS}
17 Batter close to amazing in game! It shows brilliance (8) FLASHGUN {F{LASH}{a...nG}UN}
19 Ecclesiastical offence is about getting cash after selling benefit essentially (6) SIMONY {IS<=}{MONeY}
20 Scrap in party over chaps interrupting date every so often (7) ODDMENT {OD<=}{Da{MEN}Te}
21 Parties very upset after a little exchange in bar (6) BEANOS {SO<=} after {B{Ex...e}AN}
23 Scumbag is maliciously adopting a type of discrimination (5) AGISM [T]

Reference List
Special = S, Cocaine = C, Good = G, Wife = W, Wine = HOCK, Many = C, Steamer = SS, Small = S, Good = G, Maiden = M, Sex appeal = IT, Model = T, Trial = PEST,  Money = M, Party = DO


Dr RKE's TalePiece

Frank NORMANS, an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, stood outside the OTTAWA office of the commissioner Justine Slade. There was a brass CARTOUCHE on the door displaying the escutcheon of the force, the same one on his badge he had proudly worn for 20 years. Normans had GLEANed that he was to be RUSTICATEd to a remote village in Ontario as he was getting on in age and was considered to be not NIMBLE enough for active service in the city. He felt it was a case of AGISM and he was here to present his GRIEVANCE to the commissioner. During his long TENURE in the force, he had played a major role in BRINGING TO LIGHT and then busting a crime syndicate noted for its ROWDINESS. Regular work-out kept him fit and he could make the ASCENT up the STEEPEST of staircases and arrive faster than many a younger colleague taking the elevator. The only thing that could be held against him was a RECUSANT TRAIT but that would surface only when he felt he was absolutely right.

Ms. MADELEINE Scott, secretary of Slade, ushered Normans in to the office.  When Normans was presenting his plaint, to the reluctant chief,  Slade's phone rang all on a sudden. The commissioner heard the person at the other end for some time and exclaimed "SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, Normans is right here before me...uh... sure...OK". He turned to Normans with a beaming smile and said "Normans, you are not going to the country. This metropolis needs you". Normans clicked his boots, gave a crisp salute and left, not knowing what had brought on a sudden change in the commissioner's demeanor.

The person who had called was the commissioner of RCMP from Toronto. They had just arrested the "FLASH GUN bomber", who had sent SHOCK WAVES across Canada. The bomber would pose as a photographer and would trigger explosions with his flash gun. Normans, as the investigating officer had FORGEd together the evidence, quite literally from the SHARDs and had alerted Toronto in time for them to arrest the perpetrator before he was to carry out his dastardly act in a mall. The Toronto commissioner had called Ottawa to thank Normans for his thorough field work and had recommended an elevation of Normans' STATUS in the force. When they met next at a BEANO, Normans thanked Slade and the commissioner said  "Thank Toronto's chief, old boy, he called at the right moment".

71 comments:

  1. 1Ac RECUSANT - {REC{US}ANT}
    1Dn RIFEST – {FIRES}*{(-rainfores)T}
    4Dn NORMANS – {NORM{(-fr)AN(-ce)}S}
    23Dn AGISM (T)
    25Ac GRIEVANCE*

    ReplyDelete
  2. 26a glean-select.Good-g lean-bank.
    20 ac Ottawa-outlAW AT TOwnhouse.
    24 a Madeleine-spongecake.prepared-Made e-chEfs, Department--line.madel(e)ine.

    20 d Oddment.Party-do,chaps-men,dt-DaTa.od d(men)t.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 28 ac Statuses-Consequences.Stat(us)es.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 20ac
    OTTAWA: capital city
    Outl(AW AT TO)wn house around indicates reversal

    1dn
    RIFEST: most wide
    spread
    Fires anagram with t(southern border of rainforest)

    7dn
    TRAIT: characteristic
    Flair: art, backed: tra
    Sex appeal : it
    TRAIT

    23dn
    AGISM: discrimination
    Scrumb(AG IS M)aliciously

    ReplyDelete
  5. 5ac
    ABATIS: defence
    A BAT (Dravid) I(one) S(special)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Instead of 20 ac which is a repetition,
    2dn
    CARTOUCHE : an engraved tablet
    Bed: couch
    Increases essentially: e
    Skill: art
    C(ART)OUCH E

    ReplyDelete
  7. 3dn SPEAK OF THE DEVIL [DD]
    14ac SCOFFS. {S {C} {OFF} S}
    6dn BRINGING TO LIGHT. {B {RING} {IN} {GOT}* LIGHT}

    ReplyDelete
  8. Instead of 1dn, a repetition
    10 ac
    FORGE: found
    Strength: force
    Cocaine: c gives place to g(good)

    ReplyDelete
  9. 13 ac GET UP DD..stand and clothes
    15 ac Tenures ..citiz(e)nship essentially
    E in UNREST
    19d. SIMONY..is...money means cash
    ben(e)fit essentially....means ecclesiastical offence
    9dn. ASCENT..a trail (scent)

    ReplyDelete
  10. 22ac SHARD..S small
    HARD..compact
    means chip

    ReplyDelete
  11. 18ac. LEECHES DD..suckers and old time therapy for CCF and polycythemia

    Instead of 22ac

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi it will be a CD with the double meaning of 'suckers'. As in they are suckers/people easily taken in/mugs for old-time therapy. With the other meaning of 'Suckers' to wit Leeches as you describe, which were literally used in old-time therapy.

      Delete
  12. OMG...Sorry...thought that 22ac was deleted by the col as it disappeared after some time 😀

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sathya 12 ac shockwave - not sure ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sathya. You should get the annotation too.

      keep= ?
      cuddling= container ind
      wife= w
      after= placement ind
      wine= ?
      defn= a sensational reaction

      Try now.

      Delete
  14. In the place of 23dn, a repetition
    11ac
    RUSTICATE: to go to live in the country
    Plan :ruse
    Unstated: tacit - ticat(reversal)
    RUS(TICAT)E

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anno of 6dn redone: BRINGING TO LIGHT. {B {RING} {GOT IN}* LIGHT}
    16dn ROWDINESS. {ROW} {DIN} {(-m) ESS}

    ReplyDelete
  16. 1ac Deny RECANT arresting American US dissenter REC US ANT

    ReplyDelete
  17. 4d Rules NORMS heart of France AN breaking rules
    They invaded England NORMANS

    ReplyDelete
  18. 15a- unrest + 'e' from citizenship...Tenure i.e anagram of (unrest+e)*

    ReplyDelete
  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  20. 27 A NIMBLE M(aiden) (B)athe in NILE
    17 FLASHGUN - LASH (Batter) amazin(G) (close to amazing) in FUN

    ReplyDelete
  21. 21D: BEANOS {B{E(-xchange)}AN}{SO<==} = PARTIES

    ReplyDelete
  22. doc, looks like no one wants to see the model in court!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Replies
    1. Thanks for the feedback 🙏

      Delete
    2. I thgt, he was ref to my comment above. I would be surprised if the ref was to the crossword.
      BTW thanks doc for a super exercise.

      Delete
    3. Hi Prasad,
      I have not read all the comments. I was talking about the crossword 🙂

      Delete
    4. Thanks Prasad! Will be easier today Ajeesh 😀

      Delete
  24. Yet to be solved
    8D and correct annotation for 19D

    ReplyDelete
  25. 8D {S{T}EE}{PEST}

    Anno for 19D: {SI<}{MON(-e)Y}

    ReplyDelete
  26. Since all answers are in I'm adding Dr RKE's talepiece. Mainpost will be updated at 4 PM

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dr. Rke- what a Tale!
    I was somehow reminded of the usual question in English paper in school- Use in sentence- which I found somewhat at tricky at times. Knowing the meaning one thing,but trying ti fit it meaningfully in a sentence is totally different. I am sure Dr. would have scored the max,there.
    One Doc. brings up tough words,another makes up a whole nice story using most of them. We are happy to have both in tandem!

    ReplyDelete
  28. A typical example- ( I have said this here before,but could not resist)
    Teacher asked the boy to make a sentence using the the letter I.
    Boy: I is...
    Teacher: You should always say 'I am' and not I is.
    Student: Okay, I am the 9th letter of the alphabet.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh , the beauty of English language ! If there are no CDs and DDs, compilers would go out of business. SUCKER ,leech, fall guy, etc . I am always reminded of The Sucker Punch by James Hadley Chase.

    SPEAK OF THE DEVIL or THINK OF THE DEVIL. I loved this phrasing .

    DOC, wife and Cocaine are very handy clues in your forte. So forge ahead in using them. Immensely enjoyed.Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 1.ac Recusant. Recant = deny + us
    13. Ac. Get up = stand also means clothes
    15. Ac. Tenures unrest + e
    22.ac shard s(small) + hard (compact)
    1 dn rifest fires +t from rainforest
    4dn Normans norms (rules)+ n ( n from France )
    21 dn stripe parties - a

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please note for future it's 5 answers per commenter.
      I'm letting this pass as all answers are already in.
      Could we have your name?

      Delete
    2. Yes. Please Iam sorry I sent more answers
      My name is Anandarao K

      Delete
  31. Dr.X's crosswords pose an enjoyable challenge to unravel the wordplay. Beanos, Simony and Abatis were the last to fall today requiring dictionary check as they were new to me. The WP (and crossings) helped guess the word even without knowing the meaning! Great stuff Doc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Especially happy you could work it out from the wp Doc! And thanks for the wonderful tale as ever.👍

      Delete
  32. Dr.X, your cross words are quiet different and hard to crack even [T] puzzles. I should go for a long way to grasp. esp. 20A & 23D such an easy puzzles I took about 10 min. usually I will crack via e-paper. The way RKE's Tale piece gives double dhamakka. Nice to have Doc's week again.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Happy to report that I got them all! Had to look up 19D:SIMONY; especially liked 2D: CARTOUCHE and 24A: MADELEINE. 28A: STATUSES I got, but filled it in under protest -- it isn't a proximate synonym for 'consequences'. But I think we have agreed to disagree on this point about close/distant meanings! :-) Thank you, Dr X.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as distant doesn't mean out of vogue, "man/woman of consequence" is not that uncommon or indirect, IMHO.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Amita for the kind words. And I never mind a debate (please see comment below)! Only way to find out if one is wrong :)

      Delete
    3. I agree, Sree Sree. It isn't about older words or usage.

      I did protest once at the use of 'uncle' for 'pawnbroker', as a case of obsolete Angrez slang that is best avoided, but that disagreement led to an enthusiastic discussion on Wodehouse, and I had to bow before genius. :-)

      Delete
  34. Amita has raised an interestinG point. Hard clues are usually those where the def is hidden. One such is where the synonyms is distant.
    If we look up a thesaurus there are many so called synonyms. Not all of them come up in our mind immediately.
    Now, Amita. will the clue you are alluding to become more readily solveable if the def is less remote?
    Any suggestion?
    General question: Should a setter take care about the nearness of a syn to the def?
    As I always ask, are all syns in a list ok?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Dear Amita and CV Sir, it is not a question of picking it out of a list of synonyms. And may I point out while we are at it, both Chambers Crossword Dictionary and Collins do list Consequence in the headings for Status. But let us look at a more revered reference. Chambers dictionary

      Consequence (noun) has the below entry in BRB

      that which follows or comes after as a result or inference
      effect
      importance
      social standing

      Don't see why if it means social standing/status in singular, the plural should not apply, it being a noun?

      Delete
    3. Dear Satyen and CV sir, I agree that 'status' and 'consequence' are close synonyms. But the pun on 'consequences' as a plural doesn't work because 'statuses' isn't really a word.

      Delete
    4. Your questions, CV sir, are useful for helping me clarify my problem with this clue. I realized (see comment above) that the issue is about whether the word 'statuses' can be used in this manner. Wouldn't we say,"Their relative status is different"? and not "Their statuses are different"?
      On the question of synonyms: as Mr Padmanabhan says below, they can be close or distant, making the puzzle simpler or harder. But often a thesaurus will list a word that is not exactly a synonym but exists along the same semantic spectrum. In such cases, one feels a bit cheated that the clue is not 'precise'.

      Delete
    5. Statuses is av word as per D's.
      https://onlinewritingtraining.com.au/plural-of-status/
      However this doesn't value add to discussion at hand. Just a language update.

      Delete
  35. CV,if I am right,is not talking about right or wrong synonym. It is about whether you are able to connect or not- making it easy/difficult. One has to stretch a little bit and think differently- going around what one feels an obstacle. Nothing wrong- only the difficulty level varies.

    ReplyDelete

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