Wednesday, 8 July 2020

No 12982, Wednesday 08 Jul 2020, Avtaar

Solution to 24D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular/novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS
1   Reddish, toxic liquid solution containing 50% each of Osmium and Magnesium (7) BROMINE {BR{Os}{Mn}INE}
5   A fine story, full of good humour (7) AFFABLE {A}{F}{FABLE}
9   Variety of shelled cashew kernel that is used in cosmetics (4,3) SHEA NUT {cASHEw}*{NUT}
10 Revolutionary stirs up pedants (7) PURISTS*
11 Child hero taken in by vacuous judge’s duplicity (9) TREACHERY {TR{EA{CH}ER}Y} (Addendum - {Tr{REACHER}Y} - See comments)
12 Sailor had to go down (5) ABATE {AB}{ATE}
13 One who doesn’t believe in propaganda (5) PAGAN [T]
15 Show doctor into surgery (9) OPERATION {OPERA}{INTO*}
17 Screens shirt, belts, jeans and shoes at the entrance (9) TELEVISES {TE{LEVIS}E}{Sh..s}
19 Take care of man and old dog (3,2) MOP UP {M}{O}{PUP}
22 That is one way across Germany (2,3) ID EST {1}{DE}{ST}
23 Jack, biting into roast meat, is getting bones (9) METATARSI {TAR} in {MEAT+IS}*
25 Head of Stores reviewed overtime salary that is paid for loading cargo (7) STOWAGE {St...s}{OT<=}{WAGE}
26 Man and wife locked in a never-ending smooch — hot and sentimental (7) MAWKISH {M}{A}{W}{KISs}{H}
27 North Americans look for yet more returns (7) YANKEES {SEEK}{NAY} <=
28 One again experience inhaling drug for support (7) RELIEVE {RELI{E}VE}

DOWN
1   Drunken sots breaking into retro bar’s boarding area (3,4) BUS STOP {BU{SOTS*}P<=}
2   Excessively decorate George V’s bust (4-3) OVER-EGG*
3   Old Greek music — one touching and nice at heart (5) IONIC {1}{ON}{nICe}
4   Harry Potters behind turnaround of corner stores (9) ENTREPOTS {POTTERS}* after {NE<=}
5   Ask for a soft sheet of veneer (5) APPLY {A}{P}{PLY}
6   Old Macdonald’s property has one concrete safety device (4,5) FIRE ALARM {F{1}{REAL}ARM}
7   Authentic Awadhi mutton biryani’s tops... its made with this (7) BASMATI {Au...c+Aw...i+Mu...n+Bi...i+ITS}* Semi&lit
8   Asian flower seen in Ethiopian border (7) EASTERN {ASTER} in {Et...aN}
14 Keen camerlengo eventually nabs corrupt intern at the church (9) NOVITIATE {keeN}{c...gO}{VITIATE}
16 Estimator reassessed land (4,5) EAST TIMOR*
17 XXX has son wanting more (7) THIRSTY {THIR{S}TY}
18 Tell a story, start to drink and enjoy rest (3,4) LIE DOWN {LIE}{Dr..k}{OWN}
20 Long to win gold cup at the inauguration… à la the Empress of Blandings (7) PORCINE {P{OR}{Cup}INE}
21 Hit hard before circling base, please! (7) PRITHEE {PR{HIT*}E}{E}
23 Contests set out by Avtaar (5) MEETS {SET*}<=>{ME}
24 Dry, endless report about how husband broke off (5) T?W?L (Addendum - TOWEL - {T{hOW}ELl} - See comments))

Reference List
Fine = F, Sailor = AB, Shirt = TEE, Man = M, Old = O, Germany = DE, Jack = Sailor = TAR, Overtime = OT, Wife = W, Hot = H, Drug = E, Corner = NE, Soft = P, Son = S, Gold = OR, Base = E, Husband = H


Dr RKE's TalePiece
(No tale, Dr is busy)

29 comments:

  1. !! A REACHER (British author Child's hero Jack Reacher) in T(R)Y - Vacuous judge. TREACHERY

    ReplyDelete
  2. endless report - T
    (-How) - OW ....Husband broke off
    Answer is .....TOWEL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Incorrect. Where did you get the EL from?

      Delete
    2. Endless report TEL(L) around OW

      Delete
    3. Report - Tell
      T(-H (ow))EL(-L)....TOWEL

      Delete
    4. Right Sritri and Prasanna

      Delete
    5. Thanks Avtaar.
      26A and 24D....was COD....too interesting

      Delete
  3. 28a there seems to be typo in the clue. Once instead of one? Is one acceptable.
    14d nabs usually is a cc indicator!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. It is once again. There is a typo in 28A

      Delete
  4. 1A- Does 'solution' give brine? It is salt solution,isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its made up of strong salts but primarily a solution!

      Delete
    2. Brine is a solution - saline. It is also listed in the Chambers crossword dictionary as a synonym

      Delete
    3. Brine solution is nothing but, high concentration of salt in water.

      Delete
  5. True,it is a solution. But a solution can be anything,not necessarily brine alone. say,a sugar solution or syrup.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 5A. Definition is “full of good humour”.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Os is osmium and Mg is magnesium. So you get OM

    ReplyDelete
  8. And OM in BRINE gives the answer

    ReplyDelete
  9. I liked METATSRSI, MAWKISH.I smelt BASMATI ( baaas maarti)
    for biryani right away. Biryani ( priyani?) Is not one of my favourites!

    Good brain work by Avtaar and for solvers too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 13A Pagan is not a non believeras far as I know. He believes in tribal dieties. A non believer is one who does not believe in any God or the existence of God.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Point taken. Paganism as polytheism, as I understand, is considered derogatory and not recently in use. As per Chambers, more recently, the term “pagan”. has also been applied to one who has no religion

    ReplyDelete

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