Saturday, 10 October 2020

No 13063, Saturday 10 Oct 2020, KrisKross

ACROSS
1   Bulls nibbling tips of yellow grass — a source of energy (6) OXYGEN {OX{Yellow}{Grass}EN}
4   Russian author in conversation with Mark (5,3) CHECK OFF {~CHEKOV}
10 Boy turned over books about flat, boring occurrences (9) NONEVENTS {NO{N{EVEN}T}S<=}
11 Mostly poor, welcoming white master in Africa (5) BWANA {B{W}ANAl} (Addendum - {B{WAN}Ad} - See comments)
12 Believers in God suffer His test (7) THEISTS {HIS+TEST*}
13 Nobel is knighted with a dagger (7) OBELISK (T)
14 Student missing the first tough question is a failure (5) LOSER {L}{pOSER}
15 Oriental trick can take in a person from Cairo (8) EGYPTIAN {E}{GYP}{TI{A}N}
18 Dark scheme to eventually explode aircraft (3,5) JET PLANE {JET}{PLAN}{explodE}
20 Police force have to abandon ship at last (5) POSSE {POSSEss}
23 Antique piano inside a model (7) REPLICA {RE{P}LIC}{A}
25 Order to pay tailor finally for a jumper (7) CHEQUER {CHEQUE}{tailoR}
26 Tense, white... about to burst out (5) ERUPT {T}{PURE}<=
27 One tiny beer could result in a state of drunkenness (9) INEBRIETY  {I}{TINY+BEER*}
28 Signs of death — scattered roses (8) ENDORSES {END}{ROSES*}
29 “Full houses,” model said (6) STATED {S{T}ATED}


DOWN
 Later on, dramatically start to yell in a showy manner (8) ORNATELY {LATER+ON(}{Yell}
2   Americans look for no raises (7) YANKEES {SEEK}{NAY}<=
3   Listen quietly — this happens in autumn, not end of April (9) EAVESDROP {lEAVES DROP}
5   Past master? (7,7) HISTORY TEACHER (CD)
6   Note competent guy (5) CABLE {C}{ABLE}
7   One tucking into acorn nuts and a sweet potato (7) OCARINA {ACORN*} around {I}+{A}

8   Fellow grades stamps (6) FRANKS {F}{RANKS}
9   Doctor meets a patient inhaling oxygen slowly (3,4,2,1,4) ONE STEP AT A TIME {MEETS+A+PATIENT*} around {O}
16 To destroy SPECTRE in For Your Eyes Only” (3-6) TOP-SECRET {TO}{SPECTRE*}
17 Sounded like an ass when drinking in Paris, and got cheated (8) BETRAYED {B{ET}RAYED}
19 Make an illustration using old pen (7) EXPOUND {EX}{POUND}
21 Learner half-dead after going through dangerous act (7) STUDENT {STU{DEad}NT}
22 Piece of cake with varieties of cheese, say (6) BREEZE {~BRIES}
24 Season when wife leaves for Bury (5) INTER {wINTER}
 

Reference List

Books=NT, White=W, Student=L, Oriental=E, Ship=SS, Piano=P, Tense=T, One=I, Model=T
Note=C, Fellow=F, Oxygen=O, And(in Paris)= Et, Old=Ex, Wife=W 

Colour/Font Scheme

DefinitionSolutionComponent lettersEmbedded linksTheme word Anagram IndicatorC/C indicatorReversal IndicatorHidden word IndicatorLetter Pick indicatorDeletion IndicatorHomophone IndicatorMovement IndicatorPositional IndicatorSubstitution, IndicatorOpposite indicatorLink/Connector, Extraneous
 



42 comments:

  1. 1a oxygen is used to release energy from sources. It's an inevitable part of equation but is it a source!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. In the human body vis a vis aerobic vs anaerobic reactions

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    2. Yes,oxygen IS a source of energy- for everything including human beings.

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    3. Now I have a doubt on cryptc reading..O appears at the beginning so inhaling doesn't work?

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    4. Ajeesh I think you are referring to 9D. Good catch - sorry I didn't spot it earlier. Since O is not contained in the rest of the fodder, 'inhaling' is not correct.
      (Unless you say that a patient inhaling oxygen is "under" oxygen!)

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    5. Alternately, the clue does work if you apply the containment *first* in the wordplay and then do the anagram. Thanks to Hypatia for pointing it out.

      Delete
  2. 11a: BWANA {B{WAN(=white)}A(-D)}

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  3. +1. I also liked the start with Oxygen. It gave us the energy to complete. Thank you KrissKross. Enjoyed the workout.
    Setter and today's blogger are both Pangram specialists!

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  4. News to me that ocarina is also called as sweet potato. Though I filled in fro wp,I was doubtful.

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  5. 7D. Dictionary.com says ocarina for sweet potato is U.S. informal usage. So I feel a question mark at the end of the clue would have been fair. VDS Prasad

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    Replies
    1. Fair point. Didn't want to clue it as a musical instrument and hence went for this lesser-known definition.

      Delete
  6. Enjoyed solving. My cods are 3&5Dn

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  7. Agreed. I had to scroll way down to confirm.

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  8. Enjoyed solving, what with oxygen and breeze helping to breathe easy.

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  9. Excellent puzzle with nicely turned surfaces. Got it all, but didn't fill in 7D OCARINA, because I couldn't find the connection to sweet potato. Thank you, KrisKross.

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  10. Here is a link showing the history of the ocarina . Doesn’t say why it was called sweet potato but seems like the shape is that of a sweet potato.
    https://hindocarina.com/discover/history.shtml

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  11. The picture in Free Dic. under ocarina in brown colour brings out the similarity rather nicely (link given in the main post)

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  12. Sorry. Here is the link-
    https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ocarina

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  13. Just thght of sharing this 1930s crosby
    Music soothes the savage
    That's a well known phrase
    But your heart becomes
    Full of kettle drums
    When the sweet potato piper plays

    Go on, throw your hat up
    Shout a few hoorays
    Cause you can't hold back
    You're a jumpin' jack
    When the sweet potato piper plays

    Though it's not a magic flute
    There's a fascinatin' toot
    It's not exactly beautiful
    It's sort of like an I don't know
    I guess you'd call it cute!

    Sunbeams try new dance steps
    Songbirds sound their A's
    And the world joins in
    With a great big grin
    When the sweet potato piper plays

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6U0EIhr3ZpU

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lovely grid KrisKross! Thoroughly enjoyed!!
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Replies
    1. Reference was to the piece in Chinese Checkers game (they are called checkers or chequers) which "jump" over each other in the board. Slightly cryptic, in hindsight I think I should have added a ?

      Delete
    2. Thanks. By the way You did add an a.

      Delete

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