Tuesday, 10 November 2020

No 13089, Tuesday 10 Nov 2020, Dr. X

The paper has 15D on the enumerations for 15D and 10D.

Solution to 23D 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   Where Usain Bolt might be competing over a brief period of time (2,3,5,3) IN THE SHORT RUN [DD]
8   Unilluminated section around entrance of lobby (5) UNLIT {UN{Lo..y}IT}
9   Noble hires Italian detectives for dealing with top-level assassination (9) REGICIDAL {REG{I}{CID}AL}
11 Fiendish nut fires associate for nothing, breaking contract (10) DEMONIACAL {DE{M(-a+o)ONIAC}AL}
12 Endlessly look at hunk (4) STUD STUDy
14 Buries scandalous notes about maiden and bachelor (7) ENTOMBS {ENTO{M}{B}S*}
16 Consuming marijuana, let loose and sing like a bird (7) TWEEDLE {T{WEED}LE*}
17 One who ill-treats is cheapskate going around America (7) MISUSER {MIS{US}ER}
19 One in the soup in swindle takes flight (7) CROUTON {C{ROUT}ON}
21 Lady’s crazy about ecstasy (4) DAME {MAD<=}{E}
22 Move to secure permit for drinking (10) SWALLOWING {SW{ALLOW}ING}
25 Groom found bride avoiding union! Not acceptable (9) FORBIDDEN {FOuND+BRIDE}*
26 Start to identify spot to pick up bit of illicit dope (5) IDIOT {Id...y}{D{Il...t}OT}
27 Riotous party breaking up (4-9) SIDE-SPLITTING {SIDE}{SPLITTING}

DOWN
2   Million lost! Novice abandons tense variety of Texas Hold’em (2-5) NO-LIMIT {MILlION}*{T}
3   Employee having sex with young lady is unreliable (3-3-4) HIT-AND-MISS {H{IT}AND}{MISS}
4   Rat is struggling in narrow groove (5) STRIA*
5   Debauched sot with cigar, tottering around lunchtime (9) ORGIASTIC {SOT+CIGAR}* around {1} 
6   Son avoids fast food (4) TUCK sTUCK
7   University paper essentially taken out and revised (7) UPDATED {U}{paPer}{DATED}
8   Change founder made is incredible (9-2) UNDREAMED-OF*
10 Associate longs for bit of naughtiness in merry promotional event (11) LADIES NIGHT {L{A}{DIES}{Na...s}IGHT} Enu should be (6,5)
13 One advising on issues related to Congress? (10) SEXOLOGIST [CD]
15 Overwhelmed by drink, team meeting journalist made a blunder (9) SCREWED-UP {S{CREW}{ED}UP} Enu should be (7-2)
18 Old warrior in Asia perhaps, drinking spirit on retirement (7) SAMURAI {SA{RUM<=}AI*}
20 Insight lacking in education (7) TUITION inTUITION
23 Hawaiian veranda in passage, mostly excellent (5) L?N?I (Addendum - LANAI {LANe}{A1} - See comments)
24 Excellent portion of beef in eatery (4) FINE [T]

Reference List
Italian = I, Associate = A, Maiden = M, Bachelor = B, Marijuana = WEED, Ecstasy = E,  Union = U, Novice = L, Tense = T, Sex = IT, Lunchtime = 1, Son = S, University = U, Journalist = ED


27 comments:

  1. Enjoyable puzzle, though easy for the most part. 1a and 16a are my favourites. I solved 27a first which gave p at the end of 15d. It was clear that enu was messed up in 15d. I assumed the same for 10d also and hence had no trouble solving. Thank you Dr. X for a nice fare as usual.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Misled by wrong enu in print edition for both 10 & 15D,I struggled a lot.

      Delete
    2. I also was misled & really struggled around 15d & 10d. Even after getting SIDE SPLITTING. not fair.

      Delete
  2. In the IA version, we are lucky. There are no enu problems.
    However, TH is making doubly sure about Dr.X puzzle! The link appears twice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Col., 9A def.to include 'dealing with' since solution word is an adj.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. I took lost as anagrind and abandons as deletion indicator of novice(L)

      Delete
    2. So,we have to do the anagram first and then leave out L. I got confused there a bit.

      Delete
  5. Lovely puzzle! Favourite was In the Short run.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So this enus is a mistake. I thought Dr.X would have a dictionary reference giving these as one word.:))

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have emailed the TH crossword team to avoid these really unnecessary errors in the future. I can imagine the untold agony for a solver looking for a 11-letter word when it is in fact a 2-word answer. Frankly, it is beyond my understanding how these errors can be made!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Enumeration- no. of letters in the solution word,if it is a single or a 2/3..parts word.
    eg.- 10D 'Ladies Night' is (6,5) whereas in the print edition it is given as 11.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 15D was even more difficult for me because I entered 12A as star - stare endlessly :-(.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Received an email from TH Crossword editorial that they apologise for the errors in the enumerations, that they have identified why these errors happened and will ensure that they don't happen again.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 9ac - regal around i(talian)+ cid. Why 1? as given in solution?

    ReplyDelete
  12. In 13d - what is the purpose of congress in the clue? One advising on issues is a SEXOLOGIST. Kindly explain.

    ReplyDelete

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