Lockdown Day 11 of 26 Stay Safe
Across
1 Instruction: exercise daily, with excitement instead of distress (8) PEDAGOGY {PE}{D(-ail+AGOG)Y}5 Unfriendly and loopy terms of service accepted by cook (6) FROSTY {FR{TOS*}Y}
9 Line 50, unfortunately leads to subtle software bug (7) ILLNESS {LINE+L*}{S
10 Coming back in September: a Ludo mega-event made up of several subdivisions (7) MODULAR (T<=)
11 Visitor to arrive on time (5) COMET {COME}{T}
12 Mingle with fully naked entrepreneurs during next I.I.M. gathering (8) INTERMIX {
13 Visitor follows map showing our home, perhaps (6) PLANET {PLAN}{ET}
14 Models full of depression sent back for attitudes (8) POSTURES {POS{RUT<=}ES}
18 Bad year to hug young woman visitor (8) EMISSARY {YEAR*} around {MISS}
20 Bullet missing one from erratic shot (6) TRACER {ERRAT
23 Stare at space excitedly when cast off alone (8) SEPARATE {
25 Sharp sting (5) SMART (DD)
28 Courtyard without a pitch limits success (7) TRIUMPH {
29 Doing signal repair along this railway line? (6) SIDING {SIDING+ALONG*}={DOING SIGNAL}
30 Butter knife, maybe about to open tool drawer at last! (8) SPREADER {SP{RE}ADE}{
Down
1 Cricket matches controlled by entitled son’s rule? (9) PRINCIPLE {PRINC{IPL}E}2 Fix back cover on old novel (7) DILEMMA {LID<=}{EMMA}
3 Wounded sergeant’s heroism (9) GREATNESS {SERGEANT'S*}
4 Improper to discard the right internet protocol for chat (6) GOSSIP {G
6 Something that can detect objects in extra darkness (5) RADAR (T) &lit
7 Mercenary perhaps received money for something that is essentially corrupt (7) SOLDIER {SOLD}{IE}{
8 My journey regularly leads to the past (4) YORE {
10 Visitor ran into revolting eggs (6) METEOR {MET}{ROE<=}
15 Entry-level governor? (9) TURNSTILE (CD)
16 Try to vomit during fitful rest in contraption to be used when sick (9) STRETCHER {RETCH} in {REST*}
17 Back when I adroitly discovered fix (6) ORDAIN (T<=)
19 1 100 E 100 0 50 500 = 5? (3-4) ICE-COLD {I}{C}{E}{C}{O}{L}{D} = 5 across
21 Asked for decimal approximation (7) CLAIMED {DECIMAL*}
22 “Kremlin’s elected puppet? Tosh!” US president initially maintained (4,2) KEPT UP (Acrostic)
24 Somewhat critical, i.e., nitpicky visitor (5) ALIEN (T)
26 Fish returned: not completely smooth (4) EELS {SLEE
Reference List
Exercise=PE, Terms of service=TOS, 50=L, Time=T, Visitor=ET, One=I, About=Re
Cricket matches=IPL, Entitled son=Prince, Right=R, Internet Protocal=IP, That is=I.e, 1=I, 100=C, 0=O, 50=L, 500=D
Cricket matches=IPL, Entitled son=Prince, Right=R, Internet Protocal=IP, That is=I.e, 1=I, 100=C, 0=O, 50=L, 500=D
Colour/Font Scheme
Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word, Reference list word, Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Opposite indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous
Gteat CW. Visitors all over- with amessage to boot. Savoured it right through. Can't put a finger on any clue for COD. My best score ina Gussalufz CW. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Delete5a Loopy isn't anag, imo. Is it?
ReplyDeleteLoopy means crazy/eccentric so it is an Anind
Delete"Loop" can indeed be an anagrind. imo. In this case though, my intent was to only use it as a "cycling" indicator, as "Terms of service" -> TOS is not exactly direct.
DeleteTypo: "loopy" not "loop"
DeleteWith such tough puzzles most readers will give up .Gussalufz can be a bit milder.Thomphil
ReplyDeleteAh, apologies. That "Naramshabd" guy is not yet a setter, unfortunately.
Delete7 dn was in bad taste.Mercenary perhaps....and soldier.Not done.Thomphil
ReplyDeleteApologies again, no aspersion was intended. A "mercenary" (in its typical sense) is a specific kind of "soldier", hence I used "mercenary perhaps" as the definition.
DeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteA moment I was in a fix as how to fix the mutilated back cover of 'EMMA' staring at me in the front row of my mini library. Good clue 2Dn
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThere's a visitor in the grid too...
ReplyDeleteDear Gussalufz,
ReplyDeleteHello... Of course I did become a bit of GUSSA at myself since I could solve just 17 out of the 32 clues prior to accessing my last resort - our Crossword Blog slot.
Nonetheless, hats off to you for compiling a tricky grid and also all those worthy members who successfully managed to solve today's Crossword.
Thanks for giving it a shot! It might take a while to get used to any specific setter's style/idiosyncrasies. I try to get entertaining/natural surfaces and accurate wordplay (plus a theme and ninas, usually), but I generally find it hard to control/judge difficulty level of individual clues.
DeleteGussalufz is as eely as always
ReplyDeleteThanks (I'll just assume you mean "smooth" rather than "shocking" :-))
DeleteTough but fascinatingly tricky. Some surfaces like 28A are so well constructed. Appreciate the challenge!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteFun puzzle to solve :) Missed the Nina, well constructed :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! There's another nina, yet to noted here.
DeleteOh wow! Oumuamua! :D
DeleteAnything else we might be missing? :D
DeleteNo, that's pretty much it.
DeleteMinor anno colouring correction for 1a: agog = "with excitement" (not just "excitement")
ReplyDeleteOumuamua between 6d and 7d as well :)
ReplyDeleteThere you go, well spotted (it hit the ecliptic nearly perpendicularly on its approach).
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMy, my, this seems to have crashed past the orbit XD
DeleteA nice interesting lesson in Astronomy today. I had not heard about 'Oumuamua'. Thank you. Wiki readily filled in the gaps of my learning.
DeleteThank you Ramesh for the excellent blog.
ReplyDeleteHere are the notes that I had written down after setting this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThe notes do not mention the "STAR" nina as, in fact, I had not created it deliberately! :-) Well spotted by Ramesh. Random ninas do show by chance every once in a while, but in this case it fits the theme so well—quite an amazing coincidence.
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There are two ninas in this crossword. Down the 4th column from the right, you can see the word OUMUAMUA. ʻOumuamua is an interstellar object that passed through our solar system in 2017, entering it from north of the plane of the ecliptic (the plane of Earth's orbit). ECLIPTIC is the other nina, running across the fourth row from the bottom. The relative positions of the two ninas roughly depicts the arrival trajectory of the object.
A few clues and solutions are connected to the theme of extraterrestrial visitors and space:
11a. COMET. "Visitor" is used as the definition.
13a. PLANET. The wordplay uses "visitor" for "ET."
18a. EMISSARY "Visitor" is used as the definition..
23a. The surface refers to staring at space in wonder.
6d. The surface refers to detecting objects.
10d. METEOR "Visitor" is used as the definition..
24d. ALIEN "Visitor" is used as the definition..
I was wondering about the various visitors and why none of us talked about it. Thank you Ratnakar. I could visualise the amount of work that must have gone into the construction of this grid including the veerticality- Thoughtful of you.
ReplyDeleteLiked 27A 28A and 2D. Very nice
ReplyDeleteThanks, ranger!
DeleteThank you, Gussalufz, for an enjoyable puzzle. One question: in 1A, why "instead of distress"? It seems to suggest that you'd meant to change AGONY to AGOGY, somehow. Also, using DY for "daily" is a bit unusual; generally only D is used as a short form. Please explain. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteD or DY is not the short form.
DeleteThe clue says in the word "daily": insert "agog" (with excitement) instead of "ail" (distress). Simple replacement.
Thanks, Amita. Re: 1a, see sree_sree's note.
DeleteI think ‘without distress’ meant minus ‘ail’ from daily. I liked the alpha numeric clue!
ReplyDeleteSee above. And thanks!
DeleteViresh
ReplyDeleteNice grid featuring a number of visitors of various kinds! NINA good too...
Thanks, and thanks for blogging!
DeleteReally Liked 1D & 6D.
ReplyDeleteThanks! 1d was my favourite too.
Delete