Thursday 3 June 2021

No 13264, Thursday 03 Jun 2021, Avtaar

Lockdown Day 36 of 40 Stay Safe at home

Solution to 27A 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.

Another toughie from Avtaar.

ACROSS
1   Old-fashioned and extremely unusual French solo dance (3,4) PAS SEUL {PASSE}{Un...aL} Thanks to Google
5   Reason a sommelier may visit Japan’s desert (7) FORSAKE {FOR SAKE}
9   Regular income from books in Latin American notes (7) RENTALS {RE{NT}ALS}
10 Missing the first celebration of summer? (7) ESTIVAL fESTIVAL
11 Three wise men treat at first with fresh leaves, nuts and medicinal plants from India (4,5) NEEM TREES {thREE+wiSE+MEN+Treat}*
12 Almost complete? Not quite! Small line is missing (5) ABOUT Anno pending (Addendum - ABsOlUTe* - See comments)
13 Sweet is chewy on the outside, within (5) CANDY {Che{AND}wY}
15 Birth of some steady alliances around the time OPEC was formed (9) SEVENTIES {Some}{EVEN}{TIES} OPEC was formed on 14 Sep 60? - See comments
17 First 24 hours (around 1st of Jan) — imbibing a sip of vodka and beginning to savour the spirit of the sea (4,5) DAVY JONES {DA{Vo..a}Y}{Jan}{ONE}{Sa...r}
19 Put on location after Bill goes missing (5) DRESS adDRESS
22 Angry zamindar boots out raving mad court official (5) NAZIR {ZamINdAR}*
23 Try charming with text first (9) PROSECUTE {CUTE}<=>{PROSE}
25 Resident of Nazareth beheaded old British leader (7) ISRAELI dISRAELI
26 Cool bar has core of gilt embedded (7) INBUILT {IN}{BU{gILt}T}
27 One leaving will finally get peace, say (7) T?S?A?E (Addendum - TESTATE {geT}{peacE}{STATE} - See comments)
28 Fantastic deliveries by quick bowler, so near one’s stumps (7) YORKERS [CD?] (Addendum - &lit Tail Acrostic Anagram - See comments)

DOWN
1   Mythological article found in East Indian temple town north of Cuttack (7) PURANIC {PUR{AN}I}{Cu...k}
2   Admitting India, ASEAN upset Chinese (7) SINAEAN {S{IN}AEAN*}
3   Just stupid — introduction of corporate tax, supporting peers, essentially (5) EXACT {Co...e+TAX}*<=>{peErs}
4   Vicious, silent, evil bugs (7,2) LISTENS IN {SILENT*}{SIN}
5   Runs down, say (5) FLEES (~fleece)
6   Oils on the counter — limited bottles prepared afresh (9) RETRAINED {RET{RAIN}ED<=} Rain/Oils? Not sure of Anno (Addendum - {RE{ART<=}INED} - See comments)
7   Trimmed, pale olive-coloured sacs (7) ALVEOLI {pALe}{OLIVE*}
8   Stone tools obtained from the soil (7) EOLITHS* Semi&lit
14 Terrible, energy-filled Vajrayudha cut devilish Vritra’s feet in this ancient Indian text (9) YAJURVEDA {E+VAJRAYUDha}*
16 Beginnings of virulent intestinal cytosis possibly leads to thickness in blood, perhaps? (9) VISCOSITY VISCOSITY {Vi...t}{In...l}{CYTOSIS*}
17 Bridge maker-cum-canal operator? (7) DENTIST [CD]
18 Five magicians vanished with masks (7) VIZARDS {V}{wIZARDS}
20 Learned European’s not educated about sex (7) ERUDITE {E}{RUD{IT}E}
21 Corrupt, ruthless minister eventually ducks CBI officers (7) SLEUTHS rUTHLESS*
23 Small amount of money when cutting cake evenly (5) PAISE {AS} in {PIE}
24 Ashes — commonly seen in the last 2 months (5) EMBER {novEMBER&decEMBER}

Reference List
Books = NT, Small = S, Line = L, Bill = AD, Cool = IN, India = IN, Energy = E, With = W, European = E, Sex = IT 


53 comments:

  1. 12a Complete - Absolute. Not quite makes it Absolut. Small line - SL is missing ABOUT

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. oils = oil paintings = art

      Delete
    2. Oils on the counter - art reversed (on the counter)

      Delete
    3. Correct Sritri. REINED (limited) around (bottles) ART<<<. Def: Prepared afresh

      Delete
    4. Thank you Sritri & CGB.
      CGB,
      Your filling is very sweet!!

      Delete
  3. Sorry for the error in 15A. Indeed OPEC was formed in 1960 . Should have stuck to the Emergency

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. Not a CD . Please check anno Paddy

      Delete
    2. paddy its left for non-regulars!

      Delete
    3. Sorry. I did not notice- anyway,I proved I am a novice since my anno was wrong!

      Delete
  5. 28a &lit. fantastic anind. last letters indicated by stumps.

    ReplyDelete
  6. A challenging, brilliant puzzle!

    ReplyDelete
  7. My grand-daughteris a Dentist and she liked the clue*

    ReplyDelete
  8. 27A. Solution and annotation pending. Calling non regulars to come forward

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it is not solved bya non-regular/novice by 12 Noon, anyone (other than sree-sree) can solve with annotation

      Delete
  9. 27A TESTATE person has died leaving a will and he is at peace having died.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mistake ! Finally ge(T) peac(E), say is STATE; TESTATE is leaving a will

      Delete
  10. Good solve. This 'say' has a wide scope in meaning!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Sathia. Thank you for the feedback. 🙏.
    The intention is never to make the crossword “tough”. What setters try to do is to mix up different types of clues, focusing on surface and give overall enjoyment to the solver. Ultimate test is when solvers give feedback. What is non-negotiable is that the clues must be fair , solvable and, hopefully give some Aha! moments to the solvers.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Several Aha & also learning moments today.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Incidentally, in13A. Within is not part of the clue. Possibly some error from the paper

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of the rare (errors) that fit the clue. But I would have loved the one without within.

      Delete
  14. 11 ac bowled me; three wise men led me to the Maggi and I was stuck .Thomphil.

    ReplyDelete
  15. 27A-testate -one leaving a will; finally get peace -te; say -state; testate!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sridhar....how you correlate the word 'one' w.r.to the answer. pl.explain

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    2. Thanks. "One" refers to the person who is leaving(making) a will-as in a testament. On who leaves a will is called a testate/testator/testatrix.

      Delete
    3. Prasanna - One leaving a will (a person leaving a will) is a TESTATE

      Delete
    4. Thanks sreeni. your comment 13:23 I got the anno.

      Delete
  16. Regarding today's unsolved puzzle, I too got the answer. but I could not justify the deletion indicator from the word (intestate.) - having made a legally valid will before death. clue stated sound like 'say' . experts can only crack.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prasanna. There is no deletion. A person who leaves a will is a TESTATE. Defintion: One leaving will. Wordplay Finally get peace is T from get and E from peace. Say is STATE. It is a charade. T,E,STATE

      Delete
    2. sincere thanks to sreeni and Sridhar.. such a nice explanation. Good solve. special thanks to col. for selecting this challenging puzzle.

      Delete
  17. 27A TESTAE;one leaving will; geT AT EASE*, assuming 'say' is the anagram indicator.

    ReplyDelete
  18. My mistake. Correct solution below by N Sridhar

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thank you Avtaar for today's challenging & brilliant CW.Nice explanation given by Sreeni at 13:23. Thank Col.& Sreeni too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I liked the clue for 17 Down and also the related cartoon as I myself a dentist. Thank you. Dr. R. Haranadh Babu.

    ReplyDelete

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