Wednesday, 23 June 2021

No 13281, Wednesday 23 Jun 2021, Dr. X

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   Exhaust all resources to make the room secure? (5,4,4) SHOOT ONES BOLT [DD]
8   Backing curate to masterfully conduct a choral composition (5) MOTET [T<=]
9   Primarily boisterous saying, knocking back drink (7,2) BOTTOMS UP {Bo...s}{MOTTO<=}{SUP} &lit
11 Unruly engineers start to rant in workshop (10) REFRACTORY {RE}{F{Rant}ACTORY}
12 A kid going back for jelly (4) AGAR {A}{RAG<=}
14 Arresting many leaving all-night raves (7) HALTING {ALl+NIGHT}*
16 Girl cuddling rascal on ecstasy in university (7) ACADEMY {A{CAD}{E}MY}
17 Shall he also pick up herbal plant regarded as panacea? (7) ALLHEAL [T]
19 Found duke leaving to get hold of new cloak (7) ENVELOP {dE{N}VELOP}
21 Unpunctual son ignored reprimand (4) LATE sLATE
22 Preparing dosa and sambar for envoy (10) AMBASSADOR*
25 Anxiously argue about Republican lazily tackling onset of epidemic (9) WORRIEDLY {ROW<=}{R}{I{Ep...c}DLY}
26 Ball covered by dew becoming wet (5) MOIST {M{O}IST}
27 Praise clothing salesmen liberally for uprightness (13) BLAMELESSNESS {BL{SALESMEN*}ESS}

DOWN
2   The flu spreading around area is nasty (7) HATEFUL {THE+FLU}* over {A}
3   Very rebellious actress, single, going wild in bars (10) OSTRACISES {SO<=}{ACTRESS+1}*
4   Book penned by apprentice about revolution (5) ORBIT {TI{B}RO}<=
5   Remove old bug climbing in drain (9) EXTIRPATE {EX}{TIR{TAP<=}E}
6   Lout in raid about to steal ring (4) BOOR {RO{O}B<=}
7   Rising flatulence, tucking into street food (7) LASAGNE {LA{GAS<=}NE}
8   Sweet man ensnared by escort, despondent (11) MARSHMALLOW {MARSH{M}AL}{LOW}
10 Character gets tipsy at last on liquor in festive atmosphere (5,6) PARTY SPIRIT {PART}{t..sY}{SPIRIT}
13 Suffering after picking up undergarment with an arachnid (10) HARVESTMAN {HAR{VEST}M}{AN}
15 Anxious model, glad to get top prize (4,5) GOLD MEDAL*
18 Drunk, real smashed to be precise (7) LITERAL {LIT}{REAL*}
20 Young men and women drinking vodka heartily (7) LADDIES {LAD{voDka}IES}
23 Mule crossing extremely bumpy canyon (5) ABYSS {A{BumpY}SS}
24 Endless feud over money causing concern (4) ?I?M (Addendum - FIRM {RIFt<=}{M} - See comments)

Reference List
Drink = SUP, Engineers = RE, Many = L, Ecstasy = E, Duke = D, New = N, Son = S, Republican = R, Area = A, Book = B, Old = EX, Man = M, Money = M


24 comments:

  1. Surprisingly none of the Novices/non-regulars are attempting 24D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Got the answer. Struggling with the anno

      Delete
  2. 24D FIRM {FIRE-E}{M} is a concern, Feud is Fire , M from money

    ReplyDelete
  3. 24d. FIRM( concern _ business). Fued fire - e FIR + M for money

    ReplyDelete
  4. Appetising CW from Doc.,what with Lasagne,marshmallow,Ambassador.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Enjoy the dosa and sambar Paddy. Bon appetit! ๐Ÿ˜€

      Delete
  5. 24D feud = rift, endless = rif(-e), over => fir, money = m, fir+m = firm = concern.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RIF(-t) <= + M.
      Well done Sujatha ๐Ÿ‘

      Delete
    2. But Sujatha is a seasoned player , not a novice.Thomphil

      Delete
    3. @Unknown. Seasoned? Thank you but I am undeserving of that praise. I still struggle on a daily basis and look up to this blog to learn more. I managed to get this one right, today.
      Thanks all the same.

      Delete
  6. All of us took 'over'as on top of in stead of reversal indicator. Good thinking- both setter and solver.

    ReplyDelete
  7. When I opened the online paper, the grid has no enus at all. I took it to solve. 5DN was the last to fall.
    Thanks Dr. for the challenge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the enum was missing. It was corrected around 7am.

      Delete
  8. Dr X back to his entertaining BEST in today's crossword. Loved the exercise. Many CODs today for me.. 9ac, 14ac, 16 ac, 19 ac, 3dn, 5dn, 7dn & 10 dn. 13 down was new to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot Mr Prasad ๐Ÿ˜€. Nice to know what you liked. 13D is perhaps more popularly known as Daddy Longlegs.

      Delete
    2. Entertaining? Not exactly.It was frustrating.Thomphil

      Delete
    3. Thomphil, the grapes are always sour for you!!

      Delete
  9. Except for extirpate and refractory, the rest was a breeze. I think the doctor will make me eat my words by setting a real humdinger next :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not at all. Glad it was a breeze for you Maya. But of course, you are a good solver. So that is hardly unexpected ๐Ÿ˜€

      Delete
    2. Doc - i solved all but didn't parse many including FIRM, EXTIRPATE, BOTTOMS UP & ORBIT. So actually tough. ๐Ÿ™„

      Delete

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