Solution to 13D 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 A bunch of taxis moving swiftly (5) FLEET [DD]
4 Fanzine going gaga over leftists’ leader with upper-class complaint (9) INFLUENZA {FANZINE}* over {Le...s}{U}
9 Bus stop stalker seen regularly (7) SHUTTLE {SHUT}{sTaLkEr}
10 Find loo or skip preliminaries and take a little stroll behind walls? (7) INDOORS {fIND+lOO+oR+St...l}
11 Gussalufz’s dull spear (6) IMPALE {I'M}{PALE}
12 Quite possibly, Kenya’s eradicated westbound smuggling (1,4,3) I DARE SAY [T<=]
14 No second turn for idiot (4) TWIT TWIsT
15 Sinking feeling, conclusively, during one’s breakdown (5,5) GOING UNDER {f...nG+DURING+ONE}*
18 Massive craze about Gussalufz round America (10) TREMENDOUS {TRE{ME}ND}{O}{US}
19 “Bazaar” earnestly covers this subject (4) AREA [T]
22 Spooner’s appeal, frivolous in a dopey way (8) SLEEPILY (~plea silly to sleepily)
24 Composed of extremely powerful and caustic chemical (6) PLACID {Po...uL}{ACID}
26 Sad end of mammal in calamitous ice age (7) ELEGIAC {m...aL} in {ICE+AGE}*
27 Denounce a monarchy in speech (7) ARRAIGN {A}{RAIGN}(~reign)
28 Exceptional actress, really, but careless and without guile (9) ARTLESSLY {acTreSS+REALLY}*
29 Burn evil American company! (5) SINGE {SIN}{GE}
DOWN
1 Control freak to switch staff around every now and then (7) FASCIST {To+SwItCh+StAfF}<=
2 Provide sound lacking, at its core, tonal balance (9) EQUIPOISE {EQUIP}{nOISE}
3 Traitors at the top sacrificed Britain in war to give away secrets (6) TATTLE {Tr...s}{bATTLE}
4 Butter from Netherlands and Austria essentially eliminated by Brexit, unfortunately (4) IBEX BrEXIt*
6 Behind Umbertha’s cover, crude novel hidden amidst books sold cheaply (8) UNDERCUT {Um...a}{N{CRUDE*}T}
7 Only denials and retreats (5) NOOKS {NO OKS}
8 Wasted years following a tip from bogus analyst (7) ASSAYER {YEARS}* {A}{b..uS}
13 Thick, rotating bars and barriers (10) ?O?D?L?C?S (Addendum - ROADBLOCKS {(-b)ROAD(+b)B}{LOCKS} - See comments)
16 Line delivery lands on? (9) DIRECTION [CD] (Coorrection - {DI{RE}CTION} - See comments)
17 Husband’s left, overwhelmed by penile ? This is where one can seek counsel, perhaps (8) HELPLINE {H} with {L} in {PENILE}*
21 Eagerly consumes innuendos laden with gossip, ultimately (6) SLURPS {SLUR{g...iP}S}
23 Get rid of tortuous JEE and heartless CAT! (5) EJECT {JEE*}{CaT}
25 Fancy taking a girl out to swing (4) VARY VagARY
Reference List
Upper-class = U, Second = S, Britian = B, Books = NT, Husband = H, On = RE, Left = L, Girl = G
I can see SHAKTI horizontally in the middle of the grid and RICE and POT somewhere else. Do three words have a common theme?
ReplyDeleteRICE & POT are inadvertent ninas :-). There should be a word for such ninas! Coininas, perhaps (coincidental ninas)?
Delete:-)
DeleteI was trying to set a clue for the word in 9a in another grid recently. My mind went along the same lines as it had done for the clue in this grid. However, I realized this time that STOP is not quite synonymous with SHUT (it is synonymous with SHUT DOWN). So, mea culpa on this one; apologies!
ReplyDelete16d di(re)ction
ReplyDeleteYes, that's the intended parsing, thanks!
DeleteFantastic parsing
DeleteMinor tweak to the anno for 2d: def is just "balance" (deletion of N is indicated by "lacking, at its core, toNal").
ReplyDeleteCorrected.
DeleteIt's a pangram.
ReplyDelete13D. ROADBLOCKS.. (b)road blocks...thick is broad and barriers is blocks
ReplyDeleteIs not 'Barriers'the def.?
ReplyDeleteThe AREA surrounding my home is ever silent. No sign of those FLEET of vehicles.
ReplyDeletePeople seem to have lost their EQUIPOISE and sense of DIRECTION.
They are GOING UNDER TREMENDOUS pressure.
The SLEEPILY SHUTTLE INDOORS between the rooms!
Mild INFLUENZA and they naturally get scared.
I DARE SAY things shall change.
Yes
Things WILL change.
Hope they do.Soon.
Delete13 {-bROAD+B}{LOCKS}
ReplyDeleteYep!
DeleteMone, since when did you become a Novice/Non-regular?
DeleteAdvantage of a long distance call!
DeleteOh sorry. I thought it was OR condition 😏
DeleteApart from SHAKTI, there is one more thematic nina (split in two parts).
ReplyDeleteNo nina spotters yet! Hint: the nina spotted by Vasant as well as three clue surfaces are connected to this other nina.
DeleteMagnificent crossword from Gussalufz. Loved the cluing for 17D. 12A was beautifully disguised. Overall a very good one.
ReplyDeleteThanks, RNP!
DeleteVery nice grid Gussalufz! Favs were FAIR DINKUM, TREMENDOUS, FASCIST, GOING UNDER, PLACID to name a few. No idea about the second Nina :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ramki!
DeleteSin and evil are not synonymous.
ReplyDeleteYes they are synonyms as Nouns.
DeleteHi. The 2nd Nina is SMITA PATIL. It's hidden diagonally in two parts.
ReplyDeleteNorthwest and Southeast.
DeleteGreat, I never thought of looking at the diagonals
Delete+1, Well spotted Dr.
DeleteI saw INCAR at one place and looked around thoroughly for NATION, ha ha!
So the connected clues are 19A, 28A and 6D
DeleteWell spotted Doc. Great Nina. For someone who grew up watching her films, great memories were brought back. Had watched most of her films in DD: Manthan,Mirch Masala,Bhoomika and so many others
DeleteI also remember watching her in DD as News reader. She used to read Marathi News(Batmya) in DD Bombay before her film career took off
DeleteThanks, doc, you found her!
DeleteAl dente refers primarily to food and there is no indication of that in the clue.Also can you call it a commonly used foreign phrase .I think not.
ReplyDeletePLease mention your name
DeleteAs normal solver I agree on both points.
DeleteBut there is an agreement that if it's in OED, then it's acceptable.
But I don't have a printed OED so someone else has to verify.
I thought for all cruciverbalists, The Chambers BRB was the holy grail.
DeleteUnknown: thanks for the feedback. Defense follows, make of it what you will :-)
DeleteChambers lists the phrase, of course. While "commonly used" is a reasonable expectation for words clued, I think over a whole grid if a few words do not meet that bar, it's OK—some solvers even welcome the vocabulary expansion. In this case though, for me—someone who cooks regularly—"al dente" is quite a common phrase.
The def deliberately omits the food connection. Generalized definitions are often used, with the hope being to create a minor "aha" moment for the solver when they realize what specific type of def is being talked about. Again, a device to be used sparingly over a grid.
Great grid. I solved 100%. Fav 18A, 13D, 5D.
ReplyDeleteI also thought strictly stop is not SHUT. 😊
Thanks, Gowri! 18a was among my faves too (obviously :-))
DeleteYes, 9a is flawed (I mentioned in an earlier comment too): indeed, "stop" cannot be used for "shut" :-(