Thursday 22 July 2021

No 13306, Thursday 22 Jul 2021, Spinner

Solution to 1A 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   Filling in when head’s away — something one might do at a summer internship? (6) A?D?N? (Addendum - ADDING pADDING - See comments)
4   Caught after chief of police recalled good man’s theories (8) CONCEPTS {C}{ONCE}{Po...e}{ST<=}
10 Newspaper exclusive, one that causes a drop in concentration levels! (7) THINNER {TH}{INNER}
11 Criminal deed, hiding origin of transmission — it’s to be avoided in a pandemic! (7) CONTACT {CON}{Tr...n}{ACT}
12 IT update breaks facility (8) APTITUDE*
13 Shooter is trapped by well-designed plot (6) PISTOL {P{IS}TOL*}
15 Girl’s date hijacked by amateur (4) LADY {LA{D}Y}
16 Ruined by coronavirus, finally healed on getting protective equipment (9) SCUPPERED {c...uS}{CU{PPE}RED}
19 Italy rose spectacularly for rightfully due winnings! (9)  ROYALTIES*
21 Artificial intelligence takes over small bit of antiquated continent (4) ASIA {A{S}I}{An...d}
25 Holy pouch with vermilion (6) SACRED {SAC}{RED}
26 Fond of condemned king thrown out by husband (8) ATTACHED ATTAC(-k+h)HED
28 Spinner’s following former flame with answer for question (7) EXAMINE {MINE}<=>{EX}{A}
29 Train carries haul when returning daily (7) REGULAR {RE{LUG<=}AR}
30 Pressure’s disorienting when wading through water (8) PADDLING {P}{ADDLING}
31 Observed selection of co-star edgily (6) STARED [T]

DOWN
1   If truth be told, account total hides a bit of unscrupulousness (8) ACTUALLY {AC}{T{Un...s}ALLY}
2   Medical professional provided some treatment before editor feel asleep (7) DRIFTED {DR}{IF}{Tr...t}{ED} Feel or Fell?
3   Perhaps, point when batters get nervous batting in net, yes? (6) NINETY {IN+NET}*{Y} (Correction - {N{IN}ET}{Y} - See comments,)
5   Cry of pain when finger’s cut at the top (4) OUCH tOUCH
6   Scrutinise son running amok, consumed by alcohol (8) CONSIDER {C{SON*}IDER}
7   Talk softly before clang (7) PRATTLE {P}{RATTLE}
8   Solve intrinsically felt testing, in retrospect (6) SETTLE [T<=]
9   Remove aerated liquid, grabbing nearly frozen water! (9) ERADICATE {ERAD{ICe}ATE*}
14 Those who triumph unexpectedly over makers of crossword! (9) UPSETTERS {UP}{SETTERS}
17 Friend returning home is important (8) MATERIAL {MATE}{LAIR<=}
18 Travelled here and there? Dread new variant! (8) WANDERED*
20 Apple’s origin story starts here: Design hardcore, with no compromise ultimately! (7) ORCHARD HARDCORe*
22 Southern dynasty’s ruler firstly an intellectual (7) SCHOLAR {S}{CHOLA}{Ru..r}
23 Unexpectedly elapse, becoming dead to the world (6) ASLEEP*
24 Great playing by team’s leader for goal! (6) TARGET {GREAT*}{Team}
27 Eager for knowledge, absorbs everything at first (4) KEEN {KE{Ev...g}N}

Reference List
Caught = C, Good man = ST, Newspaper = TH(The Hindu), Date = D, Protectice equipment = PPE, Small = S, King = K, Husband = H, Former flame = EX, Answer = A, Pressure = P, Account = AC, Editor = ED, Yes = Y, Softly = P, Southern = S 


29 comments:

  1. 1A. ADDING.. Padding- P( head).
    Adding is when unnecessary reading material is added to the interns thesis to make it large

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  2. Though the answer is right,adding is not what you say. What is the def.for adding in the clue?
    Take a relook.

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    Replies
    1. The definition is a little cryptic in this clue, will hold off for a while before giving it out so that others can take a crack at it. The parsing for Adding is correct

      Delete
    2. ...and so summer is adder!

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    3. Well concealed. Reminds me of a clue I had seen a long time back.
      A bad summer (13) - Miscalculator

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  3. Spinner has spun his web so delectably. Had a great time solving.Thank you.
    9D- Liquid fits in so nicely as anagrind.

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  4. 2D is a typo - It should indeed be 'fell'.

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  5. Intended the parsing for 3D a little differently, batting = in inside Net + Y. N(IN)ET+Y

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  6. Lovely grid with many clues to raise a smile and a chuckle! Loved WANDERED, SCUPPERED, TARGET, PISTOL, SACRED for the surface stories. And the cryptic defs for THINNER, ADDING, ORCHARD!
    Thanks Spinner

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Surface of scuppered is very topical. The word itself has a shipping origin,I believe. I had to look it up. Of course wordplay led me to it.

      Delete
  7. Wadding (-w) = adding. Is this correct?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's actually intended as padding (-p) - pl check comments above for explanation

      Delete
  8. Some very nice clues. My COD 20D. Steve Jobs would be happy!

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  9. Very very nice clues, Spinner!

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  10. lovely grid. like all. really interesting to solve. My cod is OUCH, SCHOLAR, ADDING & SCUPPERED
    thanks to SPINNER

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  11. Good puzzle. Pistol and Ouch my favourites

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