Monday 20 September 2021

No 13356, Monday 20 Sep 2021, Avtaar

Solution to 9A 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   Floor outside terminal blew up (7) BLASTED {B{LAST}ED}
5   Cuckoo eating rejected egg pieces (7) NUGGETS {NU{EGG<=}TS}
9   Land, not essentially best in wines, lacking greenery at the entrance (7) B?R?N?I (Addendum - BURUNDI BURgUNDIes - See comments) 
10 Trace out simple charts, adjusting lines emerging at the origins with the right proportions (2,5) TO SCALE Acrostic
11 Section in sewer is contracting (7,2) DRAWING IN {DRA{WING}IN}
12 A market-linked perquisite for a storyteller (5) AESOP {A}{ESOP}
13 Design of well by old master getting reviewed (5) MOTIF {FIT}{O}{M}<=
15 Dire Straits acting in the role of old Russian royals (9) TSARITSAS {STRAITS}*{AS}
17 Flowers retracted, slipped and dropped on a hound’s tail (9) DAFFODILS {SLID}{OFF}{A}{h..nD}<=
19 Arrest by old British king (5) NABOB {NAB}{O}{B}
22 After removing shirts, come, pray with holy leader — a Muslim lord (5) OMRAH {cOMe}{pRAy}{Holy}
23 Possibly informal convention for grooming (5,4) DRESS CODE [CD] [C&DD} See comments
25 Fermented rums not a cure, is it? (7) NOSTRUM*
26 Doctor pens one article on outbreak of strange shivers (7) DITHERS {D{1}{THE}R}{St...e}
27 Untouched whiskey-tainted bottles (3-4) DRY-EYED {D{RYE}YED}
28 “Reflections in Music” — Songs without “C” and “G”, say (7) MUSINGS {MUSIc+soNGS} Anno for 'SO' not clear See comments

DOWN
1   Sacking of support and maintenance heads by British ombudsman, very nearly upset the bureaucracy (7) BABUDOM {B}{OMBUDsmAn}*
2   Having kidnapped king, a brute gets in touch (7) ABREAST {A}{B{R}EAST}
3   Worthwhile investment in “Manhattan Timbers” (5) TANTI [T]
4   In Mongolia, onager is dozing on leaves — it starts to exhale and grunt awkwardly (9) DZIGGETAI {DoZInG}{IT+Ex...e+And+Gr..t}*
5   Unfair — whichever way you look at it (3,2) NOT ON <=>
6   Time taken to mature is not age? That’s basically preposterous (9) GESTATION {IS+NOT+AGE+That}*
7   Slips by the Spanish vaults in church (7) ELAPSES {EL}{APSES}
8   Kosher pasta-eating professional trekkers (7) SHERPAS [T]
14 Daring way to get Hydra (9) FOOLHARDY {HYDRA}* [RA]
16 Michaelmas daisy on wall around Malta’s port (9) AMSTERDAM {A{M}STER}{DAM}
17 Surgeon had gone under (7) DROWNED {DR}{OWNED}
18 Divine four? (7) FORESAY (~four say)
20 One old lab developed a logical system of counting (7) BOOLEAN {ONE+O+LAB}*
21 Sanctifies black vessel in sanctuaries (7) BLESSES {B}{LE{SS}ES}
23 Ill-fated love is put away — like the Taj Mahal? (5) DOMED DOoMED
24 Its changing America’s position (5) SITUS {ITS}*{US}

Reference List
Old = O, Master = M, British = B, King = R, The in Spanish = EL, Black = B, Vessel = SS, G say = SO


24 comments:

  1. 28A G and So: fifth note of musical scale

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Excellent Vasant. G is Sol - hence the “say” for the HP. πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

      Delete
  2. Loved Aesop, Dress Code, Foolhardy and Foresay among other clues in this stiff challenge. Had to google for the Mongolian animal. Thank You, Avtaar.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FOOLHARDY Robert sometimes dressed like a NABOB and sometimes like an OMRAH and walked ABREAST with his friends.

    The DRESS CODE and behaviour irritated Periyakaruppan (aka PK) the Tamil.
    NOT ON, NOT ON he BLASTED.

    Then he had to give Robert LITTLE NUGGETS of Wisdom from AESOP'S fables.

    What happened next?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Another toughie for me 😒

    ReplyDelete
  5. 9A BURUNDI = country/land {BURgUNDI, wine - G, Greenery entrance/first letter}

    ReplyDelete
  6. 9A - Bur(g)undi wine lacking g (greenery entrance) - Burundi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Annotation only partly completed. Not right.

      Delete
  7. Col. a couple of small corrections in the annotation. 15A , the definition is old Russian royals. Acting in the role of is “AS”.

    23 A. is technically a DD/CD combo. With possibly informal being the straight definition.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Since it is past 11 A.M., anno of 9A is
    BUR(-g)UNDI(-es)
    Wines=Burgundies
    not essentially b(ES)T i.e. without ES and without G (Greenery at the entrance)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the plural was necessary as singular is Burgundy.

      Delete
    2. Vasant 11AM is for Sunday Specials

      Delete
    3. You mean for Fridays. Noted.

      Delete
    4. You are right, of course, Vasant

      Delete
  9. Yes. Vasant’s annotation is right

    ReplyDelete

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