Solution to 12A 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
9 Dug up within a country — tale of a small town... (7) MALGUDI {MAL{DUG<=}I}
10 ... mean time include velocity one more time (7) AVERAGE {A{V}{ERA}GE}
11 Give it a different shape — shift more in front, towards left (7) REMODEL {MORE*}{LED<=}
12 Rated truly free (7) D?R?D?D (Addendum - DERIDED {RID} in {DEED} - See comments)
13 County gets snow — by the way, it’s part of film review (9) LEICESTER {ICE}{ST} in {REEL<=}
15 Stand topless, showing boredom (5) ODIUM pODIUM
16 Back without care (4,3) BUTT END {BUT}{TEND}
19 One eager to follow the last man of cloth (7) NANKEEN {AN}{KEEN}<=>{maN}
20 Second or third seed gets into final, that’s bare minimum (5) LEAST {L{seEd}AST}
21 Some of it explains ongoing group singing (9) PLAINSONG [T]
25 Issue is back — President hasn’t finished with his magic cure (7) NOSTRUM {SON<=}{TRUMp}
26 At home, the way everything’s put in place (7) INSTALL {IN}{ST}{ALL}
DOWN
1 Same form, half exposed as being unethical (6) AMORAL {sAMe}{fORm}{hALf}
2 Out on a limb, perhaps — boot out old boys (6) ALUMNI {oUt+oN+A+LIMb}*
3 Felt bad when told it’s abusive (4) RUED (~rude)
4 Chance to get sick accommodation (6) BILLET {B{ILL}ET}
5 Official language (8) MANDARIN [DD]
6 Hair cut, now no approach (4,4,2) BEAR DOWN ON {BEARD}{NOW+ON}*
7 Changed mind midway, not to step on it (8) LANDMINE {LA{MIND*}NE}
8 She gets dividends from both sides — workers, they keep the stock (8) HERDSMEN {HER}{Di...dS}{MEN}
14 Choose to talk to those who vote (10) ELECTORATE {ELECT}{ORATE}
16 Islanders stand outside crease (8) BALINESE {BA{LINE}SE}
17 Starts new socialistic movement in characteristic broadcast (8) TRANSMIT {TRA{New}{So...c}{Mo...t}IT}
18 Incomplete — I plan to raise this hormone (8) DOPAMINE {I}{MAP}<= in {DONE}
23 Herb’s losing head, rearing an ass (6) ONAGER oREGANO<=
24 Seen regularly during festival — will it provide some lead? (6) GALENA {GAL{sEeN}A}
27 Active agent provocateur finally nabbed (4) SPRY {SP{p...uR}Y}
Reference List
Velocity =V
As usual like ardenisms.
ReplyDeleteBut felt 9a def should be "small town of a tale".
The tale is Malgudi days!
+1
ReplyDeleteAs it is,small town is the def.which means 'tale of a' is extra.
Here the definition is 'A small town'. The phrase 'tale of' is used to indicate the town
Deletehas a tale attached to it or about it. Just mentioning 'a small town' would not not be
fair because there are millions of small towns.
16a- Typo in solution word- it has to be 'butt end',not butt tend.
ReplyDeleteCorrected
Delete12A- derided- rated; truly- in deed; free- rid; de(rid)ed?
ReplyDeletegreat solve!
DeleteThanks!
DeleteNice and challenging puzzle from Arden.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explian {ON} in 28A?
'ON' indicates 'fed' or 'being fed'. Like in "I'm on a vegetarian diet"
DeleteThanks ranger; I guessed as much. But was not sure.
DeleteAnother doubt: "some" in the clue is redundant or part of definition?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI thought you intended FED=dined on [dined=taken]
Delete'Some' is used to refer to something that is 'unknown or unspecified' as there are many
ReplyDeletevarieties of cheeses.
Nice grid. My favs Landmine, Surgeon and Herdsmen. Enjoyable solve for me today. Thank you Arden. :)
ReplyDeleteI must thank Arden for the 4-D clue that made me feel younger by over five decades since the living accommodation for single airmen in the IAF is known as BILLET.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I did solve it as feigning sick on the days of ceremonial parades during the training period at Jalahalli in mid-'60s was my hobby!!!
15a-Odium = hatred/abbhorence. Does boredom fit?
ReplyDeleteValid point
DeleteSorry. That was an oversight. Probably I had 'tedium' at the back of my mind while
Deletewriting the clue
interesting puzzles by Arden today. around 5 puzzles yet to complete. ALUMNI, ODIUM, LEAST were too interesting. trying for ac.9,16 & dn.18.23....too challenging one. hope will complete by 7 PM. have a nice day.
ReplyDelete15A: ODIUM doesn't mean 'boredom'. Otherwise, a fine puzzle.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting read on boredom besides the etymology of odium-ennui-boredom
Deletehttps://iai.tv/articles/the-history-and-politics-of-boredom-auid-1208
Becos i didnt get odium, my top right corner is incomplete.
ReplyDeleteElse a great grid.
My fav - LANDMINE, DERIDED, SURGEON & ofcourse MALGUDI. 😊