Solution to 26A 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.
Tough going today.
ACROSS
1 Judge releases leader of common people to society (6) ASSESS {mASSES}{S}
4 Black? Face strict condition and charges (6) TARIFF {TAR}{IFF}
8 Middlemen are mainly just thieves without a bit of remorse (7) JOBBERS {Just}{rOBBERS}
9 Last time to remove dead after second Everest mission (7) VENTURE {EN(-d+t)TURE}<=>{eVe...t}
12 Message from posh school sent back (4) NOTE<=
13 Agreed — boring Public Relations employer... (5) PAYER {P{AYE}R}
14 ... insolent in character, should be put back to storage (8) ENTREPOT {EN}{PERT<=}{TO<=} Not sure of Anno (Addendum - {TO{PERT}NE}<= - See comments)
16 Parcel from sandwich shop — so... (8) DELIVERY {DELI}{VERY}
18 ... check it has all users’ desired starters first (5) AUDIT {IT}<=>{All}{Us..s}{De...d}
20 Not losing love for aliens... that’s the bottom line (4) NETT N(-o+et)ETT
21 Helping to trade in New York and London, the English are in dexterously-made clothing? (5,5) SHARE INDEX [T]
23 Puerto Rico’s gold taken at America at a certain rate (3,4) PRO RATA {PR}{OR}{AT}{A}
24 What didn’t come from abroad during the Ever Given crisis? Setter’s wines (7) IMPORTS {I'M}{PORTS}
25 Ask Democrat along with... (6) DEMAND {DEM}{AND}
26 ... thousand stuck-up leadership to leave? That’s difficult (6) ?N?T?Y (Addendum - KNOTTY {K}{sNOTTY} - See comments)
DOWN
1 Gold pinned on maiden often to decorate (5) ADORN {mAiD{OR}eN}
3 Additional price increase includes coal (9) SURCHARGE {SUR{CHAR}GE}
5 Spy after years got new assignment, finally (5) AGENT {AGE}{N}{a...nT}
6 INXS takes drug to be great (7) INTENSE {IN}{TEN}{S}{E}
7 If returns on Rupee/dollar over time is put on most of stock exchanges, it could be an initial investment (5,4) FIRST COST {IF<=}{R}{S}{T}{STOCk}*
10 Employee’s body part has many parts (9) LIVERYMAN {LIVER}MANY*}
13 Peter looked up to favourite (9) PREFERRED {P}{REFERRED} P/Peter?
15 Merchant from Madras’ often tense & confused (9) TRADESMAN {MADRAS+TeNsE}*
17 Hot period one’s stuck in is temporary (7) INTERIM {IN}{TER{1}M}
19 How eater becomes dater? That’s what usually happens on a date... (4,3) DINE OUT {D IN E OUT}
21 Organised protest is going up — supported by money (3-2) SIT-IN {IS<=}{TIN}
22 Gate guard starting to stray away (5) ENTRY sENTRY
Reference List
Society = S, Identify Friend or Foe If and Only If = IFF, Time = T, Dead = D, Public Relations = PR, Character = EN, Aliens = ET, Puerto Rico = PR, Gold = OR, America = A, Thousand = K, Democrat = DEM, New = N, Drug = E, Rupee = R, Dollar = $, Peter = P, Hot = IN, Money = TIN
26 A KNOTTY, is difficult
ReplyDeleteK is for thousand
Please try to give complete annotation
Delete26A. Thousand = k. Stuck up = snotty. Snotty without leader = notty. So k-notty = difficult.
ReplyDelete26a-KNOTTY = difficult: K=thousand;(S)notty=stuck up with leadership leaving.
ReplyDelete4AC I thought IFF=if and only if , a strict condition
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThanks KKR
Delete20A 1D 13D super clues!
DeleteThank you - Bruno.
DeleteHi 14A is EN{TREP}OT <-- (PERT in TONE all reversed)
ReplyDeleteThanks Satyen
DeleteDine Out was nicely done!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI filled in with crossings. Aha moment!
Delete+2
DeleteI ot only E & d. but across puzzle helped me to crack the word OUT. I was so curious to know about the anno. As commented by Vansant it was a good one.
Delete+3
Thanks all... wasnt sure if it was a bit "too much". Glad you all enjoyed it. Thanks also for the feedback. We setters live for that "A-ha" from solvers, dont we!!
DeleteWith the rise in TARIFFs the IMPORTS beacame dearer. TRADESMEN found it tough to meet the DEMAND and also had to resort to SURCHARGEs to maintain their NETT for the year. New players wanting to make an ENTRY were trying to ASSESS the right time to VENTURE into business. They were unwilling to put in their FIRST COST and wanted to know if in the INTERIM there will be a SUBSIDY to overcome the KNOTTY situation.
ReplyDeleteIs there a theme?
You seem to have fixed the theme! A job well done, Sridhar!
DeleteOr 'sit-in' as tailpiece to the narrative?
DeleteThanks!
DeleteWow... Sridhar. Are you CGBhargav in a different avatar?
Delete13DN P=Peter in Bible
ReplyDeleteIt is as per thefreedictionary.com
English phonetic code.
Deletehttp://www.sckans.edu/~sireland/radio/code.html
Nice to know about IFF. go through the link also may denoted as a abb. for Friend or Foe. thanks for the link by Bruno. Today's grid reflecting about commerce. viz, AUDIT, PRO RATA, DEMAND, SHARE INDEX.....Esp. 4a and 6D was too interesting.
ReplyDeleteSorry Sathia if it was too tough. Interestingly, as one gets used a setter's style, the grids become easier.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, some minor edits have been made to the clues by the editor without consulting with the setter... Totally unacceptable, thought the impact on the surface was minimal...
ReplyDelete