 |
| Rangoli by Gowri |
ACROSS
1 Point of discussion or theory? (5) NORTH (T)
4 Religious groups possessing extremely ancient airship weapons (9) CATAPULTS {C{AncienT}{AirshiP}ULTS}
9 Reconfigured home LAN provides access to an underground network (7) MANHOLE {HOME+LAN*|
10 Pay them off — it shows you care (7) EMPATHY {PAY+THEM*}
11 Shrill siren at first, followed by disastrous quake (6) SQUEAK {Siren}{QUAKE*}
12 Very light and fancy European leather (8) ETHEREAL {E+LEATHER*}
14 Especially skittish customers have held back (4) SUCH (T<=)
15 Bacchanalian fun before the last character has to enter no man’s land (6,4) BUFFER ZONE {FUN+BEFORE*} around {Z}
18 Rate of change varied dramatically with time, at first eventually settled (taking only seconds) (10) DERIVATIVE {VARIED*}{Time}{fIrst}{eVentually}{sEttled}
19 Keep running, dog (4) PEKE {KEEP*}
22 French bread, the soup to begin with, and a piece of cake (8) PAINLESS {PAIN}{LES}{Soup}
24 Father has to give money before getting a fruit (6) PAPAYA {PA}{PAY}{A}
26 Is life at an end after animal instincts become rusty? (7) OXIDISE {OX}{ID}{IS}{lifE}
27 Part of building that’s best after ground floor (not the first level) (7) ROOFTOP {FlOOR*}{TOP}
28 Fought with principal of school — tough getting student admitted after end of August (9) STRUGGLED {School}{augusT}{RUGG{L}ED}
29 “Provide tip,” said solver facing clue, finally (5) ENDUE {END}{~YOU=U}{cluE}
DOWN
1 Long-standing rival in team, he is first to receive regular coverage (7) NEMESIS {iN tEaM hE iS fIrSt}
2 Where no uncertainty grips one giving everything up (9) RENOUNCER (T)
3 Cheer wildly, “Yahoo!” (that’s about right!) (6) HOORAY {YAHOO*} around {R}
4 In France, at the home of Marxist revolutionary Arbenz, at last (4) CHEZ {CHE}{arbenZ}
5 Grid number? (6-4) TWENTY-FIVE (E?) (Addendum - See 25D)
6 Meddle to protect standing favourite? That’s manipulation! (8) PUPPETRY {P{UP}{PET}RY}
7 Sharp tool is nearly lethal when mishandled (5) LATHE {LETHAl*}
8 Yes, bulk order for a deep shade of paint (3-4) SKY-BLUE {YES+BULK*}
13 Judge, tell us, was criminal fortunate? (4,2,4) JUST AS WELL {J}{TELL+US+WAS*}
16 Seinfeld, etc., are voyeuristic, backward shows performed too zealously (9) OVERACTED (T<=)
17 Silly girl in love hides third letter of love in progress (8) EVOLVING {G} IN {IN+LOVE*} around {loVe}
18 Start of defenceless line in flawed sepoy positions (7) DEPLOYS {Defenceless}+{L} IN {SEPOY*}
20 Case in point: revolutionary Israel PM axed after stripping (7) EXAMPLE (T<=)
21 Persuade cows, perhaps, to drink orange juice up, to quench extremes of thirst (6) CAJOLE {CAtt{OJ<=}LE}
23 One gets fried rice that is relatively cold (5) ICIER {I}{RICE*}
25 “Crossword’s good, right?” Setter asked, finally (4) GRID {G}{R}{I}{askeD}
Reference List
European=E, The last character=Z, French bread=Pain, French the=Les, Father=Pa, Student=L, Solver=You
Right=R, Judge=J, Girl=G, Line=L, Orange juice=OJ, One=I, Good=G, Right=R, Setter=I
Colour/Font Scheme
Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word, Reference list word, Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Opposite indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous
18a t is time. I comes from first.(second letters)
ReplyDeleteBacchanalian has been used an anagram indicator before?
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen it, but who knows!
DeleteI was thinking of the ending of Blackadder with the surface.
It's a good googly... Innovative.
DeleteCongratulations on your quarter century, Gussalufz Ji!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Gussalufz! Hope you continue to entertain us with such enthralling puzzles.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+2
Delete+3
DeletePanel on the left says 26 for the no.of CW puzzles. Is one a Sunday Special?
DeleteCongratulations! Expecting more & more!
As SUCH, standing on the ROOFTOP,
ReplyDeleteVladimir cried HOORAY nonstop
Just OVERACTED
And attracted
The crowd which JUST AS WELL didn't hop!
Fantastic crossword grid by Gussalufz (25th). Very much enjoyed solving. Keep them coming and score a century. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the 25th, Gussalufz
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone!
ReplyDeleteRe: 5 Dn: There *is* an annotation. Hope someone can reply with it :-)
ReplyDeleteGrid is from 25dn. Notified through my cryptic channel
DeleteThat's right! The solution to 25 is GRID, so "Grid number" is 25.
DeleteIs your "cryptic channel" how you refer to your neural pathways, sree_sree? :-)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNa. I post and delete, so Col would read it.
DeleteThough this time I thght the ? Was only for classification of clue type
Congratulations on your 25th grid, Gussalufz!
ReplyDeleteThanks again, everyone. Here are my notes for this crossword:
ReplyDeleteNotes
My 25th crossword for The Hindu Cryptic!
5d is TWENTY-FIVE, and 25d is GRID. GRID's clue number is 25, enabling the cryptic definition in 5d.
There are two ninas in the puzzle: THANK YOU (second-last column), and THE HINDU (fourth column). Indeed, many thanks to the Hindu and to all you solvers who have been my partners across this rewarding journey of whimsy and wordplay over the last twenty-five months.
In 27a, "the first level" is used to indicate "L." I have learned to stay away from this construction as it's generally not viewed as correct ("the first of ..." or "... at first" are acceptable). However, in this case I gave in, as the surface seemed too attractive, and solvers are generally able to parse this construction anyway as many setters use it.
The last across clue (29a) and the last down clue (25d) can be seen as a dialogue between a solver and a setter. Both the clues use "finally" as a letter-picking indicator—I try to avoid such duplication generally, but in this case I found the idea of having similar surfaces for both clues appealing (they are both the final clues of their sort too!).
The puzzle is a pangram. In fact, it is almost a double pangram—all letters other than Q occur at least twice in the solution entries. All letters other than Q add up to twenty-five in number.
Fascinated by your 25th - a perfect square!
DeleteBtw, in 20D: What is the significance of "after stripping"?
That ("after stripping") is the "hidden answer" / "telescopic" indicator (and "revolutionary" is the "reversal" indicator).
Delete