Thursday 20 January 2022

No 13458, Thursday 20 Jan 2022, Dr. X

Solution to 27A 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   Kind son taken in by sponges and wimps (8) MILKSOPS {M{ILK}{S}OPS}
5   Cabins with bags filled with heroin (6) SHACKS {S{H}ACKS}
10 Chance to check equipment in warship (7) FRIGATE {F{RIG}ATE}
11 Lies about receiving small sum of money, mostly as commission (7) LICENSE {LI{CENt}SE*}
12 Use specialist to eliminate president (5) EXERT EXpERT
13 Criminal outside bar meets man getting dope (9) BLOCKHEAD {B{LOCK}{HE}AD}
14 Disfigurement perhaps left permanently in bacterial disease (7,5) SCARLET FEVER {SCAR}{LEFT*}{EVER}
18 Running fast is exercise giving pleasure (12) SATISFACTION {FAST+IS}*{ACTION} 
21 Hot exotic dancer in bar (9) HINDRANCE {H}{DANCER+IN}*
23 Vacation from endless work (5) LEAVE {LEAVEn}
24 Sumo is tense, drinking water (7) MOISTEN [T]
25 Hissing from oxygen canister in corner (7) HOOTING {HO{O}{TIN}G}
26 Pirates, heartily cheerful after capturing grand merchant ship (6) ARGOSY {pirAtes}{R{G}OSY}
27 Ebullient copper nailed by spirited punch (8) ?P?E?C?T (Addendum - UPPERCUT {UP}{PER{CU}T} - See comments)

DOWN
1   Spoiled by money, female enters silly feud (6) MUFFED {M}{UF{F}ED*}
2   Partner needs a bit of Viagra to have sex, causing delay (6) LOITER LO(-v+it)ITER
3   Gladiator in fight cuts vigorously, crushing head of adversary (9) SPARTACUS {SPAR{T{Ad...y}CUS*}
4   Agonising to keep solving algebra, agreeing to a lesser punishment (4,10) PLEA BARGAINING {P{ALGEBRA*}AINING}
6   Slash over E is diacritical mark (5) HACEK {HAC{E}K} 
7   Maintain firm resolution to stay sober primarily (8) CONSERVE {CO}{N{So..r}ERVE}
8   They pay out money, manipulating press to secure objective (8) SPENDERS {SP{END}ERS*}
9   Where merchandise might be displayed in a disorganised state (3,4,3,4) ALL OVER THE SHOP [DD]
15 Unattached fellow, very uplifted by love, enthralled by miss (9) FOOTLOOSE {F}{TOO<=}{LO{O}SE}
16 It primarily leads to myocardial infarction, embodied by terrible aches (8) ISCHEMIA {It}{SCHE{My...l}{In...n}A*} &lit
17 Model basking outside is gorgeous (8) STUNNING {S{T}UNNING}
19 American goes berserk without hesitation in‘Psycho’ (6) MANIAC AMerICAN*
20 Hot moment after wife removed top (6) HEIGHT {H}{wEIGHT}
22 Somewhat clever at escaping taxes (5) RATES [T]

Reference List
Son = S, Heroin = H, President = P, Hot = H, Grand = G, Female = F, Sex = IT, Fellow = F, Model = T, Wife = W

22 comments:

  1. 27A has been left unsolved. Not 27D

    ReplyDelete
  2. 27A uppercut.... Copper is Cu.Nailed by C goes . U.ppercut. Boxers punch

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thoroughly enjoyable puzzle!
    Favourites were: Ischemia, Satisfaction, Stunning and all over the shop.
    Thank You Dr. X

    ReplyDelete
  4. 27A ebullient =up,upbeat
    Spirited=pert,nailed by CU
    UP-PER(CU)T
    UPPERCUT

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great solve Dr.
    Punch is the def.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. Oh! Really?! Thank you MB. I should have checked.

      Delete
    2. Hi Paddy. Moment and Weight both also mean 'importance'. Hence the meaning of the terms 'momentous' and 'weighty'
      From Chambers --
      Moment
      3 importance, significance, substance, note, interest, value, worth, concern, consequence, gravity, seriousness, weight, weightiness formal import

      Delete
    3. Yes MB.
      4. Outstanding significance or value; importance: a discovery of great moment.

      Delete
    4. paddy, remember moment of inertia? moment is the generally the relative position with respect to a reference point. hence the value/importance/weight!

      Delete
    5. True. I too thought of momentum,moment of Inertia...but it all tended to show weight OF the moment.

      Delete
    6. Thank you Doc. Success is finding a suitable synonym,which is correct but not easy to spot.

      Delete
  7. Getting more medical. Of course,learning a lot. We have to go around searching what is obvious to Doc. and naturally so.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Huffed and puffed my way to finish..Thank you Dr X

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cryptic clues by Dr Satyen Nabar,
    Often contain dope, heroin, cocaine and bar,
    Also, oft we find wife, husband, criminal and sex-
    Probably because he calls himself Dr X,
    Idioms and all- he sets a high bar!

    ReplyDelete
  10. ..and a lot of humour laced in between!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank u Doc for a great grid. Missed parsing SPARTACUS & MILKSOPS
    😊

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com