Solution to 25A 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 Chop bird outside dilapidated old vehicle (6) JALOPY {JA{LOP}Y}
4 Present king left for distant part of the sea (6) OFFING OFFerING
8 Campaign by politicians to introduce uniform for preparatory activities (4-3) WARM-UPS {WAR}{M{U}PS}
9 Looked after a child in club, overcoming calamity, briefly (7) BABYSAT {B{ABYSs}AT}
11 Key ancestors of humans primarily transformed mechanism used in timepieces (10) ESCAPEMENT {ESC}{APEMEN}{Tr...d}
13 Shot violent ordinary dogs pitilessly in the beginning (5) PHOTO {HOT}{O}<=>{Pi...y}
14 Charlie discarding old mobile angrily over frozen water? Put back! (8) IMBECILE {MoBILE}* over {ICE<=}
16 Engineer made tiny explosive (8) DYNAMITE*
18 State manipulates demands (5) NEEDS (~kneads)
20 Leaders from women are reliable, motivated and enthusiastic (4) WARM Acrostic
21 Conquering rocky hill in dangerous surroundings (10) VICTORIOUS {VIC{TOR}IOUS}
23 Importance of old city in country? (7) STATURE {STAT{UR}E}
24 A very small living thing found in rodents bites Rob (7) MICROBE {MIC{ROB}E}
25 Bank backs artist infrequently (6) R?R?L? (Addendum - {RELY}<=>{RA} - See comments)
26 “Introduction to poems” by a mediocre poet becomes an elementary textbook for children (6) PRIMER {Po..s}{RIMER}
DOWN
1 Tailor Raj needs to get rid of red trousers (5) JEANS {rAJ+NEedS}*
3 ... very quietly consumes a slice of eggplant with Italian beer and sausage of beef and pork (9) PEPPERONI {P{Eg...t}P}{PERONI}
6 Masala idli with drained chutney and a piece of laddu? That’s heavenly! (7) IDYLLIC {IDLI+Ch...eY}+Laddu}*
7 Gardener’s first kid promises to pay around end of April for flowering plant (9) GLADIOLUS {Ga...r}{LAD}{IO{a..iL}US}
.JPG)
13 Team prays desperately for officer in charge of managing wages (9) PAYMASTER*
15 Used black lead and iron to make cartridge belt (9) BANDOLIER {B+LEAD+IRON}*
17 Instrument for measuring current and amplitude modulation encountered base resistance (7) AMMETER {AM}{MET}{E}{R}
19 Saw European hog with a male sheep (7) EPIGRAM {E}{PIG}{RAM}
21 Kohli gives up captaincy in Tests for Rahul at last, becomes an Internet sensation (5) VIRAL VIRA(-t+l)L
22 Finally, you can grab sofa cover and open (5) UNBAR Tail Acrostic
Reference List
King = ER, Uniform = U, Ordinary = O, Old = O, Old city = UR, Power = P, Quietly = P, Religious education = RE, New = N, Church = CE, Black = B, Amplitude Modulation = AM, Base = E, Resistance = R, European = E
A MEMORABLE QUIZ!!
ReplyDeleteThis dates back to my school days. I studied in a fairly ordinary Middle class Government aided school in Delhi. In our school, competitive sports & dramatics were largely ABSENT. The REMEDY came in the form of Quizzing & we were DECISIVELY prominent in the Delhi Quizzing Scene. We were constantly in the RANGE of the top 3 Quizzing teams of Delhi.
Although I was an academic topper, by DESIGN, I was no quizzer. My talents lay elsewhere. In debating & writing. When I was in 11th standard, our school was up for the Quizzing Cup 3rd year in a row. The rolling cup would then be ours. The additional INCENTIVE was - it being the Silver Jubilee Year of the Competition, the winning team would get to represent INDIA in an International event.
Even our worst CRITICS had to admit that we had a great team in Ashok, Madhav & Vineeth. Between them was a veritable storehouse of information & they always worked out a fool proof STRATEGY, on who handled which section. Imagine our collective disappointment, when 2 days before the final round, Vineeth had an EPIC fall while working out on his TREAD MILL, fracturing an arm & a leg. This put a severe STRAIN on the team.
One of our teachers got the brainwave to suggest me as the replacement candidate. Taking my OBEDIENCE for granted, I was not even consulted. To EXPEDITE matters, a letter was typed out & hand delivered to the organisers within an hour. I was TRAPPED & had no opportunity to come up with an IMAGINARY ALIBI. Feeling like an absolute SPECIMEN, in the company of the other 2, my only prayer was - I shouldn't end up ENTHRALLING the audience with absolute NONSENSE in the name of answers. I vowed to remain silent.
When the team met over Lunch to SKETCH out the action plan, I was quiet, sipping my RAITA. Ashok in an attempt to be positive, said - "Don't under ESTIMATE yourself. Use your EMPIRICAL knowledge & tell us, what is your value add to the team?" I sheepishly replied - "My History & Geography is so weak, I can never go past CIRCA to arrive at exact answers. My only talent is my quick reflexes!"
The final round of the competition was held in an open arena near the Red fort PALACE. To beat the wintry winds & in a show of team spirit, we wore matching white EYELET mufflers. There were 8 teams in all. 2 from each Zone.
At the end of the usual 5 SALIENT rounds, I was happy to have given 3 correct answers in the Literature round & 1 in the trivia round based on Cinema. We were leading but neck to neck with 2 other teams. Then the final RAPID FIRE round was announced. It was a fast finger Buzzer round open to all teams.
Well, what do you know, my talents really came to the forefront. I managed to press the buzzer first 18 out of 20 times, leaving the other 2 free to confer on the answers. And of course they got the right answers all 18 times.
The rest was history. As they SCROLLED through the Scoreboard, we were the clear winners. By a hu....ge margin. The cup was ours. Prominently placed in the Principal' s room. In the celebrations that followed, I was included & congratulated though my fingers had spoken more than my lips that day. The real PAYMENT came much later, when my name was put up in the Honour Board as part of the Winning Quiz team.
Fortunately Vineeth healed in 6 weeks & was able to participate in the International event. So I could step down gracefully & move into the AISLE, giving him his rightful place in the team.
So we have a quizzer (who can become a setter?)
DeleteMulti-talented Gowri 👏
Delete25 SOLVED, WAIT FOR OTHERS
ReplyDelete25 A
ReplyDelete25ac RARELY.. R(AR)ELY
ReplyDeleteIncorrect anno
Delete25a. def: infrequently, RARELY from artist=RA, bank=RELY bank backs= RA+RELY
ReplyDeleteAnno needs to be tweaked
DeleteThe Dreamer
ReplyDeleteA dreamer in his RESIDENCE BABY-SAT
Eating PEPPERONI sitting on a mat
Some WARM ups
And some hang ups
Nothing in OFFING and that's that!!
Wondering why we are missing the Tale pieces.
ReplyDeleteDr.RKE listening?
A dream CW by Dreamer!
ReplyDeleteHad a bit of a problem with Victorious Virat. Finally overcome- just in time.
Col.
Escapement is nice.Thank you.
+1
DeleteI too liked the GIF
+2
DeleteDumb as I m, I had to google to understand GIF. Thank you for raising my curiosity.
DeleteImo 25Ac is a relatively easy clue. My CoD is 19Dn
ReplyDeleteBeing an Electronics Engineer liked
ReplyDelete17D having Ammeter, Amplitude Modulation, Euler's number 'e' as 'base' of natural logarithms and Resistance. Intricate Network (grid) by Dreamer! 👏
As Physics Grad. also enjoyed the scientific clues of Setter!
ReplyDeleteSmooth sailing today, thanks Dreamer. And to Gowri for an enthralling tailpiece as usual!
ReplyDelete