Solution to 21D 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.
Poor Grid construction at 14 & 22 Across.
ACROSS
4 ... to review without newspaper's approval (6) PRAISE apPRAISE Newspaper/AP?
9 Reservoir collapse (4) TANK [DD]
10 Connecting spiritual force within hearts of hatha yogis (5) TYING {haTha}{YIN}{yoGis}
11 Bankrupted player every game (4) PREY {Pl..eR}{EverY}
12 Endlessly look around, always intense (6) SEVERE {S{EVER}Ee}
13 Deep, albeit containing gold (8) THOROUGH {TH{OR}OUGH}
14 Care about land, measure (4) ACRE*
16 Grains found in deserts and beaches (4) SAND [T] Semi&lit
17 Flying brides out of earth - not Supermen... not planes...? (5) BIRDS BRIDeS*
18 Held down squirming mouse, finally devoured (5) OWNED {OWN{m..sE}D*}
20 Pays the price for unearned runs behind the wicket, caught (4) BUYS (~byes)
22 Horse falling back, getting first advantage (4) GAIN {NA{1}G<=}
24 Places for cooking Spooner's birds (8) KITCHENS (~chickens to kitchens) Is this spoonerism correct?
25 One found lazing on a couch or in middle of hot controversy? (6) POTATO [D&CD]
28 Hit badly by recessions - in the end, a near thing! (4) THIS {HIT*}{r...nS}Definition not understood!!
29 Objects here, ripping sheet (5) THESE*
30 Measures sticks (4) BARS [DD]
31 Abruptly get rid of options, determinedly chasing dinar, pounds (6) DASHES ASHES<=>{D} Anno pending
32 Sleeve cut, torn around opening of loose layers (6) LEVELS {SLEEVe}* over {Lo..e}
DOWN
1 Urge cartographers to display North-oriented chart (5) TRACE [T]
2 Joint smokers (molly essentially) cracking - sane, losing head (5) ANKLE {sAN{smoKers}{moLly}E}
3 Rough skin covering dry bit of excrement and cat litter? (7) KITTENS {KI{TT}{Ex...t}NS*}
5 Ignore abandoned land (6) REGION*
6 Prankster on the move, advancing (9) IMPROVING {IMP}{ROVING}
7 Came out, met online? (7) EMERGED {E}{MERGED}
8 Noble dead, princess consort in focus to replace former wife (13) DISTINGUISHED (di+conSort-ex)DISTINGUISHED
15 Works out problems (9) EXERCISES [DD]
19 From behind the stump mic, Aussie wicketkeeper entertained (7) WEIGHED (~wade)
21 Boss, one of 17 high-flying candidates - in short, the greatest (7) S?P?E?E ()
23 Container of fish that might be messy or different? (6) KETTLE [C&DD]
26 Submit chart (5) TABLE [DD]
27 Tries at first, triumphs over trophies in Australia or England? (5) TURNS {Tr...s}{URNS} The trophy is ASHES and not URNS!!
Reference List
Gold = OR, Earth = E, Dinar = D, Dry = TT, Online = E, Princess = DI
Spoonerism seems okay but chicken's'? Is the plural ok? On checking I find it is a slang and if so indication needed?
ReplyDeletePlace for cooking spooners birds- will this not be sufficient?
ReplyDeleteOh! S is needed
ReplyDelete28 ac near thing: a thing which is near: this. If it is at a distance, that.
ReplyDeleteCould be or is it supposed too be part of 'a near thing this' as we say colloquially?
ReplyDeleteMay be.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, AJ...Chambers defines 'this' as "A person, animal or thing which is nearby, esp which is closer to the speaker"
DeleteThanks KKR ji.
DeleteI fully agree with Col. on 27D about Ashes/ Urn
ReplyDeleteThe ashes urn is the unofficiL trophy and widely held symbol of ashes winner.
Deletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes
19D-'From behind the stump mike' to be treated as homophone indicator?
ReplyDeleteWhen England Australia is mentioned w.r.to trophy it is always their cricket contest Ashes (and the urn containing it,as Prasad says)
ReplyDeleteHow did super become supre!
ReplyDeleteFinished but could not parse many.
ReplyDeleteSUPREME, WEIGHED, DASHES, PRAISE.
Still compared to some earlier outings, could crack this better.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_(character)
ReplyDelete