Solution to 12A 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.
Someone to identify the theme and the theme words.
ACROSS
1 "Fabric is certainly from Germany" — king, maybe while clothing queen (8) JACQUARD {JA}{C{QU}ARD}
6 After backing explosive claims, Gujarat's leader has a problem (6) ENIGMA {M{Gu...t}INE<=}{A}
9 Recess on the counter in office space (4) APSE [T<=]
10 Article with murky origins leads to speculation (10) THEORISING {THE}{ORIGINS*}
11 Desperately tries to chase married man (6) MISTER {TRIES}*<=>{M}
12 Garbage recycled, say, after moving to small waste bins (8) A?H?R?Y? (Addendum - ASHTRAYS {(-tr)ASH(+tr)TR}{SAY*} - See comments)
13 Dr. X's Y? That's it! (3,2,5) END OF STORY {Y is end of story)
15 Hollow, easily forgotten past promise (4) BOND BONeD (Addendum - BeyOND - See comments)
17 Labour blocks its second candidate's aspiration (4) SEAT SwEAT
18 Get rid of water, honey, urn, myrrh (items devotees originally used during worship) (10) DEHUMIDIFY {Ho..y}{Urn}{My..h}{It..s}{De...s} in {DEIFY}
20 Korean vote surprisingly expresses no new change in leadership (8) TAKEOVER {KOREAn+VoTE}*
22 Warden and Woburn, for example, getting bowled for fifty twice in back streets (6) ABBEYS A(-ll+bb)BBEYS
24 Engineer random changes in parent note (10) MEMORANDUM {E}{RANDOM*} in {MUM}
27 Go through dessert, skipping one staple food item (6) PIERCE {PIE}{RiCE}
28 Screamed after suppressing a cry of anguish and turned pale (8) YELLOWED {YELL{OW}ED}
DOWN
2 Can I mash in fruit blender? (9) APPLIANCE {CAN+I}* in {APPLE}
3 Seeking technique studied secretly (5) QUEST [T]
4 Habits of extremely affluent bores (7) ATTIRES {Af...nT}{TIRES}
5 Prescribed food, not timepass! (3) DIE DIEt
6 Sensual and without reservations when out of India, husband moves lower (7) EARTHLY (-h)EART(+h)HiLY
7 "Angry Birds" — nice, impressively written (9) INSCRIBED*
8 Penny perhaps king's taken from fool (5) MONEY MONkEY
12 A different one, found in America, not here (7) ANOTHER [T]
14 Regularly worn hot Nehru cap of officials (2,3,4) ON THE HOUR {HOT+NEHRU+Of...s}*
16 New gas masks gain approval for military manoeuvre (2-3,4) NO FLY ZONE {N}{O{FLY}ZONE}
18 Married woman had to stray (7) DEVIATE {DEVI}{ATE}
21 Asian jazz genre — it's covered frequently (5) AZERI {jAzZ+gEnRe+It}
23 A couple of slices of bread, and eggs over well done (5) BRAVO {BRead}{OVA<=}
25 Period and comma, say, basically? (3) DAY Tail acrostic
Reference List
Certainly in German = JA, Queen = QU, Married = M, Easily = E, Bowled = B, Fifty = L, Engineer = E, India = I, Husband = H, King = K, New = N, Month = M
15a Beyond -ey
ReplyDeletePast:beyond
DeleteHollow EasilY: ey
Forgotten:deletion ind
Agreed.
Delete👌
DeletePlease check OED.
ReplyDeleteA doubt about 27A-
ReplyDeleteSkipping one is to be read with dessert or staple food? In this case it does not matter since I is in the middle of both pie and rice. I am asking as a general guidance.
The cryptic reading has to be proper, grammatically correct English as well, with some leeway in ignoring/imagining punctuation (that leeway should not be over used/abused, imo).
DeleteAn operator like "skipping one" may be a prefix operator ("skipping one, X") as well as a suffix operator ("X, skipping one").
One has to be choosy depending on the other indications in the clue.
DeleteAnother delectable offering from Gussalufz- as only to be expected. But I found the going a bit tough. I could not parse a few though the def.and crossings helped me fill in.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I found a few clues tough too, when I re-solved it today :-)
DeleteThat's a good one Ratnakar!! Makes me feel better!
Delete16D- Fly from approval?
ReplyDelete"that idea didn't fly with most other council members"
DeleteGain approval
New to me. We keep learning. Thank you.
DeleteTheme
ReplyDelete5,12,25.
Yes! There are a few more thematic elements...
Delete11A,15A,27A,8D
DeleteYes! 8D: solution + first word of clue.
DeleteThere is another short nina as well.
Of course!- Miss.Moneypenny (Goldfinger?)
DeleteOr Chambers—even its online version has it: https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=devi&title=21st
ReplyDeleteJAMES in the first column
ReplyDeleteThat's it!
DeleteWhat's the role of Dr. X in 13a?
ReplyDeleteThe wordplay part ("Dr. X's Y?") is meant to be parsed like this: "how a cryptic setter (such as Dr. X) might clue Y"
DeleteAny novice trying the solution for 12A.
ReplyDeleteIt will be open for anyone to solve if not solved bay a novice by 1 PM.
The annotation is slightly off/incomplete. Note that if "recycled" were an anagram indicator here, then that would have been an indirect anagram (which is a no-no).
ReplyDeleteNo anagram. The word Trash is merely cycled as ashtr. Perfectly fine.
ReplyDeleteI have to call it a day soon, so am posting my notes now. Many thanks to the Col. and to all solvers!
ReplyDeleteNotes
Running down the middle column, taking 5d, 12d, and 25d in order, you can find the name of a James Bond film: DIE ANOTHER DAY (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Another_Day).
JAMES can be seen as a nina at the top of the first column, and BOND is the solution to 15a. Pierce Brosnan played the role of James Bond in Die Another Day, and PIERCE is the solution to 27a.
Miss Moneypenny shows up in 8d: the solution is MONEY and the first word in the clue is PENNY.
This puzzle is a pangram.
Personal notes
I finished setting this crossword in London, where I spent new year's eve at a high-rise hotel with spectacular views of the city's incredible fireworks display. By the time this is published, I will be back in the US, but right now I'm headed to India, looking forward to running the Mumbai half marathon (and indulging in a LOT of good food!).
How was yourTata marathon experience? Son of a classmate of mine completed the course.
ReplyDeleteIt was wonderful, thanks! My second one (and I hope to make it an annual event).
DeleteGemini @ 12:14, Why can't you follow simple rules? You had posted an answer yesterday and when you asked Sree sree had replied that there is no time limit specified for weekdays, further I had mentioned at 11:56 to wait till 1 PM. Please follow the rules set out
ReplyDeleteI found this too tough to solve. As a solace, blog was to my rescue.
ReplyDeleteI found it tough. In 25d - what is the clue to indicate - tail acrostic?
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain?
"basically" is the ind., in the sense of "at bottom," in this down clue. https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=basically&title=thes
DeleteTried the puzzle late in the night. Found it pretty challenging. MISTER, APPLIANCE, NO-FLY ZONE, BRAVO, INSCRIBED were favourites. Did not get the anno for BOND till I saw the blog. Thanks Col and Gussalufz!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ramki! The anno for 15a (right now) in the blog is off. It should be BeyOND, with EY coming from EasilY.
DeleteCorrected now
Delete