Monday 17 July 2023

No 13919, Monday 17 Jul 2023, Dr. X

Solution to 19A 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.

Open for anyone to answer, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS
1   Roll around unclothed, cavorting all day and all night (5,3,5) ROUND THE CLOCK {RO{UNCLOTHED*}CK}
8   Group of eight in circle beginning to celebrate Vietnamese festival (5) OCTET {O}{Ce...e}{TET}
9   Corrupt liars crushed by excellent system of power-sharing (9) PLURALISM {PLU{LIARS*}M}
11 One cooing in bar, director's bitten by true love perhaps (10) TURTLEDOVE {T} with {D} in {TRUE+LOVE}*
12 Goes out with young socialites wanting date around Britain (4) EBBS {dE{B}BS}
14 Shows former partners taking bribe in retreat (7) EXPOSES {EX}{ES} over {SOP<=}
16 A little emotional, overwhelmed by specially heroic farewell (7) CHEERIO {Em...l}* in {HEROIC}*
17 Warning around a river starting to spook rowers (7) OARSMEN {O{A}{R}{Sp..k}MEN}
19 Bounds about in circles after snorting lines (7) L?L?O?S (Addendum - LOLLOPS {LO{LL}OPS} - See comments)
21 Broadcasting about fine retreat (4) NOOK {ON<=}{OK}
22 Ignored perv slyly grabbing butt at end of dance party (6,4) PASSED OVER {PERV}* over {ASS}{d..cE}{DO}
25 Old, defective guns finally recoil upwards (9) EXCELSIOR {EX}{gunS+RECOIL}*
26 Tongue is right inside beak (5) NORSE {NO{R}SE}
27 Character on beach rushes to entertain girl in a pretentious manner (4,3,6) AIRS AND GRACES {AIR}{SAND}{RACES} over {G}

DOWN
2   Exposed rock formation, cut or blasted in operation (7) OUTCROP {CUT+OR}* in {OP}
3   Overall, book about the French society is irritating (10) NETTLESOME {NET}{T{LE}{S}OME}
4   President overwhelmed by abstinence, turning apathetic (5) TEPID {TE{P}ID<=}
5   Oral after English test, endlessly confusing (9) EQUIVOCAL {VOCAL}<=>{E}{QUIz}
6   Clue in puzzle, admirable (4) LEAD [T]
7   Mountaineer in front of camp, agile (7) CLIMBER {Camp}{LIMBER}
8   In succession, third umpire will decide if ball was caught like this? (2,3,6) ON THE BOUNCE [DD]
10 Lass provides shelter to criminal? Real mistake! (11) MISCONSTRUE {MIS{CON}S}{TRUE}
13 Warning girl consuming party drug (10) BELLADONNA {BELL}{A{DO}NNA}
15 Commotion by insane sot going berserk (9) SENSATION*
18 Child captivated by excited rhino making rattling sounds (7) RHONCHI {RHON{CH}I*}
20 Observe other side of coin bearing head (7) OBVERSE*
23 Spray given by doctor after slip on vacation (5) SPRIG {RIG}<=}{SliP}
24 Most luxurious asset (4) PLUS PLUSh

Reference List
Bar = T, Director = D, Date = D, Britian = B, Partners = E,S, River = R, Line = L, Broadcasting = ON, Party = DO, Right = R, Character = AIR, Girl = G, Book = TOME, The in French = LE, President = P, English = E, Child = CH

15 comments:

  1. 25A-What's the Anagrind in this clue please

    ReplyDelete
  2. 19A-lollops-bounds; LO(LL)OPS

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  3. 19a Bounds about in circles after snorting lines (7)
    LOLLOPS - bounds
    circles - loops
    lines - ll
    snorting - container/sandwich indicator
    {loops} over {ll}

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very high competition.i thought I will answer,but iam late.!

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  5. No Economizer today? So far?? Considering it's his fav setter. 😊

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    Replies
    1. By popular demand, my review of today's CW...

      As usual a cheeky set of clues from the Ortho today, with vivid imagery of rolling around unclothed ROUND THE CLOCK, LOLLOPING after snorting lines, a PASSED OVER perv grabbing butt slyly at a party and various miscellaneous references to drug use.

      11A TURTLEDOVE took some time for me to get, but I was aware of the word as it appears in the 12 days of Christmas song (in which the singer's "true love" gifts 2 turtle doves on the 2nd day of Xmas). In this clue, I would have rephrased the definition as "perhaps one cooing..." as other birds also make that sound. In fact, before I got the DOVE part of the clue I was researching whether TURTLES coo. But it turns out that turtles make a hissing sound. While on the subject of cooing and hissing, how about some discussion on rattling...

      18D RHONCHI while the clueing was fair and I was able to fill the solution, I feel the word is on the more obscure side. I'm happy to learn something new. Perhaps I can impress my physician with this word the next time I have a particularly rattly cough.

      19A LOLLOPS - never heard this word used in real life, but again with thoroughly fair wordplay I was able to fill it.

      Masterful wordplay for 22A PASSED OVER, 4D TEPID, 5D EQUIVOCAL. My favorite word to solve today was 26A Tongue is right inside beak (NORSE).

      One clue that I was disappointed with was 20D Observe other side of coin bearing head (7) OBVERSE --> is "other" a fair anagram indicator? On the line for me. A well-crafted clue which I eventually got due to other fillings.

      Delete
    2. Without a doubt, as an Indian setter, I find Dr. X to be one of my inspirations alongside others. The clues are well-crafted, devoid of cruft, and ruthlessly fair. They fire the imagination, maximally employ double-entendres, and entertain even while torturing the solver. Looking forward to another 2 or 3 days of Dr. X. It is the best time of the month to solve THC.

      Delete
    3. Also masterful was 9A Corrupt liars crushed by excellent system of power-sharing (9) PLURALISM.

      27A had me stumped. Initially I had filled in HIGH AND MIGHTY (in a pretentious manner), noting that anno did not fit. Later, crossings indicated this solution was incorrect.

      Delete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Thank u Doc for a great grid & thrilled feeling after finishing.
    Didn't know EXCELSIOR.
    Loved - PLURALISM, MISCONSTRUE, EQUIVOCAL, NORSE.
    Such fun! 😊

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  8. Col.'s link on Ronchi says rattling sounds heard particularly through a stethoscope! No doubt,Dr.X will be quite familiar with it!

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