Solution to 13A 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 What model might say she's doing is impressive (8) IMPOSING {I'M POSING}
5 Most thrilled, about to marry in European country (6) SWEDEN {S{WED}ENt}
12 Criticism by newly-wed crushes groom's heart, terribly sad (9) BROADSIDE {BR{grOom}{SAD*}IDE}
13 Batter in decline after gaining pounds (5) F?A?L (Addendum - FLAIL {F{L}AIL} - See comments)
14 Funny scene about a meeting to raise the spirits (6) SEANCE {SE{A}NCE*}
15 Connects parts to conserve power (7) SPLICES {S{P}LICES}
18 Muffins, tea? Deli sandwiches, alternatively (7) INSTEAD [T]
20 Supporting retired man in difficulty (6) BEHIND {B{HE<=}IND}
22 Many crave for hidden treasure (5) CACHE {C}{ACHE}
24 Knocking back gin, miss cuddling lover finally mated (9) PARTNERED {TRAP<=}{NE{l..eR}ED}
25 Promiscuous actor chasing lady in set is millionaire (9) PLUTOCRAT {ACTOR}*<=>{P{L}UT}
26 One with snare crossing large creek (5) INLET {1}{N{L}ET}
27 Root may be run out, leaving Australia's captain excited (6) EMBRYO {MaY+BE+RO}*
28 Groupie in rave taking off posh gown (8) PEIGNOIR {GROuPIE+IN}*
DOWN
2 Glib Spanish man going around with society lady providing financial support (9) PATRONESS {PAT}{SENOR<=}{S}
3 What to do when national anthem's played at event? Behave formally (5,2,8) STAND ON CEREMONY [C&DD]
4 Include new species of atom (7) NUCLIDE*
6 Fantasy of fling with hunk is exciting (7,8) WISHFUL THINKING {FLING+WITH+HUNK+IS}* Semi&lit
7 Play diamond ace to secure slam (5) DRAMA {D}{RAM}{A}
8 Taunts son? That's uncalled-for (8) NEEDLESS {NEEDLES}{S}
9 Kisses girl on drive back (6) GREETS {G}|{STEER<=}
16 Tenor in control, a fantastic voice (9) CONTRALTO {T} in {CONTROL+A}*
17 Criticize film about the French student (8) DISCIPLE {DIS}{PIC<=}{LE}
19 Take off in record-breaking run (6) DEPART {D{EP}ART}
20 Better U-shaped glass tube (7) BURETTE*
23 Bit of cold drink with bit of booze (5) CRUMB {C}{RUM}{Bo..e}
Reference List
Old = O, Pounds = L, Power = P, Many = C, Lady = L, Run Out = RO, Posh = U, Glib = PAT, Society = S, Diamond = D, Ace = A, Son = S, Girl = G, Tenor = T, Criticise = DIS, The in French = LE, Record = EP(Extended Play), English = E, Italian Vermouth = IT, Cold = C
3d (stand=what...........played) (on=at) (event=ceremony)
ReplyDelete5A- Sent=Thrilled?
ReplyDeleteYes, sent = thrilled
Deleteslang originally said of jazz music: to rouse someone into a state of ecstasy; to thrill
DeleteAnother exciting day of solving Dr.X.
ReplyDeleteSmiles- Satisfaction- Scramble (for new meanings) Meantime deal with Wives,husbands,cuddling,hugging.....
Can't ask for more.
20D- Burette- I was amazed at how words fit in so smoothly! The hyphen (U-shaped) was taking me in a totally different direction.
ReplyDeleteTypo in 7D. D for A
ReplyDeleteThanks corrected
Delete13 A, solved let others try 👍
ReplyDeleteFYI for anyone interested: I added a longish comment to the "[in] as link word" discussion on yesterday's blog.
ReplyDeleteThanx. Also read ur further links. Lots of info there.
DeleteThank you. Read it yesterday itself. Learning a lot of things.
DeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts, Gussalufz.
DeleteThis thread prompted me to go back to yesterday's blog, found a lot of discussion around this, which came as a bit of a surprise. Frankly the use of 'in' as a link word (bi-directional) has been around for ages, so why being raised now I thought - surely if we are looking for improvements, there must be bigger fish to fry?
DeleteAnyway as far as usage is concerned and it's relevance, there's dictionary support it would seem, for both wp in def and def in wp (though some have opined only the latter is correct). Even Alberrich had mentioned that he felt both were ok but had reluctantly stopped the former usage because of the controversy surrounding it (was that even required one wonders).
Finally, if we are to go by best practice, and if we accept that Azed is the hallmark of that, then I can safely say as a regular solver of Azed puzzles that his clues often feature the construction 'WP in DEF'. An example from the recent competition puzzle 2663: 'Knots appearing with age in timber tree (7)' for BURSERA.
Or if one is content with being merely 'Guardianesque' there will be plenty of such examples!
Was there ever a more opportune time than now to raise the issue of "in" as a bi-directional linkword in crosswords? What are some bigger fish you might wish to fry?
Delete13Ac FLAIL -{F{L}AIL}
ReplyDeletePlease give proper anno
ReplyDelete13A. Flail= Batter
ReplyDeleteFail= Decilne
Pound= L
In is containment indicator
F(L)ail
Not my favorite Dr. X puzzle. It failed to CORUSCATE, in my opinion. While I enjoyed the wordplay for SEANCE ("meeting to raise the spirits") and {D{EP}ART} ("record breaking run"), I found PEIGNOIR, COTIA, CORUSCATE, INCUBI, NUCLIDE and CONTRALTO to be rather obscure for my tastes.
ReplyDeleteIn 28A, how is POSH = U?
In 21D, what is the role of the word Vermouth?
In 12A, how does pounds = L? (single L as opposed to LB or multiple Ls)
As usual the Doctor makes good use of idioms. Glad to see he finally changed his grid design. My favorite today was 1A What model might say she's doing is impressive (8) {IM}{POSING}.
All are std OED abbreviations.
DeleteWhat is Vermouth an abbreviation for?
DeleteIT for Italian vermouth
DeleteRef the various comments on abbreviations. I believe it should just be those supported by a standard dictionary, no point in referring various sites or Wiki unless for some very specific need. Chambers, Collins, Oxford are the ones generally used in the crossword community. But here again, I think one should be consistent in using one dictionary (at least for the whole of a puzzle) without cherry-picking a little from everywhere. Normally crossword editors set the guidelines for these, I'm not sure we have that for THC. From a personal point of view I try to use only Chambers BRB, and even there try to avoid the more esoteric ones, and if possible those that are found in both BRB and Collins.
DeleteI generally give the links to abvns from Free Dictionary (though not authentic) as Chambers Online does not carry all the words
DeleteCollins has most, and Free Dictionary is generally cross-referenced with Collins
DeleteI hate when THC crossy needs to ref Collins. Anything popular and colloq from anywhere around the world goes there.
DeleteI liked it when it was Chambers amd anyother was given appropriate hint.
Remember the "defense"!
Apparently Posh = Upper Class = U, per Wikipedia article on Crossword Abbreviations.
ReplyDeletePosh= U is fairly common in CW's and I have come across the same many times.
ReplyDeleteHere is the ref from crossword unclued-
ReplyDeletehttps://www.crosswordunclued.com/2010/06/posh-u.html#:~:text=The%20letter%20U%20is%20often,-class%22%20in%20cryptic%20c
Excellent reference, thank you.
DeleteAnother fun grid from Dr.X complete with hugging, mating & kissing.
ReplyDeleteMy fav - IMPOSING, BURETTE, PARTNERED.
Thanx Doc!