Solution to 9A 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 Couple detailed assault on husband (6) ATTACH {ATTACk}{H}
8 Visa finally expired - qualify to travel around East - go from one state to another (7) LIQUEFY {QUaLIFY}* over {E}
9 Fools on one side of me - catch setter's drift? (7) ?R?I?S? (Addendum - TRAIPSE {TRA{I}PS}{mE} - See comments)
11 Punjab's capital on the east - notably troubled - mark where extra defence is needed (7,3) PENALTY BOX {Pu...b}{E}{NOTABLY*}{X}
12 Cry of pain as belly's pinched at the top (4) OUCH pOUCH
13 Passenger sends daughter to the front to become less wet (5) DRIER (+d)DRI(-d)ER
14 Terrible time to work - not essentially Manic Mondays perhaps? (8) DOOMSDAY {DO}{MOnDAYS}*
16 Old school religious group can be joined by a squeeze at the bottom and kiss (8) OSCULATE {O}{S}{CUL{A}T}{s...zE}
18 Guy put top of can on can (5) CABLE {Can}{ABLE}
20 Shock retracts testicles (4) NUTS<=
21 Brings suits - about two hundred - to go on screen - one's finally picked out for serial (10) SUCCESSIVE {SU{CC}ES}{SIeVE}
23 Metal's sticky at one end, dry and weird when current passes through it (7) YTTRIUM {s...kY}{TT}{R{I}UM}
25 Delay ends in lunchtime after father picked up wife (6) DAWDLE {DA{W}D}{Lu...mE}
26 Weirdo fellow given current account (6) MANIAC {MAN}{I}{AC}
DOWN
3 Restaurant's cooktop had to be reinforced with iron to get air to rise (9) CAFETERIA {Cook}{A{FE}TE}{AIR<=}
5 Two chromosomes linked by steroid in the middle can reproduce (5) XEROX {X}{stEROid}{X}
6 Love! Without love.. boring and grim... (7) OMINOUS {O}{MIN{O}US}
7 Indian and Chinese leader got cold - had to get dry (9) DESICCATE {DESI}{Ch...e}{C}{ATE}
10 Old mattress' nice and malleable in the middle - flexible and yielding (9) OBEDIENCE {O}{BED}{NICE+m..lEa..e}*
13 Became irritated as Southern wind subsided around (9) DISGUSTED {DI{S}{GUST}ED}
15 Group making music of horse and cart rattling (9) ORCHESTRA*
17 Loose small team supporting world organization (7) UNSCREW {S}{CREW}<=>{UN} Loose or Loosen?
19 Vegan, healthy, and raw starters not found in barmitsvah spread - only rice (7) BASMATI {BArMITSvAh}
Reference List
Husband = H, East = E, Daughter = D, Old = O, School = S, Hundred = C, Dry = TT, Current = I, With = W, Wife = W, Account = AC, New = N, Chromosome = X, Indian = DESI, Cold = C, Southern = S, Small = S, University = U, Victory = V
Many intricate clues. Can on can stood out.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete5D- It is X and X. No Y there. I was foxed for a while. Tricky. Ref. also needs correction.
ReplyDeleteCorrected,thanks
DeleteCol.- TYPO IN 5 D- X instead of Y at the end. It is Xerox.
ReplyDeleteIntricate puzzle but doable.
ReplyDeleteMy COD 6d OMINOUS
Love without love! But I loved it. 🙂
without= minus? Interesting!
DeleteLoose is a funny one.
ReplyDeleteLoose also means unloose!!!
Superb crossword from Bruno. Lovely clues all through. Thoroughly enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteBelow is the definition from Chambers
ReplyDeleteunscrew verb 1 to remove or loosen something by taking out a screw or screws, or with a twisting or screwing action. 2 to loosen (a screw or lid). 3 intrans to be removed or loosened by turning a screw or screws. 4 intrans said of a screw or lid: to be loosened or removed by a turning action.
9Ac TRAIPSE - {TRA{I}PS(- m)E}
ReplyDeleteTRAIPSE - DRIFT (Defn.)
DeleteTRAPS - FOOLS with one side of mE - TRAPSE
Catching setter I becomes TRAIPSE
Nice solve!
DeleteI got stuck on one side of 'me'
...while parsing TRAIPSE
Delete9a, drift = Traipse
ReplyDeletecatch = trap
Setter = I
side = s
One side of me = e
[TRA (I) P SE]
Hope Anno is right?
Pl see Mr Rao's above
Delete@RR
DeleteYou haven't used 'fools'
👍
ReplyDeleteLoosen: make (something tied, fastened, or fixed in place) less tight or firm
ReplyDeleteHas loose as synonym.
Interesting puzzle from Bruno. "Top of can on can" and "Love! Without love..." were memorable among the wordplay, as others have noted. Usage of "detailed" to indicate last character getting dropped was brilliant in 1A. The setter used "chromosome" and "mark" in different places to denote X which was also quite nice when the penny dropped. While doomsday connotes a terrible time, Mondays can also feel like DOOMSDAY, making the wordplay apropos to the definition.
ReplyDeleteOther memorably worded clues included 12A POUCH (cry of pain as belly's pinched at the top), 16A OSCULATE with a cheeky surface reading, 24A STEALTH (Saint with hidden riches shows secrecy), 15D ORCHESTRA (Group making music of horse and cart rattling) and 17D UNSCREW (Loose small team supporting world organization).
VATIC is my nomination for obscurity of the day. "Guy" as CABLE was a new sailing term for me.
Some objections I noted:
1. Is "Storm?" an appropriate definition for TSUNAMI in 2D?
2. As both "weirdo" and "fellow" are nouns, is it appropriate to use one as an adjective for another in the surface reading of 26A MANIAC ("Weirdo fellow given current account")?
3. In 19D BASMATI, what's the role of the word "only" in the clue?
4. In the surface reading for 13D DISGUSTED ("Became irritated as Southern wind subsided around"), around what did the Southern wind subside? The grammar of the clue left something wanting...
1. Agree storm ~ tsunami is a bit of a stretch. 2. Agree at least a comma or a hyphen wouldve made the surface more colloquial and acceptable 3. Only is a linker - my goal with linkers is to make them as unobtrusive/non-misleading as possible. Only seems to fit that bill. Plus, you could make the argument once wordplay is done, only rice remains. 4. subsided ~ died around is containment indicator.
DeleteYes, Tsunami is not exact synonym for storm.
ReplyDeleteBut there is that "?"
Delete26A- Probably a simple comma after weirdo might have been better and taken care of your objection.
ReplyDeleteComma doesnt solve.(wierdo includes fellow). Pronoun should have been used.
DeleteMy take- 'Only' makes sense in the surface reading- after taking all that out only rice remains.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle. Loved it & thrilled to finish.
ReplyDeleteAs told by others - CABLE & OMINOUS - great clues.
Also loved XEROX (chromosomes - reproduce) & DOOMSDAY (Manic Mondays)
Thanx Bruno.
Thanks.
Delete