ACROSS
1 Quietly turned shy around female wearing scent (8) PERFUMED {P}[DEMU{F}RE<=}
6 Stares at the mouth and checks gums (6) STICKS {St...s}{TICKS}
11 Heavy food rejected, say ... (6) STODGE {EG}{DOTS}<=
12 Predict food/beer cut (8) FOREBODE*
13 Spies pip Secretary Eve, frequently a source of spicy stuff (6,4) PEPPER TREE {sPiEs+PiP+sEcReTaRy+EvE}
17 Composer skips popular buffet (4) CHOP CHOPin
18 Chaps from India matter — in short, I should be given a shot, no? (10) COUNTRYMEN {COUNTRY}{ME}{N} Anno not clear (Addendum - {COUNt}{TRY ME}{N} - See comments)
20 A lobster pickle suitable for the pantry (8) STORABLE*
22 Tastes salty sandwiches after turning over money (6) ASSETS [T<=]
24 Bad co-stars wrecked shows (10) BROADCASTS*
26 Staple paper at its tip; cool? (4) RICE {p..eR}{ICE}
27 Company's authorization, that is! (6) COOKIE {CO}{OK}{IE} &lit
28 A couple of males — traditional and right-wing, basically — but like powerful women (8) MATRONLY {MAles}{Tr...l}{Ri...g}{ONLY}
DOWN
2 Half a quarter divided by ten at first, that is! (9) EIGHTIETH {EIGH{Ten}{IE}TH} What's the definition here? &lit
3 Fired up or burned out? (5) FRIED*
4 How I might clue each July/August? (3-4) MID-YEAR (yEAr)
5 Note: setter is not very bright (3) DIM {D}{I'M}
6 Pour drinks, pal — missing a binge (7) SPLURGE {S{PaL}URGE}
7 Tiny cyst I (by stitching up) conceal (4-5) ITSY-BITSY [T]
8 State must make dough (5) KNEAD (~need)
12 Castle in Paris — one's treasure (7) FORTUNE {FORT}{UNE}
14 Book store circumvents copyright on book (9) PAPERBACK {P{APE}{R}{B}ACK}
16 Indicate foul by mid-fielder #15 (9) IDENTICAL {INDICATE*}{fieLder}
18 Eclectic brunch from the south regularly seen in workplace (7) CUBICLE {EcLeCtIc+BrUnCh}<=
19 Passage of time managed to settle ... (7) TRANSIT {T}{RAN}{SIT}
21 ... body ache in part of the foot, for Spooner (5) TORSO (~sore toe to torso)
23 Motor's overstressed (5) SERVO* {'S}{OVER*}
25 Ponder inconclusively about problem (3) SUM MUSe<=
Reference List
Quietly = P, Female = F, Popular = IN, No = N, Company = CO, Note = D, One in French = UNE, Copy = APE, Right = R, Time = T
18a COUNt TRY (me) N
ReplyDeleteDef: chaps from India
Def: Chaps from India
DeleteCOUNt {matter} {... in short} TRY ME {I should be given a shot} N {no}.
The theme words seem paired; FORTUNE COOKIE, FRIED RICE and CHOP STICK
ReplyDeleteDim sum!
Delete+1
ReplyDelete27A must be &Lit- cookies used by websites
ReplyDelete2d too !
Delete4D. How EA was derived? Year is ok. Mid- year is EA? Where is clue used?
ReplyDeleteEA is short form of Each. They are the middle letters of YEAR. When you write a clue for each, you would say Mid Year
Delete5D. Where from the clue D has come? .i'm is setter is settled
ReplyDeleteD is musical note
DeleteThanks again to the solvers and to the Col. Posting my notes on this crossword now (am visiting the east coast of the US right now, so it's late night for me here already).
ReplyDeleteNotes
Chinese food is the theme of this crossword. The following entries are thematic:
5D & 25D: DIM SUM.
17A & 6A: CHOPSTICKS.
12D & 27A: FORTUNE COOKIE.
3D & 26A: FRIED RICE.
CHOW MEIN can be seen as a nina running down the third column from the right.
The preamble refers cryptically to a WOK, the source of many a Chinese delicacy.
A good general rule while setting is to avoid repetition (of indicators, abbreviations, etc.) in a puzzle, as a repetition is a lost opportunity—solvers would find variety more interesting. However, in this crossword, I have chosen to break this rule by using "that is" for IE in both 2D and 27A. The fact that both the clues are &lit, and both use "that is" in the same "Yoda-like" manner should (I hope) convey to the solver that the rule was broken deliberately for fun.
Personal notes
Russia's aggression in Ukraine stretches on. It's been harrowing at times for us, as my brother and his family live in Ukraine. Through a series of unlikely coincidences, my niece actually visited us from Lviv a few weeks back, for a business trip.
Thank you for the interesting notes. Praying for your brother's family during their tough times.
ReplyDelete12A FOREBODE and 24A BROADCAST provided easy entry points into the grid. There were plenty of well-crafted clues today: 6A STICKS and 10A DEMOLISHED were classic charade and anagram variants. 7A ITSY BITSY was impressively hidden in a reversed telescopic surface reading. "Mid-fieLder" for L and "A couple of males" for MA were clever. TORSO as a spoonerism for "sore toe" elicited a chuckle.
ReplyDeleteThis setter uses a signature clue-type in which the solution is hidden in a long phrase whose letters must be omitted at some frequency (odd/even, omit 2 characters for every 1 kept, etc.) occasionally after reversal. It was well-executed in 13A PEPPER TREE (Spies pip Secretary Eve, frequently a source of spicy stuff) and 18D CUBICLE (Eclectic brunch from the south regularly seen in workplace).
9A had "unevenly peeled" as a telescopic indicator. Though it makes sense, I was confused at first as I expected the clue to be a frequency-omission type like 13A and 18D. "Pour" as SURGE and "must" as NEED took a few moments to click for me. "Copyright" as {APE}{R} and "'s overstressed" as SERVO totally stumped me, although I was able to use the fillings to solve both. I was not convinced by "cool?" as ICE - although ice is cool, cool is not necessarily ice.
Probably the most cryptic of the lot was 4D MID-YEAR (How I might clue each July/August) - while it may be an easy clue to solve for crossword setters, I'm not sure how many crossword solvers would have managed to think like a setter.
I had solved much of the right half of the grid and was fortunate to spot DIM SUM, FORTUNE and CHOW MIEN which helped me find RICE, FRIED, COOKIE and CHOP. A well-themed puzzle with UGLI and SERVO perhaps being the least common words of the lot.