Monday 21 August 2023

No 13949, Monday 21 Aug 2023, Dr. X

Solution to 1A 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   Speak forcefully with star hosting full moon party, very loud (5,3) S?U?D O?F (Addendum SOUND OFF {S{O}UN}{DO}{FF} - See comments) 
5   Damage from detailed report about leader of industry (6) IMPAIR {IMPA{In...y}Rt}
10 Group makes a comeback, limiting debt to prosper (7) BLOSSOM {B{LOSS}OM<=}
11 Old research films about dragonflies (7) ODONATA {O}{D{ON}ATA}
12 Satnav is operational, guiding dispatch-boat (5) AVISO [T]
13 Frequently breaks rules, primarily showing arrogance (9) LOFTINESS {L{OFT}INES}{Sh...g}
14 Exchange ideas about how to identify counterfeit money? (7,5) COMPARE NOTES [DD]
18 Start exercising right away for fun (12) ENTERTAINING {ENTER}{TrAINING}
21 Tortuous vein with ulcer showing severity of disease (9) VIRULENCE*
23 Orate about muse of lyric poetry (5) ERATO*
24 Bond goes topless, giving delight (7) ELATION rELATION
25 Husband in a hole, getting tense essentially (2,5) AT HEART {A}{T{H}EAR}{T}
26 Discontinue, overwhelmed by crack in hip (6) TRENDY {TR{END}Y}
27 Gangster over top of mountain in toboggan moved in a zigzag course (8) SLALOMED {SL}{AL}{O}{Mo...n}ED}

DOWN
1   University boy breaking rule in metro (6) SUBWAY {S{U}{B}WAY}
2   Bliss in uncut opiates (6) UTOPIA [T]
3   Dilapidated coils covered by severe rust (9) DISCOLOUR {D{COILS*}OUR}
 Pill may work in increasing practice of using contraception (6,8) FAMILY PLANNING {F{PILL+MAY}*ANNING}
6   Rise up and start to ingest radish (5) MOOLI {LOOM<=}{In...t}
7   Tales can get compiled in literary collection (8) ANALECTS*
8   Re-evaluate fools in short recess (8) REASSESS {RE{ASSES}St}
9   Couple of criminals abducting queen start to converse with everyone in virtual meeting (10,4) CONFERENCE CALL {CON}{F{ER}ENCE}{Co...e}{ALL}
15 Ethanol foolishly consumed by new student is not capable of causing death (9) NONLETHAL {N}{ETHANOL*}{L}
16 Most intense fights, overwhelmed by anger (8) HEAVIEST {HEA{VIES}T}
17 Observe heavenly bodies as great models go round zone (8) STARGAZE {AS+GREAT}* over {Z}
19 Sleep with a lecturer to get marks? That's highly incendiary! (6) NAPALM {NAP}{A}{L}{M}
20 Introduced innovative methods, saving money (6) HOSTED mETHODS*
22 One entertained by fat estate owner in Scotland (5) LAIRD {LA{1}RD}

Reference List
Party = DO, Very loud = FF, Old = O, About = ON, Right = R, Husband = H, Tense = T, Gangster = AL(Capone), Over = O, University = U, Boy = B, Queen = ER, New = N, Student = L, Zone = Z, Lecturer = L, Marks = M, Money = M

40 comments:

  1. IXL 2023 Grand Finale Dec 2024! ??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wearing a TRENDY attire Vladimir with ELATION AT HEART crossed the SUBWAY.

    "Will love BLOSSOM?"

    Soon he received a CONFERENCE CALL and SLALOMED. He beat a hast retreat.

    What happened next?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Conference call (on the phone) a thing of the past? Zoom is more like it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not really. Zoom is like Xerox, a brand. But conference call is english like photocopy.

      Delete
  4. What a start for the week! What delectable surfaces!! Specialty of Dr.X

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  5. 1A, speak forcefully = sound off
    Star = sun
    Party = do
    Full moon = o
    Very loud = ff
    hosting = container indicator
    Star hosting full moon = [s(o)un]
    Party very loudv = do ff
    [ S(O) UN DO FF]

    ReplyDelete
  6. Speak forcefully with star hosting full moon party, very loud
    {S{O}UN}{ DO }{FF}

    ReplyDelete
  7. It was the same grid design used for Friday's puzzle. Another similarity was that the top-right corner contained some unusual words. Today they were ANALECTS and ODONATA. On Friday, they were MATIER and ROSETTES.

    "Full moon party" as indicator for {O}{DO} was awesome in 1A, as was the use of "films" for the containment indicator in 11A. The DD clues for 14A COMPARE NOTES and 4D FAMILY PLANNING were first class. Some tongue-in-cheek clues like 24A and 19D brought a humorous element to the clues.

    However, "saving" as the deletion indicator in 20D was unconvincing - I feel it's better used as a containment indicator. I can't think of an instance when I would save something by throwing it away.

    Where does the usage Tense = T come from? Can anybody help me locate a reference for this? It is not on the wiki page for crossword abbreviations. It is listed as an abbreviation elsewhere (http://www.crackingcrosswords.co.uk/abbreviations.html). My question is regarding the origin of the usage.

    I have a similar question for Marks = M. Is this related in any way to the old German currency "Marks"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OED defines "save" as a verb, as a noun and as a preposition. As a noun it is not relevant here.

      When using "save" as a verb (eg. "Save 20 rupees"), you get to keep what you save.

      When using "save" as a preposition (eg. "the building was empty save for the security guards") it is excluding everything else, and keeping that which follows.

      Neither of these usages excludes the noun coming immediately after "save".

      Delete
    2. While reading the clue it sounded like 'save for'.

      Delete
    3. Save M and jumble the rest.

      Delete
    4. Hi! Nice to read the comments.
      Considering the fact that you have taken the effort to find out that 'save' and 'saving' is a preposition that means 'except', it is rather strange to continue trying to justify your point. 'Except' means 'not including' and context of the statement defines what is there and what is not.
      For e.g. 'This crossword puzzle has every type of clue save Spoonerisms' or 'Everyone was present at the meeting save a few disgruntled elements.' or 'Saving cancer, every other diagnosis is possible.'
      'Save' and 'Saving' is a standard expulsion indicator. A few days back, you had a doubt about a standard juxtaposition indicator 'on'. I do not know if you have read my comment. I recommended you to peruse this excellent site by crossword setter Azed for understanding usage of every possible indicator. Tremendously informative and helpful. Posting the link below.

      http://www.clueclinic.com/index.php/clinical-data/
      http://www.clueclinic.com/index.php/expulsion-indicators/
      http://www.clueclinic.com/index.php/juxtaposition-indicators/

      I am sure this will help. Best regards.

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

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    6. Save for for save works for save for. šŸ˜‰

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    7. Thank you for your detailed comments Doctor. I shall go through the links which you have shared.

      Delete
  8. RR you are hereby promoted to the regulars list

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Col.
      I am grateful to Ms. Padmanabhan, Ramesh Kosaraju, Sreeni, Sree Sree, Sathia, Prasanna Rao and the entire community for encouraging me constantly.
      The blog and the posts have helped me to improve my understanding of the cryptic puzzle. Thanks very much.
      Sky is the limit for learning. I will continue to contribute as a regular.
      Thanks once again for your kind recognition.

      Delete
    2. Hearty Congratulations RR. Welcome to Regular circle. Have a Gr8 day.

      Delete
    3. Thanks. Happens to be my daughter's birthday too.

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    4. Wish her a very Happy Birthday from all of us!
      šŸŽ‚šŸ’

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    5. Thank you Gowri. Will do.

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    6. you have a remarkable day. convey our Best wishes to your Daughter.

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    7. Thanks Prasanna. Will do.

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    8. Congratulations RR ji. šŸ‘
      Paddy sir's gender has been changed due to typo!šŸ™‚

      Delete
    9. Thanks Ramesh ji.
      Ha ha ha. It was meant to be Messrs. My bad
      Paddy sir was the first to give me reference of books and websites when I sought help from group to improve my puzzle solving skills.

      Delete
    10. I have always told everyone here and that applies to you as well- no Sir here. All of us are co solvers.

      Delete
    11. Thanks Paddy. Goodnight.

      Delete
    12. Thanks Doc. Really love your puzzles. Have to go a long way though to get a centum.

      Delete
  9. As always another lovely grid from Doc!
    Straight forward cluing that leads u to the solution.
    My cod - FAMILY PLANNING, COMPARE NOTES, LOFTINESS.
    Thanx Doc!

    ReplyDelete

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