Solution to 27A 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
6 Tea drinking in the country (5) CHINA {CH{IN}A}
10 Fame — even sacred in most appalling circumstances (7) STARDOM {ST{sAcReD}OM*}
11 Simplest through recall inside accommodation (7) NAIVEST {N{VIA<=}EST}
12 Saw reflection on one seat... (7) OTTOMAN {MOTTO<=}{AN}
13 ...for a figure of speech, saw again (7) PROVERB {PRO}{VERB}
21 State turnover excluding money as capital (7) YEREVAN {YE{AVER<=}N}
23 Agitation challenging King (7) MONARCH {M{ON}ARCH}
25 Some heard rumblings, was it because of this? (7) EARDRUM [T] Semi&lit
26 Soldier follows passion for dance (8) FLAMENCO {NCO}<=>{FLAME}
DOWN
1 Learnt law, first course was educative (8) DIDACTIC {DID}{ACT}{1}{C}
2 Arbitrary and within limited capital (6) RANDOM {R{AND}OMe}
3 To detain a man wrongly is very hard (10) ADAMANTINE*
6 Wheel of automobile allows brief halt (6) CASTOR {CA{STOp}R}
9 Small vessels with a smokey past (5) STUBS {S}{TUBS}
13 Damned ploy worked! It's sweet too (10) PADDYMELON*
17 Little devil in a small settlement (5) SCAMP {S}{CAMP}
18 Polish — English name on letterhead (6) ENAMEL {E}{NAME}{Le...d}
20 China and the French blend (6) MINGLE {MING}{LE}
22 Extremely exceptional soldiers and others (6) RAREST {RA}{REST}
24 Clue for "slender from top to bottom" (4) HINT (-t)HIN(+t)T
Reference List
Left = L, Interest = I, Girl = DI, Small = S, New = N, English = E, The in French = LE, Soldiers = RA(Royal Artillery)
1d) first doing double duty!
ReplyDeleteMaybe C for course, as Col. has marked it.
Delete1D Learnt(did) law(act) , first(1) course(c) was educative- DIDACTIC.
Delete'first' doing double duty like @Abhisek Sridhar mentioned @8:39, unless course stands for C all by itself.
I cannot find "course" = C listed in either Wikipedia's page on Crossword Abbreviations or in Azed's webpage of advanced abbreviations.
Delete16D- Does Japan give varnish?
ReplyDeleteWe were talking about Ardenism- splitting of a word.
ReplyDelete7A- indeed- In deed- De(mean)ed
'undoubtedly about average' translates to in deed about average. About seems redundant.
DeleteYes
Delete7A Humiliated? Undoubtedly average(8)
Deletewould have made a better ardenism clue than how it was published. Imho.
How can a clue be fair when the wordplay fodder and the operation to be performed on the fodder are hidden behind a charade? It's got the same smell as an indirect anagram.
DeleteStardom, Naivest, Theorem and Ottoman were some I liked.
ReplyDeleteWas stuck for a while bottom right corner- particularly Russian comrade. Google to the rescue!
26A isn't it NCO after FLAME
ReplyDeleteYes. It is marked as <=> (interchange the order)
Delete26A-Soldier= CO ( Commanding Officer?)
DeleteOr Commissioned Officer?
DeleteNon commissioned officer - NCO
DeleteSolution should show (NCO)
DeleteYou are right.
DeleteCol. typo to be orrected.
23A Agitation challenging King (7)
ReplyDeleteChallenging - taking on
Another instance of ardenism.
27Ac SISAL - {LAS{I}S} Reversed
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLass is more of a woman or broad, I thought, as against a girl. Maybe you are right.
DeleteMy annotation is a little complicated. Maybe a little over thinking.
girl - SAL
shows(containment indicator) interest - SI (simple interest)
over(reversal)
the plant - SISAL
(S(IS<=)AL)
27a SISAL = Plant
ReplyDeleteLASS = Girl, over SSAL
I = Interest
S+I+SAL
Shows Containment ind.
Today's clues were generally on the shorter side, with some being rather easy (eg. 25A EARDRUM [T] and 18D {E}{NAME}{L}, for which "name" was given as is in the clue surface). The usage of "saw" as PROVERB in 12A and MOTTO in 13A was interesting. Some geographical terms were used in the puzzle, including 21A YEREVAN, 4D OMAN and ROM(-e) featuring to a "limited" extent in 2D. Two of the clues (3D and 16D) started with the word "to", which I noted as being an unusual occurrence in cryptic crosswords. Two girls' names were used (DI in 8D and SAL in 27A).
ReplyDeleteI had guessed 11A wrong (NEAREST instead of NAIVEST, noting that the anno did not match). That made ADIPOSE my last to fill as I had the wrong crossings for the word. 14A CATBIRD SEAT was a tough anagram, not due to the number of possibilities, but rather because the solution was an unusual idiomatic usage. 13D PADDYMELON was another such case. 5D {DE{LET}E} got me reflecting on the word "let", which can mean both "block" and "allow", depending on the context. "Japan" as VARNISH in 16D had me totally stumped...eventually through some research I found and filled the word "TOVARICH", but that only set me up with an incorrect crossing for 27A SISAL. I found it to be quite obscure.
In 10A, the word "circumstances" was there merely for the surface and did not have any role in either definition or wordplay. In 13A, the word "again" was similarly superficial, but this time the usage made sense as 12A and 13A were linked not only by elipses, but by the definition "saw" - in this case, "again" made sense in multiple ways even though it had no role in definition or wordplay. "To" in 3D also had no role in definition or wordplay. In 13D, the clue could have been printed without the word "too" and still been a fine clue.
"State" = AVER in 21A was a challenging charade. The clue's surface itself contained some words like "money", "turnover" and "capital" which seem at first glance to be thematically linked, however in economic or accounting terms the surface reading amounts to nonsense. In 23A "Agitation challenging King" {M{ON}ARCH}, there was no containment indicator. Meanwhile, "a smokey past" was an imprecise definition for 9D {S}{TUBS}. I object to the usage of "others" = REST in 22D {RA}{REST}. Grammatically, "others" = "the rest" with a definite article.
As with yesterday's crossword, "China" was used as a charade definition for MING. In NAOED, the word MING is defined as a dynasty that had ruled China. I don't think it's correct to use the two words as synonyms. That would be like using "India" = GUPTA or "India" = MAURYA or any of the other dynasties that has ruled over the land before or after.
Thanks to Arden for the puzzle. It is generally not recommended to attempt Arden's grids on an empty stomach, as they can cause headaches even for a well-fed solver. I shall feel pleased to wake up on Friday and solve (hopefully) Incognito's offering whilst still half-asleep.
I expected you to recognise the def in 9d.
DeleteAnd you are totally tangential on Maurya. I will just say, the usage is valid. Retract and research.
DeleteRe: 9D, it is not about the solver's ability to recognise the definition, my point is that a good definition must have precision to it.
DeleteRe: MING. Thank you for pointing this out. Upon doing further research, I have found a reference defining "Ming" as a type of porcelain, in which case it serves as a synonym for "China". That makes my point above concerning "Maurya" and "Gupta" incorrect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_presentation_porcelain
How can you say about precision when you haven't got the correct def?
DeleteIn his post above, the Col. has marked the def of 9D as "a smokey past". I agree with him. The annotated clue reads as follows.
Delete9 Small vessels with a smokey past (5) STUBS {S}{TUBS}
If small = S and vessels = TUBS, then "with a smokey past" (the remainder of the clue) has to be the link-word + definition. This clue cannot be &lit as the entire clue does not function as wordplay.
What do you think the correct definition for 9D is?
It's actually &lit and CD. No butts.
DeleteAn amusing proposition. I disagree. For a clue to be &lit, the entire clue must function as the definition and the entire clue must function as the wordplay. In this case, the latter is not true. At best it is semi&lit with fair wordplay but nebulous definition.
Delete23A AGITATATION - MARCH
ReplyDeletechallenging - taking(containment ind.) ON(fodder)
King(def). - (M(ON)ARCH)
In another comment above, I've said why I feel this "wordplay behind charade" device isn't fair. What's the point of having a cryptic crossword if the solvers have to deduce both the fodder and the wordplay by themselves? The setter might as well have simply left the definition and allowed for solving through filling the gaps between crossings, as in a so-called "quick" CW.
Delete"left" to be read as "given" in my comment above.
DeleteIn the same vein as 12A and 13A from today's THC, today's Guardian cryptic by Arachne has:
ReplyDelete6D Saw Chinese leader blocking American order (5)
Saw = Axiom
ReplyDeleteXI = Chinese leader
O = order
Am = American
blocking = container indicator
Dunno whether anno us correct?
American order = A O M
ReplyDeleteAmerican order of merit
[ A (Xi) OM ]
ReplyDeleteYes, OM = Order of Merit is correct.
DeleteBlast from past
ReplyDeleteFabled rebellion (4)
Past= late ( tale <=)
ReplyDeleterebellion = reversal indicator
Fable = tale
Just an attempt? Not sure.
Is rebellion anagram indicator?
ReplyDeleteRead it as..
DeleteFabled rebel lion (4)
I didn't think 'blast from past' was part of the clue. Is it?
ReplyDeleteI didn't understand the connection between SAW and PROVERB.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain?
Otherwise, a not so difficult grid from Arden. My fav - DIDACTIC (about seemed redundant in the clue), STUBS, MINGLE, TOVARISH.
Thank Arden
I didn't understand 'saw' at all!
ReplyDeletesaw (sô)
Deleten.
A familiar saying, especially one that has become trite through repetition.
Thank u col!
Delete