Sunday, 8 October 2023

The Sunday Crossword No 3275, Sunday 08 Oct 2023

ACROSS
1   Endure basil once chopped (it's not wanted) (11) UNDESIRABLE*
9   A little goblin's tantrum lasting little time (7) INSTANT [T]
10 Like a moderate left-winger, that's not exactly rare (7) PINKISH  [DD]
11 Thou seemst somewhat firm (5) HOUSE [T]
12 Refuse to communicate, as one may with banking app (8) WITHDRAW [DD]
14 One seen on the wing in Real Madrid ground (3,7) RED ADMIRAL*
15 It is hairy, having regularly made sacrifices for monarch (4) TSAR {iT+iS+hAiRy}
17 Smooth connoisseur (4) BUFF [DD}
19 All but howl 'Darn eye, out!': infuriated expression (3,4,3) HOW DARE YOU {HOWl+DARn+EYe+OUt}
21 Criticizes and itemizes (4,4)  RUNS DOWN [DD}
23 Sand wasps regularly spotted: time to make some changes (5) ADAPT {sAnD+wAsPs}{T}
25 Often ceramic, awfully rudimentary instrument needing airholes, primarily! (7) OCARINA Acrostic &lit
26 Singing repetitively, Everyman's imbibed drop of Italian red (7) CHIANTI {CH{I}ANT}{It...n}
27 Creature that eats canine warning: flipping unbelievable! (6,2,3) MOTHER OF GOD {MOTH}{DOG FORE<=}

DOWN
1   In France, one's to emit a noise that's not healthy (7) UNSOUND {UN}{SOUND}
2   Blunt detective sergeant finding blind alleys (4-4) DEAD-ENDS {DEADEN}{DS}
3   Gratify when probable arrival time's posted up (4) SATE<=
4   Lectures when English, disapproving, invested in S African finances (10) REPRIMANDS {R{E}{PRIM}ANDS}
5   Pew in Scots mountain church (5) BENCH {BEN}{CH}
6   What corrupt régimes may yield? (7) EMIGRES* Semi&lit
7   Actor, wealthy brat, round ... round the bend! (7,6) RICHARD BURTON {RICH}{BRAT+ROUND}*
8   Shield from water, as two hurricanes swirling (6,7) SHOWER CURTAIN*
13 Earliest programme with healthy mammal (5,5) PILOT WHALE {PILOT}{W}{HALE}
16 Walking on gradient, regrettably (8) TREADING*
18 Spooner's to criticise location for growing type of tree (in hot places) (3,4) FAN PALM (~ pan farm to fan palm)
20 Longed to drop an E during 31 Dec (7) YEARNED {YEAR (-e)N(+e)ED}
22 Accumulation in Dutch crevice (5) DRIFT {D}{RIFT}
24 Spurned nymph next to delta (4) ECHO (...delta ECHO foxtrot ...)

Reference List
Time = T, One in French = UN, Detective Sergeant = DS, English = E, Church = CH, With = W, Dutch = D

16 comments:

  1. In 24 D, what is Spurned nymph? I could get the answer though with the second half of the clue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is in reference to the Greek myth, in which Echo is the name of a nymph who gets spurned by Narcissus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_(mythology)

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  2. Rather tougher than usual for the Everyman setters, though every bit as clever. I needed to check the blog for 18D. Thanks Col.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you saying 'Everyman' is supposed to be the setter(I, me etc.) when setter is not named? Didn't know that! Now that I think about it... It should get on the reference list.

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    2. Everyman is THE Setter name for sunday Gaurdian like arden for thc.

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    3. "Everyman" is not a particular setter. Many setters have set under the Everyman name. Col. has given the list in this post: https://thehinducrosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-sunday-crossword-no-3269-sunday-27.html

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    4. That's why I capitalised "the"

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  3. 27A is FORE a (complete) synonym of warning?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FORE is a warning cry by a Golfer to warn people in the direction of the ball which he has hit

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  4. 1A 'once' is redundant, though acceptable (as a misdirection).

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  5. IXL round 4 is full of out-of-portions questions! 2.5 hours and still yet to submit. Not that I am complaining about the level of challenge. As we have seen, mistakes seem to shape the top of the leaderboard more than submission time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I finally hit submit at 267 minutes. A mistake sent me down an empty rabbit hole for ~3 hours. I'll be curious to see how many places that would have cost me. Hopefully the puzzle does not break any of the IXL database programs...one of the words has the capacity to make IT administrators pull their hair out.

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    2. Very difficult this week. I submitted under 267 mins, but was very unsure of at least one answer (possibly the IT adjacent one you mention) I haven't come up with a better answer for it yet but tbh I'm still not especially optimistic. Good luck!

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  6. Col., what is the meaning of "4006 26D" at the top of the page?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 4006 is the serial number of the everyman crossword on the Guardian site. I had a doubt on 24D when I solved and blogged the crossword on the day of appearance on the Guardian site and then scheduled it for publication today. I forgot to delete the same this morning.

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