Satyen Nabar's Sun Spl analysed

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Sunday, 15 October 2023

The Sunday Crossword No 3276, Sunday 15 Oct 2023

ACROSS
1   Stood up for wine (4) ROSE [DD]
3   Praetorian rank to make amends (10) REPARATION*
9   Pungent patisserie item (4) TART [DD]
10 Account having minimal money: university worried, leading to stress (10) ACCENTUATE {AC}{CENT}{U}{ATE}
11 Starting a trip but now our Dad is lost (7-5) OUTWARD BOUND*
15 Mediterranean city is large resort (7) ALGIERS*
16 Not entirely dignified, sloppy serving of salmon (7) GRAVLAX {GRAVe}{LAX}
17 Earl against knight with legal action coming next (7) ENSUING {E}{N}{SUING}
19 State of being dumb as a post? (7) VACANCY [DD]
20 How Peter Firth may be shown to be secure, uninjured (4,3,5) SAFE AND SOUND {SAFE}{AND}{SOUND}
23 Stagehands and cast learned to accommodate this ephemeral structure (10) SANDCASTLE [T]
24 Digital assistant displaying flower in retreat (4) SIRI<=
25 Averse to humourless university official from Down Under (10) ANTIPODEAN {ANTI}{PO}{DEAN}
26 Unpleasant characters regularly seen in Burghley (4) UGLY bUrGhLeY

DOWN
1   Unhinged senatorial explanations (10) RATIONALES*
2   Scheming type gets artist involved (10) STRATEGIST*
4   Disguises sample of flamenco Despacito (7) ENCODES [T]
5   Persistent American set on seceding in the end (3-4) AGE-LONG {A}{GEL}{ON}{s...nG}
6   Numbers present at nine balls and a cèilidh? (11) ATTENDANCES {AT}{TEN}{DANCES}
7   Leader of Indonesia governed country (4) IRAN {In...a}{RAN}
8   Require massage, you say? (4) NEED (~knead)
12 Campus race: I arranged for an old trophy (8,3) AMERICAS CUP*
13 Mathematician reconsidered granulation with nothing to lose (4,6) ALAN TURING {GRANULATIoN}*
14 After hug and kiss, gaze at Tom's wife, presenting a flower (2-3,5) OX-EYE DAISY {O}{X}{EYE}{DAISY}
18 Fancied a visitor, by the sound of it (7) GUESSED (~guest)
19 Unexciting vehicle Everyman will start to aggrandize (7) VANILLA {VAN}{I'LL}{Ag...e}
21 Addled, somewhat erratic; adrift, primarily! (4) ASEA Acrostic &lit
22 Insect's pungency brought up (4) GNAT<=

Reference List
University = U, Earl = E, Knight = N, Humourless = PO-FACED, American = A, Hug and Kiss = OX

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16 comments:

  1. Radhamani15 October 2023 at 09:06

    I am new to crossword.
    So would like to know how 20a was solved.
    How safe and sound is got from Peter Firth

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Col_Gopinath15 October 2023 at 09:21

      Radhamani, over the words Peter and Firth in the main post, links have been embedded, click on those links and you will find the meanings

      Delete
    2. Sree Sree15 October 2023 at 10:12

      Peter is a type of safe.
      Fir thik/sea/sound.

      Both can be found in links provided by Col.

      Delete
    3. Economizer15 October 2023 at 10:14

      Ref for how "Peter" becomes "safe"
      https://www.crosswordunclued.com/2012/10/peter-is-safe.html

      Delete
    4. Radhamani15 October 2023 at 13:21

      Thank you all

      Delete
  2. Sujatha15 October 2023 at 09:20

    How does at nine lead to ten? Saw the link yet, didn't understand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Col_Gopinath15 October 2023 at 09:25

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-ball

      Delete
    2. Economizer15 October 2023 at 10:13

      6 Numbers present at nine balls and a cèilidh? (11) ATTENDANCES

      Definition = Numbers present
      At = AT (given as is in the clue)
      Nine balls and a ceilidh = Nine balls + 1 ball (Ceilidh is a type of traditional dance) = Ten balls = TEN DANCES

      Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A8ilidh

      The wordplay requires us to infer that Ceilidh is a ball, and along with "9 balls" in the clue it is TEN balls = TEN DANCES.

      Nothing to do with the pool game that Col. has given the link to as far as I can tell.

      Delete
    3. Padmanabhan15 October 2023 at 20:45

      Pool game?!

      Delete
  3. Sujatha15 October 2023 at 10:08

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sree Sree15 October 2023 at 10:20

    Po is colloq used for poker-faced.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Economizer15 October 2023 at 13:15

    Re: IXL Round 5. It was an easy grid compared to the last two rounds, and there were a few very good cryptic definitions in the clues. I submitted at around 45 minutes, though I only received the confirmation SMS at ~50 minutes (it is usually immediate). I feel I could have gone faster, though I think my performance will be sufficient to maintain my overall ranking, and perhaps to even increase it by one or two positions. I estimate that the round winners must be solving clues at an average of ~30 seconds per clue. In practice, this would mean solving most clues in 10 seconds or less, leaving 5-10 minutes at the end for a small number of, say less than 5, tough clues. I need more practice yet to solve at that bullet-fast pace. Hats off to those experienced competitors at the top of the leaderboard for maintaining speed over and above accuracy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Economizer15 October 2023 at 17:39

    From The Daily Mail

    He may work in court with hen running around (6)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rao Pilla15 October 2023 at 18:20

    He may work in court(def) - LAWYER
    with - W
    hen - LAYER
    running around(containment ind)

    ReplyDelete

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