Wednesday 22 November 2023

No 14026, Wednesday 22 Nov 2023, Dr. X

Solution to 16A 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.

ACROSS
1   Easily sense husband getting a touch tipsy after drinking shot (7,1,5) WITHOUT A HITCH {WIT}{H} and {A+TOUCH}* over {HIT}
8   Saved by doctors resuscitating relapsed addicts (5) USERS [T<=]
9   Can do reconstruction of retina (9) CONTAINER {CON}{RETINA*}
11 Woman worried on flight about son starting to panic in wet whirlwind (10) WATERSPOUT {W}{ATE}{R{S}{Pa..c}OUT}
12 Full moon party, entertaining band (4) HOOP {H{O}OP}
14 Communicates by wireless with distressed roadies (7) RADIOES*
16 Many avoiding crowd to tackle spike in infectious disease (7) C?O?E?A (Addendum - CHOLERA {C{HOLE}RAm} - See comments)
17 Belligerent man drinking, turning very intoxicated in retreat (7) HOSTILE {H{SO<=}{LIT<=}E}
19 Repaired most of electric network (7) RETICLE ELECTRIc*
21 Edible root from east, peculiar on reflection (4) EDDO {E}{ODD<=}
22 Hospital worker beginning to frantically transfuse fluid (5,5) STAFF NURSE {Fr...y+TRANSFUSE}*
25 Detective catches maiden and unionist cavorting in Indian state (5,4) TAMIL NADU {TA{M}IL}{AND+U}* Was lost for a while as I have always been writing it as one word!!
26 Waving, ran triumphantly to receive award (5) GRANT [T]
27 Where one might experience tremors in a weak position (2,5,6) ON SHAKY GROUND [DD]

DOWN
2   One went out to have unrestricted sex and conceived (7) IDEATED {1}{D{sEx}ATED}
3   Affected by bad rhinitis, receiving oxygen at onset of Covid-19 (10) HISTRIONIC {HISTRI{O}NI*}{Co...9}
4   Free from limits in university, sleep around casually at first (5) UNCAP {U}{N{Ca...y}AP}
5   Reporter's article on new cure, revolutionary (9) ANNOUNCER {AN}{ON+N+CURE}*
6   Lives on a yacht primarily? My word! (1,3) I SAY {IS}{A}{Ya..t}
7   Pardon criminal? OK (7) CONDONE {CON}{DONE}
8   Most disreputable suitor went crazy outside hotel (11) UNWORTHIEST {SUITOR+WENT}* over {H}
10 Injured player out of tourney finally, join as substitute (11) REPLACEMENT {PLAyER}*{CEMENT}
13 Travelling on metro, gathering information about country (10) MONTENEGRO{ON+METRO}* over {GEN<=}
15 Flatter track, having little turn to begin with (5-4) SWEET-TALK {S{WEE}{Turn}TALK}
18 Supporting musician and soprano plan to entertain millions with number (7) SIDEMAN {S}{IDE{M}A}{N}
20 Dog can have glaucoma, eventually becoming blind (7) CURTAIN {CUR}{T{g...mA}IN}
23 Cast starting to feel a little nervous in drag (5) FLUNG {Feel}{LU{Ne...s}G}
24 Dull black tie, not special (4) BLAH {B}{LAsH}

Reference List
Husband = H, Do = CON, Woman = W, Many = M, Son = S, Intoxicated = LIT, East = E, Maiden = M, Unionist = U, University = U, New = N, Hotel = H, Soprano = O, Millions = M, Number = N, Black = B

23 comments:

  1. 20d is a hall of fame clue Doc, with perfect surface,grammar and cryptic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Yes, it was the winning clue in 1ACross clue-writing contest.

      Delete
  2. Dog = Cur
    Can = Tin
    Glu.... (A)
    Curtain = Blind

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ganesh pulled the CURTAIN and moved on to the Radiogram. He selected Hugo MONTENEGRO'S LP and then went on to UNCAP the whisky bottle.

    He was by now well aware that Vladimir was ON SHAKY GROUND. Some SWEET TALK ensued.

    Ganesh promised Vladimir that he would soon introduce to him the Russian STAFF NURSE from TAMIL NADU Hospital hoping that things would move WITHOUT A HITCH there afterwards.

    What happened next?

    ReplyDelete
  4. In 2D, unrestricted is used in the sense of having only middle letter is a new to me. Unrestricted in movie parlance will be U certificate.
    Sathia

    ReplyDelete
  5. Here I took Unrestricted in the sense of 'without boundaries'...

    ReplyDelete
  6. 16A Many(M) avoiding(deletion) crowd(CRAM)to tackle(cont ind) spike(HOLE) in
    infectious disease (defn) - CHOLERA
    I didn't find hole as a direct synonym of Spike.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Found it @ https://www.the-crossword-solver.com/word/spike

      Delete
    2. Spike is pierce with sharp point : (make a) hole

      Delete
    3. That's correct. 'Hole' is also a verb as in to 'make a hole in, puncture, pierce, spike, perforate etc'
      Since you were searching for a reference, here is Chambers online.

      https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=hole&title=thes
      v
      puncture, perforate, pierce, breach, break, crack, stab, spike, slit, gash, rent

      Delete
  7. Many = 'plethora' by avoiding crowd (pleat) yields 'hor' . Spike = lace . 'Hor' set to tackle 'lace' gives 'cholera' . Def - infectious disease

    ReplyDelete

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