Solution to 24A 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 Authoritarian king killed for money in bazaar (8) MARTINET MAR(-k+tin)TINET
6 Small readjustment wins egg race (6) SLALOM {SLAL{O}M*}
11 He bats at No. 1 — backed and protected by pure nepotism (6) OPENER [T<=]
12 Hurried over shower, getting injured (8) SPRAINED {SP{RAIN}ED}
13 Narration of my romance novel (including a touch of titillation) (10) COMMENTARY {MY+ROMANCE}* over {Ti...n}
18 Drops into conversation: "I flamboyantly rent planes about to break" (10) INTERJECTS {I}{RENT*}{JE{C}TS}
20 Farmer's meadow's yield? Half, unfortunately, having cut a bit of labour (8) HAYFIELD {YIELD+HAlF}*
22 Sent husband away (had a bit of drink) (6) SIPPED ShIPPED
24 Spooner's rock isle is impregnable (10) ?A?E?T?G?T (Addendum - WATERTIGHT (~ totter wight to watertight) - See comments)
26 Approve of hairy animal with round back (4) OKAY {YAK}{O}<=
27 From dawn to dusk, daughter disrupts calm (3-3) ALL-DAY {ALL{D}AY}
28 Youngster's complaint mentioned afternoon meal item (8) TEETHING {(~tea)TEE}{THING}
DOWN
4 Part of a kidney bean's tip quietly gobbled by wild heron (7) NEPHRON {beaN}{E{P}HRON*}
5 Harmful result of smoking with naked celebrities (3) TAR sTARs
6 Country gentleman, short on money — gutted and looking embarrassed (7) SQUIRMY {SQUIRe}{MoneY}
7 Basics at sea: rough sea coordinates (9) ABSCISSAE {BASICS}*{SEA}*
8 Bozo needlessly full of gas (5) OZONE [T]
12 Snow vehicle conveying worker on a slope (7) SLANTED {SL{ANT}ED}
14 Tricky situation for me, having loudly and foolishly lied (9) MINEFIELD {MINE}{F}{LIED*}
16 "Somewhat restrain them" — AI naysayers, generally (2,3,4) IN THE MAIN [T]
18 In record time, only after running in a clumsy way (7) INEPTLY {IN}{EP}{T}{onLY}
19 Mechanical learning secures class prize (7) ROSETTE {RO{SET}TE}
21 A type of order that is really tough under any circumstances (2,3) AT ALL {A}{TALL}
23 Box up hot dog (5) POOCH {COOP<=}{H}
25 Time after time dropping a catch (3) GET {T}<=>{aGE}
Reference List
King = K, Money = TIN, About = C, Husband = H, Daughter = D, Quietly = P, Loudly = F, Record = EP(Extended Play), Time =T, Hot = H
Enjoyed 22A
ReplyDeleteAfter some PERSUASION Vladimir OKAYED the proposal and agreed to be the
ReplyDeleteCOMMENTARY OPENER.
He was not AT ALL comfortable but after some TEETHING issues managed well.
The contest continued almost ALL DAY and SHIV was close to be declared the winner.
Was he the winner?
What happened next?
In 18D, I took only as "on LY".
ReplyDeleteDoes "only after running" give us deletion for on as shown in the solution?
the part of "ONLY" that is "after running" (= ON) is LY
DeleteThought something like that. Now I see it clearly. Thanks.
DeleteReading 26A brought a chuckle.
ReplyDeleteGym gives us PE
ReplyDeleteGussalufz gives us ME 😊
I installed ChatGPT yesterday. I wanted to know if it could solve a cryptic clue. Not even the simple clues.
ReplyDeleteI had a long chat with it about 24A. Trying to train it. Gave it everything, not all at once though. Still it fell short.
It couldn't even get the simple clues is what I meant by 'Not even the simple clues'
Delete24A-watertight-impregnable; totter wight ~ watertight
ReplyDeleterock -totter ; isle of Wight
ReplyDeleteViresh's notes for today
ReplyDelete"Stripper" in the title refers to a creator of a cartoon strip. The creator in question is AJIT NINAN (who unfortunately passed away recently), and you can see his name as a nina. The full nina—running down the first column, continuing down the eleventh column, and finally going across the middle row—includes the name of a character that Ajit created: Detective MOOCHHWALA. The detective's partner, his dog POOCH, is the solution to 23D. The name of the children's magazine, TARGET, in which Moochhwala and Pooch appeared regularly, is formed by 9D and 25D.
This puzzle is a pangram.
Personal notes
Growing up, I really looked forward to the mail delivery of Target magazine every month. I must have read every issue during the period 1980-1984. What stood out for me in the Moochhwala strips was the amazing level of detail that made you linger over every single frame. I also remember there being a lot of animals in the strip (in addition to Pooch!), always endearingly portrayed, often helpful in catching the baddies. Towards the latter part of this period, I also started reading India Today, and was thrilled when I realized that the "Ninan" signature in their excellent graphics and political cartoons belonged to an artist with whom I was already familiar!
Wow!
DeleteSounds like tintin was adapted brilliantly. I am not suggesting it, because I haven't even read one Moochwalla comic. Just got glimpses of some images. 👌
I only took to reading English, outside school syllabus, in the late eighties apart from trying to remember words by rote for games like Spellofun(scrabble) and 'name place things animal' from Chambers dictionary my father had.
Hindu published Tintin & Obelix and Asterix when I started reading English for myself. Wish they did Moochwalla too.
Tintin and obelix.. as Sunday comic serials.
DeleteTarget is in 5D & 25D and not as stated.
ReplyDeleteYes, my children may also have been regular readers. I remember the names.
Nice puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMy fav - INEPTLY, SIPPED, TEETHING.
Thanx Viresh!
Many thanks to all the solvers and to the Col. for blogging! Col. Gopinath also kindly posted my notes for me as I had an early morning appointment today, so couldn't stay up till late last night (it was for my son's driving learner's permit test, and he passed :-)).
ReplyDeleteAJIT (Ninan's first name) is also there as a nina, right after MOOCHHWALA, in the 11th column.