Tuesday 26 December 2023

No 14055, Tuesday 26 Dec 2023, Bruno

Solution to 20A 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
1   Brit, oddly, wearing hat with zero passion (6) LIBIDO {LI{BrIt}D}{O}
4   Pieces of cubes, often, can be found around liquor (6) CRUMBS {CuBeS} over {RUM}
8   Southern Ossetia's leader caught between peace organizations with daughter is weak (7) UNSOUND {UN}{S}{Os...a}{UN}{D} Why Southern? (Addendum - {UN}{S}{Os...a}{UN}{D} - See comments)
9   Guts of soldier to sleep on a road! (7) GIZZARD {GI}{ZZ}{A}{RD}
11 Annoy old lover with separate arrangement (10) EXASPERATE {EX}{SEPARATE}*
12 Liberal black couple (4) LINK {L}{INK}
13 Virtues lacking tangible limits - that can be harmful (5) VIRUS VIRtUeS
14 Tailored suit - a boy's set (8) SITUATED {SUIT*}{A}{TED}
16 One that worships a procrastinator? (8) IDOLATER {I DO LATER}
18 Ditch absconding leader and expel (5) EJECT rEJECT
20 That might be delivered by personnel to office (4) ?O?T ()
21 Dedicate one's coins - mainly gathered on box (10) CONSECRATE CONSE{CRATE} Anno not clear (Addendum - {ONES+ Co..s}*{CRATE}* - See comments)
23 Devil spilled cold ink (3,4) OLD NICK*
24 Poison's name shown in serene mantra (7) ENVENOM {E{N}VEN}{OM}
25 One might blow off steam randomly. (6) GEYSER [CD]
26 Export aluminium-containing door (6) PORTAL [T]

DOWN
1   Student in University had unknown operating system (5) LINUX {L}{IN}{U}{X}
2   Mario's enemy carried river-surfing accessory (7) BROWSER {B{R}OWSER}
3   Surprisingly, TED talks finally covered interior kitchenware (6,3) DINNER SET {TED+t..kS}* over {INNER}
5   Artist is starting to expect higher salary (5) RAISE {RA}{IS}{Ex...t}
6   Second monster disowning God for 2D (7) MOZILLA {MO}{godZILLA}
7   Tough lineman's no good? (9) STRINGENT {STRING}{gENT}
10 Bad actors grunt sadly, being at a loss (9) HAMSTRUNG {HAMS}{GRUNT}*
13 "Give blood freely" - seen on YouTube? (5,4) VIDEO BLOG*
15 Article on one in Paris followed by leaders in Toulouse and Orleans, moreover (9) THEREUNTO {THE}{RE}{UN}{To...e}{Or...s}
17 New city vacated following recent delay (7) LATENCY {N}{CitY}<=>{LATE}
19 Sincere listener's home (7) EARNEST {EAR}{NEST}
21 Hiding place for money for auditors (5) CACHE (~cash)
22 Monster from LOTR prowling back of Rivendell (5) TROLL {LORT*}{r...lL}

Reference List
Daughter = D, Liberal = L, Name = N, Student = L< University = U, Unknown = X, River = R, Artist = RA, Second = MO< Good = G, One in French = UN, New = N

8 comments:

  1. 21A one's Coins - mainly(first letter of coins) gathered(anind) on box
    (ONES C) *(CRATE)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 8A Southern for S
    Clue should have said 'leaders' instead of 'leader'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. S for southern is std abbrievation.S&O both go between UNs

      Delete
    2. Yes. That's how I filled my grid. Leader applies only to Ossetia. No need for leaders.

      Delete
  3. 20.a
    That might be delivered by personnel......post
    Office....post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interesting grid.
    Aha moments in
    IDOLATER, UNSOUND, STRINGENT, CONSECRATE.

    Why MO for Second?
    Can someone explain?
    Thanx

    ReplyDelete

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