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
9 Drop a query, admitting: "This is less clear" (7) OPAQUER [T]
10 Useless, collaring a husband in two different places to create understanding (7) EMPATHY {EMP{A}T{H}Y}
11 Dance of deer scratching backside (5) SAMBA SAMBAr
12 Shiny unopened bag with trash (8) AGLITTER {bAG}{LITTER}
13 Chicken Zafran side, no frills (6) AFRAID {zAFRAn}{sIDe}
14 Lose footing after wearing sari and this is where you might land (8) AIRSTRIP {TRIP}<=>{SARI*}
18 Power player (8) EXPONENT [DD]
20 Extremely playful leisure suit (6) ?L?ASE (Addendum - PLEASE - {Pl...uL}{EASE} - See comments)
23 Frequently reject ethics (and face the complaint) (8) HEADACHE {EtHiCs+AnD+fAcE+tHe}<=
25 Saw repellent characters engaged in plot to murder (5) MOTTO [T<=]
27 Rocky appearance of our cop — unkempt, holding a joint (7) OUTCROP {OUR+COP}* over {T}
28 Bush hastily read mission's retrospective (7) SKIMMIA {SKIM}{AIM<=}
DOWN
1 Satellite's appearance in space misinterpreted by hollow halfwit (9) MOONSCAPE {SPACE}*<=>{MOrON}
2 Upset mama, during angry outburst: "These rules got broke here!" (7) GRAMMAR {MAMA}* in {GRR}
3 With head covered, people quietly going for very personal monthly event (9) OVULATION {pO(-p+v)VULATION}
4 Heard hotel took boat advance (6) INROAD {(~ inn rowed)INROAD}
6 Hide potentially revealing arsenal (5) DEPOT [T]
7 So, just regularly swear, blowing top, to enjoy longer life (7) OUTWEAR {sO+jUsT}{sWEAR}
8 A term in a financial statement with a zero that goes up and down (2-2) YO-YO [DD] (Addendum - {YOY}{O} - See comments)
10 Sweet cereal on the counter overwhelms the French (6) ECLAIR {RICE<=} over {LA}
15 Celebrate mass drinking lemon cocktail (9) SOLEMNIZE {S{LEMON*}IZE}
16 Ancient beast in ancient city destroyed seaport to the north (9) PTEROSAUR {UR}<=>{SEAPORT*}
21 Experiment with a time to seduce (7) ATTEMPT {A}{T}{TEMPT}
22 Upturned facial features describing a temper (6) SEASON {NOS{A}ES<=}
24 Grave-burying song, ultimately (5) DIRGE {DIR{sonG}E} &lit
26 Judge given bird? Some cheek! (4) JOWL {J}{OWL}
Reference List
Old = O, Husband = H, Joint = T, Quietly = P, Very = V, The in French = LA, Drugs = E, Time = T, Judge = J
8d yoy_year on year, zero:o
ReplyDelete+1 {YoY}{o}
DeleteYes, YoY + 0 is the intent.
DeleteIndeed, it is sad that one hardly sees the Yo-Yo these days and the kids playing it, courtesy, the advent of video & digital games. The one that I saw (and played it too when aged 33 years young!!) was in '80 at Bangalore.
Delete20a answered!!
ReplyDeleteBut not annotated
Delete20 across
DeletePLEASE = SUIT
PlayfuL extremely = PL
LEISURE = EASE
SO, PLEASE is the answer
That's it!
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ReplyDeleteI think 4D is ~inn 'rowed'
ReplyDeleteYes, homophone of "inn rowed" is the intent.
DeleteYes, I think so too.
ReplyDeleteI took it as INN RODE
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ReplyDeleteThe title of the crossword (pops up in the online version), is "Do Jasoos." One more nina remains to be found.
ReplyDeleteGram(mar ple)ated
DeleteYes, Sree Sree!
DeleteMany thanks to all the solvers and to Col. Gopinath for blogging. Here are my notes for this crossword:
ReplyDeleteNotes
The title is the name of an old Hindi film; it means "two detectives" in Hindi.
The famous mystery writer, AGATHA CHRISTIE, can be seen as a nina running down the middle and fourteenth columns. Two famous fictional detectives created by her can also be seen as ninas: POIROT running across the middle row, and MARPLE in the third column, spanning the end of 2D and the start of 19D.
The surface of 25A is also thematic.
SKIMMIA (28A) is not a common word, and the clue is quite difficult too. I generally like to set simple clues for uncommon words. However, in this case, once I came up with the rough idea for the surface, I couldn't resist using it, given George W. Bush's famously premature "Mission Accomplished" speech from 2003 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Accomplished_speech).
This puzzle is a pangram. Its THC serial number, 14,057, is a prime number. This has happened after a longish gap, thereby adjusting the fraction of my THC crosswords that have landed on prime numbers to a more reasonable value in line with the expectation of around 1 in 10 (ln 14000).
Personal notes
I read quite a few Agatha Christie novels in my early teens. I discovered Kenneth Branagh's spectacularly good-looking Poirot movies, Death On The Nile and Murder On The Orient Express, only recently, and they may have subconsciously made me pick this crossword's theme. I'm looking forward to watching his latest, A Haunting In Venice.
Thanq dear Mr. Viresh Ratnakar for sharing your amazing, I mean interesting observations.
ReplyDeleteCheers!!!
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Delete+1
DeleteAlways nice to hear from the setter saying the grid is solved per his/her setting. Thanks @gussalufz aka Mr. Ratnakar.