Saturday 30 December 2023

No 14059, Saturday 30 Dec 2023, Vidwan

ACROSS
1   Small and neat drinks, 500 left (6) TIDDLY {TID{D}{L}Y}
5   Unearth fragment of T.Rex humerus (6) EXHUME [T]
10 Senselessly Annie danced and lay exhausted (7) INANELY {ANNIE}*{LaY}
11 Leader of Maldives is more modest, less hard and one who speaks softy but not clearly (7) MUMBLER {Ma...s}{hUMBLER}
12 Had returned with half exposed blossom (6) DAHLIA {HAD<=}{LIAble}
15 Champion's one in operating 'gear' on the ground (6) HEROIN {HERO}{O{1}N} There's an extra O in the fodder
16 Pet's frolicking around one with the tag (7) EPITHET {EP{1}{THE}T*}
17 Work's gone! Rent's gone! (4) DEED {DEED+RENT}* = TENDERED Not sure of anno (Correction - DE{LET}ED} - See comments)
18 Where a sea bears calmness? (4) EASE [T]
19 Arab legend partly developed this subject (7) ALGEBRA {ARAB+LEGend}*
20 Dead decay right away, turning into earth (4) DUST {D}{rUST}
22 Supplies a right girl (4) ARMS {A}{R}{MS}
25 Immortal eagles flying around edge of skies (7) AGELESS {EAGLES}*{Sk..s}
27 Cross those left inside borders of Germany (6) GRUMPY RUMP in {Ge...nY} 
28 Tremble! Run! He is very evil! (6) SHIVER {R+HE+IS+V}*
31 Last part of sex! Tremendous! (7) EXTREME [T]
32 First woman priest, also part seer (7) PANDORA {P}{AND}{ORAcle}
33 A to Z and basics of English language baffling a fundamentalist (6) ZEALOT {A+TO+Z+En...h+La...e}*
34 Bird like crow or raven basically with very primitive subconsciousness (6) CORVID {Crow}{Or}{Ra..n}{V}{ID}

DOWN
2   Oh! Naive nomadic Knight! (7) IVANHOE*
3   Occasionally we help in long 3-D movie (6) DEEPIE {D{wE+hElP}IE}
4   Toy timelessly, repeatedly bounces back (2-2) YO-YO {tOY}{tOY}<= &lit
5   A meme mostly about a novel (4) EMMA {A+MEMe}*
6   Essentially the charm, you reportedly pulled out for a troubled prince (6) HAMLET {tHe}{AMuLET}
7   State of fungi eggs (7) MOLDOVA {MOLD}{OVA}
8   Decorated soldier piloted over Germany (6) GILDED {GI}{L{D}ED}
9   Lord's claw almost clasps Herod's heart (6) PRINCE {P{heRod}INCEr}
13 A swimming pool guy's vacuous defence (7) APOLOGY {A}{POOL*}{GuY}
14 Moor's suffering inside, too badly! (7) OTHELLO {OT{HELL}O*}
15 She is partly sure about being a beneficiary (7) HEIRESS {SHE+IS+suRE}*
20 New grid includes for example retrogressive word of miner (6) DIGGER {DIG{EG<=}R*}
21 Run and ruin (7) SCUTTLE [DD]
23 Partly enchanted by oil in a pickle and pasta (7) RAVIOLI {RAVIshed}{OIL*} 
24 Band set to rule Europe and Korea initially (6) STREAK Acrostic
25 A soft plea, perhaps (6) APPEAL {A}{P}{PEAL*} &lit
26 Mackerel or some fish in Erie (6) SHINER [T]
29 Good kind of doctor and a refined man (4) GENT {G}{ENT}
30 Unending piece about Odyssey, say (4) EPIC PIECe*

Reference List
500 = D, Left = L, Hard = H, Right = R, Run = R, Very = V, Priest = P, Germany = D, Soft = P, Good = G

17 comments:

  1. +1
    Part is very ambiguous indicator. And to be used on a synonym is not kosher, imho.
    Part oracle may be OK but part seer is very ambiguous.

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  2. I like solving Vidwan but the grid put me off. There is only one highway knotted around.

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  3. In the good old days, setters were expected to be aware of nuances like prince in 6d appearing in 9d!

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  4. Vladimir went to his bookshelf in search of a book.
    1. ARMS and the man
    2. IVANHOE
    3. OTHELLO
    4. PRINCE AND THE PAUPER
    5. DAHLIA IN BLOOM
    6. EMMA
    7. HAMLET
    8. HIGHER ALGEBRA by Hall and Knight
    None of these books APPEALED to him.
    He was in search of EVERYTHING YOU ?????? ?? ???? ????? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???

    What happened next?

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    Replies
    1. At last he stumbled on the tome.
      Everything you anted to know about sex but were afraid to ask.
      Next time he met EMMA it would be useful-he felt.
      He decided to put his ne knowledge into practice and not dither like HAMLET.
      He reached his HEROINE(e) home with a posy of DAHLIAS
      What happened next........

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    2. Let us hail Mr. Bhargav & other like-minded members of this group who supplement his witty (and often naughty too!!) compilations solely based on the solutions or their clues in the day's crossword.
      In fact, such literary interludes lend a sort of breather to the solver ascertaining from this blog-site as to where he or she erred while earlier in the day. This is similar to those brief comical interludes in the Acts at the theatre or monotonous scenes in cinemas of yore whereby the audience used to have a respite!!!
      May these trends continue in our group. Cheers....

      Delete
    3. Was tempted to attempt by the question marks! Thanks

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  5. Well, although I don't mean to be vulgar in my thoughts, the solution to 22-A in today's grid by Vidwan, indeed, tickled my brain and prompted me to fill the four squares with the word starting & ending with P. Yes, it was so until I accessed this worthy blog for me to repent at my folly!!!

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  6. Vidwan tougher than usual.
    Didn't know gear is heroin, but filled with crossings.
    My fav - DEED, MOLDOVA, MUMBLER.
    Thanx.

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  7. @Prasad - Was about to ask u reg PRINCE & PANDORA.
    Then saw ur comments.

    ReplyDelete

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