Wednesday 1 May 2024

No 14163, Wednesday 01 May 2024, Gussalufz

Artwork by Prasanna
Solution to 29A 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.


LET'S REPLAY
ACROSS
1   Entered "N/A" (her office rejected revealing court action) (8) FOREHAND [T<=]
5   Form cults bristling to seize power (6) SCULPT {SCUL{P}T*}
9   Indian state's push for growth (7) UPSURGE {UP}{SURGE} (Correction - {UP'S}{URGE} - See comments)
10 Reversing scene? Staple part of a bowler's arsenal (7) TOPSPIN {SPOT<=}{PIN}
11 Propose firing head of firm (5) TABLE sTABLE
12 Fabric worn by Spain's male court judges (8) LINESMEN {LIN{ES}{M}EN}
13 Killing every now and then was the way she relaxed (2,4) AT EASE {wAs+ThE+wAy+ShE}
14 Unfairly characterise Jedi's mugshot? (8) MISJUDGE {JEDIS+MUG}*
18 What one often gets from a sleuth sneakily capturing a bit of unfaithfulness (3,5) THE USUAL {A+SLEUTH}* over {Un...s}
20 Dismisses puzzles (6) STUMPS [DD]
23 Plonks back with laziness, without a thought (8) STUPIDLY {PUTS<=}{IDLY}
25 Provoke pain in Tokyo regularly (5) ANNOY {pAiN+iN+tOkYo}
27 Work's... well, evil? (7) SERVICE {'S}{ER}{VICE}
28 One awfully into animals and birds (7) PIGEONS {PIG{ONE*}S}
29 Fake tears, grandiosely high security level (6) E?S?T? (Addendum - ERSATZ {TEARS*}{Z} - See comments)
30 Rain, wind at terminals coming in turbulently, signal flight closures (8) LANDINGS {raiN}{winD} in {SIGNAL}*

DOWN
1   Random illness caught aunt badly (9) FLUCTUANT {FLU}{CT}{AUNT*}
2   Gentleman: "In hindsight, I almost sounded ridiculous" (7) RISIBLE {SIR<=}{I}{BLEw}
3   Controls a variety of shares, including half of sensex, after recession (9) HARNESSES {HAR{SENsex<=}SES*}
4   Born in turmoil, led conflict (6) NEEDLE {NEE}{LED*}
6   Review of these pacts shows some outstanding features (5) CAPES [T<=]
7   See what people are saying about bill on IPL's restructuring (3-4) LIP-READ {RE}{AD}<=>{IPL*}
8   Bomb smelled bad (burning sulphur) (4) TANK sTANK
10 Game in which "fault" and "net" are reviewed (6) TENNIS {SIN}{NET}<=
15 Experiencing post-flight problems is not regular around east terminal — disheartened! (3-6) JET-LAGGED {J{E}{Te...aL}AGGED}
16 Scholars in universities say IST superior (9) ESSAYISTS [T]
17 Wade softly and turn (6) PADDLE {P}{ADDLE}
19 Scamper around and start to sweat after old lover blackmails (7) EXTORTS {TROT<=}{Sw..t}<=>{EX}
21 Rainy season is imminent, as explained in Jamaica (7) MONSOON {MON SOON}
22 Setter's irrational about love, per complaint (6) MYOPIA {MY}{O}{PI}{A}
24 Goal: beer, nothing canned (5) POINT {P{O}INT}
26 Male, possibly out of his league (4) ISLE [T]

Reference List
Power = P, Spain = ES, Male = M, Well = ER, High security level = Z, Caught = CT, Born = NEE, On = RE, Bill = AD, East = E, Softly = P, Irrational = PI

33 comments:

  1. 26d
    Man, possible from isle of man.

    Can it be male???

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    Replies
    1. Hi. The reference I think is to Malé, island and capital of Maldives.

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    2. Is it ever referred as isle!
      The term is "male island."

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    3. Isle means a small Island. Male is a small island

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  2. 21d wouldnt it "soon mon"

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    Replies
    1. Mon, I think they use it at both ends of sentences. Yes, mon :-)

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  3. I think the theme is sports in general, in which case a few more words like Paddle, Stumps, Harnesses....

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  4. Pigeons that are used in trap shooting.

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  5. I can read a Nina 'Ping pong' in the last but one (14th) column

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  6. Or the theme is just Table Tennis?

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  7. Thanks, Col., for the blog and thanks to all the solvers. Here are my notes for this crossword:

    Notes

    The theme of this crossword is table tennis. A secondary theme is lawn tennis, as there is much overlap between these sports (some thematic clues do relate to only one of the two).

    PING-PONG can be seen as a nina running down the second-to-last column. The following entries are related to the theme:

    1A. FOREHAND.
    10A. TOPSPIN.
    11A. TABLE.
    10D. TENNIS.
    27A. SERVICE.
    17D. PADDLE.
    24D. POINT.

    LINESMEN (12A.) were a part of lawn tennis till recently.

    The title, "Let's Replay," is a play on the fact that a "let" call on a table tennis serve means the serve touched the net and is not counted—the server has been instructed by the umpire to serve again. In other words, "Let's (Let is) Replay."

    Like my previous THC crosswords this year ('24), this one too uses exactly 24 letters in the solution words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Personal notes

      I do quite enjoy playing table tennis myself. Am not *that* good at it, but am not that bad either. I always carry the following items in my backpack: a ping-pong paddle and a ball or two, and a towel (the latter is a versatile and invaluable carry-on, as famously noted by Douglas Adams).

      As we head into another summer, my adorably *badmash* dog Oona is now nine, and every little health issue she now experiences is a sharp reminder that these incredible creatures have an unfairly short lifespan. Every day with them is worth cherishing!

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    2. I was a serious player of Table tennis in my school days with a good coach. However I could not continue and later switched to tennis. We used to call it Ping pong those days- a very good game which could be continued long after retiring from tennis. Thank you Ratnakar. Table tennis players are called paddlers.
      BTW 'Let' (allow/ hindrance) is a 'Reserve' in tennis also.

      Delete
    3. Nice! Yes, "let" is a replay in tennis too, but only once (unlimited in table tennis).

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    4. It is unlimited in tennis as well. Only Fault is only once and second is a double fault conceding a point.

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    5. When the ball touches the net and still lands in the correct area on serve, it is called a let. In both Tennises that is allowed as a no-shot.
      Martina Navratilova advocated "no lets and no double faults" some ti. ఈ back.

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    6. Last words were "some time back". Pardon my spell checker.

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    7. As a matter of fact, it was tried in some low level tournaments for a short time. I think the idea was abandoned.

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  8. The title 'Let's replay' is given only in the on line version?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Request Col. to display it in the blog for the sake of a few of us who still solve it on paper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll try to post it (the title for my crossword) here from next month, no worries (and no need to add another burden for Col.).

      Delete
  10. 29a, fake = ersatz
    tears* = fodder
    Grandiose = anind
    High security level = z
    fake = { ( ERSAT)* (Z)}

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  11. Nice grid, finished just now. Favs were LINESMEN, STUPIDLY, RISIBLE, LANDINGS to name a few. I also had a doubt whether Male had been mistakenly used for Man in the clue for ISLE, then realised that it was Male' (refreshing change from Man for isle which has been very often!)
    For a change, got the Nina and theme words too.
    Thanks, Gussalufz and Col.

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  12. Good artwork by Prasanna for May 1st.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Ramki.........Special Thanks to Col. I am very much thankful to THCC platform where I explore my skills as well as CW.

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  13. Nice grid & nicer notes.
    My fav - PIGEONS, RISIBLE, STUPIDLY, SERVICE.
    Thanx Viresh!

    ReplyDelete

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