Wednesday 22 May 2024

No 14181, Wednesday 22 May 2024, Afterdark

Solution to 30A 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   Weak police officer catches knave at the beginning, luckily at the borders (6) SICKLY {SI}{Ca...s}{Kn..e}{Lu...lY}
4   Want radish? Cook in high pressure (8) HARDSHIP {H}{RADISH*}{P}
9   Washed with chlorine, jeans gets torn off in the edges (5) CLEAN {CL}{jEANs} POS error See comments
10 Explain in Tamil first, Peter will translate after adding some Russian (9) INTERPRET {IN}{Ta..l}{PETER*} over {Ru...n}
11 Skin is peeled off at the end, on top of knee at the place used for skating (4) RINK {RINd}{Knee}
12 When pressure is absorbed first, growth will be excellent (4) PLUM (+p)PLUM(-p)
13 Man's locked inside empty closet for a case (5) CHEST {Clo{HE'S}seT}
15 Let nuns run in passages (7) TUNNELS*
16 Outing is a mistake (4) TRIP [DD]
19 Endlessly frighten Mark (4) SCAR SCARe
20 Criminal to join at compound (7) CONFUSE {CON}{FUSE}
23 Basically all cops in Delhi seize chemical agents (5) ACIDS Acrostic
24 Report on famous archer (4) TELL [DD]
25 Rod is a European (4) POLE [DD]
27 Last vote absent? Retire involved Conservative from field (9) TERRITORY {RETIRe}*{TORY}
28 Districts are autonomous? Spill the guts (5) AREAS {ARE{Au...uS}
29 Between day and night, a hungry rook feasts regularly on blackout (8) DARKNESS {D}{A}{RooK}{N}{fEaStS}
30 Understood, losing heart is preferred (6) ?E?N?D (Addendum - LEANED LEArNED - See comments)

DOWN
1   Society of Engineers find old city buried in another with conviction (8) SECURITY {S}{E}{C{UR}ITY}
2   Bathing in gel can get clumsy (8) CLEANING*
3   Ring for couple (4) LINK [DD]
5   Claim TA, outlay is distributed routinely (13) AUTOMATICALLY*
6   Instructions at free counter has heading missing in parts (10) DIRECTIONS {RID<=}{sECTIONS}
7   More difficult for personnel to retain a primarily rebellious department engineer (6) HARDER {H{A}R}{D}{ER} What's the role of rebellious? (Correction - {H{A}{Re...s}{D}{E}R} - See comments)
8   Mostly oats getting cooked, getting placed behind a bowl of vegetable (6) POTATO {OATs}*<=>{POT}
10 Insults tailor severely for the embellishments (13) ILLUSTRATIONS*
14 Reverberation of supersonic sound (10) PERCUSSION
17 Regret about being frank, protecting a Frenchman perhaps (8) EUROPEAN {RUE<=}{OPE{A}N}
18 Severe jam in road, turned back (8) REVERSED {R{SEVERE*}D}
21 Needed a wicket in reverse swing, not dropping ball, held regularly (6) WANTED {A}{W}<={NoT}{hElD}
22 Show Mumbai Indians' run-rate? Zero by last over (6) MIRROR {MI}{RR}{O}{oveR}
26 Wife gets silver ear-rings first with allowance (4) WAGE {W}{AG}{Ea...s}

Reference List
High = H, Pressure = P, Day = D, Night = N, Society = S, Engineers = E, Old city = UR, Personnel = HR, Department = D, Road = RD, Wicket = W, Run-rate = RR, Wife = W

13 comments:

  1. 9a
    adjective
    1.
    free from dirt, marks, or stains.
    "the room was spotlessly clean"
    Similar:
    washed
    scrubbed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I went by Gridman advice- we need not go only by dictionary but also by usage.
      Clean clothes/ washed clothes

      Delete
  2. 2 quirks in an otherwise excellent crossy
    9a and 2d clean and cleaning

    If one doesnt get 20a, the SE corner is an island!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Quite fast for me for an AD CW!

    ReplyDelete
  4. 30 Leaned?
    Understood= learned , losing heart 'r'
    Preferred= leaned

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh those were the days when American English needed a hint in THC!

      Delete
  5. 1D- 'With conviction' is secure or security?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. I first got it as sureness, then crossing showed differently. Then I thought it is securest. After I got tunnels, I changed to security. If you think, what could be the best meaning for “with conviction” IMO it is sure/secure.
      Sathia

      Delete
  6. For me - 20ac was last to fall.
    Didn't connect Compound with CONFUSE.
    Otherwise easy.
    My fav
    MIRROR, TERRITORY, DARKNESS.
    Thanx AD.

    ReplyDelete

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