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 solve, if not solved by 1 PM.
20 + 27
ACROSS
1 Professional 16 steal around ten A.M. roughly (4-1-3) RENT-A-MOB {ROB} over {TEN+AM}*
6 This second remedy contains cocaine (2,4) AT ONCE {ATON{C}E}
9 Racist exposed by Benazir (4) NAZI [T]
10 Free treatment area mostly second-rate? Shocking (10) RIDICULOUS {RID}{ICU}{LOUSy}
11 Shot a husband for smoking pipe (6) HOOKAH {HOOK}{A}{H}
17 Setter went ahead, reviewed restaurant (4) DELI {I}{LED}<=
18 Ship uniform settling last IOU, sir (6,4) SAILOR SUIT*
20 Shrink from touch involving hand (8) ?O?T?A?T (Addendum CONTRACT {CONT{R}ACT} - See comments)
22 Oddly ousted in Jammu, a month after returning unopposed (2,1,3) TO A MAN {iN+jAmMu+A+mOnTh}<=
24 Flatter pitch is back in India, good for day three: both sides (10) INGRATIATE {TAR<=} in {IN(-d+g)GIA}{ThreE}
26 It's over in Group One (4) UPON [T]
27 Cross groom primarily restrained by his partner (6) BRIDGE {BRID{Gr..m}E}
28 In hindsight, boss, er..., pseudoephedrine incorporates a strong concoction (8) ESPRESSO [T<=]
DOWN
2 Fancy beer served up with some salt (9) ELABORATE {ALE<=}{BORATE}
3 Opener and #6 skip cricket batting stunt (5) TRICK {cRICKeT}*
4 Bows after mass demonstrations (7) MARCHES {ARCHES}<=>{M}
5 Tender boy's basic instincts (3) BID {B}{ID}
6 Conflict over uranium sale (7) AUCTION {A{U}CTION}
7 Watching people and going potty: king, queen, son (9) ONLOOKERS {ON}{LOO}{K}{ER}{S}
8 Horrible ulcer causing distress (5) CRUEL*
12 Drug dealer's revolutionary spray? (7) CHEMIST {CHE}{MIST}
14 Leader of government spread rubbish, was flashy (9) GLITTERED {Go...t}{LITTERED}
16 They protest, being a cranky sort, after a girl has sex (9) AGITATORS {A}{SORT*}<=>{A}{G}{IT}
18 Young celebrity's tip: getting up with alarm (7) STARTLE STAR(+t)TLE(-t)
19 A dangerous drive, going places (2,3,2) ON THE UP [DD]
21 He has some "unknown error" (5) OWNER [T]
23 Curses a public transport with energy (5) ABUSE {A}{BUS}{E}
25 One or two letters before C, e.g.? (3) ACE {A}{C}{E}
Reference List
Cocaine = C, Husband = H, Hot = H, Hand = R, Good = G, Day = D, Mass = M, Boy = B, King = K, Queen = ER, Son = S, Revolutionary = CHE, Girl = G, Sex = IT, Energy = E
Nice clues . Ridiculous, 20A , ingratiate etc favorites
ReplyDeleteWas struggling to anno startle. Blog helped . Wordplay with definition? ACAD -G organizers didn’t accept Rengaswamy’s answer because his anno had wordplay with definition format
I took 25 D as DD - one and A (two letters before C)
Thanks! I used to frown at "[Wordplay] with [def]" too, until someone pointed out to me that it's totally fine, you just have to look at "with" in its conjunctive sense, meaning "and"/"accompanying" (not as "from"). Works for me, and has opened up lots of possibilities.
DeleteFor 25d, I indeed had the colonel's parse in mind: C->A, E->C, G->E. The dd doesn't quite work because what's "e.g." doing then? (A is not really an *example* of ACE, it *is* ACE)
Deletejust got the wordplay :) Col’s anno is perfect . Thanks for clarifying
DeleteClever and tricky. I could not get the anno.
Delete23D. IMO , the definition is curse. Plural is not fitting
ReplyDeleteAbuse in the noun form could mean curses
DeleteHe showered curses at him / he showered abuse at him
Yes, thanks, Ramki
DeleteThank you Ramki
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete20+ 27= Contract Bridge. Nice game and my fav.
ReplyDeleteI find quite a few CW enthusiasts like Bridge & Chess. All mind games?
Thank you for a nice CW Ratnakar.
Looks like you have solved 20AC!
DeleteOOOooooH!! I never noticed.
DeleteIn 11A: hook=hook shot ( as in basket ball)
ReplyDeleteSathia
In cricket also.
DeleteI was able to spot 'No Trump' in 13th column.
ReplyDelete20Ac CONTRACT - {CONT{R}ACT}
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog, Colonel, and thanks as always to all ye solvers! The thematic words and the nina have been spotted. But here are my notes for this crossword:
ReplyDeleteNotes
The theme of this puzzle is the Bridge card game. The full name of the game is "Contract Bridge," and the title ("20 + 27") spells out this name using the solutions to 20a and 27a.
Down the 13th column, you can see a nina that says "NO TRUMPS," which is a bid in Bridge, in which no suit is designated as the trump. Additionally, the following entries are thematic:
3d. TRICK.
5d. BID.
6d. AUCTION.
25d. ACE.
Personal notes
Another spring approaches, and the finches are at it again, building their nest on a shaded ledge alongside my house. Hope it works out for them (may the nest-raiding blue jays stay away!). It's adorable to watch them diligently gather little broken twigs from bushes, fly up to the nest, put on their architect's thinking cap, and finally place each twig perfectly.
Hats off to a nature lover!
ReplyDeleteAside: Can you advise if this clue is okay? There is verb, noun disonance, ofcourse
ReplyDelete"At home the gutless had created a menace "(10)
It should be ok if we remove that “a”
DeleteThrilled to have solved a Gussalufz and parsed ACE. Many lovely clues.
ReplyDeleteMy fav - BRIDGE, AGITATORS, RIDICULOUS.
Thanx
Thanks, Gowri!
Delete