Saturday, 4 October 2025

No 14605, Saturday 04 October 2025, Avtaar

 ACROSS
1 Mom visiting homes for lotus flowers to be used in pooja (6) PADMAS {PAD{MA}S}
5 Most uncouth bums lying in bed (8) COARSEST {CO{ARSES}T}
9 John and Avtaar carrying bread for Turkish boss bosses (8) CAPITANI {CA{PITA}N}{I} Didn't find it on-line but BRB has it. See comments.
10 Held in deposit after return by writer (4-2) PENT-UP {PUT<}<=>{PEN}
11 Singing legend, (not a Rastafarian), performed captivating "New York", at the end (5,7) FRANK SINATRA {RASTAFARIaN}* over {N}{yorK}
13 Revolutionary upset a royal (4) RAJA {JAR<}{A}
14 Bishop pokes a judge to irritate (8) ACERBATE {ACE}{R{B}ATE}
17 Spooner's guy rations fuel (8) FIREWOOD Spoonerism of WIRE FOOD
18 Smart chap, perhaps, retired in Iceland, after leaving India (4) ALEC {iCELAnd}<
20 Mostly gormand sorts starting to enjoy cooking (12) GASTRONOMERS {GORMANd SORTS Enjoy}* &Lit For some strange reason the online version was insisting this was wrong. Update: Now Rectified.
23 Sharper, thinner, low leaves (6) WILIER {WILlowIER}
24 Made way through article by director - gripping study (8) THREADED {TH{READ}E}{D}
25 Host quietly ignored one taking umbrage (8) RESENTER {pRESENTER}
26 Creeps in ship taking over lounge (6) SIDLES {S{IDLE}S}

DOWN
2 Set of notes about seaweed (4) AGAR {RAGA<}
3 I'm looking up label sealing father's computer (9) MAINFRAME {I AM}<{N{FR}AME}
4 A boring quiet chap who practises black magic (6) SHAMAN {SH}{A}{MAN}
5 Extremely cool, dark, romantic novel outside small shop that sells online too (6,3,6) CLICKS AND MORTAR {CooL}{DARK ROMANTIC}* over {S}
6 Pressure on police department to arrest rebel after American provided a brief (8) APPRISED {P}{P{RISE}D}<=>{A}
7 Amundsen napped consuming laxative (5) SENNA [T]
8 Maids cleaned up our settees stained with black, pouring a drop of ethanol (10) SOUBRETTES {OUR SETTEeS}* over {B} New word for me
12 Invest in recycled plastic, increasing environmental awareness, basically (10) CAPITALISE {PLASTIC Increasing Environmental Awareness}*
15 Mark holding back British orchestra (5,4) BRASS BAND {BR{ASS}{B}AND}

16 Head of anarchic state's chant about leaders of clamorous rioters storming vessel (8) MOBOCRAT {OM<}{ BOAT} over {Clamourous}{Rioters}
19 Faces animals crossing terminal in Dortmund (6) BEARDS {BEAR{dortmunD}S}
21 Your warmth in entertaining inspires (5) THINE [T]
22 Loud spy dog (4) PEKE {~PEEK}

REFERENCE LIST
Mom=Ma, New=N, Bishop=B, A=Ace, India=Ind, Director=D, Quietly=P, Ship=SS, Father=Fr, Quiet=Sh, Small=S, Pressure=P, Police Department=PD, Black=B, British=B.

33 comments:

  1. 9a can you please post brb full def.
    It doesn't seem like a turkish word at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Capitan:the chief admiral of the Turkish fleet.
      Capitano or Capitani: a headman

      Delete
    2. Turkish is kaptan, the way bollywood or some of old cricketers pronounce

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    3. What is the BRB referred to here please? I only know it as Be Right Back.

      Delete
    4. Chambers DICTIONARY. ( Big Red Book)

      Delete
  2. A head-man is the BRB definition

    ReplyDelete
  3. variant of Capitan , the admiral of a Turkish fleet

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maybe Capitani is plural. Should be bosses

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. +1 capitani seems plural. Capitan may be borrowed from italian.
      But wondering why Turkish.
      Boss would suffice!

      Delete
    2. You are right. Updated the same.

      Delete
  5. 22D- Peke is short/ slang for Pekinese/ Pekingese? No indication needed?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As per BRB, Peke is Pekingese dog (informal )

      Delete
    2. Exactly. My request was an indication of that (like say) in the clue.

      Delete
  6. soubrette- obviously borrowed rom French.
    Prefer such words to have an indication.
    Similarly, thine (old English)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is in major English dictionaries - BRB, Collins. Many foreign words are included and once that is done, they are English words. Aloo is another example

      Delete
    2. @paddy, Gridman used it as maid way back! No indication.

      Delete
    3. Got it. My memory/ search ability not that good!!

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. Jar means oppose. A revolutionary opposes the system!
      Sathia

      Delete
    2. Upset is Jar (v) . Revolutionary is reversal indicator

      Delete
    3. Thank you Sreeni. Upset/ Stun/ Jar

      Delete
    4. @Paddy, Sathia - to jar is to irritate , give an unexpected shock, quarrel, cause dissonance, clash etc (intransitive verb). Upset = irritate is more like it

      Delete
  8. 1A- Not quite happy with 'Padmas' for lotuses. Do we call it 'Padma' in any Indian language? Origin is Sanskrit- Padmam. It becomes Padma when combined (as in my name!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. And this plural form -- Padmas -- certainly doesn't exist as a word in any language.

      Delete
    2. Padma as a girl's name is more common. It also crosses over to many other languages including Thai. Here it becomes Patthama.

      Delete
    3. Sounds more like Sri Lankan. In Tamil also the variation between Th & Dh is not in writing and oral also varies according to usage.

      Delete
  9. Vladimir, our RAJA, was bent upon releasing his PENT UP energy.
    He switched on his MAINFRAME computer to listen to some songs...
    "AGAR tum na hote"... Vladimir could make neither head not tail of the lyrics.
    Wanting to capitalise on his knowledge of yoga he sat in PADMASANA pose.

    Why am I seeing the ALEC Bedser photo as double image thought he...
    The burning FIREWOOD in the fireplace gave enough warmth and the next song came up.
    The song was FRANK SINATRA'S "Somethin' stupid'...

    What happened next?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Capitani ( I know already explained).captain
    Italian, literally, captain, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin capitanus foremost, chief, from Latin capit-, caput head.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Don't like this cw. May be, my vocabulary & power of deduction is low or this cw is too artificially / illogically made complicated for its own sake.

    ReplyDelete

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