Note: The five starred clues carry no direct definition, but their solutions share a rare commonality. At the end of each solution, you will also find an isolated area in an Hawaiian island retreat, which is unclued.
Hawaiian Island: MAUI
Isolated area: MAUI - A -> MUI
Retreat: IUM
The starred clues are all "rare-earth metals." And the explanation of the starred clues is a clue in itself!!!!!!!!
Didn't I mention before that he IS crazy ..................
Across
1 Sir, her shoes were trampled by draught animals! (5,6) SHIRE HORSES*
9 Prior leaves Father’s office with the address (5) ORATE
10 *Yankee rail conductor (Rob) loses heart (9) {Y(TT)E} (RB) (IUM)
11 Fold the contents of the purple attache (5) PLEAT
12 Baffled courier holds a coin of western focus (11) EURO(CENT)RIC (nice!)
13 Takes care of harbours (6) NURSES
14 Rig the net gains to include a large vase (7) F(URN)ISH (nice!)
18 *Dry year-round (7) {Y(TT)R} (IUM)
20 Navy chief leaves orphans upset in the lighthouse (6) PHAROS(-N)*
24 Need (unwritten) inside rickety canoe when you fall over (11) O(VERBAL)ANCE (nice!)
26 Enthusiastic people may be full of this (5) BEANS
27 Pulls back to interrupt the erratic siren with the guides (9) IN(SPIR<-)ERS
28 Present? It is not our auditor’s (5) THERE?
29 Troops from the east captured by scheming Maori rep in Nero’s kingdom (5,6) {ROMAN (E) (M) PIRE}
Down
1 Oil source revealed in an odd story about 26 Ac (8) S O Y BEANS
2 Explain the note found inside the malfunctioning printer (9) IN(TE)RPRET
3 Area destroyed by revolutionary because of a canal issue (7) (EARA)CHE
4 Greek hunter loses the right to a new kitchen bulb (5) O(-R)(N)ION (nice!)
5 *A degree held by the senior (8) {S(A MA)R} (IUM)
6 Fake coupons identified by touch (7) SOUPCON* (nice!)
7 Mined aluminium is partially returned and taxed (5) LADEN
8 Harbour hammock (5) BERTH
15 An almost tranquil gite built in the African grassland (9) SEREN(-E) (GETI)
16 *A musical instrument for the Taiwanese leader (8) (LUTE) {T} (IUM)
17 The ship in the sea goes west to follow the auditor’s victim (8) A(SS)ES<-SEE
19 Nature’s alarm destroys 70 per cent of the storerooms (7) ROOSTER(-OMS) = 70%
21 *Dr. Watson’s friend takes down the Spanish website (7) {HOLM(-ES)} (IUM)
22 Peter out to exchange the note for a discount (5) (-RE) (A)BATE
23 People die to meet him (5) MAKER
25 Say salaam to the star officer (5) BO SUN
Posts
12 comments:
That was fast! Didn't expect this puzzle to be wrapped up on the blogs so soon, as it is of a higher difficulty level than the usual Neyartha puzzles (at least, I feel so!)
I think some of the annos you missed out on are as follows:
9 Prior leaves Father’s office with the address (5) {-past}ORATE
28 Present? It is not our auditor’s (5) THERE {~their - not our , auditor's - homophone indicator}
29 Troops from the east captured by scheming Maori rep in Nero’s kingdom (5,6) ROMA{N EM<-}PIRE*
22 Peter out to exchange the note for a discount (5) (-RE) (A)BATE (Did you note the 'Peter out' from yesterday's puzzle? I think it would have been a nice one if this clue was in yesterday's puzzle (in addition to the other 'Peter out' clue!)
25 Say salaam to the star officer (5) BO{~bow} SUN
Great stuff from Neyartha! Very imaginative definitions (canal issue, kitchen bulb especially) and technically sound (what a relief, after MM).
A pedantic point:
28 Present? It is not our auditor’s (5) THERE{~their}"not our" is not exactly equal to THEIR, is it? Things not OUR may not even be THEIR.
Agree with you Shuchi on 28. Strictly speaking 'not our' is NOT 'their.'
"THEIRS" yes but NOT "THEIR" - but that would then make it 'NOT OURS.'
Guess for this clue Neyartha was vacationing on the Hawaiian island and we can let him have that in recognition of all the other stellar clues ..................
Hi Anokha, I was actually talking about the meaning, I think the grammar is fine. e.g. This is not our team, this is their team.
My contention is that 'not our' is not a precise definition for 'their' because the meanings are not interchangeable. 'He is not our son-in-law' is not equal to 'He is their son-in-law', the chap might be unmarried.
"not our" for "their" is fine.
I think that as long as we are able to substitute one for the other in a sentence, it is OK.
The meanings don't matter.
Shuchi herself has said the grammar is fine.
Hi,
Read my bit at
http://halfthenews.blogspot.com/2009/04/cruciverbalists-jeeves.html
Can you explain 18Ac and 14Ac again please? Does Fish mean 'net gains'?
Also,what is the point of having things in brackets?
Couple of comments about the setter and his style.I am from his college.I think he borrows his idea of a 'themed crossword' from the very popular treasure hunts we used to conduct(I set a few of them) where in each clue cracked(usually based on word play) would finally be related by a final theme,which would be the final clue.
On the same theme,I find his crosswords to be much more 'crackable' as there are more prepositions indicating the relation between different parts of the clue.Again,coming from a treasure hunt background and being relatively new to crossword,I find it really hard to accept clues which don't give a complete meaning.I guess it has to do with the space constraint as in Treasure hunts,we are allowed to be more elaborate.It may also be because I am a newbie,but still it irritates me to no end.To be more specific,many times, in order to improve the surface reading the prepositions are altered giving a completely different meaning,I feel.For example,
22 Peter out to exchange the note for a discount
'for' would indicate to me that the answer will be a synonym for discount,which will be obtained from the rest of the clue.Also, 'to' indicates joining in crossword,I believe leading me to believe some form of 'Peter' has to join with some form of 'exchange'.
27 Pulls back to interrupt the erratic siren with the guides (9)
Again,the preposition 'with' seems to indicate erratic siren has to join with some synonym for guides. I understand how the clue is to be cracked,but all the while I was confused where the definition is 'pulls back'.I would use 'for' or 'giving' instead of 'with'.
13 Takes care of harbours (6)
8 Harbour hammock (5)
I believe these are double definition clues.What is the indicator to think it is that way?
4 Greek hunter loses the right to a new kitchen bulb (5) O(-R)(N)ION
I liked this clue very much.But to me,it doesn't seem clear why 'to a new' indicates that 'n' should be added.Wouldn't it have been better with something like 'adds/gains new..'?I would definitely not have the articles 'the' and 'a' in the clue.
25 Say salaam to the star officer
Why should officer be the meaning? Where is the indicator for that? Compare with 19d or 1d and the difference is obvious.
I am not trying to discredit the setter here,because I feel his crosswords are the best.But I am trying to address a more generic road block for me in trying to crack crosswords as almost always the clues are rife with misordered prepositions which completely change the meaning of the clue.The other problem,I feel crosswords have,is 'missing information'.
You can probably now imagine my hair pulling agony with the previous setter.Please correct me wherever you can.
Nachiketa - I am posting your comment in the main section so that other experts can chime in!
14ac - Fish is caught with Net so 'Net Gains'!
18ac - Dry -> teetotaler -> TT
Year Round -> YR
Also, Nachiketa - Shuchi has posted a nice commentary on Neyartha in her blog at
http://www.crosswordunclued.com/
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