1 - Minister cutting an artisan, though no big fish (7) - {TI{DD}LER}
5 - Crazily resists senior nurses in charge of wards (7) - SISTERS*
9 - Questions what to wear for dancing (5) - PUMPS [DD]
10 - More certain to tear in and give up (9) - {SUR{REND}ER}
11 - Indicates prevailing directions (6) - TRENDS [CD]
12 - Saying or mishap, perchance (8) - APHORISM*
14 - Six sit around to inspect closely (5) - {VI}{SIT} ?
15 - Build up the head's standing (9) - {ERECT}{NESS}
18 - They are responsible for marking pens (9) - SWANHERDS [CD] Poor CD
20 - Beer about four if you're not late (5) - {AL{IV}E}
22 - Affectation of superiority the chiefs display, are idiots (8) - {AIR}{HEADS}
26 - The earthy forecaster! (9) - GEOMANCER [CD] Never heard this before, being a CD had to look it up to get the answer.
27 - Fantastic nothing — could be true! (5) - {O}{UTRE*}
28 - Went round to trade where there's trouble (7) - ROTATED*
29 - Erroneous CID, late in finding guns kept in warship (7) - CITADEL*
DOWN
1 - Court officials making suggestions about break (9) - {TIP{STAVE}S}
2 - Sam led composer to young girls (7) - {DAMSEL*}{S} Where does S come from?
3 - Final desperate effort in closing dump (4,5) - {LAST} {DITCH}
4 - Find sure way to trick the opposition (4) - RUSE*
5 - Priests eat hash — there's an entertaining revelation! (5,5) - STRIP TEASE*
6 - Notes contracted for a report! (5) - STENO* Contracted on double duty. Nice clue.
7 - Knowledge of the product's termination (7) - ENDWISE &lit ?
8 - Shut down and be off (5) - SCRAM [DD]
13 - Had children used the photocopier? (10) - REPRODUCED [DD]
16 - Carriage entrance (9) - TRANSPORT [DD] This clue must have appeared N number of times before.
17 - Career put first, and quite rightly, in this plant (9) - {SPEED}{WELL}
21 - Gave some thought and altered that's dated (7) - IDEATED* (ie+dated)
22 - Divine, we hear, is a bore (5) - AUGUR (~auger) Could be the other way round as well (AUGER~augur)
23 - Tax the engineer in a precise manner (5) - EXACT [DD] I wonder why the poor engineer is here
25 - He would like to have rice arranged for him (4) - ERIC*
23d probably the setter's anno was tax+ce (civil engineer)=exact*. But what Anind?
ReplyDeleteWe had AIRHEAD at 18a in 10007 recently and now more of them.
So many questions does not augur well, auger screws just mess us up.
Geomancers, necromancers, neck-romancers, do they have some magic common to them?
Col,
ReplyDeleteI am getting stave as link for speedwell!
Dr RP,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the mixup shall correct it
23D EXACT is anagram of CE + TAX... no anagram indicator as precise manner is the definition, unless one thinks precise has a dual role.
ReplyDelete19D & 22A didn't quite get the wordplay. Both Unmannaic clues.
24A No anagram indicator..
Link to Speedwell corrected
ReplyDeletePrassana,
ReplyDelete22A is okay
Affectation of superiority = AIR
the chiefs = HEADS
display,
are idiots = {AIR}{HEADS}
Col,
ReplyDeletethanks.
14 a .14 - Six sit around to inspect closely (5) - {VI}{SIT}?correct.
visit[verb] come to see in an official or professional capacity; "The governor visited the prison"; "The grant administrator visited the laboratory"
Synonyms: inspect .from online dic
Dr R,
ReplyDeleteInspect would have been sufficient, why 'closely'? That's why the question mark.
"18 - They are responsible for marking pens (9)"
ReplyDeleteI was so sure that the answer's gonna be PENMAKERS - Manna style! It was not to be...
>> why 'closely'? That's why the question mark.
ReplyDeleteAgree. If anything, visit actually means "inspect not very closely" :-P
agreed and this is tautology.
ReplyDelete2D DAMSELS... I thought the "young" solves to "S" as in small... and "girls" would be sufficient to mean "damsels"
ReplyDelete@Praswanna,
ReplyDelete@in·spect
–verb (used with object)
1.
to look carefully at or over; view closely and critically:
Prasanna, young =/= S as it's not a standard abbreviation.
ReplyDeleteLots of question marks in today's puzzle.
ReplyDeleteSome anagram indicators missing.
Some insufficient anagram indicators
Some letters omitted from the fodder
Looks like Manna had to make this round in a hurry.
@Dr.RP .. I meant that that the "carefulness" or the depth of the study can be thought of as a spectrum and if anything, "visit" is closer to the more superficial end of the spectrum than "inspect" ... Therefore, the word "closely" in the clue is not only unnecessary but also incorrect :-P ...
ReplyDeleteIn my mind,
"read" is more superficial than "study",
"study" more superficial than "inspect",
"inspect" more superficial than "examine",
Visit is perhaps even more superficial than "study" :-D ..
Good morning all
ReplyDeleteGuessed some clues but not sure of anno..got almost a third in first look. Geomancer, Swan herds, Tipstaves are all new to me.
Can someone tell me about Speedwell, Ascend and tiddler's anno...
Good day
Mathu
Had a tough time what with Geomancy, swanherds, tipstaves et al. Gave up with a few left.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for S&B II tomorrow. Hope you have a great time.
ReplyDeleteDo not try Setubandha Sarvangasana unless you have a lot of practice or lot of spirit
@Prasanna.
ReplyDeleteas already agreed ,Closely was redundant in this case .I cannot say that visit as synonym of inspect is incorrect. anyway for each word there are so many synonyms and you have to give some allowance for the setter's choice.I am not taking cudgels for Manna here as some of the clues were not nice as per my opinion also.
23d-CE could be Chief Engineer as well.
ReplyDeleteMathu,
ReplyDeleteGEOMANCER is a CD follow the link in the main post and you willget the meaning
Send = SEND
Bill =AC
to trace back in time = ASCEND
Minister = DD
cutting = Indicator for insertion
an artisan = TILER
though
no big fish = {TI{DD}LER}
Col.
ReplyDeleteHilarious cartoons! It looks as though our combined prayers for the early recovery of your computer has had its effects!!
What's the connection between Bill and AC? And I, too, would like to know the anno for SPEEDWELL.
ReplyDeleteKishore, regarding the comment about Schiller from yesterday: the lines you quoted, with which the "second part" of the last movement begins, were actually written by Beethoven.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_%28Beethoven%29#Vocal_parts
And I haven't read "Gotcha."
Correction: the original German of the lines you quoted were written by Beethoven. :)
ReplyDeleteNavneeth, I think bill = account = Ac = AC
ReplyDeleteAnd presume this is the anno for SPEEDWELL
career = SPEED, when used as verb it could mean rush
quite rightly = WELL
plant = def = SPEEDWELL
Thanks, VJ. Dictionary.com also shows Speed as a definition of Career (n), and even quotes Milton using it within that context.
ReplyDelete