Monday 1 February 2016

No 11613, Monday 01 Feb 2016, xChequer


ACROSS
7   Look to retreat, saving life, having no stomach for dogfights (6) MELEES {ME{LifE}ES<=}
8   Desire lost without drug, on top of that most weak (8) REEDIEST {E} in {DESIRE}* and {T}
9   Striking act, elite circles getting into act having fun at last (8) DELETION {D{ELITE*}O}{fuN}
10 It makes one bring up point on time flying at the speed of light (6) EMETIC {E}{TIME*}{C}
11 Hides before question marks start to surface (5) MASKS {Marks}{ASKS} (Addendum - {Marks}{ASK}{Su...e} - See comments)
12 They're up in arms with anger over tracking drone (6) HUMERI {HUM}{ERI<=}
14 Remedy after the high, good to relieve the head of grog in excess? (3,4,2,3,3) THE HAIR OF THE DOG {AFTER+THE+HIGH+gOOD}* &lit
17 Take stock, noodles, tip in soup (6) ASSESS {ASSES}{Soup}
18 Snake, shedding skin, went behind a tree (5) ASPEN {ASP}{wENt}
22 Very agreeable when passing gas is pardonable (6) VENIAL {V}{gENIAL}
23 Pacer regularly struck, six men bowled in tests (8) EXAMINES {pAcEr + SIX +MEN}*
24 Extended rain in the extreme during record spell (4-4) LONG-TERM  {LO{raiN}G}-{TERM}
25 Incidents of air on earth having sulphur (6) EVENTS {E}{VENT}{S}

DOWN
1   Uncanny sense, the type a fly acquires first in life (9) TELEPATHY {Life} in {THE+TYPE+A}*
2   Live on platform but dress attractively (6) BEDECK {BE}{DECK}
3   Universal suffering from cold — loss of smell (5) OSMIC cOSMIC
4   Person no more respectable without education (8) DECEDENT {DEC{ED}ENT}
5   Enjoy knowing me too (8) LIKEWISE {LIKE}{WISE}
6   Good case for protection in space (1-4) G-SUIT {G}-{SUIT} &lit
8   Lose enthusiasm often as tumour spreads (3,3,2,5) RUN OUT OF STEAM*
13 Tick small boxes, invest in the middle of fluctuations (9) MOVEMENTS {MO}{inVEst}MENT}{S}
15 Answer coming after man calls Enquiries (8) HEARINGS {HE}{A}{RINGS}
16 One responsible for slight shift in result (8) INSULTER {IN+RESULT}*
19 Lives off kept women in turn (6) SWIVEL {W} in {LIVES}*
20 March to battlefront? This suggests the opposite (5) DEMOB {DEMO}{Ba...t} &lit
21 Destroyed Romeo, characters in set drained (5) RAZED {R}{A to ZED}


8 comments:

  1. 7 Look to retreat, saving life, having no stomach for dogfights (6) ?E?E??
    {ME(L[-if]E)ES<=}

    ReplyDelete
  2. 11 Hides before question marks start to surface (5) MASKS {Marks}{ASKS}

    I took it to be: {M}{ASK}{S(-urface)}

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ah...thought I had finally got samosas on an Xchequer puzzle but no..had venial as genial :) boy this one was tough going for me. had to take a lot of help :) but seriously classy puzzle...it took me ages to get my head around the clues :) phew Xchequer thanks for the learning..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sunday specials stock is empty. Entries are invited

    ReplyDelete
  5. High class stuff...tough but very instructive...missed out on quite a few

    ReplyDelete
  6. Surprisingly did well (only a few blanks) for an ExChequer CW and enjoyed many. Thank you.
    'Without' as opposite of 'within' always catches me on the wrong foot.(4D)

    ReplyDelete

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