Sunday 3 December 2017

Special, Sunday 03 Dec 2017, Mystique


Welcome to our new setter Mystique. Bouquets and Brickbats welcome.
Three answers per commenter till 6 PM (annotations compulsory)

This CW will be simultaneously solved by those attending the S&B Meet, where the submission will be timed. Please indicate the time taken by you after you solve the entire crossword. 

Time taken for completion and Bouquets Brickbats from those attending the S&B Meet will be published in the comments section at 6 PM.


ACROSS
1   Gentle European has appeal (6)
4   Key pub frequented by astronauts? (5,3)
10 Key pub frequented by astronauts? (7)
11 Self-destructing rodent to furiously mingle with mass (7)
12 Autumn rain (4)
13 Guards protect steps and joint of vehicles (10)
15 Wheel around taking turns (6)
16 Understanding popular vision (7)
19 The French story about new dish (7)
21 Flyer left around ridge dangerously (6)
25 Escape check before plane is put into service? (6,4) B
26 Worker's worldly-doesn't take test (4)
28 Worker's worldly-doesn't take test (5-2) A
29 One of eight in a row (7)
30 Not right to fix turret job of engine (8)
31 Push and support the Spanish (6)

DOWN
1   Outline of an idea given shape (8)
2   Bulb illuminated- lux level initially has current strength to support it (7)
3   Flavour of brown grapes-capital! (4)
5   Cut up topping of cake- regulating party (8)
6   Reaches board serving one for a thing palatable (10)
7   Birth is condition to become UK national (7)
8   Love sugar coated wild rose (6)
9   Loud rounds create waves (5)
14 Connected and emotionally bonded (8,2)
17 Not out of position, for example (8)
18 Solvent for vessel; oil essentially removed (8)
20 Pilot goes through crossing a hill (7)
22 Invent pure mad fantasy (5,2)
23 At sea on a raft (6)
24 Tie in race (5)
27 Oddly guru's right-right to growl (4)

Across Lite version can be accessed at MYSTIQUE 1

Enjoy.

42 comments:

  1. 4 across SPACE BAR- computer key - astronauts - SPACE BAR= BAR

    7 down: BRITISH-National - anagram of BIRTH IS

    16 across: INSIGHT= understanding- popular= IN vision= SIGHT

    All those at the Meet in Madras enjoy yourselves. Hope is dry outside and we inside. Have blithe spirits in plenty !

    MYSTIQUE seems to be good in concealing cryptic clues ! Welcome aboard.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some corrections
    10A - Sam, Mona, Leo conceal explosive (7)
    28A - Chose to join the ruckus created by wandering poet (5-2)

    Sorry for the errors

    ReplyDelete
  3. 12A : FALL (DD)
    21A : GLIDER. L in Ridge*
    17D : INSTANCE. IN STANCE.(DD)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thought as much ! Repetition of earlier clues ! Wondered whether error or deliberate !

    Barring these two, solved the rest in less than 35 minutes with two call interruptions of three minutes each.

    Where are our non-attendant bloggers ? How are they faring there ? How's it going there with the camaraderie ? Convivial ? Missing ye-all here and there ! !

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1A Gentle European has appeal (6) POLITE {POL{IT}E}
    11A Self-destructing rodent to furiously mingle with mass (7) LEMMING {MINGLE+M}*
    13A Guards protect steps and joint of vehicles (10) SPACESHIPS {S{PACES}{HIP}S}

    For folks at Chennai S&B : Have a wonderful time. Hope to catch up with some of you folks in Bangalore

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ramesh-J (i) Thanks for keeping me company ! Very lonely out here !

    ReplyDelete
  7. 18D PRO/PAN/O..L
    29A OARSMAN (CD)
    6D COMES/T[-a}(+I)BLE

    ReplyDelete
  8. We wish this setter to PROPEL to greater heights. May the setter get ATTACHED to crosswords and this INSTANCE get repeated in future. May the LAMP LIT continue to burn bright. With minimum POLICING the setter has a very brught future. What INSIGHT! Nice to know that the setter has OPTED IN.
    Like an AVIATOR let the setter always be AFLOAT. Succesful FLIGHT TEST!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. 1A POL(IT)E
    1D (PLAN)(FORM)
    19A {LA}{SAG(N)A}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thin it's ok, Prasad.

      planform (ˈplænˌfɔːm)
      n
      (Aeronautics) the outline or silhouette of an object, esp an aircraft, as seen from above.

      Delete
  10. Those who attended the meet at Chennai and now back home may also take their quota of three

    ReplyDelete
  11. My three

    10A - AMMONAL [T]
    28A - OPTED-IN {POET*){DIN}
    26A - TEMP TEMP(-oral)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yet to be solved

    Across - 15, 25, 30, 31

    Down - 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 14, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27

    ReplyDelete
  13. Had a great time at the S and B meet in Chennai. First if all, thanks to Bhala for organising the get-together. A big appreciation to the Col, Bhavan, Satyen, Sree Sree and Ram who came from out of town.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. +1. All thanks to Bhala for the organisation. Thanks to the others for attending. Shall post the photos in a while in the THCC Families blog

      Delete
    2. Didn't do much, as always it's the participation. I echo Rishi's sentiments in appreciating the enthusiasm and trouble taken by people coming from afar and out of station. Unfortunate that there were some drop outs

      Delete
  14. 2D- Lamplit- L AMP LIT
    3D- TAN g- flavour
    5%- POL ICING

    ReplyDelete
  15. Had a wonderful time at the S&B meet. Thanks to Bhala for hosting and all others attending, particularly those coming from out of town. made a few first time meets after the blog friendship.

    ReplyDelete
  16. 30A : TURBOJET (Turret job -r)*
    9D : FLAPS F+LAPS
    24D : ASCOT [DD]

    ReplyDelete
  17. 22 Invent pure mad fantasy (5,2) DREAM UP*
    23 At sea on a raft (6) A + FLOAT
    27 Oddly guru's right-right to growl (4) GuRu + R + R
    Great puzzle...my favourite was 19A.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yet to be solved

    Across - 15, 25, 31

    Down - 8, 14, 20

    ReplyDelete
  19. Since it is past 6 pm deadline adding 3 more (taking the liberty)
    25A- Flight (Escape) Test (Check)- Flight test
    30A- Turbojet- (Turret Job)*
    31A- Propel- Prop El

    ReplyDelete
  20. 15 across : ROTATE (DD)
    8 down: RUGOSA (SUGAR O)*
    14 down: ATTACHED TO (DD)
    and the last one
    20 down: A VIA TOR

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lovely debut puzzle! Keep them coming Mystique.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Photos of the S&B Meet at the link below

    S&B MEET

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All loaded while on the train back to Bangalore. Great Col.!

      Delete
  23. Great first puzzle by a youngster. Shall leave it to the setter to give an introduction about herself

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great puzzle. Happy to note it has been made by a youngster- meaning lot more to come. First puzzle had the distinction of being discussed bay all attendees of S&B meet. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks all for the feed back. I am Srinidhi and just getting my feet wet in the world of crossword.It's a fascinating world.
    I created this puzzle when we moved to a new place this summer. Filling the grid was far easier than writing clues!Learnt a lot along the way.
    Hope to continue this journey.
    Thanks to Colonel Gopinath for publishing this.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Welcome, great job and hope to see more of you along with you know who. I can tell you that when the group solving was going on this afternoon, even veteran solvers were scratching their heads in trying to unscramble some of the clues. I think some feedback is also coming your way!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Srinidhi, congratulations on the debut. It was obvious that a lot of thought was put into the clues to make them both meaningful and solvable. The difficulty part Bhala mentioned generally comes (for me) from not knowing what to expect from a new setter.

    I ticked several clues while solving this both for their surface stories and/or wordplay - A: 1, 4, 12, 16, 19, 21, 29, 31, D: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 14, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24.

    Some of the other clues that I thought didn't have convincing surfaces were - A: 13, 26, 30, D: 27. Then there were clues that troubled me due to what I see as mismatched parts of speech or filler words that distract -

    11A: 'to' is redundant making the cryptic instruction unsound
    15A: 'taking turns' would lead to 'rotating' and not 'rotate'?
    5D: 'Regulating party' makes the answer a noun so I was expecting 'police' since 'policing' would be a verb
    7D: 'condition' as anagram indicator coming after the fodder doesn't sufficiently work
    8D: containment and anagram indicators seem misplaced
    20D: not sure what is the role of 'goes'. Also 'crossing' to me meant VIA was outside A TOR
    23D: 'on' as a link between definition and wordplay

    I hope you don't think I'm being overly critical.

    Wishing you all the best and looking forward to seeing more puzzles from you.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks Bhavan sir for the feedback. This will surely help me in my further venture. My second grid is ready and I'll surely make the clues better.
    Regards,
    Srinidhi

    ReplyDelete

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