Friday 26 February 2010

No 9776, Friday 26 Feb 10, Nita Jaggi

NJ seems to be improving, some good clues today
ACROSS
1 - False trading practice one may get involved in! (5,8) - FUNNY BUSINESS [CD]
8 - Take advantage of an expert on hand (9) - {AVAIL}{ABLE} Nice one
9 - Finals are late in the morning in primary schools (5) - {EX}{AM}{S}
10 - Character is crazy going around the University in London (7) - G{U}IGNO*{L}
12 - Director will tackle an event to the point (4-2) - DEAD-ON [CD] (Addendum - {DEA{D-O}N} - Thanks to Maddy see his comment below)
14 - Note that the ship finally may not be clean (5) - {ME}{SS}{Y}
16 - Mother is behind them for the girl (4) - {EM}{MA}
19 - Reported the light colour on the bucket (4) - (~pale)PAIL
20 - State exactly the wrong list put over a notice at the far end (9) - {STIPUL{A}T*}{E}
21 - Nothing is the matter with the work (4) - {O}{PUS}
22 - Girl is with the man in the borders of Russia (4) - R{HE}A
25 - Incapable female is in the squad (5) - UN{F}IT
27 - God! The woman’s suffocating me (6) - HER{ME}S I liked this one the best!
29 - Well, well anyhow rest of the story finally is a secret (7) - {MY}{STER*}{Y} Good one
32 - Hard to pass the sanctuary in London Area (5) - {DEN}{SE}
33 - Texture on the tip-off the white door in Georgia is ruined (9) - {W}{OODGRAIN*}

34 - This one may predict future happenings! (7,6) - FORTUNE TELLER [E]
DOWN
2 - Old city is the main user of the hidden universal actinide (7) - {UR}{ANI{U}M*}
3 - Type of material only manufactured for nets initially (5) - {NYLO*}{N}
4 - An idea for a dome (6) - BUBBLE [DD]
5 - Strive to visualise Khmer Republic (4) - {SEE}{K}
6 - Relative is a bit eager to be in the city (5) - NI{E}CE
7 - Mason digs inside the piece of land for the mineral (9) - S{AMSON*}ITE
8 - A gal destroys the last stipe of the seaweeds (5) - {A}{LGA*}{E}
11 - Collection of an award for the writer in America (7) - {OM}{NIB}{US}
12 - Authority in the borders of Dahomey is dangerous (7) - {DY}{NASTY}
13 - Has perhaps found in the silver coin (5) - ASPER [T]
15 - Articles are on the street for the fighters (5) - {ST}{UFF} Anno for UFF? (Addendum - UFF for Ulster Freedom Fighters)
17 - Female pal designs the symbols (5,4) - MAPLE LEAF*

18 - Driver turns up in the state (5) - ASSAM <- )
23 - Ok, each extraordinary last piece of the bread (7) - HOECAK*{E}
24 - Race is held by ordinary Anglo-Indians (5) - ARYAN [T]
26 - One man will transfer the money collected (6) - {I}{M}{POST}
28 - Consequence of a game (5) - EVENT [DD]
30 - Carver is in the house gallivanting (5) - SEGAL [T]
31 - Waterfowl is on the tip-off the city on the Nile (4) - (-a)SWAN




GRID

49 comments:

  1. From the Clustr map on my blog I saw a red dot growing larger in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, I was intrigued as I thought someone was accesing my blog from an Oil Rig, my geography being bad I decided to check it out and found that it is from The Bermudas!
    Having seen it now on Google earth it looks like the most exotic place to stay in. Reminds me of my 6 year long sojourn in the Andamans.
    So who is it staying at the Bermudas, please identify yourself just for my information

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good morning friends:

    27A God! The woman’s suffocating me (6)

    Does this in essence represent the expression of exasperation of many a solver here?


    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  3. 15 - Articles are on the street for the fighters (5) - {ST}{UFF} Anno for UFF?

    UFF: Ulster Freedom Fighters
    A classic obscure abbrev. that is a terrorist group, I believe. ([link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Defence_Association[/link])

    ReplyDelete
  4. Deepak

    21A - Nothing is the matter with the work (4) - {O}{PUS}

    Mind giving the anno pls?

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Veer,
    Thanks I found UFF but by the time I could put in the link the blog got published

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Richard,
    Good one. I didn't think of it from that angle. Anyway NJ has come up with quite a few decent clues today.

    ReplyDelete
  7. O is from 'nothing'
    PUS is from 'matter' - the discharge from wound
    Does this help, R?

    ReplyDelete
  8. 32across: How does SE connote London area?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello Richard and all.

    Some of the clues are nice but there are a couple that don't seem correct:

    5D: What is the purpose of the word "Republic" especially geven the capitalization - seems to designed to deliberately mislead rather than deviously so.

    17D: The def. "symbols" is in plural while the solution "Maple Leaf" is singular. Unless I am missing something, it seems very wrong.

    If this had been a Manna puzzle, CVasi sir would definitely have piped in with his classic maestro - novice phrase on some of the good - bad clues.

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Sandhya,
    SE pertains to South East area of London see THIS
    SE appears frequently in CW's

    ReplyDelete
  11. My Bermudan visitor wishes to remain anonymous?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sandhya
    Visit
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_London
    part of London can lead to E EC N NW SE SW W or WC
    But why London? Doesn't our cities have these parts? If you ask me this, I have no answer!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deepak
    I am at present wearing bermudas; don't know whether I qualify to be called Bermudan.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @Veer,

    I'm in NJ defence mode today

    Khmer Republic is like say the name of any country, no misleasding here.

    Whether it is symbols or symbol the clue still makes sense.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Being retired I am generally in Bermuda's the whole day!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. @Colonel: Fair enough. Thanks. All this retirement talk here makes me jealous of all the quality time that you have to pursue your interests.

    ReplyDelete
  17. My considered opinion is the plural 'symbols' as def for the MAPLE LEAF clue is indefensible.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Some fine clues today. Loved 18D and 31D the most. Can someone explain 11D? Why is award OM?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  19. @CVasi Sir, Given the Col.'s preface on being in NJ defence mode, I thought better of crossing swords on this. I have been noticing that the weight of public opinion is slowly shifting to a more positive NJ image in this cycle of clues. Admittedly, I think compared to the previous few rounds that I have experienced, this set of puzzles so far, is one of the better ones.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Richard: "Does this in essence represent the expression of exasperation of many a solver here? " LOL - exactly reflects my state of mind.

    ReplyDelete
  21. @ Pip

    OM for Order of Merit, an award?


    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  22. No offense to anyone, this is just for fun !

    13D the general consensus
    8A lexicons are nearly useless

    the clue making remains a 29A
    12A answers are all but a rarity

    we need a 34A at times
    for there are few other tougher 9A

    nothing makes solving this 14A,
    head 32A and mind in a tizzy

    the exercise is an 25A gamble
    for she is quick to burst the 4D

    on the whole her puzzles are 1A
    apparently inspired by 27A

    the good 15D wont come for those who 5D
    unless this is her 31D song for the week

    ReplyDelete
  23. @ Bhavan, quite innovative. Keep it up !

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  24. 5D. I got seek but still not convinced as to why K should represent Khmer Republic
    Also 12A Dead on (CD?) is not very clear to me, even though I put down this answer

    ReplyDelete
  25. I found K standing for Khmer Republic in the famous long list. I do not know whether it is a normally accepted abbreviation. Maybe it is

    ReplyDelete
  26. @Bhavan: That was perfect and very creative..

    ReplyDelete
  27. 12a is not a CD. D is from Director (the compiler is known to have used this before) - the rest not clear.

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Bhavan,

    Are you a poet or a budding poet, whichever one it is I liked you 'paean' on the Radio for NJ's CW's

    @Suresh,

    See my view on Khmer republic above 10 comments above yours

    ReplyDelete
  29. That's why I made it a CD since rest was not clear!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Reg 12 A I think the Anno is -

    Director - Dean
    Will tackle - Insertion indicator
    An Event - Do
    To the Point - Def
    Hence - DEA{D O}N

    I thought a nice clue with an innovative inserticator...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Colonel I saw your comment, but I am not convinced

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi, I'm relatively new to crosswords - especially the English (cryptic) ones.

    Could somebody explain how you get "EX" in 9A and "MY" in 29A?

    And I often come across words like "note," "of course," and "initially" as part of the clue. What do they imply?

    Thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. @Dan,

    Welcome to my blog.

    EX in 9A stands for dead = late = EX

    MY in 29A comes from the expression Well, Well or My, My

    Note generally indicates the musical notes DO, Re, MI ....

    of course can have many implications and has to be seen with reference to context. One course can be road or street.

    Initially generally means the first letter.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Dan in 9A EX stands for late, eg ex-president

    ReplyDelete
  35. @Bhavan, That was great fun! Probably NJ is enjoying it too, from the Bermudas??

    ReplyDelete
  36. I have two comments
    1. 23 ac girl is with a man in the borders of Russia. since it is NJ's i thought of the answer as Rama cos it explains girl,, man and Russia's border too!thanks col,gopinath, ur rhea explains perfectly and anyway i was uncomfotable with rama
    2. though i appreciate the bloggers defensive attitude towards NJ ,maple leaf had to have the clue in singular and it would be better if she makes a note of it to avoid such howlers in future.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Re: Arabian Tahr and Dr Jayakar (ref. posts on this blog on Feb 25)

    I have just forwarded copies of my write-up to respective email IDs: Col-gmail, Chaturvasi-yahoo, Shuchi-cwunclued, sureshD-yahoo, Krishnan-yahoo amd Pip-gmail.

    Anyone else interested can contact me at richlas@gmail.com and get a copy.


    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  38. Mostly Inspired guesses today. Could not get WOODGRAIN,EVENT,IMPOST and DENSE. Rest I got by fluke.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Thanks Richard, Veer, Colonel and Sumitra.
    Colonel to answer your question, I honestly don't know if I'm a budding one. I write such things rarely.

    ReplyDelete
  40. @Maddy: How did it strike you to use event = do? If you don't mind, is there a reference that gives such a reference? I looked around in a few online dics and the like but could not seem to find it. Event = do reminds me of a discussion on wet = feeble some time ago in this blog. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  41. @Veer: DO is usually used for a PARTY(BASH). I guess the same word applies for an EVENT(OCCASION) too.

    ReplyDelete
  42. @ Veer

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/DO

    Check out the 38th meaning... may be it is widely used in the UK.

    ReplyDelete
  43. @ Sandhya / C-Vasi sir

    Regarding "London Area" indicator, thanks for the wikipedia link.. I was trying to understand all possible codes for "London Area". NJ used London Area to indicate "SE" in the two most recent CWs (9773 and 9776). Need to watch if it used to indicate other possibilities as well.

    Regarding the comment "why London Area"? - May be because it is part of the ZIP/Post code (as listed in the wikipedia link).

    ReplyDelete
  44. @Sagar, Sandhya, Col.: Thanks for the clarifications. I just need to shore up on my British slangs, among other things. More often than not, I am getting caught out on these slang usages.

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com