Saturday 20 March 2010

No 9795, 20 Mar 10, Neyartha

Sorry for the delay but as I mentioned yesterday I had to go out at 6 in the morning.
James Cameron special by Neyartha has me stumped at three places :-(
ACROSS
1 - The third estate in Paris (5, 4) - TIERS ETAT [CD]
6 - Medicinal shrub found by student going around Hungary (5) - {BUC<-}{HU} )

9 - Farewell to the bright coloured shirt (5) - ALOHA [DD]

10 - Spoke again to deter true adjustment (9) - REUTTERED*
11 - 50 per cent off? Son-in-law gets escorted back inside by the shrew! (7) - SON{DEL<-}I(-nlaw)}
12 - Movie on Lord Krishna, for example (6) - AVATAR [DD]
14 - Dreadful pain for the French relieved by Pole in ravine (5) - ABYS(-mal+s)S
15 - Area blast pulverised the Mexican onyx (9) - ALABASTER*
17 - Spirit consumed by deviant genius first off to get drunk (9) - A?E?R?O?S (Addendum - (-g)INE{BRIO}US - Thanks to Venkatesh)
19 - Understood I'm out to get ferried (5) - (-im)PLIED
20 - Gate enclosure for the lawyer's quarter made more majestic (6) - {IN}BRED (Addendum - {NO{BL}{E}R} - Thanks to Venkatesh)
22 - Industry magnate in charge of ship … (7) - {TITAN}{IC}
24 - … at sea seeking berth in Long Island to get glassware (9) - I?T?I?I?I (Addendum - L{ATTICIN}I - See Neyartha's comments below)
25 - Fired editor lacks training specified for a particular movie genre (3-2) - SCI-FI Anno pending (Addendum - S(-pe)CIFI(-ed) - Thanks to Chaturvasi at the Orkut Group)
26 - Affirmative votes given by Nazi guards reportedly (5) - YESES(~ss)
27 - Alignment is altered (despite IT's absence) by some railway employees (9) - SIGNALMEN(-it)*
DOWN
1 - Qualifier for crossing countries' borders (15) - TRANSLATABILITY [CD] I think this must be wrong that's why I am stumped by 17, 20 & 24A (Addendum - TRANSNATIONALLY [CD] - See Neyartha's comments, no wonder I was stumped as I had this wrong all along)
2 - Catalyst for Zulu chief to get involved with dirty money found in British river (9) - EX{OEN{Z}YM*}E
3 - Vest (a menswear item) featuring the parts of a flower (7) - STAMENS [T]
4 - Limits detailed on counter register for pest killer (10) - {TERMIN(-i)}{ATOR<-} )
5 - Words that may be spoken many times in jest (4) - TRUE [CD] Anno not clear However read this with 23D as part of the theme
6 - Spot a shoe company on the way to the old Indonesian capital (7) - {BATA}{VIA}
7 - Mark's estimate of gold purity for the auditor (5) - CARET(~carat)

8 - This may describe some unreleased movies (5-10) - UNDER-PRODUCTION [CD]
13 - Mortgage plug on site (10) - {WAD}{SETTING} New word for me had to google it
16 - Time period when cook's ennui is masked by the recipe involving milk for starters (9) - {T}{R}{I}{ENNIU*}{M}
18 - Makes new changes to rectify demerits after my initial loss (2-5) - RE-EDITS(-m)*
19 - Fool with a crown goes north to get a compound containing K (7) - {POT}{A}{SSA} <- )
21 - Sops for the Oriental to get rid of the hot tubs (5) - BATH(-e)S Should have been SOAPS?
23 - Some of the deadliest inventions (4) - LIES [T]

GRID

39 comments:

  1. Good morning Deepak and all

    25A - Fired editor lacks training specified for a particular movie genre (3-2) - SCI-FI Anno pending

    SPECIFIED minus ED minus PE (Physical Exercise = training). Does it sound OK ?

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  2. Didn't get many today. My movie GK is nil ;-(

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  3. Noted the addendum on SCI-FI.

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  4. I think I have got all the themed entries, I don't think 17, 20 & 24A where I am stumped are part of the theme

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  5. @Richard,
    You are right on Sci-Fi

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  6. Colonel,

    Congratulations on spotting the theme! As you have noted in your post, I tried to fit in as many James Cameron movies as possible:

    1. AVATAR
    2. ABYSS
    3. TITANIC
    4. TERMINATOR
    5. TRUE LIES

    Because of this, the UKACD (Advanced Cryptic Dictionary) had to be used for filling in the rest of the vacant grid entries. This resulted in many arcane words making their appearance in the puzzle.

    As Mr. CVasi has suggested in the forums, I will refrain from providing annos / solutions for a few more hours in order to give solvers a chance to discover the solutions themselves.

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  7. @ Gita, take heart, you have company. I too got floored by the movie-based clues.

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  8. 'I'll be back' ;-) after breakfast!

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  9. 1Dn TRANSNATIONALTY
    17 Ac INEBRIOUS
    20 Ac NOBLER
    24 AC LATTICINI [LI outside TITANIC* inside]

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  10. Gita / Richard,

    I am sorry to hear your feedback on the puzzle. I made sure that the theme entries which were clued in had an alternate meaning which could be used as the direct definition segment. In fact, the only themed entry which had a reference to a motion picture was 'AVATAR', and that too in a double definition clue.

    I believe even people who don't know James Cameron can solve the full puzzle. They may not identify the theme, but still, the puzzle would be complete.

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  11. I did get AVATAR, TERMINATOR and TITANIC easily but the fact that they all are James Cameron movies did not register.

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  12. Thanks, Neyartha, for the quick response. I must congratulate you on 12A - Movie on Lord Krishna, for example. I got it easily, but I would rate the clue as brilliant !

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  13. As always with this setter, it's 'an earthy' sort of puzzle today.

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  14. @ COL
    1 Ac third estate in French is TIERS ETAT
    Similarly, 8 Dn UNDER PRODUCTION describes some unreleased movies.
    Both are NON-CRYPTIC, EASY (E) clues. They appear to be incorrectly categorised as CRYPTIC DEFINITIONS (CD]. May consider reviewing.

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  15. @Neyartha - never mind me...But,1D, for example can be Transferabilty, if you didn't know Transnationality. But, I did get 1A, 6A 11A sans a problem so I'm not complaining.

    Themes are good except when you are not familiar with the theme. Try a R&R theme, and I'll be the 1st to finish.

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  16. Gita
    You mean Rest & Relaxation?

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  17. Chaturvasi, the incorrigible quick wit.

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  18. Thanks Neyartha,
    But arcane words make the CW off-putting. The only Cameron movies (famous ones) left out are Piranha and Aliens if I'm not wrong.

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  19. Is TRANSNATIONALTY the correct spelling? I thought it was TRANSNATIONALITY

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  20. @ Gita, sorry to buzz you again. Liked 'AN EARTHY' sort of play on the setter's name.

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  21. BTW, what is the R&R theme ? By chance, the RR restaurant chain from Andhra? The clues could be expected to be spicy.

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  22. LATTICINI is a milk product and the glassware is LATTICINO ! Comments please

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  23. R&R is most definitely Rest & Relaxation it's used frequently in Army circles

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  24. Colonel / Gita,

    (1) TRANSNATIONALTY is not the right answer. The correct solution is TRANSNATIONALLY

    Clue: Qualifier for crossing countries' borders
    Interpretation:

    The source word is : TRANSNATIONAL, which is an adjective. The adverb form [Word that qualifies the verb - the process of spanning multiple countries -- crossing countries' borders] is TRANSNATIONALLY.

    (2) Chambers entry for LATTICINI (plural of latticino):

    latticino /-nō/
    noun (pl latticiˈni /-nē/)
    1. A type of Venetian glassware containing decorative threads of milk-white glass
    2. A piece of such glassware
    3. The white glass itself

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  25. Gita probably wants a Rock & Roll themed puzzle. Unfortunately, my knowledge in that domain is close to zilch :)

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  26. @Richard - glad someone got it ;-)!

    R&R as in Rock 'n Roll, not C.Vasi's Rest & Relaxation ;-)

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  27. @Richard,
    As brought out above R&R is Rest and Relaxation as far as I am concerned!

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  28. @Neyartha,
    Thanks for the clarification, I was quoting what I got from the net

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  29. Lot of novel clues today. Thanks Neyartha

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  30. Good morning, quite interesting clues, could not get most of them :-(

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  31. Today's puzzle was a toughie.

    I been watching at least 2 movies a day and yet couldn't figure out the theme. I didn't even get AVATAR. Ain't that a shame!

    BTW, R`n'R would make an awesome theme. Can't hardly wait to try it.

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  32. Thanks Neyartha for a very well composed puzzle that kept one engrossed for all of 15 minutes till it was completed and put down. We would welcome one on Rest & Relaxation.

    It happens that many a time we get the answer very easily from one part (like ALABASTER from (area blast)* and then try to figure out how it fits in with the second part (Mexican Onyx, in this case).

    Noted the correction for 1Dn as TRANSNATIONALLY.

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  33. @Venkatesh,
    You did todays CW in 15 minutes? You must be kidding me.

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  34. The movie clues themselves were easy, I thought, even for a movie dunce like me. I was disappointed I couldn't do 1 Dn, without doing all the 'across' ones first. Still the puzzle was probably easier than Neyartha's other puzzles.

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  35. "You did todays CW in 15 minutes? You must be kidding me."

    My sentiments exactly. It struck me as odd too.

    It'd take the author (puzzle maker) that much time to revisit all the clues and fill up the grid.

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  36. Help!!! At the risk of sounding very dumb...

    24A: How does the wordplay give "ATTICIN"?
    Is it anagram of TITANIC from the previous clue as Venkatesh pointed out?

    4D: Trying to understand how the clue points at removing "I" from TERMINI?

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  37. @Sagar

    … at sea seeking berth in Long Island to get glassware (9)

    ... = Indicates TITANIC from the previous clue
    at sea = anagram indicator
    Titanic at sea = ATTICIN
    berth in = Inclusion indicator
    long Island = LI
    to get = connector
    glass ware = definition = L{ATTICIN*}I

    Limits = TERMINI
    detailed = tail removed
    Limits detailed = TERMIN(-i)

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  38. Thanks Col.. so detailed here should be treated as de-tailed...

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