Friday 26 March 2010

No 9800, Friday 26 Mar 10, Sankalak

ACROSS
1 - Method of checking population growth: for Orientals, it is funny (13) - STERILISATION* It wasn't very funny when it happened in India during Sanjay Gandhi's time!
10 - Aromatic plant with small fruit, hardly used (9) - {S}{PEAR}{MINT}

11 - Mason's cottage? (5) - LODGE [CD]
12 - The new and the old organic chemical (5) - {ETH*}{OL}
13 - Shockingly bad guise Gore exposed (9) - EGREGIOUS*
14 - Brown, democrat, one behind the other (6) - {TAN}{DEM}
16 - Newton or Walton (5) - ISAAC [E]
19 - It entertains and may also reveal end of anarchy (5) - {TELL}{Y}
20 - Some meat at home for European composer (6) - {CHOP}{IN}
25 - Vegetable one may get to cure bends (9) - COURGETTE*

26 - A game for motor dealers, heartless (5) - {CAR}{D(-ealer)S}
27 - Depressed in extremes of fixation, escaped (5) - {F{LOW}(-ixatio)N}
28 - Lack of energy in girl with poor, unsatisfactory diet (9) - {LASS}{IT{U}DE*}
29 - Put to sleep in the theatre perhaps (13) - ANAESTHETISED [E]
DOWN
2 - Such trouble with biters! (8) - TEETHING [CD]
3 - Rustic, like a farmer's milieu (5) - RURAL [E]
4 - Stand around doing nothing (6) - LOITER [E]
5 - Instrumentalist, one accepted by hero is ending concert (8) - {S{I}TAR}{IS}{T}

6 - Means of communication, one had to be wired for it (9) - TELEGRAPH [CD]
7 - Alumnus, not necessarily advanced in years (3,3) - OLD BOY [CD]
8 - Bill does not become an act till the President gives it (6) - ASSENT [CD]
9 - Robbery by a believer losing head (5) - (-t)HEIST
15 - First appearance of a black period in history altered finally (9) - EMERGENC(-y+e)E
17 - Tell a pet about something in the blood (8) - PLATELET*
18 - It provides an opening to the photographer (8) - APERTURE [CD]

21 - Her son got transformed into an eater (6) - NOSHER*
22 - “And fools, who came to _____, remained to pray” (Goldsmith) (5) - SCOFF [E]
23 - Backward American, brought into being to induce one to commit perjury (6) - {SU}{BORN}
24 - He would have an agreement with a lessor (6) - LESSEE [E]
26 - Hot on the tongue, but cold to the ear (5) - CHILI(~chilly)

29 comments:

  1. 12 - The new and the old organic chemical (5) - {ETH*}{OL}.
    Not clear on this. I did not find ethol in the Dictionary. I thought it was ethyl. But yl does not make sense. I could not make sense of ol either. On the construction it should have been ethye, which again is not a word in the Dictionary and also does not fit the crossings

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  2. @Suresh,
    If you search for ETHOL it points to ETAHANOL. Something seems to be missing here

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  3. Not very happy with 12A Colonel.If this was NJ I would have said the word was ethyl and assumed it was another gaffe by Hindu's star setter.Unless Sankalak is also getting influenced

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  4. 12A. Apologies for a bad, wrong clue.
    Sankalak

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  5. Good morning, me too thought it was ethyl.

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  6. R, So what really is the answer?

    There's an ETHAL, but don't know how it fits.

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  7. To be precise, Ethyl is not an organic chemical.

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  8. Dan. The def I have is ' of or denoting hydrocarbon radical - C2 H5 derived from ethane and present in many organic compounds'

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  9. The answer is "Ethyl" which is the C2H5- group in organic compounds. As I have already said, the clue does not lead to the answer. Sorry again.
    Sankalak

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  10. Suresh, C2H5 is incomplete. Ethyl is just a group. The final product could be ethyl alcohol (C2H5 OH), ethyl acetate (C2H5 COOCH3) or whatever

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  11. R, it's all right. Mistakes happen.

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  12. Sankalak,

    I have a feeling I may be speaking for many others as I say this -

    It is a pleasant surprise to know that you're following this blog. To know that you care enough to clarify and comment simply adds to the pleasantness. Finally, please allow me to tell you that many of us derive pure delight in solving your carefully set, well-defined crosswords.

    I hope I won't offend you by saying this, but, Gridman is my favorite and you are right after him.

    Sir, it is my distinct pleasure to say hello to you.

    Thank you.

    Satya

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  13. Sankalak/R
    I second Satya's views. I am happy to see you following the blog. Everybody here appreciates the correctness of the clues in your CW. An occasional mistake is okay

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  14. Dan, I agree that technically it is not a compound, but only a group

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  15. R

    I endorse Satya's and Suresh's views. Normally I solve the CW online, so Google searches and meanings are readily available. But yday it was solved without any such aids in a flight trip of an hour. Kudos and Thanks to you for setting excellent crosswords.

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  16. Hi friends

    I was traveling to Bangalore until noon - a long, nine-hour drive by car. Have an appointment tomorrow with top THC solvers based in Bangalore, including the Colonel.

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  17. sorry, it should be 'travelling'. I don't follow American spelling.

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  18. ETHOL is actually another name for cetyl alcohol. Cetyl Alcohol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetyl_alcohol
    It was earlier sourced from Whale possibly that is why it organic

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  19. @SANKALAK,

    I found solving your clues delightful and satisfying and I am of the opinion crossword puzzles should be like this. I had this type of pleasure in the early 70's in Bombay during my post-graduate college days with both IE and TOI.
    My appreciations, sir.
    Dr.D.Srinivasan

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  20. Thanks a lot, all of you, for the encouraging words. I do follow the blog and derive a lot of pleasure and useful insights from the comments.

    Sankalak

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  21. 12 - The new and the old organic chemical (5) - {ETH*}{OL}
    If ETHOL is an acceptable answer I see no problem in annotating it.

    The - anag fodder
    new - anag ind
    and the - connector
    old - ol' - where the last letter is elided - as in "good ol' days"
    organic chemical - def

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  22. Last time Sankalak appeared he appeared as Sankalak himself, this time he is under 'R', I hope it's not someone playing a prank on us!

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  23. Hello Sankalak - your crosswords are enjoyable always.

    i've often wondered about the pseudonyms of the compilers in 'The HINDU'. Of course I have no clue re Neyartha - where the name comes from.

    But Sankalak is obviously intended as Sanskrit for compiler. My only grammar related objection to this is that it's a neuter gender noun so it can only stand for an inanimate compiler. For example, the HIndiwallahs use the term 'sankalak' for an aggregator as in a news aggregator or a blog aggregator.

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  24. If R is right about "ETHYL," it'd be difficult to prove. If he's wrong, it could only mean that he's is just a troll.

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  25. If Sankalak is a pseudonym like Gridman then R must be the real name's first letter most propbably. Or...R could be a prankster as the Colonel suspects! It is not impossible in cyberspace unlimited scope for anonymous activities!

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  26. In my above post "he's is" = "he's."

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  27. Hello Sankalak, It is good to know that you follow the blog (with thanks to Colonel). Like others said, your grids are enjoyable.

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  28. Deepak Gopinath said..."Last time Sankalak appeared he appeared as Sankalak himself, this time he is under 'R', I hope it's not someone playing a prank on us!"

    Should the Colonel's apprehension turn out to be true, it could be a sad case of abuse of Internet anonymity. In either case, will the real 'Sankalak' rise and clarify, say, by means of a personal e-mail message to him? Col can publish it suitably to set the storm at rest.

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  29. Another way "R" can prove his identity (if he is real and if he so wishes) is by releasing a clue from a future grid :-).... or setting a clue in a future grid for a word we suggest.

    May be he can include the words "COLONEL" and "BLOG" in a future grid ;-)...

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