ACROSS
1 - Kind of number included in a record in algebraic form (7) - ORDINAL [T]
5 - Malodorous mammal that the staff caught with a bit of trickery (7) - {POLE}{C{A}T}
10 - Swelling caused by accumulation of fluid (6) - OEDEMA [E]
11 - A dictator in hired transport — novel cart (8) - {AUTO}{CRAT*}
13 - Inciting rebellion is a small issue (8) - {S}{EDITION}
15 - Material that could disappoint the French (6) - {FAIL}{LE}
18 - A homeless person I removed from the file (6) - DOSS
19 - Not a preferred destination for pigs, for instance (8) - ABATTOIR [CD]
22 - Feel hatred for river craft that is decrepit (8) - {EXE}{CRATE}
24 - Shout away and cancel the engagement (3,3) - {CRY} {OFF}
27 - Sad nation voting for change gets warm approbation at the end of the act (8,7) - STANDING OVATION*
28 - Suggest marriage with a professional stance (7) - {PRO}{POSE}
29 - Claim to be what one is not (7) - PRETEND [E]
DOWN
1 - Single, American, going round Romania, finds it burdensome (7) - {ONE}{RO}{US}
2 - Padre advises containing fear (5) - DREAD [T]
3 - Men are not upset by this very small measure (9) - NANOMETRE*
4 - A temporary period of calm for three learners around university (4) - {L{U}LL}
5 - It holds money, with a bit of uranium inside: go after it! (6) - {PURS{U}E}
6 - A grassy plain that is in fall an oddity (5) - LLANO [T]
7 - Coffin nail, though possibly bigger (9) - CIGARILLO [CD]
12 - Wily creature, when losing head, is bovine (3) - {
16 - Take turns with a substitute (9) - ALTERNATE [DD]
17 - Tidal state (3) - EBB [CD]
18 - Put on special clothes — for an artificial effect? (5,2) - DRESS UP [DD]
20 - Crude, after treatment (7) - REFINED [CD]
21 - Make amends for accommodating leader of criminals without delay (2,4) - {AT ON{C}E}
23 - Bit of publicity in port city for source of entertainment (5) - {R{AD}IO}
25 - Wicked love rises in plant (5) - {O}{LIVE<-}
Hi folks
ReplyDelete10A is the only one that eluded me.
Liked ORDINAL, POLECAT, ETERNAL TRIANGLE, AUTOCRAT, SEDITION, FAILLE, ABATTOIR, PROPOSE, PRETEND, ONEROUS, DREAD, NANOMETRE, LULL, PURSUE, LLANO, CIGARILLO, THEATRE, DESPERADO, DRESS UP, AT ONCE, ALTERNATE, REFINED, RADIO...
STANDING OVATION - nice clue and anagram.
LLANO (T), DOSS(-i)ER, ABATTOIR, FAIL-LE, REFINED, EXE-CRATE, R(AD)IO were nice.
ReplyDeleteCIGARILLO reminded of the wild west novels and movies.
OEDEMA belongs to a set of words starting with O but not pronounced: Oesophagus, Oestrogen, Oedemata,oenology, oestrin etc...
ReplyDeleteAny smoker around here?
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference between smoking a cigarette, cigar and cigarillo?
Just now on the Net I read "Unlike a cigarette, a cigarillo is not meant to be inhaled but rather smoked like a cigar."
This baffles me!
Re 16D:
ReplyDeleteOne of our English professors, Prof V M Inamdar, a stickler for grammar perfection, used to insist on the usage of alternate and alternative in their correct context. While the former implies occurrence by turns, the latter offers a choice.
'The mother and the daughter washed the dishes alternately.'
'There is no alternative to a rigorous step in the given circumstances.'
View here: ALTERNATE and ALTERNATIVE
We come across a lot of occasions when 'alternate' is used in place of 'alternative', when a choice is indicated.
Different dictionaries may give different connotations, but they do mention that the two words are often confused with each other.
Which dictionary in print form can be relied upon as the ultimate arbiter in the matter?
I too was stuck at 7D and 15A. Had trouble with ETERNAL TRIANGLE too. Otherwise, it was easy.
ReplyDeleteCoffin nail = Cigarette, is a new one for me.
I have a couple of questions:
ReplyDelete1)What if any is the criteria a setter uses to decide on the pool of words for a particular puzzle.
2)How does s/he decide how to clue up the chosen words?
In my opinion two of the clues above which lead to FOX and SOUP are worded quite thoughtfully.
Considering the way they are positioned in the grid, their size (3 and 4 letters) and where getting them may or may not have helped/hampered the others, I find it nice that the setter has put in so much effort into crafting the clue.
Conversely, the CDs for longer words which are in a strategically useful location are a let down (eg : ABATTOIR, CIGARILLO). Sloppy and lazy for lack of better words.
I understand that every clue in the grid cannot be a wow, but the anomaly leads me to my two questions.
I have found that long words/phrases are usually easier to get if the crossings are there as mere vocalisation of the crossings helps, especially if they are consontants. However, it is short (3 and 4 letter ones) which are more difficult and more so, if there are no crossaings or word-play.
ReplyDelete7A - CIGARILLO
ReplyDeleteVJ 08:54 'Coffin nail' used for cigar is new to me as well. I suggest the government add a statutory warning of a coffin nail also on the packaging. (With apologies to smokers, if any.) ;-)
I have observed that cigarette and bidi smokers make their presence felt to persons in the immediate vicinity, but cigar-lovers send smoke signals of health hazard to everyone within the radius of, say, 10 metres.
@CV: My FIL was a smoker and he used to say that a cigar stops burning if put down and a cigarette continues. Hence, a cigar could be used a few times, using it for a few puffs only and letting the fire die out. Word-wise, both cigar-ette and cigar-illo appear to be references to a small cigar. Early cigars (cheroots, chuttas) were just rolls of tobacco, but cigarettes probably are creatures of mechanised production, though rolling one's own were a craze at one time.
ReplyDeleteKishore,
ReplyDeleteSo a cigar's smoke is not inhaled, smokers just puff in and blow the smoke out? If it is all tobacco, why the difference in inhaling/not inhaling?
CV @ 8:48
ReplyDeleteI was a smoker for 30 long years till I gave it up in 1997, during that period I have smoked cigarettes both tailor-made as well as self-made, smoked a pipe and tried out cigars and cigarellos, never liked the last two. I suppose I didn't like it because I inhaled the smoke, I too just saw, on the net, that Cigar and Cigarello smoke is not inhaled, I suppose it has to be just chewed between the teeth like Clint Eastwood in one of his moves (can't remember the name).
Bhavan
ReplyDeleteI agree that FOX and SOUP are clued quite well.
The questions that you have raised are pertinent but they can be answered only by a setter.
AFAIK, it's the short entries that are the undoing of certain composers. Notoriously, there is one composer in our stable whose lengthy words and phrases have excellent clues but those for 6-, 5- or 4-letter words often are quite poor if not faulty. See
http://dailydozen.blogspot.com/2010/02/oh-short-ones.html
Without going public about my theory on these clues for long words/phrases, I have great faith in any composer whose clues for short words are impeccable. And if the clues for long words and phrases are not uniformly brilliant, again I have respect for the composer who is being original and trying.
Deepak, I think it must be Fistful of dollars.
ReplyDeleteRichard, the graphic image we see on the cigarette packs is pretty strong the way it is right now. It's pretty scary even for a non-smoker like me. Well if it doesn't work as a deterrent, nothing possibly would.
22 Feel hatred for river craft that is decrepit (8) - {EXE}{CRATE}
ReplyDeleteWhat is the correspondence between craft that is decrepit and CRATE ? I thought it would have been an anagram of a word meaning craft that would lead to CRATE, but can't think of any that fits.
CVasi @ 9.22 : Thanks.I understand its the prerogative of the setter, was just wondering aloud about the idiosyncrasies.
ReplyDeleteBhavan, old craft (here aircraft) is also called as CRATE
ReplyDelete@VJ : Thanks. Didn't know that. So decrepit wasn't an anagram indicator. Sometimes, I tend to complicate the simple : )
ReplyDeleteBhavan
ReplyDeleteIn a crossword grid the long words or phrases would go in first: the short ones later.
By sheer coincidence or serendipity, I discuss this aspect in a guest post on Shuchi's blog. I believe this is scheduled for publication later today.
SOUP and RADIO were nice clues, I thought. Couldn't figure out the 'prison term' part in 9 A until I saw Col's post.
ReplyDelete@CVasi, thanks again. I look forward to reading your post.
ReplyDeleteChaturvasi (9:44), that makes a lot of sense. Am I right in guessing that smaller words often finally go in as fillers (based on the crossings) and hence the obscure entries? Well I've often found the smaller words to be newer ones that I don't often come across in common usage.
ReplyDeleteBhavan @ 9:29'
ReplyDeleteAdding to VJ's explanation
A crate is Slang for - An old rickety vehicle, especially a decrepit automobile or aircraft.
ADVISORY
ReplyDeleteAll those who follow my blog are advised not to follow the link provided by the person who posts in Chinese as it may lead you to undesirable websites
How fitting that CV's article on grid fills is published on the same day that the subject is being discussed here. The article is up now, visit:
ReplyDeleteHow to put words in a crossword grid.
As a solver, I usually find it easier to get the very long or the very short ones. The mid-length clues take more effort to unravel.
CV @ 9:22: I've said this before - I admire your brilliance in spotting that the dichotomy in that setter's clues was linked with word length.
Great article CV, we will now find a lot of budding setters who will have a go till such time when they have to write the clues at which stage they will have second thoughts about setting CW's. ;-)
ReplyDeleteGita,
ReplyDeleteIf you are listening in, what's the latest on the Sloggers and Bloggers event? Is it happening? The reason I am asking is that I have to plan to get to Munnar by lunchtime on Aug 9th as my College batch is having a get together there.
Thanks CV.
ReplyDeleteI hope there will be a follow up article on setting clues, perhaps, using the grid in today's article as a base.
>If you are listening in, what's the latest on the Sloggers and Bloggers event? Is it happening? The reason I am asking is that I have to plan to get to Munnar by lunchtime on Aug 9th as my College batch is having a get together there.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming it's still ON. I'm stocking up on wine & chocolate for the meet, and I'm ticketed to MAA on the 25th of this month.
Isn't Munnar just a few hours away anyway?
PS - Will re-post this response in Wednesday's blog ..
Munnar is not close it is about 10 hours away. In any case plan the meet for Lunchtime on the 8th that way I will have time to go to Munnar via Bangalore or Coimbatore depending on the situation.
ReplyDelete