ACROSS
7 - Leader is in the first-class Emergency Room (8) - M{IN}{IST}ER} M from where?
9 - Police officer is in the aircraft out at the entrance of the hangar (6) - ChOPPER
11 - Go with an accountant of the firm (9) - {AC}{COMPANY} Nice clue
12 - Set aside for each operation theatre (5) - {ALL}{OT}
13 - Be humble to keep one's plans hidden (3,3) - LIE LOW [DD]
17 - Same as guidance (9) - DIRECTION [CD]
22 - Picture outside may be fixed for a friend (8) - {PLA{YMA*}TE} Can you picture the plate ?!?
25 - Language akin typically for an Indian leader (5) - {NAIK*}{I} Never heard of this Indian language
27 - Nameplate of the vehicle is a bit elongated in front (9) - {CAR}{TOUCH}{E}
28 - It may be raised by a cash-strapped company (6) - EQUITY [CD]
DOWN
1 - Goodnatured and likable (7) - AMIABLE [CD]
2 - A passageway in the borders of Sudan, I see on the tip-off a trek (7) - {SN}{IC}{KERt*} Don't know how it relates to passageway. I hope to eat some though at the S&B meet!!
3 - Told to interfere with the model (5) - (~meddle)MEDAL
4 - It may be practised to maintain a correct posture (4) - YOGA [CD]
5 - Real father turned the dirty pile of debris in front (7) - {AP<-}{PLIE*}{D} The connection between Real and Applied is beyond me!
6 - Love to control the speech (7) - {O}{RATION}
8 - Plato's work (9) - SYMPOSIUM [E] I would have loved a little more elaboration in the clue.
10 - Government house (7) - DYNASTY Don't know how, but it is the only thing that fits here!
16 - Allow to cut over the point of a plant (7) - {LET}{TUC<-}{E}
20 - Distinctive, unique (7) - SPECIAL [DD]
21 - Reveals some characters (7) - SEVERAL*
24 - Coach in school (5) - TRAIN [DD]
26 - Greek letter for one postman regularly (4) - {I}{O}{T}{A}
Good morning everyone
ReplyDeleteA few like 27A and 2D eluded me. Others like COPPER, ACCOMPANY, ALLOT, LIE LOW, SARAJEVO, SAMPLE, EQUITY, KINSHASA, MEDAL, YOGA, APPLIED, ORATION, DYNASTY, LETTUCE, OPTIMAL, TRAIN, IOTA were manageable, although with a lot of guesswork in some places.
Hi
ReplyDeleteThe usual elements of a NJ potboiler: Out, regularly, oddly, heartlessly, tip –off, bit, standing (did I miss out any? –anyhow ‘out’ is starring in a double role today, in 9a and in 15d). Jove is mixed up, not standing, in Sarajevo. PLAYMATE, COPPER, ACCOMPANY, KINSHASA, SAMPLE, LETTUCE, IOTA, FATIGUE were good. SEVERAL, SPECIAL, CARTOUCHE, DYNASTY were so-so. NAIKI as a central Indian Dravidian language was news.
Sorry, I goofed up at 20D and got stuck.
ReplyDelete22a Picture in a book is sometimes labelled as 'plate'
ReplyDelete10d DYNASTY as a house (as in the House of Tudor) running a government. But a NASTY clue all the same.
15d Anomalous is more of aberration than rarity, but outside the norm, so probably ok.
19d Moneyed people are usually well padded or have a fat roll of cash, mebbe?
2d should we snicker at it?
ReplyDelete16A Lettuce
ReplyDeleteTakes me back to my crossword learning days:
it is clued for letters COS.
Am I right here?
16 - Allow to cut over the point of a plant (7) - {LET}{TUC<-}{E}
ReplyDeleteAllow = LET
to
cut
over = reversal indicator
to cut over = TUC<-
the
point = E
of a
plant = Definition = LETTUCE
I'd cry if I didn't laugh away my stress. How much more of NJ??
ReplyDelete@Col. - I hope to eat some though at the S&B meet!!
ReplyDeleteHow about some special CA, Mary See's chocolate? More boutique than Snickers ;-)
Col @ 09.10
ReplyDeleteI did get the solution here for 16A. Just asked to know whether lettuce is clued for cos in crosswords
Richard@8.38
ReplyDeleteJust a guess, by any chance did you get stuck with the answer as SALIENT? I did
(from yesterday)
ReplyDeleteNJVaasi wrote: Regarding 19D: STEERING would be a better fit. It refers to the discriminatory practice of real estate agents steering "less desirable" clients away from certain properties or towards certain others.
NJVaasi (whoever the person is and wherever the person lives) should be thanked for the answer which is indeed confirmed by the solution grid published today.
This clue went unsolved in other forums while it had a wrong guess here.
I have looked up Chambers (though 1998 edition and not any later one) and Concise Oxford but I don't see the real estate discriminatory meaning. But I found it somewhere online and it's not really edifying as the practice has some racial undertones.
Well, the clue is straightforward. The definition is something rare. It has gone unsolved with NJVaasi having to come to enlighten us.
If the clue had been cryptic with clear wordplay leading to STEERING, the definition would have helped us learn it from a word that we knew.
Any strange, rare word must always have clear wordplay.
DS @ 09:16
ReplyDeleteI had put it down as OPTIMAL, not SALIENT.
Favorites today
ReplyDeleteFAT = money?
SNICKER = passageway?
x out of y means y should be out of x
I will stop here, just futile!
I hope to eat some though at the S&B meet!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is S&B ? Please elucidate
Minister - M from the 'M' of James Bond??
The more I think of it, the more I am lost on 3D...medal?! Several answers just fill the grid without having anything to do with the clues.
ReplyDeleteI think NJ is moving from cryptic to mystic x-word.
Sloggers and Bloggers meet at Chennai on August 8.
ReplyDeleteThat's in reply to Pammechchu @ 9:41
ReplyDeleteDr DS @ 0900
ReplyDeleteYes you are right about Lettuce being clued as COS in CW's
I missed 3 puzzles in a row 'cause I been traveling. I've been reading the comments though. Lots of funny ones :)
ReplyDeleteExcept for a couple of clues, I think today's puzzle was all right.
---
7 - Leader is in the first-class Emergency Room (8) - M{IN}{IST}ER} M from where?
---
I think M is accounted for...
the anno is {MIN {IS} T} {ER}
IS in MINT (first-class - adj)
Agree with VJ. Long back when I was into philetely, we used to call unused stamps in excellent condition as 'mint', ie as good as they were when printed, (minted in case of coins)
ReplyDeletePlease read philetely as philately.
ReplyDeleteVJ,
ReplyDeleteExcept for a couple!!! That's the understatement of the year.
29 A KINS
ReplyDeleteKINS - a valid plural?
KINS standing in for 'people'...
MEDAL takes the cake though.
MONA - Ajit joke needed here to relieve the stress.
Giri @ 18:57 re KINS
ReplyDeleteYou may have heard the Hinglish expression 'You peoples'. If that is OK, KINS too should pass the test. ;-)
Colonel, I didn't solve today's puzzle. I was just skimming through the OP. Well I don't think I'd call it a bad one (I've seen worse).
ReplyDeleteGiridhar, let's look at the positives positives.
ReplyDeleteKINS!!! It's innovative and funny.
Is kins like 'anyways' that the present generation uses
ReplyDeleteSo Giridhar @ 18:57 is looking for an Ajit joke.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit long post. I hope the Col will pardon me.
And I seek some latitude for its longitude.
Way back in 1996, Jug Suraiya, editor of one of the editions of Times of India, wrote about the Ajit jokes in his regular column Jugular Vein. He also invited the readers to contribute such jokes.
I created a couple of my own and sent them to him. The one reproduced below from TOI dated December 8, 1996, took a generous dig at him and the Times of India, and yet Suraiya quite sportingly published both of them. (Sorry, Giri, Mona has been left out of this but still gets a mention.)
My apologies to those who may not understand much of Hindi, but if translated, it may lose its flavour.
Robert: Boss, iss Suraiya ki wajeh se to hamara jeena mushkil ho gaya hai.
Ajit: Kaun Suraiya? Hamari purani pataka?
Robert: Nahin, boss. Yeh to mard Suraiya hai. Koi Jug naamwala Jugular Vein naam ke kaalam mein hamara mazaq urha raha hai. Iske saath kya sulook kiya jaye, boss?
Ajit: Jocular? Aur hamare baare mein? Bilkul in vain likhta hoga.
Robert: Lekin boss, woh aur yeh Times of India ke bachche ek ho kar hamare baare mein ekdum bakwas chaap rahe hain. Mona ki bhi ijjat khatre mein hai, boss!
Ajit: In sab ko ikattha karke hamare motorlaunch mein Mauritius rawana kar do. At Times, off India rahne se log seedhe ho jaate hain.
A big salute to and here's wishing more power to the pen of this great journalist, Jug Suraiya.
Thanks Richard. In US, the Loin, Mona, Robert characters would have been copyrighted and somebody would have made millions!
ReplyDeleteBefore the era of All izz well, we had Raabert and Baass. Good one, Rich.
ReplyDeleteAnd Giri, in that case Rich would probably be sued for an amount equal to the GDP of India !
Smaart bwaay!
ReplyDeleteAnd Richard, your reference to Jug Suraiya has reminded me of another popular JS of the seventies, Junior Statesman magazine, not to mention his wife -Bunny, and Brindle, who is, according to Suraiya, a stray dog who 'adopted the couple' some years ago.
ReplyDeleteCGR: Were you 'working on my computer' as reported or 'solving crosswords'. Wink, wink :-)
ReplyDeleteJug also reminds me of another stalwart Mukul Sharma, whose column Mindsport was the forum which I used to frequent in the 25 years it ran, and brought me in touch with many analytical minds. He published some my original math puzzles and his last one in TOI titled 'Clash of Symbols' was solved by 11 people across India, including yours truly jointly with my son.
ReplyDeleteMore information: Know Jug Suraiya and Jug on Wiki
ReplyDeleteAgree with your info, Kishore.