Wednesday 28 July 2010

No 9906, Wednesday 28 Jul 10, Gridman

ACROSS
1   - Expressing denial, Agent Roy squirms (8) - NEGATORY*
5   - Doctor brother going back in storm (6) - {GA{RB<-}LE}
9   - Broadcast about fourth house in temporary closure (8) - SHUTDOWN Anno pending
10 - Picture that is only skin-deep (6) - TATTOO [CD]
12 - Constructive toy for kids? (4) - LEGO [E]
13 - Being favourable, support given to it before debt notices (10) - {PROP}{IT}{IOUS}
15 - Revised chit about super Chinese exercise (3,3) - {T{AI} CHI*}


17 - Sixty minutes with one seductive woman (5) - {HOUR}{I}
20 - Honour with a close-to-touch West Indies charm (5) - {OBE}{A}{H}
21 - Describing Regan's tie to King Lear (6) - FILIAL [CD]
24 - Story about black crane stricken in place of worship (10) - {TA{B}{ERNAC*}LE}
27 - Put away in princess' tower (4) - STOW [T]
29 - Folly by India's top DIY company in trouble (6) - {I}{DIOCY*}
30 - I will get back in jest for a measuring instrument (8) - {CA{LLI<-}PER}
31 - Released old partner, almost vacuous (6) - {EX}{EMPTy}
32 - Not that footwear grows in it (8) - SHOETREE [CD]
DOWN
1   - Snuggle to a multinational company? (6) - NESTLE [DD]
2   - Good Dickens character producing envy (6) - {G}{RUDGE}
3   - Current heads of the independent democratic establishment (4) - {T}{I}{D}{E}
4   - Oarsman joins commotion with hesitation (5) - {ROW}{ER}
6   - Accommodate a lawyer with a point (5) - {A}{DA}{PT}
7   - Kind of shirt that needs some aligned fastening (6-2) - BUTTON-UP [CD]
8   - For example, duck I nearly fix is self-assertive (8) - {EG}{O}{I}{STICk}
11 - Strenuous as Jack and Jill must have found before their fall (6) - UPHILL [CD]
14 - U.S. city's hothead in stroke of satire (4) - {LAS}{H}
16 - Preserve about a small measure of garment (6) - {C{A}{FT}AN}
17 - It is shaken as an indication of reluctance (4) - HEAD [CD]
18 - Chennai, for one, to get English libation (4-4) - {PORT}-{WIN}{E}
19 - Where it is safe for a passenger to get out of a vehicle (8) - KERBSIDE [CD]
22 - Lethargy in U.S. port fixed (6) - STUPOR*
23 - Turn to start court activity to catch Western leader (6) - {S{W}ERVE}
25 - Go over again to put on a new topi (5) - {RE}{CAP} 
26 - Lead recovered from Lovedalea sheepdog's (5) - LEASH [T]
28 - In another way, see about taking in a trainee (4) -{E{L}SE*}

52 comments:

  1. Hi all

    100% success today.

    NEGATORY*, GA-RB<-LE (good pun on 'doctor'- tricky one), SHUTDOWN (anno unclear), TATTOO (nice one), LEGO (use of brand-names was criticized in this forum recently), PROP-IT-IOUS, TAI-CHI*, HOUR-I, OBEAH (a Google find), FILIAL, TABERNACLE (Venkatesh referred to this just the other day), STOW, IDIOCY (good one), CA-LLI<-PER, EX-EMPT(-y), SHOETREE (liked this), NESTLE (a brand-name again, but mentioned as an MNC), GRUDGE, TIDE,ROW-ER, A-DA-PT, BUTTON-UP, EG-O-STIC(-k), UPHILL (good lead from 'went up the hill), LAS-H, CA-FT-AN, HEAD ('shake' as against 'nod' in approval), PORT-WIN-E ('libation' - a new expression for me, cheers!), STUPOR, S-W-ERVE (liked this too), RECAP, LEASH, E-L-SE* - all fell easily.

    Nice puzzle.

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  2. Hi
    NESTLE, OBEAH, TABERNACLE, TATTOO, GARBLE, CAFTAN, GRUDGE were nice. For French thread’s sake (not Japanese sake !)Por-Twine aka PORT WINE was good. It was great to see ‘heads’ in 3d instead of the ‘initially’ which we have been getting ‘regularly’ all these days. FILIAL was last to fall and CAFTAN just before it.

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  3. 9a SOWN (broadcast) about HUT (temp acco) and D (fourth letter)= S(HUT)(D)OWN=TEMPORARY CLOSURE

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  4. Kishore @ 08:34 - Good thinking!

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  5. 9A could have played mischief in some solvers' minds as 'broadcast' could be interpreted as an AnInd.

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  6. 30a takes me back to one year that I spent in B.Sc. physics class when I held a Vernier callipers in my hand. But my heart was in the English language and I quickly switched over to B. A. English.
    The letter that I wrote to my Dad working and living elsewhere away from the family about my desire to change horses was one of several significant letters that I have written in the course of my life, letters that had the impact that they sought.
    BTW, that instrument was heavier than the one in the image above.
    Qn: Like 'scissors' should it be in plural?

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  7. Friends,
    For my qn. I found an answer in Chambers.
    It is generally plural but sometimes singular.
    This is one of those sometimes!
    You can trust Gridman to have done his dictionary work!

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  8. Gridman has gone places today :

    China (15A), West Indies(20A), India(29A), US(14D), Chennai(18D), US(22D)

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  9. Recently while solving a Times crossword (most probably our Orkut community on HT/TT), I came across a device similar to HUT D (for fourth house) where a letter is used instead of an ordinal number (Kishore, is this usage OK?).
    I wonder whether Srinivasaraghava remembers that.
    While I have search facility on Orkut forums, that does not come on in the HT/TT forum if I want to find something. Perhaps because the contents are hidden from non-members, but surely Google should be adept in prying?

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  10. SOWN and broadcast??? I need some help here. I'm not able to find any connection.

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  11. Bhavan
    Computer chair-bound that I am, I didn't realise that! I need a ticket to ride!

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  12. VJ
    You must go to a village and see farmers sowing seeds. They will take a handful and toss it and the seeds, wafted in the breeze, will be broadcast (i.e., flung over a wide area).

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  13. Oh, Thanks Chaturvasi, though I solved the clue, I couldn't quite figure out the anno. I was trying to connect "broadcast" and SHOW and it got me nowhere.

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  14. @CVasi, I was talking about the jolly ride from one's chair too. What a welcome relief with no ambiguities, just the pleasure of solving a well crafted puzzle.

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  15. Chaturvasi, on 29A...

    DIY company in trouble = Anagram of DIY CO

    Should this be seen as direct or indirect anagram?

    Well, in cryptic crosswords, "company" is often abbreviated as CO all right, but would like to know how this would be perceived (as a rule).

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  16. Bhavan
    In your list you missed Lovedale - it's in the Nilgiris where there is a famous public school.
    My elder brother who finished his SSLC at an age when he was ineligible for admission to college (nowadays young prodigies become IIT professors) spent one year there for additional studies.
    Alas, a train accident took away his life - and that of our grandfather - when they were returning to Madras from a vacation with us in Sec'bad.

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  17. VJ
    The use of well-known abbreviations in anag fodder is not considered indirect.
    Shuchi or anyone else may confirm this, please.

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  18. @CVasi, I was just trying to find a pattern using the ones that jumped out at me. Didn't know about Lovedale though. And I'm sorry to hear about your brother.

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  19. Bhavan
    You forgot Gridman's assignation with a seductive woman (venue of tryst undisclosed), though it lasted only one hour.

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  20. Reg. 29A: From what little I have read / seen online in other forums, the London Times crossword editor issues a approved list of common one letter abbreviations (L = Large, H = Hard, D = Democrat etc.) that can be used for anagram fodder and not be considered indirect. Whether that extends to two letter abbrevs. as anagram fodder is not clear, though in my limited solving I have not come across it in the Times. But then the Times is one end of the spectrum, I am sure that there are likely other broadsheets that would not frown upon two letter abbrevs. as fodder.

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  21. I'm assuming its a 18D induced 22D, but Gridman now is longer under 17A's 20A.

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  22. Please read "longer" as "no longer"

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  23. Bhavan@09:36
    Re the houri.
    You may rest assured that she's gone like Elia's 'Dream Children' - which essay ends with the passage: "...We are nothing; less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been, and must wait upon the tedious shores of Lethe millions of ages before we have existence, and a name..."
    Read
    http://www.angelfire.com/nv/mf/elia1/dream.htm

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  24. Thanks Chaturvasi and Veer. I got no problem with the clue. I'm totally fine with it. Was only curious to know if it's seen as a direct or an indirect anagram.

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  25. 60 minutes is a bit too much in my opinion.

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  26. @ 09:30 You forgot Gridman's assignation with a seductive woman (venue of tryst undisclosed), though it lasted only one hour.

    Wait a minute, houris are the seductive women whose company one is assured of afterlife for all the good deeds done here, aren't they? An hour or longer, we don't want anyone to have such a prospect for many years. Let's enjoy each other's company here and live happily. ;-)

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  27. Richard
    For 'houri' Chambers gives the meaning 'a voluptuously alluring woman', apart from the sense of 'nymph in paradise'.

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  28. Actually I wanted to put in THIS CARTOON for Houri but decided against it

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  29. Abbreviations in anagram fodder - the thumb rule is that it must be the only, obvious abbreviation. Iron = Fe will be considered OK but soldier = RE might not be, as "soldier" can have many other abbreviations. I don't know if this is a stated rule but that's what solvers generally expect.

    The Guardian seems pretty relaxed about indirect anagrams, sometimes you can even find a completely indirect one. See clue#1 here: indirect anagram.

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  30. 5a: Doctor brother going back in storm (6)

    What does the surface mean? Is it correct English?

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  31. Just a point of order, CV, Richard and others:

    'houri', per the Quran, can be of either sex. It is a 'mate of modest gaze' of either sex i.e., young woman or man for a virtuous Muslim man or woman, to be enjoyed eternally in Paradise.

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  32. 5A: Don't know if it's correct English, but I think this is what the surface is supposed to mean...

    Brother, who is a doctor, is going back in stormy weather.

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  33. Shuchi @ 16:06

    It didn't make sense to me either. May be in Indian languages, Doctor anna,( Telugu anna= elder brother) going back..

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  34. "Doctor brother" sounds very Indian - something like cousin brother

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  35. I wonder how the same will work for a doctor who is a woman. Doctor sister? A nurse is also called a "sister". What confusion!

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  36. Ah, I was just waiting to see what others had to say. And none has stood by Gridman.
    If Mr X has some four brothers, one of whom a doctor, the latter could (in certain contexts) be described as 'Mr X's doctor brother'.
    Why we should think that this sounds very Indian is beyond me.
    I respectfully submit that the Daily Mail, a UK paper, has: "Shadow Chancellor George Osborne's doctor brother was found guilty of dishonesty yesterday for secretly prescribing anti-psychotic medication to a woman who was not his patient." (Emphasis mine) Not written by an Indian reporter, by the way.

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  37. Another UK paper has: "A boy of 15 spent a night in the cells for stealing three cans of lager worth £4 from his policeman brother." (emphasis added).

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  38. @ CV

    Recently while solving a Times crossword (most probably our Orkut community on HT/TT), I came across a device similar to HUT D (for fourth house) where a letter is used instead of an ordinal number .... I wonder whether Srinivasaraghava remembers that.

    Was this the one where you had mentioned of first thirteen letters standing for A-to-M, and we had a clue that day on number clueing for for a word?


    There was an article on July 14 in Livemint
    cheat sheet to crack the Times Cryptic. Shuchi has done a critique of this in Crosswordunclued.

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  39. Here's another from an un-Indian website:

    "SCENARIO: An artist and an Accountant are meeting for lunch at a small cafe just down the street from the Accountant’s office The Artist is the Accountant's younger brother. The two brothers have aging parents and their mother is ill. The older brother works at an accounting firm he is climbing his way up the "corporate ladder” he is taking care of his parent’s finances. The Accountant brother wants’ the younger brother to keep his job at a bank because it is a good paying job with benefits and stability." (italics mine)

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  40. CV,

    I am not an English expert and I may not be explaining this very well, but in the clue we do not have 'Mr X's' prior to Doctor brother. In both your examples, doctor brother, policeman brother is attached to another person.

    If we take your first example "Doctor brother was found guilty.." wouldn't make sense by itself.

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  41. I suppose Gridman should have clued it as 'Doctor Gridman's brother going back in a storm'

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  42. Giridhar, I think your question is, "who's doctor brother is he?" I presume your point is that "doctor brother" has been used vaguely/ loosely. Well if this was the case, even 17A would fall short. The question there would then be "Who's ....... this seductive woman?"

    Well the way I see it, the focus of a setter should be on delivering a clue that makes sense on the surface (and is grammatically correct). I think it's not always possible to write a crisp clue and yet maintain impeccable continuity. I feel it'd be a bit too much to ask for.

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  43. 17 A - 'seductive woman' makes sense by itself. However the whole clue feels more like a title for an article than a complete sentence.

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  44. Well I don't know.... To me, the pattern seems similar.

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  45. Giridhar

    Crossword clues need not be complete sentences. Many of them will - and do - read like newspaper headlines. I think this is quite permissible.
    Shuchi could well do an article on such clues. Hopefully some clues from THC would find a representation in it.

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  46. Chaturvasi, regarding my comments on "doctor brother"......

    Well I think I oughta clarify that I was was just sharing my opinion.

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  47. CV,

    I don't have a problem with clues that read like headlines. Just mentioned that 17 A was like one.

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  48. @ CV

    Your mention of "un-Indian" news items sounded a bit strange. May be non-Indian would be better as the intended meaning is that they were not of India.


    While generally un-something means not something (unlike - not like; unmanageable - not manageable, unmeasured - not measured), there are some exceptions:

    Un-man (cause to weep, deprive of manly qualities) is different from non-man (robot can be a non-man)

    Surprisingly, unloose does not mean tighten; it is again used to say loose or untie.

    It is strange that when we come across any odd usage of English, the first tendency is to attribute to Indian custom. You showed it in the case of 'brother doctor'; this genre of words are used time and again in the UK.

    While the use of 'cousin' is common in English and included in the dictionaries, there is the other uniquely Indian word - co-brother (used for two men who have married sisters - saadu in Hindi, shaddagar or - in senthamizh - sakalai)

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  49. I have not come acoross the word co-sisters being used (for women whose husbands are brothers) while the corresponding term in Tamil is in regular usage - Orpudi (derived from Oragaththi - living in the same house) .

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  50. In my post at 21:13
    of India
    meaning - of Indian origin or from India

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  51. @Venkatesh 22.15 - it is orpadi not orpudi

    @CV 8.56 Sir, Surface reading first gave me an idea that you were studying BSc Phy only last year. I may be wrong

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