Monday 16 August 2010

No 9922, Monday 16 Aug 10, Sankalak

ACROSS
1   - Copper, for example, can cure lame beast (4,5) - BASE METAL*
5   - She may play with one's affections (5) - FLIRT [CD]


8   - Craftsman who forges bonds (6) - WELDER [CD]
9   - Relating to rural matters in Niagara? Right funny! (8) - {AGRA{R}IAN*}
11 - Everyone could arrive without starting (4) - rEACH
12 - Confused Gita hides rubbish from famous people (10) - {G{LITTER}ATI*} Gita must be fuming seeing this clue!!
14 - Cut up a bit of roast in a grotto (5) - {CA{R}VE}
15 - Does it show where a ‘local' visitor should go (3,4) - INN SIGN [CD]
16 - Popular TV character — Homer, say (7) - SIMPSON [CD]
17 - Enter with two notes (money) (3,2) - {G}{E}{T IN}
19 - Alignment, as of two planets with the sun (10) - ALINEATION [E]
20 - A spring from a fragile appliance (4) - LEAP [T]
22 - Hunter's companion docked: get it back (8) - RETRIEVEr
23 - One that inspires sullen chief engineer (6) - {SOUR}{CE}
24 - If unpleasant, it could be a nightmare (5) - DREAM [CD]
25 - Taken aback by purser's ID switch (9) - SURPRISED*
DOWN
1   - One making deliveries at Chepauk, say (6) - BOWLER [CD]
2   - Bill may go to such a choice group of people for examination (6,9) - SELECT COMMITTEE [CD]
3   - What one has to be to inherit the earth (4) -  MEEK [CD]
4   - Device to protect a building from a ‘shocking' experience? (9-3) - LIGHTNING-ROD [E]
5   - Brotherhood of NY, right after it was restructured (10) - {FRATE*}{R}{N{IT}Y}
6   - Counterfeit beads for adornment (9,6) - {IMITATION} {PEARLS} &lit
7   - Anxiety caused by noise, Tamil Nadu worried (7) - {T{ENSIO*}N}


10 - Options that transform indigenous people (12) - {ALTER}{NATIVES} Nice clue
13 - Is music prone to be distorted in this part of the stage? (10) - PROSCENIUM*
16 - Bearing marks of injury… (7) - SCARRED [CD]
18 - … supported by unusual help in the outskirts of Uttarakhand (6) - {U{PHEL*}D}
21 - Stuff of some mattresses (4) - COIR [CD]


42 comments:

  1. Hi friends

    Nice puzzle. But not sure of only two - 19A and 16D.

    BASE METAL, FLIRT (why 'she'? Isn't flirting a male prerogative as well?), WELDER (forging of bonds reminded me of having wished a fabrication shop-owner 'a happy welded life'), AGRARIAN (about three decades ago, even towns had agrarian activity), EACH, GLITTERATI (cute one, but 'confused' indeed everyone could be as to which 'G' it is - :-)), CARVE, INN SIGN, SIMPSON, GET IN, LEAP, RETRIEVE, SOURCE, DREAM, SURPRISED, BOWLER, SELECT COMMITTEE, MEEK, LIGHTNING ROD, FRATERNITY, IMITATION PEARLS, TENSION, ALTERNATIVES (very nice one), PROSCENIUM (this too), UPHELD and COIR - a smooth going.

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  2. Deepak
    Had a hearty laugh over the cartoons/pics.
    Thanks to you for the choice and to the cartoonists for their great work.

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  3. Could complete today's puzzle without much trouble. Some nice clues. Liked the anagrams.

    I don't Gita would be fuming. She's a part of glitterati.

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  4. The surface reading of Clue 12ac is such that no-one need be troubled. O

    nly if the said person bruits about rubblish emanating from famous people, there should be some concern. Here the person is hiding the rubbish. The dirty linen seems to remain the laundry basket!

    In any case, I set an exercise to the readers. Write a different clue for the word GLITTERATI.

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  5. Celebrities tilt a tiger wildly (10)

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  6. It might seem like a dumb question. Well I don't understand the strip posted under 2D. Why nobody can blame them?

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  7. Stars shine at one (10)

    Sorry for the hiatus, my net at home is a holey mess.

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  8. Celebrities almost sparkle before one sailor returns (10)

    Good educated people need time to become fashionable celebrities (10)

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  9. Hey guys, the counter still shows 194xxx....

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  10. Kishore, was kinda surprised the last two days when I saw that you were not competing with Richard to make the first comment. Nice that you're back.

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  11. G can rightly fume (even fulminate) if it is said that she contains litter.

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  12. VJ: No competition. I usually finish by 730 IST and leave home by 745 so I post my post before getting down to work in office. I could not come to office for last few days and the net is still kaput at home. My counter stil shows 194xxx. Einstein was right, not only time, artithmetic too seems to be bending.

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  13. 12A - LOL. Maybe, the setter meant Colonel's or Chaturvasi's wives?

    2D cartoon of STANDing Committee qualifies for a SITCom

    Answer this clue for me - I find that such words that I take for granted are so misunderstood by most people.

    Countries that are deemed this are eligible for the Booker prize, but not because they share their money amongst the ordinary (12).

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  14. Correction - not Chaturvasi's wives in plural - as far as I know, h has only one.

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  15. Colonel. Which Gita are you referring to? Hope you had a good morning

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  16. Kishore, of course I know it's no competition. It's generally either you or Richard that posts the first comment.

    I don't know how your counter could still be showing 194xxx!!

    BTW, I watched Primal Fear the other day. Awesome story!!

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  17. Gita: My wife's name is Gita too and spelt as such. BTW, G, CrossWord shares its abbreviations with CommonWealth ...

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  18. VJ, read the book and its sequels, they are even better than the movie..

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  19. CV., Gita in 920 equates you with MK !

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  20. Kishore, will do. Not sure if I can read the original after watching the movie. Will definitely try the sequels.

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  21. Suresh @ 9:21

    Was referring to Gita Iyer, the Gita at home has no clue as to what's happening on the blog!!

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  22. Having asked my friends to suggest a clue for GLITTERATI, it's cast upon me to comment on them

    Celebrities tilt a tiger wildly (10)

    ***Good anagram fodder, though the surface reading of the clue as a whole is not very convincing. Good AInd as well. Maybe the celebrities are tilting at a paper tiger!

    Stars shine at one (10)

    ***Concise and clear. Smooth surface reading. Presumably it's 1 p.m.!

    Celebrities almost sparkle before one sailor returns (10)

    ***Good word breakup. Except that you when you have GLITTER in the word, you can't ask the solver to 'almost take sparkle' for GLITTE. Surface reading is not too convincing.

    Good educated people need time to become fashionable celebrities (10)

    ***Obvious word breakup exploited well. Surface reading is OK. Whether 'need' is a good c/c ind is debatable.

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  23. In unsteady gait refuse to see the famous people (10)

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  24. Famous people on trial get it confused! (12)

    Your comment CVasi sir.

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  25. I'm sorry, the previous one should be 10 letters, not 12.

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  26. Famous people on trial get it confused! (10)

    ***Neat. Absolutely plausible surface reading. Good anag fodder and a very nice AInd that goes along with the rest of the words in the clue. Also the anag fodder coalesces so well into the clue that one doesn't see it immediately - it doesn't stick out as it does even in many published clues.

    Avoid the exclmation mark which must be used sparingly. Here it appears to be self-congratulatory.

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  27. Gita
    When I read what you wrote at 09:20 (when I returned from an outing there were many messages that I had to read chronologically) my yearning for a moment was to retire to my harem.
    I scrolled down to see your emendation.
    I laughed again because you wrote: as far as I know, he has only one.
    When you came home the other day we were all at the drawing room. So you had no chance to see those hiding behind the arras.
    The thought reminds me of scenes in the plays of Sheridan or Oscar Wilde.

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  28. Chaturvasi, I blame it on Gopalapuram.

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  29. Thanks for your comments, Chaturvasi. Couple of useful tips there.

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  30. @C 14:11 I understand from my husband that even one Gita can be one too many to handle so I'm not surprised at your lack of a harem.

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  31. @Kishore - >Sorry for the hiatus, my net at home is a holey mess.

    holey - pun?

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  32. @Kishore 9:23 - another Gita, another lucky guy!

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  33. Stars shine at one (10)

    Commendable, but strictly speaking as GLITTERATI is from 'glitter', breaking up the word GLITTER AT I and using 'shine' (glitter) is to be avoided, I think.

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  34. Gita 15:54: I understand from my husband that even one Gita can be one too many to handle so I'm not surprised at your lack of a harem.

    This assumes that if I have a harem every wife will be Gita. No, no. There might be a Rita, a this, a that (for obvious reasons I am carefully avoiding epic names and epical names). So even if handling a Gita is difficult, handling some other should be manageable.

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  35. For those interested in Carnatic Music:Here is an
    info from Sangeethapriya.org

    The Raga Crossword

    *So, what's special for the Golden Jubilee? We are really thrilled to
    launch a special quiz commemorating the 50th week of Raga Surabhi, - a
    Raga Crossword! It is available at http://new.ragasurabhi.com/crossword/rscw.html
    (new window). Do check it out.
    The crossword page is designed to be interactive where you can enter
    the answers on the crossword grid.
    Raga Crossword Tips:
    We have provided short audio clues for the crossword. The clues have
    been deliberately kept short because after all the training so far, we
    are confident that rasikas should be able to spot the answers in no
    time. The crossword answers are not only just raga names, they can
    also be terms related to carnatic music. Roughly the syllabus for the
    crossword would be 80% Identifying Ragas Page and 20% Surabhi Post!
    True to the spirit of crossword, watch out for googlies!
    Since it is a longer quiz than usual, we would like to give our
    rasikas sufficient time. The last date for submitting the solved
    crossword is *25th
    Aug 2010*.


    For more details visit www.ragasurabhi.com

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  36. Gita 1555 1557: Yes, net is full of holes. Also, advantage of marrying a Gita, as my grandfather in law (!) put it: Always follow Gitopadesha, and you will be happy.

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  37. Any sinistrals here in this world of dextrals?

    I am happy that with the US Prez and UK PM joining yours truly in the club which celebrated its annual day on August 13, some effort is being made to make the world less lopsided in terms of scissors, can openers and the like.

    However, dextrals need not feel they are being abandoned, for I belong to their club too...

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  38. Apropos the music discussion of yesterday, though Beatles was what I grew up with, later Abba, Boney M etc., I do like some of the later stuff: Eg. Livin' the vida loca:

    She's into superstitions black cats and voodoo dolls ...

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  39. Hi Kishore, glad you are back.

    An Ajit joke for you.

    Ajit was hauled to the court in a molestation case and was asked to lay his hands on the holy scriptures and depose on oath. He retorts:Sita par hAth rakh ke toh yahAn tak AnA paDA. Aur Gita par hAth rakh ke aur kyon pangA le loon?

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  40. Hamid bhai must be turning in his gravy !

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