ACROSS
1 - With luck, pals produce Synagogue cover (8) - SKULLCAP*
9 - Riddle worked out in game (6) - ENIGMA*
10 - Produced a storm in a teacup, perhaps (7) - STIRRED [CD]
13 - Old military order to throw hats in 1000 airy moves (9) - {K}{SHAT*}{RIYA*}
14 - Fish for dwarf (5) - TROLL [DD]
16 - Wall hangings of exotic striptease (10) - TAPESTRIES*
19 - What a co-operative playing side might display (4,6) - TEAM SPIRIT [CD]
21 - God of fire in magnification (4) - AGNI [T]
24 - Nick's refusal to take time on chapter (5) - {NO}{T}{CH}
25 - Film that has gone through a lot of exposure? (9) - SKINFLICK [CD]
26 - More trappings around each ruler (7) - {EM{PER}OR*}
27 - Changes as P.M. emerges? (6) - {AM}{ENDS} Nice one
28 - Dirty place to cross in river (4) - {STY}{X}
29 - Sportsman from whom a gripping performance may be expected (8) - WRESTLER [CD]
DOWN
2 - Correspondence of 1000 in movement of hips (7) - {K}{IN}{SHIP*}
3 - Ambassador releases eaglet (6) - LEGATE*
4 - Noisy celebration in Cachar I variously came to know of (9) - CHARIVARI [T]
5 - After a foreign dish (5) - {PAST}{A}
7 - Derived by logic: church official is in First Class (1,6) - {A {PRIOR}I}
8 - Violin bows? Nonsense! (12) - {FIDDLE}{STICKS} Nice one
11 - Entirely huddled in train to Toronto (2,4) - IN TOTO [T]
12 - Openers that might be useful in deadlock situations? (8,4) - SKELETON KEYS [CD]
17 - How the heat can knock a sportsman out (9) - ELIMINATE [CD]
18 - Name sthree changed (6) - ESTHER*
20 - Stiff inspection? (7) - AUTOPSY [CD] I liked this even though it was a CD
22 - Hot plate — if not burning ultimately, it's a puzzle (7) - {G}{RIDDLE}
25 - Trifle with rising skin blemishes (5) - STRAW <-
Hi
ReplyDeleteFIDDLESTICKS, I say, (or should I say STYX) to those who find warts ( STRAW<-) in this CW and kick up a CHARIVARI (doesn’t that sound like a Chennai gentleman being respectfully addressed in Telugu ? ). I liked the KINSHIP & TEAM SPIRIT which STIRRED me (not shaken a la Bond). KSHATRIYA & AGNI, ENIGMA & (G)RIDDLE, GAFF & TROLL pairs with something in common (CV, as noted by our friend, it does take the second numeral being required for the International Aviation Code/NATO code for T.). A PRIORI, would you call a film on a WRESTLER a SKINFLICK ? AUTO-PSYchotheaphy suggests AM-ENDS is the best clue here, PM emerges indeed. Talking of autopsies and PMs (post mortems), can SKELETON KEYS be ELIMINATEd IN TOTO ? .
As Gita notes in Orkut, there are many onions in the thousand soup: can be M, G(rand), K(ilo), k(as used with an unit named after a person kW, kHz..). However, M has a further distinction: it stands for not only the Roman numeral for 1000, but also Mega(as in MB) from Greek, and the fictional Grand(pun intended) old man of MI6 in the Bond movies called M(Admiral Sir Miles Messervy), reportedly named after Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first director, who used to sign and was called as C, not M. A tenfold promotion from hundred to thousand for him, huh ?. Why so much Bond (or KINSHIP), you may ask ? I was ‘For Your Eyes Only’ yesterday evening on Star Movies.
Hi folks
ReplyDelete6A has eluded me. ?a?F (LAFF or GAFF?)
One can trust Gridman to come out with rare words like KSHATRIYA, A PRIORI and AGNI.
SKULLCAP, ENIGMA, STIRRER, TROLL, LOPE, TAPESTRIES, TEAM SPIRIT, AGNI, NOTCH, SKINFLICK (clever one), EMPEROR, AMENDS (?), STYE, WRESTLER (nice one), KINSHIP, LEGATE, CHARIVARI (a new word), PASTA, FIDDLESTICKS (liked this), IN TOTO, SKELETON KEYS (another good one - with 'dead' and 'skeleton' connection), ELIMINATE (nice play with 'heat' which can make one think of a sportsman's dehydration), ESTHER*, AUTOPSY, EFFECT (easy one), STRAW<- - all enjoyable.
There's this song...
ReplyDelete"I can see clearly now... the rain is gone..."
:-)
That's how I feel today!!! I'm finally getting Gridman's style. Beginning to see all his word-plays as opposed to NJs complex word formations! Haven't looked at the answers yet, but am more than 3/4 of the way thro!!!
Hurrah!!
Col: Thx for the reality check last nite! I needed that! :-)
Thot the following were very clever. :)
ReplyDelete10a: STIRRED
27a: AMENDS (as P.M. emerges!) nice!
8d: FIDDLESTICKS haha
20d: AUTOPSY (stiff inspection! LOL!)
In my 08:31 post, 'stye' should read STYX.
ReplyDeletejust got 12d! OMG. This is hilarious! :-)
ReplyDeleteKishore, you have beaten me to it again. After a long time today I managed 100% of the clues before 8.30am. In fact, there was a power failure and by the time I got my internet working again it was 8.29 and I had 2 clues left! Quite an enjoyable grid. FIDDLESTICKS was a most delightfully phrased clue. CHARIVARI was cunning, as I thought it was an anagram of 'IN CACHARI' for a long time. SKINFLICK was elusive until I figured out "__I_FLICK" and put the clues together. AMENDS got me thinking about many things..."P.M. emerges" <-- is it 'Prime Minister', or anagram fodder, or some other abbr.? Good one.
ReplyDeleteLovely puzzle today! Enjoyed every bit of it, including 6A ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy favourites today:
10A stirred up some thought
27A P.M. as in evening and not Prime Minister as I first thought ;-)
29A Got a grip on the Gridman style yet?
2D K as in the 64Kbps (my computer mind says Kilo Bits Per Second) = 1000
7D a phrase my mother would use a lot when she tried to teach us Riders and Theorems
8D This clue is NOT nonsense
20D Suits my morbid mind. When I'm not crosswording (yes, new word), I'm watching Forensic Files or Who Dun Its
22D excellent riddle
23D Effectively causes me to appreciate the language. And the setter.
Thanks, Gridman, for an awesome day!
Some of the clues may be clever but long-time, seasoned solvers will have come across them in some form or the other over the years.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to the fact that very original clues may come only rarely or in the case of rare/Indian words that have not been tackled before. G might be taking credit for the latter too.
While solving even some UK puzzles, don't we often get the feeling that we have solved the clue again and again? Yet, if we do the puzzle all over again, it's for the mental joust for a few moments in the morning and a subsequent sense of smug self-satisfaction that the language is under our beck and call, that we can mind our p's and q's even as we dots the i's and cross the t's.
Though I could complete today's puzzle, I thought it was a bit tricky... Was clueless at quite a few places...
ReplyDelete13A: KSHATRIYA
25A: SKINFLICK (new word for me. Otherwise nothin new)
12D: SKELETON KEYS
20D: AUTOPSY (I don't get this one. What's the significance of "stiff" here? Since others are able to appreciate this clue, I'm feeling a bit dumb) :(
Had to rely on the crossings to get the above ones.
@ VJ 8:46
ReplyDeletestiff is slang for a dead body.
VJ
ReplyDeleteThat means you haven't read murder mysteries.
Have you had at least a couple of drinks?
ReplyDeleteKishore, Richard, Deepak...
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. I won't go further in the same vein.
20D - I too took time to get AUTOPSY. But when rigor mortis came in, got the 'stiff' connection.
ReplyDelete25 D WARTS<- STRAW
ReplyDeleteOliver Cromwell asked Lely who was painting his portrait to paint him "warts and all." This was soon after he became the Lord Protector.
The actual conversation goes thus:
Surprised at seeing his rough and undesirable features being glossed over, making him look more attractive than he actually is, Cromwell says: "Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint your picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughness, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me. Otherwise, I will never pay a farthing for it."
Hari @ 8:33
ReplyDeleteThere's this song...
"I can see clearly now... the rain is gone..."
:-)
That should have been
"I can see clearly now... that NJ's gone..."
;-)
@ CVsir 8:53
ReplyDeleteSorry... didn't quite make a connection. Was that by any chance directed at me 'cos I was so excited? :-)
@ Col 8:59
ReplyDeleteVery apropos! :)
I was obliquely referring to different senses of 'stiff'.
ReplyDeleteHari not to worry (that rhymes) CV was talking to VJ about Stiff Drinks aka Patialas
ReplyDeleteThanks Hari...
ReplyDeleteChaturvasi, lol... not really... Just a couple of glasses of water...
of course I've read a lot of murder mysteries, but it still had me clueless
I think I'm too nice.... Look at the words that tricked me...
KSHATRIYA (violence)
SKINFLICK (exposure
SKELETON KEYS (x x)
AUTOPSY (x x again)
aaah.. I get it now. (I can see clearly now!)
ReplyDeleteVery funny! :)
I wonder how the term "patiala" originated. I only heard it for the first time when my dad recently(retd. Navy) asked me if I wanted a patiala. Does it have its origins in the forces?
ReplyDeleteHari,
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to the song you referred to
I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW
Hari,
ReplyDeleteNot defence related but any serving of alcohol which is double than the normal serving, or unusually large, is referred to as the Patiala Peg. This term is understood in most parts of India. There are multiple stories behind this epithet, most related to the opulent and hedonistic lifestyle of one of the maharajas of Patiala - Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, who was a heavy drinker.
Except the first 5 words the above is a copy paste from Wiki
ReplyDeleteHari, after you've brought up the subject of patiala, look who's excited now....
ReplyDelete@VJ - Are you seeing a difference between NJ and the others yet?
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the edification and also for the link! It's been a while since I've heard it.
ReplyDelete@ VJ: np. ;-) I'm glad that I cud actually answer something on this forum.
Deepak
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the song.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, with my wife coming into the room wondering why I was swaying and screaming.
But for the link I would never have heard this wonderful song.
I am sending the link to my granddaughter.
Hey, I can come up with a dozen appropriate songs. We are all in a singing mood.
ReplyDeleteGita, what difference???
ReplyDelete@VJ - You are being sardonic? You must realize that we are not being fastidious in expecting grade level grammar and vocabulary?
ReplyDeleteNope, I'm serious. All I see is setters with different styles.
ReplyDelete"Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned."
BTW, why is there a "?" after "vocabulary"? Was that intended?
VJ
ReplyDeleteDifferent setters may have different styles, but these must not be puerile or jejune, they must be of reasonable standards, they must be acceptable, they must be such that you are pleased when you are at it and when you recall it later.
Please note that the above is a general observation and that I am not judging anyone, much less condemning anyone. I can't write a sentence.
ReplyDeleteFriends, as I have mentioned in the past, I am always too happy to share useful information in this forum. Some of you may have this already.
ReplyDeleteALL-IN-ONE SEARCH PAGE
This link leads you to a page where you have the best of search engines, e-mail, downloads etc etc, all in one place. Add it to your favourites.
Oh, I find that it was Hari who mentioned the song first. Thanks be to him.
ReplyDeleteDeepak 09:11
ReplyDeleteUntil I opened the link, I did not know you had posted a Jimmy Cliff number. Some good thirty years ago, I had bought a few albums by Jimmy Cliff, the jolly good Jamaican known for his Reggae hits. In particular, I liked his off-beat lyrics.
The audio cassettes must be lying somewhere in junk form at home. Some day, I should get my act together to have the old favourites from the audio cassetters to CD or some other storage format.
Does anyone remember one of his songs which has a refrain 'Under the sun, moon and stars'?
Chaturvasi, I can see that it was only an observation.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd like to refrain from judging any of our setters based on their work. First off, I'm not in any kinda position to criticize their performance. I'm neither an expert (nor a whiner). Even if I was an expert, I still wouldn't wanna do it 'cause I feel it'd like judging a handicapped person based on his/ her weaknesses/ shortcomings.
For now, I'd just like to read into the clues and not the setter.
CV
ReplyDeleteI can't write a sentence.
The immediate thought that comes to mind is that words are at your command and that you always write spontaneous paragraphs.
In case of Kishore, it is literally a flood (or a delightful literary flood!). Vellam, in Malayalam, stands for water; in Tamil, it means flood! It is amusing when someone asks for koraichu vellam.
In Sanskrit, there is a term Asukavi for a person with such fluency over the languaage that he composes original poems.
Jejune is a new word for me. It means poor or barren.
I used to find Rajnikanth's use of JUJUBE in Tamil films funny. Then, I noticed that there is a word (JU'JUBE) that is used for a kernel-fruit, lozenge of gelatine, etc.
That should read veLLam, not vellam (jaggery)
ReplyDeleteJujubes were a favourite with me. I haven't eaten these lozenges for a long time.
ReplyDeleteNow and then I have heard rumours that they contain an ingredient that is not acceptable to vegetarians. Anyone know?
Talking of Rajnikanth, the Style King's daughter Soundarya got married yesterday. Did any of our friends in Chennai get invited?
ReplyDeleteAmong plant products, Jujube is a red-date or Chinese date.
ReplyDeleteAs candies, Jujubes are soft, semi-gooey and sugar coated.
Rajinikanth is credited with the introduction of the word "ju-ju-bi" into contemporary Tamil slang to mean "easy pickings".
A candy brand called Moon Drops available in India in 1970s. It had sugar-covered jujubes with a somewhat sour tasting soft-gooey, fruit-flavored core.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube_(confectionery)
I was reminded of Stiff Upper Lip by P G Wodehouse.
ReplyDeleteVenkatesh: I guess you are familiar with Kannada words. There is a Kannada expression jujubi which is used as a prefix or adjective before specific nouns, to convey 'a pittance' (of money) or 'frivolous' (ref to matter. It is more prevalent in upcountry Karnataka.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning all
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading comments. how powerful and erudite the veterans of this blog are.Salute them. I must accept i have completed only half way. My brain stopped working after a point of time. I was totally stuck in a priori, charivari,and fiddle sticks. Long time i was replacing 1000 With M later realised the other option. Though I thought PM as politician and filled it with the right word it only dawn late...
ofcourse my learning continues
Good day
Mathu
CV
ReplyDeleteDid you get around to seeing Chennaipatnam? We are yet to read your comments on this movie.
"3 Idiots" is being remade in Tamil with Vijay and Tamanna in the roles of Aamir Khan and Kareena respectively. Tamanna had played the role of Kareena in the Tamil version of Jab We Met also.
Richard
Thanks for the info. I think pooling the expertise on this forum, we can write a dissertation on any topic (or word) under the sun.
In Tamil we say: Enna, mittai kuduththu emaaththalaamnnu paakariya?
ReplyDeleteWhere 'mittai' is a peppermint.
I think it's just that the actor substituted Richard's Kannada term there.
CV, the ingredient you refer to might be gelatine, since I understnd it was made from bones earlier. I am not sure if that is a fact.
ReplyDeleteAVA, as Richard said yesterday, the more the merrier, so no question of 'beating'. To quote the Col., ' bash on regardless '.
Try Google today. The second O is an animated, expanding bucky-ball. Any fans here of buckminsterfullerene ?
ReplyDeleteI googled buckyball and couple of images came up on the screen... And I was wondering why jujubes were arranged in such crazy patterns.
ReplyDeleteThe process of manufacturing refined sugar from sugarcane involves a bone char filter towards the end of the refining procedure.
ReplyDeleteAn activated carbon filter, sometimes made of bone char derived from the bones of cattle, decolourises sugar to make it white through an absorption process.
Alternate methods these days in some sugar plants use granulated carbon or an ion exchange system in place of bone char.
Beet sugar refineries never use a bone char filter in processing because this type of sugar does not require an extensive decolourising procedure.
CV @ 8:45
ReplyDeleteYou are right sir.
P.M. emerges... brought back my memories of the clue read about 25 years back:
Parade at the dawn of April (5,4)
Richard@10.41,
ReplyDeleteNow I can understand how Rajnikant introduced this expression in Tamil films.
To make the jujubes chewy, they use gelatin which is made by boiling animal sking/bone etc. in water. That is why if you go to malls which have confectionary stalls, jujubes, gummy bears etc. are classified with red dots and not green dots.
ReplyDeletegel·a·tin /ˈdʒɛlətn/ Show Spelled[jel-uh-tn] Show IPA
–noun
1. a nearly transparent, faintly yellow, odorless, and almost tasteless glutinous substance obtained by boiling in water the ligaments, bones, skin, etc., of animals, and forming the basis of jellies, glues, and the like.
Venkatesh said...
ReplyDeleteCV
Did you get around to seeing Chennaipatnam? We are yet to read your comments on this movie.
hi CV, it Madarasapattinam. a very good attempt in the lines of Lagaan etc. Though i could not compare this is a brave attempt from a relatively new comer in tamil cinema. How we change Chennai for the worst was clearly illustrated in the movie. The acting of Emy jackson is one of the highlight along with the cinematography of Nirav Shah.
You can enjoy the movie if you dont have very high expectation.
Mathu
Dr Srinivasan
ReplyDeleteI have seen the clue worked the other way round also: March past (5)
Answer: APRIL
Venkatesh
ReplyDeleteThanks for your query. I have not got round to see the said film but I do intend to do so.
Deepak
ReplyDeleteDave and I met here over coffee yesterday. A pleasant one hour or so.
Thanks for the suggestion the other day that resulted in the palaver.
25A
ReplyDeleteCol: you link to Wiki shows it as 2 words of 4,5.
I am sure G will be right. Are both acceptable?
Dr. DS The American OED I have on my laptop gives skinflick as one word
ReplyDeleteThe British one, of which I have a hard copy, gives it as2 words
I'm curious too. Even all the online dictionaries seem to be showing it as 2 words.
ReplyDeleteSKINFLICK is one word in Chambers which is among the three standard dictionaries that conscientous crossword compilers look up and swear by.
ReplyDeleteThe Red Book, as they say, because when stripped of its jacket, it's red.
Those who have the hard copy, raise your hands!
The Red Book, as they say, because when stripped of its jacket, it's red.
ReplyDeleteWhen opened, it's read!
Chaturvasi, why do crossword setters use it as their no 1 reference? Is it like a tradition or something or is it something to do with the quality of its definitions? Sorry, I've never seen a chambers dictionary in my life.
ReplyDeleteFor several reasons.
ReplyDeleteIt is single volume but at the same time it is accommodative of more thousands of words.
It has many Scot and other dialectical words.
It has crisp definitions but no example sentences/phrases as in students' dictionaries.
Decades ago when typesetting was not so easy and change of font was cumbersome, this one had the head word in bold - one reason why I preferred it even in my younger days.
In the preface it used to boast that it was the crossword addict's favourite tool, which it really is.
NB: The free online Chambers is based not on this but on Chambers 21st Century Dictionary which is an attenuated version.
Chailman Mao Tse-tung's Red Book, anybody ?
ReplyDeleteCV 15:46 - I haven't had a chance to read the Red Book, but I recalled Anglo-French poet and writer Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953):
ReplyDeleteWhen I am dead, I hope it may be said:
"His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.".
Kishore, if it is Chailman Mao you are referring to, I guess it is the Led Book.
CV @ 13:38
ReplyDeleteNo photographs with David at the Coffee meet?
Maybe it should have been 'lefelling to'. ;-)
ReplyDeletetpa @ 12:50
ReplyDeleteAn alternative source of gelatin substitutes could be non-animal gel sources such as agar-agar (a seaweed), carrageenan, pectin, or konjak. However, alternative sources can be associated with health problems of their own.
So vegans need not fear they need tojust look for the green dot on the Jujube
Deepak
ReplyDeleteNo photos were taken.
Sorry. I have taken the distance OU to be 39. I have not read the sentance fully.
ReplyDeleteThe post was addressed to Kishore.
ReplyDeleteLichard, been eating a lot of flied lice lately?
ReplyDeleteI have been scolded by my teachers as 'Mundrikkottai' for answering before the quetion is being completed.
ReplyDeleteVJ, that should be:
ReplyDeleteLichald, been eating a rot of flied lice ratery?
Muthaiah: Many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip !
CV 1546: Those who have the hard copy, raise your hands!
ReplyDeleteThose who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand
@VJ - BTW, why is there a "?" after "vocabulary"? Was that intended?
ReplyDeleteI guess using a smartphone does not make me smart. That question mark is a slip that is indicative of my ongoing curiosity about NJ=VJ.
I'm not obligated to be grammatically correct as paid setters are that owe a quality service towards their paying customers.
I think it's already been proven without a doubt that NJ =/= VJ.
ReplyDeleteI say, blame it on the publisher. I think it's now obvious that TH doesn't expect its setters to be grammatically correct. Well she's still on the panel and nobody's around to edit her clues. It only suggests that TH is happy with what it's getting. Or how else should we take it?
And the way I see it, NJ is not obligated to "be" anything that she's not expected to "be."
At the end of the day, from Doris Day (and the Man who knew too much- or too little ? )
ReplyDeleteQue Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
VJ, Gita: Nothing is what we expect it to be...
Kishore, "The man who knew too much."
ReplyDeleteThere's a movie called "The man who knew too little." It's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Bill Murray's best IMO.
And on "....what we expect it to be..."
When you don't have great expectations, everything would seem just perfect.
Bill Murray was great in 'What about Bob?' remade as 'Tenali' in Tamil.
ReplyDelete@ Kishore 23:22 You have addressed to VJ & Gita or addressed to VJ quoting The Gita?
ReplyDeleteAah, Subbu, you got the nuance. It is a flavor of both, but I am not sure if THE GITA or even Ms Gita said those exact words..
ReplyDeleteGiridhar, don't know about Tenali, but I didn't really like "What about Bob?" I didn't find it all that funny.
ReplyDelete