Monday 10 January 2011

No 10047, Monday 10 Jan 11, Spiffytrix

ACROSS
1   - William Shakespeare's love for hoarding... (9) - {BILL}{B{O}ARD
6   - … exotic food upset his posh sister at first (5) - {S{U}{S}HI*}
9   - Dance with Gabbar's sidekick in the auditorium (5) - SAMBA [DD]
10 - Spiffytrix and the German revolutionary consumed drug and wandered aimlessly (9) - {ME}{AND}{E}{RED} (Addendum - {ME}{AND}{E}{RED<-} - Seecomments)
11 - Skilled worker's supporter is powerless (7) - pARTISAN
12 - Saint's order is bizarre (7) - {ST}{RANGE}
13 - New protective sac — maybe many of them! (14) - CONTRACEPTIVES*&lit
17 - Play with RJ on the radio (5,3,6) - {ROMEO} {AND} {JULIET}
21 - Additional article with him? (7) - {AN}{OTHER}
23 - Parent sounded more distant (7) - FARTHER(~father)
25 - Get small gifts from the three leaders of Britain's cabaret racket (4-1-4) - {BRI}{C-A-B}{RAC}
26 - Religious opinion withheld by chief at Washington (5) - FATWA [T]


27 - Crazy game (5) - RUMMY [DD]
28 - Doctor's educated guess? (9) - PROGNOSIS [CD]
DOWN
1   - Chancellor's ship sunk at sea (8) - BISMARCK [DD]
2   - Arrest the Italian backing American university (5) - {LI<-}{M.I.T}
3   - I sent down supporter to a bar (9) - BRASS(-i)ER(+i)IE
4   - A chap took out 100 grand for a yearbook (7) - {A}{L{MAN}AC}
5   - Stops what an artist does in university (5,2) - {DRAWS} {UP}
6   - Communist is returning with a supporter (5) - {SI}{DER} <-
7   - Wild tiger seen in national park (9) - SERENGETI*
8   - Really stylish editors brought face to face (6) - {IN}{DE}{ED}
14 - New word using some lingo (9) - NEOLOGISM* New word for me too!
15 - Surprisingly, no burp if a dash of Eno is consumed — what a medicine! (9) - {IBUPROF{E}N*}
16 - Movie about rookie spy infiltrating a ship (4,4) - {S{TAR WAR<-}S}
18 - Reveal work supporting doctor's special delivery (7) - {AIR}{DR}{OP}
19 - Actually fed up with artist falling short (2,5) - {DE F<-}{ACTOr}
20 - He makes his living styling locks (6) - BARBER [CD]
22 - Profound shout of surprise on embracing a victory (5) - {HE{A}{V}Y}
24 - Finally pace bowlers could be getting round their pet peeves (5) - {HAT{E}S}

32 comments:

  1. Arre O Idli, (if Sambar is there, can idli be far away ? )
    NEOLOGISM reminded of the word syllogism which I first came across when studying logic. BISMARCK reminded me of the song which went ‘we gotta sink the Bismarck, ‘cause the world depends on us’.
    Bismarck
    It also reminded what the erstwhile ISI mark had become after the letters ISI got dark overtones in India and were replaced by the Bureau of Indian Standards, ie. The BIS mark.
    A double Bill 1a the bard and 17 his output.
    If 13a CONTRACEPTIVES can be considered an &lit, there is a contrapunto in 7d SERENGETI, as there are no tigers there is this &’lit or &notlit, ie an inverse of an &lit.
    No tigers there also reminded of <‘There are no snakes in Ireland’ as reported by F-Forsyth, though he does err in the story calling a Chatterjee a Gujarati)

    On the whole a very enjoyable crossword, Spiffy. Others are behind Times.

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  2. 1A and 24D are excellent for their lift and separate ideas. However is pet peeve = hate ?

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  3. Shyam,

    Pet peeve means hate. Look it up here PET PEEVE

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  4. +1 for Spiffytrix from me too.

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  5. Hi Col
    I saw the link, but still not very convinced. Pet peeves are annoyances, may not be objects of hatred. Maybe I am wrong and the gap is tenuous :)

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  6. 10 - Spiffytrix and the German revolutionary consumed drug and wandered aimlessly (9) - {ME}{AND}{E}{RED}

    {ME}{AND}{E}{RED<-}

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  7. Ajeesh,

    Revolutionary is an AnagrInd and not a reversal indicator. It should be RED*

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  8. If we break it as
    {ME AND DER*} consumed E; then {ME}{AND}{E}{RED*}

    If it is
    ME AND {DER* consumed E}; then {ME}{AND}{ER(E)D*}

    The latter appears to be the setter's intention.

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  9. Venkatesh, Revolutionary can also be a reversal indicator since a revolutionary turns things upside down...

    Maybe, this appears to be setter's intention. Lemme check with the setter...

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  10. Kishore,

    I appreciate your comments.

    Your lemme reminded me of Peter Cheyney's first and best-known creations - the American detective Lemmy Caution and the English Slim Callaghan. The fast-paced novels on gangsters abounding with slang and jargon were a real treat in the old days.

    For a recap of these characters, please visit
    http://www.petercheyney.co.uk/Cheyney%20Site/lemmy&slim.html

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  11. For a three letter word like RED revolutionary is suitable to make RED into DER.

    Spiffytrix = ME
    and = AND
    the German = DER
    revolutionary = Reversal indicator
    (so Spiffitrix and the German revolutionary = {ME}{AND}{RED<-})
    consumed = Insertion indicator
    drug = E
    and
    wandered aimlessly = Definition = {ME}{AND}{E}{RED<-}

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  12. Col Deepak,

    Here we are looking at whether revolutionary indicates an anagram or a reversal.

    Going by your contention that revolutionary is reversal indicator, in the following clue, one will end ups with FREED<- = DEEFR

    Freed revolutionary put off (5)

    The answer is DEFER, which is a revolutionary anagram of FREED. It gives the verb meaning 'to put off' or 'leave for a later time'.

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  13. That should read:
    ...one will end up with FREED<- = DEERF

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  14. Like it happens often with cryptics, same word can mean multiple things. Revolutionary can be both anagram and reversal indicator. In the context of this clue it might not matter which type it is, but I personally took it as reversal.

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  15. Yes, it does, in the internation phonetic alphabet used in radio communication, hence the word radio in the clue. You will have noted people in India use B for Bangalore sort of usage. This is standardised for radio communication in the series Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Ghana, Hotel,India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November,Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, Xray, Yankee and Zulu. Some systems like NATO have slight variations Ii understand.

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  16. The correct name is ICAO phonetic alphabet (international is something else)

    A plane with the Id RJ109 calling would say ' Row-me-oh Jew-lee-ett Wun Zero Nin-er calling ...'

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  17. Thanks Kishore for reproducing the interntional phonetic alphabet

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  18. 14D reminded me of this comic.

    And as it suggests, if you spend enough time on Wikipedia, you're bound to come across these terms frequently.

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  19. I accidentally provided the link to the image rather than the comic's own page. (They have mouse-over text as well.)

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  20. Venkatesh, I have 'another little drink' at home.

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  21. Venkatesh,
    It appears you have not read my post correctly, that DER is a three letter word

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  22. Kishore
    You will be glad to know that I have already read the Forsyth story that you mention in the first post above.

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  23. On the use of the word 'revolutionary' in crossword clues, please read, if you like

    http://cgrishikesh.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/some-revolutionary-clues/

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  24. CV sir @16.38 & Kishore,

    I too have read that collection(I don't read many these days). Quite absorbing
    in FF's own way. Enjoyed.

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  25. With ref to the answer of 3d today, it reminds me of a passage from Tom Sharpe's book Indecent Exposure where a character wants to know the location of the grill bar from a hotel commissionaire, but ends up using the similar word being the synonym of the supporter referred to in the clue.

    CV/DDS, did the Gujarati faux pas hit your eyeball too ?

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  26. I've gone through 'No Comebacks' only once, and I felt that stories got less interesting one after the other.

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  27. Ibuprofen is an anti inflammatory drug popularly sold as BRUFEN

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  28. Dear Sir,

    Is there any significance attached to the ... trailing clue 1 and prefixing clue 2?

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  29. Anupam I do not think there is any significance. It is just that the first two clues read together make for good surface reading.

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