Sunday 20 March 2011

No 2626 Sunday 20 Mar 11

ACROSS
1/6/9   - Politician very lively at social event? (3,4,3,4,2,3,5) - THE LIFE AND SOUL OF THE PARTY [CD]
10 - Filthy place close to stable, an eyesore (4) - {STY}{E}
12 - A US art critic upset Thomas Nast, for example (12) - CARICATURIST*
15 - Leave a ring on (7) - {A}{BAND}{ON}
16 - Contact one in salon I refurbished (7) - L(I)AISON*
17 - A room's musty stocked with old sherry (7) - {AMOROS*}{O}
19 - City left by British in ruins, after bombing (7) - {L}{IS{B}URN*}
20 - Fail to win card game so become exasperated (4,8) - {LOSE} {PATIENCE}
23 - Catch learner driver, man going the wrong way (4) - {NAI<-}{L}
24 - Language that may make native seem shocked (10) - VIETNAMESE*
25 - Take off around start of summer recess (4) - {AP{S}E}
26 - Dish in B&B - his hake's fantastic (5,5) - SHISH KEBAB*
DOWN
1   - System of weights used for precious metals in ancient city (4) - TROY [DD]
2   - British painter and philanthropist beheaded (4) - gETTY
3   - Plant in pond, and clay pipe, oddly (7,5) - ICELAND POPPY*
4   - Joy, family member appearing topless (7) - rELATION
5   - Two things used in tennis game (7) - {NET}{BALL}
7   - For a starter, publisher is entertaining ten on new A list circuit (6,4) - {O{X}{TAIL S*}{O}UP} 
8   - Officer in place with leaseholder (10) - {LIEU}{TENANT}
11 - Hebridean island policeman is over in Sark for a film (8,4) - {JURA}{S{SI<-}{C P<}ARK}
13 - A cab's crashed going over windy canal in Moroccan city (10) - {CASAB*}{LANCA*}
14 - They may be expressly provided for the rest of the Continental passengers (6-4) - WAGONS-LITS [CD] Had to cheat for this one
18 - Drunken sot, affluent one who ignores home truths? (7) - {OST*}{RICH}
19 - The father of Odysseus relates badly (7) - LAERTES*
21 - Rosemary, for example, is from Frobisher Bay (4) - HERB [T]
22 - Swimmer in book caught in trap (4) - {WE{B}B}



25 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Liked 21d best. Rosemary being used as a name/herb, whereas even the answer HERB is a name, albeit dimunitive

    7 - For a starter, publisher is entertaining ten on new A list circuit (6,4) - {O{X}{TAIL S*}OUP}

    To account for the extra O, given that publisher is the Oxford University Press, I feel 'on new' could be started or 'on' i.e. O and then circuit would be the anagrind, or alternatively new is the anagrind and circuit refers to O. Expert opinions, please.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Re WAGONS-LITS

    Venkatesh - No, don't start it all over again. Anyway, it's French.

    This term I came across first decades ago when I was reading detective fiction. Probably in Agatha Christie's full-length novel The Murder on the Orient Express but also in another short story by a different author. Unable to recall exactly and the book is in a carton up on the loft.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 5 - Two things used in tennis game (7) - {NET}{BALL}

    Deepak, I thing the word tennis has been wrongly put in bold letters.
    The def is game=netball
    two things used in tennis are net and ball, being the second def.

    ReplyDelete
  4. For a write-up on today's THC visit

    http://dailydozen.blogspot.com/2011/03/thc.html

    ***As the blog reveals ALL THE ANSWERS, please see only when you're ready to do so.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thing k instead of the g in the think above ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. ..book is in a carton up on the loft.

    That is a lofty idea you have, pardner.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kishore @ 8:37

    The second 'O' is from circuit

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kishore
    I just now see what you mean reg. OXTAIL SOUP. Don't know how I treated it in my blog. I too may have erred - may have missed the point you're making.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kishore @ 8:38,

    Since corrected

    ReplyDelete
  10. Here's a poser which I posted late last night

    Let's see if anyone can come up with the proof for this question.

    Prove that 'HUM' = 'TUM'

    My solution will be given after the cricket match, India vs West Indies

    ReplyDelete
  11. Silly logic here:

    What do I call myself: HUM in Lucknow lingo
    What do you call me: TUM (actually AAP in above lingo)

    Both ref to same person, ergo, HUM=TUM

    QED which is:
    Quod Erat Demonstrandum in Latin
    Quite Easily Done in English

    ReplyDelete
  12. I know it is a bit of a tumbug !

    ReplyDelete
  13. I gave up on ETTY without even trying, since I do not know painters and philanthropists

    And WAGONS-LITS-- Total bouncer. No light at all

    ReplyDelete
  14. When I was in college in Mumbai in the late sixties/early seventies there was a restaurant called 'The Sizzler' at The Excelsior Cinema (since broken down and re-built), which used to serve an Ox tongue sizzler. Could not even digest the thought.

    Now Oxtail soup is supposed to be an appetising starter. Wonder what thoughts everyone is getting

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anybody who has been married for a few years knows that HUM is the same as TUM.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Another patently silly conjecture:

    When Bertie Wooster is happy and HUMs he goes:
    TUM tum, tiddly pom

    ReplyDelete
  17. Why few years, Suresh? The realisation usually takes a few nanoseconds to filter in, even to the meanest intelligence.

    ReplyDelete
  18. BTW, 2days crossie had a large cross in the centre and smaller crosses in each quad. May or may not be intentional.

    See:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_cross

    Of course this cannot be fully replicated in crosswords because of the need to link words across quadrants. But today's crossie is a fair approximation.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Suresh @ 10:02,

    Which would you find easier to digest 'Ox tail soup' or 'Ox tongue sizzler' or 'Brain fry' :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Eating Brain is a lot easier and enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Suresh: There was a Hindi movie last year titled Bheja Fry.

    CV: Edgar Wallace's son Bryan Edgar Wallace had written a book 'Murder on the Night Ferry' which was published sometime in the sixties.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I have not seen Bheja Fry, nor eaten it. Only Brain curry I have eaten

    ReplyDelete
  23. Suresh,
    Bheja Fry is a great movie, try and see it if you can, it's come on some TV channel also subsequently

    ReplyDelete
  24. Now that India has managed to win here's the solution to my poser.

    Answer

    1. Arts student says "Out of course"
    2. Commerce student says "Wrong question"
    3. Medical student says " What the... It's impossible"
    4. Engineering student says "Hmmmmm.... It's so simple"

    HUM = WE = 'V'
    TUM = YOU = 'U'

    We know V = U + at [Newtons Ist Law]

    At midnight t = 0

    Therefore V = U + (a x 0)

    So we get

    V = U which is HUM = TUM

    So HUM = TUM stands proved

    Simple isn't it !

    Engineers ROXX

    ReplyDelete

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