Thursday 15 December 2011

No 10335, Thursday 15 Dec 11, Gridman

Think-Think...
ACROSS
1   - One might twig to this creature (5,6) - STICK INSECT [CD]
9   - Enroll once again to study military intelligence's initial trends (7) - READMIT {READ}{MI}{T}
10 - Clue: one tip moved right (7) - POINTER {ONETIP*}{R}
11 - Commandeer newspapers (5) - PRESS [DD]
12 - Person of ideas (5,4) - THINK TANK [CD]
13 - Insurers' objective legal (5) - LICIT {LIC}{IT}
15 - Kitchen appliance marked his determination (9) - DISHMAKER* What kind of appliance is this?
18 - Help out animal with a short measure (4,1,4) - BEAR A HAND {BEAR} {A} {HAND}
21 - Person of courage bearing bird (5) - HERON {HERO}{N}
22 - It holds a sheaf together (5,4) - PAPER CLIP [CD]
24 - Odd bachelor dance (5) - RUMBA {RUM}{BA}
26 - Language master for a gothra in India (7) - MARATHI {MA}{RATHI}
27 - Bone, large, so almost allowed (7) - OSSICLE {OS}{SIC}{LEt}
28 - Ready for action: surgery with a novice (11) - OPERATIONAL {OPERATION}{A}{L}
DOWN
1   - Its members are barely visible (5,4) - STRIP CLUB [CD]
2   - That is about deserter who is angry (5) - IRATE {I{RAT}E}
3   - In Karnataka, trauma's dissipated by sex treatise (9) - KAMASUTRA {K{AMASUTR*}A}
4   - Wrote some music? (7) - NOTATED [E]
5   - Loads? No, on the contrary! (7) - EMPTIES [CD]
6   - Have something in your mind – flimsy cork tip (5) - THINK {THIN}{K}
7   - Invader with a bone and nail (8) - ATTACKER {A}{T}{TACKER}
8   - Journey from Montmartre keened (4) - TREK [T]
14 - Wine in hundred baskets (8) - CHAMPERS {C}{HAMPERS}
16 - Big master back greeting saint (9) - MAHARISHI {MAHA}{RIS<-}{HI}
17 - Scold Nepali rag to bits (4,1,4) - RING A PEAL* Never heard this expression before.
19 - A couple of learners on spell for ever (3-4) - ALL-TIME {A}{L}{L}-{TIME}
20 - Envoy doesn't complete certificate (7) - DIPLOMA DIPLOMAt
22 - Lion is soft to wife of Siva (4) - PUMA {P}{UMA}
23 - Beginning and end of speech trimmed for proportion (5) - RATIO oRATIOn
25 - Scholar's argument for U.S. city (5) - MACON {MA}{CON}



22 comments:

  1. 12A I think a think tank would refer to a group of persons rather than a single person as given in the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. think tank a person or a group of people, usu expert in some field, regarded as a source of ideas and solutions to problems. (Chambers)

    Suresh

    I too was under the same impression as you are. But it is when I as a setter striving for some accuracy look up the dictionary that I discover new things. I have attempted to pass it on to solvers.

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  3. I was doubtful in filling 2 thinks (6D & 12A)since Gridman usually avoids duplication.

    Liked the idea of a soft lion!

    I did not know the slang for champagne and was wondering why it is not fitting with crossings and no.of letters.

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  4. If the past tense of sink is sank, I thank thank Gridman.

    Our young friend Rishi is hiding in 16d.

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  5. 22d. I seem to have seen that puma before, maybe in this habitat itself...

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  6. Kishore@09.49-
    He might be young,but he is mighty big!

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  7. Thanks CV. I did not find this singular meaning in the OED. Hence the doubt.

    My antique Chambers is in tatters.

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  8. Kishore, I had forgotten!

    Gridman used PUMA earlier in 9783 (6th March, 2010). His clue then was

    Big cat to grasp you from Rewa at last (4)

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  9. Does "at last" apply to grasp,from & Rewa?

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  10. 13 - Insurers' objective legal (5) - LICIT {LIC}{IT}

    I understand the connection between 'object' and 'it' but can't figure in what sense does objective mean it.

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  11. Bhavan

    For it = objective

    Try the meaning "the ne plus ultra, that which answers exactly to what one is looking for (Chambers).

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  12. 25D - Shouldn't it be "argument against"? I was thrown off for sometime by that, until the crossings bore their collective hands, so to speak.

    LICIT is clearly one of Gridman's favourite words. ;-)

    24A ~ 26D THC 10332

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  13. Had a digital lunch today, what with ladies fingers, gentlemen's toes and elephant foot yam.

    Regarding Licit, someone here had asked the difference between illicit and illegal. I recently found the answer:

    Illicit is not permitted by law.
    Illegal is a sick bird.

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  14. Kishore@10:03,
    The only known habitat of that particular puma was on the desktop of Windows 98 OS. :D

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  15. Liked today's puzzle, though repetition of Think could have been avoided I suppose. Had a sense of deja vu with some of the words -- must have seen them recently elsewhere

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  16. Kishore @ 15.09

    :) . It is typical of you to find 'that' difference. Enjoyed

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  17. Navneeth 1613, That is exactly where I saw it. Thanks for reminding.

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  18. @navneethc 14:35: I thought about it too but both should work. If you look at "for" as a linkword between wordplay and definition, then the clue becomes:
    Scholar's (MA) argument (CON) for (linkword) U.S. city (definition) (MACON) (5)

    It works if we can say an argument can equivalently be for or against. The way the clue has been worded would then be a bit of misdirection throwing solvers for a slight walk up the garden path.

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  19. With all due respect, veer, that argument for the clue seems a bit of a stretch to me.

    If this sort of (intentional) misdirection is an accepted practice among professional setters, I'd appreciate if you could provide some instances. (And no, I'm not referring to those ridiculous levels of misdirections by those-who-shall-not-be-named. ;-))

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  20. Objective =it in 13A is not convincing

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  21. 22A - How is it P? Does soft mean P?

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  22. Last. 15A -> How is determination anagram indicator!!!

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