Sunday 23 September 2012

No 2705, Sunday 23 Sep 12

ACROSS
1   - Black, old smuggler's hat (6)  - BOWLER {B}{OWLER}
4   - Bad fire in branch (8)  - OFFSHOOT {OFF}{SHOOT}
10 - Fixation of old boys at meeting (9)  - OBSESSION {OB}{SESSION}
11 - Follow lawsuit involving hospital (5)  - CHASE {C{H}ASE}
12 - By exit, dull submissive type (7)  - DOORMAT {DOOR}{MAT}
13 - Some camphor, aromatic in jar (7)  - AMPHORA [T]
14 - Master let coach horse about (13)  - SCHOOLTEACHER*
17 - What a photographer may use in a nudist colony? (8,5)  - EXPOSURE METER [CD]
21 - Weapon I raise is grabbed by Field Marshal (7)  - FIREARM {F{I}{REAR}M}
22 - Insincere, each person in revue (7)  - SHALLOW {SH{ALL}OW}
24 - A minor prize (5)  - AWARD {A}{WARD}
25 - Suddenly, everyone agreed about Charlie (3,2,4)  - ALL AT ONCE {ALL} {AT ON{C}E}
26 - A typical human being may never, sadly (8)  - EVERYMAN*
27 - Very dry American, one associated with a conspiracy long ago (6)  - BRUTUS {BRUT}{US}
DOWN
1   - Introspective family close to bankruptcy (6)  - BROODY {BROOD}{Y}
2   - Point, riding smashing horse in resort (6-5-4)  - WESTON-SUPER-MARE {WEST}{ON}-{SUPER}-{MARE}
3   - Racecourse record's very good over mile (5)  - EPSOM {EP}{SO}{M}
5   - Sweet affectionate worker (7)  - FONDANT {FOND}{ANT}
6   - Toady, extremely smarmy chap, not replaced (9)  - SYCOPHANT {SmarmY}{CHAP+NOT*}
7   - Flying separately, leader of team, not in touch with reality? (2,7,6)  - ON ANOTHER PLANET {ON ANOTHER PLANE}{T}
8   - A hirsute comic in reference books (8)  - THESAURI*
9   - Writer outside smart empty restaurant (6)  - BISTRO {BI{SmarT}RO}
15 - Farming economy (9)  - HUSBANDRY [E]
16 - Very muscular men may make complaint coming to bar (8)  - BEEFCAKE {BEEF}{CAKE}
18 - Dessert produced by graduate after dance (3,4)  - RUM BABA {RUM BA}{BA} This looks YUMMY!!
19 - 1000 cryptic clues might (6)  - MUSCLE {M}{CLUES*}
20 - Clothes found in River Severn, originally (6)  - TWEEDS {TWEED}{S}
23 - Player in element? Not initially (5) - ACTOR fACTOR




18 comments:

  1. Good morning everyone.

    Enjoyable crossword. Liked OFFSHOOT, SCHOOLMASTER, AWARD, FONDANT, SYCOPHANT, THESAURI, BISTRO, HUSBANDRY, MUSCLE etc.

    8D - 'Comic' as an anagram indicator brought a smile. I would not know how many of the solvers noticed this. THESAURI, the plural form of thesaurus, has the name ESAU hidden in it. Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, born of Isaac and Rebecca in the Old Testament. Esau was a hairy (hirsuite) character. Could the setter have had this mind when setting the clue? If so, I would call it brilliant.

    9D - I liked the use of the name of the Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen - Biro Líró László József (1899-1985), who, I feel, is the most unsung, unwept and unhonoured personality in recent history, since not may would have heard of him. In many western countries, 'biro' just means a ballpoint pen. Biro is a surname meaning 'judge' in Hungarian which, according to their convention, is placed first in a full name.


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    Replies
    1. Please ignore an extra 'would' in the first line of the last para.

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  2. The amphorae reminded me of the classic Asterix winejar slogan: Drinkajarawineaday

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  3. "Younameitihaveit !!" says Kishore.

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  4. 'comic' was nicely brilliant and made me smile too-very innovative.

    Thank you Richard for the expose on the unsung Biro. I never knew that the ubiquitous ball pen was invented by a Hungarian.

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  5. Richard,
    Your mention of 'unwept,unhonoured,unsung' reminded me (I feel you must have got it too) of Sir Walter Scott's poem. Talking of patriotism he says-
    " And, doubly dying, shall go down
    To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
    Unwept, unhonored , and unsung."
    I remembered only a part of it and the credit for the rest goes to google.

    http://www.legallanguage.com/resources/poems/breathesthere/

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    Replies
    1. Of course, I had the same quote in mind, recalling it from my school days, but got the sequence wrong here.

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  6. Coincidence !

    The photo in this link is of river Tweed (Ref.20D)

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    Replies
    1. Hardly coincidental. Deliberate, I would imagine

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  7. Lots of Babas in India would be rum.

    And a number of guys in the pub in Waltair Club would fit into the description.

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  8. I think 15D (Husbandry) would be a DD

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  9. Nice puzzle today. Quite a few clues that made me smile once I got it. Liked 7d the best.

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  10. Solved the Sunday Hindu crossword after a long time. Pleasant as usual, some very nice anagrams in here.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Shuchi,

      Did you try the Ganesh Chathurthi & Bharat Bundh specials?

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    2. I have the Ganesh Chathurthi one bookmarked for solving, hadn't seen the Bharat Bundh one till now. A Jumbo, wow! Will try both tonight, thanks for pointing them out.

      Delete
  11. Bit of a disappointment for me today. Deja vu, since it turned out to be an Everyman I had done online just recently.

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  12. Late again! But enjoyed today's grid (finally). Just about to settle down and watch the cricket - depending on the outcome I may not make an appearance tomorrow.

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