Monday 26 August 2013

No.10861, Mon 26 Aug 2013, Klue Klux Klan

Chirp, Chirp ?!

ACROSS
1 Transfer blame to the cup, bask ingloriously (4,3,4) PASS THE BUCK (THE CUP BASK + a bonus S from unknown sources)*
         There was a great cartoon on this in The Hindu on Friday
9 When boiled, shell withholds pain (7) POACHED (POD holds ACHE)
10 Array missing thousand real world objects (6) REALIA (REgALIA)
11 Most of the time, I’d be meek (5) TIMID (TIMe I'D)
12 Beat amateur for love of sour milk (7) CLOBBER CLABBER (CLOBBER-o+A) See comments
15 Eagle found in danger nearby (4) ERNE (T)
16 School lint used for garments (10) LOINCLOTHS (SCHOOL LINT)*

18 Batsman on a purple patch is said to be thus (2,4,4) IN GOOD FORM (CD)
20 Austen heroine’s premise taken for granted? Not initially (4) EMMA (LEMMA-L)
23 Compose, at beginning of time, lyric for vacuum tube? (7) PENTODE (PEN T ODE)
24 Adult’s exclamation backed saying (5) ADAGE (A EGAD<)
26 State with love for a belief (6) NOTION (NATION-A=O)
27 Clothing for Indian father and some kin (7) APPAREL (APPA RELative)  
          A south Indian father, to be precise, except in Tulu where Appe is mother and guess what, Amme is ...  
          father!
28 Some strengths the first lady values, maintains (11) ASSEVERATES (ASSets+EVE+RATES)

DOWN
2 Insects concealed in unending recess (6) APHIDS (HID in APSe)
3 Make a hash of episode; erase author’s profile (4) SIDE (EPISODE-POE*)
4 Tough ships for uncompromising conservatives (10) HARDLINERS (HARD LINERS)
5 Bird that makes abbot sick (8) BOATBILL (ABBOT* ILL) Indirect Anagram  See comments
6 Most elegant Conservative’s ethics gone awry (7)  CHICEST (C ETHICS*)
7 A father, conceptual, loses Swedish currency, is indifferent (9)  APATHETIC (A PA THEmaTIC) Not sure how Swedish currency is ma) (A PA THEoreTIC) See comments
8 Orderly opener, for one, loses heart (6) BATMAN (BATsMAN)
13 Intimate, incomplete enclosures for Italian poet (10) CONFIDANTE (CONFInes DANTE)
14 Guiltily, Indian girl’s potpourri lacks one direction (9) ASHAMEDLY (ASHA MEDLeY)
17 Repentant that the trick’s hackneyed, … (8) CONTRITE (CON TRITE)
19 … monkeys bruise nun’s ego (7) GUENONS (NUNS EGO)*
          Genuinely deserves a high five from PP !
21 The kind of rage in Klue Klux Klan is inadequate (6) MEAGRE (RAGE* in ME)
22 A taste is enough? (6) SAMPLE ('S AMPLE)
25 Priest cut short yesteryear actress’ comeback (4) LAMA (AMALa< Is the Actress referred to Amala of the Pushpak fame?)

27 comments:

  1. 5 Bird that makes abbot sick (8) BOATBILL (ABBOT ILL)* Indirect Anagram

    No it is not. (ABBOT*) + ILL

    7 A father, conceptual, loses Swedish currency, is indifferent (9) APATHETIC (A PA THEmaTIC) Not sure how Swedish currency is ma)

    THEoreTIC

    Ore (n) : A monetary subunit in Denmark and Norway and Sweden; 100 ore equal 1 krona

    ReplyDelete
  2. Must be Amala, the animal welfare activist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is the one who acted in Pushpak that I referred to. Maybe KKK refers to some other actress.

      Delete
    2. Well, i am a great fan of hers'. As CGB says she is the head of Blue Cross - Hyderabad chapter.

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    3. To our Generation wise it may be Mala Sinha

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  3. 12 Beat amateur for love of sour milk (7) CLOBBER (CLABBER-A+O)

    I had the answer as CLABBER because the clues says A for O, not the other way?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Not one of KKKs best, I think.
    Apart from the glitch in 1 A, imprecise deletions in clues could have been avoided. Some strengths: ASS ets? Actually it's half.

    Anno for SIDE in 3 A: I don't think POE is an anagram, as the deletion is in sequence. ePisOdE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghu @ 9:57
      You can add one more. 13D : Incomplete enclosures : CONFI nes ? Incomplete means how many letters ?

      Delete
    2. And REL from Relative. I'm not sure whether these are alright?

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    3. Agreed. I did not like it too.

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    4. CONFINES and ENCLOSURES do they have one meaning in common ?

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    5. Close but not exact. Confines would mean boundaries and enclosures would be spaces within boundaries.

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    6. Thanks. Encloses for enclosures would have marred the surface reading I believe.

      Delete
  5. It puts me off when we start the crossword with what may be a 'printo'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was trying to figure what the clue could have been without the error.

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    2. Maybe cups instead of cup. Surface reading is poor in any case

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    3. This was the main issue I feel. Hardly a surface that is convincing barring a couple here and there. I appreciate the effort at wordplay but it needs to be in sync

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  6. 18A : First I put it as "In good nick", later changed to "In good form".

    ReplyDelete
  7. 12 Beat amateur for love of sour milk (7) CLOBBER CLABBER (CLOBBER-o+A) See comments

    A: amateur abbrv from Chambers crossword dic of abbbrv?

    ReplyDelete
  8. OK - thanks to all the 'maestros' above, I am starting to understand the twists in these awkward clues!!
    So who's afraid of KKK now - not I Sir!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shades of Virginia Woolf ?!

      Delete
  9. Completed in quick time and like it overall. The clues were like those of Gridman. Ran into the same problems with SOME as mentioned in other comments. Proper nouns that are not dictionary-based like APPA, ASHA and AMALA could have been avoided. I do not think the actress is popular enough.

    I do not agree that a LEMMA is taken for granted. Lemmas need formal proofs like theorems, the only difference is that several lemmas may act as intermediary steps in the proof of a theorem. Only axioms are assumed without any formal proof. Finally the ellipsis is printed right in the crossword. But there is an apostrophe mistake in 25D. For a singular noun ending in s, only actress's comeback is correct.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What ho!


    First, thank you for the feedback. More is most welcome. Can only help me improve, I think.

    The first clue, well, there was no printo. I am guilty as charged and cannot transfer the blame on the good people over at the paper. My mistake. An oversight it was and I apologize for it.

    The yesteryear actress is indeed Amala of Pushpak and Agni nakshatram (among others) fame. One of my personal favorites but that, ofc, might not qualify as enough to clue her in this way.

    Re the 'some', I think I still need to work a lot on those.

    @Madhu, yes, you're spot on. Should've been 'actress's'. Brilliant spot. Thanks for that.

    In general, re the surfaces being not very smooth, all I can say is that I thought they were alright when I made the puzzle but if you believe that they are not, then, well, I might have to have a relook.

    Thanks for all the feedback. Most open to more.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1Ac 'cusp' may fit in place of 'cup'.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Transfer blame for setback, push ingloriously (4,3,4)

    ReplyDelete

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