Monday 7 October 2013

No.10897, Monday 07 Oct 2013, Afterdark

Afterdark gives us an interesting crossie having many place names.   But I think we can overlook that since 'e is missing because his keyboard's lost a key ... Figure that out ;-)

ACROSS
1 Lincoln cut short control to go back in South abolitions (11) ABROGATIONS (ABe R(GO<)ATION S)
9 A child back on main road with a complaint (7) ANOSMIA (A SON< MI A)
10 Broadcast attack (3,4) AIR RAID CD
11 No pork turns up at a part of USA (5) OMAHA (O HAM< A)
          In 1944, 11a might even have resulted in an visit after dark from the MI5.
12 Your’s truly at Sun kingdom with no point of dissociation (9) ISOLATION (I SOL nATION)
13 Call an island as country (5) DUBAI (DUB A I)
15 Gulf in island at an old kingdom (9) ABYSSINIA (ABYSS IN I A)
18 Fitful dad in ship has small amount, no doubt! (9) SPASMODIC (S(PA)S MODICum)
21 Sum up back-to-front 101 compositions (5) MUSIC (SUM< IC<)
22 What Flipkart is known as during dispatch? (9) CONSIGNOR CD
24 A British accountant brought up at Italy brought calculators (5) ABACI (A B CA< I)
26 Ovation for boy falling along with you in a ditch (7) PLAUDIT (U in LAD in PIT)
          The 'Tryst with Destiny' speech which was delivered after dark, was followed by an ovation -  
          Plaudit(s) for Pandit Nehru
27 Capital’s random urbanisation unbinds naughty aunts (7) NAIROBI (URBANISATION-AUNTS)*
28 Shockingly air lusty COO’s orgy (11) ATROCIOUSLY (AIR LUSTY COO)*

DOWN
1 NASA can do mock-up of big boas (9) ANACONDAS (NASA CAN DO)*
           The correct quote is 'Houston, we've had a problem' but that does not convey a clear and present 
          danger, so probably will never be used as a quote
2 Spanish drink at city with approval from Bonn (5) RIOJA (RIO JA=yes in Bonn)
          AD reminds us of the erstwhile capital, of the erstwhile West Germany, that sounded good to the French
3 Using my ma to construct a school (9) GYMNASIUM (USING MY MA)*
4 Monarch sat uncomfortably during torrid rain (7) TSARINA (SAT* + in RAIN*) Anno corrected
5 Diction from church (7) ORATORY CD
6 Royalists in a riot lost out to country (5) SYRIA (ROYALISTS-LOST)*
7 Circling navigators go out to bring modifications (8) VARIANTS (NAVIGATORS-GO)*
8 Dial and shout at God (4) ODIN (O DIN)
14 Support pinna oddly imparts to skull (8) BRAINPAN (BRA PINNA*)
          Had not heard of this word for quite some time 
16 In sync with cocktail topic’s aim (9) SIMPATICO (TOPIC'S AIM)*
17 Bill unnaturally civil with tyro’s run out dismissal on upward climb (9) ACCLIVITY (AC CIVIL* TYro)
19 Brown going around in portal spots philanthropist (7) DONATOR (TAN< in DOOR)
          Donator is acceptable I think, though laconically people prefer Donor.
20 Swanky suburbs Ron inhabits is long-lasting (7) CHRONIC (RON in CHIC)
22 Fax about loss of a knight’s canopy (4) COPY (CanOPY)
          I have a terrific joke for this, but cannot share it as it may outrage some of you.  Those desirous 
          of learning more may send me an email at kishoremrao@hotmail.com
23 Country’s top two industrialists obtain subsidy from south (5) INDIA (INdustrialists AID<)
25 Admits an oath on Sabbath (5) AVOWS (A VOW S)

Appendum addendix at 10.30: as promised:

This puzzle is a Lipogram. The letter E, the most common in the 'E'nglish language has not been used either in the clues or in the gridfills. Kudos to Afterdark on pulling this off.

71 comments:

  1. There were multiple changes made after the first submission, none of them are incorporated. :(

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  2. 26 Ovation for boy falling along with you in a ditch (7) PLAUDIT (AL< U in PIT)
    typo: P{LA{U}D}IT

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  3. I am lucky to do this crossword, Afterdark compiled by AFTERDARK, probably before dark.

    Good one and great deletions but too many !
    Climbed on to my added two new or rare words : ACCLIVITY and ANOSMIA. One small step towards a starry firmament of new words.

    Going to sleep feeling great for having cracked my last cryptic for the day .

    Good day , ye-all !

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  4. NinJa? Too cryptic a comment? Even for me !!

    Please parse and annotate and elucidate as to what this Aversion Therapy is !!

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  5. Shri, I will wait for some time, say till 1030, before I reveal all, in case no one brings up the oily message incorporated in this puzzle ...

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    Replies
    1. Those of you who read 'oily massage' in above need to read again ...

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  6. Power cuts are back in Hyd. due to the pro AP stir. No power since 730.

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  7. Good puzzle. '-



    Good puzzle. H r is th missing k y




    '

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  8. In the meantime, kudos to Shrianth for the release of his book on My Great Romeo :

    http://www.amazon.com/MGR-A-Biography-ebook/dp/B00FMQKOKS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380999291&sr=8-2&keywords=MGR+a+biography

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    Replies
    1. Or should that be Madras's Great Romeo ...

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    2. And here in my name you are missing a primary key :)

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    3. That's what Kishore pointed out at 1003

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  9. Suppose AD was short of enthusiasm while writing clues.

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    Replies
    1. He did not attempt to cover that up by using ecstasy

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    2. Awesome way to say that the CW is not up to the mark. Had some constraints constructing this :)

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    3. And if it just refers to the missing key, thank you very much. :)

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    4. It can be difficult to work without energy. See Raghu @ 0900 too has the same problem!

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    5. AD, I meant what Kishore had been trying to convey about missing energy. E's back now at my place.

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    6. I have the energy which both Shrikanth and Raghunath lack. In fact Deepak has even more than the three of us combined

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    7. AD's message:

      We don't need no ecstasy

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    8. VJ, Two negatives make a positive!

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    9. Depends on what you're doing with the two negatives. If you're merely addin' 'em you end up getting a greater negative.

      Anywho, double negatives are common in some dialects and even in some languages...

      And how can we forget "We don't need no education," "I can't get no satisfaction" etc.

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  10. nice notwithstanding the constraints, reminded me of the lars von trier film, The five Obstructions

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Ajay. I see that you are no longer unknown!

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    2. That is what I've been trying to get across all of Sunday, in THCC blog that Unknown & Ajay together reminded of Dharmendra's Sholay dialogue "Tera naam kya hi Basanti?"

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    3. Hi Raghu, thats why i took immediate corrective action....to spare the basanti tag.....lol

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  11. 4 Monarch sat uncomfortably during torrid rain (7) TSARINA (SAT* in RAIN*)
    This Anno is how the clue reads. But, how can SAT* in RAIN* lead to TSARINA?
    Though I penned in the answer, it was unsatisfactory.
    Either it is (SAT+RAIN)* or SAT* around RAIN* {TS(ARIN*)A*}.
    Am I missing something in the clue?

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  12. Another way is to take it as (SAT*) + (RAIN*).

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  13. H' has com out with a good CW, with his s'lf impos'd hurdl?!

    My brain did not pan out 14A. But it is still 'plaudits' to AD.

    Crushing my brain to get the 'oil' mentioned by Kishore.

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  14. I am a beginner in Crossword. How do i go about this tough crossword puzzle?

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  15. ark01rani 10:07

    You can make a beginning HERE.

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    Replies
    1. I only wish, he or she had made a beginning (T)HERE :)

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  16. Thanks, AFTERDARK. No Monday blues and absolutely no cribs from the (in)famous Samosa Band ! Nice clue. Missed out 15A,22A, 2D and 17D. On the whole I enjoyed solving it.

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  17. As foretold, I have added some more matter to my main post. If a telegram is a long distance message, a lipogram is a oily message ;-)

    I trust the absence of the e (energy, enthusiasm and ecstacy) explains all the above comments in several posts by quite a few.

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    Replies
    1. Further, some friends who had reservations about unnecessary use of 'the' by some setters in their clues, will have not problems with the cluing in this puzzle. No e is automatically no the.

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  18. 13A Call an island as country (5) DUBAI (DUB A I) - Is 'as' part of the definition or part of the idiom? If it is latter, it is wrong since saying 'call as' is bad grammar.

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  19. I took 'a' as a filler for surface reading.

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  20. Full marks to AD for this compilation despite being constrained as he said, by lack of energy, which explains the way some of the clues are worded.
    Just a point on Lincoln. Not sure whether deletion of an abbreviation is seen generally?

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    Replies
    1. You are right Raghu. Even I was not wholly convinced. The alternate words didn't play out well for the surface. In fact Colonel pointed this out too earlier. Guess by that time I was really lacking energy to think more. :)

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    2. Abe is a commonly used version of the name. So that's okay. As I see it, the greater problem is, "to" is intrusive. It's misleading and doesn't give the right instruction to the solver.

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    3. Shortening Abe (when used for Abraham) is fine or not i'm not sure, but ABE here is an abbr for Lincoln, so may be not acceptable. Like shortening RE from REF for Judge, Referee ... would be a problem.

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    4. Ofcourse as said earlier some surfaces are not smooth, as AD has not used E at all for clueing.

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    5. Had it not been a proper noun I'd have been inclined to agree with you. Since this is one, Abe could prolly be construed as an alternative name/ nick name or something.

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  21. Wow!!

    I noticed the missing 'e' in only the gridfills. To write all the clues without 'e'?! Great & succeeded well. Congratulations!

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  22. It's really mind boggling to know that one could set a puzzle without using letter E in 30 clues ! And no 'E' in gridfills too !! Fantastic effort, Shrikanth !!! Hats off to you !!!!

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  23. No energy since 9am and no idea how many days we will be without power. Electricity employees are adamant and it appears there could be worse to come

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    Replies
    1. Since yesterday power cut imposed from 10:30 to 12 O'clock in Ameerpet, Hyderabad (on daily basis) !

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  24. MB,

    We were suffering it here without any strike for over 6 months- literal lack of energy by our TN Govt.!Hope you get some relief soon.

    Suresh,

    I think your area is one of the worst affected. I hope & pray you are physically safe. Take care. Politics has started affecting Lord Balaji too!

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    Replies
    1. Paddy,

      You'll be surprised to know, politics has not spared Lord Rama of Bhadrachalam too, since this pilgrim centre lies in Telengana region !

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    2. Thanks.All is well, but for the inconvenience.

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  25. A great idea and a great effort.
    ---
    Yesterday was Director sexist? Newsboy for 'paper tosser'?

    In Chennai I have seen a woman riding a moped and tossing paper.

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    Replies
    1. Or he/ she is prolly a radical feminist. The idea is, newsboys toss and girls just read.

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  26. No strike by elec employees but for most part of last night and today we in our building didn't have power. Not due to the monthly maintenance but for unknown reason as part of frequent power failure.

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  27. Nice going Shrikanth. That must have taken quite an effort. Keep them coming !

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  28. Shrikant: Excellent and Exemplary ! This crossword goes into my collection of memorabilia, amongst others. Thanks for the painstaking Effort !!

    Any special techniques or soft ware used? How did you mange to Exclude the Es in the clues and the answers?

    This is one of the reasons why I love THCC !

    CV: LIke all other crosswords, has anyone published any collection of cryptic crossword books by compilers exclusively in and from India?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Raju. It was plainly done in the old fashioned way. Of course Crossword Compiler was used. Gridfill was not very difficult. It was the right definitions and use of anagrinds that posed the challenge. Simply written and written and pass it under the scanner of eagle eyes of Kishore and Colonel.

      In fact my first proud mail was replied 'Nope' by Kishore. :). Because there were a couple of them that escaped.

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