Incognito continues to keep his puzzles within the reach of most solvers. There are a lot of good clues here, liked HERON, CHESSMEN, ATTEND, NEWT, GO RED, TYCOON. Of course there is my pet peeve of giving away more than half of the answer in clues (2d, 4d, 20d, 24d). Mandela makes an appearance keeping intact Incognito's promise of at least one personality per puzzle. I didn't spot any other theme, but if you see something I didn't, chime in.
ACROSS
8 Chase away Station House Officer with an egg (4) SHOO [S H O + 0]
9 Invitation to engage in further intercourse or invitation to strike the lady, maybe? (4,6) COME HITHER [COME + HIT + HER]
10 Partisan United Nations fete (6) UNFAIR [UN + FAIR]
11 Doubts unique selling proposition in clans (8) SUSPECTS [USP inside SECTS]
12 Predicting consumption around four or six (8) DIVINING [DINING outside IV or VI]
14 Mandela’s offer is rejected in Madras airport (6) MADIBA [BID<= inside MAA]
16 Master and child define a unit of speed (4) MACH [MA + CH]
17 Elsinore hunter carries back a bird (5) HERON [T<=]
18 I left Southern Ohio for London area (4) SOHO [S + OHiO]
19 Dump the lady in water for a mountaineer (6) SHERPA [HER inside SPA]
21 Gets off when alien occupies the sewers (8) DETRAINS [ET inside DRAINS]
23 Officer error leads to breakdown (8) COLLAPSE [COL + LAPSE]
26 Caught husband! Rather fat! (6) CHUBBY [C + HUBBY]
Cartoon by Rishi
27 Bones soldiers take to American city (10) SACRAMENTO [SACRA + MEN + TO]
28 Renovate morgue after loss of Magnesium to get money (4) EURO [mORgUE]*
DOWN
1 State capital where Chinese actor and British princess hold Indian fort (10) CHANDIGARH [CHAN + DI + GARH]
2 Warrant Officer Manish was rather feminine (8) WOMANISH [W O + MANISH]
3 Tax castor oil compound after extraction of sulphur and aluminium (6) OCTROI [CasTOR OIl]*
4 A minor prophet almost released lieutenant (4) AMOS [AlMOSt]
5 They are found on board: Revolutionary members of the Schutzstaffel (8) CHESSMEN [CHE + SS MEN]
6 Participate in a table tennis final (6) ATTEND [A + TT + END]
7 Salamander went away (4) NEWT [WENT]*
13 Mauled by a bull? Feel embarrassed! (2,3) GO RED [GORED]
15 Place where soda-jerks were arrested and put (6,4) BEHIND BARS [C&DD]
17 Thump ape around thermal equipment (4,4) HEAT PUMP [THUMP APE]*
18 Detectives have fake applications (8) SHAMUSES [SHAM + USES]
20 Administrators rule in Rajya Sabha (6) RULERS [RULE + RS] Was confused by the 'in' initially
22 Businessman sprawled? Not coy! (6) TYCOON [NOT COY]*
24 Country woman is decapitated (4) OMAN [wOMAN]
25 Northerner hides a bird (4) ERNE [T]
ACROSS
8 Chase away Station House Officer with an egg (4) SHOO [S H O + 0]
9 Invitation to engage in further intercourse or invitation to strike the lady, maybe? (4,6) COME HITHER [COME + HIT + HER]
10 Partisan United Nations fete (6) UNFAIR [UN + FAIR]
11 Doubts unique selling proposition in clans (8) SUSPECTS [USP inside SECTS]
12 Predicting consumption around four or six (8) DIVINING [DINING outside IV or VI]
14 Mandela’s offer is rejected in Madras airport (6) MADIBA [BID<= inside MAA]
16 Master and child define a unit of speed (4) MACH [MA + CH]
17 Elsinore hunter carries back a bird (5) HERON [T<=]
18 I left Southern Ohio for London area (4) SOHO [S + OHiO]
19 Dump the lady in water for a mountaineer (6) SHERPA [HER inside SPA]
21 Gets off when alien occupies the sewers (8) DETRAINS [ET inside DRAINS]
23 Officer error leads to breakdown (8) COLLAPSE [COL + LAPSE]
26 Caught husband! Rather fat! (6) CHUBBY [C + HUBBY]
27 Bones soldiers take to American city (10) SACRAMENTO [SACRA + MEN + TO]
28 Renovate morgue after loss of Magnesium to get money (4) EURO [mORgUE]*
DOWN
1 State capital where Chinese actor and British princess hold Indian fort (10) CHANDIGARH [CHAN + DI + GARH]
2 Warrant Officer Manish was rather feminine (8) WOMANISH [W O + MANISH]
3 Tax castor oil compound after extraction of sulphur and aluminium (6) OCTROI [CasTOR OIl]*
4 A minor prophet almost released lieutenant (4) AMOS [AlMOSt]
5 They are found on board: Revolutionary members of the Schutzstaffel (8) CHESSMEN [CHE + SS MEN]
6 Participate in a table tennis final (6) ATTEND [A + TT + END]
7 Salamander went away (4) NEWT [WENT]*
15 Place where soda-jerks were arrested and put (6,4) BEHIND BARS [C&DD]
17 Thump ape around thermal equipment (4,4) HEAT PUMP [THUMP APE]*
18 Detectives have fake applications (8) SHAMUSES [SHAM + USES]
20 Administrators rule in Rajya Sabha (6) RULERS [RULE + RS] Was confused by the 'in' initially
22 Businessman sprawled? Not coy! (6) TYCOON [NOT COY]*
24 Country woman is decapitated (4) OMAN [wOMAN]
Not too taxing, but quite fun! Come Incognito and you are assured of 100% success!! Thank you Incognito, you just made my day!!!
ReplyDeleteSmooth one. Madiba was very nice. I too was a bit confused by 'in' in 20 A.
ReplyDeleteMy error:
DeleteThe intended clue was
Administrators rule badly in Rajya Sabha (6)
R(ULER*)S
And very apt too!
DeleteDitto for all.
ReplyDeletecannot claim anything- not even a cup of cha- it was a walk over!
Glad to see a bit of Tuppy Glossop in 7D.
Had to wait for the blog to clarify the anno for the unpronounceable German clue (the answer got filled easily though)
Enjoyed 12A. Put the 'IVI' in the wrong place and was groping for a while.
ReplyDeleteWhy has TH made him almost incognito? Their experiment for a place is really revolutionary!
It is no more The Hindu crossword corner. It is corners. Each day a different one!
DeleteReminded me of the game- 4 corners!
Delete... in an elongated form, stretched to its limits!
DeleteAbove post in response to Kishore @ 8:51
DeleteAny resemblance of the person in CV's cartoon to self is purely coincidental.
ReplyDeleteThere may be a few competitors for that claim!
DeleteNot me!
DeleteThe effort to overcome it is called Battle of the Bulge...
DeleteI mean the middle (age) bulge.
ReplyDeleteRishi's cartoon for 26A: All food appears to have gone to waist...
ReplyDeleteThere is no dearth of girth
DeleteSome mirth...
DeleteAbout the Firth of Forth. Ye hamaari fitrath hai
DeleteIrshaad, irshaad!
DeleteIncognito in Muscat hangover? Besides 24D, there is OMAN hidden in 2D.
ReplyDeleteGood spotting. Unintended
DeleteBut I don't see Oman , just Woman.
DeleteDid I spot someone peering over your shoulder as you were typing this? ;-)
DeleteIf you subscribe to the theory, "Suspicion, thy name is woman!", then it would be the other way round. Raghu is saying he sees woman, not Oman.
Delete@ Richard 9.03 a.m.: All food for thought didn't digest and remained in the waist??
ReplyDeleteBhargav, you mean to say the thought process is in the wrong place? ;-)
DeleteIneffective fire in the belly!
ReplyDeleteFine as long as the fire does not extend all the way to the end of the a. canal
Delete@ 8:52 -Administrators rule badly in Rajya Sabha (6)
ReplyDeleteWatch out, take cover! The mischief of the clause of contempt of the house might take effect...
I expect a letter from LS asking "why this partiality to RS? " Where have we fallen short?
DeleteQuite plausible...
DeleteThey both are good at seeking, ensuring and enforcing privileges, you know...
DeleteThe only item for which there is unanimity irrespective of party affiliations- cutting across party lines, as they say!
DeleteKishore @944
DeleteMay be in tv ;-)
If my photos get out, I will own up. Proves I am honest!
DeleteA gentle workout - more like an enjoyable warm-up! Overall, I thought the puzzle had a Quiptic quality. Very good surfaces.
ReplyDeleteFor 15d, I thought "Soda-jerks arrested" would have worked by itself as a slightly more challenging clue.
Forgot to say that I loved "...four or six..."! Thanks, Incognito.
DeleteOn similar count, I have enjoyed a clue appeared in IE years back:
DeleteIt is of little consequence whether you score 4 or 6 in Test(7)
TRIVIAL!
Deleteyes
DeleteSmooth one as usual. These are days one feels very happy doing crosswords.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! A pleasure trip.
DeleteNice and breezy crossword. Thanks K - My COD was 13D Go Red:)
ReplyDeleteIs it just me that can see Her in 3 clues and Woman in two:):)
ReplyDelete'Where there are women, there are we, men' Kishore might say.
DeleteThere are 3 "Her"s in the lights, but 8 in the clues. One woman each. But every Her has a He and every woman has a man. However, so that you do not lose your upper hand, there are other words like lady and feminine where men cannot make such a claim.
Delete:-)
DeleteThanks. A pleasant start to the day!
ReplyDeleteEasy not doubt, but a smooth one with some really interesting clues. Liked 5D the most.
ReplyDeleteNortherner hides two birds - hern & erne - although you could argue that hern is a variant spelling.
@Kishore Thanks for an easy and breezy xword :) ( No head banging )
ReplyDeleteAnagram of 8A <=> Anagram of18 A :)
ReplyDelete24D, very gruesome, lol, why this kolaveri?
ReplyDeleteAnd Countrywoman should be one word right?
Because of the soupcon!
DeleteI think so too. Will inform Incog.
LV
ReplyDeleteRe your apt observation that 8a and 18a are anagrams.
There are two anagrams that Incog. has not used: one leading to a meditation organisation and another to a male name abroad.
Just as I was writing that I realised that there is also a third anagram: the plural form of an exclamation.
Ooh (yes!) la la!
Delete@CV sir Yes :)
Delete@Richard :)
For CV's attention-
ReplyDeleteWe, paper solvers, find it extremely difficult not only to fill in those tiny squares but even to read the clues. I am sure Th can at least allot more space in whichever corner it is placed. Your intervention may be helpful than ours.
I think that after the tentative changes made the other day, the present arrangement is the best and we have to reconcile ourselves with it.
ReplyDeleteOn the first day when the crossword was placed somewhere in the middle when it is difficult to fold the paper into A4 size comfortably and when the clues and the grid were not within sight unless the paper was spread out to the broadsheet size, I wrote to the paper about the inconvenience caused.
The present arrangement (which they have reached after some thoughtless shifting) takes care of the three features even as news is on top (as it should be) and the ads are at lower right. If on any future day, the page is a left-hand page, I guess the features will be at right while the ads are placed at left.
The present arrangement would be disturbed if there is a half-page ad, but I think that would be avoided if it can be helped and if it is not a special daylike Deepaval or Pongal when many advertisers take many large-sized ads.
As the Tamil proverb goes, a crying baby gets milk (even if it is not breastmilk), but if it keeps on crying...?
Thank you for your prompt reply. We will have to wait and watch. Let us be hopeful. Apart from the placement, I think the size also may keep varying depending on the advt.
ReplyDeleteKonar's notes on K's cartoon
ReplyDeleteGussie refers to Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle, who no stranger to the Jeeves' fans. A friend of Bertie Wooster, he is a newt fancier.
It was mentioned that 'you could have flung bricks by the hour in England's most densely-populated districts without endangering the safety of a single girl capable of becoming Mrs Augustus Fink-Nottle without an anaesthetic.'
Today is the Global Free Comic Book Day. While in bookstores in the US, fans can claim a hard copy of popular graphic novels, including Archie Digest #1, up for grabs today, in India, activities will be online. Those downloading Amar Chitra Katha app over the weekend can access 10 of their titles on offer free. Those logging on to readwhere.com on May 3 and 4 can download any 5 of the titles psoted by popular Indian publishers.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the CW. Everything went like a fairytale event. Reg. 15 Td -the answer was easy to come by. But anno. is not clear covering sodajerk.Anyway nice puzzle at the weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh! God. Now I understand and relish the punch behind 'soda jerk' Nice wordplay.
ReplyDeleteGood one from Kishore. Is it my wicked mind that has detected a PUNTIC in the clue of 9 across?
ReplyDeleteAgain, who is inviting whom? normally the female of the species give the COME HITHER LOOK ?
Incidentally, the soda jerks are always in front of the bar on stools , fit ( Hic !) to be put BEHIND BARS !!
In the typical situation of yore, the sj was behind the fountain on the counter. Today, in case of those multiple fountains dispensing four to five drinks, he is in front of it. To avoid the trap of saying where he operated, I said where he was arrested in the clue. In olden days, those soda bars also used to have a juke box and it was a treat to watch the extension arm pick up and put back gramophone records.
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_jerk
DeleteKishore: I was referring to those " jerks" )in the American slang style) who normally twine their legs around the bar stools and keep squirting soda and become moaning slobs. in soliloqy, drowning their sorrows in whiskey. I had a very good experience of these slobs in the Mombasa bars. One of them even went to open the boot of his car and carped about the door of the driver's seat not opening ! He was merrily rolling the white line on the mombasa Malindi Road, unbeknown of a Police car screaming awayb and had to be put in the lock up over the week end.The courts were closed. . On Monday he was bailed out to come back to the bar again directly !!
DeleteThose were my bachelor days there !
Thanks all, for enjoying it. See you on Monday. I 'promise' some of you will be happy. Of course, the counterpoint is that some may not be ;-)
ReplyDelete