Thursday 9 October 2014

No 11210, Thursday 09 Oct 2014, Afterdark


Welcome to Madurai, says Afterdark.

ACROSS
9   When fun is missing in fitness, it's bad (7) USELESS USEfuLnESS
10 Badly scripted drama I took you reportedly in the city (7) MADURAI {MAD{U}RAI*}
11 Investigate blast, Chief detective replaced for importing a bit of RDX (7) EXPLORE EXPLO(-d+r)RE
12 Attached new canvas to Nile Red painting (7) RELINED*
13 Me shaken, I broke down on seeing Her (9) MEENAKSHI*
                    Cartoon by Bhargav
15 For starters, salt, ajinomoto, lime, nutmeg added to stew (5) SALNA  Acrostic

16 Legendary character destroyed King Nedunchezian I with a piece of anklet and peak anger (7) KANNAGI  [GK] (Addendum - {KING+Ne..........n+Anklet+Anger}* &lit)
19 Hair to observe Captain Lamb at ashes, when opponents are out (7) EYELASH {EYE}{Lamb}{ASHes}
20 Ruled out? Come back bat, bagging a pair (5) TABOO {TAB<=}{OO}
21 Drifts as evil taste develops (9) LEVITATES*
25 Having many mountains, it’s uncomfortably cold without cap (7) HILLIER cHILLIER
26 Indict topless solicitor Elizabeth standing in front of a church (7) IMPEACH {pIMP}{E}{A}{CH}
28 Bird flew right out, thanks to the bread (7) PAROTTA {PARrOT}{TA}
29 With respect to proposal, rewrite endlessly (7) APROPOS PROPOSAl*

DOWN
1   Quiet about value of, say The Louvre (6) MUSEUM {M{USE}UM}
2   Incomplete construction with no icon at the place of worship... (6) TEMPLE incoMPLETE*
3   ...proof that unfinished model is recycled (4) DEMO MODEl*
4   Judge animals with a bit of softness (6) ASSESS {ASSES}{So.....s}
5   Gradually pay off estimator, otherwise lose a shirt (8) AMORTISE EStIMATOR*
6   Youth plays a party track to trap the French (10) ADOLESCENT {A}{DO}{LE}{SCENT}
7   Shape learners with a medicinal plant (8) PRUNELLA {PRUNE}{LL}{A}
8   Artificial puddle formed by say, a swift shower (8) BIRDBATH {BIRD}{BATH}
14 A particle first separated by specialists (10) ANATOMISTS {AN}{ATOM{1ST}S} (Correction - {AN}{ATOM}{1ST}{S} - See comments)
16 Start off to draw uninterrupted power supply to make sauces (8) KETCHUPS {sKETCH}{UPS}
17 B’Berliners without hesitation disposed biters (8) NIBBLERS B'BerLINERS*
18 Sick, rainy weather faced by people from an old kingdom (8) ILLYRIAN {ILL}{RAINY*}
22 Distorted visual image of mules leaving the river (6) VAIGAI {VIsuAl ImAGe}*
23 Corrupt sportsman's son walks out with loose women... (6) TRAMPS sPoRTSMAn*
24 ... rift created by Supreme Court's hard philosophy (6) SCHISM {SC}{H}{ISM}
27 Stop, strike back with knife edge (4) PARK {PAR<=}{Knife}

GRID

68 comments:

  1. Just confirms AD is mAD about MADurai !

    16A Suspect that this is

    destroyed=anid for KNIAANG*
    King N i = K N I
    with a= A
    peak of anger = ANG

    Is it also an &lit. Leave it to the experts ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel it's KING N +A+A. Not sure about 'I' that follows N...

      Delete
    2. Then it is KING N 1 +A+A

      1 Or I from King Nedunchezian I

      Delete
    3. King = KING
      Nedunchezian I = N
      with a piece of anklet = A
      and peak anger = A

      Delete
    4. Well Raghu is right. The king really was Nedunchezian I ( like Edward the 7th etc ) . I thought I can use that 1 to denote N

      Delete
    5. You could have just left out the roman I and clue would have been fine, provided N for Ned... was acceptable. Was there any Ned.. the first?

      Delete
    6. It is &lit clue. Nedunchezhian 1 was the king who wrongly punished Kannagi's husband Kovalan for stealing the queen's anklet. An angry Kannagi visits the palace and challenges the king. She breaks the anklet to prove that the queen's was different from what Kovalan had ( the pair of it in her hand now ). A piece of stone from the anklet gets lodged in the king's lip and he dies ( don't ask me how ) and then in her anger she burnt whole of Madurai ( poor us ) ...

      Delete
    7. Thanks AD for the story.

      Is it really an &lit? I mean 'legendary character' does no work in the wordplay. It's the def. It's just that you managed the fodder to include the elements from the story. I could have the fodder comprising of some other words to arrive at KANNAGI.

      Delete
    8. It's a semi &lit, in its present form.
      Would " ___ destroyed King ....." be an &lit? [ignoring the blank as misleading punctuation in the cryptic reading? ]

      Delete
    9. Mohsin always pops up to differentiate the semi lot from &lit : )

      Delete
  2. 14 A particle first separated by specialists (10) ANATOMISTS {AN}{ATOM{1ST}S}

    I took this to be {AN}{ATOM}{1ST}{S}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A particle ATOM
      first IST
      separated by - c/c ind
      specialists - ANS - American Nuclear Society which must have many members as specialists
      specialists is doing double duty as def

      Delete
    2. A = AN
      particle = ATOM
      first =1ST
      separated = S (acceptable?)
      by
      specialists = {AN}{ATOM}{1ST}{S}

      Delete
    3. Yes, I took 1st to be on double duty.

      Delete
    4. I personally don't like this double duty in clues.

      Delete
    5. xChequer was also saying the same the other day :) :(

      Delete
    6. Raghu @ 9:58 "I personally don't like this double duty in clues"


      How about this, Raghu?

      Delete
    7. MB,
      I should have added 'in clues' ;)

      Delete
  3. Well, if you want to look at it like that, you're most welcome to do it.
    If ANG is "peak of anger", the base must be very small and weak!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Top heavy, instead of bottom heavy ;-)

      Delete
    2. My anno may not be correct. That is why is said I suspect. I am sure AD has something happening here.

      Delete
  4. Have not been to Madurai, so thanks AD for the trip. Are Parotta and Salna specialties of Madurai?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As illustrated by Deepak, I believe "Madurai Salna" goes with Parotta

      Delete
  5. Write a clue for
    JIGARTHANDA
    From among the entries I will select one which I think is the most favourite.
    This CWE's deadline is Saturday midnight IST.
    Entries may be in the Comments section of the blog any day - today, Fri and Sat (to give a chance to overseas members, lurkers, occasional visitors, lazybones).
    Result I will announce in the Comments section on Sun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First of all what in heavens is JIGARTHANDA???

      Delete
    2. Google tells me it's "COLD HEART" and a Tamil musical gangster film

      Delete
    3. It is a drink that is Madurai Special.

      Delete
    4. It is supposed to be a 'Heanenly' drink!

      Delete
    5. Typo- it should be 'Heavenly'.

      Delete
    6. North Indian cool heart, on the contrary is drunk in Madurai

      Delete
    7. Drink a Taj hard gin coctail (11)

      Delete
    8. Judge presided crazy night including one artist and lawyer for a drink (11)

      Delete
    9. I thought that film was awesome. The genre, crime comedy, is always an interesting one.

      Jack had Granita, refreshing drink (11)

      Delete
  6. Parotta,Salna...and Samosa too!!

    I was in fact looking for Jigarthanda somewhere along the line, once Madurai was confirmed!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dating Rajah went wrong to Jil Jil beverage (11)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Indian Sir in courtyard with a drink (11)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Crazy night and jar supplied drink (11)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jack's not against hard cocktail drink from Madurai (11)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jig had an art for getting a Madurai special.(11)
    (deleted previous posts with omissions!)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice one from Afterdark. Found South-West corner tough, but happy with other corners. Thank you, Afterdark. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. North Indian cools his heart with this in Madurai (11)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had one of these recently at Murugan idly shop in Madurai and was not impressed.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Refresher of dance technique exhibited by Chinese prosecutor (11)

    ReplyDelete
  16. What's the origin of the word SALNA? Its a stew- SALAN?-SHORBA ( MIDDLE EAST?_ OR SHURVA ? A SORT OF GRAVY AS TERMED IN NORTH INDIA. IS IT AN URDU WORD?
    HAS IT GOT ANY MARATHI ORIGIN? GIVEN THE FACT THAT MAHARASHTRIANS WERE THERE DOWN SOUTH IN TANJORE AND ALSO MADURAI?

    PAROTTA IS SPELT SO IN TAMILNADU WHEREAS IN THE NORTH, ISN'T IT PARATHA OR PARANTHA ? THE GUJARATI VERSION IS REFERRED TO A PURI?

    tHEN THERE IS THIS KERALA PARATHA WHICH IS MADE OUT OF MAIDA AND COMES IN LAYER AFTER LAYER -- IN FRIABLE PIECES !

    ANY MORE VERSIONS?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not sure, but there may be a connection with 'Salan' a Hyderabadi dish

      Delete
  17. Good compilation, Afterdark. There's a musical alliterative rhythm to ANATOMISTS. Hence, it is the clue of my day.

    What next? Gopurams, veeddhis and salais of Madurai?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Parantha and Parotta[ or Barotta] are different. Parotta is mostly Maida and a lot of oil.
    Is Salna the same as Kuruma?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yes, salna is our(Maduraites') name for kuruma. The 'tan tan' sound of beating on the tawa in the ubiqitous roadside parotta stalls a couple of hours after sunset announces the start of brisk business! A familiar, characteristic sound of the city!!! I too am not very fond of jigarthanda, but many of my family members and relatives are. There are a very few authentic outlets for buying the item.

    ReplyDelete
  20. JIGARTHANDA : G sounds respectful as a prefix to this comic strip character along with a cooling of the heart when you drink this.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Dance with skill to get applause and a drink (11)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Subbaraj's latest – a grand hit released on the 1st of August (11)

    J (last letter of Subbaraj) + IGARTHAND* + A (1st of August) .......... Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigarthanda

    Query: "X's latest" for last letter of X ok?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Latest of Subburaj will solve that ?

      Delete
    2. I meant whether "latest" for last letter's ok. The word's usually associated with time, not position.
      If "latest of Subbaraj" is fine, then I don't see any issues with "Subbaraj's latest"

      Delete
  23. Subbaraj's finally released a grand hit on the 1st of August or "ultimate" instead of "latest" in your surface works better IMO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath -
      Please reconsider your statement.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. I get what you mean. Released is to consider the last letter. Apologies to Sowmya .

      Delete
    4. Released is the anagrind for (a grand hit)

      Delete
    5. Yes, Raghunath, as Mohsin states above, 'released' is the anag signal. Don't know how you missed it even after the wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
      Anyway, don't worry!

      Delete
  24. I considered "Subbaraj's finally released ..." . But then the clue doesn't really point to the answer, does it? It just says: "X did Y".

    Can't see how to work "ultimate" into the clue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Atlast Subbaraj released a grand hit on the 1st of August

      Delete
    2. How about this?

      Subbaraj's last work, a hit, grand one (11)

      Delete

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