Monday 24 November 2014

No.11248, Monday 24 Nov 2014, Anitya


In true Anitya style, the clues are short, crisp and entertaining

Across
7 Speaker with one old musical composition (8) ORATORIO (ORATOR I O)
9 OK-to-eat food item (6) EDIBLE (2)
10 Off with a method (4) AWAY (A WAY)
11 Cravings for advertisement locutions (10) ADDICTIONS (AD DICTIONS)
12 Bar special champion, right? (6) SPACER (SP ACE R)
14 Nope, get a change that allows free access (4,4) OPEN GATE (NOPE GETA)*
15 Repeated a profit with a profit (5,3,5) AGAIN AND AGAIN (A GAIN AND A GAIN)
17 Support tilt in compilation of books still in print (8) BACKLIST (BACK LIST)
19 Essays he's written in setback (6) THESES (HE'S in SET<)
21 Monsoon out to pour all the same (10) MONOTONOUS (MONSOON OUT)*
22 Black hat crushed for Thailand cash (4) BAHT (B HAT*)
23 Detenu ancestors secreted shade of meaning (6) NUANCE (T)
24 Maintain the pace to stay up-to-date (4,4) KEEP STEP (KEEP STEP)

Down
1 Act your age with good line at the top (4,2) GROW UP (G ROW UP)
          I have, Anitya, but I have ... ;-) Now it is DG (not Col.Gopinath!) and Renga's turn ...
2 Remain, saint — always! (4) STAY (ST AY)
3 Test managed in rehearsal (5,3) TRIAL RUN (TRIAL RUN)
4 About small hint in heroic act (6) RESCUE (RE S CUE)
5 Yet one may have to die for this salary (6,4) LIVING WAGE (CD,DD)
          Reminded me of that great cemetery where people were dying to get in ...
6 Board with big load of fish food (8) PLANKTON (PLANK TON)
8 New York bold to break seniors' complex (3,3,7) OLD BOY NETWORK (NEW YORK BOLD TO)*
          I knew a group of old men who used to meet every week to engulf Gobi Manchurain. I used to call them the Gobi network
13 Suppresses ace's crossword entries (10) CRACKDOWNS (CRACK DOWNS)
          To nitpick, suppesses = cracks down and suppressions are = crackdowns
15 One — one record almost due in similar version (8) ANALOGUE (AN A LOG dUE)
16 Witness at trial has hesitation (8) ATTESTER (AT TEST ER)
          In 3d test became trial and here it is the other way around !
18 I, with two boys, pressed (6) IRONED (I  RON ED)
20 Mimics Election Commission's tools (6) ECHOES (EC HOES)
22 Low pedestal (4) BASE (2)

GRID

FLASH NEWS: IXL FINAL WILL BE HELD IN BANGALORE 
All the best to the participants. My apologies for not being able to make it as my class reunion is there on the same day at 1030.  I will attend if that programme gets changed.

53 comments:

  1. As per the undermentioned article from The HINDU, the IXL Finals are to be at Bangalore

    Top Cruciverbalists to cross swords in Dec 21 finale

    The article is from a reporter at Patna so the finals location should be authentic

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes. Got the invite for ixl finals by mail and it said Blore

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good, I hope you can make it even though it's not in the place you desired.

      Delete
    2. Another Flash News: This year the final will be among the top 20 in view of the huge participation. Have just got the invite. The relevant extract is as below:

      A hearty congratulations to you from the entire team of the INDIAN CROSSWORD LEAGUE 2014!

      As you are aware the Grand Finale of Indian Crossword League (IXL) is open to only Top 10 participants of the online rounds. But this year due to the large participation, it has been decided to offer an opportunity to participate in the Grand Finale to the participants ranked 11 to 20.

      Delete
    3. So views of participants are being heard

      Delete
    4. No Col., I will not be there. I sent in my regrets

      Delete
    5. Vinayak, that's a positive development. Ramesh, that's a negative development.
      It was the best of times and it was the worst of times ...

      Delete
    6. It might have been partly prompted by RJ (and I suspect some others in the top 10) opting out, leading to non achievement of a critical mass ...

      Delete
    7. With RJ dropping out Suresh may get a call as he is at 21

      Delete
    8. Renga too can expect, should there be any more dropouts. He is at 22.

      Delete
  3. Agree with your nit on Crackdowns. Jarring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubted and double checked before filling in. I did not want to lose my samosa on that a/c!
      Nice one Anitya. Enjoyed solving the crisp clues as Kishore put it,

      Delete
    2. Paddy, your wish has been fulfilled ...Please read comment under 1d

      Delete
    3. What's the comment about Renga?

      Delete
    4. Renga's handle/avatar - a boy with a cap on!

      Delete
    5. K
      Thank you for listening to Listeners' choice!

      Delete
  4. From the mail
    The venue for the IXL 2014 Finale is:
    TERI-SRC Auditorium,
    4th Main, 2nd Cross,
    Domlur II Stage,
    Bangalore - 560071,
    Karnataka.

    India.

    The participants are required to reach the venue on the 21st of December 2014 at 12:00pm sharp.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same location as last year. But start time of 12 PM seems to be a bit too late.

      Delete
    2. A late start with a similar format may easily take it up to beyond 5pm leaving me a small window of making it at the fag end

      Delete
    3. I think it will be more appropriate and clearer if the time is mentioned as 12 noon or 12 midday.

      Delete
    4. In this case, unlike the online round results, I don't think there will be any confusion though, as no one would imagine that the event would start at midnight!

      Delete
  5. As suggested by CV, the THC Setters page has been created and can be visited using the link on top of this page. At present only details of Gridman and Afterdark are there.

    The remaining are requested to send me their write ups with a snap for inclusion in the THC Setters page.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. The noun and the verb in the heading are condescending.

      Delete
    2. Yep, my reaction exactly on the reading the headline link - as if something unimaginable has happened.

      Delete
    3. In some parts of India that's the 'men'tality.

      Delete
    4. Thanks, guys, for expressing your outrage at such 'men'tality, an unfair attitude towards the fair sex!

      Delete
  7. Sunday 30th Nov "Sunday special" is going to be a Jumbo from Arden

    ReplyDelete
  8. A news item today says a 17-year-old Brazilian boy has created a World record by typing 25 words in 17 seconds. That would have taken an eternity for me. He wrote:

    The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And another eternity (if possible) for me to correct the spellings!

      Delete
    2. Is P's eternity longer than CV's. In maths, one talks of infinties in this manner, one being larger than the other ...

      Delete
    3. The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.

      I took 60 seconds to type that !!

      Delete
    4. You are in second(s). Who is the first?

      Delete
    5. The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.
      ~27 seconds :)

      To be honest, I think 17 is pretty slow. Surely there are faster typers out there.

      Delete
    6. My typing speed at my peak (around 1977) was over the 120 wpm required when I passed my typewriting senior exam as quite a few of my age group might have done. That translates (at the then defined standard of 5 characters per word) to 600 characters per minute i.e. 10 per second. There were marks deducted for not finishing and for mistakes and I ended up getting a First Class. This passage is around 160 characters, which at that speed should have taken about 16 seconds. Adding a few seconds for the obscure words it will end up around 20. So, as Mohsin says, there must be plenty of faster typists out there. But I have slowed down and tend to make more typos (as all of you would know) these days.

      Delete
    7. Actually it was typing the text message on a touch screen mobile phone.
      Sorry I did not specify this: I assumed most of you would have seen the report.
      The lad used an iPhone 6 Plus and software company Syntellia's Fleksy keyboard.

      Delete
  9. Living Wage denied me the samosa today :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Suresh:Agree with your nit on Crackdowns. Jarring.

    I thought of putting it like this:

    I've got a nit, ya with Anitya!

    ReplyDelete
  11. a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

    That is 25 words in 8 seconds

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh, I can do better
      25 words
      In less than 3 secs

      Delete
    2. Always knew that you were faster than me.

      Your son is towering over you

      Delete
    3. Also doing what you did in 3 seconds I would doubtless make a typo

      Delete
    4. Yes, he does that ... By over 6 inches

      Delete

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