Sunday 23 November 2014

Special, Sunday 23 Nov 2014, Bruno


Three answers per commenter (with annotations) as usual till 6 PM


ACROSS
1   Hope this text is intercepted by an intelligence agency (7)
5   Nearly full with drink, holds counter-top for support (7)
9   Both hands on wheels? (9)
10 This vehicle regularly went around in the past (5)
11 Crude income tax error lands one in soup? (6)
12 Goes along with sweetheart’s failings (7)
14 Vagrants’ essential instrument (4)
15 Entrepreneur organised upscale tour - not for everyone! (10)
19 Venomous snake from marsh somehow left river, got into chest brought by Queen (10)
20 Chip hit back after losing cap (4)
22 A cat in a city structure (7)
25 Chinese Premier disowned Captain training with foreign honcho in China (6)
27 Claim medic has zero sex-appeal (5)
28 Exposes manually-operated vehicle to aerial assault (3-6)
29 Judge has difficulties with top-ups (7)
30 Many go around believing essentially, that it’s a way to get rich! (7)

DOWN
1   De-marginalised population’s currency (4)
2   Medical specialist’s knowledge about core of principle is very annoying! (9)
3   Raid on establishment? (6)
4   Covers with even running strides (9)
5   Joke that is right in front of one! (5)
6   Underestimates shooters? (3-5)
7   Indian Ocean swells with Indian music (5)
8   Football team’s caught recruiting rival’s top one quietly; that must be peer-reviewed! (10)
13 Lara Croft: Cat Stylist! (4-6)
16 A rare cult made up of living beings (9)
17 Bait set out to trap the greatest brown forward (9)
18 Evil - imbibing core of virtues becomes God, perhaps (8)
21 Kid upset at that heartless rule (6)
23 A mug turned cold (5)
24 Curbed new desires for a long time… (5)
26 A group of girls, maybe, start to behave with spite after warden finally leaves (4)

Across Lite version is available at the following link BRUNO 3

Enjoy

74 comments:

  1. 22A--- A N (a tom) Y
    27A--- DR O IT
    23D--- A LOOF <<

    ReplyDelete
  2. 5A: FULCRUM
    {FULl}{C}{RUM}

    19A: BUSHMASTER
    BUST around MArSH* + ER

    13D: TOMB-RAIDER
    {TOM}{BRAIDER}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Forgot to add definitions:
      FULCRUM = support
      BUSHMASTER = venomous snake
      TOMB-RAIDER = Lara Croft (video game and movie character)

      Delete
  3. Thanks to Bruno for a delightful Sunday special! And thanks to DG for restarting it - while the IXL Sunday puzzles provided a substitute, the Sunday special here has a charm of its own and was sorely missed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Off topic

    The THC Setters page has been added. At the moment only Gridman and Afterdark have sent in their bios

    ReplyDelete
  5. 26Dn : A group of girls, maybe, start to behave with spite after warden finally leaves (4) BEVY {B+(EnVY)}

    ReplyDelete
  6. People finding Bruno tough after the 10 reasonably easy rounds of IXL? No Geography, History or Filmography required here ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Havent gone through the IXL Col, but if it involved Geography, history and filmography... then I would have had no chance...

      Delete
  7. 8D - MANUSCRIPT - MANUS C(R I P)T - Football team;s MANUS , Caught (CT) with R I P
    15A - SPECULATOR - UPSCALE + TOR - (TOUR without U)
    29A - REFILLS - REF + ILLS

    ReplyDelete
  8. 21 D: YEAR(-n)S
    18 D: IMMOR(T)ALS
    29a: REF ILLS

    ReplyDelete
  9. 7Dn : Indian Ocean swells with Indian music (5) RAGAS {RAGAS<==} Def : Indian Music.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 5Dn : Joke that is right in front of one! (5) FARCE {FA{R}CE} Def : Joke.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 14A - (-h)OBOE(-s)
    28A - {AIR-S}{TRIKE}
    4D - {ENVE}*{LOPES}

    ReplyDelete
  12. CGB,

    I think 18D must be 'Immortal'. Your answer does not suit 29A crossing.
    I read it as 'Immoral' (Evil) taking T.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have solved it as IMMORTAL only.... see above.

      Delete
  13. 24 Curbed new desires for a long time… (5) YEAR(-N)S

    ReplyDelete
  14. 16 A rare cult made up of living beings (9) CREATURAL*

    ReplyDelete
  15. Challenging puzzle . Thanks Balaji

    ReplyDelete
  16. 24D- YEARS
    Long time- Def.
    Desires- Yearns
    Curbed new- Minus N
    YEAR(N)S

    ReplyDelete
  17. Replies
    1. Yes, Archana. In case anybody is wondering SHOOTERS in cricket are LOW BALLS or balls that dont bounce much.

      Delete
  18. 30 Many go around believing essentially, that it’s a way to get rich! (7) LOT T(E)RY

    ReplyDelete
  19. 21 Kid upset at that heartless rule (6) DIK* T (A) T

    ReplyDelete
  20. 21down: DIKTAT: KID and T(H)A)T: RULE--DIKTAT

    ReplyDelete
  21. 21D-DIKTAT

    DIK- (KID)*
    That heartless- TAT
    Def.- Heartless rule

    ReplyDelete
  22. 17D- TANTALISE
    bait- Def.
    The greatest- Ali
    (SET)*
    Take the brown forward- Start with 'TAN"
    (TAN)T(ALI)(SE

    ReplyDelete
  23. Crude income tax error lands one in soup__ OXTAIL a soup variety-- OIL-- Crude oil and TAX anagram



    ReplyDelete
  24. In lieu of 21D-
    30A- LOTTERY
    Many- LOT
    Go - TRY
    Around- Anind
    Essentially-E
    Way to get rich- Def.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paddy,
      E from beliEving i think, essentially as letter picking ind

      Delete
    2. Yes AVM. The anno I had in mind was man ~ LOT go ~ TRY around beli(E)ving...

      Delete
  25. Good message there in 30A. Nice clue.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Across
    1 Hope this text is intercepted by an intelligence agency (7) PRO(MI)SE
    11 Crude income tax error lands one in soup? (6) O(XTA*)IL
    Down
    2 Medical specialist’s knowledge about core of principle is very annoying! (9) {OB}{NO{[-a]XIO[-m])US}
    OB- Obstetrician & Gynecologist

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Replacement for 11Ac already solved:
      1 Ac De-marginalised population’s currency (4) [-e]PONY[-m]
      Pony is slang for 25 Pounds Sterling

      Delete
    2. 1Dn PICE Anno?
      Is it [s]PECI*[-e]? But there is no Anagram Indicator.

      Delete
    3. PULA is the currency of Botswana
      [-po]PULA[-ce]

      Delete
  27. Chip hot back after losing cap: KNAP: SPANK- hit back- lose cap- delete S.

    ReplyDelete
  28. BRUNO:: brutally brain-fried n !! Thanks for filling in for this SUNDAY ROAST.. Col: Thanks for reviving the special. I waited in vain for the PLAY button to to activate for ICL Round X! !!-- force of Sunday habit !!.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm... Dont know if that is a compliment Raju, but welcome anyway...!!

      Delete
    2. Of course, its a compliment Balaji aka Bruno ! How could you read any thing else into my comments !!

      Delete
  29. Archana I have deleted two of your answers as you have exceeded the quota of 3 answers per person till 6PM

    ReplyDelete
  30. Left overs

    ACROSS - 9, 25
    DOWN - 1, 3

    ReplyDelete
  31. Sorry about that...overenthusiatic beginnner😞

    ReplyDelete
  32. 9a LANDROVER
    Def - Wheels
    Anno - both hands L AND R
    On OVER
    L+AND + R +OVER

    ReplyDelete
  33. 25A: TAIPAN ; {(-c)APTAIN}* ; Defn: foreign honcho in China

    ReplyDelete
  34. Toughie today - but was enjoyable

    ReplyDelete
  35. +1. My COD "LANDROVER" Thanks Bruno for the Sunday show!

    ReplyDelete
  36. A tough but nice and enjoyable time- feels like so long after. Thank you Bruno & Col.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi Participants of the IXL 2014! There are ups and downs in life as also in the Leaderboard of IXL 2014. So, I present you this Leaderboard (upto 30th position) that awards zero for incorrect entries. If you are upgraded, take this as a consolation. If you are downgraded, then please forgive me.Just see that Vinayak Rao Ekbote who deserved the proud 5th position with 1 incorrect entry as per the rules was hammered down to the 14th while Rangarajan who should have got 14th position with 2 incorrect entries was uplifted to the 6th. Consolation to Lahar and Rahmat, too.
    1 MOHSIN AHMED Bangalore 885
    2 SHUCHISMITA UPADHYAY Bangalore 853
    3 RAMESH JAGANNATHAN Secunderabad 788
    4 VINOD RAMAN Bangalore 763
    5 VINAYAK RAO EKBOTE New Delhi 740
    6 LAHAR APPAIAH Bangalore 722
    7 ANISH Ernakulam 715
    8 ABHAY PHADNIS Chennai 708
    9 DR S VENKATESH Delhi 706
    10 RAHMAT ALI Kolkata 706
    11 PADMASREE RAMABHADRAN Mumbai 705
    12 SOHRAB AZAM Kolkata 704
    13 VINOO SANJAY Mumbai 700
    14 RANGARAJAN Hyderabad 683
    15 BHARATI SHANKARAN HEMMADY Mumbai 607
    16 ABDUL HAQUE Delhi 605
    17 RAMKI KRISHNAN Chennai 601
    18 SHACHII MANIK Mumbai 584
    19 SURESH DORBALA Visakhapatnam 582
    20 SANJAY SINHA Patna 556
    21 SRIRAM Chennai 551
    22 SANDHYA PARUCHURI Hyderabad 546
    23 PRAMIT KAMATH New Delhi 533
    24 RAINMON Chennai 522
    25 JOSE DE ABREU Mumbai 522
    26 SRIVIDYA KRISHNASWAMY Chennai 513
    27 R NAGENDRA PRASAD Bangalore 511
    28 URMILA Bangalore 510
    29 N. RENGASWAMY Chennai 489
    30 SANJEEV KUMAR VERMA Patna 484

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dilip Kumar,

      You seem to have got your maths all wrong. Where did you get these figures from?
      Vinayak was never at 5th position after the 9th round. Moreover how do you know that Vinayak had 1 incorrect entry and Rangarajan had 2 incorrect entries?

      Delete
    2. Col.
      Dilip’s figures seem to be correct ( I don’t know how he has gleaned this info). I had only one incorrect entry ( one typo) during the entire league. If the rules ( Point 15 of Terms & Conditions) of awarding zero for incorrect entries are followed, Dilip’s calculations would be correct. Rahmat Ali had also commented on this on the leaderboard comments section. They seem to have changed the rule mid-way. Maximum impact was in the ninth round where I had an all correct entry and there were only a few all correct entries. The result was that incorrect entries scored 70-80 points and this impacted the leaderboard. If the rules specify something, they should be followed and not changed without any formal announcement

      Delete
    3. But still how does he know who all made incorrect entries and how many ?

      Delete
    4. Agree that they shouldn't have changed rules mid way though. I hope they will have clear rules next year

      Delete
    5. As far as I know no rules were changed midway. Only in the first round no marks were given for incorrect entries. However when they gave marks for incorrect entries from the second round onwards they did so for the first round also by giving the marks later so that brought all the scores under the same set of rules

      Delete
    6. Col.

      The fact is that the Leaderboard is not in accordance with the specified rules ( Point No. 15 of IXL Terms & Conditions ) and if there was any other set of rules, it is not in accordance with Point No. 17 of IXL Terms & Conditions.

      Delete
  38. Dilip, You may be right with your findings. Had zero been given as per last year, then the crossword would not have generated so much interest this year. It would have been an insipid one like last year with less number of participants.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Any criticisms?? The clues cant all have been OK...

    ReplyDelete

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