Saturday 6 June 2015

No 11414, Saturday 06 Jun 2015, Vulcan


Across


1 Courageous in coping with the ordeal (11) LIONHEARTED {IN THE ORDEAL}*
8 One very content always (4) EVER (T)
9 There's no place to relax after this? (4,6) LAST RESORT (CD)
10 Skips a primarily wonderful puzzle (6) JIGSAW {JIGS}{A}{W}
11 Recipe gets, say, more aromatic with this (8) ROSEMARY {R}{OSEMARY*} &lit

12 Instinctive guy eating lots to start with and drinking in excess (8) GLUTTONY {G{L}UT}{TONY}
14 Fundamentals of strong comeback (5) ROOTS {STOOR<=}
16 Finally finish off a book (5)  ATLAS {AT LASt}
18 Levelled and ornamented with designs (8) STOREYED (DD)
22 Fool spending thousand dollars in a theatre (3,5) ART HOUSE Anno Pending {AR{THOU}SE} See Comments
23 Mark married a friend, finally disappeared (6) MACRON {M}{A}{CRONy}
25 With joint strain she stitches (10) SEAMSTRESS {SEAM}{STRESS}

26 Dream of setter — to entertain crossword community (4) MUSE {M{US}E}
27 This kind of information could embarrass anybody in the end. Checks run through reveal unethical practices during campaign (5,6) DIRTY TRICKS {DIRT}{Y} {T{R}ICKS}

Down

1 The French striving to become imposing (7) LEVYING {LE}{VYING}
2 Plants and grass trimmed after approval (5) OKRAS {OK}{gRASs}

3 Filth was all over the place and they did nothing? (4-4) HALF-WITS {FILTH WAS}*
4 One that just didn't walk, did something more! (4-3) ALSO-RAN (CD)
5 High in confidence and drive (6) THRUST {T{H}RUST}
6 Boys die with delirium, extremely spooky, turn into ghost (9) DISEMBODY {BOYS DIE DeliriuM}*
7 Doctor conservative about a fungal disease (3,3) DRY ROT {DR}{Y ROT<=}
13 Poor man, sadhu, ending life without any feeling of guilt (9) UNASHAMED {MAN SADHU E}*
15 One who makes contracts in favour of a greedy one (8) PROMISER {PRO}{MISER}
17 What eventually great plays help in reaching (6) TARGET {T}{ARGET*} Defn?
19 Article on Derby starting to go viral because of that (7) THEREBY {THE}{dERBY*}
20 Looks for water, drinks a bit of rum, sleeps off (7) DROWSES {D{R}OWSES}
21 Bread's topping, say, could be this (6) BUTTER {B}{UTTER} &lit
24 Funny congress leader taking over microphone (5) COMIC {C}{O}{MIC}

Reference list

Recipe=R,Married=M,Setter=Me,Crossword community=Us,Run=R
The French=Le,Approval=OK,High=H,Doctor=Dr,Conservative=Tory,Article=The,Over=O,Microphone=Mic

Color/Font Scheme

Definition,Solution,Component letters,Anagram Indicator,C/C indicator,Reversal Indicator,Hidden word IndicatorLetter Pick indicator,Deletion Indicator

GRID

59 comments:

  1. 22 Fool spending thousand dollars in a theatre (3,5) ART HOUSE Anno Pending
    AR(HOU)SE
    fool - ARSE
    spending - without
    thousans - THOU

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arse (verb), To mess around or play the fool as in "To arse about".

      Delete
    2. Spending as a C/c indicator? Seems too much of a stretch. What do others think?

      Delete
    3. thou n. Slang A thousand, especially of dollars

      Delete
    4. It is a stretch. It's like A = B and B = C so A = C.

      Delete
    5. Sorry. 'Arse about' is 'fool around'. Just 'arse' cannot yield 'fool'

      Delete
    6. Across the Atlantic
      The electric message hums
      Asses are donkeys
      arses are bums

      [Khushwant Singh ]

      Delete
  2. 22 Fool spending thousand dollars in a theatre (3,5) ART HOUSE

    AR{T HOU}SE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thou: slang for a thousand, especially of dollars. (Freedict)

      Delete
    2. Thanks Rajan & Sandhya

      Delete
  3. MB
    Late yesterday I prvided a suggested reading for you. Please look it up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, CV Sir. Shall go through it. :)

      Delete
    2. Funny LUNCHEON. Thoroughly enjoyed it, Sir!

      Anyone interested to have a delicious 'luncheon'?

      Here's the link : http://www.lingvistov.ru/reading-club-pre-intermediate-the-luncheon-by-s-maugham/

      Enjoy it!

      Delete
  4. Dr Gayathri, a Commenter and an attendee at our S & B meetings, has passed FRCS exam.
    A personal ad congratulating her appears in the CHN edn of the paper today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hearty congratulations. An Ophthalmologist, a biographer and a screenplay writer now becomes a Royal College Fellow! Kudos on the myriad achievements.

      Delete
    2. Congrats Gayathri. I suppose that's why she has not been seen around here for some time

      Delete
    3. Hearty congratulations to Dr Gayathri. Her absence here paid her rich dividends on the other front. We all should be proud of her achievement. Time to celebrate with 'samosas'

      Excelsior, Doctor! Set your 'eyes' still higher!

      Delete
    4. Congrats Dr Gayathri, FRCS (Also stands for - Famously Remembered for Coining 'Samosas'

      Delete
    5. I managed to reach Dr Gayathri on the phone and conveyed to her the members' greetings and wishes here..

      Delete
  5. A very good puzzle over all with nice construction of clues.

    In 1a how does 'in' get into the fodder?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'in' is combining with 'the ordeal'. Probably if 'with' is included as anagram indicator, it should become clearer.
      Interesting CW and quite entertaining.

      Delete
  6. Hearty congratulations to Dr. Gayathri for the no mean achievement, especially considering her interest in varied fields. Incidentally, she is the one who started our 'samosa' terminology. So more samosas of a different kind to her!

    ReplyDelete
  7. 6Dn : Boys die with delirium, extremely spooky, turn into ghost (9) DISEMBODY {BOYS DIE DeliriuM}*

    How to know when 'extremely' appears in a clue, which word to choose from? The one before it or after?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I chose 'spooky' misled by the commas and got into trouble. Probably you did some mind reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I did!. I too chose spooky SPOOKY and landed in hot soup!!

      Delete
  9. Liked the new anind in 11Ac that was chemically 'aromatic'!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It may be new anagrind but the question is how many will accept Many solvers would expect an anag signal to suggest some movement, agitation, replacement, upsetting, rearrangement, reorder, jumble... OTOH, 'aromatic', sweet-smelling though it may be, doesn't.
      Please note that criticisms like this are made not to denigrate a crossword nor to detract from its quality. It is done to provoke discussion and to enhance appreciation of the art.
      We don't have a forum like CU that writes articles on UK crosswords by culling examples from the works of various THC setters.
      For a start, will anyone look at the anag signals used in all THC CWDs from say, Jan 2015 till now?
      RameshJ is looking closely - and patiently - at anag signals - has he drawn any conclusions on the whimsies of the setters?

      Delete
    2. As CVji has pointed out, Aromatic is not the best of Anagrinds, but given that this used to derive an &lit type of clue, with a very good surface, it perhaps can be overlooked. I haven't looked closely enough at anag signals to make a broad comment, though I have seen setters like Buzzer come up with new anagrinds

      Delete
    3. I think the setter meant 'gets' to be the anagram indicator. Aromatic is part of the definition.

      Delete
    4. Copy paste from Free Dic.

      ar·o·mat·ic (ăr′É™-măt′Ä­k)
      adj.
      1. Having an aroma; fragrant or sweet-smelling: aromatic herbs.
      2. Chemistry Of, relating to, or containing one or more molecular ring structures having properties of stability and reactivity characteristic of benzene.

      Maybe the setter had taken the second meaning to make 'aromatic' as an anind!?

      Delete
    5. Think Ranger got it right. GETS as an anind finds a place in the list given below :
      http://bestforpuzzles.com/cryptic-crossword-dictionary/anagram-indicators.html

      Delete
    6. If Gets is an Anind, then it should precede the definition not the fodder

      Delete
    7. You're right Ramesh.
      Any thoughts on my comment at 9.01 re 1a?

      Delete
    8. Ramesh @ : Point conceded!
      Any thoughts on my comment at 9.18 re 6Dn?

      Delete
    9. It was more likely to be DM rather than SY. The 'with' in the middle & delerium being a noun ( So less likely to be an angrind) hinted in that direction

      Delete
    10. I too can't see 'aromatic' as an anagramming suggestion. Also, it wouldn't be an &lit even with 'aromatic' as the anagrind [because of the extra "with this" added solely for the definition].

      Delete
    11. Yes Raghu. I agree. 1 AC does not really work unless there is some other way of parsing it.

      Delete
    12. One of the direct definitions of aromatic is spicy. So think it could work. It's rather like a semi &lit and not &lit

      Delete
    13. With reference to my post @ 12:34 pm 'aromatic' def point no.2 reg 'reactivity characteristic of benzene, a few more revelations! Benzene is an aromatic Hydrocarbon and also a volatile organic compound. Source Wikipedia. Now does this lead us to classify 'aromatic' as an anind?!

      Delete
  10. Blends so easily into the surface reading.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 6 Boys die with delirium, extremely spooky, turn into ghost (9) DISEMBODY {BOYS DIE DeliriuM}*
    ---
    There appear to be two anag signals, spooky and 'turn into'.
    Going by the surface reading, the various boys became one ghost, it seems!
    Must be awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think 'turn into ghost' is the definition

      Delete
    2. That' s right. I was less than careful while making that comment about two anag signals...

      Delete
  12. My dear friends. ..thank you very much for remembering this "samosa dr".yes, the treat is on me , my friends. ...deepakji/chaturvasi ji kindly organise a hi tea , this mmonth or the next if possible. Now that my exams are out ofmy way, I can restart crossword and I hope to be a rregular here.thanks again for the warmth, love and affection

    ReplyDelete
  13. Last para of mail received from Ford dealer regarding my car insurance
    Quote
    We are happy to introduce Ford Preferred insurance - insurance by Ford, which covers you better than any other insurance in the fortunate event of an accident ….   
    Unquote

    ReplyDelete
  14. Seen on Facebook
    Quote
    Due to LEAD found in noodles & business impact on MAGGI, the company will now diversify into making "Maggi Pencils", so that at least students can now write their exams in "2 minutes"
    Unquote

    ReplyDelete
  15. A few good surfaces in today's puzzle, however I was left wanting in many areas and couldn't complete the crossword as a result..
    How could 'coping' and 'aromatic' really signal an anagram?
    How could 'spending' indicate containment?
    How could 'comeback' indicate a reversal?..
    If I remember right, I think that the setter had once pointed out in someone's puzzle that 'X start' cannot work, and only 'X's start' can work .. Yet the same person seems to be comfortable with 'ending life' to indicate the last letter of 'life' which is just surprising...
    My comments too are not made with the intention of detracting from the quality of the crossword..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Man, as I see it, it doesn't end there. Actually I got a few more issues here. Surprised that others haven't brought it up. Perhaps they were fed up already lol...

      * 10A: "primarily wonderful" is not exactly as good as "wonderful primarily." Not satisfactory IMO.
      * 16A: "finally finish off" doesn't seem right. Instruction not so good. Kind of broken.
      * 1D: Surface reading is kind of bad. TBH, cringe-worthy.
      * 3D: Is the definition even sufficient? "They did nothing" for "HALF-WITS?" I don't think so.
      * 7D: Seriously, what is "Doctor conservative about....?" Doctors need to be sensible, knowledgeable, experienced etc - not liberal or conservative...
      * 19D: "....derby starting to go" against the same issue as in 16A

      CDs in 9A and 4D not so great..

      If looked closely, few more issues may show up. This is just after picking clues at random.

      Delete
    2. VJ, Not sure if all the criticism will stand the test. Lets assume that Guardian CW editor knows his job. Here is one from #26420 1A Primarily, sort of relationships for sentimental people (7). Primarily is used in the exact way that Vulcan has used it.
      Finish off seems to a valid way of instructing the solver to take the last letter off. Treat finish as a noun & it should be fine here.
      Doctors can be conservative ( i.e traditional/conventional) about how they treat disease.

      Some are valid - 1D,3D

      Delete
    3. Ramesh,

      What Guardian allows or not allows may not be the ultimate test. Why, they have even accepted the use of "attending" for E. If this is acceptable, other usages like "race start" for "S," "ending life" for "E" "leading politician" for "P" may all seem ok in comparison. But purists may not accept these. In case of primarily, I feel, if it follows the fodder, it's a better instruction. If it's used before the fodder, it gives the sense of referring the whole word rather than the first letter alone.

      Objection to "finish off" is on the same lines as not having the precise instruction to pick and delete the last letter. If the instruction as such is okay, then "finally finish" would mean taking the last letter of finally. Doesn't seem sufficient as I see it - just like "south end" for H is not.

      Of course, all these may seem subjective depending on the strictness levels one wishes to adopt. However, if looked at objectively following all the rules of grammar, logic and syntax, we may see differently.

      Delete
  16. Welcome back Dr Gayathri. Heartiest congregations on your achievement!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Congratulations" auto corrected like above. Sorry for it.

      Delete

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