Monday 3 August 2015

No 11463, Monday 03 Aug 2015, Buzzer


15A isn't making Buzzer laugh as he too is stumped!!

ACROSS
6   Happen to set right a bug (5-3) PHONE-TAP*
9   Dock has aluminium gate (6) PORTAL {PORT}{AL}
10 Man is one, I'll say (4) ISLE (~I'll)
11 Aware of old recording that is Cher's — oddly undamaged (2,3,5) IN ONE PIECE {IN ON}{E P}{IE}{ChEr}
12 Shabby batter (4-2) BEAT-UP [DD]
14 Lock up one male on strike (7) IMPOUND {1}{M}{POUND}
15 Fake model meant to be different? You must be joking! (4,4,2,5) DONT MAKE ME LAUGH ? Anno pending See comments
18 Saltwater lake is approximately 5 times less devastated (4,3) DEAD SEA DEvAStAtED*
20 Acts of taking the lifts (6) THEFTS {THE}FTS Anno not clear (Addendum - {T}{HEFTS} - See comments)
22 Doubtful editor going back through cutting (10) INDECISIVE {IN{DE<=}CISIVE}
23 Tail of a deer (4) HIND [DD]
24 Fine wind beginning to flag and stop (6) FREEZE {F}{bREEZE}
25 'N Sync ringtone? (8) NITROGEN*

DOWN
1   Joint where Ken Kesey appeared frequently (4) KNEE KeN kEsEy
2   African nation gets this hope, aid may be given heartily (8) ETHIOPIA {gETs}{tHIs}{hOPe}{aId}{mAy}
3   Running costs at university look to be on the rise (6) UPKEEP {UP}{KEEP<=}
4   Skill hospital unit has behind is clear (10) ARTICULATE {ART}{ICU}{LATE}
5   Monitor had two green colours initially mixed up (8) WATCHDOG {HAD+TWO+G+Co...s}*
7   Drinks most of cha in hurry (5) HASTE {HAS}{TEa}
8   In favour of being part of growth (13) PROLIFERATION {PRO}{LIFE}{RATION}
13 Tree matter composed in a verse (10) TETRAMETER*
16 Built-in road over railway is common (8) ORDINARY {IN+ROAD}*{RY}
17 Request feed stored in a record (8) ENTREATY {ENTR{EAT}Y}
19 Fit in a formal dress (6) SUITED [CD]
21 Hint can backfire for example (5) TINGE {TIN}{GE<=}
23 Upset bear in a ring (4) HOOP <=

GRID

33 comments:

  1. 20 Acts of taking the lifts (6) THEFTS {THE}FTS Anno not clear

    I took FT as Forklift Truck

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For that to work, it will need to be "forklift trucks = FTS", which seems to me like quite a stretch.

      The clue just about works as a double definition.

      I tried to see if "lifts" was meant to give us HEFTS and tried to find a source for the first T, but unless I can abbreviate "the" to T I can't make it fit. :(

      Delete
    2. The (-li)fts? Is an indicator to remove Li missing?

      Delete
    3. I think Renga intended it as lift = Forklift Truck = FT.

      Delete
    4. What I meant was, was it:

      20 Acts of taking Lithium/ 51 away from the lifts (6) THE+ (li)FTS

      Delete
  2. 15A: something amiss with the fodder.
    20A: DD?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why the apostrophe before N in 25A?
    The clue works well without it or am I missing something?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'N Sync to be read as In Sync

      Delete
    2. This is Buzzer's genius at work - 'N Sync (spelt just like that) *is* a ringtone! Check here for an example.

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    3. Sorry - that "Check here" was meant to be followed by this link.

      http://ringtones.mob.org/artist=n_sync/

      Delete
    4. That N Sync is the name of a group

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    5. My point is that the ringtone is called 'N Sync too.

      Delete
  4. Got it!otherwise N Sync is meaningless..Thanks Col

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    Replies
    1. It isn't meaningless - see my explanation above.

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    2. Now I am confused...
      But it makes a great clue..

      Delete
    3. I should have written ..But it makes a great clue either way

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    4. Thanks Abhay...it needs brilliance to parse this..as it needs brilliance to create it

      Delete
  5. Thanks for a great ride, Buzzer! Despite (what appears to be) an anagrammatical mishap at 15a, the puzzle is a gorgeous one.

    My COD (indeed, my COM!) is easily 25 - the brevity, the elegance, the simplicity, the use of an actual instance of a ringtone to provide the definition *and* the anind - simply brilliant!

    Thanks to DG for the blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here the def is 'N and not plain N (if I were to nitpick).

      Delete
  6. Def. has to be just N if the solution is nitrogen. (') has to be part of wordplay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not part of the wordplay (as I see it) - just added to smoothen the surface.

      Delete
  7. Hi everyone, just thought I'll weigh in with my views on a few things.

    15A I have no idea why is it what it is and how it slipped out even after proofreading. Sorry if you wasted your time trying to parse the wordplay.

    20A what I had in mind was T (the - as in the game of charades) + HEFTS (lifts). Unfortunate coincidence and another oversight that the first 3 letters of the answer match THE.

    25A 'N Sync is the band name which is why it was written that way for the surface to make sense. The definition is N only, not 'N since punctuation can be safely ignored in most cases in a clue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bhavan. I spent a long time figuring out the gh including Bernard Shaws 'ghoti' (Wiki says it could be William Ollier). Then realised there was a 'u' as well and some letter extra too. So! I gave up.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for weighing in, Bhavan. As I said above, I did try to parse THEFTS the way you have explained it, but I could see how "the" equalled T. Your explanation makes sense - and makes me feel delighted that my reading of lifts=HEFTS was right!

      Delete
  8. Thank you Bhavan for the clarifications. Enjoyed both yesterday & today, minor hiccups notwithstanding.

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  9. Re SUB for 'advance' in an Everyman crossword the other day, the following was the response I got from JollySwagman who lives in Australia:

    Quote

    It's pretty commonplace in English English - not so much here in Australia.

    It simply means an advance against wages - eg for a new hire who can't see their way through to payday.

    It's just one of those problems inherent in UK crosswords' being solved by a wider audience.

    If I do Irish Times crosswords I am not surprised to find Irishisms which are unfamiliar to me as a Brit.

    Of course now that the Guardian claims to be targetting an international audience via their website (ie with specifically UK, US and Australian editions) maybe they should give it a bit more thought if they use the same puzzles for all versions.

    OTOH setters of the past would have been a bit compromised if they hadn't been able to fill out their last few empty spaces in the grid with obscure Cambridgeshire villages. You do eventually run out of antelopes.

    Unquote

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  10. I am completely new to this and trying to catch up. I tried to go through some online tut's but no help. Can anyone please help me out to understand few answers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In my honest opinion if a person is not able to make much of the clue, answer, annotation that are provided here, I am not sure if that person can make much headway in crossword solving.
      It is like my trying to play bridge and understand what those Bridge columns say and mean. I just cannot!

      Delete
    2. Jagadeesh, I suggest you go through this and understand the basic concepts and clue types so that you might be able to make better sense of the discussions here.

      http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2008/08/tackling-cryptic-crosswords-7-step_11.html

      All the articles on the blog are worth a read if you're interested in tackling cryptic crosswords.

      Delete
  11. For all SAMOSA lovers here, a variety of Indian samosas can be found at:
    http://m.food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/the-samosa-trail-across-india-from-kolkatas-singara-to-gujarats-patti-samosa-1203179?pfrom=home-food

    From NDTV website

    ReplyDelete

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