Wednesday 24 February 2016

No 11633, Wednesday 24 Feb 2016, Arden


Arden over the last few rounds has got me all knotted up!

ACROSS
1   See, worker's made a connection internally (6) DEACON [T]
4   Railing is allowed during raillery (8) BANISTER {BAN{IS}TER}
10 Only a few know to respect doctor (3,6) TOP SECRET*
11 Tell others to take it forcibly (5) WREST (~rest)
12 Catching criminal, eliminating time to escape (7) NAILING eLimINAtING*
13 Noticed fifth witness missing, solicitor dispatched (4,3) SENT OUT {SEeN}{T OUT}
14 A giant moon (5) TITAN [DD]
15 Daily business in fashion industry (3,5) RAG TRADE {RAG} {TRADE}
18 One spoke of a stout breed (8) AIREDALE {AIRED}{ALE}
20 Kingdom for a horse and cart (5) TONGA [DD]
23 Glass may be compatible if top is removed (7) ALEMBIC CoMpAtIBLE*
25 Only male in contact — more than what one can take (3,4) TOO MUCH {TO{O} {M}UCH}
26 Animal retreat in typical Ayn Rand style (5) NYALA [T<=]
27 Calling it a hobby... (9) AVOCATION {A}{VOCATION}
28 ...therefore Bahujan party ultimately represents brotherhood (8) SODALITY {SO}{DALIT}{p..tY}
29 Drug overdose — the way it's done (6) METHOD {METH}{OD}

DOWN
1   Regularly sent in aid to set it off (8) DETONATE {D{sEnT}ONATE}
2   Hire one to keep a flower in a glass (7) APPOINT {A}{P{PO}INT}
3   Live and perish — in the past it meant submission (9) OBEDIENCE {O{BE}{DIE}NCE}
5   A hint to carry out novel Coue method (4-10) AUTO SUGGESTION {A}{OUT*} {SUGGESTION}
6   One from Des Moines looks pale under the moon (5) IOWAN {IO}{WAN}
7   Last chance — going in to grasp support (7) TOEHOLD {TO}{c...cE}{HOLD}
8   Renegotiates afresh, not seeing spin (6) ROTATE REnegOTiATes*
9   Changing? Rare to make this heard in church (9,5) GREGORIAN CHANT {CHANGING+RARE+TO}*
16 Relationship over drive is the motive (9) RATIONALE {RATIO}{NALE<=}
17 Turned up with study below speed of sound (8) MACHINED {MACH 1}{NED<=}
19 Cross country race (7) IRELAND ? {IRE}{LAND} See comments
21 Feed — meal to include puris essentially (7) NOURISH {pURIs} in {NOSH}
22 College girl's place in the Sun (6) CANNES {C}{ANNES}
24 Support a length of rope (5) BRAIL {BRA}{1}{L}

GRID

26 comments:

  1. Is it me or do others also feel that Arden is getting tougher to crack. Of course the puzzles are always top class like this one.

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    Replies
    1. I Third this :) Yeah Shrikanth..Arden is indeed tougher nowadays :) I am taking more time and need Google help and confirmation. But happy got all this time.. brail, sodality were new.. and Appoint, Deacon.. wow they are devious ) Gone the days when Arden could be solved with no help.. )But thats what makes this fun :)

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  2. OK saw the tagline after making the comment. Answers my question

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  3. Yes, way above me- struggled, but blog to the help as expected. Bar is definitely set high.

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  4. 23 Across, I took amicable as compatible and chopped off the head to get alembic.
    Great Arden. Another enigmatic crossword in a row.

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  5. Just done.Phew!
    Is Ireland a race? I thought it was Irish.

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    Replies
    1. If we just removed the word 'race' from the clue and added a '?' it would have been fine, IMO

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  6. To answer Shrikanth, yes, the bar was definitively higher. It is taking ages to complete it. Still, it's funtime.

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  7. i felt at times the clues are really misleading in sense and substance .

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    Replies
    1. Welcome to the blog Ravi.
      Which particular Clues are you talking about? If you mention them we can see what others feel about it as I didn't see any 'misleading sense and substance'

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  8. am also the so calle senior citizen who had been solving for more than four decades. at times for a simple clue most compilers beat around the bush and viceversa . namely by giving irrelevant data which has no real sense or of any value to the solver who feels on top of the world if he cracks all anwers. basically the compiler and the solver are on a self satisfying ego trip.

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  9. Col.'s request is to be clue specific rather than generalisation.

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  10. Good puzzle. Could get about 70%. A few doubts.

    1 See, worker's made a connection internally (6) DEACON [T] -- Role of worker? if it is part of definition (see worker?), can we put ',' to separate definition parts?
    10 Only a few know to respect doctor (3,6) TOP SECRET* -- position of anagrind
    26 Animal retreat in typical Ayn Rand style (5) NYALA [T<=] -- redundant words
    9 Changing? Rare to make this heard in church (9,5) GREGORIAN CHANT {CHANGING+RARE+TO}* -- 'To' doing double duty or just 'make' is ok as anagrind?
    16 Relationship over drive is the motive (9) RATIONALE {RATIO}{NALE<=} -- over drive or drive over for reversal to work here?
    17 Turned up with study below speed of sound (8) MACHINED {MACH 1}{NED<=} -- with 'with', reversal for study works properly here?

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    Replies
    1. My thoughts

      1 See Worker is defn. Yes. All punctuation marks are expected to be ignored.
      10 Doctor works better if it is before the fodder (else should be doctored)
      26 Yes
      9 Think it is fine
      16 Don't think it works
      17 Up is rev indicator

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    2. Regarding 17, I think 'with' is superfluous

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    3. Thought no compromise on definition part

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    4. And yes I meant with between up and study. For 10 doctors also works I think

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  11. 17- Will surface reading be okay without 'with'?

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  12. I can understand the frustration of Mr.Ravi Cadambi. I myself, started on crptic crosswords rather late in life, but feel better late than never. After failing to solve some and analysing the solutions, I do get a thrill and wonder at the compile's devious ways of cluing! Thanks to The Hindu.

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  13. 1A-My search in Chambers & free dic. reveals only diocese/ area of diocese, but not diocese worker. I have also not seen it in usage.

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    Replies
    1. See is diocese/area of diocese, so 'see worker' is Deacon

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  14. Yes. But it is difficult to see such a 'see'. May be a bit convoluted.

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