Friday 8 April 2016

No 11671, Friday 08 Apr 2016, The Phantom


HAPPY UGADI

ACROSS
8   Atom taking half second to split? (6) BISECT {BI{SECond}T}
9   Rated safe to consume alcoholic drink? On the contrary (8) MEASURED {MEA{SURE}D}
10 Politician’s at home wearing title of respect (8) MINISTER {M{IN}ISTER}
11 Frank takes last flight home (6) NATIVE {NA{f...hT}IVE}
12 To arbitrate in Somalia is exasperating (6) LIAISE [T]
13 Spiked attachment hampers leg breaks (8) CRAMPONS {CRAMP{ON}S}
15 “Anti-gas, anti-gas”... (7) AGAINST*
17 ... Bill's latest speech (7) INVOICE {IN}{VOICE}
20 Hiding old car in armour plated ship? (8) IRONCLAD*
22 Visitors like to go round Blue Nile (6) ALIENS {A{NILE*}S}
23 Gun without original owner's licence is hot (6) STOLEN {ST{Or...l}{Li...e}EN}
25 Look out; wild lions' pride is provoked! (8) INSPIRED {lIoNS+PRIDE}*
26 Will providing fence finally confine 500 animals? (8) WILDLIFE {WIL{D}L}{IF}{f..cE}
27 Digging for nickel in China perhaps (6) MINING {MI{NI}NG}

DOWN
1   See, individual in hotel, search rooms, looking for water (8) DIVINING {DI{V}{IN{I}N}G}
2   Do infinite exercises to get part of clue (10) DEFINITION*
3   Uniform top opened to reveal bust (6) STATUE {STAT{Un...m}E}
4   Aim to take part in race scheduled in this land (7) AMERICA {AIM+RACE}*
5   Person without interest to teach loses right to profess (8) MAINTAIN {MA{I}N}{TrAIN}
6   Girl hides from harsh relative (4) AUNT gAUNT
7   Old woman received prayer leading to bliss (6) HEAVEN {HE{AVE}N}
14 Experts overseeing plans (10) PROVISIONS {PRO{VISION}S}
16 Loan during slump, raised after second August (8) SPLENDID {S}{P{LEND}ID<=}
18 Punishes fraud joints duping millions (8) CONDEMNS {CON}{DE{M}NS}
19 Liked the present day sandwiches (basically bread and jam) (7) ADMIRED {A{breaD}{MIRE}D}
21 Keep army in check (6) RETAIN {RE{TA}IN}
22 Expect problem in choppy sea (6) ASSUME {AS{SUM}E*}
24 Swimming pool’s depth obscured by rising greasy liquid (4) LIDO {LI{D}O<=}

GRID

51 comments:

  1. Happy Ugadi :) Found today's xword rather Strange - was not in tune with several clues. In 19d..is jam = mire? in 1d..where is V coming from - is See = V??? thats weird.. 22a..is Blue supposed to be an anagram indicator? 25a - is it fair to substitute Lo for Look and deduct it from anagram fodder? In 9a.. what is the role of on the contrary? Also if Safe = Sure the Mead should be inside it?? What am i missing ??

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    Replies
    1. Afflicted with the "Vikram" syndrome.So I shall answer
      Jam = A difficult situation, So mire is fine
      See=Vide (V). http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vide
      Blue as an adjective = Sad/Dismal.
      25A. Will wait for wiser heads than mine to make the call. I am fine with it.
      9A : On the contrary, says "sure" is inside "mead". Without it, "mead" would have been inside "sure"

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    2. Basically to select last letter?

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    3. Ramesh.. say what is "Vikram" syndrome?? :)

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    4. Comes from "Vikram & Betal". Vikram is bound to blurt out an answer if he feels he knows it.

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    5. Nice one Ramesh! Otherwise his head will go to pieces!

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    6. Lol.. this is hilarious :) I used to suffer from this complex.. got cured )

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  2. We will leave it to our friend Mahesh or Ravi to answer these questions from one of our most regular and consistent solvers.

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  3. Happy Ugadi/Gudi Padwa to folks. Is there anyone from Maharashtra on this blog?

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    Replies
    1. Shachii Manik is a rare visitor

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    2. She is also on FB:1ACross

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    3. I think Abhay is from Maharahtra..my childhood was spent in a Maharashtrian colony of Indore & in Bombay...remember celebrating Gudi Padwa with fond memories..azun paranth(till now)

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    4. My neighbours had put this to celebrate. Is this common in Maharashtra?

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    5. Yes..each portion of the structure has significance..e.g. the zari sari signifies vaibhav(prosperity?)...the stick signifies self dependence & so on

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  4. Happy Ugadi to all, particularly Ramesh who was the first to wish us well in advance.
    Nice enjoyable CW, but found it a little difficult until I got a few clues cleared by the blog. Shared some of the doubts raised by Srividya. Thank you Ramesh for the clarifications.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Paddy. I had asked for that CW to be scheduled today, but it did not get the slot.

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    2. Yes, That would have been most apt.

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  5. Wow wow wow, read all the comments of past few days. Some heat was packed there. :) wonder what would have happened in such interactions on puzzles set by compilers of the yore :) I thought the 'dog' clue was brilliant yday. If it was misleading that was the whole purpose. And that's where you derive pleasure from cracking a clue.

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  6. Today was a delight. Strangely I was all over the place for some time initially. Put pining instead of mining though ping didn't make any sense at all. But when all the pieces fell in place, it was very satisfactory.

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  7. Happy ugadi..gudi padwa..hindi new year..navratri to all..
    I found the puzzle thoroughly enjoyable...the ghost who walks in superlative form
    A 15 D puzzle...5 D..10A..15A(lovely)..16A(A1)..20A..26A..all were 24A..
    I had great JOY....

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  8. Happy Ugadi to all. Best Wishes for Gudi Padwa to Abhay Phadnis

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  9. Today it is a terrible puzzle Yesterday's glitches look small in comparison

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    Replies
    1. I don't understand what do you mean by *terrible* . Can you explain ? I am reading your comments for the past 3 days, you are just writing *bad,terrible* etc etc. without explaining why & how ?

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    2. You are free to point out any glitches, but going by yesterday's comment, if you don't enjoy being misled, you might want to try the direct/non-cryptic crossword, and see if you like it?..Easily available on any local paper.

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  10. Mahesh at it again. Wonder what he is looking for!

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  11. Mahesh, I have a doubt. If solving the Hindu crossword causes you so much distress, why do you bother to solve it at all?

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  12. To be angry or be amused is my dilemma!!!

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  13. Mahesh we are waiting to hear about today's glitches which are supposedly worse than yesterdays

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  14. I'm back from a friend's place after a sumptuous Ugadi Lunch . Happy Ugadi and or Gudi Padwa to one and all. We are having a very welcome heavy downpour here in CBE after getting roasted in heat over the past few days. But if the rains are here, can the power breakdown be far behind? I was scared to see a spark falling from a transformer on our way back which missed a gas cylinder carrying lorry two cars before ours ! I was only hoping that the cylinders were empty. There was an intervening cement concrete miser van next to it ! What are the rules for carrying filled cylinders and the chances of an explosion from a spark or a lightning? I wonder !

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  15. There came a solver from nowhere
    For him every THC is a nightmare
    Whatever clues you write
    He finds them all trite
    Now setters are tearing their hair!

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  16. The more complicated the cluing, the greater is the fun of solving and cracking. I think, the Exchequers must be encouraged to compile and appear more so that solvers can get used to his thinking and thus make the cracking easy.

    I sympathize with the compilers who for ever are striving to beat the solvers in the cerebral gymnastics.
    Lets all take up the challenge of the compilers and feel happy that we are able to solve- if not, work backwards, see the answers and work out the annotations. There is always yet another compiler lurking somewhere to throw more gauntlets. Pick up and cheer up and be happy on this Ugadi day and other days to come.

    Even seasoned solvers have to eat humble pie many a times ! Tomorrow is another day and wait for another challenge ! That should be the spirit !

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    Replies
    1. Not sure if complexity is always directly proportional to fun while solving

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  17. Could any one please explain how 11a leads to "native"? Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. Frank = NAIVE
      taking = container ind
      last flighT => T
      NAIVE around T => NATIVE => home (adjective form) e.g. my native town

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  18. Thank you. Frank is naive does it.

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