Wednesday 3 May 2017

No 11997, Wednesday 03 May 2017, Incognito


ACROSS
8   Ajeet flew backwards in Tanganyika (4) GNAT [T<=]
9   Violently, Ma slapped a protruding part of the neck (5,5) ADAMS APPLE*
10 Little Thomas was called twice to drum (3-3) TOM-TOM {TOM}-{TOM}
11 You left dancing courtesan for family elder (8) ANCESTOR COuRTESAN*
12 Warnings seen at harbour limits (8) PORTENDS {PORT}{ENDS}
14 Convulsive patients drop regressive volunteers in arch (6) INSTEP PatIENTS*
16 Drinks and traps (4) GINS [DD]
17 Makes announcements calling servants (5) PAGES [DD]
18 Troubles cartoon character after losing the rabbit (4) BUGS {BUGS bunny}
19 Large spinner is seen at the circus (3,3) BIG TOP {BIG} {TOP}
21 After a Los Angeles cocktail, cater as ordered from the menu (1,2,5) A LA CARTE {A} {LA} {CATER}*
23 Derogated, gave up tea, and became shabby (3-5) DOG-EARED DEROGAtED*
26 Thank Letitia for hiding a bit of jewellery (6) ANKLET [T]
27 A detective followed a criminal enthusiastically to Indian cook-house, initially, and found vinegar (6,4) ACETIC ACID {A}{Cr...l}{En...y}{To}{In...n}{Co...e} {A}{CID}
28 Occupied with something, state tax officer? (2,2) UP TO {UP} {T}{O}

DOWN
1   Ann had nothing before getting the party car in this year, for example (4,6) ANNO DOMINI {ANN}{O} {DO}{MINI}
2   Laws about presence of tritium in figurines (8) STATUTES {STATU{T}ES}
3   Cricket player, without directions, becomes a crime fighter (6) BATMAN BATsMAN
4   Mother has two post graduate degrees (4) MAMA {MA}{MA}
5   Perhaps, persons solving your crosswords having intricate clueing supernaturally, for starters (8) PSYCHICS Acrostic &lit ?
6   Spouse rewrote books (6) OPUSES*
7   Further, the dal soup contains it, too (4) ALSO [T]
13 Greek character, depending upon the case, signifies summation or standard deviation (5) SIGMA [CD]
15 The last hole before the bar? (10) EIGHTEENTH [CD]
17 Where a plumber might store his smoking equipment, perhaps (4,4) PIPE RACK [CD]
18 Switching lights off during air raid sounds like a racist order (8) BLACKOUT {BLACK OUT}
20 Score? XX! (6) TWENTY [E]
22 Publicity pieces about combat medals (6) AWARDS {A{WAR}DS}
24 At one time, cone was modified (4) ONCE*
25 Bird often seen on cricket scoreboards (4) DUCK [DD]  Amazing score-card! Read about it at this link.
 

GRID

40 comments:

  1. Thanks Incognito. One of those, before 8.30 AM days for me.

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  2. There's a whole flock of ducks on that scoreboard! That lady carried the bat and the match!

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  3. Interesting analysis there... 18 4s are 72, 12 6s are 72 again, making a gross score of 144 out of 160. The balance 16 must have come mostly from singles in the 20 over match, essentially to take strike in the next over. 3 no balls were bowled as the total number of balls is 123 against the expected 120

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  4. I noticed later that the 3 nb are mentioned in the scorecard itself ! Sheepish :)

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    Replies
    1. Swart and Phiri added 61 runs for the ninth wicket with Phiri facing 3 balls only. There were also 3 golden ducks in that scorecard

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    2. Amazing score card and more amazing is how you got i!

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    3. He got it as a birthday present

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  5. Thank you Incognito. I solved it by 1.00 AM

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    Replies
    1. "The heights by great men reached and kept
      Were not attained by sudden flight,
      But they, while their companions slept,
      Were toiling upward in the night."

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  6. Score card is as interesting as the puzzle...
    Did this puzzle & the Oracle puzzle back to back; rather dashed through both the puzzles...doting the i's crossing the t's.
    Col had counted the sigma in the Me!cartoon yesterday...sigma makes an entry here..

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  7. Spouse rewrote books (6) OPUSES*

    Here the anag fodder is SPOUSE. When this is rewritten, revised, jumbled or whatever, we get OPUSES. The surface suggests that it is 'books' that are rewritten. Get me? So is the surface reading ok? Is grammar perfect? If not, how can you edit the clue?

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    Replies
    1. I took it as
      'Spouse rewrote books' for the surface and as 'Spouse rewrote, books' for the cryptic reading. To my mind it's fine

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    2. How about
      Books the spouse rewrote (6)

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    3. Fine, though there's the def art. But it is required for grammatically structured sentence.

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    4. But clue-writers may ignore articles as newspaper headlines do.
      Books spouse revised (6)
      may be acceptable.

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    5. I thought it ok..but what u suggest made me think..maybe it could have been
      Books of spouse rewritten (6)

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    6. I agree with Col.'s first take- different surface and cryptic readings. It's fine.

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  8. Thanks for the link Col..very interesting..the story of ducks & misses!

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    Replies
    1. Misses? Beware of missus finding out your interest in misses ;)

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    2. Is this 'missus' peculiar to India/ South India?

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    3. Missus has been used from long back...colloquil English, I believe

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  9. My score went up as fast as Swart. The match was over sooner than expected. Enjoyed the CW and the score card. Thank you Col. I was about to write that you don't see ducks 'frequently'. I withdraw.
    Thank you Incognito for the fast food!

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  10. A fast track puzzle sans traffic jams! Thank you, Incognito, for the smooth ride!!

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  11. 12A Warnings seen at harbour limits. Warnings means portents and not portends, am I right? Perhaps the clue could be reworded as Warns at harbour limits.

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    Replies
    1. I read it as harbour(port)limits(ends)

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    2. Prasad has a point that you have missed completely.

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    3. I get it now. It is a question of portends or portents. Yes, it is a valid point.

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    4. Prasad is correct. Portends=warns, not warnings

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    5. Thank you. Happy to be a part of this forum and participate.

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    6. Welcome! It was an error on my part

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  12. Thank you CV for the nice quote.
    For those who are interested, here is the full poem "Success' by H.W.Longfellw:
    http://holyjoe.org/poetry/longfellow1.htm

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the link Paddy..read the whole poem for the first time

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  13. You are welcome, Vasant. Compared to the whole lot of grids sent by you, this is nothing.

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  14. Now I know why most compilers choose to remain incognito ! Punctilious eyes like those of CV & Prasad will resurrect Wren & Martin from his grave !

    Incognito's puzzles can serve as a Primer book for beginners who enter the cryptic world of crosswords. Simplicity is his key ! well done, Kishore.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks to you and the exhumers of birds

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    2. Hitchcockian suspense before I could trap the wren & martin!

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  15. Good night, all. Sleep well. You will have to labour a bit tomorrow

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    Replies
    1. Labour day special? May day a la the Oracle puzzle?

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