Wednesday 28 March 2018

No 12276, Wednesday 28 Mar 2018, Arden


Answer and anno for 27D left for a first-time commenter till 10 AM.

ACROSS
9   Boss will drink more, maybe (7) SUPREMO {SUP}{MORE*}
10 Old animal rejected by Herb (7) OREGANO {O}{ONAGER<=}
11 'Barter trade' — film exposed a regular flyer (7) REDTAIL {TRADE*}{fILm} What's the role of 'regular'

Buteo jamaicensis -John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, Pennsylvania, USA-8.jpg


12 Thief set up part of a group (7) BRIGAND {B{RIG}AND}
13 Delays as speaker enters through back end (9) MORATORIA {M{ORATOR}IA<=}
15 Top comedian changing sides (5) CROWN C(-l+r)ROWN
16 A large part of explosion due to added weight (7) BALLAST {B{A}{L}LAST}
19 What the cat will do? It's over the footrest (7) STIRRUP [DD] (Correction - {PURR}{ITS}<= - See comments)
20 Second one in the litter to finish off (3,2) MOP UP {MO}{PUP}
21 Purge out, grandmother over time gets offensive (9) REPUGNANT {PURGE*}{NAN}{T}
25 Drunk eluding drink (7) INDULGE*
26 Cheese slices, girl is an angel (7) GABRIEL {GA{BRIE}L}
28 Boy as a whole is capital (7) TORONTO {RON} in {TOTO}
29 Many frogmen are called… (7) DIVERSE (~divers)

DOWN
1   A holy place remains with God (6) ASHRAM {ASH}{RAM}
2   It climbs up a bit at last after its share dips (6) SPIDER [T<=]
3   Very mature, rising star (4) VEGA {V}{AGE<=}
4   More comfortable in Tihar, perhaps (6) COOLER [DD]
5   They decide Chuck would pick lead artist (3,5) TOP BRASS {TOSS} over {PB}{RA}
6   One carrying the broom enters, being attractive (10) BEWITCHING {BE{WITCH}ING}
7   Lover putting arm around one in rain (8) PARAMOUR {P{AR{A}M}OUR}
8   Old Poles wear cap in frigid conditions (4,4) COLD SNAP {C{OLD}{S}{N}AP}
14 Sports equipment — ship order online (10) TRAMPOLINE {TRAMP}{O}{LINE}
16 Impact on the back part of horse (4,4) BUMP INTO {BUM}{PINTO}
17 A rapidly changing thing on jeweller's art (8) LAPIDARY*
18 All excited, no? (6,2) TURNED ON {ON<=} [RA}
22 Hindi movie about divine presence in a temple (6) PAGODA {P{A}{GOD}A}
23 A quiet place, airy and full of bees (6) APIARY {A}{P}{AIRY*}
24 He recounts his role in the bank (6) TELLER [DD]
27 Gathering every bit, they're tireless characters (4) B?V? (Addendum - BEVY {EVerY+Bit}* - See comments)

GRID

54 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poornima next week onwards do not consider yourself as a first time commenter and become a regular commenter

      Delete
    2. She deleted her answer seeing my answer. She didn't notice that I had deleted the post. Sorry about that.

      Delete
    3. Col.
      Can you reinstate both comments?

      Delete
    4. I can't reinstate but I can copy po Aste, as all comments come into my mailbox as soon as they get published here and remain in my inbox till I delete them once a week or so

      Delete
  2. 19A- I see it as a reversal
    What the cat will do - Purr
    Purr/ its =<

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1D- Remains are ashes or just ash?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remains are ashes. Remain cannot be ash, either

      Delete
    2. Remains of anything burned is ash. Ashes is more related to death or deathly greyness(no burning), "mortal remains, especially the physical or corporeal body as liable to decay."

      Delete
    3. Is it not conventionally said that "The ashes were immersed..."

      Delete
    4. Thats used in "mortal remains"(ashes) not necessarily ash.

      Delete
  4. Loved the 'Lead artist' in 5D. So very apt.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 14D- Tramp is a rogue ship,isn;t it? Just ship leaves it to our imagination.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even I thought so as I remembered it as a boat.
      But one dict. gives it a synonym as ship

      Delete
    2. A(any) ship which is run as tramp trade is tramp ship as such is not a type of ship! does a simple ship qualify as tramp.

      Delete
    3. Not all ships are tramps and all tramps are ships.
      I don't think we can call "tramp ship" because then tramp becomes an adjective. There is no dict. support for tramp as adj.

      Delete
    4. The bible of crypTics def tramp (n) as short form of tramp steamer. Whatever that means here.

      Delete
  6. 11a redtail is a frequent flyer program by Qantas airline.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Father of courage!
    Did he belong to the forest of Arden?
    Nay, the forest of the State of Arden.
    He was the SUPREMO without a CROWN.
    The BRIGAND who ruled the forests of TN&KA for over three decades.
    And what did he INDULGE in?
    Smuggling of sandalwood and ivory.
    The TOP B(R)ASS among the police force was after him for years.
    He was TURNED ON by any informer/TELLER.
    But then G did BUMP INTO him a few times and held negotiations. But the brigand was always REPUGNANT.
    Did he have a BEVY of BEWITCHING beauties surrounding him? Not at all!!
    Only his henchmen.
    DIVERSE means and methods employed over years were nullified.
    But then a SPIDER casting its web remains patient for the catch.
    Remaining COOLER, alert and always on the run VK finally held V.

    ReplyDelete
  8. V for victory! V may also mean other things.
    Nice one CGB- good imagination and neatly done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Veerappan's story! VK is Vijay Kumar who headed Operation Coccoon.

      Delete
    2. +1
      Indeed, V had skeleton staff, literally.
      None of them would qualify for the security guard position!

      Delete
  9. You mean they are far better than the security guards at banks these days?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I need some help/advice/suggestions after having extremely underwhelming experiences this past week :(
    I sat and did some analysis and where I struggle is this word substitution clues. The other kind of clues, I seem to have a decent success rate. I know that this skills comes with time and I do sit with the crossword (especially the answers as my solving time is so short considering my bad performance!!) and try and wrap my head around the basics that get repeated.

    Almost every clue today stumped me as most of them involved some kind of word replacements (drink=SUP, animal=ONAGER(really?!?!), ship=TRAMP and many more). So how does it work for you people? Do you just read the clue and start plugging away or do you get some solves and then try to plug using the already filled letters? I just wanted to ask if there is anything in the clue that would suggest a replacement (like an anagram indicator!), at least that would get me thinking about the substitution. Just wanted to hit the experts out here before I give up in frustration :(

    Ananth

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These clues are my language learning exercise. Sometimes a blackbox kind of answers come in (when the brain simultaneously get the answer and replacement words). Sometimes I get the solution and deduce the Replacement. If its gRidman I just take it for gRanted. OtherS I check online dictionary. Some come by being part of this blog, just Remember it by the discussion that happen hear. Others I search fOR synonyms (www.thesaurus.com) but that would help me only if I had understanding of definition of the clue first.

      Like 9a, boss or "more,maybe" can both be def. But mayb3e/perhaps are anag indicators. So I check if it makes sense with a 3 letter synonym of drink. Its doesnt make sense with ale, the usual IndicatoR by drink. The next Thing that comes is sip and then supremo strikes and then that sup is to drink in sips.

      Delete
    2. Ananth, I agree with Mr. Padmanabhan at 11.18 am when he says Never give up. I too was in a similar position 25/30 years ago. Without meaning to be boastful I can say there is now not a single day when I fail to solve the Hindu crossword satisfactorily, taking 30 to 60 minutes. Be at it and you will not regret it. You will enjoy it. Best of luck!

      Delete
  11. Never give up.
    All or at least most of us were in the same position in the not so distant past. You may go to 'crossword unclued.com' where all types of clues are discussed in detail including how to approach, spot different types of clues etc. Extremely interesting place for those who want to improve their CW solving skills.
    Other than that, initially you may have to look up some dictionary to look up some some apt synonyms.
    Best of course, is diligently look into this blog daily to understand various types of clues.
    You may await more and better suggestions from experts.

    ReplyDelete
  12. well said sir......I too doing the same..my success rate is max. 5...by seeing these comments and the way they solved the clues it may take light years for me to reach your level......please create special blogs for general / equal words towards cross word puzzles.........prasanna

    ReplyDelete
  13. of course Col. and Mr Prasad poured more advises which improvise me to solve at least 5 puzzles......Thanks to Mr.Col. and Mr Prasad

    ReplyDelete
  14. One thing I forgot to mention- def. is ALWAYS at either end, never in the middle. Spotting the def. is half done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you mean to say the bold letters existing in puzzle.....hope I am right... 9, 13 and 13 ac......

      Delete
  15. Not in the puzzle, but in our blog. The def. in the clue is ALW@AYS highlighted here for us to follow.
    Bold in Black- Def.
    Bold in Blue - solution (what is to be filled in by us)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Did the puzzle now having a bad bout of dyspepsia. Very entertaining stuff.
    A week ago in one of the Guardian puzzles, CV Sir commented that in a Telescopic Clue the fodder should never begin at the first letter of a word. In 2D, the reverse fodder begins at the first letter. Is it OK?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The last letter of a word in reverse...

      Delete
    2. Where does the bad bout apply. To Puzzle or the writer?

      Delete
    3. I was suffering from dyspepsia!😀😀😀

      Delete
    4. Chic take-in lovin hot!!! (J.k.L.o.L))

      Delete
  17. I too had the same doubt, Vasant

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com