I am stumped by 28A, have made a wild guess in my solution (see the link I have given against Veep). I wonder if it's just a name, but that is not like Gridman. Too many C/DD's for my liking.
ACROSS
1 - Intimidate second rowdy shooing off deputy on cop’s path (8) - {B}{ROW(-dy)}{BEAT}
6 - Copies sleeveless garments without a bit of concern (4) - (-c)APES
9 - Nicaragua’s Daniel, for one (6) - ORTEGA [CD]
10 - Decked-up galleria puts out learner in finery (7) - REGALIA(-l)*
13 - See the soldier with constant friend in a reasoned manner (9) - {LO{GI}C}{ALLY}
14 - A sort of column to make nearly ornate (5) - {DO}{RIC(-h)}
15 - Firm quiet about thug’s bludgeon (4) - {CO}{SH}
16 - Suspiciously eyes Potter in a fixed, stock image (10) - STEREOTYPE*
19 - Engineers come to hug writers in measure for measure (10) - {RE}{COM{PENS}E}
21 - Small amount for iTunes download (4) - SONG [DD]
24 - College head greeting a couple of learners: “Cool it!” (5) - {C}{HI}{LL}
25 - It is carried out in a theatre (9) - OPERATION [CD]
26 - As might be used by a musician in a cover-up (3-4) - LIP-SYNC [CD]
27 - Try to control, as a runaway bullock (4,2) - REIN IN [CD]
28 - Veep, for example (4) - EVEN [DD]
29 - Secret agent’s drinking vessel? Not exactly! (8) - {SPY}{GLASS}
DOWN
2 - Neon, for example (4,3) - RARE GAS [CD]
3 - Poor devil with gag (6) - {W}{RETCH} Not sure of how W and the Devil are connected
4 - Uniform ornament (9) - EPAULETTE [CD]
5 - Hang about, looking black (5) - TARRY [DD]
7 - Friend (French) extremely easy on horse (7) - {PAL}{FR}{E}{Y}
8 - Google, for one (6,6) - SEARCH ENGINE [CD]
11 - Soldier’s reprocessed node on a judge of Israel (6) - {GI}{DEON*}
12 - Choose revised rule to contain CBI’s false colour (8,4) - {ELECT}{R{IC B*}LUE*}
17 - Be up with the lark (4,5) - RISE EARLY [CD]
18 - :-) (6) - SMILEY [CD]
20 - Lame hundred on a wave (7) - {C}{RIPPLE}
22 - Nothing to manipulate in sociologist’s primary provenances (7) - {O}{RIG}{IN}{S}
23 - Crusoe creator Defoe (6) - DANIEL [CD]
25 - Scour here and there for Virgil’s god of the underworld (5) - ORCUS*
Veep, for example (4) EXEC (I think)
ReplyDeleteVeep: Short for VP, Vice President.
EXEC: EXECUTIVE.
@Bhargav,
ReplyDeleteThanks, your solution looks more convincing than the devious one I had thought of.
Poor Devil = Wretch
ReplyDeleteWith Gag = w retch
W as in With/out = w/o
I totally agree with you Col.-Too many C/DD's. In Down-out of 14 Clues-7 of them qualify as C/DD's similarly for Across-6 of them, hence totally 13 clues in this style.I guess it shows Gridman's lack of interest in developing the clues. A fast job really.
ReplyDeleteDDs/CDs can be very pleasing too, I think the problem is that many of these clues are not even that - they're straight, or direct definitions by example.
ReplyDeleteORTEGA, SEARCH ENGINE, RARE GAS, SMILEY, DANIEL...even here, subtler examples and I wouldn't complain. "Bing, for example" has some semblance of crypticity, but what else can Google be?
On the plus side, I like the "modern touch" in the puzzle - with his iTunes and CHILL and search engines, Gridman shows he's in tune with the times!
re anon's comment: who said this is a 'cryptic' crossword? what is 'cryptic'? can anon first identify the 13 cds/dds or even straight or direct definitions before the debate can be continued further? and what is cds, by the way? i only know of cds that are played on the palyers. how does anon know gridman was starving when he was doing this job?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 2
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteI have disabled the anonymous comments feature onto my blog, so you will have to sign in to post here henceforth
I agree with Shuchi that there is nothing wrong in a crossword having many CDs and/or DDs. After all, in a cryptic crossword there can be cryptic definitions. CDs and DDs do offer variety from charades, c/c and the like. With these and other types it's easy to suss out the word even when a solver does not know the very word. But CDs and DDs can hold longer in revealing themselves.
ReplyDeleteAmong the UK composers Rufus is known to be partial towards CDs and DDs.
And UK bloggers often say that some puzzles have too many CDs/DDs for their liking.
Shuchi has rightly pointed out that some of the clues in this puzzle are not even CDs/DDs but rather straightforward/knowledge-based.
Is there anything slipshod about this crossword to warrant Anonymous's comment that the compiler "did a fast job"? Maybe he wanted to give one for the slowcoaches!
What I had mentioned was my personal opinion, I do not mean that there is anything wrong. I repeat my comment which was 'Too many C/DD's for my liking' period.
ReplyDeleteIt was not my intention to question one's personal preferences. Whatever written above is only by way of discussion on the topic. Any solver is quite entitled to hold the opinion that a certain crossword has too many CDs/DDs. And there is also the comment that many in this puzzle do not even qualify for the label CD/DD and that they are straightforward.
ReplyDelete