ACROSS
1 - Greek god, a revolutionary with self-assurance (7) - {PAN}{A}{CHE}
5 - The lump I have is solid and heavy (7) - {MASS}{IVE}
9 - Body tissue under one’s control (9,6) - VOLUNTARY MUSCLE [CD]
10 - Kind of sale, sad trial around the east (6) - R{E}TAIL*
11 - Village headman attends Amritsar panchayat heads meet (8) - SARPANCH [T] Nice clue
13 - Desire for making money after end of anxiety (8) - {Y}EARNING
15 - Choice of work, note, with no backing (6) - {OP}{TI}{ON<-} )
18 - A lot of money for including the limits of knowledge in an agreement (6) - PAC{K}(-nowledg){E}T
19 - A plant that could reveal a love tangle (4,4) - AL{O}E VERA*
22 - Result of too much water in the tank (8) - OVERFLOW [E]
24 - Uprising relating to current potential (6) - {RE}{VOLT}
27 - I go from the yards, excited at finding unexpected sources of help (5,10) - FAIRY GODMOTHERS* Another nice anagram
28 - He has called it a day! (7) - RETIREE [E]
29 - Closely related to a Teutonic language and English (7) - GERMAN{E}
DOWN
1 - Want fresh poetry about victory? (7) - PO{V}ERTY*
2 - An African gets nothing with occupational therapy but… (5) - {NIL}{OT}
3 - … he gets the goods … (9) - CONSIGNEE [E]
4 - … and other things shortly (2,2) - ET AL [E]
5 - A sign of distress when labour celebrates (6) - MAYDAY [DD]
6 - Decline that has affected a million plus (5) - SLU{M}P*
7 - Kind of bonus to induce better performance (9) - INCENTIVE [E]
8 - Butler’s fictional land nowhere spelt out (7) - EREWHON*
12 - What a writer needs is found in the middle of a golf field (3) - (-l)INK(-s)
14 - An old scientist was little Albert, one licensed to dispense medicines (9) - {AL}{CHEMIST}
16 - Guru with a soft eye, for example (8) - {P}{RECEPTOR}
17 - Expression of approval in Spain (3) - OLE [E]
18 - Extend a public relations bid (7) - {PR}{OFFER}
20 - Performer remains the same even when docked (7) - ARTISTE Anno pending (Addendum - ARTISTE~ARTIST(-e) see comments of Shuchi & Chaturvasi in comments section)
21 - A creature that the old coot disturbed (6) - CO{Y}OT*{E}
23 - Entrance area for accommodating you (old fashioned) (5) - FO{YE}R
25 - Mantra, say, with a letter from Greece (5) - {OM}{EG}{A}
26 - Bad weather made worse by emission (4) - SMOG [E]
Performer remains the same even when docked (7) - ARTISTE
ReplyDeleteEven when the tail-end of ARTISTE i.e. the letter E is removed, the resulting word ARTIST means the same.
ARTISTE
ReplyDeleteWhen this word is docked - or de-tailed - it is
ARTIST
with little difference in meaning.
There may be subtle difference between these two words but it is for linguists to argue about.
I am glad to see some accolades paid here and there.
Crossword writers have a long-standing grouse:
Anything good solvers don't remember
Anything wrong solvers don't forget
Yes, 11a is a truly great clue.
ReplyDeleteFor the following reasons:
The hidden indicator is not too obvious.
The fodder is plausible.
Smooth surface reading.
The extra words in the hidden fodder are not a hindrance.
My favourite today is 1D POVERTY. The wordplay is perfect, no verbiage, and the definition so easy to miss.
ReplyDelete11 - Village headman attends Amritsar panchayat heads meet (8) - SARPANCH [T] Nice clue
Here I differ. 'panchayat' and 'sarpanch' come from the same root PANCH. Using one as hidden fodder for the other isn't that great.
And to add on to the reasons, it is totally an Indian word
ReplyDeleteAha! some signs of dissent
ReplyDeleteTry
ReplyDeleteVillage headman sheltering in Amritsar pan-chaat stall
11d Heads meet. Sar means head and the other head is the beginning of the next word Panchayat. It is a good clue because it is technically correct and unique
ReplyDeleteHeadman attending The Amritsar Panchromatic Film festival
ReplyDeleteOverall a very entertaining crossword. My Fav was 27 Ac. It hits quite close to home as I know from personal experience that one thrives on such help and cooperation from workers,supervisors,subcontractors etc to meet the tight production deadlines in shipyards.
ReplyDeleteConcur with Shuchi about 11 Ac. How about
Village headman attends the Hong Kong SAR Pan-China meet (8)
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)being the official name of Hong KOng
Remember reading this in a scholarly reference book:
ReplyDeleteartist - one who is involved in art, painting, sculpture etc.
artiste - one who is into performing and moving arts, e.g. mime, theatre, singing
So, there is a minute, subtle difference between the two.
Richard
5 down - A sign of distress when labour celebrates (6) - MAYDAY
ReplyDeleteShouldn't it have been (3,3)- MAY DAY, since the day is always expressed in two words?
Richard
First of all, I think that the def for word reqd is "A sign of distress" - which is one word.
ReplyDeleteYes, May Day is generally two words as we use the term in India but surprise, surprise, Chambers records it as one word even in the sense of workers' day.
BTW, is mayday a sign or signal?
The more we look into a crossword clue, the more...
Yes, I checked in the dictionaries. Hmmm, maybe, mayhem of the language.
ReplyDeleteRichard
BTW. the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English says:
ReplyDeletemayday ( mind you, in lower case !) - a radio signal used to ask for help when a ship or plane is in serious danger.
That supports Chaturvasi's point.
Richard
Poor sarpanch, does he deserve this postmortem after all!
ReplyDeleteLOL @ Anuradha.
ReplyDeleteReminds me how tough it is to explain this kind of postmortem to non-crossword people. I was telling my friend yesterday that there's a debate on my blog. When asked what about, and I replied it's whether a clue should have "and" or "or", I got a look that spoke "Nuts, all of you!" louder than words.
There is possibly some truth in that :P
That's what I like about this blog- it is educative and entertaining.
ReplyDeleteIn the midst of all the accolades (and well deserved too) (or should I say fag end considering the time of the day that I am posting this) for Sankalak, let me add a bit of dissent. 4D - 'et al' does not mean other things. It means others. The Latin phrase et al. is actually a short form for et alii which means 'and others' (referring to a list of names). It could also stand for et alibi which means 'and elsewhere'. et cetera would be the right word to use for other things.
ReplyDeleteand the number of letters for 16D should be 9 and not 8; etc etc--- ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteIn defence of Sankalak
ReplyDeleteRe Vikram's comment above.
I too was under the impression that 'et al' is used only for 'and other people' and in my writing I have always used the L. phrase only in that context.
Perhaps, it is given thus in the usage books.
But surprise, surprise (isn't this the second time that I am bringing up this expression in this section) Chambers has Quote begins
et alii, aliae or alia (L), and other (people or things).
Quote ends. Chambers is closing down its Edinburgh office. Its reference books division appears to be in the doldrums and there is no hope of any cheap Indian edition of the latest edn of this beloved dict. It seems I have to shell out UK sterling pounds and procure the the original edition from the UK for even the UK edition in the familiar cover design that I saw in a local store was the same 1998 edition that I already possess in its Indian edn.
Chambers is closing down its Edinburgh office.
ReplyDeleteThere's an ongoing petition to save the office from closing down. You can support the cause by signing here:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/chambers-in-edinburgh/