Thursday 19 November 2009

No 9692, Thursday 19 Nov 09, Gridman

ACROSS
1 - Bookie away before start of race (7) - {OFF}{ERE}{R}
5 - Former pupil revises manual (6) - ALUMNA*
9 - Run in the next rally (5) - EXTRA [T]
10 - Is it never seen in Light Cavalry? (4,5) - DARK HORSE [CD]
11 - Last couple of those ideas carried out in holiday area (7) - (-tho){SE}{ASIDE*}
12 - Irritated? Yon Dean is! (7) - ANNOYED*
13 - I don’t mind if it occurs elsewhere! (5) - NIMBY [CD]
14 - Vehicle for travelling or sleeping in (6,3) - CAMPER VAN [E]
16 - Canned — as pickles are! (4-5) - WELL OILED [CD]
19 - Dish at last took obstreperous babe (5) - {K}{EBAB*}
21 - Evergreen type extremely coolly goes to the newspapers (7) - {C(-ooll)Y}{PRESS}
23 - Tart leaves out second instrument (7) - (-s)TRUMPET
24 - Confused O’Neill met Salve? (9) - EMOLLIENT*
25 - Leading kisans reap and accumulate leaves in South African village (5) - {K}{R}{A}{A}{L}
26 - Creature with seven pairs of legs (6) - ISOPOD [E]
27 - They wish to be finders too (7) - SEEKERS [CD]
DOWN
1 - Donut writers and wise women are heard to take for breakfast (4,10) - {O}{PEN S}{AND}{WICHES}(~witches)
2 - From which one may emerge less bulky after some visits (3,4) - FAT FARM [CD]
3 - What is a kind of TV show (7) - REALITY [CD] ?
4 - Communist writer? Not exactly! (3-6) - RED PENCIL [CD]
5 - Vessel berthed in Kolkata or Tanga (5) - AORTA [T]
6 - Unsettle one in France with an infusion of asafoetida? (7) - UN{HING}E
7 - Thoroughbred racehorse for ballet dancer (7) - NUREYEV [DD]
8 - They are of consuming interest to babies (7,7) - FEEDING BOTTLES [CD]
15 - Thinks dates and time are set (9) - MEDITATES*
17 - Circuits around excellent home office equipments (7) - LAP{TOP}S
18 - Deliveries friend put up to cover (7) - OVER{LAP<-} )
19 - Cave joint? (7) - KNUCKLE [DD]
20 - IB rises to revamped panel for an old type of aircraft (7) - {BI<-}PLANE*
22 - Endlessly detest ruffian horse (5) - STEED(-t)*

15 comments:

  1. Some intelligent clues and a few tricky ones today.

    ACROSS
    10 - Is it never seen in Light Cavalry? (4,5) - DARK HORSE [CD]

    Good one.

    13 - I don’t mind if it occurs elsewhere! (5) - NIMBY [CD]

    Cool ! It's short for 'Not in my backyard !'

    24 - Confused O’Neill met Salve? (9) - EMOLLIENT*

    Took some time to get this.

    DOWN
    3 - What is a kind of TV show (7) - REALITY [CD] ?

    I think this fits the bill.

    6 - Unsettle one in France with an infusion of asafoetida? (7) - UN{HING}E

    Quie spicy. Indian names are least expected. But got it easily by the flavour of it.

    8 - They are of consuming interest to babies (7,7) - FEEDING BOTTLES [CD]

    Nice one!

    p.s.

    5 ac - also good one.

    Alumnus is masculine singular for a past student and the plural is alumni. Alumna is a past female student and the plural is alumnae. It is not uncommon to find people saying 'He is an alumni of so-and-so institution'. The correct form is alumnus for a male.

    17 down - I always thought the word 'equipment' is used only in singular form like aircraft, deer, hardware and others, and never in plural form, although it is meant to match the plural form of 'laptops' here or a printer's devil. What do the experts say?

    No nitpicking, this !


    Richard

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  2. Never before heard of witches being referred to as wise women.(Perhaps they are)

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  3. Richard,

    I am glad that the crossword is now looked at in a broader perspective.

    Your notes on the various forms of the word for ex-pupil(s) will be useful to many.

    Re: equipment: Chambers has "things used in equipping or furnishing; outfit; a set of tools, machines, clothes, instruments, etc necessary for a particular purpose." You may be right in thinking that equipment itself could lead to the plural LAPTOPS but Gridman may have thought that that leap was too much and may have added the s. However, Cobuild records equipment as N UNCOUNT, so Gridman may have erred. Let's see what David has to say. David?

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  4. 'Wise women' for 'witches' may be a stretch but Chambers has: a person, esp a woman, supposed to have supernatural or magical power and knowledge esp through compact with the devil or a minor evil spirit;
    However, we are entitled to think it's wrong.

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  5. Re: 3 - What is a kind of TV show (7) - REALITY [CD] ?

    In response to Col Deepak's ?

    I think the clue is intended to be a DD.

    The obvious one is "a kind of TV show" like the notorious one in which Shilpa Shetty made a lot of money by suffering and accepting indignities though she may have publicly shed some tears.

    The other is What is.

    What is, what exists, is reality.

    What is not is like Elia's Dream-Children.

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  6. Chaturvasi,
    The question mark in 3D was also to indicate that the surface reading of the clue made no sense. 'It is a kind of TV show' would make more sensible reading, besides fitting the bill for a DD as well

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  7. If Gridman had used "pieces of home office equipment" he would have been in the clear!

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  8. I found the following in response to a query on the plural form of "equipment".

    It would be usual to say "equipment is".

    Theoretically we could say "equipments are"
    and the plural form is accepted.

    Incidentally, I checked whether EQUIPMENTS was a valid Scrabble word.

    The judgement is green: yes, it is!

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  9. So now we are well equipped for future crosswords, quipped the bloggers

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  10. 24 - Confused O’Neill met Salve? (9) - EMOLLIENT*
    The above clue uses what is called false capitalisation and I believe rules allow that. But what is not allowed is the use of lc where a uc would be expected.
    The capital letter S misleads the solver to think that it is a person in India but actually it is the ointment.
    Once upon a time solvers would have expected the clue-writer to put the word Salve as the opening word in the clue sentence so that it naturally takes a capital letter but also acts as a def for 'ointment'.
    I invite comments from others on this question.

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  11. 16A Could it be a DD
    Canned = recorded or prepared in advance

    As in a 'canned speech' could mean a well oiled one ?

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  12. Canned is a DD. It means drunk. Well oiled also means drunk

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  13. In which case it could be a TD? :)

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  14. I have only ever heard equipment used to indicate both singular and plural - dont know why but "equipments" just sounds alien - like someone saying sheeps.

    Liked the "well oiled" clue, and also the good old english word "strumpet" - not a word you trip over usually unless you're reading elizabethan plays!

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  15. 24 - Confused O’Neill met Salve? (9) - EMOLLIENT*
    The above clue uses what is called false capitalisation and I believe rules allow that.


    That's correct. I've written a post on this: False Capitalization.

    ReplyDelete

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