Tuesday 22 December 2009

No 9720, Tuesday 22 Dec 09, Gridman

Today's blog is by Richard Lasrado (alias Richlas) whom I requested as I was not sure of Internet access on the train (little modifications of colours etc done by me to meet my style of posting). I am aboard the Sampark Kranti again on my way back to Bangalore
ACROSS
1 - Timers on way to work with guards (11) - {ST}{OP}{WATCHES}
9 - Mailer's determined tendency to face facts (7) - REALISM*
10 - Hoisting equipment gets crier swept dramatically into empty dock (7) - {D(-oc)}{ERRIC*}K}
11 - Strange shape of the moon, perhaps (5) - PHASE*
12 - A busy or humble person is not one to make this kind of crow (4,5) - IDLE BLAST ? (Addendum - IDLE BOAST Thanks to Shuchi)
13 - Below, fellow is caught in rainfall (5) IN{F}RA
15 - Lightning bugs (9) - GLOWWORMS Lightning or lighting?

18 - Fan of the Capricorn's attack on learner ended (4,5) - {GO}{AT} {L}{OVER}
21 - Moor's entanglement (3-2) - TIE-UP [DD]
22 - But they don't chime in camps (4,5) BELL TENTS [CD]
24 - Don't begin to shield runaways in the capital (5) (-s)DELHI*
26 - Rum's not constituent of cure-all (7) - NOSTRUM*
27 - Adjust anew to girl in oddly pert case (7) - RE{ADA}PT*
28 - The sort of rock maestri deny belting out (11) - SEDIMENTARY *
DOWN
1 - Youth to expose fish (9) - {STRIP}{LING}
2 - Mantra's expression of surprise in U.S. city (5) - {OM}{AHA}
3 - We, with all fussing about, get this kind of tyre (9) WHITEWALL*
4 - Pressing — old Bob is out pressing (7) - TAMPING Anno pending (Addendum - (-s)TAMPING Thanks to Shuchi)
5 - Nobleman: "Hi! Happy to come up with a ring" (7) - {HI}{DALG<- strong="">O}
6 - Clean tree (5) - SCRUB [DD]
7 - Say 'no' to boy on the rise with a craving that's endless (8) - {DIS<- strong="">A}{GREE(-d)}
8 - Take off garment without voyeur at last (4) - SKI(-r)T ?
14 - Brave female not giving attention? (8) - {F}{EARLESS}
16 - Comedian, hard-working, won no Oscar — is offish (9) - {WIT}{HDRA*}{W(-o)N}
17 - Concession to man's attempt at clever argument (9) - {SOP}{HIS}{TRY}
19 - Having poisoned, leaderless workers stealthily moved around (7) - V{(-m)EN}OMED*
20 - Talking point? (7) - ROSTRUM [CD]
22 - Put up with nonsense? (4) - BUNK [DD]
23 - They are served in coolers (5) - TERMS [CD]
25 - Pack animal brings everything up around morning (5) - {LLA<- strong="">MA<- span="" style="color: white;">)

Richard Lasrado
GRID




8 comments:

  1. 12 - A busy or humble person is not one to make this kind of crow (4,5) - IDLE BLAST ?
    IDLE BOAST

    4 - Pressing — old Bob is out pressing (7) - TAMPING Anno pending
    {-s}TAMPING
    old Bob = old name for shilling, of which S is the std. abbreviation

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  2. 8 - Take off garment without voyeur at last (4) - SKI{-r}T ?
    Looks all right. "take off" as in comic mimicry.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. In 15ac the composer must have had "Lightening bugs".

    Subediting being what it is and with the proofreading department in newspapers (where one held the copy and read and the other checked the typeset matter) having been abolished, such errors will keep recurring much to the discomfiture of those who know their English.

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  5. I am reminded of the title of the book on English punctuation.

    It's Eats Shoots and Leaves

    At the moment I am not able to trace the book in my bookshelf but I bet the title is as above.

    I am surprised that some reviews of this book place a comma after Eats, but, if I remember right, the cover showed the image of a man up in a ladder trying to place a comma after Eats.

    But the sense of the title alters depending upon where the comma is placed. That is the whole point of the book!

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  6. The title of the book actually is

    "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"

    but there's a giant panda (who features in that misplaced comma joke) up a ladder, painting away that comma.

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  7. @ Chaturvasi and Shuchi

    I must thank you both for posting the above comments. Somehow the title of the book remained etched in my mind.

    As my daughter was doing her Christmas shopping in a local mall the very next day on Dec 24, I happened to hop into the next-door book and music store in the same premises, looking for some music CDs.

    Believe it or not, as I passed by a rack, this title glaringly caught my eyes. The cover of the book was a bit defaced and dog-eared enough in evidence of having been browsed through by many shoppers. And that was the only copy available there.

    The condition of the book apart, I grabbed it at once. It is really a classic.

    Just in case anyone is interested, here are the details.

    EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES

    Sub-title: The Zero-tolerance Approach to Punctuation

    Author: Lynne Truss

    A Profile Book (Rs 150)

    Distributed in India by

    Viva Book Private Limited, 4262/3 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002

    BTW, Shuch, I enjoyed the joke on the back cover about the panda that walked into a cafe.


    Richard

    ReplyDelete

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