Saturday, 16 January 2010

No 9741, Saturday 16 Jan 10, Nita Jaggi

ACROSS
 2  - Segment of drivers following an Arab reach the destination (6) - {AR}{RIVE}
 7  - Dressed among the exotic ladies (4) - CLAD [T]
 9  - State you crossed is a bit hazardous (4) - {U}TA{H} TA from ?
10 - Escape through the end of the day from excited couples not that you see in a tricky situation (8,5) - {SLIP}{PER}{Y} {SLOPE(-u-c)}*
12 - Worker following a boy in the grand ceremony (7) - {PAGE}{ANT}
13 - Caught a reflection of the bird in the river (7) - {A}{C}<-{HERON}
15 - Sounds like the part he played in the play went downhill (4) - ROLE (~roll) From the statement of the clue this should have been ROLE
17 - A punishment for the soldier’s wife in the south-east (5) - {TA}{W}{SE}

18 - Kate suddenly is noticeably unwell (4) - TAKE* Is this definition correct? I've never heard of TAKE being used in this sense.
19 - Telephone number of a politician is taken with diplomacy (7) - {CON}{TACT} What a terrible definition
21 - Leaders of European Countries will heartlessly have to see the new military formation (7) - {EC}{H(-av)E}{LO}{N}
23 - It may be used to cover the mixture of cold foods! (5,8) - SALAD DRESSING [CD]
27 - Cut out some limited bit of information in a short time (4) - {(-s)OM(-e)}{I}{T} MY GOSH so much trouble for a 4 letter word!!!
28 - Small note is given at last to the youngster in front (4) - {TI}{N}{Y}
29 - Come out of the hedge regularly again to us for a second (6) - {E}{G}{RE}{SS}
DOWN
 1  - Fluid display (6) - PLASMA [CD]
 2  - Careful consideration to note the time not included in a commercial (10) - ADV(-er-t)ISEMENT Never knew there was such a word! Anno not clear.
 3  - Models may walk on this displaying a new collection (4) - RAMP [E]
 4  - Change direction with ease in the borders of Vancouver (4) - V{EE}R
 5  - Form an opinion not as an instance to take up the sport (4) - {SUM}{O} ??
 6  - Social networking for people on site (8) - FACEBOOK [E]
 8  - A necessary language (5) - BASIC [DD]
11 - Specialist will shout at the participant (7) - {ENT}{RANT}
13 - American is thrice captured by Alice heartlessly (7) - A{US}{TER}E What is the definition here?
14 - Lives to imbibe the term decided by the hardliners (10) - EX{TREM*}ISTS
16 - Marsupials start off to hop with us in doubt inside the ship (8) - {(-h)OP}OS{S{UM}S} Anno beats me

20 - Raced to collect the wood (5) - CEDAR*
22 - Vitamin extracted from oranges are anyhow for different body parts (6) - ORGANS(-e)* Nice clue
24 - Behind schedule and elsewhere in retrospect (4) - LATE <- )
25 - A sound of a bell in an enclosure (4) - RING [DD]
26 - Spend less in South Africa on the village head at the beginning of the elections (4) - {SA}{V}{E} Does save mean spend less? Is this the longest definition for a 4 letter word seen at THC?


22 comments:

  1. Good morning, Colonel saab:

    15A - Sounds like the part he played in the play went downhill (4) - ROLE (~roll)

    I think your anno should read: "From the statement of the clue this should have been ROLL"

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Richard,
    NJ has me in a spin

    ReplyDelete
  3. I fully concur with you regarding some terrible definitions and moving heaven and earth to create short 4-letter words.

    Let the due be given. Some nice clues.


    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  4. "went downhill" can give only ROLLED, not ROLL. Do you agree?

    As for OPOSSUMS, it's (h)OP, OS, S(UM)S where UM is doubt. The clue-writer seems to have mistaken the unexplained OS for US, which is given as US in wordplay.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 2D  - Careful consideration to note the time not included in a commercial (10) - ADV(-er-t)ISEMENT Never knew there was such a word! Anno not clear.

    I got the word after a Google search.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/advisement

    ad·vise·ment (ād-vīz'mənt)
    n. Careful consideration: Your request will be taken under advisement.

    Legal Dictionary

    Main Entry: ad·vise·ment
    Pronunciation: &d-'vIz-m&nt
    Function: noun
    1 : careful consideration : DELIBERATION advisement>
    2 : the act or process of advising

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  6. State you crossed is a bit hazardous (4)

    The clue-writer's thinking is
    U T A H
    T from cross
    The equation is from a notorious, undependable list of abbreviations floating around the Internet
    T = cross is not in Chambers or any standard dictionary. Will stand corrected if proved otherwise.
    Yes, l becomes t if you cross, but t is not a cross.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 'tawse' as your picture shows is a leather strap, usu cut into strips at the end, for corporal punishment.
    It is a tool for punishment, not a punishment in itself.
    If, knowing the niceties of the language and the demands of clue-writing, one rewrites the clue as
    The soldier’s wife in the south-east for punishment(5)
    then one can argue that "for punishment" denotes a tool for punishment.
    Will stand corected if proved otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kate suddenly is noticeably unwell (4)

    'take' does have the meaning 'to become ill'.

    If we take 'suddenly' as the anag ind, we're left with 'is noticeably unwell".
    If this is the def, then I think it can lead only to TAKES or TAKEN.
    If 'noticeably unwell" is the def, then I think we must expect an adj as the answer, which TAKE is not.
    Opinion expressed in good faith, will stand corrected if proved otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Telephone number of a politician is taken with diplomacy (7) CON TACT

    'politician' gives CON. Is every politician a con?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Come out of the hedge regularly again to us for a second (6) - {E}{G}{RE}{SS}

    Your anno needs to be re-eaxamined.

    I think the clue-writer intends it to be E G RE (again) S (us) S (a second, ignoring the presence of a)

    I guess S for 'us' must be from that long list. Yes, in let's, 's is 'us'. The syncopation of us to s is indicated by the apostrophe. How can s be 'us'?

    Also, egress means to go out, to depart. Whether 'come out' is accurate, I don't know.

    Will stand corrected if proved otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 14 - Lives to imbibe the term decided by the hardliners (10) - EX{TREM*}ISTS

    '[I]mbibe' is an excellent c/c ind, but is 'decided' acceptable as an anag ind?

    It is a question of tolerance on the part of the solver.

    ReplyDelete
  12. In a "contact book" you may have the address, telephone number, etc, of persons.
    So the clue writer may have thought that for 'contact' 'telephone number' as a def might work.

    ReplyDelete
  13. 4  - Change direction with ease in the borders of Vancouver (4) - V{EE}R

    Qn: If 'ease' can give EE will 'cease' give CC?

    ReplyDelete
  14. I don't think I have enough imagination to solve this CW completely

    ReplyDelete
  15. 29A - EGRESS

    This word, as far as I can remember, has been featured a few times - by different setters, though - in THC over the past weeks.

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  16. Chaturvasi you have had a field day today and I don't think you will need to stand !!!!

    Regarding CON and Politician I think she has intended a Conservative and not the CON you imply, even though the meaning as related to an Indian politician seems quite apt!!

    There was a snippet on Lalu on today's Great Indian Tamasha where our great Lalu has stated that having gone to jail should be one of the pre-requirements for getting a ticket, or something to that effect.

    EE from ease is a regular for NJ.

    ReplyDelete
  17. EGRESS (6)

    ET 3464: Go back to find right passage out
    THC 9704 (S) To go back to an earlier state is the right way out
    THC (Sun) (Obs.) - Regressive? In part, way out!
    May not be PC but NIE 9697: Black woman loses her head going out
    THC 9221 (author unknown): The way out for some regressed individuals
    Again not PC: Gridman: Black woman is late on the way out

    ReplyDelete
  18. The challenge is to write a clue without using either the politically incorrect word or REGRESSIVE. Will come back on this. Others too can try!

    ReplyDelete
  19. To depart, émigré with no note is on ship (6)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Looks like NJ makes this blog's Heads of State to really roll their sleeves and wade in for a 12rounder. Happy to see my namesake as a solution, e's notwithstanding. Having gone through atleast two full cycles of the different setters I am now beginning to appreciate the exasperation levels in comments here today on NJ's somewhat obscure style.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Col,

    Looking at all these comments do you now see why I run away from NJ. Sankalak is my guy.

    ReplyDelete

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