Saturday 30 January 2010

No 9753, 30 Jan 10, Gridman

16A has me stumped, WATERMUSIC, TAPEDMUSIC fits, but I could find no such words
ACROSS
 1  - Praise and support retreating friends (8) - {BACK}{SLAP<-} )
6  - A key mistake? (4) - TYPO [E]
9  - Indian village: very nearly it’s orderly and free (6) - {GRA(-m}{TIS*}
10 - Go green — good enough to cause to swell (7) - ENGORGE*
13 - Covers covering mole’s last covers (9) - ENVELOP{E}S
14 - He has a diseased animal with its head blown off (5) - OWNER Anno pending
15 - Only second gets an exclamation of support (4) - {S}{OLE}
16 - It may be played in the fountain to give you sound experience (10) - ?A?E?M?S?C
19 - A well-mannered person follows this when online (10) - NETIQUETTE [CD]
21 - Scandal over Scot’s retraction (4) - SCAM<- )
24 - Flora’s partner (5) - FAUNA [CD]
25 - No panther straying into Greek temple (9) - PARTHENON*

26 - OohGent is lively and very active (2,3,2) - ON THE GO*
27 - Thorough, with no batsman remaining (3-3) - ALL-OUT [DD]
28 - Mistakes sounded Irish (4) - ERRS(~erse)
29 - Child reportedly removes moisture from odds and ends (8) - (~son){SUN}{DRIES}
DOWN
 2  - Appearance of a rook with competitor (7) - {A}{R}{RIVAL}
 3  - Proverbially, it’s accused by the pot (6) - KETTLE [CD]
 4  - Tells a cap wallowing in the lowest standing (4-5) - LAST-PLACE*
 5  - Stamp the newspapers (5) - PRESS [DD]
 7  - Father in stony-broke situation gets briefs (1-6) - Y-{FR}ONTS*
 8  - Locomotive operator’s obsession? (3-5,4) - ONE-TRACK MIND [CD]
11 - Sad appearance within the limits of Guindy (6) - G{LOOM}Y
12 - Celebrity — not necessarily a musician (6,2,4) - PERSON OF NOTE [CD]
17 - Host to go into coach without right (9) - {ENTER}{T(-r)AIN}
18 - Fair in the city centre (6) - SQUARE [DD]
20 - He jeers at dancing aunt and half-sister (7) - {TAUN*}{(-sis)TER}
22 - Condemn our losing head in perfume (7) - CENS{(-o)UR)E
23 - Melvillean character more healthy after the beginning of Winter (6) - {W}{HALER}
25 - Having second thoughts about great deal of schemes (5) - P{LOT}S Nice clue



GRID

34 comments:

  1. Could cruise along easily.

    Nice clues: 19A, 24A, 8D, 12D etc.

    16A: Wonder if WATERMUSIC could be a single word.


    Richard

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  2. How does 22DN comprehend? Is PERFUME broken down as INCENSE - IN or SCENT-T+E, though both are not apparent in the word play, atleast to me?

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  3. Just did a search for CENSE on google - looks like Merriam Webster lists it as a word and likely short for "to perfume with incense" -learnt something new today. Sorry for a knee jerk post earlier.

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  4. See my note in the Orkut community: The Hindu Crossword Solutions

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  5. @ CV

    I am not a member of Orkut yet. Nor do I have an inclination to become one soon. How do I get to read your note?


    Richard

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  6. 16ac: the enu must have been 5,5. Error must have been under most peculiar circumstances, not becuase of carelessness on the part of the compiler.

    22dn: Condemn is def. 'our losing head' gives UR. 'in' is inserticator. CENSE is from 'perfume'. 'incense' is more well-known, 'cense' is not. Easy word, but difficult wordplay. But surface reading is OK. Perfumes can make you dizzy. Try fresh jasmine flowers!

    25dn: Here 'second thoughts' gives PS. If it had been 'postscript' it would have been easy.

    Reproduced by writer with kind permission of the writer.

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  7. @CVasi Sir: Thank you for the clarification. In the end, I missed a few in getting lost in Gridman's smart cluing today.

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  8. Reverting to the fag-end of yesterday’s discussion:

    TIFFIN: I have noticed that this word is in vogue only in a few southern states of India and not much in the northern states, let alone abroad. Even in Karnataka, we come across it only in upcountry areas and not in the coastal districts.

    JAGGERY: As CV said, the more popular Indian name is GUR (pronounced ‘good’) which is used in English newspaper write-ups and reports. I have a hunch that it is an Anglicised form of SAKKARA (in Tamil I guess) or CHAKKARA (Malayalam for sweet / sugar, maybe). It is SAKKARE in Kannada.

    If jaggery is ‘vellam’ in Tamil (courtesy Chaturvasi again), in Kannada it ia BELLA, which is, incidentally, the short form of a popular European name for girls, ISABELLA.

    How sweet !

    Pardon the trivia.


    Richard

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  9. Here are a few things I learned (not learnt :-) ) to say or not to say as a faculty member in an American classroom.

    1. Once I said, "when you divide by a fraction, you change the division to a multiplication and interchange the numerator and denominator." The two different responses to this statement - "You mean, swap 'em?" and "You mean, flip it over?"

    2. "Folks, will you please turn to the last but one page in the handout?"
    "What?"
    "Last but one page."
    "You mean, next to last?"

    3. In a party, after talking to this girl and guy for a while I said, "Alright, I'll make a move." The pronounced discomfort on the girl's face couldn't be missed. I realized that and told her what I meant. Apparently that phrase is meant as, "Well, I've been a good boy so far. It's now time for me to make a move and get a little naughty."

    4. There are several versions of this story, but here's the best. Desi guy walks into the big retail store and says to the cashier girl behind the counter, "Excuse me. I want a rubber." Girl's jaw drops and so do the jaws of many others around. The guy presses on, "I want a small one" and shows a small part of his index finger indicating the size of the rubber he wants. (For the benefit of those who do not know, a rubber in America is a condom.)

    I'll post more if and when I recall other such experiences. Would love to hear from others, as well.

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  10. Aside to Satya
    Did you see the mail I sent on Jan 22?

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  11. Can someone explain 14 A ? My thought was that the anagram of an animal of 6 letters, with its first letter removed, would give Owner. However, I have been unable to find one yet following this train of thought.

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  12. In such a situation what we do is do a letter run. Take OWNER. With that word in sight, go through letters A B C etc. Obviously A, E, F and such other letters will fall by the wayside. See if you can come up with the six-letter word that means 'old, diseased animal'. Can't say if our vets can suggest the word.

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  13. @ Chaturvasi - Got it, thanks a lot !

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  14. The word is in Chambers, Concise Oxford, Penguin but none of these gives the 'old, diseased animal' meaning. www.onelook.com does.

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  15. It should dawn on those who have a quiet drink at sunset.

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  16. @Chaturvasi. Maybe I am a dimwit, but I still haven't got the word for 14A

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  17. Did you read my note at 12:32 PM?

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  18. Actually, I hadn't. Never thought of it. Even if I had I did not know its meaning

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  19. I saw the meaning in Wikipedia too. Also in OED

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  20. @ CV

    Since you mentioned the sundown and downing a drink on 14A, can I hazard a guess?

    Is it D.....?

    I could not hold on up to 12.50 pm.


    Richard

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  21. @ Suresh: The meaning is given in Wikepedia.

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  22. See meaning 2 here:
    http://dictionary.infoplease.com/downer

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  23. Sandhya, see my comment It is in O.E.D. too

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  24. Well I did a google search for the meaning of DOWNER and on the first ten links thrown up for the word the meaning shown in the clue appeared only at one link. I did have DOWNER in the morning but when the first three besides my dictionary didn't throw up the meaning I gave up (the link given by Suresh happens to be the fourth in the list thrown up by google)

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  25. @ Suresh: Sorry, I thought you hadn't found it in Wiki or OED - missed seeing ur comment previous to this one.

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  26. www.dictionary.com
    ==================
    down⋅er  /ˈdaʊnər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [dou-ner] Show IPA
    Use downer in a Sentence
    See images of downer
    Search downer on the Web
    –noun 1. Informal. a. a depressant or sedative drug, esp. a barbiturate.
    b. a depressing experience, person, or situation.

    2. Animal Husbandry. an old or diseased animal, esp. one that cannot stand up

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  27. Musings of a daughter-in-law
    If one Aunt (refers to mother-in-law in Tamil) and half sister can be taunter, imagine the combination of one aunt and one sister (-in-law)

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  28. @ CV et al

    What would be an old, two-footed animal - homo sapiens, you know - who steadily keeps downing you-know-what around sundown and who cannot stand up, called?


    Richard

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  29. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  30. perhaps it should be (better) half sister

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  31. Sorry, Sunila, I happened to delete my post for correction before I spotted your second one.

    Mine was only to appreciate your wit. But, if the daughter-in-law is indeed, genuinely musing, isn't anyone at home listening? ;-)


    Richard

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