Tuesday, 2 February 2010

No 9755, Tuesday 02 Feb 10, Gridman

ACROSS
1 - Knock down: let kits roll off! (7) - SKITTLE*
5 - Solemn class by little boy (6) - {FORM}{AL}
9 - Put together broken trifle learner discarded (5) - REFIT(-l)*
10 - Sight from an optical instrument cut short (9) - SPECTACLE(-s)
11 - King disoriented limner in a Russian citadel (7) - {K}{REMLIN*}

12 - Cut a cutter cut (7) - SCISSOR(-s) Nice clue
13 - A hollow part to lady without notice in a fitting manner (5) - {A}{P(-ar)T}{L(-ad)Y}
14 - Fitful one with a gun back in car (9) - {I}{R{REGUL}{A}<-R} ) I don't think we can classify a Luger as a gun, it is a pistol

16 - Gathers Ma blesses freely (9) - ASSEMBLES*
19 - Fun in second harbour (5) - {S}{PORT}
21 - Resented putting a Dickens character in alternate gadi (7) - G{RUDGE}D
23 - One has a bit of surprise in real transformation by one foreign national (7) - {I}{S}{RAEL*}{I}
24 - Changeless, let Mumbai manifest itself (9) - IMMUTABLE*
25 - Small periods of time for Kerala’s leader in foreign city (5) - {MINS}{K}
26 - So a din is created about a beau (6) - ADONIS*
27 - American in disgrace to keep going (7) - S{US}TAIN
DOWN
1 - Profits result when you do this with a trader (6,1,7) - STRIKE A BARGAIN [CD]
2 - Fifty in poison case change tone (7) - INF{L}ECT
3 - Completely bring together child and mate (7) - {TOT}{ALLY}
4 - Important to correct lateness as one comes in (9) - ESSENT{I}AL*
5 - Worries about decorations? (5) - FRETS [DD]
6 - Abandoning sailor takes time (7) - RAT{T}ING Nice clue
7 - It results when a charge is made (7) - ACCUSAL [CD] Never knew this word, had heard of accusation only.
8 - Phobic Tamilian leader, unwell, admits mistake (6-8) - {T}{ERROR}-{STRICKEN}
15 - It results when you don’t polish from time to time (9) - RUSTINESS [CD]
17 - Quartered in Dharavi, say (7) - SLUMMED [CD]
18 - Got mean, using explosive device (7) - MEGATON* I don't think it can be classified as a device.
19 - Acts niggardly with small folds (7) - {S}{CRIMPS}
20 - One in a canoe drifting in South Seas region (7) - OCEAN{I}A*
22 - They result when you use the plastic (7) - DEBTS [CD]


19 comments:

  1. Hello everybody

    Clues I liked: 12A, 24A, 1D, 22D

    6D: Perhaps 'deserting' would have been a more apt clue in place 'abandoning'. I feel there is a subtle difference between 'abandoning' and 'deserting'. Desertion implies derelection of duty, while abandoning need not be. I am prepared to stand corrected. But it is a crossword after all and such minor deviations are perhaps permissible.

    22D: A tricky one. A first look would lead one to the ill-effects of the use of plastic like pollution. Then, of course, if the clue was 'plastic money' it would have been a giveaway.


    Richard

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  2. WRT my comment at 14A, I stand corrected a GUN can also be a pistol or revolver

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  3. Abandoning one's post can also be deserting.

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  4. Correction to the first line: "in place of 'abandoning'..."

    Richard

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  5. Deepak

    A megaton bomb is a bomb of that power. Whether 'megaton' by itself can mean an explosive device is iffy, as you say.

    But when we go to the hotel we order a 'sada' when we actually mean a 'sada dosai'.

    Richard, the language maven, may have something to say about adjectives qualifying nouns becoming nouns themselves.

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  6. Is there something akin to a Poetic License that crossword setters can use when the clue and solution don't line up 100% like megaton for 18DN in this case?

    Also, though the Colonel provided the Anno. for 14AC's solution, I still don't completely understand (again!, Sorry) how to interpret the word "car" in the clue. Help, please.

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  7. @veer

    Fitful one with a gun back in car

    Fitful = definition
    one = I
    with = connector
    a = A
    gun = LUGER
    back = reversal indicator
    in = inclusion indicator
    car = RR (Rolls Royce)

    now add that all up

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  8. Ah! Car = RR is an abbrev. I missed though I suspect it is quite a standard definition. Thanks for your patience.

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  9. My aplology for the typo in my first post: 'derelection' should be 'dereliction'.

    @ CV

    Your response to my post reminds of the two fathers discussing their sons' progress in studies.

    First: "My son's letters send me to the bank. I am forced send him money immediately."

    Second: "My sons' send me to the dictionary."

    'Maven' is a new word for me. Thanks for the compliment. :-)

    Got your point. Thanks for the 'Sada dosa', er..'sada'.


    Richard

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  10. @Chaturvasi,

    Will a 'sada' may get me a 'nai roast' too:-).

    All this talk of dosai's is making my mouth water for the excellent ones we get at Gowrishankar/Annapurna in Coimbatore. I wonder how many followers of this blog have eaten the 6 foot long Family dosa at Annapurna in RS Puram.

    Shall try and post a picture of it tomorrow

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  11. Annapurna came much later. I think I have already mentioned the unforgettable nei roast I as a school pupil used to have for 14 paise apiece in Ideal Cafe (since non-existent, I mean the dosai as well as the hotel) in R.S. Puram, CBE.

    Of course, on a subsequent occasion I tried the much-talked about Annapurna dosai but the experience was not the same.

    A certain time, a certain experience gets frozen - er, before Richard pounces on me - freezed in our memory, I think.

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  12. MTR in Bangalore not that great Colonel?

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  13. @CV I agree with you on the deterioting quality of Annapoorna in RS Puram. The best Masala Dosai I ever had was in Gowrishankar on the road where the Courts are. But that was long ago.

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  14. There is a certain hotel chain in Chennai - I shall not mention names - where the sada I get for Rs 25 plus leaves me cold.

    And the chutney is for thottukka - I mean you touch it and then leave it off - not at all tasty.

    The sambhar is too salty - I have called the supervisor often and complained but without any result.

    And you don't even have a chair and table to eat your food.

    Yet the hotel is always crowded. Why? Because of the location: all the employees in the locality flock there for their breakfast before hurrying to their offices or for lunch in the absence of any canteen facility.

    The cops needn't have to buy tokens: all they need to do is go to the supervisor and tell them their order!

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  15. I can't believe I'm saying this, but get NJ back on soon. Missing the controversy and spice in the comments here. Gridman is too smooth a sailing for the moment : )

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  16. Oh dearie me! The poor crossword has been orphaned while the gourmet's delights are ruling the roost here.

    It's nearing lunchtime. Waiting for a switchover from dosais to thali ...

    Richard

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  17. Let me pull the conversation back from food to the crossword :)

    Got mean, using explosive device (7) MEGATON*

    What's the anagrind?
    'using'? Then it's weak. 'Definition using fodder' might be acceptable, but not 'Fodder using definition'.
    'using explosive'? Then the definition 'device' is weak, or else 'explosive' is doing double-duty?

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  18. Back to food now

    @Suresh

    The one near the courts is still there in fact they have another bigger one next to it which is a/c

    @Satya

    MTR is MTR but too much of a hassle to get a seat as they have not expanded much and still operate from the same building where they were when I had eaten there in 1961!!

    @Chaturvasi

    Very clear about the chain you are alluding to

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  19. Wow! Let me contribute my dosa tip and run away before Shuchi et al can get to me. Being a Chennai-ite, I'm a big fan of sada. But residing in a place like Bristol does no good for a dosa lover. So whenever I visit London, I manage to pop in to 'Vasantha bavan' (a South Indian based restaurant chain) in Eastham and have a 'sada dosa' followed by a 'masala paal'. Highly recommended for dosa lovers visiting London!

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