Tuesday 9 March 2010

No 9785, Tuesday 09 Mar 10, Gridman

ACROSS
1 - Spiritless Victor on moving upfront would gain respect (8) - (+v)VENER(-v)ATE Nice clue (Correction (-v)ENER(+v)VATE)
5 - Her cue spoilt card game (6) - EUCHRE*
9 - He replaces raw beginner with headmaster in West Asian country (7) - IS(-r+hm)HMAEL
10 - Rishi has dog for guardian (7) - SE{CUR}ER
11 - Of tears the first of homemakers noticed in Lycra tattered by Mala endlessly (9) - {LAC{H}RY*}{MAL(-a)}
12 - Open angry Nu's last letter I placed first (5) - {UN*}{Z}{I}{P}
13 - Unsettled, a couple of learners are ineffectual (4) - {NU*}{LL}
14 - Persistently follows Tonga gals on the move (4,5) - TAGS ALONG*
17 - Explosively grown communities that may also go “bust”? (4,5) - {BOOM} {TOWNS}
19 - King is open in retrospect (4) - RAJA <- )
23 - Last stanza children voiced partially (5) - ENVOI [T]
24 - Ma charier about a men's grooming item (4,5) - HAIR CREAM*
25 - Jacky to remain in a frenzy about the crest of rollers (7) - MA{R}INER*
26 - Inscription in a grave setting (7) - EPITAPH [CD]
27 - Following a motif is the male editor (6) - {THE}{M}{ED}
28 - Old Indian statesman's mantra we will follow for film (8) - {CR}{OM}{WE'LL}
DOWN
1 - As said by a character on the way out (4,4) - EXIT LINE [CD]
2 - Just hit Alec if troublesome (7) - ETHICAL*
3 - Six come to tourist city for sex therapist's suggestion (6) - {VI}{AGRA}
4 - Child's plea at story time: “It's a lie” (4,2,7) - TELL ME ANOTHER [DD]
6 - Detach peacekeepers' vehicle crossing topmost of limits (8) - {UN}{COUP{L}E}
7 - Lost _: James Hilton novel (7) - HORIZON [E]
8 - Pole position? (6) - EUROPE [CD]
10 - Factory employee seen releasing buckles (5,8) - SALES ENGINEER*
15 - Excitedly came, absorbing good French atmosphere (8) - AM{BIEN}CE*
16 - Hurried halt to take in a major construction without alternative in northern India (3,5) - TAJ MAHAL(-or)*

18 - Old boy to serve cracked-up opposite side (7) - {OB}VERSE*
20 - Mean to declare over time (7) - {AVER}{AGE}
21 - That woman and the man on the rise meet rishi (6) - {HER}{MIT<-} )
22 - Religious division is found in second church meeting as it opens (6) - {S}{CH}{IS}{M}

GRID

38 comments:

  1. Hi everyone

    Typically Gridman-like crossword.

    9A - ISHMAEL - HM replacing 'R'aw beginning in ISRAEL.
    10A - SEER gets CUR inserted
    11A - LACHRYMAL
    28A - CR-OM-WELL (the movie)
    16D - HER+MIT<-

    All samples of clever setting. Couldn't help noticing RISHI (SEER and HERMIT) appearing twice in the clues.


    Richard

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  2. 28A - I would like to thank Gridman for reminding us of the long-forgotten Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878-1972- Rajaji, or CR in short), one of the greatest scholar-statesmen India has produced.

    He had served as the last governor-general of India, chief minister of the then-Madras Presidency and governor of West Bengal.

    In the late 1950's he founded the Swatantra Party, which, within a few years, went on to adorn the place of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha. Its policy of advocating free enterprise was then denounced by the ruling politicians who toed the Nehruvian line of socialism.

    Ironically enough, the same policy was adopted some three decades later by the ruling party, under the label of liberalization, spearheaded by the late PM PV Narasimha Rao, Dr Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram.


    Richard

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  3. 1A should be ENERVATE. It does not fir into the crossings otherwise

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  4. In my post 'fir' should be 'fit'

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  5. I also think 1A should be "ENERVATE" . Might explain 'Listless'

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  6. Enervate is right for 1 Ac. It means spiritless.
    If 'v' moves upfront, it would become 'venerate' (gain respect)
    Europe for 8 Dn is not clear. It must be ex-rope meaning the pole position in horse or auto races.

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  7. Thanks Suresh,
    My mistake in annotating.

    @Venkatesh,
    The Poles (People of Poland) are in Europe!

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  8. 8D Europe is where Poland is. I think pole coms from Poland

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  9. Bandeau yesterday, Viagra today...I really wonder what this guy Gridman's going through.

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  10. What is the difference between the first honeymoon and the second honeymoon?

    First is Niagara and the second is Viagra.

    At the risk of being vulgar, could I say that today we were forced to unzip and use Viagra! :-)

    Colonel, please feel free to delete my post if my comments are considered inappropriate.

    However, my intentions, I assure everyone, are honorable.

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  11. Good morning all. Quite interesting clues yes. Rishi used twice today.

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  12. Satya
    While I leave it to the blog owner Col Deepak Gopinath to decide whether to delete your post or not, I don't think there is anything inappropriate in your Comments.
    Words go into crossword grids by the patterns that come into play after intitial entries.
    And if a compiler doesn't fight shy of words such as BANDEAU, UNZIP, VIAGRA it only shows that he is mature.
    Private Eye crossword is decidedly on sexy side.
    A particular compiler on The Guardian panel is known to be off-colour.
    A DT crossword had DEATHBED on Monday. Even to this word we must be as detached as we are to VIAGRA.
    Satya, in a man's sex life there are three stages: Tri-weekly. Try weekly. Try weakly.

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  13. Satya
    You didn't notice that Gridman also has UNCOUPLE?

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  14. I can see & hear through cyber space, some of the visitors of my blog, shaking their head in disapproval and muttering TUT-TUT under their breath.

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  15. Well, well, well - this is getting interesting. There was someone in ancient times who is thought of as a Rishi, Thiruvalluvar, who did write on 3 aspects of our lives - Aram (virtue), Porul (Political) and Inbam (Love) in 1330 couplets. And he is revered as the one who can never utter a falsehood. So, no harm in being off color as long as it is in good taste seems to be a time honored verdict.

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  16. 15 - Excitedly came, absorbing good French atmosphere (8) - AM{BIEN}CE*

    Just to quibble a wee bit..The little knowledge of French that I have tells me that bien means well and not good.

    For example, for someone asking "how are you?", the response would be "very well, thank you". In French that would be "Tres bien, merci." (with the appropriate accent mark imagined on top of the e in tres).

    The right word in French for good would be "bon", is it not?

    Don't kill me .. my knowledge of French is from studying it in 8th and 9th standards several, several years ago. Maybe "bien" also means "good", but somehow I do not recall it.

    Maybe other linguists here can elaborate?

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  17. As per Philosophy there exist two kinds of knowledge - "experiential knowledge (that which comes from actual experience)" and "a priori knowledge (that which comes before actual experience)". CVasi sir, you do admit that all of us who visit this blog have experiential knowledge of "tri-weekly" but only a priori knowledge of the other two. Right? :-)

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  18. @VEER. 'BON' is the masculine form and 'bien' would be feminine.

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  19. @Suresh: I thought the feminine of bon was bonne.

    Example: A good friend.
    Male: Un bon ami
    Female: Une bonne amie.

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  20. Tres bien Veer. My little French is rusty. I think bon is good and bien is well. Something like that

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  21. Look at this site
    http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa122200b.htm

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  22. Sorry, Suresh. Do not mean to exasperate, I do mean well. Just that, Gridman rarely if ever lets slip and I am just wondering if this might be one time he did - clearly he did intend for bien.

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  23. @Suresh: Well and good, I stand corrected but certainly hope the question asked is relevant. Thank you for clarifying it - cannot believe there is a web site for every little thing!

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  24. No Problem Veer. I stopped attending French classes some months ago and am happy to refresh my memory on what little I learned

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  25. A US crossword dictionary ( so well-worn I am unable to give its title) has
    BIEN good; fine (Fr.)
    Cassell's Compact French Dictionary (luckily the title survives in the spine though the cover is gone)has
    bien n. m. good
    Kettridge's French/English English/French dictionary (luckily the cover survives but is is heavily cellotaped) has
    bien well
    and after several lines further has
    mgood
    I don't know French but I do have a fascination for languages and have a home library of books, dictionarise alone occupying an almirah.
    Gridman is known to make mistakes but they are few and far between. But I should think that as a rule he does his dictionary work when he sets crosswords.

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  26. Rishi is seer and hermit AND does it ring a bell? I miss the 'rolling eyes' emoticon of the Hub!lol!
    tut tut for such adult content? Why, all the visitors to this blog are adults, aren't they? Again I want to roll my eyes!

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  27. Reproduced below Mrs PP's closing remarks for today's puzzle at the HUB

    'As pointed out in the Colonel's blog an A certified puzzle!,

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  28. neat clues!
    to carry on with where veer left, just to prove thiruvalluvar is not to be underestimated, kindly read thirukkural no. 1087.

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  29. [ Bad Girl]My favorite Viagra joke was on a Karma brand T-shirt in India's Lifestyle showrooms. Picture of a Taj Mahal, and under it, the caption - Via Agra, Mani's biggest erection for a woman. [/Bad Girl].

    Back to being a StithaPragna.

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  30. In the above post read
    ...Man's...

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  31. LOL!!! What's StithaPragna?

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  32. >What's StithaPragna?

    Me - detached, enlightened, ego-less.

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  33. "Me - detached, enlightened, ego-less."

    Seems like a whole lotta something.

    Forgive my curiosity, but what really do you mean by detached? Detached from what?

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  36. Forgive my curiosity, but what really do you mean by detached?

    Detached from what? Hope Col. doesn't mind this OT. When you're truly spiritually 'enlightened', you are expected to be detached from your body, your ego, etc.

    I'm kidding about myself, of course - can't even detach from a XWord addiction ;-(.

    And, thanks, @Chaturvasi for fixing Mani to Man. I have a pal called Mani, and I'm glad he's not on this site ;-).

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  37. Didnt' see the thread on Fr. Bon/Bien until now. Literally Bien may translate top Good, but usage implies Well. Imagine an American saying he's well - it's usually 'I'm Good'. (Wait - my teeth are on edge) Similarly, you are OK to use Bien as 'good', but I'm more comfortable - as is my mother (she did all her schooling in French, and then taught some at Stella) - using Bon/Bonne to mean 'good', and Bien to mean 'well' or 'alright'.

    NB - I quite dislike French. Give me Sanskrit anyday ...

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  38. Thanks for clarifying. :) I gotta admit though that I find the idea too mystical for my taste - well, me being an ardent materialist/ physicalist.

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