1 - With apprehension stop (6) - ARREST [DD]
4 - In brief the book's content is immaterial (8) - ABSTRACT [DD]
10 - Give Liza a thrashing in London (7) - {LAM}BETH}
11 - Arousing feelings one concludes must have reason (7) - {E}{MOTIVE}
12 - Rule out to become a decoy (4) - LURE*
13 - Cold and penniless (2,3,5) - ON THE ROCKS [CD]
16 - Stumps out illegal activities (6) - CLEANS [CD]
17 - Close link to retirement cover (7) - {NIGH}{TIE}
20 - Let river take new course that blots out bases (7) - {DE{LET}E}{S}
21 - Arranged for my old course on music to be pleasant (6) - M{E}{LOD*}Y
24 - In getting the case packed, isn't a fantastic help (10) - ASSISTANCE with an extra S!
25 - Piece of programming inserted into software to sabotage computer system (4) - WORM [E](Addendum - BOMB [E] - See comments of Anokha)
27 - The French placed ban on this mid-eastern country (7) - {LE}{BAN}{ON}
30 - Red rides out distressed with their mocks and laughs (8) - DERIDERS*
31 - Free to sit up and start chewing the rag (6) - {GRA*}{TIS*}
DOWN
1 - Hopeless outlook for an international rugger player (3,5) - ALL BLACK
3 - Wild west food (4) - STEW*
5 - Being nimble he danced round the place (8) - BLENHEIM*
6 - Not many in the early afternoon (3,2,5) - TWO OR THREE [DD]
7 - Title held by one realised (3) - ALI [T]
8 - Lawrence hits out at the believer in God (6) - {T}H{E}IST*
9 - Could be a 1-horn animal (5) - RH{I}NO*
15 - Raw and without flavouring (10) - UNSEASONED [E]
18 - He will always be a servant (8) - RETAINER [CD]
19 - They're all for viewers' clean-up endeavours (3,5) - EYE MITES ?(Addendum - EYE BATHS [CD] - See Anokha's comments)
22 - Song and dance advertisement (6) - {BALL}{AD}
23 - Fight over a newspaper cutting (5) - SCRAP [DD]
26 - A dispute at a bar (4) - SPAR [DD]
28 - An addition to a medal (3) - BAR [E]
Hi
ReplyDeleteAfter stumping us (except Chaturvasi) with an excellent clue on ‘slate loose’ yesterday (we must have been on the tile(s) to have missed it), Manna has a lot of goodies today too:
All the four long ones, 2d Re+morse+less, 6d Two or three, 15d Unseasoned and 14d Chirologist are nice.
Two red herrings in 1a and 1d: 1a Arrest and Detain both fit it till one is gets remorseless or stew or 2 and 3d. 1d: All Black (one player of the team All Blacks) and All Blues(the women’s team) both fit in till 16a Cleans is fitted in, both blue and black signifying a bleak future. Berkeley All Blues Women Rugby team’s blues started after losing National Championship in 2006 after having won it for a consecutive 9 years. Of course, ‘player’ would be singular and hence the team gets ruled out.
Answer to 28a Bar (martial strain again) is a part of the clue of the immediately previous 26d clue ‘a dispute at a bar’.
17a Close=Nigh+link=tie for retirement cover was nice. So were Lambeth, Emotive, Lebanon, Gratis.
5d Blenheim reminded me of the poem ‘After Blenheim’ by Robert Southey which refrains on ‘a famous victory’ in spite of all the destruction caused by war:
"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why that I cannot tell," said he,
"But 'twas a famous victory."
@Richard: Your daughter Melody stars in 21d
ReplyDelete@ Col:The extra s in 24a Assistance seems to come from fantastic=super=s, fantastic doesn’t seem to have any other relevance. Having trouble too with the eye mites in 19d.
There is a contact lens company called Eye Mate, but I dont think Eye Mates is the answer for 19d.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete19 dn EYE BATHS
ReplyDeleteI vote for EYE MITES! Nothing else wants to fit there. And, what dust mites do is clean up (gobble dust)?
ReplyDelete19D is probably EYE PATCH
ReplyDelete25A would be LOOP
25 ac BOMB
ReplyDeleteAltogether a great set of clues today! Other than the WORM (or is it code, or loop, or whatever) and the EYE thing, all else fell in pretty easily.
ReplyDeleteA Foot Person - cute! I thought Podiatrist, or Shoemaker or Cobbler at 1st but, of course, none of those fit.
Not so sure about the ALL rugger game clue, either.
26D is SPAT
ReplyDelete31A is STITCH
19d 'for' could be 'aye', but still stumped on the whole thing.
ReplyDelete@ Suresh: 31a How stitch? Gratis is perfectly fine, = free, rag (chewed)=gra, sit up=tis
ReplyDeleteAnd 25a Worm too is correct, loops do not sabotage.
ReplyDelete@ Gita: Foot man, I thought of pedestrian and all sorts of pages
ReplyDeleteSTI from sit
ReplyDeleteT Unknown or maybe from 'to' with a missing o
ch is start of chewing
What price 'free'?
ReplyDeleteOf course, you can ask : what price 'start'? :-) Another double?
ReplyDeletefree is the anagram indicator
ReplyDeleteDear friends,
ReplyDeleteI ve compiled a crossword uploaded in interactive format on this site. Would be great if you could take a shot at it.
http://www.dowedo.co.uk/crosswords/crosswords.php?cross=1779&rpid=23&ccid=7026
For comments/clarifications do mail me at
anishmadhavan@iitb.ac.in
P.S - col sir, apologies for the shameless plug :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone
ReplyDeleteQuite a good number of nice clues, with good word play. But a few stumped me.
Deepak, 13A - Is the 'cold' clue good enough to warm the cockles of many hearts?
27A - I was amused by this, given the historical happenings in Lebanon, which was under France's control for many years after WW1. At a point during that period, France had even put the entire top Lebanese hierarchy behind bars.
The French connection has had its long-lasting influence. French names for places and boulevards have stayed. French is widely in use in communication and education even now. During my long stay in the Middle East, I had been closely monitoring the developments caused by the civil war in the 1970s and 80s which devastated this lovely paradise ensconced in the Mediterranean backdrop.
@ Kishore, the moment I got the answer for 21A, I was sure of having a comment from you. Thanks.
EYE WATER is a lotion for the eye.
ReplyDeleteBut, the required word following EYE has to be M?T?S
Ventatesh. See my earlier comment
ReplyDelete@Suresh
ReplyDeletePatch is singular. How do you justify "they" in the clue which points to a plural.
@ Kishore, 21D, not 21A.
ReplyDelete@ Maddy, Madhavan = Mad + heaven ? Good Heavens, it needs a lot of gumption to contort one's own name like that. Height of creativity. Keep it up. Will take a shot at the puzzle.
Venkatesh. My only justification that it is Manna.
ReplyDeletethat is why I said probably
@Suresh,
ReplyDeleteWhat is the definition for STITCH and how would Stitch and RAG get connected?
@Anokha,
Bingo, your option BOMB and EYE BATHS look most suitable
Stitch would be like someone not wearing a stitch. Which means he is wearing the least amt or clothing or a rag
ReplyDeleteI do not know whether BOMB can be a computer programme. On the other hand LOOP in a computer programme can make it come to a stop, because it goes round and round and does not go further
@COL
ReplyDeleteI also agree with 19D EYE BATHS and 25A BOMB
Can someone explain how bomb fits into the definition? On the other a loop is a term used in computer programming
ReplyDelete25A BOMB
ReplyDeleteLogic bomb: This is a piece of code intentionally inserted into a software system that will set off a malicious function when specified conditions are met. For instance, a programmer may hide a piece of code that starts deleting files (such as a salary database trigger), should they ever be terminated from the company.
Software that is inherently malicious, such as viruses and worms, often contain logic bombs that execute a certain payload at a pre-defined time or when some other condition is met. This technique can be used by a virus or worm to gain momentum and spread before being noticed. Many viruses attack their host systems on specific dates, such as Friday the 13th or April Fool's Day. Trojans that activate on certain dates are often called "TIME BOMBS".
Tks Venkatesh. The rest fits in, without any inconsistencies
ReplyDeleteDeepak. I think the verdict is now unanimous.
ReplyDelete@Richard - Yeah Mad- Heaven is indeed a pun on my surname. Thank god my dad doesnot follow my online activities :)
ReplyDeleteDo let me know what you thought abt the xword
9D Could be a 1-horn animal (5) RH(I)NO*
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. On the one hand, we immediately think of one-horned rhinoceros (of Cochin China!). On the other, this is an anagram of (I)(HORN)
The Indian Rhinocerous, the pride of Assam, is the largest of Asian Rhinos. Hence the name 'The Great One Horn Rhino'. It is also the most amphibious rhino in the world. An excellent swimmer, it can run at a speed of 55 km/hr. A full grown male Rhino can be 6.5 feet high, 12.5 feet long and weigh 2,500 kg. Females are little smaller than the males and may weigh 2,000 kg. Rhinos have very strong smelling and hearing power but weak in eye-sight. The most uniqueness of India Rhino is the single horn, while african rhinos have two horns. This single horn can be 8-12 inches in length.
Apart from Kaziranga National Park, there are two small forests that are habitats of Great One Horn Rhino. One is Orang National park in Darrang district and the other one is Pobitora Wildlife Sanctury in Marigaon district. Pobitora has the highest density of rhinos in the world (80 rhinos in an 18 sq km. area).
The Horn, symbol of their strength and power, is also the main reason of their threatended extinction. It is believed to be the strongest aphrodisiac in China. The horn and other parts like nails, skins have very high value in Asian traditional medicinal market.
@ Maddy, by surface reading of your puzzle, I got 1A, 24A, 3D, 17D and 20D. Will try to solve others at leisure and send it to your personal email ID.
ReplyDelete@Colonel, Thank you for your link, 'Lawrence of Arabia' in Saturday's puzzle; it helped me understand 'theist' today. Missed your reply on Saturday,so decided 'better late than never'! Thanks again
ReplyDelete@Sumitra,
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of help
Today's weather forecast for this blog:
ReplyDeleteCool but dry outlook; no verbal thunder, cerebral lightning and shower of posts.
Let's brighten up the atmosphere and keep things going.
13A - Cold and penniless (2,3,5) - ON THE ROCKS [CD]
When you are served without any water, but only ice, it is 'on the rocks'.
When a relationship is strained, when attitudes are cold and for reason of someone being penniless, it can be 'on the rocks'.
Can someone break the ice, study the connection or draw an analogy?
Your time starts now....
@ Maddy: Great Job, thanks. The verification button seems to suggest error even when an apparently correct answer is entered. On completion of several 'wrong' answers, I pressed the button for the correct answers and found my wrong answers were correct! Not faulting your impeccable work, but somethings wrong with those buttons ...
ReplyDelete@ Richard: My initial reaction (without any search or research) is that a rock is hard, ice is hard water, on the rocks is being in a hard situation... However, other idiomatic usages of rocks which I cannot quote in this decent forum may not impute the same meaning.
ReplyDeleteAlso recall a nautical yarn: Radio exchange on a stormy day with near zero visibility between two lights in the ocean:
1: Ahoy there
2: Ahoy there, turn around
1: You turn around, this is Admiral Winterbottom
2: You turn around, Sir, this is Ensign Sidebottom
1: Ensign, You turn around, this is an order. This is the fleet flagship and I outrank you
2: You turn around sir, this is the Rock of Gibralter
@ Maddy: You are right, it is heaven for a particular kind of mad people ! Cheers.
ReplyDelete@ Kishore 6.49 p.m.: LOL
ReplyDelete@ Col: Today's ET4317 had 7d: Army man getting a rough ride on a ship (9), a rare clue to a rank other than private, major, colonel and general, which more frequently inhabit these puzzles.
ReplyDeleteWith ref to Venkatesh's Cochinchina, the word cochin here does not come from Kochi in India but from kuchi, the old word for Vietnam, which also refers to the interesting tunnel network (also called cu chi) built by Vietnamese which was the bugbear of the US campaign there.
ReplyDelete@COL
ReplyDeleteIf the changes are made for 25A and 9D, we can lay this puzzle to rest.
@Maj Kishore
Thanks for the information regarding kuchi
@Kishore - Thanks for solving. Glad that you enjoyed it. You interpreted Mad -Heaven exactly as I wanted it to be :)
ReplyDeleteApologies that you faced a problem with the verification buttons.I hope you got all the annos though...If any doubts, do mail me.
@ Col: Sorry for acting without your consent. The blog is back in your hands as soon as you are back. As they say in the army: Take Charge (though I know I am only a major).
ReplyDeleteAcross:
1.A-b-s-c-ond 5.Captain (Yeh Gaurav ki baat hai !)9.N-ear-est 10.Minaret* 11.To-i-ls* 12.Draw Level 13.Organised* 15.El-l-is* 16.Tra*-de* 18.Promoters 21.Art-i-choke 24.Cap-on 25. Earn-est 26.Dis*-cant 27.Ele-a-no-r 28.Wi-den*-er*
Down:
1.Anna-to 2.S-eating 3.Obeisance* 4.Dated 5.Come and go 6.Panel* 7.A-r-rival 8.Nettles ( ride? ) 14.Sup-por-ter 15.Exorcised 16.Trap-eze 17.A?t???e 18.E-x-pla-i-n 20.Senator 22.Clean 23.E-n-dow