1 - One leaving order for artillery (8) – ORD
5 - A female in posh car getting more reckless (6) – {R{A}{SHE}R}
10 - Japanese dog biting contralto in opera (5) – {TOS{C}A}
13 - A President Ford car (7) – LINCOLN [DD]
17 - So craftier plot hatched in jungle (8,6) – TROPICAL FOREST*
21 - Two lines of verse produced by associate, last in sonnet (7) – {COUPLE}{T}
23 - Snake, excellent specimen (7) – RATTLER What's the connection between Rattler and excellent specimen?
24 - Sailing boat can crossing a West Country river (9) – {C{A}{TAMAR}AN}
26 - Cause of timeless crime? (6) –
27 - Put off drinking tin, for bottle (8) – {DE{CAN}TER} Nice clue
DOWN
1 - Work? Not I, spoilt for choice! (6) – {OP}{TION*}
2 - Outlaw peer, odd as can be (9) – DESPERADO*
4 - One may cast a shadow in Beijing plant (7,7) – CHINESE LANTERN [CD]
7 - Doctor in Hoy rebuilt a health spa (5) – {HY{DR}O}
8 - Took exception to being put on after opener's taken off (8) –
9 - End argument for as opposed to against? (4,10) – {GOAL} {DIFFERENCE} Football fanatics VJ, Kishore and Giridhar must be happy with this clue
15 - Rude when drinking drop of vodka on the rocks (9) – {INSOL{V}ENT}
16 - One of the crocks at races? (5,3) – STOCK CAR*
19 - In tears having spilt wine (7) – RETSINA*
20 - Large hole in old car beginning to rust (6) – {CRATE}{R}
22 - Very vital to resourceful tramps (5) – ULTRA [T]
Msg from Gita (as she won't be joining tonight) for Suresh & Kishore
ReplyDeleteQuote
@Suresh – Hemant Parulkar sounds familiar but I don’t know if I know personally.
@Kishore – on misinterpretation of sentences – I love these statements on a church bulletin board:
1. Don't let worry kill you - let the church help.
2. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Once, when we were traveling by train in India, my father suggested we change a sign in the compartment. The sign said – Smoke only if others do not object. My father who was a smoker wanted to add punctuation: Smoke only! If others do not, object!
Unquote
Good morning
ReplyDeleteNice puzzle for a weekend. A true reprieve in between days of agony.
Solved all but the first words in 9D and 16D.
Deepak, 1A must have flashed in a split second.
11A - IRONSIDES was the nickname of Edmund II.
13A - LINCOLN - nice clue.
17A - TROPICAL FOREST - liked this anagram.
24A - CATAMARAN has originated from Tamil kattumaram (tied timber), right?
@Richard,
ReplyDeleteBingo on 1A and 24A.
Kettumaram literally means 'Logs tied together'
In continuation of my 08:38 post IRONSIDE.
ReplyDeleteSince today's puzzle is 'non-controversial' - as Kishore labelled another one some days earlier - we can start exchanging pleasantries and trivia quite early today. Agreed, Deepak Sa'ab?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your Dad's instant wit during the railway journey. Remembered seeing a sign next to the wash-basin in a hotel in Mysore during my student days. It was a sign artist's gaffe: USELESS WATER, missing out a space in between USE and LESS.
There may countless specimens of ludicrous results of omission of punctuation marks.
Contributions, anyone?
As a reprieve from NJ this puzzle is good, but a few points.
ReplyDelete14A Deceptively prim, I ran centre with accomplice (7,2,5) – PARTNER IN CRIME* Where does the extra 'E' come from
23A. Anybody has an anno for RATTLER?
I checked the anagram.
ReplyDelete'prim, I ran centre' is exactly equal to PARTNER IN CRIME.
23A - We can rest contented that the rattlesnake is a good specimen of a reptile. :-)
ReplyDelete23a RATTLER is a double definition.
ReplyDeleteThe word has the sense "an excellent specimen of the kind" also - apart from the sense 'snake' that we all know.
See Chambers.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteThe smoking comment was from Gita's dad not mine. My dad was a non-smoker
Re my post @ 09:02
ReplyDeleteThe second para was addressed to Gita.
Col
ReplyDelete9D I would have been happier if I had been able to solve the clue :-(
5 A Tried substituting 'U' for posh and lost my way. Rolls Royce - hmm I don't know whether it still survives. These days luxury is associated with brands like BMW, Mercedes I guess.
ReplyDeleteCV You are right. I checked twice but found one letter short.Rainy weather, early morning, on the cycle and all that
ReplyDeleteOur favourite setter's puzzles inspired me to create the following. I'm not sure if they are up to that 'standard'.
ReplyDeleteShe has US soldier, thanks! (4)
The cup that cheers, say, repeatedly, comes to old city's Indian resident and gets him (10)
He has smooch cut short at head office again (7)
Definitely, silence stands for this friend of ours (6)
English mathematician goes to our neighbour, an officer and a gentleman (6)
@ Richard
ReplyDeleteGood clues all.
(GI)(TA)
(CHA)(T)(UR)(VASI)
(KIS-s)(HO)(RE)
(SURE)(SH)
(DEE)(PAK)
Bingo, Venkatesh, congrats. Pardon me if they were a bit out of the way. After all, you know my source of inspiration.
ReplyDeleteForgive me friends for playing with your names. I shudder to think of the kind of clues someone is likely to come out with now on my name.
ReplyDeleteEndlessly wealthy is tough on the Spanish and Greek ship for our friend(7,7)
ReplyDeleteGood one, Suresh.
ReplyDeleteHi All, Late login today, was ferrying my son for his exam.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle itself: liked INSOLVENT the best. And yes, Everyman is any day better than the other (presently every day)woman (?). A breath of fresh air amidst the encircling gloom. However, the end of the tunnel is nigh !
And yes, thanks to the Col. for remembering guys who think the world is round in your comments on 9d.
@ Gita: Great anecdote, reminds of school days where pranksters used to modify TO LET signs by adding the vertical pronoun in the gap.
@ Richard: Since I have already messed with your name earlier, I dare not do it again. So, I will come out with a honourable clue:
He hides an ostrich ardently
FIFA:Seaside of elephant tusk material at in French , south of Timbuktu country(4,1’,6)
Kishore, I think your name could be clued this way, but not sure if it'd be seen as honorable though.
ReplyDeleteKIS (SAW) HORE...
Kishore, thank Heavens you didn't suggest 'He hides inside an ostrich ardently', although this would have been more correct.
ReplyDelete@Richard,
ReplyDeleteReviving a topic you brought up a few days back, I'd like to ask - what is it with you Mangalore guys and Gabriela Sabatini? The other Mangalorean (guess who?) claims to have actually "dated" her, and now, you tell us how much you salivate(d) over her. Huh, what gives? (Matilda madam, are you seeing this?) :-) :-) :-)
@VJ 1212: Ok as long as you do not move the closing bracket one alphabet earlier.
ReplyDeleteDeepak, thanks for the mention. I'm not really a fanatic. In fact, far from it. I've never watched an entire game in my life.
ReplyDelete@ 12:13 - to tell you the truth (Satya), admiring and coveting are two different things. I admired Gabby for her looks, skills and poise, in that order. And my better half is not even half bitter about. She is peeping over my shoulder now. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, who is my other countryman? The suspense killing!
Corr: The suspense is killing!
ReplyDeleteI am into maths in a big way and I am sure some of you too are. So here goes:
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like:
http://projecteuler.net/
Richard,
ReplyDeleteI was referring to Ravi Shastri. Speaking of whom, I was told he used to drive his Audi out to St. Agnes college and get instantly "lucky".
Then again, please allow me to switch topic to something else. Do you, by any chance, know one of batch mates Alwyn Santhumayor, a guy from Mangalore? His mom used to work in Muscat in the Mitsubishi dealership or something like that. Alwyn, in fact, was KREC president when we were in our final year, in 1986. I would certainly appreciate any info on him. Thanks Richard.
>USELESS WATER, missing out a space in between USE and LESS.
ReplyDeleteHow about my Dad's desire to clean the sink because he saw a sign above that said WASH BASIN ;-).
@Richard/Venkatesh - Thanks for the awesome clues with our names! I tend to introduce myself : Song of Sanathana Dharma practitioners, followed by South Indian temple priest - (4,4)
@Kishore,
ReplyDeleteI checked out the math website you pointed out. Pretty interesting. Any particular problem from that set that interests you, or you think would interest us?
Satya @ 12:44 - I think Ravi's supposed Audi adventure story is a bit far-fetched.
ReplyDeleteRavi Shastri's family roots are in Karkala taluk of Udupi district in our vicinity. I know his uncles and cousins in Mangalore.
If I am not mistaken, he won that Audi as 'Champion of Champions' in 1985, why which time he had crossed the stage of bowling any 'maiden' over, in the least any from St Agnes.
Further, I don't think he ever drove that Audi to our city. Yet, I will doublecheck on this from a cousin of his here.
Re the other query, I may have known Alwyn's parents in Muscat. Can you email me at (all in lower case) RLASRADO(AT)GMAIL(DOT)COM?
@ GITA 1258: Your WB reminds me of the Jap student found with her fingers under a door marked LIFT after she had been told of the meaning of PULL and PUSH signs.
ReplyDelete@Satya 1306: I have solved a small number of them, but one of my correspondents on yet another forum is near 100 % solver, you will find his name Arunabha in the ranklist where I rank pretty low.
ReplyDelete@Kishore (13:21)
ReplyDeleteHow legal is it to write a computer program and let it figure out a solution?
@Satya: 1332: It is perfectly legal to use programs. In fact most problems are beyond the normal numerical limits of MS Excel and Java. You will have to split numbers into parts, carry on the computation and then recombine if you use Excel. Most will require use of Python and stuff like that. In fact, I think normal use of Excel's abilities will let you solve a maximum of 10 of those problems.
ReplyDeleteContd: There is only one problem that you can do without any use of the computer and that too if you are aware of the pattern on certain special recurring decimal numbers. Let us see: Are you familiar with the combination .142857 (recurring)? This figures in one of the problems, probably the only one you can do in your head.
ReplyDeleteAm I in the right place? Oh yes!
ReplyDeleteWe know the clue type 'indirect anagram'.
Today I first came across an indirect odd clue that goes one step beyond a clue type that NJ's xwords regularly have:
This is from an old Times puz:
I oddly recognised former president (3)
Try - and let me know if this is not a bit unusual.
@CV: I think I have solved it. To keep the suspense going, I shall only communicate the initials of the full name of the person whose nickname is the answer: DDE. Please confirm.
ReplyDelete@ Satya: One of my relatives Shivanand Kamath was at KREC those days.
ReplyDelete@CV: Wikipedia says he was a football coach too (before SHAEF)
ReplyDeleteKishore
ReplyDeleteYou can never go wrong.
The next thing must be the acrostic clue (where you string the initial letters of words) being given a smilar twist. For each given word you have to think of another word and then string the initial letters of those words!
Thanks, of course you know the answer to 'Britannia and he hold the same thing.'(7) and the havoc this caused.
ReplyDeleteYou know what I like,
ReplyDeleteTo wear my Nike,
and ride my bike,
or go on a hike.
I know Nike does rhyme, but what the @%#%
Kishore
ReplyDeleteFIFA: COTE D IVOIRE
@CV 1737: The possibilities are mind boggling:
ReplyDeleteInitially, Global well-being establishment, which person did you say? (3)
@ Giri: Yup, the 1'was a dead give away, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes!
ReplyDeleteCV/Kishore
ReplyDeleteAfter Kishore's hint, the answer is obvious, however how do you arrive at the solution?
Giri 1751: Read as: I knew
ReplyDeleteThanks Kishore
ReplyDeleteI oddly recognised
ReplyDeleteI oddly knew
I + every odd letter of KnEw
Kishore
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
I know Nike does rhyme, but what the @%#%.
You meant 'I know Nike does not rhyme, but what the @%#%,' didn't you?
Anyway -
Pope wrote in a famous couplet:
“Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, / Dost sometimes counsel take – and sometimes tea.”
Now, how was 'tea' pronounced in those days?
'Tay' (Pope can do no wrong !), incidentally the only product with just two names in the world, Tea or Cha or variations of the same. Thanks for the correction.
ReplyDeleteHow (!!!*) did you like my 1747?
Reg: 1741 :From The Daily Telegraph, On the 1st June the clue for 15 across was 'Britannia and he hold the same thing.'(7) The answer was Neptune. Closely connected to 1723 SHAEF. It was wartime and classified code words were appearing in the crossword with regularity.
ReplyDelete17 across: 'One of the U.S.'(UTAH) 3 down 'Red Indian on the Missouri'. (OMAHA) . To pick a single classified code-word would be a luck or some may just put it down to a coincidence but would two fairly close together be a coincidence? On the 27th May 'Overlord' appeared as the answer to 11 across and on May 30th 11 across was 'This bush is the centre of nursery revolutions.' The answer was 'Mulberry.'
CV and Kishore, I was away for a few hours. Just saw the question on former president. In fact, the three-letter name was part of his highly popular election slogan.
ReplyDeleteAs for Nike rhyming with 'like', just seeking a clarification. I had understood that the brand 'Nike' is pronounced 'nigh-key'. Please let me know. In that case, it won't rhyme with like.
'Tea' and 'tay' was interesting. The French term 'nee', literally meaning 'born' is used to indicate a married woman's maiden name. E.g., Aishwarya Bachchan nee Rai (although it is more common to write Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.)
Its correct pronunciation is 'nay' and not 'knee' as it is widely pronounced in India. CV, I regard you as an authority. Please let me know.
Richard@20:11
ReplyDeleteYou're right about Nike it is 'nigh-key' so also nee it is pronounced 'nay' and not 'knee'
@ Richard: You are right. Nike does not rhyme with like, but I goofed up and missed on the not, as rightly pointed out by CV.
ReplyDeleteRemember the Nike ad with cricketers on bus-tops and the ditty 'Rao, patrao, rao' sung by Ella Castelino to the tune of Lorna Cordiero's Bebdo?
Href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib3WSzJyqVQ
By the way, if any of you hear this tune as a mobile ringtone, accost the chap with the phone, it will probably be me (though I use the original Bebdo as my ring-tone)
Sorry for all the posts removed, I was trying to get the linking process right, but didn't
The traffic is too heavy for a Sunday
ReplyDeleteDeepak, thanks for 20:26 clarification.
ReplyDeleteKishore 20:40 - your embedded link mission perhaps failed because the thread you provide contains alien characters at the beginning.
Href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib3WSzJyqVQ
Delete 'Href=' which is part of the html tag you typed.
It should read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib3WSzJyqVQ
It is the first that I came across this particular Nike ad.
Obrigad, patrao! (Lest others feel left out, it is the Goan way of saying 'Thanks, boss'. It has come from Portuguese.) Kishore has picked a lot of similar expressions from Goa during his sojourn there.)
Incidentally, 'obrigad' is conneted with 'obligated' and 'patrao' with 'patron'.
Here's the link to the NIKE AD that Kishore has been trying to put in
ReplyDeleteReg. Kishore @19:01: Interesting, isn't it? I was recently thumbing through Don Manley's Chamber's Crossword Manual and it had an interesting side story on that that I am sure most here are familiar with..It seems LS Dawe was the setter credited with those crosswords in 1944 and had convinced MI5 it was a coincidence, nothing more. But it turns out LS Dawe had this habit of asking his students to fill in blank grids and subsequently using it in his published work. It seems these pupils met some (presumably in public gethering places) of the Canadian and US servicemen in the area waiting for D-Day to happen and overheard conversations using these codewords without realizing the significance. Subsequently, these words were used by the pupils to clue words and made their way in the DT puzzles. Anecdotal no doubt, but quite from the horse's mouth in the sense that one of LS Dawe's pupils, Ronald French confessed to it 40 years or so after D-Day breaking Dawe's conspiracy of silence vow.
ReplyDeleteVeer: There is also a theory that he picked up these words from his brother in law who worked at the Admiralty.
ReplyDeleteA rattler also means - A good specimen of anything. So the meaning is fine. A rattler is also short form of a rattle snake. Ok for this poetic licence of the compiler??
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the Sunday Hindu xwords, more than the Daily. I take a deep breath when I see that the compiler is NJ. No jokes.
Now, for the punctuations "faus pas"
An English grammar teacher wrote on the notice board and asked the children to punctuate:
A woman without her man is nothing.
Girls wrote: A woman, without her, man is nothing.
Boys wrote : A woman,without her man, is nothing.
I enjoyed reading all the comments. Mind if I joined in? Or will it be an intrusion into a closed Group of old cruciverbalists?
Raju Umamaheswar