1 - A combat unit left on trip, sleepwalking! (14) - NOCTAMBU{L}ATION*
9 - Kind of fraction that is unseemly (8) - IMPROPER [DD]
11 - One who helps a fool is beginning to tempt worker (9) - {ASS}{IS}{T}{ANT}
12 - Small, tough fragment (5) - {S}{HARD}
13 - The farthest objective with the majority of people (7) - {END}{MOST}
15 - Announce the closure of an innings (7) - DECLARE [DD]
17 - Such justice is said to be denied (7) - DELAYED [CD]
19 - American power held by a faction is unreliable (7) - {S{US}{P}ECT}
21 - Big cat, good in a row (5) - {TI{G}ER}
26 - Girl is getting back colour (6) - {SI}{ENNA}<-
27 - Withdrawal of a currency may send a monied set into chaos (14) - DEMONETISATION*
DOWN
1 - Where you may browse but not necessarily with a cup of coffee (3,4) - NET CAFE [CD]
2 - They go with fish on the table (5) - CHIPS [CD]
3 - Partner in crime, could be (9) - ACCESSORY [CD]
4 - The sort of company to have if one wishes to restrict liability (7) - LIMITED [CD]
5 - Ring-shaped object found in a reactor usually (5) - TORUS [T]
7 - Restrain one getting married around the end of April (6) - {BRID{L}E}
10 - Artist with training is entranced (4) - {RA}{PT}
14 - Careful effort needed for repairing ceiling in empty doghouse (9) - {D{ILIGENC*}E}
16 - Tree which may, in a rain, cause endless suffering (9) - {CASU
18 - Disagreement as may be caused by river waters, say (7) - DISPUTE Anno pending (Addendum - See Kishore's comment below for annotation)
19 - Starch which causes oxygen vapour to rise (4) - {SAG}{O}<- I hate Sago especially when in 'payasams' they remind me of frogs eggs!!
22 - Quantitative relation seen in an address with no beginning or end (5) -
24 - Breather one gets from this garment (5) - {LUNG}{I}
Hi
ReplyDelete1a NOCTAMBULATION –would actually mean ‘night walking’ example ‘my post prandial noctambulation’= ‘after dinner walk’, as against sleepwalking for which SOMNAMBULATION would be more apt. Apart from this grouse, the clueing was great.
Other words liked were IMPROPER, SUSPECT, CONSTRUE, SIENNA, LUNGI, SAGO, TERRAIN & DISPUTE.
DEMONETISATION reminded of the withdrawal of the large denomination notes during the IG regime and Piloo Mody blowing up a 1000 rupee note in a smoke. NETCAFE without coffee still smelled of NESCAFE. While (-o)RATIO)-n) appeared here, it also appeared as ORATION in The Guardian Quick CW 10196 today as 5d.
SIGNALLER was initially penned in by me as SIGNALMAN and reminded of the Dicken’s great short story about a railway signalman: I am sure CV will recall it, being a connoisseur of short stories. For those who haven’t read it:
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/582/
The ending of this story reminded me of an airman at Hindon airbase who after removing the chocks from a Dakota (as he had been doing for ages) turned the wrong way and walked into the props and was duly decapitated.
@ Col: Your illustration of Torus reminded me of an unusual object: Klein's bottle, a sort of 3D Mobius strip.
Ref to Semaphore also reminded of the Dancing Men code from Sherlock Holmes, coupled with ref to him in 17d.
ReplyDeleteSecond Sago note from Col., I too hate it !
18d Disagreement=Dispute, may be caused by river waters: Disputes caused by river waters, eg: TN/Kar, Ind/Pak.... Hence CD
Ofcourse, Noct- and Somn- are the same length before ambulation and capable of confusing. Dictionary meaning of Noct- is sleepwalking: I was referring to the root of the word
ReplyDeleteKishore - Thanks for mentioning my name. Of course, I have read the story. - CV
ReplyDelete: I have your CV, CV :-)
ReplyDeleteFor those interested, a Mobius strip is a strip with only one surface and a Klein's bottle is a 3d object with only one surface, but still capable of holding content.
ReplyDeleteCV, your CV is still doing the rounds ? ;-)
ReplyDeleteDoes a Circle Inspector's CV do the rounds?
ReplyDeleteTalking of jobs, why is a cleaner on a bus usually dirtier?
ReplyDeleteDeepak
ReplyDeleteA young miss that I know wants to know how a sari is worn. Please help!
Demonetisation was in 1978 hence post IG regime :-)
ReplyDelete16 - Tree which may, in a rain, cause endless suffering (9) - {CASUe*}{ARINA*}
ReplyDeleteIs "suffering" the anagram indicator? And what is the cryptic function of "which may"?
Hi CV,
ReplyDeleteThe solution for your young miss is available at
HOW TO WEAR A SARI
Deepak
ReplyDeleteForget the young miss, the old missus appeciated it. Thanks.
Deepak
ReplyDeleteRe the pics on how to wear a lungi.
I think it misses the first step!
Does one place it on the ground, step into it and then raise it to hip level or does one gather it in folds, take it over one's head and still holding it let go of the folds?
CV,
ReplyDeleteNormally it is slipped over the head and held between the teeth and the pant is then slipped down so that there is no need of going into a secluded place to change into a lungi!!
Very useful while travelling in a train as there is no need to step into the wet and stinking toilets!!
Signaller would've been better off as SignalMAN. The "He" in the clue seemed to indicate gender...
ReplyDeleteThe over the head part is applicable only to a stitched lungi, otherwise wrap around alone would be sufficient. Though I personally am scared of the lungi after Newton 'invented gravity'.
ReplyDelete@Kishore: I think 'torus' is just Physics jargon for something that is 'doughnut shaped'. It's not anything exotic like Moebius Strip or Klein Bottle.
ReplyDeleteLNS: I know, it is something like word 'catenary'- an arc formed by a freely hanging rope tied on both sides. Sounds exotic and esoteric, but is quite simple once you know. Every discipline including physics has its jargon, which sounds exotic to the ear, but on examination is quite simple. For eg, when you go to a doctor with a throat ache, he tell you that you have laryngitis (whoopee, you think, this may just get me the Nobel prize), when you open the dictionary and find it is just another word for inflammation of the larynx, or back to square one: throat ache. He told you exactly what you told him you got. No gain, only pain.
ReplyDelete@CV: I have heard that a speech (and some other things I cant mention here) have to be short enough to attract attention and long enough to cover the subject. Crosswords, in my opinion, should similarly be easy enough to attract the solver's attention but tough enough to keep it sustained. If I can do one in five minutes, I may stop doing it feeling it is too easy, but if it requires two hours and frustates me, again I may stop doing it ( a rare case where two opposite stimuli have the same response !). So it should be somewhere in the middle, easy enough to be enjoyable with a few enjoyable raisins thrown in and tough enough to have a few which require deeper thought, Googling and enrichment of vocabulary. It should not be lean meat, neither should it be fattening: just a well balanced square meal in a round plate !
ReplyDeleteContd: Also, like the time taken to write a letter, I think the quantum of time one has on ones hands also makes things relative. For eg, today I had plenty of spare time and hence could complete 4 CWs pretty fast (THC, NIE, ET, ET BLR) and was left with plenty of time to do nothing ! Doing nothing of course is the toughest and requires lot of dedication.
ReplyDeleteContd: A case in point: I am heavily into math and joined Project Euler and cracked quite a few which were within my ability and my computer/software constraints. After that, the tougher ones required better software, better memory and better brains, and hence, I had to reluctantly back out. People with all of the above should try their hands at it.
ReplyDeleteKishore:
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your posts. Enjoyed reading them.
LNS:
Thanks for your post too. This is a great place to be in where we learn so many things!
Kishore,
ReplyDeleteFully agree with your post re crosswords.
@Kishore: About crosswords. One of these thriller writers, Desmond Bagley, some kind of an inheritor of Alistair Maclean's legacy, has some trenchant remarks on crossword puzzles and what they do to the GNP in one of his novels.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Blind_(Desmond_Bagley_novel)
I think I have the book. And his book The Freedom Trap was made into the Mackintosh Man starring Paul Newman. I think it is in Running Blind that a sniper gets one of his target's b---s.
ReplyDelete@Kishore 19.01 : Is Miniskirt a banned word? ('some other things' u hv mentioned)
ReplyDelete@Kishore 08.44 : Had Deepak Sir said about 'mobius strip' he would have uploaded a figure.
@ Subbu: I wanted the readers to use their imagination regarding your first and second. The word strip could have conjured some images in the minds of some people. Of course, Googlekars can always have a look at the MS or KB if they so wish.
ReplyDelete