ACROSS
1 - Depressed head girl is the first to leave with hesitation (4) - {G}{L}{UM}
9 - Close fitting cap in the laboratory is kept back to single out each male, vital character (9,6) - {BAL<-}{ACLAVA HELMET
11 - He is involved in the rain drama (5) - INDRA [T]
12 - Selects the pots for distribution (4) - OPTS*
13 - Legislator follows the footnote in the poem (5) - {PS}{ALM<-}
14 - Democratic leader of the French is behind the framework of the hotplate (7) - {GRID}{D}{LE}
18 - Second announcement cut short for the President's trophy (5) - {S}{CAL
23 - Landlord will use a limited area in return (5) - {OWN}{
24 - Chew back to swallow food (4) - GULP <-
25 - Star image may be set up by this officer (6,9) - PUBLIC RELATIONS [CD]
26 - State of extreme poverty (4) - NEED [CD]
DOWN
2 - Chieftains are wrong to deal in Emergency Rooms (7) - {LEAD*}{ERS}
3 - Kind of question bank set in competitive exams (8,6) - MULTIPLE CHOICE [CD]
5 - Blink at the first woman to hide the notice (5) - {EV{AD}E}
6 - It may be pulled up or down in between a stage performance (7,7) - THEATRE CURTAIN [CD]
7 - Old man cracks the nut (6) - ALMOND*
8 - Afghan leader is in to reside in the city (7) - {SE{A}TTLE}
15 - Extraordinary accrual of fir used in coats (7) - CARACUL* See cap worn by Hamid Karzai
19 - Fuel on the side will catch fire (7) - {L}{IGNITE}
Hi,
ReplyDeleteSAMBUCA had to be Googled for confirmation. SEATTLE pops up again, as does ALMOND (now as an answer, a clue yesterday). GRIDDLE, LIGNITE, GULP (a tobacco plug reversed) and LEADERS were nice. PUBLIC RELATIONS brought forth a chuckle when remembering seeing a name plate with this designation, minus the first L. ANGEL falls- the longest drop.
17s BATTLE read with 9a BALACLAVA (helmet) reminded of Lord Tennyson’s poem The Charge of the Light Brigade immortalising the tragic courage of the troops under Lord Cardigan.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!" he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not,
Not the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honor the charge they made!
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Col: Your illustration of MULTIPLE CHOICE reminded of:
ReplyDeletea. XYZ
b. ABC
c.None of the above
d.All of the above
Richard
ReplyDelete(from yesterday)
You wrote: "Compound adjectives made of two or more should have a hyphen, except in the cases of extremely-long words like COMPREHENSIVELY COMMUNICATED."
This is not my understanding. Which is: if the first word ends in -ly (I don't know the grammatical term), the hyphen is omitted.
CV 0840
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. I stand corrected in the matter of such words' ending with 'ly.
15 D I was wondering how fir could be used in coats
ReplyDeleteHi Deepak
ReplyDelete@#$%!&**&^%$#@!
Your intro on top is quite a loaded one.
Looking for some expert to decipher or decode it. :-)
Giri: Think that is a typo, 'fir' for 'fur' (could not use 'far' & 'fer')
ReplyDeleteUnder normal circumstances, I would have instantly said it must be a typo, but then for a little while I had to consider it might be correct and it might be some wicked clue!
ReplyDelete13 A Is 'follows' also a reversal indicator in addition to position indicator? (PSALM)
ReplyDeleteRichard (8:50), going by the kind of effect NJ has on Colonel, I'd guess it's "totally f'''ed up."
ReplyDeleteVJ 09:14
ReplyDeleteOr maybe SNAFU.
Richard, quite possible, but the problem is, it's not matching the number of characters.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's so unlike Colonel. For the next 8 days, he'd go with nothing but "FUBAR."
VJ,
ReplyDeleteYou must be an ancestor of ptennisnet from Asterix the Legionary to have so accurately translated my opening statement :-)
New visitors / followers here may like this interview given by Chaturvasi to Shuchi's blog CrosswordUnclued last year: Chaturvasi to Shuchi
ReplyDeleteAnd also Col's interview later last year: Colonel to Shuchi
ReplyDeleteGiridhar
ReplyDeleteI just now noticed your post
13A Is 'follows' also a reversal indicator in addition to position indicator? PS ALM
Follows is not and cannot be a rev ind.
I don't see any rev ind in that clue.
I thought it was a sarcastic question.
ReplyDeleteWell I think this could be the only possible explanation...... As these so-called legislators i.e. MLA's are generally backward in their approach, NJ perhaps felt there was no need for a redundant reversal indicator. Maybe he/ she wants us to read the clue as "(Backward) Legislator follows the footnote......"
Again, in defense of NJ.
CV
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification. I asked that question because I had PSMLA written down and didn't see the connection to PSALM (sacred poem) until Col's post.
VJ
No it was not.
There was not a hint of sarcasm in Giridhar's question and I pitched in with my comment that the clue is defective.
ReplyDeleteI do not buy VJ's explanation, though I grant him the right to think, possess and hug to any idea, however zany it might be.
Sorry, I think I read Giridhar's post wrongly.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the clue is defective and no doubts on that. There's no way one could know from the clue that "MLA" is to be reversed.
I was mocking the clue.
VJ
ReplyDeleteIf you still think that Nita Jaggi is a pseudonym, please Google the name and satify yourself who the person is.
If you do so, you may not have to use the cumbersome he/she when you refer to the person.
VJ
ReplyDeleteIt seems I misread your explanation.
I completely missed the construction of your post, the purport of your anno and the import of what you were trying to say.
Please accept my sincere apologies.
In future, we would know that after all you are not an apologist for any setter.
Charturvasi, it's all right.
ReplyDeleteI just googled the name and I think I'm convinced now. I stand corrected. Well it seems like Nita Jaggi is in fact a real name. While I know Nita is a proper name, Jaggi kinda seemed phony to me lol. Also, not too long ago, I remember somebody suggesting that NJ is actually a guy operating under a feminine pseudonym (rumor has it). I think I read it on here.
BTW, I still feel she doesn't deserve the amount of flak she gets. I wouldn't wanna discredit her completely just 'cause she's a bit inconsistent.
I think I'd rather focus on the clues than the setter or their abilities
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWith all the sabre rattling, I can only quote from the lyrics of the latest hit (some of you might just be crazy enough to know it !):
ReplyDeleteGive me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher.
See the champions, take the field now, you define us, make us feel proud.
Kishore,
ReplyDeleteI guessed it might have to do with the Soccer championship and googled it to confirm.
I totally love it!!!!
ReplyDelete