ACROSS
8 - Ambassador is over on stage not being caught in action (14) - {RE}{PRESENT}{A
9 - Want to first develop the land (6) - {D}{EARTH}
10 - Pill bottles may be obtained at this outlet (8) - PHARMACY [CD]
11 - Play the guitar inside the ship in an old city (8) - {S{TAGIRU}S}
13 - Chew back odd ends of the swallowed stuff (6) - {GULP}{E}{D}<-
14 - Sweet language (6) - DANISH [DD]
19 - Southern territory of the Greek city (6) - {S}{PART}A How about the A ? Why not Old City here?
21 - Arty second home designed in the borders of Abidjan (8) - {B}{OHEM*}I{A}{N} Where did I come from?
23 - Sealed containers (8) - AIRTIGHT [CD]
24 - No bad habit of the learner (6) - {NO}{VICE}
26 - To glorify the President, note that the dean and apostle together are enigmatic (3,2,1,8) - {P}{UT} {ON A PEDESTAL*}What kind of note is UT ?
DOWN
1 - Pulled in an advertiser oddly out at six (8) - ARRESTED
2 - Encourage some leaders purposely (4) - SPUR [T]
3 - Nab the woman beneath (6) - {NET}{HER}
4 - Condemn the Democratic leader initially executing the foreign agents (7) - {DE}{SPISE*}
5 - An outsider is on the street, confines with hesitation (8) - {ST}RANG{ER} Confines and rang ? What's the connection here?
6 - Losing boxer mumbles but breaks down (10) - STUMBLEBUM* Should have been Losing compiler!
7 - Old boy climbs up for you to rinse out one fabric (6) - {BO<-}{U}{CLE
15 - City has constructed a new good hospital with an Indian leader (8) - {SHA*}{N}{G}{H}{A}{I}
17 - In silence go up again somehow to capture Henry in the city (8) - S?A?C?L?
18 - Countenanced wrongdoing (7) - ABETTED [CD]
20 - Bishop is a fussy American (6) - {PRIM}{US}
22 - Watch the predator (6) - HUNTER [DD]
@ COL: Your top line says it all. BTW, Shanghai and Bangalore being cities which have been converted into verbs.
ReplyDeleteToday Sparta is called Sparti, but extra letter is still unexplained.
Not happy about 16a either.
ReplyDeleteFIFA:
The coloured goalie is raw? (5)
Kishore
ReplyDeleteWhat about ERODED?
Since NJ has used many city names today, here is an interesting top 50, of course I have censored No 1
ReplyDeleteHere’s a list of the top 50 most Bizarre city names around the world and trust me some of them are really bizarre, funny and weird. The number one is surely unbelievable but it is true. So here we go:
50) Hot Water (Mississippi, USA)
49) No Name (Colorado, USA)
48) Hooker (Oklahoma, USA)
47) Odd (West Virginia, USA)
46) Normal (Illinois, USA)
45) Okay (Oklahoma, USA)
44) Plain City (Utah, USA)
43) Embarrass (Minnesota, USA)
42) Bird in Hand (Pennsylvania, USA)
41) Hygiene (Colorado, USA)
40) Looneyville (Texas, USA)
39) Gravesend (England)
38) Whiskey Dick Mountain (Washington State, USA)
37) Hell (Michigan, USA)
36) Disappointment (Kentucky, USA)
35) Middelfart (Denmark)
34) Wetwang (England)
33) Lolita (Texas, USA)
32) Shetland Islands (Scotland)
31) Cockburn (Western Australia)
30) Dollarbeg (Scotland)
29) Wagga Wagga (Australia)
28) Can do (North Dakota, USA)
27) Ass (Ukraine)
26) Gayville (South Dakota, USA)
25) My Large Intestine (Texas, USA)
24) ii (Finland)
23) Pussy creek (Ohio, USA)
22) Needmore (Texas, USA)
21) Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (New Zealand)
20) Beer Bottle Crossing (Idaho, USA)
19) Poopoo (Hawaii, USA)
18) Sexi (Peru)
17) Acme (West Virginia, USA)
16) Burning Well (Pennsylvania, USA)
15) Assawoman (Virginia, USA)
14) Dead Chinaman (Papua New Guinea)
13) Dwarf (Kentucky, USA)
12) Big Bone Lick (USA)
11) Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (Wales)
10) Truth Or Consequences (New Mexico, USA)
9) Climax (Michigan, USA)
8) Fart (Virginia, USA)
7) Blowhard (Australia)
6) Why (Arizona, USA)
5) Dildo (Newfoundland, Canada)
4) Intercourse (Pennsylvania, USA)
3) Boring (Oregon, USA)
2) French Lick (Indiana, USA)
1) F***ing (Austria)
The list with some images can be seen at BIZARRE CITY NAMES
Not surprisingly 33 of those 50 are from the USA
ReplyDeleteHi everyone
ReplyDeleteToday too I solved about 50% and then put my hands up.
8A I had confidently put in REPRESENTATIVE and got stuck at 7D'
Deepak: 21 - Arty second home designed in the borders of Abidjan (8) - {B}{OHEM*}I{A}{N} Where did I come from?
That was a good question. Many would be inclined to say 'from Coimbatore!' :)
LOL, damn funny list...
ReplyDeleteDeepak @ 08:54 - the list was hilarious. Thanks for bringing in some cheer amidst the Xwd-solving blues.
ReplyDelete@CV: Describes the status of my confidence !
ReplyDelete@Col: Great list. Look CV has clairvoyantly mentioned Erode. Not to forget Ziro. I got an initial doubt if number 21 was longer than the previously touted longest place name (number 11). It visually looks longer. But a quick check showed 11 being longer than 21 at 58 by one letter.
Kishore, just curious... What's with your goalie obsession with goalies?
ReplyDeleteCV and SR,
ReplyDeleteReference your solution at the ORKUT group, for 17D, it will not fit the crossings. NJ seems to have given the wrong clue for 17D. it looks like she is copy pasting clues from a data base that's why the answers for 15D and 17D are the same.
L in lower case takes less space that's why 11 looks shorter, and there are 11 of them there. What a coincidence 11 looks like two ll's
ReplyDeleteRufus has a published clue for 11 in The Guardian.
ReplyDeleteVJ: Next to Goa lies the sea !
ReplyDeleteWhile on city names, I found the name of Gita's host city - Granite Bay - also interesting, but certainly not bizarre. I have come across similar names in southern part of India. (Maybe in the north as well.)
ReplyDeleteI am sure Tamil Nadu will have an equivalent of Granite Bay somewhere. Around my city we have places with names beginning with 'Mura' which in local languages means 'Granite quarry'. Btw, what is the background of 'Karikal' or 'Karaikal'?
In out district we have a place called Karkala (derived from local words for 'black stone') - a Jain pilgrimage centre which has a tall monolithic statue of a Jain tirthankar.
@Col: Twice Shanghaied: {SHA*}{N}{G}{H}{A}{I} and
ReplyDelete{SH}{ANG(H)AI*}
@ Rich:Ane-kal (elephant rock), Hogene-kal (Smoking rock); Castle Rock (UK) is the best of all, sounding quite Anglican until one goes deeper: UK being Uttara Kannada district.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of unusual city names - did you know there's a Vedic City in Iowa?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.maharishivediccity.com/
BTW, Event(s) created on Orkut and FaceBook announcing the Sloggers & Bloggers Meet.
Pattadakal and Namakkal also come to mind.
ReplyDeleteRead here about KARKALA and
ReplyDeleteMORE ON KARKALA
Can someone tell me about Karaikal, after reading the above threads? It is several meanings, I'm told - like 'fish pass', 'lime mix' and 'canal'.
Kishore@9:09,
ReplyDeleteI know we've been double Shangaied but the second one doesn't fit in the scheme of things
correction to 09:29 - 'It has several meanings...'
ReplyDelete@Col: 929: You are perfectly right, of course. But can NJ fathom the angst of the poor sap who fills in 17d first?
ReplyDelete17D. I read the discussion in the Orkut community and also tried to see if the clue for 15D fits the crossings. Nothing works.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is STANCHLY. Though how that means In silence I am not sure and Stanly is a county not a city.
And talking of Granite Bay, I was in Roseville CA for a couple of days in May.
ReplyDeleteSuresh
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and her family live in El Dorado Hills in the same area of CA. I have stayed there twice and visited Granite Bay often though at a time when I did not know Gita Iyer. We might have been in the same gatherings without knowing each other.
Recently at a wedding in Bangalore a visitor from Sacramento recalled my part in a group dance during an event there.
An old friend from college days is a practising Accountant in Roseville.
ReplyDeleteSmall world
@Suresh - Why didn't you look me up? GB is an unincorporated part of Roseville. I was at HP Roseville for 15 yrs! We could have solved - wait, gnashed our teeth - together!
ReplyDelete@Chaturvasi - the visitor returned today, and promptly called me to inform me of your presence at the wedding.
ReplyDeleteThere is photographic evidence that our paths have crossed - Avaniyavattam. The only female there. In 9 yards.
I am standing a few feet behind you and your SIL ;-)
@Suresh - who is the accountant? I bet I know him.
@Gita. Hemant Parulkar. His wife Ashwini runs a shop called Alterations Express for outfitting garments.
ReplyDeleteI did not realise you were close by. Besides I was on a rushed holiday for 2 days at his place and then spent 2 days at Fremont. For some reason I thought you were somewhere near New York
VJ and Kishore: Ref to your GOALIE talk, view this: AMUL GOALIE
ReplyDeleteRichard, link's not working.
ReplyDeleteVJ @ 11:47 - It's working fine from my lappie here, using Mozilla Firefox. Anyway, try this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amul.com/hits.html
Col; @14A
ReplyDeleteSo Sweet of you!!
Now that my son has gone to live in Denmark and he is so fond of pastries, I am sending him this puzzle and your sweet picture.Thanks for the delight offered
Dr@12:14,
ReplyDeleteWhat a puzzle to send to your son!! I am sure there are better CW's to send him rather than these offerings of NJ.
CV@10:56, Suresh@11:02 & Gita@11:15,
ReplyDeleteThe world just got smaller, a few feet infact!!
Col; @12.21
ReplyDeleteTake heart sir,
I sent only 14A and Not the full puzzle.
I am aware that he can't stand (like most of us here)NJ's offering.
Col:@ 8:51
ReplyDeleteBizarre City Names.
I had passed through the Station No 11 in Wales 2 decades back, advertised then as the "Station with the Longest name in the world". I still have the Picture Postcard of this station.
Today I have learnt that No.21 in New Zealand has overtaken that record!!
Dr.@12:39
ReplyDeleteActually the longest is the old Thai name for Bangkok which goes like
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit
In Sanskrit this is
Krung-dēvamahānagara amararatanakosindra mahindrayudhyā mahātilakabhava navaratanarājadhānī purīramya uttamarājanivēsana mahāsthāna amaravimāna avatārasthitya shakrasdattiya vishnukarmaprasiddhi
If you look at Wiki for Bangkok you can also listen to the pronunciation
@12.39
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected.Did not see Kishore's comment@9.00 on 11 & 21.
and Thanks Suresh on Thai name for Bangkok.
How much to learn from this forum!!
Dr
ReplyDelete11 has 58 characters.
21 only 57.
Suresh
The old name for Bangkok, 168 (ignoring spaces).
Deepak and Kishore: Re Shanghai and Bangalore being used as verbs, I thought of telling you about the book
ReplyDeleteBANGALORED the expat story by Eshwar Sundaresan, a good friend and former media colleague of mine. He is an IT techie-turned-fulltime-author, based in Bangalore.
@ Shuchi, this might interest you as well.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@ Richard/Col. Read the link and found the Madras Sappers were linked to a torpedo of this name, the regiment the Col. served with !
ReplyDeleteKishore 15:34 - Thanks. I had already thought of giving that firstworldwar.com link as well, but then from the link I gave it would have been picked in any case, just as you have done.
ReplyDelete@ Rich 1130: Shows that I aint the only one with the goalie fetish. The link brought a lot of memories back as this was an ad campaign I used to look out for over the years, and felt sad when the hoarding near Johnson Market stopped carrying them. Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteGoing thro the list of place names again, if Wagga Wagga can figure why not Doom Dooma, Assam
ReplyDelete@COL: THe US has more funny sounding places than many other countries. There's Truth or COnsequences, New Mexico. Temperance, OH etc etc.
ReplyDelete@Richard: the 'kaarai' of Karaikal stands for scrub forest. The suffix is 'kaal', not 'kal'.
VJ 0900: See the third one on this page:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amul.com/1990hits/page2.html
Today's answer is GREEN. Tomorrow not a goalie.
ReplyDeleteRichard, it's working fine now... Thanks.
ReplyDeleteKishore (20:30) funny :)
ReplyDelete21 A - Where did I come from? - Deepak Sir turned child - didn't he?
ReplyDeleteA great redound! Congrats, subramaniam.
ReplyDeleteA child asking an innocent question!