The answer to 29A says it all.
ACROSS
ACROSS
2 - They are set to go off for the king in certain directions (6) - SI{R}ENS I thought alarms are set to go off!! The same dichotomy again, Where did I appear from?
7 - Lively mood is first apparent in the city (4) - {G{A}LA}
9 - Black bone is fractured (4) - EBON*
10 - Doctor will anyow ask pauper in to be carried away (5,2,1,5) - {DR}{UNK AS A PIPER*}
12 - Said to push along the cavity in an old theatre (7) - (~flee){FLEA}{PIT}
13 - Stockpile in the Football Club (7) - ARSENAL [CD]
15 - Declared a rich part of the language (4) - DARI [T]
17 - Black drink (5) - PUNCH [DD] Black or Block ??
18 - Tip-off the lodge is on the river (4) - hOUSE
19 - Agreed to acknowledge the journalist (7) - {GRANT}{ED}
21 - Strange for you and the nuns to be out at noon at the University in Albania (7) - {U}{NUnS}{U}{AL}
23 - Educate minors about the short films (13) - DOCUMENTARIES* Nice anagram
27 - Worker will finally place the bet (4) - {ANT}{E}
DOWN
1 - Thug is in the wagon with the upset boy (6) - {VAN}{DAL<-}
2 - Standard opening line in a formal letter (10) - SALUTATION [CD] Why standard? Do we have non-standard and sub-standard opening lines also?
3 - Paris kleptomaniac in jeopardy (4) - RISK [T]
4 - Added the central passage in the press release (4) - NEWS ?
5 - Point out the bottom part in front of the seaweed (4) - {KEeL}{P}
8 - One may cut this with a pair of scissors (5) - PAPER [CD] Why paper why not cloth?
11 - Surprise the Afghani leader in a short while (7) - {A}{STOUND}
13 - Write up the bill (7) - ACCOUNT [DD]
14 - I get social characters who are self-centered (10) - EGOISTICAL*
16 - Rubbing off paper on an empty tin in glue primarily (8) - ABRADIN{G} ?
22 - Half of them rescued from the basement structure are not present (6) - ABSENTem*
24 - Said to fix up the thread itself (4) - CLEW Anno pending
25 - Tree with glossy lanceolate leaves (4) - NAGI [E]
Hi
ReplyDeleteEt tu, NJ? Bitten by the futbol fever in 13a. Twice sold on Black (9 and 17a) and Afghan (15a and 11d). UNUSUAL had an unusually long clue, while EMMER and CLEW were unusual. Stound as a short time was a revelation. The ides of July?
18 A - surface reading is bad
ReplyDelete@ Col: 1a The eternal question: Where did I come from, where am I going ? Liked it.
ReplyDelete8d Paper probably refers to Stone, Paper, Scissors game
Not very happy about Abrading Alum. What is the disc in 26d??
Kishore @ 8:37
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean you are happy with the rest!!
It wasn't really bad IMO. Well it was better than what I had expected.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't quite figure out the anno for 16D. I too put it as ABRADING.
2A. Maybe NJ feels "the king" = IR. Can't say.
4A I think Added = NEW. Something is something new.
Black Drink clue reminds of a muddy hat clue sometime back
ReplyDeleteGita's observation in CV's forum on the futility of looking for Annos in Nita's CW says it all
ReplyDelete17A: I think it's "Black drink."
ReplyDeleteWell what do you think happens when you "PUNCH" somebody in the eye.
When you punch someone in the eye, you get a Black eye and not a Black drink
ReplyDelete@ Col: I am happy with the rest I got in the last few days. As VJ said it was better than expected, so I didn't complain too much.
ReplyDeleteDeepak, you know who the setter is. I was just fooling around. It's now "make your own annos" session.
ReplyDeleteWell when one is looking for an excuse to tell his wife the reason for being late, and another person punches him in the eye, probably the first one buys the second one a Black Dog. Should ask Colin Mochrie (of the Whose Line is it anyway fame) when he comes into Bangalore next week, since he is being sponsored by some liqour brand, not sure if it is Black Dog.
ReplyDeleteBlack seems to be a typo for Block
ReplyDelete@VJ 857: Akin to make your own salad in some hotels. They just cut up stuff, and you are expected to do your own stuff before you stuff the stuffing into yourself.
ReplyDeleteKishore,
ReplyDeleteAre they having a live show of 'Whose line is it anyway'?
Could be a typo... Who knows.
ReplyDelete2A - Standard opening line in a formal letter (10) - SALUTATION [CD] Why standard? Do we have non-standard and sub-standard opening lines also?
ReplyDeleteI feel this is acceptable. Here, STANDARD is used to mean 'a pattern or model that is generally accepted'.
Kishore (9:00), lol... exactly.
ReplyDeleteI like Kramer's "make your own pizza" idea. Well finally, you'd become responsible for the quality of pizzas you bake and likewise, here, clue's merit depends on our annos. We gotta make the best out of it.
Kishore
ReplyDeleteAnent the topic 'visual clues'.
When you posted your post on Orkut I didn't quite understand it.
After your explanation, I did what you were talking about.
I agree it has what is called visual effect and I also note that you mentioned that the THC clue has only a visual element. I don't think it's a visual clue.
I wouldn't think that the clue cited in Wikipedia too is a typically visual clue. I don't think Wikipedia is always authentic.
Read: ...I did know ...
ReplyDeleteI looked up Orkut to see the clue being discussed.
ReplyDeleteSpectacles include harbour in Portuguese town (6) O(PORT)O
I thought spectacles = OO was called a visual clue. @CVasi Sir: Why do you say it isn't?
The Wikipedia page on cryptic crosswords looks very good, informative and authentic to me. Sections such as "Clueing technique and difficulty" are clearly written by someone with excellent understanding of cryptic clues. All the other clue types are explained perfectly, too.
I have said that the clue cited above has some element of a visual clue but it does not qualify to be called as such.
ReplyDeleteI was not dismissing the whole article and my comment was confined to the clue.
And as I was doing so I was suggesting that any Wikipedia article need not be relied upon completely.
What is an illustrative clue? Example:
pәʌ!ɹɹɐ (6,2)
How did you manage to type that out?! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you mean to say that the OPORTO clue is a combination rather than a pure cryptic clue? If yes, then I understand and agree.
I've seen spectacles = OO described as a "visual clue" on the UK blogs as well. Probably a term that has stuck through usage.
Chaturvasi, what would a perfect visual clue be like? Any examples?
ReplyDeleteWould this qualify as a visual clue?
O (4) RING
VJ
ReplyDeleteIt should.
I have already given an example of an illustrative clue. Another:
STOP THE MAIL (5,7)
What about I (3) EYE, . (3) DOT, . (6) PERIOD, OOOOOOO (1,7, 2 4) A CLUTCH OF EGGS, NO17 (6,4,4) UPSIDE DOWN LION, 3I7537 (6,5,9) LESLIE DOING HEADSTAND (wouldn't fit in a standard crossword, what with 20 letters, unless it is broken into more than one row/column)
ReplyDeleteCol: I think the hoarding at Shoolay circle (only oldtimers know this place) doesn't say. Just says he and Brad are coming to Bangalore (I think at one of the hotels). They used to have a show: Lying down comedy a swipe at Stand up comedy.
CV: Your come-back (arrived back) is superb ! How did you do it?
Kishore
ReplyDeleteThat's not the answer to that illustrative clue.
I just googled for "type word upside down" and chose a result to do the headstand.
13A was a decent clue. I have supported Arsenal for the last 10-12 years :)
ReplyDeletebtw, 1D is somewhat emblematic, of late, of Indian crossword setters. Their sense of word meanings appears to me to be somewhat approximate. A vandal, derived from the Germanic tribes who burnt Rome, is someone who destroys public property whereas a thug is a highwayman, bandit or a goon who's paid to terrorize innocents. The two are not equivalent, in my opinion.
CV,
ReplyDeleteHow was arrived TURNED UP you will have to let us into the secret
Don't know how to write phonemes :(
ReplyDeletedn pǝuɹnʇ
ReplyDeleteCol: Your 1649 reminds me of train timetables, in small letters, up turned upside down is dn and printed on the other side of the timetable.
ReplyDelete27up returns back as 28dn
Kishore,
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting observation.
Mochrie reminds me of two things:
ReplyDeleteComedies of that era in general, and BBC ones in particular, especially 'Allo 'Allo. Whose line is it anyway seems to be a take off on Whose Life is it anyway, a movie about a patient looking for an end, but kept alive by doctors, etc.
It also reminds me Father and Mother Machree, call signs of two important characters (not in active combat) from the novel 'Where Eagles Dare'.
STOP THE MAIL (5,7)
ReplyDeleteBLOCK LETTERS... Nice one..
Lie down comedy available at
ReplyDeleteClick
@Colonel: Is the solution to 2A perhaps {SIRE}{N}{S}
ReplyDeleteTushna,
ReplyDeleteYou have hit the nail on the head, good one there.
King and Sire??? Very vague connection.
ReplyDeleteI have come across in English plays and historical novels where the courtiers and attendants address the ruler as 'Sire' - sort of equivalent of 'KhAwand' or 'JahAn PanAh' in Mughal courts.
ReplyDeleteI just fell slǝǝɥ ɹǝʌo pɐǝɥ in love with this trick. Thanks, Chaturvasi.
ReplyDeleteVJ,
ReplyDeleteTake a look at this
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sire
Regarding 26d: disc = al(b)um
ReplyDeleteNJVaasi? Inspired 50% by NJ and 50% by ChennaiVasi? Just kidding.
ReplyDeleteRather an ex-ChennaiVaasi who has been resident in New Jersey for a long time!
ReplyDelete