Friday 8 October 2010

No 9968, Friday 08 Oct 10, Gridman

ACROSS
1   - Posh turnout and reply in business centre (4,7) - {SHOP*} {COUNTER}
9   - Sheds last one gingerly (4-3) - LEAN-TOS*
10 - Beg Rex to give way for daughter and collapse (7) - IMPLO(-r+d)DE
11 - Twin game (5) - MATCH [DD] Devious
12 - Controlling device to be taken by soldier (9) - {REGULA{TO}R}
13 - Money for animal (5) - RHINO [DD]
15 - The case for a list of securities held? (9) - PORTFOLIO [DD]
18 - Deceptive statement — fifty per cent of it must be false (4-5) - HALF-TRUTH 
21 - Senseless and cruel not to sing (5) - INsANE
22 - One to lose sleep over anything (9) - INSOMNIAC [CD]
24 - Hundred to save crumbling dens (5) - {C}{AVES*}
26 - City boy, entirely (7) - {TO{RON}TO} Somethings missing in the wording of the clue? (See comments)

27 - Workman Tsarina trained (7) - ARTISAN*
28 - Dwelling of a mathematician? Not exactly! (11) - SUMMERHOUSE &lit
DOWN
1   - Sailor spoils hour in Rann of Kutch, maybe (4,5) - {SALT} {MARS}{H}
2   - Circle section in picture of illusion (2,3) - {O}{P ART}
3   - Sort of razor for three players (3-6) - CUT-THROAT [CD]
4   - Puritans leaving one to let go and loosen (7) - UNSTRAPi*
5   - Smart German launch (7) - {TRIG}{GER} Never knew this word for smart
6   - Fend off the agent giving finishing touches to the deal (5) - {REP}{E}{L}
7   - Wrong? I will fetch a Mexican dish (8) - {TORT}{ILL}{A}
8   - Fellow-listener in panic (4) - {F}{EAR}
14 - Badly going through American alternative that is deceptive (8) - {ILL}{US}{OR}{Y}
16 - Responsible fishing practice? Not exactly! (4,5) - FAIR CATCH [CD]
17 - Attitude of respect for revised Seneca bio (9) - OBEISANCE*
19 - Schoolchildren are all the same in this (7) - UNIFORM [CD]
20 - Cat's wandering in this place — a big tract (7) - {HE{CTA*}RE}
22 - Spot rise of A B C D E F G H I (4) - {I}{OT}{A} <- Nice one
23 - Makes breath fresheners (5) - MINTS [DD]
25 - Six quiet about university festival in India (5) - {VI}{SH}{U}


69 comments:

  1. Hi friends

    Some brilliant clues. TORONTO and IOTA are the pick of the day.

    SHOP COUNTER, IMPLODE, REGULATOR, HALF TRUTH, SUMMERHOUSE, SALT MARSH, TORTILLA, FAIR CATCH, HECTARE, UNIFORM, VISHU etc. were enjoyable. 9A and 2D were tough and took time.

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  2. 26 - City boy, entirely (7) - {TO{RON}{TO} Somethings missing in the wording of the clue?

    This looks OK to me, tricky though. RON (boy) in TOTO (entirely). Just my opinion.

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  3. Not an IOTA of doubt, which is the best. Liked Mush go all mushy trying to inform the uninformed that they like him in uniform.

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  4. Yes, the cartoon on Fiddie and Mushy is superb. I don't think the former needed a name-tag to be identified.

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  5. I agree with all the comments.

    11A was tricky. Nice DD. Looks easy but was difficult to get.

    26A, Was wondering why there's no C/C indicator. Or is comma one?

    Trig for smart is new for me

    22D was really nice.

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  6. Or the former could have just been smoking it.

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  7. Gita Iyer on FB said: In fact, some of our ancestors (as well as some of my descendants) Are ETs.

    In another place, another world, I deal with ETs and RATs. Can anyone expand these terms? Hint: They are subsets of a larger set, but are mutually exclusive, ie. ETs cant be RATs or vice versa.

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  8. 26 City boy, entirely (7)
    boy = RON
    entirely = IN TOTO

    Here the wordplay itself contains the indicator. More such examples here - http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2009/04/tricky-indicators-part-ii.html

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  9. 26 - City boy, entirely (7)

    Like Richard noted, I also took it as boy in toto and found it to be quite a unique clue.

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  10. Shuchi, that was interesting. Thanks for the link.

    A brilliant clue!!!

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  11. Agree with Richard on 26A. Read the clue as City boy in toto and it is another good clue

    Good CW and enjoyable

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  12. Bhavan 08:40, thanks, that is why I called it Canadian Delight at Orkut.

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  13. I must say, slightly disappointed with the number of DD, CD, anagrams today.Nearly half of the 30 from what I see.

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  14. wow! pretty strange experience today!
    I got the whole CW except 2D... but it just felt weird... as though the answers were pouring out of me without me following the annos! If that wasn't strange enough, all of my answers were correct! haha!

    Very different Gridman from yesterday though... at least, that's how I felt. Really liked many of the clues today. Very creative! Didn't figure out the anno on 2-3 of them...

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  15. Just figured out the anno for IOTA! very cool! so was TORONTO!

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  16. Richard, Fiddie reminds me that all soldiers in the Cuban army have to be Castro-rated.

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  17. just saw the answer and anno for 2D. Very cool! Didn't figure that out. :)

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  18. Kishore, you are a PUNdit par excellence!

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  19. @ Richard 8:56 - lol! Nice one! :)

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  20. @ Shuchi 8:39 - Wow! That was very clever and enlightening! Thx for the link! Very impressed. :)

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  21. Thanks everyone for enlightening me 'in toto'

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  22. Nice one.

    The top right quadrant disturbed me today. I was doubtful on Shop counter, Lean tos (especially tos. Clueless on TORONTO and Iota.

    the other day it was number cruncher today it was summer house...great going.

    Mathu

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  23. I have a great satisfaction today that I got TORONTO in first shot, that too on the lines of Richard's Anno. Old learning still helps.

    I relished the cluing for SUMMERHOUSE though I got the answer with the help of the crossings.

    Col: Is VISHU photo from the family album? Nice one indeed.

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  24. Dr DS,
    It's from the net and not a family photo

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  25. Richard 856: I used to be a pun-jab-i. Sometimes pun, sometimes jab, always i.

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  26. Kishore
    That word breakup Gridman used in clue once:
    Wordplay thrust on one - one from an upcountry State (7)

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  27. Kishore, you are still doing the pun-job.

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  28. When I was in Hyderabad, they called me Pun-tulu.

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  29. So now we know who Gridman is :)

    http://www.bestforpuzzles.com/people/g.html

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  30. Today's FT crossword has a clue which has two wordplays (charade and anagram) in a single clue.
    Gridman once had a similar clue in THC though I am unable to recall it; my dB of his clues can be searched by clue or solution but not by cluetypes, for which elaborate data entry needs to be done.

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  31. CVasi,

    Why do you continue to say "my dB of his clues" even after the last post?

    Anyway, knowing you are Gridman, thanks for all the fun over these years!

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  32. Shuchi, Vinod Raman & Cryptonyte are the other Indians who appear under their respective alphabets. Thank the lord our Limca record holder is not there!!

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  33. Sudalamani,

    Because the database is of Gridman's clues and not Chaturvasi's

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  34. Sudalamani

    I have always wanted to keep the distinction between the composer and the individual.

    I have set crossword puzzles for a Salesian magazine of Madras, The Telegraph of Kolkata, Target and Sportsworld but all under different pseudonyms. My crosswords in Frontline were published anonymously. The only time my real name was used for crosswords that I set was when some six of them were published in the Evening News of India, London.

    Chaturvasi/Rishi is not the composer but commenter!

    Can we have some details of yourself as we are a close-knit group here.

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  35. 1D

    Sailor --> SALT . I don't get the anno here.

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  36. A sailor is also known as 'salt' presumably because he plies his boat or ship in a sea of brine (salt).

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  37. Oh I see! I am, like many youngsters here, a software engineer based in Bangalore. Did crosswords in college and later quit; Returned to them some months back only to find well-evolved blogs like this and Shuchi's. Quickly eased myself into mainstream solving.

    Well, so may I also be a part of this close-knit group? Is this node permitted in the set of vertices of the (hopefully) complete graph? :)

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  38. "Errors or omissions? Please let us know"

    I'm tempted.

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  39. "Is this node permitted in the set of vertices of the (hopefully) complete graph? :) "

    Wow!!! I think I gotta categorize you as "Nobel material."

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  40. Rather I thought they call salt a sailor as it sails along the seas!

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  41. While on the assault on salt, I am led to presume that the Salt March of Dandi and the salt marshes of Rann of Kutch are linked by virtue of proximity (in Gujarat).

    Maybe C'vasi can throw some light on this piece of history of India's independence struggle.

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  42. Running a poll on how many people here have split/multiple personalities. All those with dual personalities please raise both hands, higher numbers may require repeat raising of hands.

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  43. Richard

    To your query: I should think so.

    Incidentally a Tamil novel titled Uppu Kanakku had for its background the Salt March. I reviwed the book for The Hindu. See

    http://www.hindu.com/br/2010/03/09/stories/2010030950061400.htm

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  44. Deepak,1535, Rishi is followed in the alphabetical list by Afrit.

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  45. CV 16:27 Thanks for the link. I went through it.

    In the same backdrop, this could be of interest to you.

    From the archives: OUTLOOK, March 2, 1998:
    SALT IN THE WOUNDS by Saira Menezes.

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  46. Sudalamani 15:58

    I am sure soon Col Deepak Gopinath, the owner of this blog, will formally welcome you here. As Chaturvasi said, this is a closely knit group. You can feel comfortable.

    Sorry for the personal question. I always take interest in rare Indian names. On an earlier occasion, I had posed a similar question to Pavalamani Pragasam, another enlightened blogger here, when the name appeared initially. She gladly gave an analysis.

    I hope it was not too early to have asked.

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  47. I think 'Sudalai' is village god. 'Mani' is 'pearl' or 'something that is beautiful' (as in 'manimaniyaana kai-ezuththu' (meaning 'beautiful handwriting'). So Sudalamani might mean 'pearl of the village god'.
    'Mani' also means 'bell, that which heralds the arrival of something'. So the name could mean 'harbinger of god'.
    These are all guesses and I am sure someone will confirm this.

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  48. I think sudal's from "sudar" meaning "sparking." It could be sparking pearl, shining pearl or something. Not sure.

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  49. Richard

    No problem. I do share a similar interest, but unfortunately for me, do not come across rare names often!

    Sudalai Maadan is a famous God (purportedly, a son of Shiva and Parvathy) in south Tamil Nadu. 'Sudalai' comes from 'Sudugaadu' - 'Cremation Ground' and 'Maadan' from 'Maadu' - Cow. The God is carnivorous (beware :P) (like Kali, one can say) and guards burial grounds with cow as his vehicle (Vaahana).

    As regards Mani, I only think it is an attractive addendum to many Tamil names, as is 'Kumar' for many Indians. :)

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  50. Thanks, Sudalamani. I think Chaturvasi came pretty close to that bit in his response. It was nice to hear straight from the source.

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  51. Welcome Richard. By the way, a small trifling doubt. Was the equivalence of CVasi and Gridman an open secret/known fact all along in this community? I just stumbled upon it today accidentally and felt an urge to post it!

    Hope noone is upset with me for posting the link, incidentally my first post herein :)

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  52. Sudalamani, Welcome. Some of us guessed that they were the same. Your post confirmed it

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  53. Sudalamani,
    Since Richard has mentioned it 'Welcome to the blog', however everyone is welcome here, in fact I don't think I have welcomed all the others who comment here so a 'Belated welcome to everyone' :-)

    VJ @ 15:58

    For heavens sake don't even think of doing what you are contemplating. I presume your temptation is in response to my 15:35. If you do what you threaten to do, you will be banished. ;-)

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  54. Whooooo!!! I seem to have missed a lot of fun discussion in the few hours I was out! So we have a new name on the blog, who revealed something that was news to me.

    Hi Sudalamani. In the selfish interests of typing less, is there a shorter version of ur name that u prefer? :-) btw, that was a very interesting breakdown of your name.

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  55. A little digression:( a la Richard)
    Astronomer = Moon starer*
    Eleven plus two = Twelve plus one* (Kishore!)
    A decimal point = ?
    The Morse code = ?
    Dormitory = ?
    Animosity = ?
    Desperation = ?

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  56. Bhargav

    The answers to what you posted and a lot more!

    http://wordsmith.org/anagram/hof.html

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  57. Hari

    In a communication system, any amount of compression, coding and encryption is fine at the transmitter as long as the receiver is able to inverse their operations (at least partially) and recover the signal.

    You can call me using any suitable monicker as long as everyone understands it is me being referred to! Hope I have not stretched things a bit too far ;)

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  58. ...oh....so it rang a bell!
    and the bell rang.

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  59. 14D - I couldn't understand the anno for last 'y' in illusory - is it badly = illy? I doubt

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  60. @^: As Gridman vouches always, illy=badly is mentioned as a rare adverb in the Chambers.

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  61. Congrats on being in limelight on 'maiden' appearance !

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  62. Deepak (1828), LOL, bingo! I'd like to make a deal. Would you reconsider your stand if our DJ aka record holder produced a flawless puzzle in the next round?

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  63. I second Richard and express my congratulations to Sudalamani! A suggestion about abbreviating the name- for convenience I often abridge my name as ppamani. Similarly smani can be convenient!

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  64. Sorry, a typo: it is ppmani and not ppamani!

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  65. CV sir,

    Joining a bit late. Had been to Saradambal temple being 1st day of Navaratri.

    Thanks for the explanation sailor= salt.
    I guessed such a corelation but have not come across so far in my crossword solving time. Hence the question.

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  66. VJ @ 20:57

    Just one flawless puzzle is not acceptable. I may concede if there is a flawless round of 6

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  67. The way VJ'S DJ is progressing this may happen in a couple of weeks

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