1 - Rare confusion around the north-east for the bread winner (6) - {EAR{NE}R*}
4 - Earls, perhaps? That's right for an associate of the monarch (8) - {COURT}{IE}{R}
10 - Try brewing tea if you have the will (7) - {TEST}{ATE*}
11 - Person under medical treatment sustaining pain calmly (7) - PATIENT [DD]
12 - Temper the rise of destiny (4) - MOOD <-
13 - Weapon that increases the pulse rate? (3,7) - {PEA} {SHOOTER}
16 - Working out Easter may be a problem (6) - TEASER*
17 - Visionary paper held by the German (7) - {D{REAM}ER}
20 - Clown on jetty to go back to hill (7) - {PIER}{ROT<-}
21 - Colourless sort out on bail (6) - ALBINO*
24 - A caucus to learn about on opening one (10) - {C{ON}{VENT}{I}ON}
27 - Feature of life in Australia before (7) - {AUST}{ERE}
29 - Doodlebug is an example to a sluggard and smartly king (7) - ANTLION Anno pending
31 - A point of view taken (6) - STANCE [E]
DOWN
1 - Reckon I'm splitting the estate (8) - {EST{I'M}ATE}
2 - Taking a breather before speech can improve the art (11) - {REST}{ORATION}
3 - Dash around the lane (4) - ELAN*
5 - They are against giving work to models (8) - {OP}{POSERS}
6 - Share with a colleague in a reasonable way (10) - {RATION}{ALLY}
7 - Thai rebels in anger were against their government (3) - IRE [T] Why such a long clue?
8 - Withdraw exhausted soldier first (6) - {RE}{TIRE}
9 - Gives way to top tennis players, say (5) - CEDES(~seeds)
14 - Fear of being partitioned, possibly (11) - TREPIDATION*
15 - Gun dogs (10) - RETRIEVERS [E]
19 - Men come around roughly to begin (8) - {COMMEN{C}E*}
22 - Erase properly the scar on record (6) - {SCRA*}{PE*}
23 - One doesn't settle on turning crazy (5) - {NO<-}{MAD}
26 - Test made to restore after marking for deletion (4) - STET*
28 - Trench made to approach hostile position (3) - SAP [E] New meaning for me !
Hi
ReplyDeleteThe Sapper here must have solved 28d first, well before saps like me ! And of course, his ANTLION features again, tho I dont know how !.
Doodlebug in 29a reminded of V1 and also a beautiful short story about insects, humbug being the operative word. Not sure if it is a translation of Verne’s French story. CV might recollect it. It is a story where a visiting professor is offered an insect which is manufactured out of different parts of different insects and is asked to identify it. Tried to locate through Google but could not. Not sure if it is a translation of Verne’s French story. Recollect it, CV ?
STET reminded of the Typing classes, whereas ALBINO reminded of Silas, from DB (Dan Brown)’s DB.
FOOTWEAR was nice. Caucus for CONVENTION in the US elections ? Only AUSTERE seems to fit in 27a. 13a had me foxed. ADD SHOOTER ??
Do you think 7d is verbose?
Here are the answers to the Sunday quiz:
ReplyDelete1. Eager, to have formicidae in the trousers – Ants in the pants
2. Elite, rather than hoi polloi – Class over mass
3. Small thing, beginning of something larger – Edge of the wedge
4. Any means possible – Hook or by crook
5. AWAC-Eye in the sky
6. Actual meaning of something- Name of the game
7. Unrealistic promise of rewards – Pie in the sky
8. SOB, more politely – Son of a gun
9. Warm and comfortable –Snug as a bug in a rug
10. Extremely favourable offer – Steal of a deal
11. Safe, reliable and sure – Sound as the pound
12. Go on a buying spree – Shop till you drop
13. Keep your parking ticket visible – Pay and display
Sandhya P who titled her mail ‘Rhyme time’ got 5, Venkatesh all 13, Bhargav got one correct in the first pass, by hook or by crook, but came out with several alternate, flowery, not so common answers, which though not correct were not totally wrong either (Implicit when not explicit, Parentage questionable... objectionable..., Rest in the nest, This, is bliss, If not torn when worn!!, Waste money to please Honey, If you wanna go, it should clearly show, In a hurry? Do not bury!)
Nice puzzle. Specially liked PEA SHOOTER. Good play with pea and pulse.
ReplyDeleteKishore @ 8:31
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this Sapper solved SAP last as I was Zapped by it, never having heard the meaning before!!
Hari:
ReplyDeletePlease read as Alpather. Alpather, Affarwat and Kolahoi are all in J&K. Tsomgp (Changu) is in Sikkim. Tho' I was in Africa, the only mountain I saw was (<-->) Kilimanjaro, which is almost on the Equator, is over 7000m and has snow. And that was from an aircraft flying from Nairobi to Mombasa. I only have a photo from the air. But now I dont climb, I am over the hill.
13a Of course, pea shooter, how could I forget the fukiya.
ReplyDeleteDeepak, 834. :-)
ReplyDeleteIs this word the origin of the word sapper.
Wiki says:
ReplyDeleteA sapper, in the sense first used by the Assyrian Army in the early 7th Century BC[citation needed], was one who excavated trenches under defensive fire to advance a besieging army's position in relation to the works of an attacked fortification, which was referred to as sapping the enemy fortifications.
Some nice clues and quite a few doubts. Though could solve 'em all, annos weren't too convincing. In 22D, not sure how you get SCRA from SCAR and PE from EP. And 7D, wow, the words could have been used to clue at least another couple of more clues.
ReplyDeleteLiked 1D and 5D. Nice ones
Kishore @ 839
ReplyDeleteThat's right though I didn't link SAP to that. This is the definition of SAPPER 'A military engineer who specializes in sapping and other field fortification activities'
VJ @ 845
ReplyDeleteI presume 'properly' in 22D is the AInd
Kishore, nice puzzle. Couldn't try it though. Somehow missed it. Looking forward to seeing your next one.
ReplyDeleteDeepak, that makes sense, but still there's something lacking in the clue. I feel it could have been better. Also, PE* from record is indirect. And technically, it's not an anagram. It's more like a reversal.
ReplyDeleteVJ 847: Thanks. There is plenty original stuff in my DB. Some of it is language, so maybe when the paper shuts down for Deepavali...
ReplyDeleteKishore @ 854
ReplyDeleteThere is a larger db at WORDPLAY
Go to the ant, thou sluggard, observe her ways and be wise -Proverbs 6.6
ReplyDeleteQuote from The Bible
This is the link between sluggard and ant. Lion is of course the King
Deepak 901: Agree that there are larger dbs. But all my definitions are self generated, not filched !
ReplyDeleteSuresh: Great work !
Kishore: I am unable to recollect the short story that you have in mind, though I recall other stories with insects such as The Ant and the Grasshopper by Maugham.
ReplyDelete***
I had alternative answers to some of the 'rhyme times': (any means possible) WILLY-NILLY; Keep your parking ticket visible (OPEN TOKEN)
***
Despite Suresh's dilgient research, I don't care for 29ac which I think is still problematic. But I am in no mood to expand.
29A
ReplyDeleteDoodlebug - def
Example to a sluggard - ANT
smartly king - Lion (smartly, I guess because lion also refers to a celebrity)
CV: Precis of the story referred to:
ReplyDeleteIt is a story where a visiting professor is offered an insect which is manufactured out of different parts of different insects and is asked to identify it. Understanding that his leg is being pulled, he asks various questions about where the bug was found and whether it hummed. On getting a positive reply to the last, he says 'Well, then, it is a humbug ! " or words to the effect.
Good Morning
ReplyDeleteA good puzzle. However i could not solve them all. Convention, Antlion,Pierrot all foxed me. Rationally took me a long time.
Mathu
Scar's brother, Mufasa ?
ReplyDeleteCV: I think willy nilly means willingly or otherwise. However, I accept Open Token, though Pay and Display is a standard usage for the definition given.
ReplyDeleteSlow start to CW today. Am going to spend some time with it now...
ReplyDelete@ Kishore 8:37 - Thx for the note on the Kashmir peaks. 2 corrections to ur note, if I may:
1) "Over the hill" is only in the mind. I've seen too many examples of seemingly impossible achievements, to allow me to accept physical limitations. :-D
2) Kilimanjaro is just a shade under 5900m. I remember feeling the thrill as I crossed the 5900m mark on Kangri... 'cos I'd just gone higher than the highest mountain in Africa. :)
Hari, Right on both counts. Inglis is a good example of this, tho' I dont like of something he did. I mixed up KJ's height relying on memory that Messner had 'done' all over 7000 and all highest in continent. Thanks for correction. All 7000+ are in Asia.
ReplyDeleteAlso Surkanda is bsl near Dhanolti.
ReplyDeleteCV: I heard about the ant and grasshopper from my Mom.
ReplyDeleteSuresh@9.13
ReplyDeleteGreat. What a quote to the dot. Amongst the best in this forum so far.
Most enjoyable fare by Manna today. Whatever I solved I relished, obviously could not complete all!
Kishore,
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the answers to the Sunday quiz.
Did not get the track when reading the puzzle on Sunday.
Seeing the answers today,kicked myself!
DS, encore !
ReplyDeletePicked from the web:
ReplyDeleteDarwin and His Young Friends
Two English boys,friends of Darwin,thought one day that they would play a joke on the great naturalist.They caught a butterfly,a grasshopper,a beetle and a centipede and out of these four insects they made a new bug. They took the centipede's body,the butterfly's wings,the grasshoppers legs and the beetle's head,and glued them all together. Then with their new insect they came to Darwin's door.
"We caught this bug in a field," they said,opening the box they had brought. "Can you tell us what it is, Sir?"
Darwin looked at the bug and then at the boys. He smiled a little and asked,
"Did it hum when you caught it?"
"Yes," they answered,nudging one another.
"Well then," said Darwin, "it is a humbug."
CGB: Thanks, this is the exact one I was thinking off. Do you know who wrote it and whether it is a real life or fictional incident ?
ReplyDeleteFrom somewhere else in the web:
ReplyDeleteIt has been told that when Charles Darwin got back from his trip on the Beagle and was classifying his specimens and writing his famous work on the origin of the species, he taught undergraduate biology in a small university. One silly Spring day some of his students caught several insects, dissected them, and glued them back together in random order. A head from one, a thorax from another, until they had a new specimen. They took it to Dr. Darwin and asked if he could identify it. After much, careful inspection he said he could.
"This," he said, "is a humbug."
I find that the story appeared in The Evening News[of London, I think], Saturday, June 11, 1904.
ReplyDeleteHere you go and scroll down a bit:
http://anengineersaspect.blogspot.com/2010/06/anecdotes-about-scientists-found-in.html
The London paper got it from The New York Tribune as mentioned at the end of the newspaper record.
I had not yet landed on earth in 1904, so I cant have read it then. But I remember reading it in my schooldays. Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteI have a vague feeling that I must have come across it in the Radiant Reader, which gave us other gems like Rikki Tikki Tavi.
ReplyDeleteI still have a collection of English school readers (with excellent illustrations) from pre-Independence days - a legacy from my Dad's library.
ReplyDeleteWhile I give away many modern books that I bought or got to libraries, I don't have the heart to part with these.
My hope is that my grandchildren may benefit - though in present times when the joint family system has eroded and grandchildren are not only born abroad but are almost settled there, it's a vain hope. And these books have lost their fresh smell.
Is an [E] really easy when one has not even heard the word before? ;-) For some reason I tend to interpret [DD] as Direct Definition. Perhaps the E should be changed to a D, or something. :D
ReplyDeleteAs for today's puzzle, I enjoyed it more than the offerings from last week where the grid was crowded with too many CD and DDs for my liking.
7D is a stretch, both literally and figuratively. I was working on something along RED (you know, Thai rebels, Red Shirts...).
VJ@08:50, for a two-letter word a reversal and an anagram are equivalent.
Perhaps slightly off-topic: while wrapping all the Navarathiri dolls last evening, I happened upon an NJ crossword from the last day of August, 2009. Except for a misprint on the word length of one clue which I did not get, I finished it in about 40 minutes!
Navneeth,
ReplyDeleteThe classification of E was coined by me, the others are the same as those that are on the Orkut group started by Chaturvasi & Ganesh.
By 'E' I mean 'easy type' which in no way makes it an easy clue, it does mean direct definition, but since DD was already in use for Double Definition I decided to use E for clues which are nothing but a dictionary definition of the required answer.
Today's Young World Quiz had a clue that could have been more happily worded, though it dealt with a grave issue:
ReplyDelete7. Name the Beatle who did not die a natural death.
The answer was correctly given as John Lennon.
However, Maca (Paul McCartney) who is alive also fits the bill. Hence, "Name the Beatle who died an unnatural death." would have been more apt.
Navneeth, I think an anagram should have at least 3 letters. You cannot really "reorder" a 2 letter word. You can merely reverse it. So I see a difference there. Perhaps it's just a matter of opinion.
ReplyDeleteDeepak 1907: Paraphrasing Einstein's formula,
ReplyDeleteE= MC^2 and replacing M with N,
E= NC^2=NCC i.e.
Easy = Non Cryptic Clue
After all everything is relatively easy or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteVJ, Navneeth:
ReplyDeleteI think reversal is a subset of reorder/anagram.
If anagram is a rearrangment of letters, following the rules of permutations, the number of permuations will be n! if all elements are different and n!/r!s!.. if there are repeated elements. However, there is only one true reversal in distinct elements, and there could be more than one reversal in the repeated elements ie. in the word 'ASS' the permutations which count as reversals would be 'third S, second S, A' and 'second S, third S, A' since we do not differentiate between the two Ss.
Kishore, brilliant!!
ReplyDeleteSpot the catch in my 2020.
ReplyDeleteKishore (2020), when we're dealing with 2 letter words, there's only one other way in which a word could be reordered and that is, reversing the order. For instance, if the word is IT, the only other possibility is TI. Personally, I wouldn't call this an anagram for the reasons already stated.
ReplyDeleteIf we're talking about 3 letter words (or more), it's a different story. Like you pointed out, if the letters were reordered, we might get a word that's just the reverse of original word (like the example you showed). There are still a couple of questions and as I see it, these are more to do with semantics than logic.
* Logically, ASS could be reshuffled to get SSA, but semantically, is it an anagram?
* Since SSA is not a proper word, could it be treated as an anagram?
* Logically, palindrome is a subset of reorder/ anagram, but semantically, is it an anagram? If yes, TOOT is an anagram of TOOT, which doesn't make much sense.
My 2020 was in response to your 2003. Nice one on Einstein's formula.
ReplyDeleteWith reference to your 2020.... while I don't disagree with your explanation, I'm concerned about the semantics.
VJ, its is apparent that our 2020s crossed paths. While your concern about semantics, i.e. the sense made by a permutation to qualify as an anagram, is perfectly valid and also the need to be different from the original word is justified, there is an mathematical/logical catch too in my argument, which I was asking people to dispute.
ReplyDeleteKishore @2020: On first glance, the only catch I could see was that the number of permutations that is specified is for the specific instance where n=r, i.e., only anagrams where the # of letters are identical between fodder and answer. But then if one has a fodder which needs to be broken down into two words or more for the solution there could be a problem and the math would need to be reworked somewhat but still doable.
ReplyDeleteKishore, :)
ReplyDeleteNo disputes on that one. Whether it's "innocent until proven guilty" or the other way around, you win :) Mathematically, ASS = SSA*