ACROSS
1 - Special mail through which the retired get sops distributed (10,4) - REGISTERED POST* My pension comes through the bank though :-)
8 - Poor friend, make an effort! (6) - {PAL}{TRY}
9 - Singer at pub, one with an object at heart (8) - {BAR}{IT}{ONE}
11 - Incidental helper … (9) - ATTENDANT [DD]
12 - … the worse for drink, gives money to unknown (5) - {TIPS}{Y}
13 - Rank given to Leon struggling to hold revolutionary (7) - {E{CHE}LON*}
15 - Notice record by queen, new (7) - {DISC}{ER}{N}
17 - A jelly sweet, sticky stuff — give it up (7) - {GUM}{DROP} We used to call them Jujups while at school.
21 - Ice as opposed to water? (5) - SOLID [CD]
23 - Hope created it, a setting for a fictional prisoner (9) - RURITANIA [CD]
25 - A hero, one-up, produces a feeling of well-being (8) - EUPHOR(I)A*
26 - Material got from a young eel with tail cut off, in Vermont (6) - {V{ELVE
27 - Psychological problem with duo impels ex-cop to stray (7,7) - OEDIPUS COMPLEX*
DOWN
1 - Be a substitute salesman, Liberal expert (7) - {REP}{L}{ACE}
2 - The garment to have, about one pound (5) - {G{I}{L}ET}
4 - English unknown played a part but made an excessive demand (7) - {E}{X}{ACTED}
5 - Penny is not commonly what an artist may need (5) - {P}{AINT}
6 - Display a gun as an exhibit (9) - {SHOW}{PIECE}
7 - African who may understand any change (6) - {KEN}{YAN*}
10 - Beige, a colour to flatter (4) - FAWN [DD]
14 - Food not fit for the arrogant? (6,3) - HUMBLE PIE [CD]
16 - Such benefits may not prevail in the long run (5-4) - SHORT-TERM [E]
17 - He acts with exaggerated emotion but is a good attendant (6) - {G}{USHER}
18 - Golden cord that is universal in the immediate neighbourhood (7) - {PURL}{IE}{U} Never knew thie meaning of Purl
19 - Cheeky favourite is about right (4) - {PE{R}T}
20 - The way to make a demand for a payment by a motor owner (4,3) - {ROAD} {TAX}
22 - Garment worn in humid, hot India (5) - DHOTI [T]
24 - New work of fiction (5) - NOVEL [DD]
Hi
ReplyDeleteI had to eat HUMBLE PIE as G(IL)ET and PURL-IE-U had to be confirmed by Google. P-AINT, GUM-DROP, BAR-IT-ONE, G-USHER and RURITANIA were nice. I could never ken (understand) what Ken (Kennedy) the KENYAN* said, since my Kiswahili was as bad as his English. TIPSY reminded of the pudding and the AND* NDA, ROAD TAX reminded of Wall Tax Road in Chennai, whereas DHOTI reminded of Ghoti, the potato and its longer version Ghoughpteighbteau . More details at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti
Possibly Che's face is the most common one on T-shirts.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed today's puzzle. The only flip side is that there isn't much to debate about : )
ReplyDeleteCrisp, enjoyable crossword
ReplyDeleteKishore, I thought Ghoti was another way of spelling fish
ReplyDeleteGh like in tough O as in women and ti as in attention
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Suresh, the second one is the potato. Editing error, inserted in wrong place !
ReplyDeleteET Bang-ed has repeated yesterday's 4536 again today :-(
ReplyDeleteKishore has a double disappointment-today's THC completed soon (though enjoyable)and no ET crossword either!!
ReplyDeleteYup, Paddy, that is why I think I have used both the words 'repeated' and 'again'in 901
ReplyDeleteDid not get 'galit' and struggled a bit for 'purlieu'.Otherwise smooth flowing (read-no overwriting) and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteDeepak
ReplyDeleteI too loved eating jujubes (I thought the candy was spelt thus, though I could be wrong.
Later some doubts were raised about one of the ingredients that go into their production - but they were far too tasty for us to be bothered about it.
Yesterday I saw a girl wearing a T-shirt that read:
ReplyDeleteRead
BOOKS
Not tee-shirts
For once I was able to take in everything in one go - the text was none-too-long, letters were bold enough, no letter was lost in any depths.
I had half-a-mind to tell her "what if I read books andtee-shirts", but it was a temple where I was doing voluntary service with some four or five ladies and I had to take care of my reputation.
Sometimes we are not able to read everything for some reason or the other and the whole day the bee buzzes in the bonnet.
What's the remedy?
(From yesterday)
ReplyDeleteKishore
With 'Come September' theme song, Baby Elephant Walk tune (from Hatari) were very famous in Tamil Nadu. Many who never listened to Western music would have been familiar with both of these.
The Come September theme was blatantly copied for a Tamil film song.
CV @ 10:24,
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you read it as BOOKS?
I suppose the remedy would be ro raise the bonnet so that the Bee could fly out :-)
CV & other Chennai netizens of this blog,
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of books, did you find time to visit the Chennai Book Fair which is on till January 17?
Venkatesh, I will likely go today. And get myself a copy of the Chambers Dictionary and a better thesaurus, among other things.
ReplyDeleteAs for today's THC,
[PURL]IEU and TIPSY was new. (One of our neighbours once had a white Pomeranian called Tipsy.) RURITANIA seems familiar but I still had to look it up.
I enjoyed visiting the first 10-15 book fairs in Chennai.
ReplyDeleteThe very first one was superb when I picked up wonderful books.
The fairs were held in the Arts College premises on Anna Salai.
That was when I had a rapport with publishers - one of whom who now runs the Madras Book Club.
After the Tamil publishers took over the reins, Tamil and small publishers (jodhidam, aanmigam, etc.) rule the roost: the venue is distant and the stalls are far too many. As you wander you pass through useless stalls and then you are too tired to go in search of the established ones.
Above all, the organisers seem to be too interested in pleasing the political bosses.
PS: I would appreciate a fair by book publishers with their publications. Now so many small, small stalls have the same books without any focus. Also, the emphasis on children's books with cheap publications looks as if they are exploiting the sentiments of people rather than really cater to the needs of the growing generation.
ReplyDelete@Colonel (10:54):"Are you sure you read it as BOOKS?"
ReplyDelete:P
Navneeth: I visited the book fair twice and could not get hold of Chambers Dictionary. I could find only Oxford, Cambridge. If you do get it, please tell me the name of the stall you got it.
ReplyDeleteIt is not available online. Both Flipkart and Rediff report no stock.
Chambers 21st Century Dictionary is very much available but it is NOT the one CVasi sir recommended for crossword enthusiasts.
ReplyDeleteWould you say 'suddener' or 'more sudden'?
ReplyDeleteRead what Roddy Forman quotes here (after some debate on this topic):
http://www.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?action=read&id=1294774668&user=dharrison
CV 1039:
ReplyDeleteYes,CS was probably the best known Western music of its times. In Delhi, most Baraat bands used to play it too.
Some other my favs from that '60s-'70s:
Tequila
Black Magic Woman
Oh, to be in London
Amongst my most favourite Bidai songs is Babul ki duwaien leti jaa. It brings a lump in your throat.
Deepak Sir, ur headlines brought the following to my memory - read gnol (he he - 'long' back)
ReplyDeleteWhat I want I dont get
What I get, I dont want
So, to get a thing, you should not want it
If you dont want, why should u get it
@SandhyaP 1707 One is there in the second line where is the other? It is the other one - Karakattakkaran tamil Film - have u seen?
Krishnan,
ReplyDeleteI was able to spot a 1998 edition (in its fourth or fifth Indian reprint), all worn out. Didn't buy it. I however upgraded my small thesaurus which was bought when I was in school, to a Chambers Thesaurus (Rs. 315, after discount - hardbound - Allied Chambers - 2004 ed./India 2007). It's as big and almost as fat as the 80's edition of The Reader's Digest Universal Dictionary we have.
Wow!
ReplyDelete8 30 AM everyday! Military precision!
Isn't Kenyan a little vague?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think so, Anupam (21:36)?
ReplyDeleteOh, I didn't know the meaning of Ken. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteUsing these rather unused words is part of the charm of cryptic crosswords, methinks.
ReplyDelete