Few brilliant flashes today in the heap of trash!!
ACROSS
1 - French school leaders educate children on line everyday (5) - {E}{C}{O}{L}{E}
4 - Crucial element of French art is promiscuously seen around the college (7) - {ES}{SEN{C}E*}
10 - Spa spots (6) - SAUNAS [E]
11 - An apartment for English people trapped in a circus shelter (8) - {TEN{E}{MEN}T}
13 - And so on his second thoughts ignored the pace-setters mysteriously (8) - ETCETERAps* (addendum - ETCETERAps's* - See comments)
14 - Caught a rope without the loop left on this part of the flower (6) - {C}{A}{RoPE}{L}
16 - Stick the small bag (4) - POKE [DD] You can poke someone with a stick, but can you use poke to mean stick?
17 - The Spanish city tax officer will judge the voters (10) - {EL}{E}{CTO}{RATE} Spanish on double duty?
20 - Palace dweller is a clear winner (5,5) - {ROYAL} {FLUSH}
21 - Knock out the holy man in United Nations (4) - {ST}{UN}
24 - Slanted type of writing (6) - ITALIC [E]
26 - Old king in princedom turns out an oriental salad (8) - {COLE}{SeLAW<-}
28 - I say to the looker in agreement (3,2,3) - (~i){EYE} {TO} {EYE}
29 - Pressure on the small lock (6) - {S}{TRESS}
30 - Relaxed adult is training in silence (2,5) - {A}{T} {PEACE}
31 - Says no to study in the side yards (5) - {DEN}{YardS} And I always thought it was spelt as 'denies' !!!
DOWN
2 - Can opener (6,3) - CHURCH KEY [E] Never knew this
3 - Shack in the meadow is not proper (6) - {LEA}{NTO*}
5 - Soundly shake off the storage building (4) - SHED [DD] Why do we need 'soundly' ?
6 - Lift the Spanish girl on the mountain (8) - {EL}{EVA}{TOR}
7 - Reduced energy in the boy (5) - {CH{E}AP}
8 - Not up the bridal path leaving one record (6) - {AiSLE}{EP}
9 - Burial markers are on the way to the Spanish arcade on both sides (6) - {ST}{EL}{ArcadE}
12 - Singsong sounds (7) -TRILLES [E] (Addendum - TRALALA [E] - See comments)
15 - Cut out a small cross, one in position (7) - {S}{C{I}SSOR*}
18 - Heavy guns in magazine items (9) - ARTILLERY [DD] Intended DD is incorrect.
19 - Popular alternative in a different Shakespearean locale (8) - {ELS{IN}{OR}E} My COD
20 - Commando is in a police action on the eastern side (6) - {RAID}{E}{R}
22 - We are confined in the den which is most up-to-date (6) - {NE{WE}ST}
23 - Sofa is in position at an exact point (6) - {SET}{TEE}
25 - Gangster in England will note an Alaskan native (5) - {AL}{E}{UT}UT is a note? (Addendum - Yes it is - See comments)
27 - Align the second track in North Carolina (4) - {S}{Y}{NC} How is Y a track, I don't know
1 - French school leaders educate children on line everyday (5) - {E}{C}{O}{L}{E}
4 - Crucial element of French art is promiscuously seen around the college (7) - {ES}{SEN{C}E*}
10 - Spa spots (6) - SAUNAS [E]
11 - An apartment for English people trapped in a circus shelter (8) - {TEN{E}{MEN}T}
13 - And so on his second thoughts ignored the pace-setters mysteriously (8) - ETCETERA
14 - Caught a rope without the loop left on this part of the flower (6) - {C}{A}{R
17 - The Spanish city tax officer will judge the voters (10) - {EL}{E}{CTO}{RATE} Spanish on double duty?
20 - Palace dweller is a clear winner (5,5) - {ROYAL} {FLUSH}
24 - Slanted type of writing (6) - ITALIC [E]
26 - Old king in princedom turns out an oriental salad (8) - {COLE}{S
28 - I say to the looker in agreement (3,2,3) - (~i){EYE} {TO} {EYE}
29 - Pressure on the small lock (6) - {S}{TRESS}
30 - Relaxed adult is training in silence (2,5) - {A}{T} {PEACE}
31 - Says no to study in the side yards (5) - {DEN}{Y
DOWN
2 - Can opener (6,3) - CHURCH KEY [E] Never knew this
5 - Soundly shake off the storage building (4) - SHED [DD] Why do we need 'soundly' ?
6 - Lift the Spanish girl on the mountain (8) - {EL}{EVA}{TOR}
7 - Reduced energy in the boy (5) - {CH{E}AP}
8 - Not up the bridal path leaving one record (6) - {A
9 - Burial markers are on the way to the Spanish arcade on both sides (6) - {ST}{EL}{A
12 - Singsong sounds (7) -
15 - Cut out a small cross, one in position (7) - {S}{C{I}SSOR*}
18 - Heavy guns in magazine items (9) - ARTILLERY [DD] Intended DD is incorrect.
19 - Popular alternative in a different Shakespearean locale (8) - {ELS{IN}{OR}E} My COD
20 - Commando is in a police action on the eastern side (6) - {RAID}{E}{R}
22 - We are confined in the den which is most up-to-date (6) - {NE{WE}ST}
23 - Sofa is in position at an exact point (6) - {SET}{TEE}
25 - Gangster in England will note an Alaskan native (5) - {AL}{E}{UT}
27 - Align the second track in North Carolina (4) - {S}{Y}{NC} How is Y a track, I don't know
Hi
ReplyDeleteAfter giving my comments above, I give below the reputedly shortest clue ever:
(2,4)
Dear Colonel,
ReplyDeleteWould you please add a "Worst Ever" or "Can't Be Worse Than This" vote button?
Thanks!
Kudos to Deepak for even getting the words, let alone the annos..
ReplyDelete20 - Palace dweller is a clear winner (5,5) - {ROYAL} {FLUSH}
I get the poker part of it. But how is ROYAL FLUSH a palace dweller ?
Gita, Records are meant to be broken...
ReplyDeleteBut, it was a broken record to begin with?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKishore - Duh! Toilet flushes live in the palace too!
ReplyDelete17 - The Spanish city tax officer will judge the voters (10) - {EL}{E}{CTO}{RATE} Spanish on double duty?
ReplyDeleteCity = EC (London)
12 - Singsong sounds (7) - TRILLES [E]
Doesn't this answer clash with ROYAL FLUSH ? For the sheer lack of any other option and ignoring the enumeration, I put it as TRA-LA-LA
25 - Gangster in England will note an Alaskan native (5) - {AL}{E}{UT} UT is a note?
UT(n) : The syllable naming the first (tonic) note of any major scale in solmization (WordWeb)
Kishore @8:38:
ReplyDelete20 - Palace dweller is a clear winner (5,5) - {ROYAL} {FLUSH}
I am thinking FLUSH comes from clear and ROYAL from palace dweller...
Colonel sir,
ReplyDeletemudiyalla..eppadi ithellam? when i see ur answers all the clues seem simple..except mabe for ones like LEANTO and CHURCHKEY...
Today's was really tough for me. Got only -5..
i meant about 4-5
ReplyDeleteThanks, Veer, for enlightenment :-)
ReplyDelete@Kishore: As both of us know, the clue is questionable - don't know what "is a" is doing if it is not linking wordplay to def. But, this would in a weird way be a good clue (the bar set at grammar and spelling correctness) in this puzzling puzzle..
ReplyDelete@Kishore - I get enlightenment every time NJ comes around: I become SO detached from everything - desire to solve a puzzle, ability to walk away from the grid, detachment to grammar, syntax, spelling ...
ReplyDeleteAll: I must say I've also guilty of thrashing NJs puzzles in the past, but I must say that I think we are getting a little too raucous in our criticism.
ReplyDeleteIf I put aside the fact that it's an NJ puzzle, and not let the inevitable handful of discordant clues affect me, then I find that I quite enjoy more than half the puzzle. I donno... maybe I'm getting soft in my old age! But maybe we should hold back a bit on the harshness of our criticism (even if some of it is soundly deserved!)... especially in light of the fact that at least one of her family members has made an attempt to justify NJ's sets...
Just a courtesy that's all...
My COD: ETCETERA ! :)
@ Col: In the anno, one of the s's to strike out is missing. :) Removing "Second thoughts = PSeS" .. ie. multiple postscripts. :)
@ Bhavan: Even I had TRALALA (not TRILLES). Anyhow, I believe it's spelt as TRILLS.
ReplyDelete16A : POKE is perfectly valid.
ReplyDeletehttp://thesaurus.com/browse/stick
When you stick someone, you are poking him with a pointy object. I think it used to be slang, but it's accepted English now! :)
The Good:
ReplyDelete11A - TENEMENT
13A - ETCETERA
20A - ROYAL FLUSH
28A - EYE TO EYE
6D - ELEVATOR
The Bad:
2D - CHURCH KEY (I thought it could be a bit more explicit instead of an Easy type clue... given that most people wouldn't have heard of CHURCH KEY)
5D - SHED (Agree w/ Col. Maybe it was to have better surface reading or maybe a distraction..)
18D - ARTILLERY (No disagreements w/ Col here! A DD needs to be quite specific w/ both definitions... this is vague)
The Ugly:
31A - DENYS (Good lord!:) This is inexplicable)
TRILLS and ROYAL FLUSH do not match on the grid. So one of them is different. I had ROYAL HOUSE and TRILLOS. Whether Royal House can be used as an alternae term for Royal flush, poker players may have to confirm I could not find it on the internet
ReplyDeleteHari @09.07 : May be what we are reading here is the "toned down" version of the dissatisfaction ?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about restraining the criticism, but in all fairness we are still talking about the clues being bad, not dissing the setter (well at least not in so many explicit words).
We have come to accept dodgy surfaces and not so well formed clues but to me 31A was abjectly disappointing.Each clue must have been looked at 4 times (1-filling it in the grid, 2-clueing it, 3-reviewing it, 4-before mailing it to the paper) and I wonder how it escaped the setter. Its not like the word was Eyjafjallajokull to say oops I misspelt it.
Abhay, are you watching this. Denys is precisely the kind of error that is not acceptable from a professional crossword setter.
ReplyDelete25 - Gangster in England will note an Alaskan native (5) - {AL}{E}{UT} UT is a note?
ReplyDeleteYes UT is a note representing the tone C. Check out freedictionary
Reading the comments again. 20A would be ROYAL FLUSH with flush meaning clear and 12 D would be TRALALA
ReplyDelete@ Bhavan 9:38 - Wholly agree regarding DENYS.
ReplyDeleteI guess I feel really bad for Abhay to have to see this (on rare occasions, personal) criticism of his mom's work. I'm only hoping that NJ gets familiar with the internet (as alluded to by Abhay) and starts processing the critique of her cluing strategy. It can only make her better... not just for the "elite" solvers, but also for the "average" solver. :)
Well, my vow of silence lasted less than 24 hours Knew that DENYS was the intended set of letters (cannot call it a word) but could not bring myself to write it down and sully my paper with this abomination. This crossword had such a split personality. How could the elegant crafter of Elsinore and tenement also be responsible for artillery and the aforementioned incorrect plural. I also had tralala but this doesn't really fit with the indicated plural.
ReplyDeleteI also strongly believe that justified (non personal) criticism should still be an important part of this forum, and that comment should not be watered down because Abhay has chosen to defend his mother. It is completely his right to air his views, just as it is ours to discuss our opinions in what should be seen as a professional offering in a national newspaper, and as such a valid target for any grievances.
@Hari, I didn't buy this distinction between elite and average solvers when Abhay mentioned it. I still don't.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is the difference from a setter's point of view ?
The setter as far as I understand makes all choices of his/her own volition - grid style, words, clue types etc. Where if at all does the solver and his/her personal expertise come into this picture?
.......and to think that someone thinks that today's fare is outstanding is really rubbing salt into the wounds!!!!!
ReplyDeleteTralala should be correct, I had put in Trilles first and later forgot to change it when I got a 'Royal Flush'
ReplyDelete:) The outstanding is definitely an anomaly! Pretty sure it's a biased opinion from an NJ supporter.
ReplyDelete@ Bhavan 10:58 - Not trying to say that there is any difference from the setter's point of view. What I'm saying is that even the "average" solver (one who just does what he/she can in the paper and doesn't visit blogs and have discussions on the clues...probably doesn't even consistently verify the answers the next day - I used to be one!:) ) will appreciate the difference if NJ incorporates improvements from our critique into future editions.
Basically, no disagreement here! :)
ReplyDeleteFrom the regularly outstanding ratings it is clear that there is no intent to make any improvements. So we shall continue to suffer.
ReplyDelete@Colonel 12.16 : Someone who denys there is anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteTwo points:
ReplyDeleteTaking Abhay's (and presumably his mom's) intentions to explain/improve, the explain part can start earlier but the improve part would have a lead time, given the time lag between submission of a CW and printing.
The rating of a good CW as poor or a poor one as outstanding does not change the fact of its quality. It is for the setter to satisfy himself/herself that the stuff is wholesome. It may not come to the expectations of some, but I sincerely hope that every setter sets for themself a bar they will not fall below. Self imposed QC could probably alleviate some of the problems and elevate the standard of CW being offered. I am a reasonably good artist, but though my mom has always appreciated my sketches, I have never made them public, because I feel they are yet to reach a threshold where they can be in the public domain. I think that is what should happen: set a bar and release work which meets that level.
If the 'outstanding' rating is now showing 3 it is due to my fault. I was trying to check out something which ultimately did not work and in the bargain the count went up.
ReplyDeleteDeepak. Is there a way to delete a rating? Yesterday the good rating went down from 2 to 1 later in the day. How did that happen?
ReplyDeleteRating cannot be deleted. I think it goes up initially, if the same IP address makes a double entry on the same rating but when the page is refreshed the rating goes back to it's original figure, however if the same IP address clicks on each of the ratings once that address will get 1 each for all the ratings.
ReplyDeleteDeepak, yes, we had observed this when ratings first came in. Can this be interpreted that same IP address cannot rig the same rating level twice ? Of course, nothing to prevent an extremely malevolent or benevolent person who has the time to rate from different IPs.
ReplyDelete@Dobson at 10.27-
ReplyDeleteI just want to specifically underline what he said-"It should be viewed as a professional offering in a National newspaper".There is no personal touch to this.
I have a question for Suresh.
ReplyDeleteAre you trying to insinuate that it's the setter's crew that's behind upping the rating? It doesn't have to be so is what I think. It could be any solver or visitor who is not keen on taking these ratings seriously, one who is just trying to mess with passionate solvers who don't like this setter's crosswords.
When this setter's first puzzle came up this round, count for POOR was more than a dozen. The next day, it dropped to 4. It only proves that the other side is more guilty.
Kishor 832 - You have given NO CLUE.
ReplyDelete3 Dn - Lean to - Is it a 6 letter word or 4,2?
Muthaiah : ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat way I dont have to worry about grammar, spelling, definition etc etc.
David has pretty much echoed my thoughts, and so has saved me some typing. (Thanks, Mr. Dobson.)
ReplyDeleteColonel, re: 27D, I think 'second' is doing double duty, with Y being the second of RY (track).
From Webster's 1913 Dictionary :
ReplyDelete\Y\ (w[imac]), n.; pl. {Y's} (w[imac]z) or {Ys}.
Something shaped like the letter Y; a forked piece resembling in form the letter Y. Specifically:
(c) (Railroads) A portion of track consisting of two diverging tracks connected by a cross track.
CV Sir, We miss your valuable and interesting points on the present subject matter of discussion, like yesterday.
ReplyDeleteStarting to quote from Newman's Lead, Kindly Light '... amidst the encircling gloom,' I see a spark to be happy about.
ReplyDeleteToday’s TH has some really good news. Anthony Horowitz has been approved by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate to write the next Sherlock Holmes book. Anthony is an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable author, well known for his Alex Rider books (about a teenage James Bond like character, complete with gadgets and marquee villains), Tim Diamond series (comedy spy stories like the French Confection, which I had referred to earlier in this blog), Power of five, and also TV series Foyle’s War and Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Looking forward to his book which is expected to be published in September.
Subbu, CV has indicated his reluctance in the past too, to comment on the present subject, since he has felt that the matter is beyond redemption.
ReplyDeleteMeghna@16:12. I admit that I was making an insinuation. Also accept that it is possible for somebody to be just messing around.
ReplyDeleteI was also recalling in my mind yesterday's debate and drawing some conclusions which may not be justified. I hope my conclusions are wrong and apologise if I am wrong in my conclusions
Quote from the Wikipedia link for Churchkey given by Deepak:
ReplyDeleteThere is sparse, and often contradictory, documentation as to the origin of the term "church key", although many people believe that the phrase is an ironic euphemism, as the opener was obviously designed to access beer, and not churches.
Can it be called 'ironic' if it is made from non-ferrous metal ? :-)
INS Deepak joined the Navy today. Ditching the army , Colonel?:))
ReplyDeleteSuresh's aside reminds me:
ReplyDeleteGetting promoted from Colonel has its issues:
ET4544 in today's Bang Ed: 7d Commander of a second-rate outfit taking a ride around (9)
And of course:
ReplyDeleteNabhah sparsham deeptam