Thursday, 10 February 2011

No 10074, Thursday 10 Feb 11, Neyartha

Easy when compared to Neyartha's regular offerings
ACROSS
1   - Snack receipt son misplaced behind the vegetable (6,5) - {POTATO} {(-s)CRI(+s)SP}
9   - Find expenditure, and being uninitiated, log out by mistake (5) - OUTGOl*
10 - Recover menu coder drew up (4,5) - COME ROUND* E to O ? (Correction published by Neyartha at the Orkut group. Clue to read as  "Recover code Munro drew up (4,5)")
11 - Short service (part of the Divine Office) on the radio (5) - TERSE(~terce)
12 - Fear of open spaces similar to the ancient Greek marketplace? (11) - AGORAPHOBIA [CD]


13 - Credit Edward partially for the corrected proofs (6) - EDITED [T]
14 - Prophetess in California after medieval mandolin-like instrument (7) - {REBEC}{CA}
18 - Betrayer to do away with initial resistance from the guide (7) - TrEACHER Didn't know this word for betrayer
20 - Fast spies sent back to the outskirts of Vellore (6) - {STAR<-}{VE}
24 - Foul pathetic cover up of collapsed rides (11) - {UN{DESIR*}ABLE}
26 - Tall description of a difficult-to-fulfill request (5) - ORDER [CD]
27 - Bank clerk sheltering the rabbi and tourist (9) - {T{RAV}ELLER}
28 - Shun the noble liberal overthrown by Victor (5) - E(-l+v)VITE
29 - Exchange mutating bacilli receptor without bill (11) - RECIPROCATEbill*
DOWN
1   - Boxes with, and ties up date inside (8) - {PACK{AGE}S}
2   - Met Poe, uneasy about upset master, in the stall (9) - {TEMPO{RIS<-}E*}
3   - Patio found in Leicester racecourse (7) - TERRACE [T]
4   - Company's expression of disgust at the hawk (5) - {CO}{UGH}
5   - Grateful, certainly, for Bhutan's participation (8) - {INDE{BT}ED}
6   - Upcoming fabulist, scratching head, encloses label with mailing fee (7) - {POS{TAG}Ea<-}
7   - Watch the step, so to speak (5) - STARE(~stair)
8   - Cash given to sweeten Maratha chief forcing husband out (5) - (-h+m)MONEY
15 - Little brains? (9) - CEREBELLA [CD]
16 - Geoff, very loud, lost unusual edict related to large scale earth measurements (8) - {GEOff}{DETIC*}
17 - Prepare to fold her saree (8) - REHEARSE*
19 - Font in some newspapers' title (7) - COURIER [CD]
21 - Professional killer seen in commotion surrounding confused rep (7) - {TO{RPE*}DO}
22 - Unusual tale (5) - NOVEL [DD]
23 - Notice Tim going up to confess (5) - {AD}{MIT<-}
25 - Rubber that may be needed for official approval (5) - STAMP [CD]

26 comments:

  1. Deepak, liked the way you put the answer word in the said font in 19d ;-)

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  2. 28 - Shun the noble liberal overthrown by Victor (5) - E(-l+v)VITE

    Evite has so entered the public consciousness as an electronic invitation, I never imagined it would also ironically be a synonym for SHUN..Nice..Would have been even more of a laugh and a penny drop moment if the clue was a DD with these opposites meanings?

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  3. Very Nice offering from Neyartha.
    Evite and Rebec were new words that I picked up from solving the clues.

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  4. Very enjoyable puzzle and smart as well. Nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the finer points of cryptic clues rather than break heads over inane stuff.

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  5. Sandhya,

    I don't think there is a theme today.

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  6. POSTAGE

    MONEY, ORDER

    STAMP

    COURIER

    PACKAGES

    :)

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  7. Thanks Neyartha,

    I was looking at TRAVELLER and PACKAGES initially but then gave up

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  8. Ah, N..give us poor souls at least 12 hours at it.. I could not figure it out but may have in 12 hours?

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  9. On the CoD, mine is 6Dn., POSTAGE - it was a head scratcher and one of the last to fall, but once it did, I was thinking I duh!, how could I not have seen it earlier?!

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  10. Good puzzle, but I feel 12A is not quite a CD. After all that is the etymology of the word.

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  11. @Kishore 8 32 - Identical sentence I thought to write; but ... early bird ..worms

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  12. Lots of new words and recourse to the dictionaries and google to finish this puzzle.

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  13. Just came across this little piece by Anax on the not so glam side of xwd setting: http://anaxcrosswords.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/is-it-working/ . It talks about the challenges he's been having lately trying to set xwds full time. Amazing that a setter as accomplished as he is seems to have trouble making a good living out of it.. Wonder if NJ really does have a leg up on all this?

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  14. Surprised to read that! It would be nice to have Gridman share his opinion on the opportunities in India. My guess is they got to be direr still.

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  15. Okay, since when were mandolins bowed string instruments?

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  16. @veer and Shyam above

    No composer in India can make a living out of setting crossword puzzles. At best, it is additional money.

    In India, most newspapers use syndicated crossword puzzles which are rather cheap for the newspapers that buy them from local agencies. Have you noticed how any newspapers in India use the Guardian quick crossword? Do you know how many newspapers publish the crossword from a UK syndicate that used to be known as First Features and now goes by another name.

    In the UK, competition is fierce as many many setters are there and also many publications want to carry the feature. So opportunities are fewer for the setters. In India, setters are fewer and should every newspaper that publishes a syndicated puz wants to carry an original crossword there won't be enough setters - unless a record setter is around.
    In India, only The Hindu publishes a week-day original cryptic puzzle. For the 26 puzzles there are a handful of composers. The payment that even the contributor of the most number of puzzles (Manna with 7) receives cannot see one through a month.
    In the UK a 15x cryptic gets the setter GBP 150 to 200 and more. In India? Don't ask!
    But even if a setter receives a good amount, would he want to set 26 puzzles or more so he can get enough and stay away from regular 9 to 5 job or even one with a graveyard shift? Certainly not! Even if a newspaper invites me to contribute 26 puzzles - even quick, leave alone cryptic - I would refuse.

    In Mumbai, afternoon newspapers carry original puzzles but I have no idea of the market. A broadsheet there carries a crossword feature by the same setter for at least 26 days (I don't know what the Sunday edition carries) but I wouldn't know what payment is made; but however considerable it is, it wouldn't be such that one can run a family in the metropolis.

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  17. 15 DOWN was relevant to me. So i solved it easily. I have Spino-cerebellar degeneration.

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  18. Suresh
    I am surprised by your comment "Lots of new words".
    I had a relook at the words.
    Of them, only EVITE was totally strange for me.
    GEOTETIC was also new to me but then we have heard of the more usual 'geodesic' during satellite launches by ISRO.
    AGORAPHOBIA too should be familiar as we often come across a list of fears.
    CEREBELLA in the plural form is new but we have come across cerebellum in science study.
    The others seem to be common.

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  19. CV Just add REBEC and delete CEREBELLA.Heard Agoraphobia but could not get the word offhand.

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  20. Thanks for the info CVasi sir. Liked this comment - "unless a record setter is around" ;)

    Imo, the day when TOI, TIE and THT start publishing original crosswords cannot be far away. This solvers' community is growing bigger with each passing day. And as I have read somewhere, crosswords could become a national weakness!

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  21. Yes, Suresh, 'rebec' the old musical instrument, is also a rare word. However, I was looking only at the gridfills.
    Incidentally, Shyam, 'rebec' is defined by Chambers as 'a medieval instrument of the viol class shaped like a mandolin, usu with three strings'; Neyartha must have had only the shape of the instrument rather than how this or mandolin is played - by wielding the bow or by plucking.

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  22. CV And while Cerebella is not a new word it does not quite fit into the def of 'little brains' That would be some rasa

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  23. Incidentally, Shyam, 'rebec' is defined by Chambers as 'a medieval instrument of the viol class shaped like a mandolin, usu with three strings'; Neyartha must have had only the shape of the instrument rather than how this or mandolin is played - by wielding the bow or by plucking.

    I believe that was intended for me. In which case, thanks for the clarification. More reasons to hunt down a copy of the Chambers ASAP. Not having heard of either Rebecca (the biblical figure) or rebec, I was looking for a word starting with Lute.

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  24. I am reminded of the novel REBECCA by Dame Daphne(du Maurier). It opens with the famous lines:

    “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me”.

    During World War II, the Germans used an edition of this book as a code source - for making sentences using single words in the book, referred to them by page number, line and position in the line.

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