Monday, 14 February 2011

No 10077, Monday 14 Feb 11, Spiffytrix

Had an error in blogger, had to redo the whole CW,  today so no links and photo's so as to meet deadline
PANGRAM day today. Spiffy has started off with the unusual letters on the edges.
ACROSS
8   - Care a bit about agents (8) - BACTERIA*
9   - Erode American and European Union's power (3,2) - {US}{E} {U}{P}
10 - Wife's sick leave (4) - {W}{ILL}
11 - Checks what's happening across the ship (10) - {THWARTS}{HIP}
12 - Ban in favour of swinging daughter (6) - {FOR}{BI}{D}
14 - Range is maximum at the poles (8) - LATITUDE [CD]
15 - Examine retired editor's underwear (7) - {DE<-}{BRIEF}
17 - Not one medicine can be used for this disease (7) - ENDEMICi*
20 - Nizam in Darjeeling has kidnapped Indian landlord (8) - ZAMINDAR [T]
22 - Rock made of barium and sodium chloride? (6) - {BA}{SALT}
23 - Socialising when the web is operational? (10) - {NET}{WORKING}
24 - It's a terrible custom (4) - SATI* and &lit as well. My COD
25 - Two sons have a healthy food (5) - SALAD Anno pending (Addendum - {S}{A}{LAD} - See comments)
26 - Female loo in New York's in a shambles due to this pest (5,3) - {ONION (F)LY*}
DOWN
1   - Pronounced change ‘coz it's swollen (8) - (~vary){VARI}{COSE}(~coz)
2   - Not even Tamil's hard at first like this language (1,1,1,1) -{H}{TaMiL}
3   - Latin model left shaken after kiss that's obscene (1-5) - {X}-{RAT(-t-l)ED}
4   - At first Queen's amazed with West Asia's lilting indigenous music (7) - {Q}{A}{W}{W}{A}{L}{I} (Typo corrected)
5   - Cooking technique of a posh sailor's good initially (2,6) - {A}{U} {G}{RAT}{IN} Where does IN come from?
6   - The rich and fashionable gush in front of Gridman, Neyartha, Sankalak etc? (3-7) - {JET}-{SETTERS}
7   - At university, turn against the flow (6) - {UP}{WIND}
13 - Confused bachelor will learn what kept the European city divided (6,4) - {B}{ERLIN WALL*}
16 - The Spanish artist attended parties at a fantastic place (2,6) - {EL} {DO}{RA}{DO}
18 - I would allow a liberal king to prattle (4,4) - {I'D}{LE T}{A}L}{K}
19 - Indian telecom regulator's cut rent for renegade (7) - {T.R.A.I}{TORn}
21 - Discrimination in wage is maddening (6) - AGEISM [T]
22 - Huge collection of locks with one of 6? (3,3) - {BIG} {WIG}
24 - Crimes happening on board ship (4) - {S{IN}S}

GRID

Posted by at
Labels: ,

63 comments:

  1. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:34

    Hi
    Once again, apart from delivering a Pangram, Spiffy has left us spoilt for choice of a Cod. Why one cod, when we have the whole fishmarket (sans the stink) ?
    Specially liked:
    A U (+g)G-RATIN(-g)
    Use of parties in 16a to represent two ‘Do’ to get EL DO(RA)DO
    Doffing his hat to the jet SETTERS in 6d.
    The BIG WIG locks.
    TRAI in TRAI-TOR(n)
    I’D LE T A L K
    The imaginative and fitting use of the word ‘lilt’ in the clue for QAWWALI.
    The &lit in 24a.
    B-ERLIN WALL*

    I would have lifted my hat (with the wig) off to you, Spiffy, only I ain’t not wearing neither !

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:35

    5 - Cooking technique of a posh sailor's good initially (2,6) - {A}{U} {G}{RAT}{IN} Where does IN come from?

    A U (+g)G-RATIN(-g)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Deepak Gopinath14 February 2011 at 08:35

    Hi all,
    Sorry about the delay. Had to redo the entire CW due to some unseen error due to which the CW was not getting saved after some time which I noticed only at around 8:15 so had to redo the whole thing :-(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 08:36

    25 - Two sons have a healthy food (5) - SALAD Anno pending

    Two sons = S, LAD
    Have = c/c indicator

    S(A)LAD

    ReplyDelete
  5. Deepak Gopinath14 February 2011 at 08:37

    Kishore,
    Where's the indicator to shift the G ?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:38

    Sailors good initially
    i.e.
    move the g to the front

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:39

    Sailor=rating
    sailor's g(ood), the g in the rating

    ReplyDelete
  8. Deepak Gopinath14 February 2011 at 08:40

    Not a very satisfactory clue in that case, as SAILOR can be RAT and good initially can be just G

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 08:42

    17A is my COD.

    11 - Checks what's happening across the ship (10) - {THWARTS}{HIP}

    Wish Spiffytrix had used another word for ship. Feels like a gratis in its present state.

    3 - Latin model left shaken after kiss that's obscene (1-5) - {X}-{RAT(-t-l)ED}

    Its a nitpick, but the deletion of words should be in the same order as they appear in the clue ?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:43

    In that case, probably the IN comes in from the Indian Navy ;-)

    I am sure Spiffy will clarify in just a jiffy !

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 08:43

    *Read words=letters and clue=answer.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Deepak Gopinath14 February 2011 at 08:44

    In my initial publication I had the link to a Qawwali which I could not put in again for the reasons mentioned. here it is now NA THO KARAVAN KI TALAASH HAI

    ReplyDelete
  13. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 08:46

    This man Spiffytrix is coming too close for my comfort....
    On solving 15ac, I, being a retired editor, involuntarily touched the waist part of my veshti.
    Jockey was there.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:46

    That song is something different. Starts off in the traditional Qawwali mode and near the end almost shifts to a Meera bhajan style with all that reference to Jamuna, panghat et al.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:47

    Did you feel de-briefed, CV ? Or merely di-vest-ed.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 08:49

    CV @ 08.46 - : )

    Combined with the other day's knickers clue, it appears Spiffytrix is determined to bring out the dirty laundry ...

    ReplyDelete
  17. Venkatesh14 February 2011 at 08:50

    Col,

    4 - At first Queen's amazed with West Asia's lilting indigenous music (7) - {Q}{A}{W}{A}{L}{L}{I}
    should be Q A W W A L I

    ReplyDelete
  18. Krishnan14 February 2011 at 08:52

    Hi Good morning all. Shuchi's interview with Sankalak featured today. Quite insightful.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:53

    Is a typo. DG got it right in 844. Thanks for reminding me of that song. It used to be my Grandpa's fav. esp. the ishq, ishq part.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 08:54

    3 - Latin model left shaken after kiss that's obscene (1-5) - {X}-{RAT(-t-l)ED}

    Its a nitpick, but the deletion of words should be in the same order as they appear in the clue ?

    Suppose the letters 'set' (as a word) are to be deleted from another given word that has it, one might expect set to be in the fodder as a string or as s e t at different positions but in the same order.

    But here we have to delete T (after deriving it from 'model') and L (after abbreviating 'left'), so I think it doesn't matter that they are not in the same order.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:56

    I think Bhavan's query is that L is derived from Latin and left is the deletion indicator and hence the question of the order of deletion.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous14 February 2011 at 08:59

    Freedom of expression, of course. But who is the one person who has rated this poor ???!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:02

    Deepak: I crave your indulgence for repeating on a weekday an announcement that I made yesterday (Sunday):
    An S&B meeting is announced in Chennai as Bhavan Kumar (of Bombay who now lives and works in Australia) is on a visit to the town and would like to meet me and other fellow-solvers who can make it on that day.

    Date: Mon, Feb 21 (confirmed by Bhavan)
    Time: 6-30 p.m. onwards
    Venue: Hotel New Woodlands, next to Savera, Radhakrishnan Salai, Mylapore, Chennai 600004

    If participants wish, assembly (from 5-30 p.m.) could be at my home before we adjourn to the restaurant.

    Participants

    Myself
    Bhavan
    Bhargav
    Vijay

    Others who live in Chennai and wish to join in, please add names in this thread or better still send email to
    chaturvasi(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  24. Venkatesh14 February 2011 at 09:04

    CV,

    But here we have to delete T (after deriving it from 'model') and L (after abbreviating 'left'), so I think it doesn't matter that they are not in the same order.

    Pl note L is from Latin and not from left.

    Latin L
    model T
    left - Deletion indicator
    shaken - RATTLED
    after - Position indicator
    kiss X

    Defn: that's obscene X-RAT[-t][-l]ED

    ReplyDelete
  25. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 09:09

    @CV, my doubt was given the clue says delete L(latin) and T(model) from RATTLED and they appear as TL rather than LT in the word, does it matter at all.

    Or should there be an indication to the contrary? Personally I'd (I would :)) be happy to take the clue as it is.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:10

    Thanks, Kishore.
    I am sorry I was hasty in the above post. It is withdrawn!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 09:14

    To repeat Krishnan's message, do read Sankalak's interview at Shuchi's blog.

    His answers on a range of topics are both honest and refreshing.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:16

    On reconsideration, the main substance of my Comment is still valid: that as the two components to be deleted are two distinct ones that are derived from words in the clue, their order in the fodder is immaterial.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Gita14 February 2011 at 09:24

    About Sankalak:
    http://networkedblogs.com/eftwb

    ReplyDelete
  30. veer14 February 2011 at 09:28

    I am not overly unhappy seeing that 11A, 3D and 5D attracted the most number of comments thus far. I had trouble with those as well.

    Though I could get Au gratin, I could not get X-Rated and Thwartship. Actually did not know Thwartship was a word based on my perusal of the Oxford, Chambers and Collins online dictionaries. So, new word for me, though it seems not to everyone else here.

    Given that Rattled is not given in the clue (it is inferred from shaken), I think it is imperative that the removal sequence be in the same order in the word. This may be relaxed at least in the cases where the word from which the letters are to be removed are in plain sight in the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 09:33

    Veer, thwartship was new to me too. Especially given it wasn't to be found in most of the common dictionaries. But the wordplay (+ the crossings) was unambiguous enough to arrive at the word.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:37

    Re 6

    'etc' can also be applied to 'other persons'.

    we needn't necessarily use 'et al' when we mean 'and other persons'.

    Note that the compliers mentioned are in alphabetical order!

    ReplyDelete
  33. veer14 February 2011 at 09:39

    @Bhavan: Thx for the comment. Actually, I would have thought the word would be athwartship similar to amidship..but I guess thwartship is as much a word as midship is..Just don't know why I could find it in the standard online dictionaries of the big 3.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:42

    THWARTSHIP is in Chambers.

    The use of 'ship' in the clue is inevitable.

    'across the vessel' or simialar def would have rendered the clue more difficult apart from it being inaccurate.

    Moreover, the word breakup is THWARTS-HIP, not THWART-SHIP. If the wordplay had been this (obvious break), I would not have liked it.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:43

    As far as crosswords are concerned, treat Chambers as the standard dictionary.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Bhavan14 February 2011 at 09:45

    Kishore @8.59: The poor count is up by 2 so it was no mere accident the first time. Wish those who marked it as such, step in to say why.

    ReplyDelete
  37. veer14 February 2011 at 09:48

    I for one, am the only one marking it as tough 'cos I could not get the thwartship and x-rated..I don't know how this puzzle can be poor, it has a nice complement of awesome clues, though I enjoyed Saturday's better for some reason but that is just being spoilt for choice.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:55

    Unless a remark, whether 'good' or 'poor', can be identified with the person making it, I am afraid I can't set much store by it.
    No person who is unbiased will consider today's crossword 'poor'.
    In the Orkut community I have been bestowing the highest praise for Spiffytrix's crosswords this time. I can write a full-length essay on why I think so. There may be a nitpick here and a nitpick there but I am talking about the overall effect.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Padmanabhan14 February 2011 at 09:56

    On the whole,the grid,the clues and the ensuing discussions seem to be on a totally higher level and most enjoyable.I was surprised that 'thwartship'seems to be known to everybody though it was totally new to me.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 09:57

    If the solvers can take the trouble of adding just one more line commenting on difficulty and/or quality level, it will be good.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Padmanabhan14 February 2011 at 09:58

    Cv,

    Pl. include me in the list of attendees for the meet on 21st Feb.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Padmanabhan14 February 2011 at 10:14

    I am surprised there is no discussion about the pangram,though Col.has mentioned it in his opening comments.Spiffytrix's extra care & effort in bringing in the entire alphabet in the pangram needs to be lauded.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 10:40

    Padmanabhan
    Noted. An updated list is maintained at the Orkut community.
    Will keep you informed of any changes.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Shyam14 February 2011 at 13:44

    CV Sir 8:46

    Isn't that a mistake? I have only seen 'briefs' in plural meaning underwear!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 14:25

    Shyam
    You're right! Briefs (in pl.), underwear. Cf. shorts, knickers, trousers, pants, etc.
    However, in the fashion industry, they say "baby rib brief" or "hipster women's brief" where the word is singular!
    When I was a boy of under six, my mom would give me 'knicker' (always singular, perhaps when the word passed into the vernacular) to wear. It had tapes which a child would bring over his shoulders and button them up at front.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Sumit14 February 2011 at 16:38

    My complaints,

    Across:

    11 - ATHWARTSHIP is a more commonly used word and the definition could have been better.
    20 - Not happy to see kidnapped as a hidden word indicator. And it has been used twice in two days.
    22 - Sodium Chloride is an example of a salt. No indication there.
    24 - A misplaced anagrind. If anagram fodder is `it's a', terrible, as an anagrind should have been placed before the fodder.
    25 - Not happy with the surface. It sounds incomplete.

    Down:

    1 - Not happy with the surface and second part of the homophone isn't exactly right.
    3 - Order of latin and model not followed while deleting the letters from the fodder. And not a big fan of seeing model being defined as T.
    24 - Crimes and sins aren't exactly synonymous. While crime is a legal word, sin is a religious one.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Shyam14 February 2011 at 17:19

    Dear Meghna

    Understandably you are feeling very grumpy today. But you should acknowledge that this is in the better spectrum of THCs.

    Of your gripes, I agree with 1D and 3D. My opinions on some of your grievances:

    11A: I don't see Athwartship anywhere!

    20A: Surely not a big issue :)

    22A: Unless you are a Chemistry Major, equating NaCl=salt=common salt shouldn't be a problem

    24A: I do not think any such rule exists. Worse still, I have seen nounal anagrinds following the fodder even in British crossies. This doesn't pose as an error, at least to me :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. Shyam14 February 2011 at 17:41

    Another fact is that some unfamiliar words are unavoidable when the setter tries something different, i.e., a pangram in this case. But in those circumstances, he would be better off using an anagram for the word, as anagrams hardly cause a flutter among the solvers :D

    ReplyDelete
  49. Navneeth14 February 2011 at 18:42

    [tongue-in-cheek]

    Meghna, you missed the part where Spiffy equated the [World-wide] Web with the [Inter]net.

    [/tongue-in-cheek]

    ReplyDelete
  50. Deepak Gopinath14 February 2011 at 18:51

    Meghna,
    I would like to see how many complaints you have from 23rd onwards.

    Shyam,

    See this ATHWARTSHIP

    ReplyDelete
  51. Deepak Gopinath14 February 2011 at 18:57

    CV,
    Regarding your comment over at Crossword Unclued, regarding a S&B at Coimbatore, I shall definitely keep you informed as early as possible whenever I plan a trip to Coimbatore in future. Dr DS has also said that he will attend if ever it happens in Coimbatore

    ReplyDelete
  52. Sumit14 February 2011 at 19:24

    Dear Shyam,

    I am not feeling grumpy. As a matter of fact, I am feeling great :) I had some complaints and I was sharing it. If it equates to grumpiness, so be it. I rated this crossword as poor and I stand by it. I was asked to give my reasons and I have done it. And don't get any doubts, I for one rated this crossword only once :)

    11A - When I do a google search for THWARTSHIP, I get dictionary results for ATHWARTSHIP.

    20A - I see it as one. I don't see how the word works as a hidden word indicator. It's too weak and not the type I would like to deal with twice in the same round. After such an odd one used once by the same setter, we know what's coming.

    22A - I agree with you there. Not a big issue, but would've liked it if it was the other way round with NaCl for salt. Similarly, in one of the earlier puzzles, the answer word for Rajkumar was showman. It would have worked better the other way.

    24A - It's like expecting the solver to anagram the word custom and I see it as a more logical approach. Or there should be an `is' before terrible to indicate that preceding letters have to be anagrammed. It's the difference between answering the question `How was the food?' as `Terrible food', `Food is terrible', `Food sucked' and `Food terrible'.

    @ Navneeth

    Very funny


    @ Deepak Gopinath

    I won't solve that

    ReplyDelete
  53. Shyam14 February 2011 at 19:52

    Meghna

    In one way it is good for the setter when you present a totally different viewpoint. I respect your opinions and am sure so do the others here.

    I have nothing much to add, but would love to tell you that Google/freedict. are no authorities on these things. Having a 'thwartship' with the Chambers to vindicate you is better than having an 'untongue'/'athwartship' with only the freedict for support.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  54. veer14 February 2011 at 20:20

    On the topic of the free dictionary: I for one use it and find it very reliable. For the purposes of the cryptic crossword, since our convention is to follow the British spellings and conventions rather than the American ones, I read the fine print at the bottom of the synonym given in the Free dict - if it says Collins, Oxford or Chambers, I use it; if it says Houghton Mifflin, American Heritage, Merriam Webster, I let go of it though it is perfectly acceptable in a normal world, just not by convention in our cryptic world. To illustrate, take athwartship, which the Free dict gives two sources (quoted below), one can agree that the second quote from Collins is acceptable in the manner suggested above:

    a·thwart·ships (-thwôrtshps) also a·thwart·ship (-shp)
    adv.
    Across a ship from side to side.

    The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    athwartships [əˈθwɔːtˌʃɪps]
    adv
    (Transport / Nautical Terms) Nautical from one side to the other of a vessel at right angles to the keel
    Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

    ReplyDelete
  55. Sumit14 February 2011 at 20:50

    @ Shyam,

    I respect yours too :)

    Chambers is like any other dictionary to me. I don't find the word in my Oxford dictionary. It's not in Colins or Merriam Webster either. So the word being recorded in Chambers has no effect on me.

    1) I checked out the online Chambers. It shows thwart ship as two words.

    2) We're looking for a word to define `across the ship'. Thwart ship can simply be broken down as thwart for across and ship for ship (lame IMHO).

    3) Colins and one other dictionary notes that the word thwart can mean across or athwart, but it's archaic.

    So I go with ATHWARTSHIP. It is true to its origin and most importantly, not archaic.

    Above being said, ATHWARTSHIP, THWART SHIP or THWARTSHIP, wouldn't like to see the word ship used in the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Shyam14 February 2011 at 20:58

    Fine Meghna. It is a tenuous definition in the clue and no point in trying to defend it.

    Veer
    I suspect freedict is not updated with entries from the latest Chambers (2008). While I find no entry there, I see

    thwartˈship or thwartˈships adverb
    Across the ship

    in this edition.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Unknown14 February 2011 at 22:06

    Thanks all for the comments. All points taken and they will certainly help me improve.Glad that the pangram could be identified. But I was hoping somebody would notice that the periphery of the grid ( with 26 lights)itself is a panagram. Do check the grid in tomorrow's solution to clarify :)


    A few clarifications -

    11A - Thwartship is one word in Chambers. "I know it's there in Chambers" is the most common alibi for a setter but that's all I ve got :) In my defence I knew the word without referring Chambers and I generally avoid words which I am not familiar with.I also guessed the word may be a bit obscure. That's why didn't use any other synonym for ship

    15 A - Brief = Underwear is an informal usage and ideally it should be briefs. I did debate using it while setting but let it stay for the surface.

    20 A - Mea Culpa. 'Kidnapped' appearing consecutively was an oversight and plain lazy.

    22 A - Sodium Chloride by itself cannot give salt. But the question mark at the end makes it eligible as a definition by example. so "NaCl?" should be acceptable as Salt.Ditto for "Raj Kapoor ( not Kumar)?" = Showman

    24 A - It is generally accepted that adjectival anagrinds can take any position, and 'terrible' is an adjective. The problem of placement of anagrind generally comes up when using transitive/intransitive verbs.

    3 D - Chaturvasi has voiced my exact thoughts.

    5 D - My anno is same as Kishore et al. The fact that sailor can also be rat is just a coincidence or a red herring if you will. IMO it doesn't take anything away from the clue.And no IN = Indian Navy never crossed my mind.

    24D - All thesauruses I referred gives 'sin' as one of the synonyms for crime.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Unknown14 February 2011 at 22:11

    @Meghna - thanks for being forthright and voicing your doubts. I hope I have clarified most of them . if not we can always agree to disagree and like Sankalak put it so beautifully in his interview -

    "Crosswords are fun but not literary compositions of lasting importance. For most solvers, each puzzle is of ephemeral interest, maybe a half hour or an hour. Another day, there is another puzzle."

    ReplyDelete
  59. Sumit14 February 2011 at 22:38

    @ Spiffytrix

    Thanks very much. It's so nice of you come out here and share your ideas.

    22A - I didn't understand the implication of question mark. Didn't notice it the other day either. My bad! I sincerely apologise.

    24A - I rarely see adjectival anagrinds go after the fodder. I am still not sure. My apologies if I was wrong.

    24D - Somoehow I am not able to accept sin as one of the synonyms. The words are too context specific to be synonymous. This is only my viewpoint/ angle ;). Not that it's necessarily the right one. Unless the word is new to me, I refrain from using a thesaurus. I stick to the usage conventions.

    Once again thank you for taking your time and answering the questions I had raised. You've been most helpful. Looking forward to your next round :)

    To let you know, I rated your Saturday's crossword as Good :) If there was a middle ground I'd have chosen that today :)

    ReplyDelete
  60. Chaturvasi14 February 2011 at 22:44

    Deepak
    As you rightly feared 'teasy' would not be understood by non-regulars.
    So I suggest
    Tough Medium Easy
    Good Medium Poor

    ReplyDelete
  61. veer14 February 2011 at 23:25

    @Spiffytrix: Thanks for the exchanges (@Meghna as well). While I was aware that adjectival anagrinds can go before or after the fodder (my source for things like this is mostly CUNCLUED's interviews with setters or the Chamber's xwd manual or Ximenes and the art of the xwd), I thought Meghna's question was interesting at least the way I interpreted it. I was wondering that, while adj. anagrind before the fodder does not need something like "is" to indicate which part of the clue is referred to as fodder (to quote her example, "terrible food") an adj anagrind post fodder needs that bit of grammatical help (like "food's terrible"). Such a rule would seem to be strictly Ximenean which does not seem to be your nature of cluing. I was trying to get some evidence either way on the web but did not really succeed. Your word on that would be as good as any setter's that I would see on the web. Any comments? Thanks again for an enjoyable couple of days..

    ReplyDelete
  62. Hari15 February 2011 at 00:06

    Haven't read thro' the entire blog, but would love to join up for the S&B meet on Feb 21st! :)

    ReplyDelete
  63. Hari15 February 2011 at 00:29

    Thanks for your feedback Spiffy! It's certainly appreciated when setters take the time to clarify their thoughts for the solvers. :)

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)