Monday 7 March 2011

No 10095, Monday 07 Mar 11, Gridman

Stumped by 19A
ACROSS
1   - Humility of 1000 as Nemeses besiege them all around (8) - {MEE{K}NESS*}
5   - American capital lost in botched-up whack for foreign currency (6) - {KW{A}CHA*}
9   - Somehow spur city's top journalist to be smartened (7) - {SPRU*}{C}{ED}
10 - Withdrew goal during which I gave fire to fighting men (7) - {M{I}{LIT}IA<-}
11 - How a letter to a kind schoolmaster might begin? (2,4,3) - MY DEAR SIR &lit
12 - Churl staggers in an old game (5) - LURCH*
13 - To the head of monastery, book is grave (4) - {TO}{M}{B}

SEE THIS TOMBSTONE

14 - Calm, I'm for scrapping stationery from an insurance company (5,4) - CLAIM FORM*
17 - Research methodology — what a lawyer or a doctor might do? (4,5) - CASE STUDY [DD}
19 - Writer's drink? (4) - ?A?I (Addendum - SAKI [DD] - See comments)
23 - This sort of analysis goes backwards (5) - RATIO [CD]
24 - Shortly! (2,3,4) - IN ONE WORD &lit
25 - Staggering a scholar with pep (7) - {A}{MA}{ZING}
26 - Persian dialect hot for learner in thematic line of a song in Carnatic music (7) - PA(-l+h)HLAVI
27 - Nevertheless, a New York method (6) - {A}{NY}{WAY}
28 - Precipitately the man died in troubled Golan (8) - {HE}{A{D}LONG*}
DOWN
1   - One with whom you have some consuming interest? (8) - MESSMATE [CD]
2   - Model roaming around extremely avuncular nobleman's land (7) - {E{A)(R}LDOM*}
3   - New catering service dispensed with gin-cocktail for heavenly drink (6) - {N}{ECTARgin*}
4   - The sort of laughter that makes you fall apart? (4-9) - SIDE-SPLITTING
6   - Jungle inhabitants collectively might produce file (8) - {WILD}{LIFE*}
7   - Trace out king's provider of provender (7) - {CATER*}{ER}
8   - A project's initiation at western parts of Hyderabad is in neglect (6) - {A}{P}{AT}{HY}
10 - Husband and wife reproduce Mali composition (7,6) - MARRIED COUPLE* My COD
15 - Names oil used in a variety of upma (8) - SEMOLINA*
16 - To sort fish is exciting (8) - {KIND}{LING}
18 - As a matter of fact, learners give place for registered clerk (7) - ACTUA(-ll+r)RY
20 - Old freedom fighter among abstainers' party gets fruit (7) - {A{VOC}A}{DO}
21 - Slip of slips (6) - ERRATA [CD]
22 - System in alien's house in Maryland (6) - {M{ET}{HO}D}

GRID


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30 comments:

  1. Anonymous7 March 2011 at 08:33

    19 - Writer's drink? (4) - ?A?I

    SAKI

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suresh7 March 2011 at 08:35

    Simple and straightforward. Needed to cheat on SAKI. While I know a lot about drink I do not know much about writers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suresh7 March 2011 at 08:36

    24A My COD

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7 March 2011 at 08:37

    My fav from Saki:

    http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/openwin.html

    Liked the cartoon for 10d. Now I understand the true meaning of better half. Let me close this post before I get accused of bias ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Deepak Gopinath7 March 2011 at 08:38

    Kishore,
    But the drink is SAKE and SAKI other than the writer is defined as a Monkey

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7 March 2011 at 08:40

    I am not sure about Gridman, but I know CV likes the above story, we have discussed it long back. I remember the Doordarshan version which had a stellar role played by the young Pallavi (not Pahlavi !) Joshi.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Suresh7 March 2011 at 08:40

    Sake is also spelt saki. Also in Urdu saki would mean liquor

    ReplyDelete
  8. Suresh7 March 2011 at 08:41

    That epitaph was beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  9. Deepak Gopinath7 March 2011 at 08:41

    Suresh,

    I couldn't find SAKE spelt as SAKI anywhere

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous7 March 2011 at 08:41

    Deepak, not sure whether Sake is pronounced the same way. My Japanese is limited to Ich, Ni, San, Shi, ... from martial arts days.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Suresh7 March 2011 at 08:42

    Look up freedictionary .com, for saki

    ReplyDelete
  12. Satya7 March 2011 at 08:43

    In the illustration for 10D, wasn't there supposed to be a region with blended colors? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deepak Gopinath7 March 2011 at 08:44

    Disregard my doubts on SAKI. SAKE is also spelt as SAKI as Suresh has rightly brought ot @ 8:40

    ReplyDelete
  14. Suresh7 March 2011 at 08:45

    Cosidering that it is Gridman who does not use freedictionary. I checked the American OED (the ecopy on my laptop) and it also gives it as a variant spelling of sake

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous7 March 2011 at 08:51

    Satya:843

    You remind me of a film, Yours, Mine and Ours.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sumitra7 March 2011 at 13:02

    Great crossword today with lots of fun clues and solutions; SEMOLINA, PAHLAVI,_IN ONE WORD- AMAZING!(KISHORE STYLE)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Shyam7 March 2011 at 13:19

    Hi Col

    You have marked 11A and 24A as &lits, but shouldn't they be having a separate wordplay component then?

    ReplyDelete
  18. SandhyaP7 March 2011 at 15:26

    Check out Spiffytrix's interview on Crossword Unclued.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Bhalchandra Pasupathy7 March 2011 at 15:41

    23 Are you sure it's RATIO? I thought it could be RETRO

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bhavan7 March 2011 at 16:06

    ... and back from the vacation. Hopefully will be able to participate more regularly here.

    Having met some of you at S&B-3, I can't wait for the edition where I get to meet the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Suresh7 March 2011 at 16:19

    Bhala. It could be RETRO for sure.Makes sense too

    ReplyDelete
  22. Bhalchandra Pasupathy7 March 2011 at 16:32

    Thanks Suresh, let's see what the solution says. I know RATIO fits, but can't get the 'backwards' part of the clue to fit seamlessly

    ReplyDelete
  23. Prasanna S7 March 2011 at 16:39

    RETRO v RATIO ...

    I had it as RETRO too :

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrograde_analysis

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous7 March 2011 at 19:21

    I too had penned in retro. Had to admit my wife to the infirmary this morn. Hence, could not look at answers in detail. Will be off the air for a few days.

    ReplyDelete
  25. veer7 March 2011 at 20:06

    Hope it all goes well for you and your family, Kishore. Will miss your incisive and knowledgaeble comments in the meantime.

    20 - Old freedom fighter among abstainers' party gets fruit (7) - {A{VOC}A}{DO}
    Is VOC here referring to the Tamil and Indian freedom fighter, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai? He was one of those people, especially in Tamil Nadu whose initials (pronounced as VaVuC, the C pronounced just as "see") alone were enough to identify who we are talking about without a doubt. That is a nice reference and IMO, one of the advantages of having Indian setters for Indian broadsheet crosswords.

    On the other hand, could be more grist to the South Indian bias rumor mill. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Deepak Gopinath7 March 2011 at 20:30

    That's right Veer, link to VOC provided in the main post.

    ReplyDelete
  27. dr.r.pankajam7 March 2011 at 20:54

    23 - This sort of analysis goes backwards (5) - RATIO [CD]
    I had also put it as retro [dd], since we have prospective and retrospective analysis as two types of analysis.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Venkatesh7 March 2011 at 21:02

    There was another interesting clueing for CASE STUDY in Sunday THC three years back:
    A detailed account of developments in law suits over failed duty (4,5) (CASE S)(TUDY*)

    RETRO is right for 23. In fact, we have a third type of studies - a combination of the first two - called 'ambispective'. At the time one starts the study, he has some data relating to the past and follows up in the future. An instance, getting information on smoking habits from insurance companies and following the insured persons up to see how many develop lung cancer and die of it.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Suresh7 March 2011 at 21:08

    Wish your wife will get well soon. Kishore. All the best.

    ReplyDelete
  30. veer7 March 2011 at 21:25

    Thanks, Col., for your patient reply. I should have spotted the link.

    I was just amused that when I read the clue I was searching my mind for the usual suspects like Che or UFF before a couple of crossings gave AVOCADO and from there I figured VOC may have come from the noted Indian FF.

    Reg. RETRO or RATIO, it seems the clue fits both (a not so great CD from that perspective), with one solution slightly more tenuous than the other. Tomorrow's posted solution will only give the setter's thought on the answer, though the clue itself can give both answers, IMO.

    ReplyDelete

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