I laughed so much when I got the solution to 13A that I did not need to think of any cartoons for today.
ACROSS
8 - Plan out a revision meant to dismiss one appraisal that is too high (14) - OVERESTIMATION
9 - Clever boy is accurate (6) - {B}{RIGHT}
10 - Broad amount charged for the chemical salt (8) - {TART}{RATE}
11 - Trouble occurs when school teacher's initial is halved (8) - (-m+d)DISTRESS
13 - Idles around with the girl finally on the circular road in the sun (6) - {L}{O}{AVE}{S}
THIS ONE TAKES THE CAKE How can someone be so dumb!!!
14 - Look around for Elizabeth involved in the grand arrangements (6) - {GAND{E}R*}
16 - Harm old soldiers in the yacht station (6) - {MAR}{INA}
19 - Development of an area (6) - ESTATE [E?]
21 - Eating zone is out in the open (8) - ALFRESCO [E]
23 - Hollow muscular organs of an air passage (8) - LARYNGES [E]
24 - Distant cloud, blue in colour is found in North America (6) - {N{EBUL*}A} Colour as 'AInd' ?
26 - Injured people cry out to one ruler in pain losing heart in the end (7,7) - {WA
DOWN
1 - Getting on to the ferry shortly on the way with the leaders of the new group (8) - {BOA
2 - Ice block on the faulty bridge is not the same (4) - BERG
3 - Calm the horse guarding the Northern Territories in Luxembourg (6) - {GE{NT}{L}E}
4 - Political control in this situation is left to the Maoist leader (7) - {STAT
5 - It mostly gets held up in the rains (8) - UMBRELLA [CD]
6 - To commemorate, Germany fails to get the general site in place (10) - ETERNALISE
7 - Hate to see the man (6) - {LO}{AT}{HE} Where does 'AT' come from?
12 - Yank a giant forcibly into the great lake (10) - TANGANYIKA*
15 - Coming into view by combining the following central theme (8) - {
17 - Recognition for a couple of colleges, mostly old today in England (8) - {A}{CC}{OL
18 - Quickly swam over the small anchor in front of the port town (7) - MASSAWA* (swam+s+a)
20 - Do not load cars in motion with any physical quantity (6) - {SCALAR
22 - Parasitic plant that may be a growing concern (6) - FUNGUS [CD]
25 - Waited for the crowd shortly after eight (4) - {BOD
1 - Getting on to the ferry shortly on the way with the leaders of the new group (8) - {BOAt}{RD}{I}{N}{G} 'I' from 'the' ?
ReplyDeleteContinuing the old logic a=an=one=the, extending it to one=1=I
Deepak, your comment in Orkut in respect of 13a makes up for all the cartoons you could have linked and more. Thank for laffs (!!) about loafs
25 - Waited for the crowd shortly after eight (4) - {BODy}{E}
ReplyDeleteShould this be 'before eight'. As it stands it works out to E-BOD(-y)
7 - Hate to see the man (6) - {LO}{AT}{HE} Where does 'AT' come from?
ReplyDeleteMy guess -
To see - LOok AT
The man - HE
18 - Quickly swam over the small anchor in front of the port town (7) - MASSAWA* (swam+s+a)
ReplyDeleteWe are still missing one 'a'! Is the 'the' in front of 'small' that becomes the missing letter?
When one loiters with one girl, one loafs.
ReplyDeleteWhen one loiters with several girls, one loaves!
13 ... {L}{O}{AVE}{S}
ReplyDeleteTHIS ONE TAKES THE CAKE. How can someone be so dumb!!!
Who says one should know one's English to set a crossword in that language?
CV 948: ;-)
ReplyDeleteShall we attempt to set one in Mandarin ?
444444 today?
ReplyDelete26 - I don't understand how 'crying out to one..' could lead to 'WAIL - I = WAL'. NJ's clues presuppose you know the answer and you then proceed to parse the wordplay in a way it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteVikram,
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head or shall we according to today's theme. 'You headed the nail'!
Deepak. After what you managed today I must crown you the king of NJ crosswords. You have become a master cracker
ReplyDeleteParaphrasing: Crack master
ReplyDeleteSuresh,
ReplyDeleteI will be in trouble with Gridman tomorrow as my head at present is swirling with
'Do not load cars' and 'Cry out to one' any way I will not have to loave!!
Good one Kishore.
ReplyDeleteAnd Deepak's retort is a gem after a stiff one
ReplyDeleteWaited for the crowd shortly after eight (4) - {BODy}{E}
ReplyDeleteDeepak:
The clue as written gives BOD[y] E or E BOD[y]?
No fine tooth comb is necessary to examine this setter's work. Even a toothcomb with broken teeth will do.
Are teeth necessary?
ReplyDeleteKishore @ 8:35 & CV & 10:58
ReplyDeleteIn my case sun goes down at 7, so by the time it's after 8, I would have already downed a couple at which point it hardly matters if the crowd comes before or after 8 !!
Vikram@10.08-
ReplyDeleteyou said-"...parse the wordplay in a way it makes sense. " I beg to differ.It should have been "...in a way it fits the grid".Does not necessarily have to make sense in English,Mandarin or any language!!
Kishore,we suddenly seem to have jumped well past 44444 before I could read your comment and reply.Does this mean that so many have visited the blog in such a short time?
ReplyDeletePadmanabhan,
ReplyDeleteThe problem with this counter is that every time the page is refreshed by a visitor it is taken as a count, which means when visit the blog and click on a link in the post and come back after viewing that page it is taken as two visits.
CV 0943
ReplyDeleteI lo(a)ved and l(o)affed over it.
Kishore 0956
The Rubicon has been crossed.
... and so when we think we have seen and heard all and the puzzles can't sink any lower, new plumbs have been depthed.
ReplyDelete@Richard, good to see you again after a loooong time.
ReplyDelete'loave' as a verb is there, but it means 'to form a head, as in a cabbage'.
ReplyDeleteIt does not mean 'to loiter'.
CV,
ReplyDeleteIs loave derived from leaf?
'loaf' is from an Old English word that means 'bread'.
ReplyDeleteIts plural is 'loaves' and its verbal form is 'loave'. In the sense of 'to form a head', 'loaf' (v.) itself can be used.
Bhavan 1214
ReplyDeleteThanks. I keep tabs on the blog almost every day.
Not that I don't want to take part. But I am totally occupied with my desk-work until afternoon.
As I mentioned once earlier, alas for me, by the time I log in here at leisure, most part of the fun would be over and dust would settle down.
Have fun and keep it going...
Wonder if anybody from the editorial staff at The Hindu visits this blog and gets the feedback on the quality of crossies of different setters.
ReplyDeleteThough the loaves take the cake, as Deepak says, I have a COD today: Distress caused by mistress, or driven by distress to the mistress. Maybe my bias to the use of math in this clue.
ReplyDeleteBhavan 1214: Challenger deep was deeply challenged.
Two persons have rated this as Good. Those who look for loaves and fishes?
ReplyDeleteWell, as usual, I have to bring up the rear:-)
ReplyDeleteMy favs today: mistress driving one to distress.
Is it only me or did anyone else find 2D as distressing?! Faulty bridge not the same to get me BERG by not considering ID?
This has one one of the most tough week in my life. Thought i would initiate my 15 year old daughter in to crossword and ended up with nita jaggi for four days in a row! Wise men said, you can fathom the bottom of an ocean but not that of a women! True for Madam Nita's crossword! It is more like proof reading for missing and extra alphabets than a brain exercise!
ReplyDeleteWhat a Nasty Joke.!!
ReplyDeleteThe only logic in her compiling is , I reckon, that she fills in the words and builds up the clues backwards, defying all logic, lateral thinking and of course, grammatically challenging. I'm sure, if she herself were to be given her own work afte a week of amnesia, she would defeat herself.
Why do even bother to comment and dignify her work?
RAJU UMAMAHESWAR