Thursday 28 July 2011

No 10218, Thursday 28 Jul 11, Gridman

ACROSS
1   - Somehow relate Government Officer to substitute (5,3) - {ALTER E*}{GO} ALTER EGO Government Order would have been better
5   - A little lower? (6) - HEIFER [CD]
9   - Bird gets information back in ace's place (7) - {COCK}{PIT<-} COCKPIT
 

10 - Factor big name in fashion having Latin power (7) - {DI{VIS}OR} DIVISOR
11 - Emile isn't worried about bookkeeping entries (4,5) - LINE ITEMS*
12 - A team boy from pole to pole (5) - {A}{XI}{AL} AXIAL
13 - Conduit of the French court (4) - {DU}{CT} DUCT
14 - Indian magazine's leading position (9) - FRONTLINE [DD]
17 - Examples in postures (9) - {IN}{STANCES} INSTANCES
19 - Hot flower in the Shimla valley? (4) - LAVA [T]
23 - Opposition leader's grim about smell (5) - {O}{DOUR} ODOUR
24 - Query that will get you the location of a thing (5,2,2) - WHERE IS IT [E]
25 - Small rooms — the Spanish stay at last in a slack manner (7) - {LOOS}{EL}{Y} LOOSELY
26 - Labour of a number in course (7) - {TR{A}{V}AIL} TRAVAIL
27 - Proverb, for example, in Gujarat's capital (6) - {SAY}{IN}{G} SAYING
28 - Lied about Sen's wrong — doing nothing (8) - IDLENESS*
DOWN
1   - Drink Cade distributed around gets praise (8) - {AC{COLA}DE*} ACCOLADE
2   - Skill in private investigator's chinwagging (7) - {TEC}{HNIC*} TECHNIC
3   - To go for mend (6) - REPAIR [DD]
4   - If you do, you can't reach the destination (2,3,5,3) - GO THE WRONG WAY [CD]
6   - Bali, even loose, is worthy of being desired (8) - ENVIABLE*
7   - Girl's short hit on style (7) - {FA'S}{HIt}{ON} FASHION
8   - Artist and engineer extremely lucky not often (6) - {RA}{RE}{LuckY} RARELY
10 - Just tenderised its pieces (13) - DISINTERESTED*
15 - Doctor eating piece of tasty fish (8) - {S{T}URGEON} STURGEON
16 - Saul unit fixed old ship (8) - NAUTILUS*
18 - Word that is by no means old (7) - NEOLOGY [CD]
20 - Moderate, you heard, is in rub-down, not Mass (7) - {mASS{U}AGE} ASSUAGE
21 - Dogs lose a bit of patience? Lots! (6) - pOODLES OODLES
22 - Gale blows during training raising hair (6) - {PE}{LAGE*} (Addendum - {P{ELAG*}E} - See comments) PELAGE



54 comments:

  1. If you want your details to be added in the new THCC Members link above, please send me an e-mail with the details. My E-mail is given under Contact Details.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1 - Drink Cade distributed around gets praise (8) - {AC{COLDE*} ACCOLADE

    {AC(COLA)DE*}

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cade is the name of a person. Scan the clue as "Drink [that] Cade etc.

    I think one of Chase's books was titled Cade. Anyone remember?

    ReplyDelete
  4. 22 The anno for PELAGE needs a little tweaking. P(ELAG*)E. Often, because of the disposition of letters, we tend to miss the true anno. This happens in blogs when someone sets it right.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 9 - Bird gets information back in ace's place (7) - {COCK}{PIT<-} COCKPIT

    All female crews have stopped using this word

    ReplyDelete
  6. Re David 1128 yesterday:

    Today's NIE carries this:

    3d Hardly descriptive of the time a final demand arrives (3-6,3)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Colour coded rubbers?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kishore @ 8:54

    Then what is their name for that location?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Deepak @ 856:

    Honey pot
    Box office

    ReplyDelete
  10. Never heard of 'Fa' for girl before.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Venkatesh @ 8:38,
    Thank you, I have corrected the main post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bhavan @ 8:59,
    Nor have I, have heard of 'Fay' though, so I wonder if it is like Chas - Charles (CHASM) of the other day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I believe Fa is a diminutive of the English girl's name Faith.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sudalamani Murugesan

    DOB: 28 Apr 1982

    Native of Ayiraperi, a village near Thenkasi

    B.Tech. from Raja College of Engineering and Technology, Madurai

    Currently shuttling around different companies in Bangalore, working as a software engineer.

    Bachelor but parents are active in search of a bride.

    ReplyDelete
  15. 913 & Begorrah !

    ReplyDelete
  16. BTW, Fa is a brand for personal care products owned by Henkel.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sudalamani

    Thanks for bio. You were one of the people about whom I wanted to know. The Col. will transfer the details to the relevant place.

    I will be happy if others too could post these essential details.

    Who knows, you could get a bride with the excellent compatibility in solving crosswords, if nothing else!

    ReplyDelete
  18. It was nice to be solving THC after a long time. Got tired of crosswords and hence took a break. I think I might start again.

    Nice puzzle today, however wasn't really happy with FA for girl thingy (7D).

    And 15D, nice pic BTW.

    ReplyDelete
  19. FAS could be F as since it is girl's. But this would be an NJism

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey VJ

    Some people in these parts were missing you!

    They should be happy on your return.

    I do understand one's need to take a break from whatever they do on a continuous basis.

    Continuous/continual, what's the difference?

    ReplyDelete
  21. VJ,
    Welcome back. Like CV said someone was missing you ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  22. continuous = continually

    Adjective = adverb??

    Welcome back VJ in your old avatar ;) Going by last week, NJ needs more ardent supporters than one!

    Who knows, you could get a bride with the excellent compatibility in solving crosswords, if nothing else!

    LOL CV Sir. Hope your prediction comes true. I have not come across a young lass who solves crossies, though :(

    ReplyDelete
  23. Did anyone notice 8D - one example where NJ has surprisingly managed to outdo Gridman in clue writing? :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. FA for a girl may not be a problem:

    http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2011/02/fa-nothing.html

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have enabled the blog for viewing on mobiles, that should make it easy for those accessing the blog through their mobiles.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Cockpit is another beauty from Colonel's cartoon collection

    ReplyDelete
  27. Actually if VJ had returned 10 days ago, NJ would have lost her only supporter.

    ReplyDelete
  28. (in response to Raju's comment yesterday)

    Re: Houyhnhnm

    If one has read The Gulliver's Travels by the "rapid writer" one would know know what this race is.

    The problem is most readers read the first two chapters of the book and completely skip the others (two more, if I remember correctly). They know what Brobdingnagian is but not this term.

    I am sure this word must have been clued at some time or the other in UK crosswords.

    Let me assure you that the viral you are speaking of has not affected Gridman, who uses rare words only occasionally - certainly not at the rate you might suspect.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Can the word 'hymn' be used as a verb? I believe so.

    Pope has:

    "To hymn harmonious Houyhnhnm through the nose ...".

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks, Rishi. I appreciate. However, Brobdingnagian is some tongue-twister, but this Houyhnhnm gets the tongue locked.!! Nice talking to you over the phone , and your mobile number was picked up by your daughter who said she uses it. I got your land line number from her which she unhesitatingly gave. I'm more than sure that I've not come across this word in any of the UK xwords, as perhaps, it may not have fitted in any grid,and only you could craft it into one. Needs a sculptor's skill to carve in such a word. Tell the Gridman in you to not let the solvers hiss through their teeth by such aspirate words.

    Raju Umamaheswar

    ReplyDelete
  31. Good crossword today. Enjoyed it. Got most of the clues... except a few like HEIFER. New word for me. Can someone explain this please? WHat's the connection between a little cow/calf and the clue... "A little lower?" Is lower something like a flow...er? Thx.

    Manju
    ps: it's great to have Mr CV/Gridman to be so active on this forum... you are the best, sir!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks CV, Sudalamani, Col.

    So NJ's gone from bad to worse huh? Anywayz, whether I really meant it or not, defending NJ was fun, LOL! I started playing the devil's advocate for no apparent reason and then went on with it 'cause I kinda liked doin' it :)

    Sudalamani, good luck findin' your soulmate :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Gulliver's Travels describes the Yahoos as a group of savage humanoids, in contrast to the intelligent and rational Houyhnhnms, who are horses.

    Kudos to Rengaswamy for solving this on the first go in the Orkut group.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Late again today.
    @manju
    It is a play on "lower". The noise cows make is called lowing as in the Christmas carol "the cattle are lowing, the baby awakes". So a lower is a cow, and a female cow (little) is a heiffer. ( it is also a term of abuse for an overweight female - but I don't think we need to go there!)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Just wanted to say I really like the new lay out for those of us using the blog on mobile phones. It is much easier to use.

    ReplyDelete
  36. David,
    Thank you. Appreciate your explanation.

    Manju

    ReplyDelete
  37. Col Deepak: Here's my bio-data

    Raju Umamaheswar.

    DOB:5th Aug. Age: Young enough to be away from death, if one counted age backwards.!

    Though qualified as a Chemistry graduate , stumbled into insurance (Ugh-- Who said something else was the 'oldest profession?') and 'served' my clients in Bombay and in Kenya, retiring from there as a CEO and Director. A Bombayite still at heart and trying to put in my
    mark as a Coimbatorean, but not finding my feet digging in still. Spending all my current leisure time solving crosswords collected over a period of two decades- average output 20 -30 per day. Other available time is spent in reading and writing to newspapers, and whatever is left , with my soulmate Sapna. No one else around as two birds have flown the coop, one in Nagoya Japan- a boy, teaching English there and the younger one in Penn State in the US finishing her Phd in Philosophy.

    Enjoy living by the moment and praying to the Almighty to give me all the time, healthy and mentally agile enough to do more and more crosswords, an undying passion which has earned me a place in the Limca Book. Trying repeatedly to get into the Guinness but they refuse on grounds of lack of comparable standards to be beaten.!!









    .

    Raju Umamaheswar

    ReplyDelete
  38. Happy to know about fellow solvers. Great initiative by CV Sir.

    @Rengaswamy: Son in Google SFO! He is GOD! Congrats a bunch :)

    @Veer: If I may guess, is your other daughter's name Ahalya? And if I may know, does the UG in US mean your wife is an American? Sorry if you feel I am butting in your private space.

    ReplyDelete
  39. The noise cows make is called lowing...

    The first time I came across the word was in Gray's Elegy:

    The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea

    ReplyDelete
  40. Sudalamani @ 15:32,

    Earthly light that burns bright - Dhiya

    ReplyDelete
  41. @sudalamani, 15:32: Nah, no offense on the private space given that I put it out there. She is not American in the sense you are asking, I would venture to say.

    On the crossword itself, found it enjoyable but somehow filled it a lot faster than yesterday. Dont know how it can vary like that. Initially pencilled in GO THE OTHER WAY for 4D and was stuck for some time. Where Is It was one of those clues that seem light on the deception aspects of a CD, maybe intentionally so.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Raju @ 15:28,
    Why so much of blank space between your post and the name below? By the way you need not end your post with your name as it is already there in the header of your comment

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thanks. It just happened to have the name run away below and I could.nt be bothered to rectify for fear of losing the whole material.!! Ha Ha talk of a computer ignoramus.!!

    ReplyDelete
  44. veer on 4d

    The clue is not a CD; it's a straightforward clue, which might admit of other possible answers as in the instant case, though I never thought of that.

    My commiserations.

    Isn't it pleasant to be led up the garden path sometimes?

    ReplyDelete
  45. CV sir,True, it was pleasant. Given your history with Frontline, I knew there was a good chance that Other was Wrong - I just could not come up with it straight out. Though i am usually deserving, no need to commiserate on that count - after all, a crossword is supposed to be a brain teaser.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Earthly light that burns bright - Dhiya

    Or Deepa

    ReplyDelete
  47. The speculation reminds me of the time when she was born and talking of what should her name be? The gospel truth of course in clues of NJish clarity is in the next day's paper, which in this case is the picture caption on the THCC Families page.

    ReplyDelete
  48. @ David Dobson:

    Scaramanga?

    ReplyDelete
  49. Earthly light that burns bright - Dhiya

    Jyothi?

    ReplyDelete
  50. @kishore Exactly! Or as I prefer to see it - I am the next stage in evolution!

    ReplyDelete
  51. What is the significance of "ace's" in 9A?

    ReplyDelete
  52. An ace is a top pilot. In combat, an ace was a pilot who had more than 5 kills.

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com