Sunday, 21 August 2011

No 2648, Sunday 21 Aug 11

ACROSS
1   - Crime writer speaks about that woman losing husband (6) - SAYERS {SAY{hER}S}
4   - Block of flats, we hear, with old name, became popular (6,2) - CAUGHT ON (~cote?){CAUGHT} {O}{N}
9   - Yes, in UK jumbo, got cryptic 25 (3,4,2,6) - YOU MUST BE JOKING*
11 - Queen featured in Bolivian newspaper (4) - ANNE [T]
12 - Entrance for freight vehicles generally (9) - TRANSPORT [DD}
14 - Deep chasm in one area of former Red Sea state (9) - ABYSSINIA {ABYSS}{IN}{I}{A}
16 - Wife's language (5) - DUTCH [DD]
17 - A schoolgirl is wrong (5) - AMISS {A}{MISS}
19 - Paid driver to reveal coat, reportedly (9) - (~show fur)CHAUFFEUR
21 - Boy band leader? (9) - ALEXANDER [DD]
23 - Read about challenge (4) - DARE*
25 - 9 poor jokes --! (4,4,2,5) - DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH [CD]
26 - Fodder from place in East Sussex, weed (3-5) - RYE GRASS {RYE}-{GRASS}
27 - Join private after one leaves (6) - SOLDER SOLDiER
DOWN
1   - Corrupt place by underworld river (4) - (~sticks)STYX (Addendum - {STY}{X} - See comments)
2   - Saying contradicted by Ian Fleming? (3,4,4,4) - YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE [CD]
3   - News agency could make overtures if the top two leave (7) - REUTERS  REUTERSov*
5   - Ring gossip about note (5) - ARENA {A{RE}NA}
6   - Complained, having woken up after end of screening (7) - GROUSED {G}{ROUSED}
7   - Few in number then in hot redeveloped stadium (4,2,3,6) - THIN ON THE GROUND {THIN ON THE*} {GROUND}
8   - HRH sitting tight in this garment (10) - NIGHTSHIRT*
10 - Huge film (7) - TITANIC [DD]
13 - Monk brought in power-driven tool and portable stove (10) - SALAMANDER {SA{LAMA}NDER
15 - What can make prelims simpler? (7) - ANAGRAM [CD]
18 - Speech defect demonstrated by m-me interrupting celebrity (7) - STAMMER {STA{MM}ER}
20 - Tipsy - provided upset in opera (7) - FIDELIO {FI}{DELIO}<-
22 - Nobleman's fists (5) - DUKE'S [DD]
24 - Daily spell cut short (4) - CHAR CHARm

GRID


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19 comments:

  1. Chaturvasi21 August 2011 at 08:39

    Homophone clues always raise differences of opinion among readers (or should I say auditors, of which tribe we have many more than lurking here).

    In 4a 'caught' might be from 'court', but I am not sure whether these two words really sound alike.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suresh21 August 2011 at 08:40

    Do not quite grasp ANAGRAM. What prelims are made simpler?

    Which is the homophone indicator in 1D? Is it Corrupt?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suresh21 August 2011 at 08:41

    Yes CV. It must be Court.Court would sound like caught.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chaturvasi21 August 2011 at 08:45

    Deepak
    I differ in the anno for 1d as there is no homophone indicator there.

    Corrupt place - STY (not a very good def, I would say)
    by - X (if a room measures 10 feet by 12 feet, we would write it as 10 x 12, where x is 'times'. What a stretch!)

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  5. SandhyaP21 August 2011 at 08:49

    @Suresh: Simpler is an anagram of Prelims.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chaturvasi21 August 2011 at 08:53

    Lost what I typed because of a message that said "conflicting edits".

    Anyway -

    15 is a good clue, with smooth surface reading.
    On the wordplay level, it suggests a process (ANAGRAM) which can make PRELIMS SIMPLER by just jumbling the letters.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Suresh21 August 2011 at 09:08

    Tks Sandhya. That is a good clue.

    ReplyDelete
  8. David Dobson21 August 2011 at 10:04

    Apartment blocks are often called "something" Court. And caught sounds exactly like court.

    ReplyDelete
  9. VJ21 August 2011 at 10:14

    CV, in British English, "caught" and "court" are homophones. You may check this link.

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/caught

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous21 August 2011 at 12:09

    21 - Boy band leader? (9) - ALEXANDER [DD]

    Anything more to this than 'Boy' name and 'band leader'?

    I put it in solely due to crossings and then tried to interpret. Any meaning splitting it up as 'Boy band' and 'leader'?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Suresh21 August 2011 at 12:34

    Something to do with the Anders (Band of volunteers) maybe.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Suresh21 August 2011 at 12:37

    Or an Alexander band which occurs between two rainbows

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  13. David Dobson21 August 2011 at 12:46

    Think it is referring to Alexander the band leader in the famous song "alexander's rag time band"

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  14. Anonymous21 August 2011 at 13:34

    Thanks, but I am still not sure...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Suresh21 August 2011 at 14:00

    Well Kishore, we can be sure that the answer is ALEXANDER.

    Everything else is not worth pondering on a Sunday afternoon after vodka/beer and lunch

    ReplyDelete
  16. Deepak Gopinath21 August 2011 at 16:10

    Just back after a pleasant lunch with Raju and his wife Sapna and another couple, friends from his Nairobi days. Picture of Raju and his wife with self will be up in the THCC families blog tomorrow.
    So the anticipated S&B turned out to be just the two of us as Jayaram couldn't make it due to prior commitments.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Deepak Gopinath21 August 2011 at 16:11

    I was under the impressiion that 'band leader' was referrring to 'Alexander the Great'

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  18. Anonymous21 August 2011 at 17:17

    Then it was only B, not S& :-)

    Or may be B&S (Bloggers & Spouse(s?))

    ReplyDelete
  19. raju umamaheswar22 August 2011 at 23:06

    Deepak and Chatur:

    STYX -In Greek mythology, one of the principal rivers of Hades across which Charon ferried the souls of the dead.

    ReplyDelete

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