Sunday 23 October 2011

No 2657, Sunday 23 Oct 11

ACROSS
1   - US cash misused, in the exact sense of the word (2,4) - AS SUCH*
4   - Religious festival in Amalfi (established) (6) - FIESTA [T]
8   - Batting with dread after opener's left out by mistake (2,5) - IN ERROR {IN} {tERROR}
10 - Dance with a good man with balance (7) - BALLAST {BALL}{A}{ST}
11 - Cricketer's answer to question fed if bails dislodged (4,5) - ASIF IQBAL {A}{SI IF(Q)BAL*}
12 - Willow, very large one approaching centre of Limerick (5) - OSIER {OS}{I}{limERick}
13 - Penny-pincher, clever to get in cheaper Hugo novel (3,10) - LES MISERABLES {LES {MISER}{ABLE}S}
16 - Gricer's hobby evident in film (13) - TRAINSPOTTING [DD]
20 - Plus point of dog having no lead (5) - ASSET bASSET
22 - Stingy person's close call (4,5) - NEAR THING {NEAR} {THING}
23 - Giant in goal hit out (7) - GOLIATH*
24 - Lunatic fan facing trial (7) - NUTCASE {NUT}{CASE}


25 - Deal with Hungary, ultimately making a pact (6) - TREATY {TREAT}{Y}
26 - Key member given object (6) - LEGEND {LEG}{END}
DOWN
1   - Plate turned up depicting beast (6) - ANIMAL <-
2   - Is place abroad memorable? (7) - SPECIAL*
3   - Boy, going after girl, behaves (7,2) - CARRIES ON {CARRIE}{S ON}
5   - One dimly lit? Not my house (5) - IGLOO {I}{GLOOmy}
6   - Dog leaps in, playfully (7) - SPANIEL*
7   - Star taking chance after collapse of seat (8) - ASTERISK {ASTE*}{RISK}
9   - Inferior performer with puppet may get it in the neck (6,5) - RABBIT PUNCH {RABBIT} {PUNCH}
10 - Slug on ground? This moves at high speed (6,5) - BULLET TRAIN {BULLET} {TRAIN}
14 - Emerge carrying infant close to natural philosopher (9) - ARISTOTLE {ARIS{TOT}{L}E}
15 - Respectable hand at cards (8) - STRAIGHT [DD]
17 - Forgive a bishop's crack (7) - ABSOLVE {A}{B}{SOLVE}
18 - Stern expert's scowl (7) - GRIMACE {GRIM}{ACE}
19 - Approved of a deadly sin (6) - AGREED {A}{GREED}
21 - A raising of glasses when drink's passed round (5) - TOAST {TO{AS}T}



24 comments:

  1. 5 - One dimly lit? Not my house (5) - IGLOO {I}{GLOOm}

    {I}{GLOO(-my)}

    ReplyDelete
  2. 11A Slight correction to anno. The first A in asif Iqbal comes from 'answer'

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  3. I remember reading somewhere that Asif Iqbal had played Ranji matches for Hyderabad before migrating to Pakistan. However, not able to locate on the net. Today quite a few cricket refs:

    8a Batting opener
    11 Cricketer bails ASIF IQBAL
    12 Willow
    13 CARRIES ON

    ReplyDelete
  4. 11 - Cricketer's answer to question fed if bails dislodged (4,5) - ASIF IQBAL AS IF(Q)BAL*

    In addition to Suresh's comment, an I is missed out in the anno at the beginning of the second name.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Really enjoyed today's puzzle. Found it much easier compared to the usual Sunday puzzles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Suresh & Kishore amendments done in the main post

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  7. Kishore@08.39-
    Yes, I know for sure that Asif Iqbal played for either Hyderabad or Osmania University or both. I have read about it (remember those days there was no TV)as well as about his shifting to Pak.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes,here it is-
    http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/player/39010.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Col.-
    cartoon for nutcase was great. Enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonder whether this will work with our RTC drivers

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  11. I solved it within an hour, with only a little help from the dictionary -- must be one of the easiest Sunday puzzles!

    Does 'Gricer' appear in Chambers? My trusty -- well, almost -- Reader's Digest Universal Dictionary from the 80's didn't list it, but I managed to find the answer awhile later with the crossings.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Test comment.

    Comments seem to vanish after I refresh the page.

    ReplyDelete
  13. [Posting from Google Chrome now. Let's see if this works.]

    Completed it within an hour, with very little help from the dictionary -- must be one of the easiest Sunday puzzles.

    Does the Chambers contain 'gricer'? My trusty -- well, almost -- Reader's Digest Universal Dictionary doesn't list it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks, Colonel.

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  15. Suresh@11.23-

    RTC are driven by nutcases only-announced or unannounced. Only good part is they armed only with throttles & horns and no more!

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  16. Thanks, Colonel.

    [Weird behaviour by the comments section: I posted the message above from Firefox (7.0.1); it appeared in the comments section after one refresh, but after another, it was bumped out!]

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  17. CV: Thanks for the comments on my letter to the press on crackers. With every cracker that is burst, my heart will burn for those small kids in those DARK hovels in Sivakasi who toil for a pittance to light up our hearts on Diwali day. Why not at least form the HCC blog, we vow to desist from buying crackers and send that money saved to any children's NGO to be used for those kids rehabilitation and education?

    There was this picture in the press the other day , showing a distraught cow or bull being tied in a stake , ready to butchered in sacrifice to propitiate some tradition, devi or devta. In this 21st Century? So barbaric. I wrote to the papers condemning this but it never saw the light of day, like so many others .

    Traditions are to be respected, no doubt, but must we sacrifice living creatures?

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  18. Stroll in the park compared to the time I've spent on some MM/NJ puzzles. What does this mean I wonder?
    Gricer was new to me, had to look up

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  19. @Raju
    I daresay readers of this group will be like-minded.
    It is a touchy subject and as you say some might think that one who does not light sparklers or burst crackers is a mean-minded individual who does not celebrate the triumph of good over evil.
    I do not burst crackers (even as a boy I have not done that) but I will light a sparkler - just one - as a symbolic gesture. I will always have a child by my side so that he/she gets joy.
    As for helping the poor - During the festive season we can make donations to a do-good trust of our choice - this I did after reading an article in Business Line the other day. It happened to be a CBE-based trust and I promptly received info with pic of two poor persons who benefited by not only my gesture but also the trust's medical aid.

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  20. Loud thinking.

    With Asif Iqbal thrown from the East, just wondering who today's setter could be. I understand the Sunday stuff is syndicated from abroad.

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  21. Continuing CV's 1733:
    I fully endorse his views.

    A personal request:

    Kindly channel your donations to a local institution you know which actually works for the underprivileged or to a needy person whom you know. Corporate type of NGOs which can afford to send two persons when soliciting donations where one would have been sufficient and which spend on plane travel and five star publicity and parties blow up quite a bit of the money on unintended things. Some of such NGOs could be sending pictures of the same 'beneficiaries' to many donors who are not in touch with each other.

    ReplyDelete

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