ACROSS
1 - For a short time Vera confused a sage woman (7) - MINERVA {MIN}{ERVA*}
5 - Nielsen loses note — in a way declining? (6) - SENILE NIELSEn*
9 - I had one mantra, in a manner of speaking (5) - IDIOM {I'D}{I}{OM}
10 - A force in safe environment makes specification (9) - PARAMETER {P{A}{RAM}ETER} Didn't know this meaning of 'Peter'
11 - He uttered some famous opening words (3,4) - ALI BABA [GK]
12 - He obtains load of bricks (7) - WINSTON {WINS}{TON}
13 - Judge has a way at the meeting (5) - TRYST {TRY}{ST}
14 - Trucks are driven by this fuel (6,3) - DIESEL OIL [CD]
16 - A lac co-eds distributed wins praises (9) - ACCOLADES*
19 - Write: “It is different from cheese” (5) - CHALK [DD]
21 - Is this thick with all those things that vanished? (4,3) - THIN AIR [CD]
23 - Roam aimlessly on a Roman road in a central European region (7) - MORAVIA {MORA*}{VIA}
24 - Being in no way out-of-this-world, one might err (4,5) - ONLY HUMAN [CD]
25 - Little snapper, one to get hardy bulbs (5) - CROCI {CROC}{I}
26 - A disoriented star takes youth down the wrong path (6) - ASTRAY {A}{STRA*}{Y}
27 - Unrefined hobby is discarded (7) - YOBBISH*
DOWN
1 - Big draw — not something to be seen on the side (4,10) - MAIN ATTRACTION [CD]
2 - Leader witless, having driven 50 out in a clamorous manner (7) - NOISILY {NO1}{SIlLY}
3 - Where a model may show up — a robust, emptied defensive structure (7) - RAMPART {RAMP}{A}{RobusT}
4 - Praised Dal, upped a combination (9) - APPLAUDED*
5 - Keep quiet on woman, notably Kate (5) - SHREW {SH}{RE}{W}
6 - One goes round carrying treasure of candidate (7) - NOMINEE {NO{MINE}E*}
7 - Title wrong on Government Order? Overlook the thing! (3,2,2) - LET IT GO {LET IT*} {GO}
8 - If you do, would you be imbibing up to the gills? (5,4,1,4) - DRINK LIKE A FISH [CD]
17 - Stylish with the French chewing gum substances (7) - CHICLES {CHIC}{LES}
18 - Alert he put out to hide (7) - LEATHER*
19 - Sailors in company after company getting barrels of pipe material (7) - CORNCOB {CO}{RN}{CO}{B} I smoked a pipe for many years and never knew that there were corncob pipes.
20 - A learner's primary book about oriental's top cells (7) - ALVEOLI {A}{L}{V{E}OL}{I}
22 - Odd game? (5) - RUMMY [DD]
Gridman seems to have been in a punny mode setting this one. Lot of lateral definitions.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, have a bone to pick about :
18 - Alert he put out to hide (7) - LEATHER
"to hide" is a verb. How can it become a noun LEATHER?
Simple!
ReplyDeleteFor part of speech of a word you have to look at it separately. 'Hide' is a noun as well as verb. It is verb in surface reading but noun as def for word reqd.
'To' is a connector. Look at the clue as
Wordplay or sub ind/conenctor/def
The wordplay will lead TO the word.
If there is disagreement over this explanation, let us discuss it.
sub ind - subsidiary indication
ReplyDelete*connector
CV Sir
ReplyDeleteIn this link, Alberich gives an example where padding/connectors should not lend to deception. If LEATHER had an equivalent definition unlike HIDE that cannot act as a verb, then TO as a connector would have been fine, IMO.
There are two ways of getting the answer to a clue.
ReplyDelete1. Work with sub ind and get the answer.
2. Get the answer with crossings and def, then work out the justification.
From this viewpoint, which clue (or clues) in this cwd falls (or fall) under 2?
@CV, I'm with Shyam in saying that "to" as a connector between wordplay and def is doesn't feel right.
ReplyDeleteRe backtracking wordplay from answers, I had to do that for 23A and 20D today.
16A and 4D share the same definition in two tenses. Gridman seems to be in overlapping mode this run : )
I did not solve this crossword but in general, padding is a regular feature in most TH clues. As a solver, I would expect every word to be justifiable in the cryptic reading, it may not be possible with link-words like TO or WITH.
ReplyDeleteBut even in FT puzzles I find the standards somewhat dwindling. I solved a prize puzzle of Crux this weekend and found it to be extremely libertarian!
Liked the ref.to 'open sesame' in today's puzzle.-"Famous opening words"!
ReplyDeleteBhavan @ 9:17,
ReplyDeleteI thought 23A's wordplay was quite simple and clear to get the answer
Cv@9.02. Actually solving most clues is a mix of both. If it involves Botany only guesswork or pattern searches works. So Alveoli and Croci fall in this category.
ReplyDeleteClearly back working was Noisily.
Actually the last post is mine not my son, Sashank's. Did not realise that he was logged into google on my PC
ReplyDeleteLifebuoy, Nirma, Modern Bread and Saridon.Why do they have to advertise? Household names
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget Dalda and its ubiquitous tin,when emptied, lent to the comedians inthe Hindi film industry, like Johny Walker for you know what? Is Dalda still being sold in India to the cholestrol conscious junta?
Today's crossword was very 4 down!! save a few errors 23 acrossed by its 17 across.
In manyc clues, not just those from Gridman, I notice that one or more letters of the answer are obtained from the first letter(s) of word(s) in the clue -- e.g., the B from the 'barrels'of today's 19D. Without an inital indicator (or whatever it is called) how is one supposed to arrive at it with reasoning apart from hindsight/crossing and random guesses?
ReplyDeletenavneethc
ReplyDeleteSpeaking for Gridman, I can assure you that he does not expect the solver to derive any letter from the initial letter of a word in the clue.
b for 'barrel(s), is recorded in Chambers. It is used in a context which oil barons might understand when they place orders or receive invoices, perhaps not one of us filling our tanks in litres, with an eye on the next overnight price rise.
To elaborate the first letter of a word can be used if it is a standard abbreviation. Unusual usages and abbreviations are the speciality of some setters, who we hope we do not see again.
ReplyDeleteFrom Corrections & Clarifications in today's TH:
ReplyDeleteIn The Hindu Crossword 10308 (November 14, 2011), a component in Clue 7dn was wrong. The setter has offered the following alternative clue: I'll shake a leg without sanction (7).
Thanks, Chaturvasi and Suresh.
ReplyDeleteVenkatesh@13:58,
It's 10308/10A nice of him to offer an alternative. :-)
I was a bit puzzled by RU's remarks until I realised that he was talking about yesterday's puzzle. (I didn't remember that he solves THC late in the evening as UK puzzles are done and dusted and that his comment is entered at night or the next morning.)
ReplyDeleteIt would be useful if he prefaces the comment with an indication such as "Re: yesterday's crossword" in parantheses so that we needn't scroll upwards and be confused momentarily.
The setter admitted to a gross mistake in one clue - in the def. part of that clue. I don't know what "a few errors" that Raju alludes to are. It will help matters if any pan is stated clearly and specifically so that the matter may be addressed by others.
Of course, there may be differences in perspectives, such as one on the use of 'to' in a clue today. But I don't think that it can be classified as 'error'.
Time for some music. I have been attending the TH Friday Review Nov Fest 2011.
ReplyDeleteThough I have not been hearing Hindi film music for the past several years, nine out of ten Lata Mangeshkar songs that Sadhana sang the other day were familiar to me for the simple reason that they were from earlier decades. They stirred old memories.
I am treating myself to the fest because the venue is near my home. Today it's a string quartet.
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ReplyDelete