Friday 3 February 2012

No 10376, Friday 03 Feb 12, Neyartha

On a brief stopover at Coimbatore, I'm enroute to Ernakulam.
ACROSS
1   - Raid, sounding rough, needs training with obstacles (7,6) - ASSAULT COURSE {ASSAULT} {COURSE}(~coarse)
9   - Pill on plate (6) - TABLET [DD]
10 - That POW's ill-used to some of the riverside trails (8) - TOWPATHS*
11 - Time for Newton (an odd character) to express disapproval (3) - TUT Anno pending (Addendum - (-n+t)TUT - See comments)
12 - Plan to guide viceroy to some extent (6) - DEVICE [T]
13 - Broadcasts the drive to the rudimentary runway (8) - AIRSTRIP {AIRS}{TRIP}
14 - Thought about taking in the adult holding the male puppet (10) - FIGUREHEAD {FIGURE{HE}{A}D}
17 - Left the office machine outside the plant (4) - FLAX {F{L}AX}
18 - Eye infection traced to a pig pen according to hearsay (4) - STYE (~sty)
19 - Healthy king exiled by the force of the ragged Scottish conservative (5-5) - FUDDY-DUDDY (-r+f){FUDDY} {DUDDY}
21 - Current coverage of the pro's lost margins is torrid (8) - TROPICAL {T{pRo}OPICAL}
23 - Smart volunteers employed to produce a glassmaking ingredient (6) - POTASH {PO{TA}SH}
25 - Retreat area left unfinished for some years (3) - ERA AREa<-
26 - Ohm dines out to find out about the Epicurean philosophy (8) - HEDONISM*
27 - Leaders of the Rio Stock Exchange enter the run to get back the baby bottle (6) - NURSER {NU{R}{S}{E}R<-}
28 - This may happen when multiple upset unions coordinate (7,6) - GENERAL STRIKE [CD]
DOWN
2   - Inventor Nikola's note at the bottom of the writing slab (5) - SLATE (-te)SLA(+te)TE
3   - One way to repent after marrying in haste? (2,7) - AT LEISURE [CD]
4   - In closing, finish off the Italian milk (5) - LATTE {LAT{T}E} Not sure of Anno
5   - Get coat stitched at the chalet (7) - COTTAGE*
6   - Being spiritual, adapted wonderfully to iron deficiency (9) - UNWORDLY WONDeRfULLY*
7   - Clever sting (5) - SMART [DD]
8   - Ali hadn't figured out the land of the white elephant (8) - THAILAND*
15 - Doctors almost enter into the computer network (8) - INTERNET {INTERNs}{ET}
16 - Emotional bridge player gets rid of the ace, being practical (9) - EFFECTIVE (-a+e)EFFECTIVE
17 - Product placed before the king by an Apple vendor, say (9) - FRUITERER {FRUIT}{ERE}{R}
20 - Puzzle revealed in upside down cover of the Austen novel (7) - DILEMMA {DIL<-}{EMMA}
22 - Photograph, on enlargement, reveals ring (5) - PHONE [T]
23 - What the family manager wears (5) - PANTS [CD]
24 - Well-groomed founders travel northwards (5) - SLEEK <-



20 comments:

  1. Kishore

    Does the Bangalore edition of ToI have the story on match-label collector in the 'finders keepers' series?

    The war of words between ToI and TH has not ended. With today's front-page ad, will the last word be with ToI? In this campaign they have gone to the very heads of the paper in the editorial and admin depts.

    The ad speaks of ToI's 'connecting with readers'. Sorry, I was never impressed by that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TOI is taking a personal route to attack. Infact their own link carried a story yesterday invites snide remarks from their own readers...It is a knee jerk reaction from their part..looking forward for more slugfest.


      http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Why-TOI-readers-arent-middle-class/articleshow/11716104.cms

      Good day

      Mathu

      Delete
  2. To others I should exlain that Kishore has a good collection of matchbox labels from his younger days - one that my brother Bhargav and I saw once during a visit to his home in Bangalore.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Any crossword setter out there who would like their crosswords considered for publication?

    If so, please contact chaturvasi{at}yahoo{dot}com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Did you'll see the Hindu ad on TV making fun of TOI

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw it, Deepak. In my first post above I have referred to today's ToI ad in response to TH's counter-campaign.

      Delete
  5. 4d LATTE[r]; whether 'closing' is an apt def for 'latter' is debatable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Matchbox label collection is an old time hobby as prevalent as stamp collection. I too had one in my school days, but discontinued later. had I known it might have added to Kishore's collection! So was collecting blotting papers. Most of the medicine manufacturers used to produce them and give to docs.

    ReplyDelete
  7. CV sir:
    That cartoon comment was meant as a reply to mine? The pithy comment, has gone over my head. I can't figure out the significance. The cartoon itself is something "I can't understand"!!Agred, we are cryptic puzzle solvers, but your comments are over-cryptic. grrh!!Help, help!

    Apart from solving, I too collect crosswords, solved and unsolved, and besides, I have a horde' of clippings of articles of interest that appear in newspapers and magazines and also innumerrable letters to the editors that I have been writing. The whole pile, I tell my dear soul-mate, will be good enough to prevent any fire wood being wasted for my funeral.!1 hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raju

      You wrote: "The whole pile, I tell my dear soul-mate, will be good enough to prevent any firewood being wasted for my funeral."

      What sardonic humour!

      But exactly what I have been thinking of crossword book collection that I have vis-a-vis my rites. I haven't mentioned this to my would-be survivors!

      But away from such dark thoughts -

      I have hundreds of unsolved crosswords in the form of paper cuttings from IE and NIE (dutifully and patiently cut out every day from the papers and lovingly preserved). I am ready to donate these to you or anyone else interested.

      I have scores of books - literature, short-stories, novels, non-fiction. If anyone is prepared to buy the whole lot for an agreed price, I am willing to part with them. No loose sales! Crossword books are not included in this jumble!

      Delete
    2. Raju again

      The link to cartoon on crosswords (in yesterday's blog) was a stand-alone one.

      Any reply to any particular post is 'nested' - with a broader indent on the left of the matter.

      I too would like to know how others interpreted the cartoon.

      Does it mean that the lady spends too much time on cwds to the neglect of domestic chores?

      Or is the fellow on the phone making a snide glance at the caller at the other end, maybe a fellow-solver of the lady, seeking some help from the lady [wife of this man who is a non-solver) by saying she is over [i.e., finished, done, completed] doing the puzzle. Unstated: And you're still at it!

      Or this woman does not care much for crosswords. What she has done is 'solved a crossword and every day she is simply overwriting answers, to give the impression that she is a great cwd solver.

      Or is this man too a keen solver and is angry at his wife dominating and doing the crossword in the day's paper every day before he has a chance to pick up the paper - overdoing it.

      Delete
  8. The theme , if 4 clues can form a theme, may be means of communication
    TABLET(a la Moses), SLATE,PHONE and INTERNET

    ReplyDelete
  9. Deepak and others

    Is the absence of the 'delete' button temporary?

    I misplaced a 'reply' and wished to remove it but the button is missing.

    Apologies to readers for repetition.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks, CV, for remembering our matchbox collection. Howevever, in lighter vein, I can claim to be a blighter who is not enamoured by it going up in flames with yours truly in a pyre-hic manner, since it is a matchless collection (there's nary a match in the collection)

    ReplyDelete
  11. 19 - Healthy king exiled by the force of the ragged Scottish conservative (5-5) - FUDDY-DUDDY (-r+f){FUDDY} {DUDDY}
    23 - What the family manager wears (5) - PANTS [CD]
    24 - Well-groomed founders travel northwards (5) - SLEEK <-

    can any one please explain the above ??

    -> cant understand scottish in anno ??
    -> what family manager means ??
    -> what founders mean ??

    please help the tyro..
    sorry for giving pain to veterans here.

    Thanks in Advance
    Durga Prasad

    ReplyDelete
  12. DP,

    19 - Healthy king exiled by the force of the ragged Scottish conservative (5-5)

    Healthy= ruddy, out of which king=r is exiled (pushed out) by force=f to give FUDDY
    DUDDY is a Scottish phrase for a ragged person
    a conservative is a FUDDY DUDDY

    More details of the term at:
    http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fuddy-duddy.html

    23 - What the family manager wears (5) - PANTS [CD]

    A person who manages the family is said to wear the pants, as in, she wears the pants in the house would mean she is the boss at home.

    24 - Well-groomed founders travel northwards (5) - SLEEK <-
    When a ship founders (sinks) it keels over (turns bottoms up or sideways, exposing the keel).
    Keels northwards (i.e. reverse, remember this a down clue so north is upwards) becomes SLEEK, ie well groomed

    Hope you can see reason now ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank You very much sir :)
      grateful to you

      -DP

      Delete
  13. Tut, tut, the anno is still pending. Scoobie doo where are you, Neyartha? Hoped you would pop in to clear the mists from the encircling gloom, that we have had a couple of days back, as the Kindly Light from Newman's The Pillar of the Cloud.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Time for Newton (an odd character) to express disapproval (3) : {-n+T}UT

    Time: T
    for: Substitution indicator
    Newton: N (unit of force)
    an odd character: NUT

    to express disapproval: Direct definition

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks, Neyartha.

    ReplyDelete

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