Thursday 1 March 2012

No 10399, Thursday 01 Mar 12, Neyartha

Note: Starred clues have no direct definition, but their solutions are all related to a common quantity ..... 
.... and all of them were made yesterday ;-) and Sachin is still searching for one :-(
ACROSS
7   - *Shouted after losing opener to the retiring Earl (7) - HUNDRED tHUNDeRED
8   - Clip about protecting the English university's flightless bird (7) - PENGUIN {P{ENG}{U}IN}
10 - *A large cask for the auditor (3) - TON (~tun)
11 - Get a set of words for an attractive slogan? (5,6) - CATCH PHRASE {CATCH} {PHRASE}
13 - Crass stupidity: It's out of place when put in order (4,2) - TIDY UP stUPiDITY*
15 - Good French article on South Africa's strokes of luck (8) - BONANZAS {BON}{AN}{ZA'S}
17 - Message medium at a silent sit-in? (7) - PLACARD [CD]
18 - *Whine about the adapted tune (7) - CENTURY {C{TUNE*}RY} Made just yesterday
21 - Portugal's king, sheltered by saints, accepts the church's American regalia items (8) - SCEPTERS {S{CE}{P}T{ER}S} Not sure of anno (Addendum - {S{CE}{PT}{ER}S} - See comments)
23 - Fast Rob easily conceals the disco fixture (6) - STROBE [T]
24 - Tease Asha in order to reveal insensitivity to pain (11) - ANAESTHESIA*
27 - *Bow for Edward to remove the Chinese leader (3) - ARE AR(-c+e)E
29 - Bizarre wrapping for silver results in indignation (7) - OUTRAGE {OUTR{AG}E}
30 - Crude latchkeys forged by gangster abandoned (7) - SKETCHY laTCHKEYS*
DOWN
1   - Fumbling tout in the den is upset with the lesson (8) - TUTORIAL {TOUT*}{LAIR*}
2   - Reportedly got into debt in obtaining the poem (3) - ODE (~owed)
3   - Athena's half-brother comes up with the medical preventatives (4) - SERA <-
4   - Hunter's state after the loss of his arms? (10) - WEAPONLESS [CD]
5   - Indian music melody, on reflection, may help in growing a culture (4) - AGAR <-
6   - Elaborate outdoor party's fate is funny (6) - FIESTA*
9   - Frenchman expelled by the bishop tricks the strikebreakers (5) - SCABS SCA(-m+b)BS
12 - Bath holder for a pupil? (6) - EYECUP [CD]
14 - *Attendant admits hesitation in picking up the penny (10) - PERCENTAGE {P{ER}{CENT}AGE}
16 - Country's identity (6) - NATURE [DD]
19 - Research about labour leads to revivals (8) - REBIRTHS {RE{BIRTH}S}
20 - Run with The Guide 's heroine to the basement to get the basketry material (5) - OSIER (-r)OSIE(+r)R
22 - *First person missing out on the calcified substance covering a tooth's root (6) - CENTUM CEmeNTUM
25 - The leaders of England unfortunately refused offer of a common currency (4) - EURO {E}{U}{R}{O}
26 - Partially drink yoghurt that is dark-blue (4) - INKY [T]
28 - Eye infection found in a pig pen (3) - STY [DD]




19 comments:

  1. 21 - Portugal's king, sheltered by saints, accepts the church's American regalia items (8) - SCEPTERS {S{CE}{P}T{ER}S} Not sure of anno

    @Col : You have it right. Except PT is the ISO code for Portugal and S for saint

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fumbling tout in the den is upset with the lesson (8) - TUTORIAL {TOUT*}{LAIR*}

    I may not follow all Ximenean principles, but I absolutely hate anagrams of inferred letters :)

    The annotation for this is:

    Fumbling tout : TUTO*
    in the : connectors
    den : LAIR
    is upset : Reversal indicator (so LAIR becomes RIAL<-)
    with the : connectors
    lesson : Direct definition

    TUTO* RIAL<-

    ReplyDelete
  3. A beginner's question about yesterday's crossword... how does "Score: -1" equal "Nineteen"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. score is twenty and don't you fail to see the - minus sign? answer 19.

      Playing with one's observation powers!

      Delete
  4. Nice to see the comments flying fast and furious about the new compiler, ANITYA. Soundss like a female pseudonym?

    Folks, lets give the compiler some breathing space and not scare the person stiff like a fresher in the college being ragged by the oldies. Yes we do find some mistakes in the annotations and some gremlins which are to be certainly attributable to the THCC not having a crossword editor. I find the compiler quite ok as a newbie here and it is quite refreshing to see new phrases like STARTING BLOCK. (a derivative to WRITERS BLOCK? )and SEA POWER. So, more power to the compilers brains. He or she will get to see the critiques flowing in and learn as we go along together. So lets gently lead the compiler to play the game.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Being at least two to three days behind time in solving, I do miss out on the gravitas of topicality.

    CV: on your comments of 27th Feb.
    Yeah, more the merrier. Lets have new setters trooping in with their own bright ideas. Cryptic crosswords by themselves are arcane; so then, can we call NINA as an enigma wrapped in a mystery to be read in the dark by blind cats using braille at new moon nights? I admire those who can dovetail in a NINA in a cryptic puzzle as even compiling one is a tough call. Why the name NINA? Why not NINO? I hope that ANITYA has nothing to do with NITA ? YA? as Kishore has obliquely innuendoed?

    Lets develop an attitude of gratitude towards the compilers who are giving us our daily cryptics. I do say GRACE, before solving every crossword.

    ReplyDelete
  6. COL: My hats off to you for those very delectable and crisp pictures and cartoons. They literally give us all visual picture and serve as mnemonics., not to speak of the tinge of humour.

    Ibncidentally, Col I'm sure that all our bloggers know that crosswords were used during world wars for passing messages and hence were temporarily banned?

    ReplyDelete
  7. 21 A: I got another annotation. SEERS stands for saints and PT for Portugal with C for Church.
    Just another thought...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Guys,

    Can sb give me the anno for 21 A?

    Regds,
    Jeevan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Portugal's = PT (Internet code for Portugal)
      king = ER
      sheltered by = Encapsulation indicator
      saints = S S
      accepts the = Encapsulation indicator
      church's = CE
      American = Indicator for American spelling
      regalia items = Definition = {S{CE}{PT}{ER}S}

      Delete
    2. Thnx Colonel!
      King is ER as in? And can you please tell me what other short forms for King are there?

      Regds,
      Jeevan

      Delete
    3. Thnx Colonel!
      King is ER as in? And can you please tell me what other short forms for King are there?

      Regds,
      Jeevan

      Delete
    4. This is not an exhaustive list but gives you an idea:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword_abbreviations

      Delete
    5. Hey,

      Thnx Bhavan for the list. Sorry, but that still does not help me with what ER is? Is it another abbrevation of 'REX' not mentioned?

      Regds,
      Jeevan

      Delete
  9. Like me, Deepak first thought of Waheeda Rehman. I then realised that the movie was Guide and the book 'The Guide'.

    ReplyDelete
  10. True,but when you think of the main character of a book you remember the character's name. But in a movie, you tend to think of Waheeda Rehamn. Point is, I also thought so !

    ReplyDelete
  11. 7a where is the definition of 'hundred'in the clue?

    ReplyDelete

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