Friday 2 March 2012

No 10400, Friday 02 Mar 12, Buzzer

Sorry for an incomplete CW, with the paper coming in so late it's impossible to complete if I have to leave early, like today when I have to rush off for a wedding.
ACROSS
8   - Cuban cocktail, it's a charm to drink it (6) - MOJITO {MOJ{IT}O}
9   - Ordinary English in native Prague — half of it goes over one's head (5,3) - (Addendum - OPERA HAT {O}{P{E}RA HA{iT} - See comments)
10 - US steady after changing times (8) - TUESDAYS*
11 - Central African came across at first as measured (6) - METRIC {MET}{afRICan}
12 - Agitated hefty Hollander, not right about very loud blow up (3,3,3,6) - FLY OFF THE HANDLE {HEFTY+HOLLANDEr+FF}*
14 - King from old Spain, timeless fool in retrospect (7) - OEDIPUS {O}{E}{DIPUtS<-}
16 - Area of groundwater in French tableland (7) - PLATEAU {PLAT}{EAU}
19 - Manila for one, follows press article to innovate (4,3,8) - PUSH THE ENVELOPE {PUSH} {THE} {ENVELOPE}
22 - Cook in a style primarily from Lyons, adding Mirabelle brandy etc (6) - FLAMBE {F}{L}{A}{M}{B}{E}
24 - Cable TV broadcast reaching Indian village (8) - TELEGRAM {TELE}{GRAM}
25 - Spooner's sweetheart to tap dance in America (5,3) - BUNNY HUG Anno pending (Addendum ~HONEY BUG - See comments)
26 - First name in writing from eastern Estonia (6) - ERNEST [T]
DOWN
1   - Seafood business not doing well inside Quebec (8) - COQUILLE {CO}{QU{ILL}E}
2   - Evacuated Fiji when taking care of disaster (6) - FIASCO {FijI}{AS}{CO}
3   - A great deal of Romania has fully developed (5,5) - ROYAL FLUSH {RO+HAS+FULLY}*
4   - Russian soup or broth prepared with a dash of salt and a hint of clove (7) - BORSCHT {BROTH+S+C}*
5   - El Salvador is lacking in regard to rain (4) - TEEM esTEEM
6   - Dictator's transport held up in Egypt (8) - MARTINET {MART<-}{IN}{ET} How is Egypt 'ET'?
7   - Boy, native of Denmark seen round Italy and Luxembourg (6) - DANIEL {DAN{I}E}{L}
13 - One shot at Wimbledon perhaps, by partial discharge of firearms (4-6) - HALF-VOLLEY {HALF}-{VOLLEY}
15 - Barbaric to bury about one-third of Angola (8) - INHUMANE {INHUM{ANgola}E}
17 - iPad creator overwhelms Australia and gets cheers (8) - APPLAUSE {APPL{AUS}E}
18 - Norway established sample government reserve funds (4,3) - NEST EGG {N}{EST} {EG}{G}
20 - German Mark obtained in mutual conversion (6) - UMLAUT*
21 - Folk tale from E-England rewritten after article is lost (6) - LEGEND EENGLanD*
23 - Parrot found in former Czechoslovakia (4) - ECHO [T]

35 comments:

  1. 9 - Ordinary English in native Prague — half of it goes over one's head (5,3) -

    O P(E)RA-HA (-i)T

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Got opera!! was struggling with Hat.

      thanks Kishore!

      Delete
    2. Got HAT and had to think a lot to get OPERA

      Delete
  2. 25 - Spooner's sweetheart to tap dance in America (5,3) - BUNNY HUG Anno pending

    sweetheart=Honey bug?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not being a Hefner, I am quite unaware of a 'bunny hug'.

      Delete
    2. Spooner's // sweetheart (honey) to tap (bug) // dance in america (5,3) bunny hug

      Delete
    3. Hey,

      Hw do you get Bunny Hug from Honey Bug? N what is the importance of Spooner?

      Regds,
      Jeevan

      Delete
    4. A Spoonerism is something where the first syllables of two words or two parts of a phrase get interchanged to give normally a ridiculous result

      Delete
    5. from Bishop Spooner who was known for this..

      Delete
    6. More Funny Spoonerisms


      know your blows - blow your nose
      go and shake a tower - go and take a shower
      tease my ears - ease my tears

      Delete
  3. 6 - Dictator's transport held up in Egypt (8) - MARTINET {MART<-}{IN}{ET} How is Egypt 'ET'?

    ET tu ?

    An ode to the Buzzer, (with apologies to the Louisville Lip):

    He floats like a bee and stings like a butterfly

    ReplyDelete
  4. what's 5d?

    El Salvador is lacking in regard to rain (4)

    _E_M

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. El Salvador (es) // lacking in regard (esteem) // to rain (TEEM)

      Delete
    2. Sorry should have mentioned it was me( Bhavan). Didn't realize Amudha was logged in.

      Suresh will understand this problem : )

      Delete
    3. ES for El Salvador :-( as the internet suffix is SV

      Delete
    4. Bhavan has incidentally given the answer to this one too

      Delete
  5. Bhavan,
    Be chivalrous! No harm in credit going to Amudha !! (no problem?)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Opera hat-
    Much of it was over my head!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Found it going tough today, but pretty interesting one and I learnt some new stuff today.

    13D: Do you see these anymore at SW19 thanks to the slower courts and predominant baseline games :) Ah where is Boris Becker ...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I still can't get the Egypt - ET link :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Col, ET is the IVR (International Vehicle Registration) code for Egypt

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

      Delete
    2. I feel some kind of indicator should have also been given.

      Delete
  9. Hello - after a very long gap. The iPhone app was updated yesterday so I have finally got access to the Hindu crossword again. Just about to settle down to buzzer now, with a strong cup of coffee (and several layers of clothes - its cold here)

    ReplyDelete
  10. And a very pleasant one too!
    Enjoyed the spooner and it was great to dive straight back in to some elegant wordplay.

    ReplyDelete
  11. tody Buzzer's CW was of 'International Standard'

    ReplyDelete
  12. No one commented on the cities/places in each and every clue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When Sudarshan Rao mentioned that the crossword was of 'international standard' I think he implied the geographic element in the clues.

      Or did he mean this could well have been published in a UK or - hmm - Australian publication?

      In any case some of the newer setters are climbing higher and higher in their setting techniques, aren't they?

      Delete
  13. Great X-word with Geography as the flavour of the Day - a place in each clue.

    Pangram but for K,W,X & Z

    ReplyDelete

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