Thursday, 29 March 2012

No 10423, Thursday 29 Mar 12, Neyartha

ACROSS
1   - Prominent position of a locale's group of lions? (5,2,5) - PRIDE-OF-PLACE {PRIDE}-{OF}-{PLACE}
8   - Exchange about the return of the knight's title with an advocate (9) - BARRISTER {BAR{RIS<-}TER}
9   - It was a mistake getting the auditor's iron hook (5) - GAFFE (~gaff)
11 - Break in the custom enclosure for the spot is detailed (7) - RESPITE {R{ESPy}ITE}
12 - Purse given to the bishop's wife in a concert dance (6) - WALLET (-b+w)WALLET
13 - Undergarment supply (4) - VEST [DD]
15 - Bias shown by R&D site counter in the cinema building (9) - IMBALANCE {IM{BAL<-}ANCE*}
17 - Article on an alien gas mixture causing insensitivity to pain (9) - ANALGESIA {A}{ALIEN+GAS*}
19 - Steps steward took to conceal a surreptitious signal (4) - PSST [T]


21 - Bishops ignore Princess Sierra initially on the seas (6) - OCEANS {diOCEsANS}
22 - Bill sent back to tuck in the sick revolutionary (an American novelist) (7) - ELLISON {E{LLI<-}SON<-}
25 - Add fuel to Sameer's theory on Kingfisher's exchequer initially (5) - STOKE {S}{T}{O}{K}{E}
26 - Voters' college in the USA? (9) - ELECTORAL [CD]
27 - Fungal disease seen where a runner's shoe might be put on? (8,4) - ATHLETES FOOT [DD]
DOWN
1   - Clips of the couples in audition (5) - PARES (~pairs)
2   - Current, free to the in-charge of a precious metal (6) - IRIDIC {I}{RID}{IC}
3   - Queen discarded strange techniques used in the science of improving living conditions (9) - EUTHENICS TECHNIqUES*
4   - Former US president's model car at the crossing (4) - FORD [MD]
5   - Dangerous guerillas show no hesitation in getting the mast material (7) - LUGSAIL GUerILLAS*
6   - Bond, besieged by strikes, gets decorative fasteners (4,5) - CUFF LINKS  {CUFF {LINK}S}
7   - Abbots arrive in disguise with the old church employees (12) - ABBREVIATORS*
10 - In a beseeching manner, request break down of the netting layer (12) - ENTREATINGLY*
14 - Whipping boy to get away, after commencement, with an animal (9) - SCAPEGOAT {eSCAPE}{GOAT}
16 - Stay in case where the model went up for the bangles (9) - BRACELETS {BRACE}{LE(+t)TS(-t)}
18 - Polite general gets upset with the Belgian port initially (7) - GENTEEL {GENT}{EEL<-}
20 - Drunk lawyer getting rid of the Greek in the small cave (6) - BLOTTO (-gr+bl)BLOTTO
23 - Show off the letters from Ernest Rutherford (5) - STRUT [T]
24 - A hit below this might be quite unfair (4) - BELT [CD]



18 comments:

  1. Deepak

    Re the cartoon at 19a.

    I looked only at the hem of the skirt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what you were supposed to look at ;-)

      Delete
    2. I would like to skirt the issue.

      Delete
  2. 20D was a nice substitution clue which clears specifies A needs to take the place of B in C to obtain D.

    A similar clue in 12A wasn't as clear and had me scratching my head as to what I'm looking for. Still not sure if WALLET or BALLET is the starting word and the other, definition.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bhavan,
    I agree with you 100%. I still think it is ballet.

    I am also not clear about how we get 'lets' in bracelets for 16D.

    9A- How does auditor's enter the picture? Is it AG and if so how does it get reversed?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stay = BRACE
      in case = LEST
      where the
      model = T
      went up = Indicator to change position of 'T'
      for the
      bangles = Definition = {BRACE}{LE(+t)TS(-t)}

      It was a mistake = Definition = GAFFE
      getting the
      auditor's = Homophone indicator
      iron hook = GAFF

      Delete
    2. 16 - Stay in case where the model went up for the bangles (9) BRACELETS

      Colonel has already annotated the answer, but here is the break-up :

      Stay = Brace
      stay /stā/ (nautical) noun
      1. A rope bracing a mast, etc, a guy
      2. A brace generally

      in case = lest
      where model (T) went up = leTs

      9A - Auditor's is the homophone indicator. A gaff which is an iron hook, is pronounced the same as gaffe which means a mistake.

      Delete
  4. Thank you Col. & Bhavan. Very clear now. I have to learn a lot! First time I am coming across 'auditor' as homophone indicator. I will watch out in future.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Purse given to the bishop's wife in a concert dance (6)

    My intent with the second part of the clue (the cryptic segment) was:

    bishop's wife : to be read as : (B)ishop is (W)ife : i.e, B is W to be interpreted as change B to W
    in : to signify changing of B to W in :
    concert dance : BALLET

    Changing B to W in Ballet gives WALLET, a synonym for purse.

    Can solvers please let me know why it was interpreted as changing W to B? I would like to make sure substitution clues of the type "A's B in C" have no scope for mis-interpretation when setting future crosswords.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When you explain it, it looks simple & straight. But while doing the CW, it was not clear as to wcich is the def. Probably the apostrophe in "Bishop's" was not properly interpreted- at least by me.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Neyartha for dropping by to clarify:

      12 - Purse given to the bishop's wife in a concert dance (6) - WALLET (-b+w)WALLET

      The "given to" to threw me off. It suggested that WALLET (purse) was given Bishop (B) for wife (W) in dance.

      Like Padmanabhan mentioned, your explanation makes it easier to see the intended answer.

      Delete
  6. Re the cuff links.

    I guess that the ones marked Enter or Backspace or Shift will be of different sizes and shapes from the ones shown above!

    In my college days I used to wear only full-sleeved shirts and I always buttoned up the sleeves . A class-mate and friend of mine. M. S. Ansari by name, who went to the US soon after graduating sent me a fine pair of cuff links within days of his landing there. It was a thoughtful gesture on his part without any request from me.

    I still wear full-sleeved shirts but more often than not they are rolled up slightly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The keys shown above are from old typewriters which had round keys, my dad had one of those.

      Delete
  7. I am not commenting much nowadays because I find the puzzles too easy and Jugaadhi. Sab Kuch chaltha hai !!Annotations can be any which way without any method in the madness. Yet we all enjoy.!! Whilst last Sunday's was a bit tough, the daily ones are finished before I could even start.!! I do find the Guardian
    puzzles in the Metro Plus more challenging though they are not all cryptic.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 9A - Did this forum's two best-known auditors get hooked here.. I mean, get stuck, by chance? :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. In 21 A, I am not sure how you get the clue for DI? Can you please explain? N 22 A Bill = NOSE?


    Regds,
    Jeevan

    ReplyDelete
  10. @ Jeevan: Di = Diana = Princess
    Bill= Nose (informal) see any standard dictionary for synonyms.
    Enjoy solving!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thnx Bhargav! Yeah sure I do enjoy solving it!

      Delete

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