Like he has been for most of his puzzles in the past few months, Sankalak has dished out another entertainer.
ACROSS
1 Settling plans for gin in Scottish island? Good (9) ARRANGING ARRA(GIN*)N + G
5 A sign of dental trouble with loss of carbon (5) ARIES (c-)ARIES
8 Collection of information in the east — a bad failure (8) DATABASE (EAST A BAD)*
9 A song of praise heard, with appeal for non-violence (6) AHIMSA A + (~)HYMN + SA
11 A work by Satish Gujral, say (5) MURAL (GK) You can see some of his wonderful work at his website
12 Since gone bonkers, he was the one to get the goods (9) CONSIGNEE (SINCE GONE)*
13 Hooligan, drinking rum, dozed (6) NODDED N(ODD)ED
14 Bovine minder with the right dog, a suspect (8) GOATHERD (THE R DOG A)*
16 Touching, like two such angles (8) ADJACENT (C&DD)
18 Basket of meat for each (6) HAMPER HAM + PER
22 Fortified place where a car pool is unusual (9) ACROPOLIS (CAR POOL IS)*
23 A steep rock face where it is cold, with existence without energy and a suggestion of freeze (5) CLIFF C + LIF(-e) + F
24 Handsome chap in a party confronts immorality the wrong way (6) ADONIS A + DO + SIN<-
25 An enticement to trap youth club leaders in bed (8) CARRYCOT CARR(YC)OT
26 Passage figuring in Shanghai's legend (5) AISLE (T)
27 Prize-winners in our time wearing prizes awarded (9) MEDALISTS MEDAL(IST)S Should there have been an indicator for US spelling?
DOWN
1 Awfully bad sign from a part of the body (7) ABDOMEN (BAD*) + OMEN
2 Not active any more but again worn out (7) RETIRED RE + TIRED
3 Jimmy Carter got it, so did Obama (5,5,5) NOBEL, PEACE, PRIZE (GK)
4 Insignificant one in a trendy group (6) INSECT IN + SECT
5 A racist march also can become a song for a festive time (1,9,5) A, CHRISTMAS, CAROL (RACIST MARCH ALSO)*
6 One small measure seen differently as huge (7) IMMENSE I + MM + SEEN*
7 Children have admiration for an alga, maybe (7) SEAWEED SE(AWE)ED
10 Diplomat showing covetousness with nothing at heart (5) ENVOY ENV(O)Y
15 It signals the end among fallen knights in retrospect (5) KNELL ..LLEN K.. (T)<-
16 Where Montgomery made capital (7) ALABAMA (CD)
17 Creatures — for them jobs are tailored (7) JERBOAS (JOBS ARE)*
19 Royal people incorporated in print media endlessly (7) PRINCES PR(INC)ES(-s)
20 Arbiter, for all to see, set up, makes a denial (7) REFUTES REF + U + SET<-
21 ”No man is an …” (John Donne) (6) ISLAND (GK)
ACROSS
1 Settling plans for gin in Scottish island? Good (9) ARRANGING ARRA(GIN*)N + G
5 A sign of dental trouble with loss of carbon (5) ARIES (c-)ARIES
8 Collection of information in the east — a bad failure (8) DATABASE (EAST A BAD)*
9 A song of praise heard, with appeal for non-violence (6) AHIMSA A + (~)HYMN + SA
12 Since gone bonkers, he was the one to get the goods (9) CONSIGNEE (SINCE GONE)*
13 Hooligan, drinking rum, dozed (6) NODDED N(ODD)ED
14 Bovine minder with the right dog, a suspect (8) GOATHERD (THE R DOG A)*
16 Touching, like two such angles (8) ADJACENT (C&DD)
18 Basket of meat for each (6) HAMPER HAM + PER
22 Fortified place where a car pool is unusual (9) ACROPOLIS (CAR POOL IS)*
23 A steep rock face where it is cold, with existence without energy and a suggestion of freeze (5) CLIFF C + LIF(-e) + F
24 Handsome chap in a party confronts immorality the wrong way (6) ADONIS A + DO + SIN<-
25 An enticement to trap youth club leaders in bed (8) CARRYCOT CARR(YC)OT
27 Prize-winners in our time wearing prizes awarded (9) MEDALISTS MEDAL(IST)S Should there have been an indicator for US spelling?
DOWN
1 Awfully bad sign from a part of the body (7) ABDOMEN (BAD*) + OMEN
2 Not active any more but again worn out (7) RETIRED RE + TIRED
3 Jimmy Carter got it, so did Obama (5,5,5) NOBEL, PEACE, PRIZE (GK)
4 Insignificant one in a trendy group (6) INSECT IN + SECT
5 A racist march also can become a song for a festive time (1,9,5) A, CHRISTMAS, CAROL (RACIST MARCH ALSO)*
6 One small measure seen differently as huge (7) IMMENSE I + MM + SEEN*
7 Children have admiration for an alga, maybe (7) SEAWEED SE(AWE)ED
10 Diplomat showing covetousness with nothing at heart (5) ENVOY ENV(O)Y
15 It signals the end among fallen knights in retrospect (5) KNELL ..LLEN K.. (T)<-
16 Where Montgomery made capital (7) ALABAMA (CD)
17 Creatures — for them jobs are tailored (7) JERBOAS (JOBS ARE)*
19 Royal people incorporated in print media endlessly (7) PRINCES PR(INC)ES(-s)
20 Arbiter, for all to see, set up, makes a denial (7) REFUTES REF + U + SET<-
21 ”No man is an …” (John Donne) (6) ISLAND (GK)
B, I enjoyed both the cartoons. I am now waiting for the Nobel prize committee to visit me. They can decide in which category I need to run after getting the award...
ReplyDeleteAnd, boy, will I have to work hard if it is in a line I am not familiar with... (or will I? BO didn't)
Apropos 21d, the Isle of Man is probably an exception...
Didn't notice who the poster was until I thought and thought and figured out why the hell Kishore had begun his comment with the letter B.
ReplyDeleteKishore can never say something straight.
Hey, the crypticness is in the eyes of the beholder. Me, I didn't do nothing. I just addressed the poster (boy) ;-)
Delete@CV, I'll take that as a compliment.
DeleteColonel has established a style for the way he posts the answers here. I tried to follow it to the extent I thought was reasonable (not a big fan of the pink colour for fonts though :))
Kishore, The Chambers Dictionary does not give any noun form for 'cryptic'. Where did you get 'crypticness' from?
ReplyDeleteFrom Billy Bunter's Hurree Jamset Ramsingh whose usages of this type are legendary...
Delete"The chumpfullness of the esteemed Bunter is terrific" - Hurree Jamset Ram Sing
Delete1 Settling plans // for gin in Scottish island? Good (9) ARRANGING ARRA(GIN*)N + G
ReplyDeleteARRAN GIN G
Organize or make plans (for a future event)
Right, SR. There is neither an anagram of gin nor an indication. It is pure gin, unadulterated.
Delete1 Settling plans for gin in Scottish island? Good (9) ARRANGING ARRA(GIN*)N + G
DeleteInitially I thought of having the gin straight too, but the "in" Scottish island bit made me think it needs to be drank in the isle.
But then the "for" looks intrusive. I'll leave it as is and let solvers concoct their own favourite.
The crossword setter lives in a world of his own, always interpreting words in a different way - in his own way when the hearer may not have a clue as to what is passing through his mind.
ReplyDeleteDomestics in big cities such as Chennai no longer come as regularly as they used to do; when they come, they are in a hurry to leave. In the decades before the Eighties each household had a maid who stuck with the family for 10-15 years but now with many flats in place where there used to be a single house they keep changing from one flat to another as 'maid poaching' is quite common among the residents.
In this context when my wife said how about investing in a 'dish washer' I said that was a good idea.
Except that I didn't say in what sense I looked at each of the words 'dish' and 'washer'. Who the 'dish' will be and who aspires to be a 'washer'.
In the UK say they, "I'll take the coat...". I don't know what the equivalent expression here in India is. Any suggestions?
An ingratiating expression of smile and "" saab, chai paani?
DeleteOh, the marvels of the English language never cease to baffle and bemuse me. Gin is in today. Mother's ruin. You are right, CV; the crossword setters'are ever conjuring up new ways of confusing the solver. Yestersay, I came across : SPOKEN FOR. as an answer. It meant an already betrothed; hence not available. I reckon,there is an equivalent for this in the Tamil language for this?
ReplyDeleteAs for maid poaching, in our household, for my soul mate, it is for ever pocchu, as far as the maid is concerned, in her fractured Tamil, whenever there is a NO Show" of the Abigail, after the clock strikes noon !! A state of apoplexy ensues and the ubiquitous mobile is put into motion to receive 'no response' tones and then the poor wifey is made to be a maid!! I just disappear from the arena !!! Must ne a story of all our feudal households?
Enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteBhavan, thanks for standing in.
ReplyDeleteReached Coimbatore at 2:15PM after a frustrating last 40 KM due to road widening works between Avinashi & CBE, took me 1 1/2 hours to cross that stretch :-(
Nowadays we don't seem to be getting those characters in Tamil films.
ReplyDeleteThere will be this male servant or old man with a thundu on his shoulder. When something happens that is not to his liking or when someone is nasty to him and when he swears to take revenge, before leaving the scene saying "Naan varaen" (I'll be back) he will remove the thundu, shake it and replace it on his shoulder and depart.
14D was the only one I missed. Unless sitting in for the regular, a bovine minder wouldn't be taking care of goats, would (s)he?
ReplyDeleteBhavan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice blog today.
Re 1Ac, you are right about 'in' indicating insertion. The problem is you appear to have limited your horizon to only ARRAN.
Here, the setter wants IN to be inserted within (Scottish island + Good) = ARRAN+G
This gives us ARRAN(GIN)G.