Welcome KKK. The rain continues with another decent opener from a new setter. Is the name supposed to frighten us!!
ACROSS
1 - Rough Southern taxi driver (6) - SCABBY {S}{CABBY}
4 - Currency of a depleted variety (6) - SPECIE SPECIEs
10 - Oppressively throw into calm without light source (10) - STIFLINGLY {STI{FLING}LlY}
11 - Shanghai sailor’s passage (6) - ABDUCT {AB}{DUCT}
12 - The unholy boil acid mixture (8) - DIABOLIC*
13 - Simple quarrel with litigant (9) - PLAINTIFF {PLAIN}{TIFF}
15 - Migrant pig back in empty sty (5) - GIPSY {GIP<-}{StY}
16 - Consult official with hesitation (5) - REFER {REF}{ER}
18 - Maiden headless at birth, inferior and unhappy (9) - MIRTHLESS {M}{bIRTH}{LESS}
25 - Digger gives shelter (4,6) - HAND SHOVEL {HAND S}{HOVEL}
26 - Flow of illness unknown (4) - FLUX {FLU}{X}
27 - Mistakes like 9/11 make Tim leave (6) - ERRORS tERRORS (Addendum - tERRORiSm* - See comments)
28 - Fears number studies (6) - DREADS {D}{READS}
DOWN
2 - Farewell dialogue reworded erasing record (5) - ADIEU DIAlogUE*
3 - Bird holds rosebush titbits (7) - BUSHTIT [T]
5 - A bit of Plum? (6) - PELHAM PGW fans must be delighted with this clue
6 - Of musician who cannot love money (9) - CANTORIAL {CAN'T}{O}{RIAL}
7 - Pastries for retiring church haunts (7) - ECLAIRS {EC<-}{LAIRS}
14 - European engineered clean ride (9) - ICELANDER*
17 - Clone dead bird first (7) - EMULATE {EMU}{LATE}
19 - Employee half covered with tar in synagogue (7) - TEMPLAR {T{EMPLoyee}AR} Synagogue?
21 - Stone valets listen, we hear (6) - MENHIR (~men hear)
24 - Most mistake South Africa for a city (5) - GAFFA {GAFFe}{A} I've heard of JAFFA but where is GAFFA? (Addendum - GAFSA {GAFfe}{SA} - See comments)
mama mia, i knew exactly 6 of the many clues. i am such a durrr-brain.... you are right deepak, klue klux klan is scary.
ReplyDeleteI was in that position yesterday, but surprisingly felt better today- though I had a few blanks. So there is variety not only in setters but solvers as well !
DeleteClue-less?
ReplyDeleteWith lucks one khan solve all?
The puzzle is nice but the pseudonym ain't. Not a good idea IMO
ReplyDelete24 - Most mistake South Africa for a city (5) - GAFFA {GAFFe}{A} I've heard of JAFFA but where is GAFFA?
ReplyDeleteGAF(-fe) + SA
A city in west central Tunisia
27 - Mistakes like 9/11 make Tim leave (6) - ERRORS tERRORS
ReplyDeleteThis might be Terrorism - Tim = Errors because I don't know why/how Tim = T
TerrorIsM - Leave TIM and whats left is errors!
DeleteNow to Reply to Skulldugger's Comment yesterday:
ReplyDeleteWe are Indians and we follow British English.
The paper uses British English.
So it follows that the crossword in it must use Br Eng.
Individually we can have our preferences. I use Br Eng. Even while writing to friends in the US I use this just as they use Am Eng when they write to me. Nobody thinks it amiss. If in writing to me you use Am sp, I wouldn't bother about it.
I was a member of an excellent message board called Wordplay (not dedicated to crosswords) in the late 90s. It was Aus based. Americans, Britons, Stralians, Israelis all used their variety of English (sp, usage, etc).
In a crossword the solver expects to know what Eng is used. Rarely, rarely one can use Am sp for a grid entry but the fact that that sp is used must be woven into the clue. This may be resorted to in exceptional circumstances. Not as a rule or as an acceptable variation.
I think it's a good point.
DeleteIt's important to maintain some kind of consistency. If the paper invariably uses British spellings in all its articles, why should the puzzle section be any different?
Bhavan's annotation for ERRORS seems more plausible.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to K K K. If 27 had come yesterday, it would have matched the date and the event.
ReplyDeleteAs Lord Wilmore would say: Number Three
I did not get your reference to Lord Wilmore. The only Lord Wilmore I can think of is the character in 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. Even that character & number three does not ring a bell.
DeleteThis is the third new setter. Others were also mentioned yesterday and the day before with various names of the very Count you refer to.
Delete...and the said Count did his counting by saying things like: Number One and so on.
DeleteThanks. I have to read that book again !
DeleteCame across a new variant spelling for a known word GYPSY. In word guessing games, it is popular as one of the few words with five letters without any vowel and therefore taking longer to guess! With maximum vowels - QUEUE!
ReplyDelete10 - Oppressively throw into calm without light source (10) - STIFLINGLY {STI{FLING}LlY}
ReplyDelete'Stilly' is clued in as just 'calm'. This looks incomplete.
Collin's gives the meaning of STILLY as adv Archaic or literary quietly or calmly and as adj (Literature / Poetry) Poetic still, quiet, or calm.
Either poetic calm or unknown (for Y)might have met the ends.
Do we need KKK amongst us? Terrifying !! Hope he or she is limited to crosswords? Kooky Krossword Klub? Kassab's hanging is hanging fire. when oh when? Rarest of rare cases ? Yeah sure,they are looking for a noose and a hangman?
DeleteI am in full agreement with C-V on his reply to Skulldugger about British English. When my word pad 'corrects' my spelling into American spelling I stubbornly retain my British English spelling! Though my grey hairs have seen me compromising me to many things there are still a few things I can't let go! Personal use of British English is one of the latter!
ReplyDeleteBTW, MS's default dict is set to Am. sp. We can change it to Br. Eng. so that our Br. spellings (to which most of us are used) don't have those red squiggly lines underneath when we type something.
ReplyDeleteKKK reminded me of K...K...Kiran (stuttered by Shah Rukh Khan in Darr).
ReplyDeleteSomeone in Orkut seemed to suggest that KKK had some connection with my first initial. I stoutly (pun not intended) deny being a hood or being under a hood, cape, mask or whatever.
Probably he/ she went by your logic- the first letter of the pseudonym is an indicator of the first letter of the setter's name!
DeleteWhen you say something is not intended, obliquely you concede the point!
ReplyDeleteI, for one have no strong views against the use of American spellings, particularly reference to crosswords. Without worrying about Xim...Amspell has become so common that its use in a cw even without a specific indicator would be fair, IMO.
ReplyDeleteRe TEMPLAR, does a templar go to a synagogue? As far as I know the answer is no.
ReplyDelete8A - Owl with Minerva holding it would have been apt. Coincidentally, in Hindu myth too, Goddess Lakshmi carries, an Owl.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to another new setter .. Interestingly in the last 2 days, the names are generating as much discussion (if not more) as the puzzles themselves :)
ReplyDeleteCouple of small things:
8D: Staunchly as AIND ? Can't recall seeing it before and not sure if it suggests enough movement
3D: Normally you would expect the fodder to be described by the hidden word indicator and in this case it seems to be the opposite
I had these exact same doubts.
DeleteAnd I was wondering if "in" could be used as a connector, as used in 15A. It didn't seem right to me. I thought "in" is more an insertion or hidden word indicator.
Another problem in 8D is that "from" has been used to connect two different parts of wordplay. I ain't sure about this either.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I must say that this is quite a dream come true. Thank you for the warm welcome.
Re the nick: Well, one day, a few years ago, I was joking with a friend in a random pun session when a crossword was open and in a passing remark, I said that Klue Klux Klan would be the pseudonym under which my crosswords would be published in The Hindu. Both of us laughed at the insane idea that day. Of course, we did.
But, here it is in The Hindu and here KKK is.
I must thank a few people for this first crossword being published:
Shuchi, Cryptonyte, Textrous and Sanjeev - for answering all my queries (many times, most silly) time and again.
I must also thank Gridman for his patience and guidance.
A big shout out to my personal bible, Crossword Unclued.
And of course, this brilliant blog that I visit everyday, albeit silently.
My name does not start with a K. My pseudonym, however, does.
Cheers!
Enjoyed your first offering, hope to see more.
DeleteIt was a nice puzzle today. I had a lot of holes in my grid today too.
ReplyDeleteMy performance in today's crossword was :
Feeble way to summon back (8)
{PATH}{ETIC<-} :)
DeleteNice to see Obelix in thcc.
ReplyDeleteI guess the Brit vs. American English debate is merely academic given that the decision is an editorial one that has already been made. However I continue to feel that
ReplyDeletea) An adherence to Brit. spelling is restrictive and should be done away with to reflect solvers' growing familiarity with both kinds of spelling. While it may be important to have a rigid house style for newspaper articles, I can't think of a reason other than tradition to cling on to such stifling conventions in Xies.Crosswords are a celebration of language after all, in all its polymorphous avatars.
b) The only concern to the setter should be fairness of cluing. Even the most puristic of solvers will agree that they are no strangers to American spelling. One could argue that given the tradition of sticking to Brit spelling, American spelling represents a curve ball, a low blow. However, if the paper simply announced that both are acceptable, then it becomes fair.
c) I do see the need for a policy on such matters. I am not advocating anarchy in the grid. Surely, there must be guidelines that both setters and solvers adhere to. I just think this particular guideline is worth a re-look. Though my views on the matter are at odds with the official line, I will try and abide by the stated guidelines on the matter.
Welcome Tester, Skul(l)Dugger and Klue Klax Klan.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are really really entertaining and educating.
Want to see alot of interesting puzzles from you.
All the best for your future assignments.
Hope we might see another newcomer tomorrow!!?? :)
Thankyou THCC for encouraging NewBlood :)