Wednesday, 26 September 2012

No 10578, Wednesday 26 Sep 12, Gridman

Todays CW, as delightful as ever. Following Bhavan's colour code for the wish list words. GM's taken me to France today.

ACROSS
1   - The French tour that is a must in sight-seeing (6,5) - EIFFEL TOWER [GK]

9   - U.N. techy makes Indian relish (7) - CHUTNEY*
10 - Brochure from the French to process a felt (7) - LEAFLET {LE}{A}{FELT*}
11 - What an addict may need in getting rid of core habits (5) - REHAB [T]
12 - Trumpet a bit hoarsely a few are attractive (9) - TOOTHSOME {TOOT}{H}{SOME}
13 - Language team accepts artist’s question (5) - IRAQI {1{RA}{Q}1}
15 - Finally plan for moderate renewal of cathedral (5,4) - NOTRE DAME {N}{OTRE DAME*}
18 - Monstrous guise ogre ripped off (9) - EGREGIOUS*
21 - The first medical officer is a lazy type (5) - DRONE {DR}{ONE}
22 - A couple more/Than a score (6-3) - TWENTY-TWO [CD]
24 - Irritable film director races in (5) - RATTY {RA{TT}Y}
26 - Carefully nursed a male ballet dancer (7) - DANSEUR*
27 - Bird in paperback? (7) - PENGUIN [DD]
28 - An avatar is such a reasonable being (4-2-5) - DOWN-TO-EARTH [DD]

DOWN
1   - Trip not on! Old hand has no time to be rambling! (9) - EXCURSIVE {EXCURSIon}{VEt}
2   - Female green and loaded (5) - FLUSH {F}{LUSH}
3   - None flashing gaudy jewellery. It’s glorifying! (9) - ENNOBLING {NONE*}{BLING}
4   - A fitting suggestion in a readymade clothes store (3,2,2) - TRY IT ON [CD]
5   - A movement through exit in disapproval (7) - WALKOUT [CD]
6   - Succeed in handing out a piece of roti to everybody (5) - REACH {R}{EACH}
7   - Do reload what could be a gold mine (2,6) - EL DORADO*
8   - Small, yet troublesome complaint (4) - STYE {S}{YET*}
14 - Yielding to a hail without a bit of trepidation (8) - AGREEING {A}{GREEtING}
16 - Last to succeed in such a test (9) - ENDURANCE [DD]
17  - __ __ of 12 go to make a foot (5,4) - EVERY INCH [CD]
19 - Get too big for old, limited undergarment and G-string (7) - OUTGROW {O}{UndergarmenT}{G}{ROW}
20 - Opt to stray into restricted field event (4,3) - SHOT PUT {SH{OT P*}UT}
22 - Ocean movement causes some fetid emotion (4) - TIDE [T]
23 - Way things are going, conclusion will be after a couple of trials (5) - TREND {TRials}{END}
25 - Tamils’ top repenter is more faithful (5) - TRUER {T}{RUER}




30 comments:

  1. Deepak has got the CHUTNEY he had ordered to go with his MASALA DOSA and SAMBAR, after waiting at his table for 2 days. What a waiter, or, should I say waitee?

    However, the tombola two ducks, 22, is my CoD today, the clue number being a part of the clue and the clue itself being in rhyme. WTG, GM. It got me waxing lyrical:

    A certain Colonel from Tripoli
    Had a pretty large family.
    A couple more
    Than a score
    Were always at home, usually.

    A tour de France today, what with the French Dame included in the sights to see.

    On an aside, I draw you attention to the name of the second runner up in the laddoo eating contest held in Bangalore and reported on page 2 of The Hindu, Bangalore edition today....

    Photos available at:
    http://www.facebook.com/wloce?ref=stream

    But I disguise myself quite well, you’ll agree...

    TH reports ...commissioning of Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning is of ‘far reaching significance”. Boy, what a pun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. A DOWN-TO-EARTH puzzle.

    Col's CHUTNEY is ready to serve. LEAF+LET had an easier option in clueing but GM made it more challenging.

    12A - I first thought of an elephant connection with the trumpet around.

    NOTRE DAME, I guess, is a blogger-suggested answer.

    18A - A lecturer in college had termed my error an EGREGIOUS blunder, so remembered it easily.

    DRONES are not the lazy ones in times of war. :-) DANSEUR was too close to dancer. PENGUIN had the avid reader in the setter chirping. (Does a penguin chirp, by the way?)

    TWENTY-TWO, EXCURSIVE, FLUSH, TRY IT ON, REACH, WALKOUT, EL DORADO, SHOT PUT, ENDURANCE, TRUER were EVERY INCH nice. Perhaps others would not mind AGREEING.

    Quite a satisfying exercise. Thanks, GM.

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  3. good one from grid man. penguin shot my BP by two notches. the publication takes it own sweet time to do things.may be they live up to their mascot's name?? sigh!!

    good day all. have fun

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  4. Continuing the Irish city streak:

    Enough of the hocus,
    Enough of the pocus,
    I am off this week,
    And I plan to seek,
    A meeting with POTUS.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The photo of ND has bits of the signboard of Gibert Jeune, Livres Scolaires, visible on the right.

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  6. I have seen and read Penguin paperbacks costing 2sh6p and 3sh6p: these used to have distinctly coloured covers: if the top and bottom bands were in green, the books belonged to a particular genre or category; thus, yellow, red and so on. The title and author's name was in black in the middle band which had a white background.
    ---
    I have lost affection for the brand: when they came to India their books were printed quite shoddily. My letters to the company elicited no reply.
    ---
    A letter to DD (initials of the then editor's name) proposing a book elicited no reply.
    ---
    They published a horrid crossword collection - I think it was science/GK straightforward in a large-sized grid. It was NJ-esque but I don't think the setter was in business then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No relation of our DD, tho' the first name is same, I think. This colour coding was also there in the Dragon books which published Enid Blyton: Red, Green and Blue dragons...

      Delete
  7. I cant seem to think of Paris without remembering the train accident there:

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

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kishore

    In that competition you must have found the offering toothsome; no doubt, spectators would have found you toothsome; obviously you must be toothsome enough to tuck in laddu after laddu.
    Qn: Were they Tirupati laddus?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Someone can try to fill in the blanks -

      We have a friend who's fond of laddu
      For diet's sake without it he could do
      Inasmuch as he tries
      Doesn't change in size

      .......................................

      Delete
    2. Not me. Just a namesake...

      The only food competition I participated in was in college. Drinking 10 Fantas to win and having to drink an eleventh as the prize!

      Delete
    3. Filling Richard's blanks:

      Delhi mein he was called a kaddoo!

      Delete
  9. I thought 1A was a CD (tour meaning tower in French) & &lit, "tour d'eiffel'

    ReplyDelete
  10. We have a friend who's fond of laddu
    For diet's sake without it he could do
    Inasmuch as he tries
    Doesn't change in size
    Of the laddu or himself, I tell you

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a start to the morning ! An excellent enjoyable GM special followed by a lively discussion ! Can't ask for more.

    Col. Enjoyed the Walkout very much, but felt sad also at the state of affairs, so well brought out by the cartoonist!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Neat one from Gridman today. Liked 5D-Walkout the best.

    5d Reminded me of

    Pace of aboriginal journey (9) .a.....u.

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  13. Richard regarding yesterday's clue

    detcepxenu (10,7)

    I took it as unexpected returns true. Which fits the bill as well. May be crossings helped to break the deadlock.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I too solved it instantly as UNEXPECTED RETURNS.

    In clues such as this we need to wait for a crossing or two before we can be sure of the answer.

    I wouldn't say it is ambiguous. I would call it 'deferred answer clue'.

    BACKBITER was too easy.

    G once had this clue:

    C
    -- (Not obvious!)
    T

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  15. Liked today's offering very much. Some nice wordplay, but a couple of straightforward ones too.

    Like Suresh, for 1A, I thought there was some cryptic element to it, was initially looking for a homophone indicator for 'tour'. Didn't give it too much thought as Bhavan's shortlist was fresh in my mind.

    And as far as 1D is concerned, my take is 'Old hand is rambling'! EX+CURSIVE

    Enjoyable!

    ReplyDelete
  16. So, Gridman has been my Alpha and Omega on this trip. A lovely way to finish. It's been a pleasure to share time with you all every day, and hope to be back soon (with a less hectic schedule, so I'm not doing the crossword at obscure hours). Take care and happy cross wording mes amis

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  17. Considering I suggested the words from Paris (after-effect of a recent trip, perhaps), I'm grateful to Gridman for respecting the request.
    Today's CW was enjoyable as always.
    And as the tagline for McD goes, "I'm Loving it."

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for the compliment! I just keep my eyes and ears open, that's all. In addition to having an elephantine size, I have been blessed with the eidetic memory that goes with it. However, such a memory can sometimes be a curse, as I have realised from time to time....

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  19. only one thing: eiffel tower isn't just gk: french for tower is tour, so there's a certain amount of wordplay there which you're not giving the setter credit for. :-)

    ReplyDelete

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