Friday, 14 December 2012

No 10644, Friday 14 Dec 12, Buzzer

 Stumped as usual by 12A and 4D.

ACROSS
9   Bachelor course in Engineering is hard (7) OBSCURE {B+COURSE}*
10 Crusade carried out in an old vehicle (4-3) USED-CAR*
11 Kept on ice – bottled refreshing drink (5) TONIC [T]
12 So chap has recurring great addiction to work? (9) ARGUMENTA ? (Addendum - ERGOMANIA {ERGO}{MAN}{IA<=} - See comments)
13 Dapper ring put on a lot in nuptials (9) MATRIMONY {MA{TRIM}{O}NY}
14 Place according to true height (5) PERTH {PER}{T}{H}
15 Religious education to somehow unite followers (7) RETINUE {RE}{UNITE*}
17 Distribute lode? (4,3) DOLE OUT {LODE*}
19 Minor change of heart in a sense (5) SMELL SM(-a+e)ELL
20 Record popular opening line about love (9) INVENTORY {IN}{VENT}{O}{RY}
22 Noisiness marred meeting (2,7) IN SESSION*
24 In Berlin I followed about the German state (5) REICH Anno pending (Addendum - {RE}{ICH} - See comments)
25 Master artist backed by Queen is a blue blood (7) MARQUIS {M}{AR<=}{QU}{IS}
26 Say three and ether? (7) NUMBERS [DD]

DOWN
1   One dressing of lettuce over time gets brown when cored (8) COSTUMER {COS}{T}UMER Anno pending (Addendum {COS}{T}{UMbER} - See comments)
2   Newsgroups show how to fish? (6) USENET {USE}{NET}
3   Working tan perhaps by a light source (10) FUNCTIONAL {FUNCTION}{A}{L}
4   Dedicated woman entered name in training run (8) (Addendum - PENELOPE {PE}{N}{ELOPE} - See comments)
5   Starving country lacking in essential grain (6) HUNGRY HUNGaRY
6   Flash a broad smile (4) BEAM [DD]
7   Situation generating different reactions with time (8) SCENARIO REACtIONS*
8   It is a sin to steal English crown (6) WREATH {WR{E}ATH}
14 Borrow or rob and get a friend in need finally some capital? (10) PALINDROME {PAL}{IN}{neeD}{ROME}
16 Think highly of r iches (8) TREASURE [DD]
17 Picturesque guide from Kapil has articles on ODI mainly (3,5) DEV ANAND {DEV} {AN}{AN}{oDi}
18 Dollhouse model, the cosy sort (3,5) TOY CHEST {T}{OY CHEST*}
19 Run down the wicket and slip (6) SHIMMY Anno pending (Addendum - [DD] - See coments)
20 Most cold cities are awful (6) ICIEST*
21 Reference book described key thought (6) OPINED {O.{PIN}E.D}
23 Regular use of UDRS left a bad taste in the mouth (4) SOUR {uSe Of UdRs}



54 comments:

  1. 4 Dedicated woman entered name in training run (8)

    {PE}{N}{ELOPE}

    Penolope: Wife of Odysseus, known for her fidelity (Greek mythology)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 19 Run down the wicket and slip (6) SHIMMY Anno pending

    DD

    ReplyDelete
  3. 12 So chap has recurring great addiction to work? (9)

    ERGO MAN IA?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. 12 So chap has recurring great addiction to work? (9) ARGUMENTA ? (Addendum - ERGOMANIA [E])


      Not E at all. I would rather even call it an &lit.

      Delete
  5. 1 One dressing of lettuce over time gets brown when cored (8) COSTUMER {COS}{T}UMER Anno pending

    COS T UMbER

    ReplyDelete
  6. 24 In Berlin I followed about the German state (5) REICH Anno pending

    about = RE
    In Berlin I = ICH

    Ich bin ein Berliner/Hamburger/Frankfurter? a la JFK

    ReplyDelete
  7. 12 So chap has recurring great addiction to work? (9) ARGUMENTA ?

    {ERGO}{MAN}{IA}
    I'm not sure of anno for IA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IA is recurring great, great =A1=AI < = IA

      Delete
    2. Some people feel I have lost it ...

      Delete
  8. Good one from Buzzer. He swings like a butterfly and spells like a Bee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. +1. For both Buzzer & Punster

      Delete
    2. +2. I raise both of my hands- one for the buzzer & the other for the "speller".

      Delete
  9. 17 Picturesque guide from Kapil has articles on ODI mainly (3,5) DEV ANAND {DEV} {AN}{AN}{oDi}

    Guide. What a Rosy picture !

    ReplyDelete
  10. I need to start my old method of taking a walk when I find that I am stumped by some answers rather than just sitting and looking at the screen. Don't know hoe I could have missed out on ERGOMANIA even though I did have a mania in my mind!!

    Penelope of course I would have never got though I had PE and N in my mind

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cherry-picking:

    "I did have a mania in my mind"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And 'Penelope of course I would have never got...'. Ahem...

      Delete
    2. Because she is dedicated ?

      Delete
  12. Oof. Wonderful one from Buzzer. 4D,14D,17D were my top clues from a whole of contenders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it should have read 'a whole host of contenders'

      Delete
  13. ABCDE:

    A quiet place for the cattle to graze in the field ? (3,6)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A quiet place for the cattle to graze in the field ? (3,6) ... .o..e.

      Delete
    2. I have read somewhere,in olden days,in England they played in smaller village grounds cows were tied up at the edge of the field. These were called cpw corners and the shot played there as a cross bat heave used to be called cow shots.

      Delete
    3. between deep mid-wicket and long-on

      Delete
    4. :) cow corner is the answer.

      Delete
  14. Very nice CW and I was found wanting. My hair (what little left) would not have been in place but for seeing the blog. Thank you everyone for the annos.

    Buzzer has a very good idea about what our honourable MP's are doing when they are supposed to be 22A!

    ReplyDelete
  15. 9A- engineering as Anind ! I was bowled!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was misled, so misread and failed by capital letter in Engineering. Why capital letter was used here for Engineering. Was it to mislead the solvers?

      Delete
  16. 3 Working tan perhaps by a light source (10) FUNCTIONAL {FUNCTION}{A}{L}

    Good clue and well solved. Took a long time to realize TAN is a function like SIN, COS, COT etc. Nicely misled tan by a light source by the setter. Now I feel we can form clues like

    Working sin perhaps by a learner (10)
    Official sin by an unknown artist from east (11)
    etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One dressing of lettuce over time gets brown when cored (8) COSTUMER

      Can this clue be rewritten as "One dressing function over time gets brown when cored" to use COS for function.

      Delete
    2. I don't think
      Official sin by an unknown artist from east(11)
      will work.

      Official sin perhaps by an unknown artist from east(11) may work

      While sin/cos/tan perhaps can be replaced by function .. I am not sure if it will work the other way around. Wiser heads than mine will hopefully jump in later to clarify

      Delete
    3. Perhaps I should have seen it properly. Thanks RJ for pointing it out to make it work.

      Delete
  17. Great crossword and had to cheat for Penelope and discovered it was impossible because she was so devoted.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You cheated and she didn't !

      Delete
    2. I am trying to understand this in connection with Official Sin (and Unofficial ) referred to above...

      Delete
    3. One is functional and the other is non-functional

      Delete
  18. Excellent one, but on the tougher side. Spent quite some time and had a couple of blanks in the end.

    ReplyDelete
  19. 7D Situation generating different reactions with time (8) SCENARIO REACtIONS*

    Shouldn't this be different reactions without time? Or am I missing something very obvious?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. scenario+t generating different reactions*

      Delete
    2. Thanks Ajeesh. Both with and without time lead to scenario (interpreted differently).

      Delete
  20. 12A There is no word in Merriam Webster like ERGOMANIA.
    14D PALINDROME is superb clueing.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Buzzed me out today, got only 8 :( ... and to add to that, Sachin again :(

    OIC moments for 23D an 19D, should have got those.
    25A, Assumed Queen as ER, is there an indicator as to when we should consider Queen as ER and when not? Or is it just based on the puzzle?
    9A, Didn't know why E caps in Engineering...didn't get that as indicator.
    14D was kick ***, loved it!

    If not for this blog, i would have been stung hard by the Bee (Buzzer!)


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen can be R ( Regina ) ,ER ( Elizabeth Regina) ,Q (From Chess ), Qu ( Not sure where this comes from )and HM ( Her Majesty). This may not be a complete list.

      Delete
  22. Hi Bhavan! Enjoyed the puzzle and did not find it very difficult at all! A couple of points:
    * In 9A, I am not very sure how "in engineering" works as an anagram indicator. B+COURSE "on engineering" becomes obscure, but the grammar does not seem to fit with "in" in place of "on".
    * In 17D, isn't "mainly" a first letter indicator? "Essentially" will be alright there, but I am not sure about "mainly" for central letter indication.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shyam, long time.

      You are of course right.

      9A the cryptic indicator is probably loose.

      17D now that you say it, I have to agree my head and heart are mixed up. I think I used the same construct in one of my next puzzles. Since it is already out of my hands, I'll bear this in mind for the future.

      Delete
  23. Looks like everything has been addressed?

    Tomorrow is a sequel puzzle of sorts. I'd say see for yourself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bhavan,

      Nice puzzle.

      I've got a couple of question.

      Several clues in today's puzzle take the form "Wordplay in Definition." Not sure how acceptable it is.

      9A, Can B be obtained from Bachelor? Of course BA is Bachelor of Arts and so on, but just Bachelor = B?

      5D, Not really sure if "essential grain" would lead to A. "Essential in grain," "essential to grain" or maybe "grain essentially," but "essential grain?"

      Delete

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