Today is 20.12.2012.
ACROSS
1 An olive branch to take pain off Greece, perhaps (5,8) PEACE OFFERING*
11 He makes life hard for soldiers amid the hills…. (9) TORMENTOR {TOR}{MEN}{TOR}
12 …… and ammunition to carry over the hilltop (9) CARTRIDGE {CART}{RIDGE}
13 Old records and old babus make old stories (5) EPICS {EP}{ICS}
14 Many can't follow this French musician (7) CELLIST {C}ELL{IST} Anno pending (Addendum {CE}{L}{LIST} - See comments)
16 It is all about guts (7) ENTERIC [CD]
18 The race was great, organised by the volunteers (7) REGATTA {GREAT*}{TA}
20 For a hunter it is mistake to be caught in a row (7) TERRIER {T{ERR}IER}
22 Some tests allowed indoor also (5) ORALS [T]
24 Oddly Sheila has plenty to copy and paste (9) SELLOTAPE {ShEiLa}{LOT}{APE} This is a Brand name of 'Cellotape'
26 To a disgusting degree a newspaper will exploit a man (2,7) AD NAUSEUM {A}{D NA}{USE}{U}{M} (Addendum - AD NAUSEAM {A}{D NA}{USE}{A}{M} - See comments)
27 The fool allowing an old dictator to return (5) IDIOT {IDI}{OT<=}
28 Control accounts to get one back in office (13) REINSTATEMENT {REIN}{STATEMENT}
DOWN
2 Please alter high note somehow (7) ENTHRAL {ALTER+H+N}*
3 Actor isn’t playing tricks, it is the trickster (3,6) CON ARTIST*
4 Chose work to regularly attend later (5) OPTED {OP}{aTtEnD}
5 Come after making some stuffing (9) FORCEMEAT*
6 Turn up with an English official (5) REEVE {REEV<=}{E}
7 One is better dressed when one is involved in the talk (7) NATTIER {NATT{1}ER}
8 He is not commissioned to carry a weapon on the body (5,8) LANCE CORPORAL {LANCE} {CORPORAL}
9 Turbulence when angry dogs charge inside (13) CROSS CURRENTS {CROSS} {CUR{RENT}S}
15 Passing transport trains go in without hesitation (9) TRANSIENT {TRAINS*}{ENTer}
17 For most of the time in office, Doctor Morris deals with this modern scourge (9) TERRORISM {TERm}{MORRIS*}
19 She may be nearing old age (7) GRANNIE [CD] (Addendum - GRANNIE*&lit - See comments)
21 Perhaps, Claudia Cardinale had the oomph — once considered the greatest one (7) ITALIAN {IT}{ALI}{AN}
23 Reject starting price on the vessel (5) SPURN {SP}{URN}
Several nice ones here, EP ICS, A DNA USE A M, IT ALI AN, IDI OT. People wrongly spell AD NAUSEAM as “ad nauseum”, ad nauseam ! This list of people includes yours truly who till getting the anno had filled it up wrongly in the grid. Liked the refs to IDI and ALI. Putting 20a and 17d together, could the owner of a TERRIER be called a terrierist?
ReplyDeleteSo did I !!
Delete26 To a disgusting degree a newspaper will exploit a man (2,7) AD NAUSEUM {A}{D NA}{USE}{U}{M}
ReplyDeleteLooks like Deepak joins me in the list !
Good to know that others made the same mistake :P
Delete+1
DeleteI thought it was AD NAUSEUM too. Only the wordplay saved me. I have lost 3 samosas in the last few days for being careless ( once it was a lack or rigor, then it was for want of a nail, and the last time it was a missing key). So today I was extra careful and didn't put in any thing unless I could explain the anno fully.
DeleteFor want of a nail, a shoe was lost.
DeleteThankfully all these were filled in last, so damage was limited. The loss of nail just cost a samosa not a complete gird collapse. Exercising more caution while filling up the last few ones should hopefully alleviate this problem.
DeleteDeepak, the 'Love is ...' cartoon reminded me of the Junior Statesman, where this used to regularly appear.
ReplyDeleteMy wife still has some of those which I used to cut out from JS and send across to her during our courting period.
Delete;-)
DeleteI too used to collect them, much before courtship days. (Out of court, one could say.) Any chance to download them to have a fresh collection? Any website, I mean.
DeleteNo website, but there is a free app for iphones at http://www.loveisapplication.com/index.html
DeleteRichard,
DeleteSo you settled out of court or courted out of settlement?
No better time for Col. to revive old memories than being so close (or I should say just past) to his Golden Jubilee!
For 'love is' comics visit
Deletehttp://www.gocomics.com/loveis/
Change the date for a fresh comic.
There are loads of them.
Thank you, one and all.
DeleteNice one again from Arden.
ReplyDelete14A ce = this in French
l = many
list = cant as in tilt
Thanks Bhavan,
DeleteThat gives it a new tilt!!
Our friend Veer turns up again in 6d
ReplyDeleteThe sellotape/cellotape reminded me of the duct tape/ Duck tape.
ReplyDeleteToday is 20.12.2012.
ReplyDeleteFor people who are worried about 21.12, I recommend Sidney Sheldon's 'If Tomorrow Comes'.
Wonder how many deliveries are scheduled for 20:12,20-12-2012
DeleteWhile a dozen did play a major role in the FPS era, 20 and 12 played a role in the pre-decimal pound. 20 shillings to a pound and 12 pence to a shilling, making 240 pence to a pound.
DeleteIn early accounting problems, this with a similar Re-An-Pice/pie at 1:16, 1:4 and 1:12 conversions made the totaling of columns turn out to be sheer hell.
DeleteThe problem was more acute when both were in circulation for a while imm after decimalisation in rounding off of fractions, because people still used to quote in annas,pies and then try to convert! Those days 1 P & 2 P coins were still legal tender!
DeleteNice one from Arden. After the first 15 min, my grid had a lot of empty spaces. Took a break ( used Col's advice some time back of how to handle CWs when your mind seems blocked ) and came back to finish it.
ReplyDeleteABCDE :
A hat is expensive said the first stingy speaker (11)
Deerstalker
Delete:)
DeleteInterestingly, until I read wikipedia, I never realized that the word "deerstalker" never appears in text in the books. The picture of Holmes wearing that hat is so vividly etched in one's mind that I had taken it for granted.
DeleteAnother really nice one from Arden. Have been spelling "ad nauseam" incorrectly all along as well.
19 She may be nearing old age (7) GRANNIE [CD]
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent &lit clue with GRANNIE = NEARING*
Wow I didn't see that!
DeleteI first thought of 'grandma' and since it did not fit in with crossings, tried and found the anagram.
DeleteA doubt about 13A-
ReplyDeleteOld records should lead to EP's,isn't it? 'Old babus' as a clan gives ICS.
Photographs and some videos of my 60th B'day bash are uploaded on the THCC Families blog, link to which is on the panel at the left. In case you are too lazy to go there then click on thiis link MY B'DAY BASH
ReplyDeleteDeepak: A very imaginatively organized crossword -themed birthday bash, I should say !! How long did you take to hunt out the treasures hidden all over ? Before or after the imbibing of vodka and Champa-agne-devi ? you can remember this birthday for all time to come. Not many bloggers attended? because they didn't know?? Any way, the pics were the- sche-matically presented on this blog for posterity . Missed out on all the fun on the blog too since I was sick as mud with travel and sleeplessness compounded by bad throat infection picked up from Delhi and Bombay.
ReplyDeleteLove is---- these cartoons were also my favourites and I had made an album of most of them, culled out of the old inimitable JS and later the Daily Nation of Nairobi. . Good enough to be presented to any newly- weds and would-be weds,to learn that what happens before the marriage and during the marriage is not that important as against AFTER the marriage. Stability and abiding love to each other.
Let's hope that you and Geetaji will now trundle on towards your 80th birthday and that too will be equally interesting.
God bless you both .
Raju & Sapna