Friday 28 December 2012

No.10656, Friday 28 Dec 12, Klue Klux Klan

Either I'm off my game today or some things don't really add up in the puzzle.

ACROSS
1 A spot for student, not trite (6) MACULA (MAtriCULAte)
4 Thresholds in city houses (6) MINIMA (IN inside MIMA) LIMINA (IN inside LIMA) See comments below
9 Half of them follow ancient city Goddess (4) URTH (THem after UR)
10 Chasteness understood in Sicily boundaries (10) SIMPLICITY (IMPLICIT inside SicilY)
11 Shilling taken out from nearest cupboard (6) CLOSET (CLOSEsT)
12 Adult, fashion-spirited, played on the road (4,4) AWAY, GAME (A + WAY + GAME)
13 Coat occultist left out somehow (9) STUCCOIST (OCCUlTIST)* where is the extra S coming from? And does Stuccoist mean coat? Can't find such a reference
15 Bridge players in pink city (5) PINSK (S inside PINK)
16 Pasta for Celt born westbound of Tyneside (5) PENNE (NEP<=? + NE)
18 Settler’s work money? (9) SOURDOUGH (SOUR + DOUGH)
22 Smart Alec knowing Israel town (8) WISEACRE (WISE  + ACRE)
23 Carry the French wine (6) DEPORT (DE + PORT) DE is "of" in French, not "the"
25 Inhabiting trees, a royal put up with friend (10) ARBOREALLY (A + R + BORE + ALLY) Adjective and Adverb mismatch?
26 City’s limitless taxing design (4) XIAN (tAXINg)*
27 Specifically determines advantages (6) ASSETS ? (AS + SETS) See comments below
28 Stick to the Goddess after today (6) ADHERE (HERE after AD)

DOWN
1 Marple mostly to turn spoil-sport? (7) MARPLOT (MARPLe + TO<=)
2 Fish found in Mexico hospital (5) COHOS (T)
3 Nation initially lacking potholes? Strange! (7) LESOTHO (pOTHOLES)*
5 Complaints, yes? Quite so! (3,3) I'LL, SAY (ILLS + AY)
6 Concealed coin ingot at sea (9) INCOGNITO (COIN INGOT)*
7 Goddess of Emirates decapitated grotesquely (7) ARTEMIS (eMIRATES)*
8 Torridly dispose, mainly in a riot (13) IMPASSIONEDLY (DISPOSE MAINLY)*
14 Infectious stubborn worker removed (9) CANKEROUS (CantANKEROUS)
17 King’s sex appeal concerning in East African country (7)  ERITREA (ER + IT + RE + A) A from? (R + IT + RE inside E A) See comments below
19 Flew overnight // with signs of crying (3-4) RED-EYED (DD)
20 Refuse to clothe some agents (7) GARBAGE (GARB + AGEnts) some = half?
21 Skilful researcher short of time? (6) SCIENT (SCIENTist)
24 Cobbler, say, swallows one unknown brownie (5) PIXIE (PIE outside I + X)



46 comments:

  1. I saw 27A as {AS}{SETS}
    and
    17D as {E{R}{IT}{RE}A} with just Country as the definition

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Colonel, those two make better sense to me now

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    2. +2, some clues were fine and some were not.

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  2. 13 Coat occultist left out somehow (9) STUCCOIST (OCCUlTIST)* where is the extra S coming from? And does Stuccoist mean coat? Can't find such a reference

    may be a typo. Should have been occultists.

    stuccoist
    Definition(pl. stuccoists) Refers specifically to craftsmen who create decorative sculpted surfaces and sculptural detail for walls and ceilings in stucco. Also refers generally to those who apply stucco to surfaces, not necessarily sculpted or molded.

    However I find a lot of ads in P D Marlow Specialists in Stuccoist.

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    Replies
    1. I get that stucco=coat. My question was does stuccoist as a person match the required definition "coat".

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    2. I agree stuccoist is a person. However there are lots of ads appearing in Belfast which states "Specialists in Stuccoist". So it makes me think whether stuccoist also means coat. However, I agree this definition of stuccoist as coat is not found anywhere.

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    3. Chambers calls a person doing a stucco job as STUCCOER. Coat is just stucco.

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  3. 20 Refuse to clothe some agents (7) GARBAGE (GARB + AGEnts) some = half?
    Surface reading is good. Here 'some'happens to be 'half'; I don't find anything wrong with the clue.

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  4. Wonder how many of us would have heard of Mima? Xian and Pinsk are probably acceptable as they form the answer and could possibly be derived. In PINSK, there is one bridge player, S and clue refers to him in plural, typo, or is the convention?

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  5. 15 Bridge players in pink city (5) PINSK (S inside PINK)

    Type. Should have been Bridge player in Pink city.
    or setter might have mistaken NS inside the answer.

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  6. Replies
    1. Day before yesterday feasting, Yesterday fasting and today starving. Tomorrow should be LIGHTNING

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    2. Couldn't agree more! Gave up after a feeble attempt and solving 6 or 7!! No samosas - good for physical health but not for mental health!! Went batty trying to solve this one.

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  7. 28A- Goddess is Hera, whereas it is 'here' in the answer. Any clarification?

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    Replies
    1. Here I believe is an alternate spelling for Hera.

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  8. So the S from 13A landed in 15A. The letter slipped down.

    Got stuck on Sourdough, having put in Pourboire instead and consequently Garbage resulted.

    Agree with comment on Stuccoist, subject to Rengaswamy's observations

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe we should write to P.D.Marlow, specialist in stuccoist as to where he got that word.

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  9. I am waiting anxiously for Gridman and Sankalak. Enough of Incognito and Ku Klux Klan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean Skulldugger. Incognito is normally quite straightforward.

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  10. Wonder how long you took on this crossword, Bhavan. I took all of 2 hours

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The answers went in quickly enough. In the NW corner I struggled for annos - especially having not come across MIMA and NEP. Xian went straight in because we had been holidaying there earlier this year. Pinsk was another unknown as were some the goddesses.

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    2. Moral of the story- go for vacation to unknown places to be able to solve THC!

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  11. Mighty struggle today. Did not know MIMA and Stuccoist and such and had several gaps in the end.
    I really hope the setter does not refer to the "long list" - where incidentally single letters n,e,w,s are listed as bridge players (in plural).
    Also for 26D you get another city Nixa (made famous by the Bourne series !). It would be better had the clue been a bit more unambiguous.

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  12. Really tough one today. Could complete only 50% before consulting the blog. Bhavan - you are a genius in solving this !

    Some questions still linger - Annos of the following still leave me head-scratching.
    16A - Where does {NEP<= }+ NE come from
    14D - Does CANKEROUS really mean infectious? My dictionary reference did not turn up that one...
    21D - "short of time" indicates knock of T; why IST?
    12A - How Does "Fashion-spirited" give WAY GAME?
    24D - Why is cobbler a PIE?

    Overall, this CW had too many unfamiliar words -but I guess we live, solve and learn!




    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sridhar, some answers:

      14D : Chambers shows canker (v)=infect, so it is acceptable I suppose
      21D: I took the reference to time as IST (Indian Standard Time) to fit the wordplay
      12A Fashion = way (like "in this fashion = in this way") and spirited(adj)= game(adj)
      24D See the link to PIE in the answer. A cobbler is apparently a food item, generally a pie.

      Delete

    2. 14D: Online free dictionary does list infectious as one of the meanings and I think usage is fine in general.
      24D: One of the meanings for cobbler "1. A deep-dish fruit pie with a thick top crust."
      12A: Fashion == Way (as in manner, trend etc); Spirited == Game (as in ready, eager to do something)

      Not sure of the other two.

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    3. Did not see Bhavan's response prior to posting.

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    4. Never eaten a cobbler, nor drunk one.

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  13. 21D - short of time - IST for Indian Standard Time?

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    Replies
    1. I think it comes from first, as in first time or IST time. Ain't sure if it really works.

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  14. Noticing it now. I had LIMINA not Minima fo 4A

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    Replies
    1. Limina means the thresholds of a physiological or psychological response. Don't know what that means.

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    2. Apparently, like most of us you've not heard of MIMA! But LIMINA is also right as it fits and the anno too works out.

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    3. Limina certainly is a better answer

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    4. There is this Latin expression "in limine" - you must have heard of courts dismissing petitions in limine - meaning "at the start" - as there is no scope whatever for admitting it. It is not allowed to cross the threshold - which is what the Latin word means, I think.

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  15. NEP could mean non-English proficient?

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  16. For 16A, I think Celt born is PENN (surname) and westbound of Tyneside is E

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  17. 8D - Is there a word IMPASSIONEDLY? Can not find in my dic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will find it in some online Dictionaries

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  18. Vijay Sarvagnam2:04 PM GMT+05:30
    8D - Is there a word IMPASSIONEDLY? Can not find in my dic.

    Reply

    COLLINS DIC :

    impassioned
    adj filled with passion; fiery; inflamed
    an impassioned appeal
    ♦ impassionedly adv

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  19. Could not do the crossword today

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think you need worry - many of us regulars in the same boat to- day! It was just too tough, takes the pleasure out of solving CWs. KKK is too obtuse to be interesting and enjoyable, sadly.

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    2. By and by you will get better at it and will start enjoying these crosswords

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  20. Today's fare makes me appreciate Gridman, Sankalak and Arden more!

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  21. Vasu @ 2:20 PM,
    I decided earlier today never to rely on a dictionary which has accepted "Gangnam Style" into its lexicon. :D

    ReplyDelete

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