Saturday 16 February 2013

No 10698, Saturday 16 Feb 13, Gridman

8D with the 1D CW.

ACROSS
1   Almost support accommodating four around you in outdoor site (7) BIVOUAC {B{IV}{O}{U}ACk}
5   Weight put on by party leader in spring (6) POUNCE {P}{OUNCE}
9   Bharati unnerved with partial return of boredom (5) ENNUI [T<=]
10 How a dwarf would appear ashamed? (4,5) LOOK SMALL [DD]
11 Eli’s kid developed aversion (7) DISLIKE*
12 See fair, burgeoning flower (7) FREESIA*
13 Simpleton from hotel in New York (5) NINNY {N{INN}Y}
14 Overlook? Having eyes, one shouldn’t… (4,2,3) FAIL TO SEE [CD]
16 Don’t take sides: rebel aunt’s raging (2,7) BE NEUTRAL*
19 Source of guttural sounds from riotous Tuvalu after time’s lost (5) UVULA tUVALU*
21 At first tipping lumber off cart (7) TUMBREL {T}{LUMBER*}
23 One such faux-pas will fluster a mountain climber (7) MISSTEP [CD]
24 By no means a challenging task for a mountaineer (4,5) EASY CLIMB [CD]
25 Show an old show from obscurer underground (5) RERUN [T]
26 Mount rollicking dances (6) ASCEND*
27 Girl and page check said pair of pictures (7) DIPTYCH {DI}{P}{TYCH}(~tick)

DOWN
1   Primary source of income for a baker? (5,3,6) BREAD AND BUTTER [CD]
2   Removing the lid of oven, I and child get meat (7) VENISON {oVEN}{I}{SON}
3   This space is for storing household appliances or where the maid may work (7) UTILITY [E]
4   Necessary is requested (6-3) CALLED-FOR [DD]
5   Ultimately develop Thatcher’s place as validation (5) PROOF {P}{ROOF}
6   Type of hairdo that bares the forehead (7) UPSWEPT [CD]
7   Charles and sister form a body (7) CHASSIS {CHAS}{SIS}
8   Delighted by petitions journalist presented to a small magazine (7,2,5) PLEASED AS PUNCH {PLEAS}{ED} {A}{S} {PUNCH}
15 Setter’s closing report on a degraded city (9) ISLAMABAD {I}{SLAM}{A}{BAD}
17 North-east semis turning out to be one’s downfall (7) NEMESIS {NE}{SEMIS*}
18 UT cleric endlessly damaged part of the ear (7) UTRICLE {UT}{CLERIc}*
19 Madly ran up street to loosen (7) UNSTRAP {RAN+UP+ST}*
20 All say lady is heartless (7) UTTERLY {UTTER}{LadY}
22 One captured by fat Scottish landlord (5) LAIRD {LA{1}RD}


62 comments:

  1. Not sure of annos for BIVOUAC, ENNUI and 'final report' in ISLAMABAD. Will have to have a peak into the blog now.

    Learnt some new words like TUMBREL and UTRICLE. Phrases like LOOK SMALL, FAIL TO SEE, EASY CLIMB, BREAD AND BUTTER, CALLED-FOR, BE NEUTRAL etc. were cute. Also liked VENISON, PROOF, UTILITY,CHASSIS, LAIRD, UNSTRAP and others. The description of hairdo as UNSWEPT is interesting.

    Had some free time in the morning today, after many days. It was worth it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 9A - Now looking back, got ENNUI.

      Delete
    2. Richard, Looked for your comment connecting 1D and 20D, isn't it a delicious day?

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    3. Of course, Srini, I was 20D, B+20D delirious!

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  2. 8d reminded of the heady days of imbibing Punch cartoons which were usually found in the IWOI jokes page Jest a minute

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  3. Kishore, did you FAIL TO SEE the support in 1A?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was not THE support that we usually get

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    2. Funny how today's discussion has moved from this support to support for the male members

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  4. Had to cheat for DIPTYCH, literally the last one to fall

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  5. Crossword solve made worth it by two of my favorite clues - 8 and 15D. Kept running through what I thought were fairly straightforward clues and then these two just stood out for me.

    Btw, what is the def. for UTTERLY in 20D - if it is an &Lit I am not familiar with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, now see the "ALL" hiding in plain sight..

      Delete
  6. Just before going out to attend the literary fest in town...

    Often I have difficulty with the day's paper.

    There's the jacket that covers the front page.

    Then there's the half-jacket that falls over your lap. (Now they pin it sometimes!)

    We also have a long strip of paper (about one inch in width that runs all along the length of the paper).

    I don't know what the newspaper and ad johnnies (I bet there are jackies too) call it. But my term for this nuisance is LOINCLOTH.

    Any other suggestions welcome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least the loincloth is tied up somewhere and wont just fall off your lap!!!

      I had commented on this stupid idea that the papers started sometime ago, most irritating if you want to relax on a chair and hold up the paper to read.

      Delete
    2. These people who wanted to put a waistcoat on the paper need to be strait-jacketed, methinks

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    3. While trolling the blog for the loincloth-komanam-kaupinam-langot, I came across this interesting blog entry about the loincloth. See it at CLICK HERE

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    4. It is also very annoying when the local vendor sticks ads on the front page often covering up the headlines.

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    5. Went to link given by Deepak (as have many others, I notice). What had me chuckling was this line about the blogger (given the context):

      View my complete profile

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    6. A comment in the said blog reads: "It is also almost compulsory for people who practise indian form of wrestling and other martial arts..." .

      How fortunate that there was no spelling error while typing martial!

      Delete
    7. Yes, from all the underdogs who silently live under martial law, like the classic David-Manorama pair forever in fear of those big eyes

      Delete
  7. Easy going but interesting CW and 8D to do it. Gridman never disappoints. New words neatly clued for easy solving- user friendly?

    On the subject of loose jackets,can't the newspapers do something to deter those trying to advertise at their cost? I am sure they can take it up with the agents. I remember seeing an admonition in The Hindu some time back.

    ReplyDelete
  8. When I looked up at the blog, I found that the most recent visitors are likely be from your blog by your reference. I guess Richard was there. Thanks for post Col.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Read 'likely to be' in the above copmment

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    2. That makes me look for a fig leaf now!

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    3. You seem to have covered the point

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  9. 5 Ultimately develop / Thatcher’s place // as validation (5) PROOF {P}{ROOF}
    Nice clue. Enjoyed the capital in Thatcher intended to mislead. It did make me think of Maggie initially.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Initially and almost finally until I smiled at the misleading capital (another Islamabad?)

      Delete
  10. 15D- 'closing report' for slam is interesting & unususl. I take it 'report' refers to the sound.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the sound of a door being closed=slam

      Delete
  11. Nice CW. A different use of around = O, as normally we see Round in place of around.

    1 Almost support accommodating four around you in outdoor site (7) BIVOUAC {B{IV}{O}{U}ACk}

    ReplyDelete
  12. Absolutely 8D with Gridman's CW to-day! Solved it in one shot.
    Agree about the irritation with the 'covers' and extensions the papers have started putting in - useless appendages, and the ads on them a complete waste! I never look at them!

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  13. Gridman never fails me in providing me a good start for the day.

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  14. Wonder who the setter will be on Monday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The current setter's usual quota in a single appearance is six. So far only five have been published and so we can guess it will be Gridman on Monday. Unless the slip between the cup and the lip occurs.

      When that does, where does the spoonful land?

      "It fell to earth I know not where" PGW would quote from a poem.

      Delete
    2. Jeeves will have to fill in about which poem it came from!

      Delete
  15. Tumbrel took me back to the pages of the absorbing story of 'A tale of Two Cities' and the guillotine blood bath!
    A lol for loincloth comments!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had to keep it up ...


      the comments I mean, not the loincloth

      Delete
  16. Have to share this one from my friend Ajit, the Don:

    What does an insomniac agnostic dyslectic do late at night?

    Answer: Lie awake wondering about the existence of dog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to look up the meaning of 'dyslectic' to appreciate the comment.

      Delete
  17. Very enjoyable one. Diptych was a new word for me.

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  18. Only two comments for my post yesterday? Is it because the day was over?

    Any way, Venkatesh: SPAGHETTI & TIME ON HAND are both wrong !! Sorry, please do try again.

    Paddy: You're right ! What about the other one oin an Italian dish ?

    Others can also try. I'd love to see the results.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Venkatesh had given another answer- lots of time- which seems to be right. I am nowhere near pasta (except if given during lunch/dimmer!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With my specs getting thicker and thicker the world is actually getting dinner and dinner

      Delete
  20. Strength showing parts of farms containing metal (8) FOREARMS

    Paddy solved this correctly but still he is unsure. Why? The clue is not an example of a well-written clue.
    ORE in FARMS is the wordplay. But 'farms' is given gratis.
    What role does 'parts' play, asked Paddy.
    I too don't see it.
    Unless -
    We insert a hyphen between strength and showing and take 'sttrength-showing parts [of humans] as the def.

    If "Machine made from gold , vegetable and nickel" is the clue for AUTOMATON, the word division is OK, the charade works, but the surface reading doesn't make sense at all. It can't be called a good clue at all.

    The two other clues too may not have class in them. If they remain unsolved here in this group of expert solvers, surely something must be the matter.

    Even when the answer is known, many here may not kick themselves for not having got them.

    I guessed correctly that BS stands for Business Standard but I have not seen this paper in the past ten years. I wonder who the setter is. I don't think it has its origin in any UK newspaper or syndicate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CV,
      The answer given for pasta is 'manicotti'( I get a red underline from spell check) is a hardly known term for spaghetti/ pasta. At least the word play should be easy and lead to it. But that is a crime boss equally unknown, at least to most of us. I remember your mentioning that whenever the word is difficult, the word play should easily lead to it. If both are weird ....

      Delete
  21. Todays CW is nice. Icould solve all of course with much difficulty I cracked 27a. 'girl' di ok but page chechi s ptick is farfetched.Likewise23a I tought first it is mistake With crosstally I could find out 'misstep'

    ReplyDelete
  22. PKPS

    The French term 'faux pas', which we use for 'mistake' (your initial answer) or 'blunder' literally means 'false step'. Such an one would be very dangersous to a mountain climber. Actually, the clue is rather straightforward.

    Richard et al

    Is the term used more when we fail to observe a social grace or when we do something that might bring embarrassment to us?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boss, I always consider you as the ultimate arbiter in such matters.

      That apart, now that you have mentioned, it is apparently used on more occasions to connote the way you said here.

      Years ago, while in humorous conversation with like-minded friends, I used to pronounce it fox' paw...

      Delete
    2. I have heard it used only in the context of "fail to observe social grace".

      Delete
  23. PKPS

    Great that you completed the puzzle though a couple caused you some problems.

    It is when we surmount an obstacle here or an obstacle there and crack the clue that we get a sense of satisfaction. Some clues might lead to what are called "fill in answers" - that is you read the clue and write in the answer.

    Others may demand us to retreat from the path taken and retrace a different route till we reach the goal.

    Your persistence has brought the rewards!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I like PKPS's use of the phrase 'cross tally'.

    This is the first time I have come across this phrase. Of course, I know 'cross check'.

    Kishore and other accts. here: Is the phrase from your domain?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given his normal style and disposition, Kishore might as well use it to check whether his clients are cross with him, on account of his possibly adverse observations...

      Delete
    2. Yes. CV. Cross-tally is a term used commonly by accountants.

      Delete
  25. Message from Ajeesh,

    Hi Col,
     
    Regarding the clues given by Raju.
     
    and a very unusual one:

    Pasta leads to eccentric crime boss losing head (9) MANIC (-G)OTTI ?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gotti

    What old lags have for sack-sewing(4, 2, 4) Bags of time ?
     
    Sorry not able to post in the blog.


    ReplyDelete
  26. Thank u CVYour explanation too is in line with r rather in the light of clue in question Thank u very much

    ReplyDelete
  27. Spot on , Ajeesh. The answer is indeed MANICOTTI. You have now clarified the asnnotation also and hence I don't have to add any further.

    CV : I don't think AUTOMATON is offbeat but I liked the easy flow of the answer.

    BAGS OF TIME again is a beautiful parsing for the clue that read: What old lags have for sack sewing? (4,2,4) the TIME is in relation to the jailbirds also called lags doing their stretch inside and the BAGS is in relation to the sewing of the SACK . Great, ain't it?

    As for LOIN CLOTHES debate here, I couldn't control my chuckles reading all the comments.

    The most annoying part of early morning ritual of reading the newspapers is the leaflets that fall out of the folds as one opens. Peeved no end, I wrote to all the papers- Hindu, that responded by their cautionary note and Deccan Chronicle responded by a reply to me stating that they would warn their agents not to PIGGY- RIDE, an expression that I used agsinst the misuse of free-booting on the popularity of the newspapers and good ol' Times of course, ignored my letters, as usual !! Their folds, of the loincloith as you rightly put it, are so annoying that I simply loosen the first two sheets straightaway and go on to the ED pages and then move on to others later.

    Even magazines like India Today and Readers Digest have adopted this system of stick-0ns. Aren't you happier now that you are no longer
    in the rat-race?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Loincloth and Ajit from Bollywood. The "Loin" from London.

    ReplyDelete
  29. CV: Business Standard features these crosswords and I feel, they are on the lines of the Hindustan Times? Again, they could be syndicated from the Times of London?

    We'll ascertain the source by and by.

    ReplyDelete

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