Thursday 21 February 2013

No 10702, Thursday 21 Feb 13, Buzzer

Excellent opener from Buzzer with impeccable surfaces all around. Was led up the garden path, while trying to link 2 and 4 in 7!!!

ACROSS
1   Batting order details (11) INFORMATION {IN}{FORMATION}
9   Selection of Mozart is typical of creator (6) ARTIST [T]
10 It makes zero difference in vacuum (2,6) NO MATTER [DD]
11 Colour of rainbow not remarkable possibly (5) BROWN RaiNBOW*
12 Hug lover (7) SQUEEZE [DD]
13 West losing head after a mishap (8) ACCIDENT {A}{oCCIDENT}
15 Press officers at heart are satirical (6) IRONIC {IRON}{offICers}
16 Decision to switch sides is tempting (6) LURING (-r+l)LU(-l+r)RING
18 Rounds off unruly roadhouses in a celebration (8) DUSSEHRA RoADHoUSES*
20 Make them pay for understanding (7) EMPATHY*
21 Cabinet post finally given to daughter-in-law (5) BAHUT {BAHU}{T}
22 Record-holder in court netted advantage point (8) CASSETTE {C{ASSET}T}{E}
23 Implement a good back-up for an inexperienced soldier (6) GALOOT {G}{A}{LOOT}<=
24 Shades for visually impaired (6-5) COLOUR-BLIND [CD] (Addendum - {COLOUR}-{BLIND} - See comments)

DOWN
2   Aboriginal gal goes out wandering in city (7) NAIROBI ABORIgINal*
3   It is frequently expressed in decimal (5) OFTEN {OF}{TEN}
4   Attitude encountered around India — mainly cushy (4-3) MIND-SET {M{IND}-{cuShy}ET}
5   Say seconds and minutes ticking round it (4,5) TIME UNITS {TIME UN{IT}S*}
6   Active leader of opposition to a great degree, has an inflated sense of superiority (2,3,2) ON THE GO {O}{N TH}{E GO}
7   Rural ambiance represented in 2 or 4 perhaps (6,7) ARABIC NUMERAL* My COD (one of many)
8   Decline to restrain one harangue (13) DETERIORATION {DETER}{1}{ORATION}
14 Why I get to burst into a number (6-3) EIGHTY-TWO*
17 Painting technique in my opinion captivated glory days (7) IMPASTO {IM{PAST}O}
18 Casual clothes not fit for nighttimes (7) DAYWEAR [CD]
19 Parts of speech elongated to a certain level (7) ECHELON [T]
21 Bread roll stuffing of cabbage-lettuce (5) BAGEL [T]

LINK TO SOLUTION


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52 comments:

  1. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 08:50

    ANNA is brother but I don't think it has been used as a component in THC so far. APPA or AMMA or PAPA or BABU may or may not have been used, I don't remember.

    BAHU has been used in this crossword and it seems the settrr has given the daughter-in-law of the household her rightful place - unlike in our Hindi and Tamil serials and also old Tamil films.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan21 February 2013 at 08:54

      Kitchen cabinet?

      Delete
    2. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 08:56

      I am now remodelling it.

      Delete
    3. Deepak Gopinath21 February 2013 at 08:56

      Yesterday we were collecting names statewise. Today lets collect relatives from various states. remember it should be 4 alphabets or lesser. So I'm starting off with

      BHAI - Brother
      TAU - Uncle
      AKKA - Sister

      Delete
    4. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 09:00

      Gridman has used TAU in a couple of his clues though it is not among the clues in the list below.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21 February 2013 at 09:01

      Cabinet reminds me of the story when a certain president (who had been a carpenter), on being told that the PM wanted to change the cabinet, asked "What size, Madam?"

      BTW, would use of Bahu require mention of Hindi / Indian along with the d-i-l? For eg: in some earlier usages of Tau, the words North Indian uncle etc were used

      Delete
    6. Anonymous21 February 2013 at 09:04

      In the Gridman clues given below, either the actual word like Anna is used or there is a reference to South India.

      Delete
    7. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 09:13

      To answer your query, when we use terms like ANNA, AMMA, etc, in a crossword in an English language newspaper, we should probably give an indication to the Indianness of the required word.

      Especially in a country like ours where there are so many languages.

      BAHU is a Hindi term and can we expect south Indian solvers to know it? Most solvers may know it even if they cannot utter a full sentence in Hindi but that's a different matter. (How many north Indian solvers would be familiar with terms from south Indian languages, I am not asking in an attempt to rake up any controversy. I grant that Hindi is a national language. Some might argue that it is not; that it is only an official language.)

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21 February 2013 at 09:35

      Not only we have many languages with the same words meaning different things in different languages, sometimes the same word can refer two different relatives in two different dialects of the same language.

      aNNa as used in South Indian languages for elder brother is also used as a word for father in North Karnataka. The same word is borrowed in Konkani with both the meanings. Worse anna with a light n is also an independently arising Konkani word for father.

      Delete
    9. Bhavan21 February 2013 at 09:39

      From ODE:
      bahu ▶ (noun) Indian a daughter-in-law.

      My thinking was that for words that are already part of an English dictionary, it may or may not be necessary to specify the language.

      Admittedly the original version of that clue "Cabinet post finally given to d-i-l in Delhi" sounds better now, but at that time I thought it might make the clue too easy. The benefits of hindsight ...

      Delete
    10. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 09:48

      My thinking was that for words that are already part of an English dictionary, it may or may not be necessary to specify the language.

      This is a rule that I have been following.



      Delete
    11. Richard21 February 2013 at 10:19

      Northerners are fond of many four-letter words from the south - DOSA, WADA, UPMA, IDLI...

      Delete
    12. Deepak Gopinath21 February 2013 at 10:42

      Bahu doesn't figure in Chambers

      Delete
    13. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 10:45

      The favourite four-letter word of many a Hindi actress working in Kollywood must be PODA.

      It may be uttered in a commanding, loud, angry voice or a soft, drooling whisper (depending upon the circumstances).

      Delete
  2. Padmanabhan21 February 2013 at 08:52

    Tough one for me. Enjoyed all the same. Just waited for the blog opening to fill the gaps. Don't know what I would have done otherwise!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 08:55

    From Gridman's dB of his clues:

    Clues wehere Indian relatives appear as components

    8 Anna, a doc could turn out to be a sinuous creature (8)

    2 In south India, brother’s left with old coins (5)

    6 Dad in south India is torn, it's clear (8)

    (I haven't done a full search but these example might do.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Padmanabhan21 February 2013 at 08:56

    I could not see the connection to 4D in 7D-2D is fine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath21 February 2013 at 08:58

      Padmanabhan Buzzer has taken you up the garden path as well. There is no connection with clue 2D or 4D. It's just that 2 and 4 are Arabic Numerals. Do you see light now at the end of the garden path?

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan21 February 2013 at 09:07

      I am down or is it 'not down'? I have been led so far up the garden path that it that light seemed far away- 'mind set' in assuming 2D & 4D.

      Delete
    3. Bhalchandra Pasupathy21 February 2013 at 10:39

      It was a clever ruse, luckily did not fall into that trap, since the not so common spelling of 'ambiance' indicated an anagram, and things fell into place.

      A little more complicated was 18A: though anagram and deletion spotted, the festival admits two or three variants of spelling. Initially put in DUSSERAH, a lot of rework became necessary once 8D gave the lie to that.

      Enjoyable

      Delete
    4. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 10:51

      That is another problem we setters have while trying to include Indian words. These words from Indian languages may have many spelling variants.

      Take the place names. How they were mauled during the Raj!

      In many instances of Indian words we might not hazard a CD. The wordplay - whether an anagram or charade or whatever - must lead to the intended spelling. I believe I take care of that.

      Delete
  5. Padmanabhan21 February 2013 at 09:00

    Cv,
    In the first example 'Anna' need not necessarily be an elder brother. It could be an old coin as well. I mean it is just a component of a word with unspecified meaning. Am I right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21 February 2013 at 09:03

      In the clue referred to Anna as a coin would not make any sense when reading, whereas as brother would be like Anna is being addressed and told that a doc could ....

      Delete
  6. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 09:06

    The surface reading of the clue makes it abundantly clear that it's a person.

    It is not the old coin.

    Gridman has clues where he has used 'Indian coin' to derive the said component.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Padmanabhan21 February 2013 at 09:10

    I stand corrected.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 09:13

    You may sit down and relax!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Padmanabhan21 February 2013 at 09:15

    Continuing the relationships-
    Kaka
    Kaki
    Mama (Tamil for uncle)
    Didi
    Biwi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard21 February 2013 at 10:13

      You can add Dada, if the 'giri' part is shed.

      Delete
  10. Bhavan21 February 2013 at 09:40

    24 Shades for visually impaired (6-5) COLOUR-BLIND [CD]

    This was intended as a charade using two meanings of shade
    as a colour and a blind on a window

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhalchandra Pasupathy21 February 2013 at 10:42

      +1. I probably would also be inclined to categorise 10A as a CD, but no matter!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21 February 2013 at 10:43

      I had initially thought shades was doing double duty for both colours and blinds but was perplexed since both were appearing in the singular in the answer. Now, that you have explained it, I see shades in its two meanings of shade. Thanks for the explanation.

      Delete
    3. Bhavan21 February 2013 at 11:22

      @Bhala 10A, Colonel had annotated it the way I had intended it - as a DD

      Delete
    4. Deepak Gopinath21 February 2013 at 12:12

      Kishore,

      both of us didn't see it correctly as we are really colour-blind :-O

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21 February 2013 at 12:25

      For a fact, I really am 24

      Delete
    6. Col_Gopinath21 February 2013 at 12:44

      That's precisely what I meant, so am I. That's the reason I couldn't pursue power flying while in Air Wing NCC in college and subsequently join the Air Force which I wanted to.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous21 February 2013 at 13:00

      OMG, you too were in the Air Force hit list like I was. The IAF was also my first career choice.

      Delete
    8. Richard21 February 2013 at 13:26

      So both of you are flying in the same hawai jahaj...

      Delete
  11. VMA Nair21 February 2013 at 09:55

    Excellent crossword

    ReplyDelete
  12. Richard21 February 2013 at 10:10

    @ Kishore 9:35, re aNNa as a brother and Konkani anna for father, I have found something similar in Marathi. 'Taayi' is mother in Kannada, while 'tai' (pronounced the same way - taayi with a soft 't') is a suffix in many female names in Maharashtra, like Shalinitai, Pratibhatai and many others.

    To balance things perhaps, in some Konkani communities, Akka is a term of endearment for a mother, while its literal meaning in Kannada is elder sister.

    India is a land of contrast, after all. Ain't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard21 February 2013 at 10:11

      'Tai' as suffix means 'elder sister', I suppose.

      Delete
  13. Richard21 February 2013 at 10:42

    4D Attitude encountered around India — mainly cushy (4-3) MIND-SET {M{IND}-{cuShy}ET}

    CV, is high fun (sic) necessary there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath21 February 2013 at 10:46

      With our without fun (sic) the mindset will be the same. Some dictionaries give both variants.

      Delete
  14. Lakshmi Vaidyanathan21 February 2013 at 10:50

    DADA
    DADI
    NANA
    NANI
    MAMI - Mama's wife (Tamil & Hindi)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 10:55

    Gridman has had:

    23 Mother an Indian relation (4)

    In this DD the first def is English and the second Indian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh21 February 2013 at 11:20

      I had initially looked at this as the answer to 12A, but the length did not match

      Delete
  16. maradnusro21 February 2013 at 11:33

    I enjoyed Buzzer's puzzle for the first time. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP21 February 2013 at 13:34

      Why only the first time ? Buzzer has been providing us entertaining puzzles with flawless surfaces for a long time now.
      Another excellent one today.

      Delete
  17. PKPSwami21 February 2013 at 15:22

    I thoroughly enjoyed todays CW.I could have made 100%.Even seemingly tough 7d , 8d Icould crack.'bahut' I got from saas bahu serials.But miserably missed dusserah a relatively easy one.I clearly got rounds off(o)but anagram portion I missedReally a brainteaser
    -PKPSwami

    ReplyDelete
  18. Chaturvasi21 February 2013 at 17:58

    LV

    Gridman has had the following clue:

    21 Father allies himself with a goon in India (4)

    It uses a suggestion of yours, but not in the sense of a family member.

    ReplyDelete
  19. RameshJ21 February 2013 at 21:24

    Lovely one from Buzzer. Looking fwd to tomorrow's edition.

    ReplyDelete
  20. veer21 February 2013 at 21:30

    Joining late as I just got around to the crossword - had forgotten who Buzzer was due to my layoff for a while. So, was fun solving as I gradually came to really appreciate the beautiful quality of clues. Buzzer's clues can stand on their own anywhere and are so polished. Thanks

    ReplyDelete

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