Saturday, 23 March 2013

No 10728, Saturday 23 Mar 13, Gridman

End of a fine run from Gridman.

ACROSS
1   By no means a city characteristic (8) RURALITY [CD]
5   A county council’s practice is to make a charge (6) ACCUSE {A}{C}{C}{USE}
10 Old, bald confused eccentric (7) ODDBALL*
11 Cut the blanket? (7) WHITTLE [DD]
12 Attempt to protect tree becomes useless (6) TRASHY {TR{ASH}Y}
13 Almost finally, one heartless try’s going on forever (8) INFINITY {INFINite}{1}{TrY} Not sure of anno (Addendum - {IN FINe}{1}{TrY} - See comments}
15 Fill until full with Malaysian meat dish (4) SATE [DD]
16 Energy — one can’t have it remaining in bed (3-2-3-2) GET-UP-AND-GO [CD]
18 No matter what happens — applying to whatever the field contest is (2,3,5) IN ANY EVENT [C&DD]
20 First letter is first letter backing continent (4) ASIA {A}{SI}{A}<=
23 Becoming rotten and exploding (5,3) GOING OFF [DD]
24 Turned, placed and freed (6) PUTRID {PUT}{RID}
26 Have — or hold ? (7) CONTAIN [DD]
27 Cat swindler, so to speak (7) CHEETAH (~cheater)
28 Belief in god makes man lost in strange mist (6) THEISM {T{HE}ISM*}
29 What happens when you put two and two together (8) ADDITION [E]

DOWN
1   No pet lover will have Tom without this (4,2,5,1,3) ROOM TO SWING A CAT [CD]
2   Looking happy, artist and girl want to be topless (7) RADIANT {RA}{DI}{wANT}
3   Hate to see two articles together (6) LOATHE {LO}{A}{THE}
4   Wordgame piece on the floor? (4) TILE [DD]
6   Important to be judgemental (8) CRITICAL [DD]
7   Unit assembled around royal editor not tested (7) UNTRIED {UNT{R}I*}{ED}
8   Wand the nervy one shook too frequently (5,3,3,4) EVERY NOW AND THEN*
9   Wine Burns served a poet (9) SWINBURNE*
14 Handed this punishment, one has to pay a large sum (5,4) HEAVY FINE [CD]
17 Monocle good girl got after I suggested orally (8) EYEGLASS (~i){EYE}{G}{LASS}


19 A right starts exhilarating exclusive property receiver (7) ALIENEE {A}{LIEN}{E}{E}
21 Dismissed tritest fugue parts (7) STRETTI*
22 Bones from old British administrator’s semi-ring (6) HUMERI {HUME}{RIng}
25 I note the journalist is frozen (4) ICED {I}{C}{ED}


46 comments:

  1. In any event, every now and then, when I have enough room to swing a cat I get up and go. Was amusing to Congress founder turn into bones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Quite a few new ones today- stretti,room to swing a cat,humeri (plural of humerus?)Rest were easy and could be done before blog time. Agreed, one has to keep learning.

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  3. Swinburne was the last to fall. But with just 2 vowels left after the crossings, permutations were easy.

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  4. PBP wrote yesterday: "Today it is Kishore's turn to recite a nursery rhyme. We had Col. correcting me yesterday. Feels like good old times."

    I want to ask Pad and others from the admittedly older age-group here whether they were taught English nursery rhymes when in first class primarily learning ABCs at a time when there were no kgs. of education (weigh any child's backpack).

    Honestly, I don't remember ever having been made to lisp nursery rhymes. Any nursery that I was in must have been my grandpa's humble home in a far corner of CBE or palatial home in Gopalapuram, Madras, when I was holding the pallu of my mother's whole nine-yards (all my older relatives taunt me by recalling this).

    The rhymes came to my knowledge only when I sat at the knee (don't remember whether it was left or right) of my dad in Sec'bad reading poetry to me and my siblings. Don't recall him reading anything from Mother Hubbard's cupboard, only 'story poems' - of which there were many collections including one by a certain Kini. Later wegraduated to Palgrave's Golden Treasury.

    In any case Class One to Second Form were all in Tamil medium. The Tamil rhymes taught must have been age-old ones with pleas to the moon to come nearer or some such. Today many modern versifiers have written beautiful songs in Tamil from which children can stay firm on earth imbibing modern culture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nursery rhymes must be a legacy from the convent schools which were basically english medium.

      Delete
  5. 13 Almost finally, one heartless try’s going on forever (8) INFINITY {INFINite}

    I think it is from Latin FINI(-S). But what is In?

    ReplyDelete
  6. CV on Nursery rhymes-

    I studied my entire school days in tamil medium without any chance of learning a single English nursery rhyme. I learned all my rhymes outside scholl from my father and other relatives and many of them along with my nephews/ nieces and my children. Since even this was decades away, I mentioned old memories- not from my school days. I really struggled to come to terms with English as a medium when I entered Pre University course. It did not help matters that it was only a one year course. CV is lucky that he was in tamil medium only till II form, that is seventh standard.

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  7. Finally: In The End/ Towards the end: IN FINI(-s)

    In (Latin): IN,into, toward, against.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The nursery rhyme-where I made a mistake and Col. corrected me- was learnt by me along with my son in his kindergarten days in early eighties( and not from my childhood). Probably that is why I did not remember it correctly. You learn and remember a lot when you are young.

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  9. I was waiting to see if anyone clears up the anno for 13a. What Raghunath has hazarded was not in my mind.

    I can give a hint: A similar expression, I have used in one of my messages yesterday on this blog.

    Another hint: Part of the deletion fodder is part of an answer in today's cwd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My anno was wrong as almost FINIS is FINI and FIN was required.

      Delete
  10. 13 Almost finally, one heartless try’s going on forever (8) INFINITY {INFINite}{1}{TrY} Not sure of anno

    Finally = in fine (adverb)
    Almost finally = in fin
    one = 1
    heartless try = ty
    going on forever = infinity

    Although for "going on forever" I'd have preferred to see "infinite" as the answer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't get that. Can anyone explain 'finally/in fine' with a sentence?

      Delete
  11. Bhavan you beat me to it, maybe because of my late breakfast

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  12. A Question.

    What is the difference between a 'reverse anagram' and finding a synonym of a word and then having to delete something from it, maybe its head, tail or heart?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mr X is friendly, understanding, courteous, humble, sincere and time-conscious.

    In fine, he is a gentleman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Never seen this usage before.

      Delete
    2. It is a pucca English phrase.

      See

      http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/in-fine

      Chambers on my machine does not seem to have it. Deepak, please see under 'fine' in your 12th and let me know.

      Delete
    3. I saw it here
      http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_(I)#section_1

      Sorry it is mobile link

      Delete
    4. Ajeesh, I followed the URL. Thanks.

      I know many of these footnote words/phrases from Latin, but I had not come across 'in fine' in book reerences.

      Delete
    5. Not there in Chambers 12th edition under fine, finally or in-

      Delete
    6. In case there was no such phrase in English, would the Latin one be acceptable as fair or would it be stretching it?

      Delete
    7. In fine is an English expression, not commonly used nowadays. You will fine in Wiktionary.

      Incidentally, CV I thought Mr. X was Kishore Kumar.

      Delete
    8. http://www.proz.com/kudoz/latin_to_english/linguistics/3358487-in_fine.html

      Delete
    9. My query was whether the Latin one is acceptable assuming there was nothing in English. In other words would it be fair?

      Delete
    10. Suresh 1126 - I remembered Mere mehboob qayamat hogi, aaj rusva teri galiyon mein mohabbat hogi.. so soulfully rendered by the late Kishore Kumar Ganguly in Mr X in Bombay. Thanks for making recall it..

      Delete
    11. Kishore is one of my favs.

      But if you sing in the bathroom Mukesh is easier.

      Delete
    12. The soap is likely to get into the nostrils and the nasal voice comes out natural...

      Delete
  14. I don't think it will be fair to use a Latin (or any foreign) phrase if there was no such phrase in English.

    In any case, I was using it because I knew it existed in English. And I usually check when I recall a phrase from the distant past.

    In sum, caution is the watchword.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'in fine' is definitely found in Chambers 12th ed, online version has it. Reproducing below:

      in fine: in total; to sum up.
      ETYMOLOGY: 12c: from French fin end, settlement or ending a dispute.

      You can find the entry in fine(2nd meaning)

      Delete
  15. Enjoyed todays CW.esp.27a,24a&19d worthmentioning.The entire week,thanks to Gridman went off like fairytale events.Today's like fairytale end.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a thief might do to get wealth? (5,3,3)

    I think this may be taken as a reverse anagram.

    Here you don't anagram any letters in the clue. You take the hint from the answer BREAK THE LAW which suggests that if you anagram ('break') THE LAW (anag fodder), you get WEALTH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From Sunday's
      Emergency accommodation when the weather's bad could be no party (3,4,2,1,5)
      Any port in a storm

      Delete
    2. Excellent. I enjoyed it. Amazing how many variations are possible. But would be very difficult to solve- may be some crosssings could help.

      Delete
    3. I meant CV's reverse anagram.

      Delete
  17. I have read 'in fine' in many places, though it is not much used nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
  18. In fine: in conclusion; by way of termination or summing up.

    This is the meaning I found in Free dictionary

    ReplyDelete
  19. Regarding nursery rhymes my experience is similar to many of my contemporaries here. Studied in Tamil medium and switched over to Matriculation in the 9th std. After we first 2 sisters escaped KG class somehow our last sister joined English medium KG. And we all learnt nursery rhymes from her books. Later when our 3 children went to school they had to learn nursery rhymes and the trend continued with grandchildren. Have read criticisms about these rhymes too which I feel are correct too!As a remedy nowadays schools teach the kids some sensible English rhymes written recently. I loved 2 particular rhymes one of our grandsons used to recite very cutely with action- one on how to make a crying baby sleep-feed the baby, change nappy, pat, sing etc. The other one was about all the fruits with beautiful rhyme and sense- very educative and encouraging for the kids.

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  20. If you can the excat rhymes it would be enjoyable. Too much to ask?

    ReplyDelete
  21. So sorry I couldn't recall the lines! Just papaya and banana are ringing in my ears! In the lullaby rhyme it ends with the kid successfully putting the baby to sleep and clapping his hands to congratulate himself for the achievement. I used to tease my grandson asking him if the baby wouldn't wake up with the sound of his clapping hands!

    ReplyDelete

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