Thursday 2 May 2013

No.10762, Thursday 2 May 13, Arden

Typically entertaining puzzle from Arden. GRAMERCY was a new word for me, but easy enough to get from the wordplay. Especially liked the clues for LOLLIPOP, NEVADA, CLOTHES-HORSE, SHOELACE, NORWAY, GARBED and SLAT. The clue for AMARANTH threw me off for a while. There was just way too much padding! 

Wonder where did Scintillator's puzzle go.

ACROSS
1 Like reviving a small glossy (6) SATINY (AS<= + TINY)
4 Herb was in the team as Obama ran the race for presidency (8) AMARANTH (T)
9 Love and relationship consumed by drug (6) OPIATE (O + PI + ATE)
10 Sound surprised that an Indian city lost a charity (8) GRAMERCY (aGRA + MERCY)
12 Combine internal medicine over a sweet (8) LOLLIPOP (LOOP outside PILL<=)
13 A state in the northeast with an Indian delicacy (6) NEVADA (NE + VADA)
15 Schools there transform a fashion conscious person (7-5) CLOTHES-HORSE (SCHOOLS THERE)*
18 Theatre gossip heard by the audience but not the cast (5,7) STAGE, WHISPER (CD)
21 Getting on with egg in a scrambled form (6) AGEING (EGG IN A)*



22 Makes sweatier so to speak (2,2,4) AS, IT, WERE (SWEATIER)*
24 Scholar almost paralysed in the notorious jail (8) BASTILLE (BA + STILLEd)
25 Porter would loft over cover (6) SKYCAP (SKY + CAP)
26 Representative left in a river opening (8) DELEGATE (L inside DEE + GATE)
27 Combines divisions around a point (6) UNITES (UNITS outside E)

DOWN
1 Drunk chose ale, but could hardly tie his own….. (8) SHOELACE (CHOSE ALE)*
2 A number to sing in a charged state (8) TRILLION (TRILL + ION) Is ion a charged state?
3 However it won’t alter high status (15) NOTWITHSTANDING (NOT WITH STANDING) Correction: NOT WIT* + H + STANDING) See comments
5 Just // a lake (4) MERE (DD)
6 Kremlin puts list out for a fairy tale character (15) RUMPELSTILTSKIN (KREMLIN PUTS LIST)*
7 Country’s firm refusal to include republican (6) NORWAY (NO WAY outside R)
8 Said to be feed time when in prime (6) HEYDAY (~HAY + DAY)
11 Study the indication and then commit (7) CONSIGN (CON + SIGN)
14 A question about the girl remains….it is nonsense (7) HOGWASH (HOW outside G + ASH)
16 Part of the shoe torn by the blow (8) UPPERCUT (UPPER + CUT)
17 Forestalls a mere disturbance between pressure points (3-5) PRE-EMPTS (MERE* inside P PTS)
19 Dressed for a B grade version (6) GARBED (B GRADE)*
20 Animal bearing a stand (6) WEASEL (W + EASEL)
23 Initially stopped, later allowed to strip (4) SLAT (Acrostic)


52 comments:

  1. 3 However it won’t alter high status (15) NOTWITHSTANDING (NOT WITH STANDING) Anno correction

    {NOTWIT}* H STANDING

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rengaswamy, corrected in the post.

      Delete
    2. The original anno also works well without the anagram.

      Delete
  2. Typo in anno of 12A (POOL outside PILL)<=

    ReplyDelete
  3. 12 Combine internal medicine over a sweet (8) LOLLIPOP (LOOP outside PILL<=)

    I took it as:
    Combine=POOL
    medicine=PILL
    internal= insertion indicator
    over= reversal indicator

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOOP also means to join or combine, so either anno works I think.

      Delete
    2. It does work, though COMBINE is shown as synonym of POOL in thefreedictionary unlike LOOP where COMBINE is not directly shown as a synonym.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Have a great day Ajeesh!

      Delete
    2. Many Happy returns, Ajeesh

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    3. I too join the rest in wishing you, Ajeesh!

      Delete
    4. Jeeyo Sou Saal ke uper Ajeesh. Many happy returns of the day.

      Delete
    5. Many Happy Returns of the Day Ajeesh

      Delete
    6. Ajeesh- Happy birthday!

      Delete
  5. 13 A state in the northeast with an Indian delicacy (6) NEVADA (NE + VADA)

    Nee vaaDa, Naan porayn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Nee pogum idam ellaam naanum varuvaen po po po..." - old Tamil film song.

      Delete
    2. Yaarukku solla maaTey. (Ennakke teriyadu)

      Delete
    3. Chal pade magar raasta nahin.

      Delete
  6. Good one from Arden.
    Suppose POOL and LOOP work both ways.

    NEVADA was a bit unfair w/o the US indicator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 23 Initially stopped, later allowed to strip (4) SLAT (Acrostic)

    Nice. Acrostic is a new word learnt by me today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You meant SLAT and not Acrostic?

      Delete
    2. I meant Acrostic only given by Bhavan. Slat I knew earlier.

      Delete
    3. Surprising. Acrostic is common & slat uncommon!

      Delete
  8. I never knew that porters at Airports were called SKYCAPS

    ReplyDelete
  9. As Bhavan pointed in 2 DN Charged state would mean IONISED.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Colonel, some issue in the tags in the sidebar. It is showing Wednesday today also..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe it is the title of the post.. There also it is written as Wednesday

      Delete
    2. No issues, Bhavan had entered Wednesday by mistake, I have amended it

      Delete
  11. NE states was really confusing spoiling my NE corner. I even tried CT. a NE state in U.S. Missed out on Indian breakfast delicacy!

    ReplyDelete
  12. How does this sound for 6D?

    Crumple without starter and support on skin leads to a fairy tale

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has to be RUMPEL and not RUMPLE so you will need to tweak the end

      Delete
    2. Fairy tale character from hindquarters of the Spanish American wading birds relatives

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    3. Can crumple do double duty?

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    4. Thank you Col.I did not know stilt as a wading bird. Does it necessarily have to be American?

      Delete
  13. I agree with Bhavan's opening comment about Amaranth.'for presidency' was indeed not needed- just 'Obama ran the race.' would have worked.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wish you a very happy birthday & many many happy returns of the day.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks everyone for the wishes

    ReplyDelete
  16. Happy B'day Ajeesh. Have a great day.

    Nice one from Arden. Learnt a couple of new things today.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Happy birthday, Ajeesh . God bless you with good health and peace in all the coming years.

    Keep solving crosswords and your brains will tackle all other problems of life too !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My wife complains that I am only good at "doing" crosswords. I am useless when it comes to - when it comes to - turning the head of a screw.

      Delete
  18. Nice puzzle.Reg.1a-like-as ; tiny-small ok.is reviving equatesreversing?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Had power outage from 9 to 5.

    Came across an interesting news item:

    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/asia/new-zealand-stange-baby-names/index.html

    It seems in our country there is no bar!

    I was wondering if I should ask you to enter here any unusual name of a boy or girl child that you have come across. BUT I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO DO SO! If it's really, really horrible, send me a private mail: chaturvasi yahoo com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wish you many happy returns of the day, Ajeesh!

    ReplyDelete

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