Where has Tester gone?
ACROSS
1 He might have an ace up his sleeve (4,5) CARD SHARP [CD]
8 Stay-at-home matriarch taking off shirt before assembly (8) ARMCHAIR MAtRIARCH
9 Insult by being short (6) SNUBBY {SNUB}{BY} Is 'Snubby' short? I thought it was 'Stubby'!
10 Survivor of a bygone age becomes antique with time (6) RELICT {RELIC}{T}
11 Unfit for intake (8) INEDIBLE [E]
12 Many singles chasing sex primarily with the likes of tarts and
cupcakes (6) SCONES {Sex}{C}{ONES}
16 An alternative ending comes up — one that lacks reverberation
(8) ANECHOIC {AN}{(+e)ECHOIC(-e)}
19 Swanky dresser displaying jeans regularly, to strip (6) DENUDE {D{jEaNs}UDE} 'Dude' a word I hate.
21 A number of CMs to sport thongs, say (8) FOOTWEAR {FOOT}{WEAR} A number of CMs will become a M !!
22 Pontificate quick to retain secretary (6) PAPACY {PA{PA}CY}
24 South American wrangler lacking social graces almost finds love
(6) GAUCHO {GAUCHe}{O}
25 Glamorize, with the proviso that young paramour model, for
starters (8) BEAUTIFY {BEAU}{T}{IF}{Y}
26 It’s transmitted through biogenesis (4) GENE [T] Semi&lit
27 Down with pot! American country strains, in particular (9) BLUEGRASS {BLUE}{GRASS}
DOWN
1 Rebel leader hiding in grotto cut out from rock (5) CARVE {CA{R}VE}
2 Ne’er-do-well backs into fracas (7) RUCTION {RUC<=}{INTO*} Fracas as definition and Anind?
3 Butt: small hot behind (5) SHAFT {S}{H}{AFT}
4 When the show must go on (7) AIRTIME [CD]
5 Spirited? (9) POSSESSED [E]
13 Undulatory dance from the South immediately comes in for heavy
fire (9) CANNONADE {CAN{NONA<=}DE*}
14 “Non-Lethal Weapon” to fare miserably at the box office; “Hot
Air” given top billing (5,4) SMOKE BOMB {SMOKE} {BOMB}
17 Outer layer of carved diamonds drilled by laser head (7) CUTICLE {CUT}{IC{L}E}
18 A reindeer’s career is bouncy, in part (7) CARIBOU {CAReer}{Is}{BOUncy} 'In part' is not equal over the three words!
20 Sodium and Hahnium absorbed a measure of acidity over time to
form volatile hydrocarbon (7) NAPHTHA {NA}{PH}{T}{HA}
22 Failing to start.…Started…Crash (5) PRANG sPRANG
23 Arrests made when fight-starter was brought down after the last
two were killed (5) CUFFS (-s)CUFFle(+s)S
9 Insult by being short (6) SNUBBY {SNUB}{BY} Is 'Snubby' short? I thought it was 'Stubby'!
ReplyDeleteI thought so too. Till I remembered the snub-nosed pistol
21 A number of CMs to sport thongs, say (8) FOOTWEAR {FOOT}{WEAR} A number of CMs will become a M !!
FPS=CGS !
5 Spirited? (9) POSSESSED [E]
ReplyDeletePossessed some bottle !
A number of CMs will become a M !!
ReplyDeleteIn politics, a CM is bigger than a mere M ...
5 Spirited? (9) POSSESSED [E]
ReplyDeleteTo remove the spirits, calls the ex-cork-ist
18 A reindeer’s career is bouncy, in part (7) CARIBOU {CAReer}{Is}{BOUncy} 'In part' is not equal over the three words!
ReplyDeleteExactly half of each of the three words!
Since when did 'part' mean 'exactly half' ??
DeleteYour right.
DeleteSome of clues lack clarity. Like SPIRITED. It could have meant anything.
'Your' wrong !
Delete19 Swanky dresser displaying jeans regularly, to strip (6) DENUDE {D{jEaNs}DE} 'Dude' a word I hate.
ReplyDeleteCol Sir 'U' missing.
Thanks, have added it
DeleteNot easy today. I don't follow the 21 A clue. CMs and footwear?
ReplyDeleteBugbear !
DeleteA number of CMs = FOOT (A number of centimeter's)
Deleteto sport = WEAR
thongs, say = Defintion = {FOOT}{WEAR}
Bugbear survives the retype
DeleteThanks. Nice anno.
DeleteA number of centimeters. OK?
DeleteNot OK
DeleteWhy?
DeleteI was referring to ' in centimeters.
DeleteI think cms and foot are hardly linked. It's generally inches and foot, centimeters and meters etc.
DeleteI was referring to Kishore comment on bugbear surviving which I thought he meant the apostrophe in centimeter's as written by Col.
DeleteI don't know what bugbear he meant at 913
Well, Raghu, I anticipated that when Deepak would post shortly after, he would have problem with the a'strophe at 913.
DeleteNope, that is a flippant answer. Actually, the same entomo-ursine creature had reared its head in a post by Deepak just before my 913, which contained a less detailed anno. The Col. probably felt that that anno was inadequate and posted a second more-detailed one at 913 and the deleted the earlier post. Hence, the ref. that the critter survived the retype.
I dug deeeeeeeep into my skull and could unearth just four correct answers ! A tough CW. Don't believe me ? Just see how many
ReplyDeleteUnderlined Words-Links to Websites are there !! 14 in all !!! A record I reckon.
In an attempt to be extra cryptic I think Skulldugger has gone a bit overboard with with a number of CMs afoot.
ReplyDeleteSkulldugger speciality 'going overboard'!!
DeleteThough we need to concede that a 'foot'rule does have cms marked on it.
Delete18D, what exactly is "reindeer's career?"
ReplyDeleteBeing Santa's "dear"
DeleteDear deer!
DeleteAdmittedly reindeer are horny creatures
Delete..at a stag party?
DeleteWhy not ? They could be gay too....:)
DeleteAre kids still taught "Work while you work, play while you play, ... " ?
DeleteUmm..., now I'll have to be very careful in answering your question ! If it's a simple and straight-forward "Q", my answer is No.
DeleteIf the"Q" is otherwise, I give up ! :-)
Col, Sorry to carry forward a ‘Techie question’ posted by CV Sir, yesterday @ 9:57. I could gather a little more ‘gen’ on the issue. The magnification of fonts in the address field and in the drop down box is the result of the latest update of Chrome to version 29.0... . It appears that it is intentional [not a bug or problem with the PC] and is to cater to the needs of ‘hand -held appliance’ users. Unfortunately Google has not provided any solution or ‘fix’ for other users who find it irritating on the eye. Also, there is no provision to ‘roll back’ to the previous version [although it is possible to go back to the previous version through a re-install, one may lose all bookmarks and personalised settings]. However, one may prevent auto update thro’ firewall and/or ‘user accounts control’. I thought it may be of interest to some bloggers here.
ReplyDelete9d - I first pencilled in SLIGHT, which was more apt than SNUBBY. The word SLIGHT means both insult and short. Ref: Cambridge Crossword Dictionary.
ReplyDeleteThe search for SNUB as synonym for SHORT returned me SNUB-NOSED meaning a short nose. Ref: Oxford English Advanced Dictionary.
At last I settled for SNUBBY as the crossing letters of 6d and 7d conflicted with 9a.
Read 9d as 9a and Cambridge as Chambers.
ReplyDeleteDid not complete today's crossword. Could only get 6-7 answers. For big answers like CARD-SHARP, INEDIBLE, AIRTIME and POSSESSED, there was no subsidiary indication. The puzzle would have fitted better in the quick crossword section. The SI convention needs centimetres to be represented as 'cm' in lower case, so CMs can never mean centimetres. The ellipsis problem in the crossword crops up once again in the clue for PRANG.
ReplyDeleteUnnecessary and vulgar references to sex, strip, butt, behind, thongs and other CRUDITY could be avoided.
Madhu
It's all in the mind Madhu-gopaal
DeleteMadhu, I am playing the Devil's Advocate here, and I hold no brief for S'dugger:
Deletea. There is usually no subsidiary indication for a CD unless it is a CD,DD type. As there is no wordplay, CD clues play hard to get. And some people have expressly expressed their dislike of such clues. But they are accepted in both British and Indian crosswords, and hence cannot be objected to unless there are too many.
b. Actually, a quick crossword is a misnomer. As there is no secondary definition, they actually can be tougher than a cryptic sometimes. If it was that easy, you surely would have got more than 6-7.
c. There is an accepted practice of false capitalisation in crosswords, with some rules thrown in. As long as it is done within limits, I do not see any issue there. However, regarding what many have observed about linking cm.s to a foot, I expressed it in the last line of my very first post today. Maybe S has stretched it a little too much.
d. In fact, apart from the spacing issue, the first ellipsis has four dots and the second three. TH retypes clues instead of using copy-paste. So, it may or may not be S's error.
e.Words are just words and it is our mind that interprets it. Butt to a soldier might be the stock of a gun, to a carpenter it might be the blunt end of a tenon, to a smoker the unusable part of a cigarette, ...
If you look for them, there are few more which fall in the same category, if you think they mean what they can mean: Knock, shaft, etc.
However, I do agree S has gone a bit overboard on some things listed above.
"d. In fact, apart from the spacing issue, the first ellipsis has four dots and the second three. TH retypes clues instead of using copy-paste. So, it may or may not be S's error. "
DeleteJust curious! Why would that be?
You have me there, but that's the modus operandi that I have understood from CV. Or else, how do you think the gremlins and printer's devils make do.
DeleteWords are just words and it is our mind that interprets it
DeleteIf words were just words, I wonder why are setters asked to avoid words that are rude/offensive/communal.
I'm curious, a clue has a cryptic reading and a surface reading. If the setter is trying to convey something in the surface, it is in my mind?
I get the cryptic parsing and the eventual answer with this clue, but taken at its face value, what is the meaning of this sentence?
Many singles chasing sex primarily with the likes of tarts and cupcakes
Happy to see Bhavan has taken up issue. My purpose of being the DA is just that!
DeleteWe have had risque clues in the past too. How and where do we draw the line? Should we have a mention of the same in the specs?
How and where do we draw the line?
DeleteWe can't/don't. If TH has a problem with such clues it should come out and say so and issue a guideline for setters to follow.
Once again it comes down to having a dedicated editor for THC which we know is not going to happen. And there might be some of us who deem it is a far 'worse' offence to write a grammatically unsound clue than a risqué one.
That is why it is refreshing to hear the views of people like madhu-gopaal who come out and say what it is they like or dislike. If not an editor, honest feedback like this should keep setters aware of which way the winds are blowing.
And isn't that one of the objectives of this forum?
Delete8A ARMCHAIR
ReplyDelete‘Armchair’ brought back nostalgic memories of my college days in the early seventies, when the ‘The Hindu’ on Sundays carried a ‘situation crime story’ under heading ‘Arm-chair detective’. Remembered my hostel buddies and how each one would justify vigorously whom they thought was the culprit.
I could complete only 1/2 of xword which is an achievement for me :)
ReplyDeleteSkulldugger had too many esoteric clues - not so enjoyable. A bit over the top, I thought!
ReplyDelete:-(
16 ,but I think I have a burr in my skull in the process! some were too farfetched
ReplyDelete