Monday, 16 September 2013

No.10879, Monday 16 Sep 2013, Neyartha


A HAPPY ONAM TO ALL THE VISITORS OF THIS BLOG

Neyartha reminded me of Chesterton's Father Brown's question in The Sign of the Broken Sword:
"Where does a wise man hide a leaf? In the forest. But what does he do if there is no forest?" ..."He grows a forest to hide it in" ...

N has not only grown a forest but put in some weed and poisonous stuff too.


ACROSS
1 Minor accepts Turkish award for a scientific instrument producing regular flashes (6,5) STROBE LIGHT (SLIGHT accepts TR OBE)
9 Conifer found in the auditor’s island (7) CYPRESS (~Cyprus)
10 Troubles dismissed lawyer with introductions (6) PROEMS (PROblEMS)
11 Heard of a planting machine for the conifer (5) CEDAR (~seeder)
          Ensure that you see der woods and der trees
12 Conifer found by the German returning with timber (7) REDWOOD (DER< WOOD)
15 Peer’s gem needs no introduction (4) EARL (pEARL)
16 104 issues in a year? (10) SEMIWEEKLY (CD)
          I thought of some potent potentate producing 104 issues a year in his seraglio
18 Idle doctor with thorium meets bachelor in valley retreat (10) MOTHBALLED (MO TH BA DELL<)
20 Unsure after losing opener with malaria (4) AGUE (vAGUE)
23 Walk over to the former U.S. president sent back by the English leader (7) RETRACE (CARTER<,E)
24 Approve play (5) ENACT (2)
26 Arabian peninsula native, one getting behind a dangerous enemy (6) YEMENI (1 behind ENEMY*)
27 Jersey male, expelled by Northern Ireland, finds a coniferous shrub (7) JUNIPER (JUMPER-M+N.I.)
28 Old Ron Clark’s arrangement for a popular music genre (4-3-4) ROCK-AND-ROLL (OLD RON CLARK)*
DOWN
2 Article on the U.S. tax agency is not ours (6) THEIRS (THE IRS)

3 Get rid of what was concealed by the moustache (4) OUST (T)
4 Curses as ban on student rising by the inhabitants of North America is lifted (10) EXPLETIVES (EXPEL with L rising+naTIVES)
5 Flowering plant found in wrinkle-free coat for bridge partners (8) IRONWEED (W,E in IRONED)
6 Poisonous conifer made famous by Socrates? (7) HEMLOCK (E)
7 Crime case solved for frozen desserts (3,6) ICE CREAMS (CRIME CASE)*
8 Web resident? (6) SPIDER (CD)
13 Deliberation over Edward’s ouster of the French leader is a politician’s dream (2-8) RE-ELECTION (REFLECTION-F+E)
          I first drew a cartoon for this. On reflection, I realised I had drawn a cartoon for reflection and not re-election           and binned it. Will put it up when suitable occasion arises
14 Syd goes up for admission after tucking in the Asian with an intestinal infection (9) DYSENTERY (SYD< ENTRY with E tucked in)
17 Georgia interrupts clumsy rebuke of the skilled computer enthusiast (8) UBERGEEK (GE inside REBUKE*)
19 Adverb in contracts provided by man tucking into baked torte (7) THERETO (HE inside TORTE*)
21 Wrestle with the adult getting rid of the French brandy (6) GRAPPA (GRAPPle A)
22 House for dogs in the street gutter (6) KENNEL (2)
25 Raja realises that the contents are not fastened (4) AJAR (T)
          Though AJAR is RAJA*, I think this is the intended anno, since the word contents is used and there is no Aind  

50 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Kishore. No sadhya at home this year due to the recent bereavement. Going to a friends place though for the sadhya.

      Delete
    2. Sorry, forgot that. However, enjoy it wherever you are going.

      Delete
  2. Onam wishes to all bloggers.

    Nice one from Neyartha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Onam everyone!

    @Kishore: I often pick up something new and entertaining from your blog posts - maybe an anecdote, some piece of GK. Your cartoons are a lot of fun too. My compliments!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Shuchi. Makes my day! Sometimes my cartoons are a 'LEAP IN THE DARK'. I enjoy your blog too, as you will notice from the previous sentence.

      BTW, your talent to pun, that too very subtly in your above post, is highly admirable.

      Delete
    2. I know one needs to act one's age and not run like a high-speed train all the time. Cartoons can sometimes be a big mistake and cause unrest. Though I agree that adverbs do not have any physical form and are therefore shapeless, I await your input on the pun.

      Delete
    3. @Kishore: This is one of the rare cases where "pun unintended" is literally true. I did not attempt a pun in my comment! If you see one, the credit goes entirely to you.

      Do you mean "some piece of GK" = K = your initial?!

      Delete
    4. GK, apart from being General Knowledge, is also the initials (not mine) of GK Chesterton, whose line I have quoted above. So a piece of GK ...

      Delete
    5. I think he means GK Chesterton

      Delete
    6. should I have 'are' instead of 'ís' ?

      Bingo Ramesh, Rem acu tetigisti!

      Delete
    7. As I scrolled down reading the Comments, I didn't see the 'unintended pun' in Shuchi's comment, but the moment I read Kishore's alert I got it without having to move backwards.

      You can bet on Kishore's mind leaping to things that we may not cotton on to in a trice. It works in a tric.

      Delete
    8. No wonder, he's known as the fastest gun on the earth !!!

      Delete
    9. मर्कटस्य सुरापानं मध्ये वृश्चिक दम्शनम्
      तन्मध्ये भूतसञ्चारो यद्वा तद्वा भविष्यति

      Delete
    10. For translation, go to http://www.omjai.org/Subhashitas%20-%20Mind
      and search for "monkey"

      Delete
    11. "No wonder, he's known as the fastest gun on the earth !!!"

      And the whole world is my native place!

      Delete
    12. What about alternate universes ...

      Delete
    13. Q. What do you call the mainstay of punning?
      Punning की Shore



      Delete
    14. की toh punning or shore ke beach mein hai. Welcome to the gang!

      Delete
    15. About punning, I have this:

      Yeh bhi ek fun hai!

      Delete
    16. Punning की Shore

      How will the frontiers of the mind be described in Hindi:

      Man की Shore

      Hum ko monkey shakti dena ...
      or
      Tanki shakti, monkey shakti - Bournvita !

      Delete
    17. Kya Tareef Karoon Uski, Jisne Tumhe Banaya !

      Delete
    18. mussavir khud pareshaan hai ke ye tasveer kis(hore)ki hai!

      Delete
  4. 21D :I feel a minor change is needed in Definition. Simply "Brandy" instead of "French Brandy". GRAPPA is an Italian Brandy. So says WIKI :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are correct. The word French is a part of the deletion, getting rid of the French=delete le

      Delete
  5. Shuchi has just posted a new article on her blog. My 936 and 942 are with ref to that ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Today's TH informs me that a Tamil version of the paper is being introduced. The Tamil alphabets in the graphic shown spell out the English words 'The Indu'. I understand that the alphabet 'h' sound is possibly dropped because it was not in existence earlier (or had got into disuse) and was later brought in again. Words like Hosur, Hotel etc were being written as Osur, OTel etc and later some of them (like Hotel) came to be written with the alphabet for H.

    Is the alphabet for H still not in popular use?

    ReplyDelete
  7. It is a pity that they could not give a good Tamil name. In fact, they could have termed it THE HINDU Uyirezhuththu similar to The Hindu Business Line. The writing would have come alive.

    The crossword that they carry in Relax page is awful: most setters of Tamil crosswords don't even know how to create grids and number the slots. I don't say the placement of blocks must be symmetrical (that may be difficult in a non-English crossword) but at least the practices that exist in free-form grid must be observed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Off topic

    Today's papers carry a pic of a rtd. gen. in civvies, wearing a cap with four stars on it.

    My qn: are all rtd. army staff given this privilege of wearing a cap that shows the rank they held? Or is it for officers of a certain rank?

    ReplyDelete
  9. This Q was unanswered yesterday:

    When you wear something isn't what is worn to be outside of you. How's this in this clue (or does it work both ways, inside and outisde?):

    22 Ring worn by miss, unattached (5) LOOSE {LO{O}SE}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure it works like that. An I think I have seen it being used like that too.

      Delete
    2. If I passed this qn earlier I was undecided.

      'Wearing' is a containment ind. Meaning that the word goes outside.

      Unattached miss wearing ring (5) - Clear that LOSE goes outside of O.

      Ring worn by miss, unattached - can be interpreted as Miss sporting ring - LOSE having O.

      Hence my inability to give an authoritative reply.

      Delete
  10. Unattached miss wearing ring (5) - Clear that LOSE goes outside of O.

    Not clear. To me "A wearing B" implies "B around A", not "A around B". Here I'm thinking of wearing as in putting on, covering or carrying - is there another meaning of the word that means the opposite?

    I share Raghunath's doubt about the original clue. Unless I'm missing something, it is a rather loose one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... 'loose' one.Still riding the pun bandwagon, I see.

      Without commenting on the clue, I can think of some cases where wearing may mean 'attached to' an organ or appendage (which may themselves be within the person's body) or wearing in an orifice. An example each of the above is given below:

      a.'attached to' an organ which is inside : She was wearing a pacemaker.
      b. 'attached to' an appendage which may be inside/outside : She was wearing a bead attached to her tongue.
      c. in an orifice: She was wearing a hearing aid.

      Please tell me whether the usages are acceptable.

      Delete
    2. Another example of the 'Loose' clue, and clued similarly:

      9 Yellow and red suit briefly worn by fashionable fellows (7-7){CHIC}{KEN}{HEART(-s) {ED}

      Delete
  11. Similarly, when A visits B, is B in A , or A in B? I feel if A visits: A is a guest of B, so A is in B.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel that when two persons are involved we can't say A is in B or vice versa. A can be in B's house, but not in B. A enters B can be used only in a reverse-synecdochal sense ...

      But to take your question further, how will A houses/accommodates B work? Quite clearly, only in one direction.

      Delete
    2. A in B and B in A was only an example. There was a clue I read in some CW where say sailor visits country/ city, in which I thought sailor was placed outside the place and wondered about it.

      Delete
  12. Well, Chambers Crossword Dictionary has "wearing" (forget 'worn by') under Containment indicators (as opposed to Insertion indicators)

    With Shuchi and a whole lot of setters around here, professional or otherwise, around here, can we have a couple of clue examples to show how 'wearing' is to be used.

    - Puzzled

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See my post of 5.37 where what you say is used as a containment ind.

      Delete
  13. Some among numerous others under the Containment Ind list are

    around
    bring around
    outside
    clasp

    So what is wrong in my thinking that in

    Unattached miss wearing ring (5)

    LOSE goes around O ?

    If I am wrong, where am I wrong?

    - Still puzzled.

    ReplyDelete
  14. These are examples of 'wearing' which I had in mind:

    Textrous: Endeavour to wear torn clothing (7) - RAIMENT {R{AIM}ENT}.

    The Telegraph: 7 Couple of rectors wearing eccentric papal garb (7)APPA(RE)L*

    FT: 1 A scoundrel wearing iron mask (6) F{A}{CAD}E

    Buzzer: 17 Anybody in general army wearing uniform (8)EVE(RYMA*)N...

    Xchequer: Streetwalker wearing a new skirt (5) APRON {A{PRO}N}

    THC Sunday: Friend wearing very large gems (5) OPALS {O{PAL}S}

    Buzzer: 16 Zulu chief wearing woven angora fabric (7) ORGANZA {ORGAN{Z}A*}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is it like the 'without' usage where it works both ways?

      Delete
  15. CV: why is it that a perfume is worn? because it is part of one's grooming?

    Today's crossie is Uber-cool , as the newgen would exclaim !

    Raja found the door of 2G ajar and dipped his hand in the cookie jar!!

    and ? had to share with his mai-baap !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and ended up in 'maamiyar veedu'

      Delete
  16. Belated Onam greetings to ye-all ! Got to know only from the blog here !!

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com