Thursday, 24 October 2013

No 10912, Thursday 24 Oct 2013, Buzzer

Take a bow Buzzer for the excellent surfaces. Got just a couple on the first round, the others gradually dawned on me during the subsequent passes.

ACROSS
9   When husband is new, paying attention is vital (7) NEEDFUL (-h+n)NEEDFUL
10 Agent in charge taken by the French model (7) REPLICA {REP}{L{IC}A}
11 Unacceptable and revolting racket by ducks (5) TABOO {TAB<=}{OO}
12 Thief to steal wearing a mask (5,4) ROBIN HOOD {ROB}{IN HOOD}
13 Important surgical agent (9) OPERATIVE [MD]
14 Say casual shirts for kid (5) TEASE (~tees)
15 Knitter made a cheap ornament for clothing (7) TRINKET*
17 Simple savoury drink taken in a small measure (7) CLASSIC {C{LASSI}C}
19 Man perhaps following accepted path (5) AISLE {A}{ISLE}
20 Inside duplex, one rat escaped free (9) EXONERATE [T]
22 Extend drapes? (6,3) SPREAD OUT [DD] (Addendum - DRAPES* (OUT) - See comments)
24 Coach attendants (5) TRAIN [DD]
25 Small bottles are for cocktail (7) MARTINI {M{ART}INI}
26 Heel or a different part of the body (7) EARHOLE*


DOWN
1   Engineering cuts into price of making a product (4,4) UNIT COST*
2   One starting off was familiar with Buzzer reportedly (6) NEWBIE {NEW}{BIE}(~knew bee)
3   Toxic fume is okay in my opinion (2,3,3,2) IF YOU ASK ME*
4   Gangster with gun, first one to scare people (8) ALARMIST {AL}{ARM}{1ST}
5   Don’t start a story till ready? (6) ARABLE pARABLE
6   Turn round lisping issues (4) SPIN [T]
7   Line of basic corrective specs (8) BIFOCALS {L+OF+BASIC}*
8   Deal with retail merchant lacking credit (6) HANDLE cHANDLEr
14 Flight to carry jet set (10) TRAJECTORY*
16 Elected by certain leaders of Rajya Sabha, they provide protection (8) INSURERS {IN}{SURE}{RS}
17 Routine jobs over time end in minimal laughs (8) CHORTLES {CHOR{T}{L}ES}
18 Channel’s starting to bank on serial/soap (8) CLEANSER {C}{LEAN}{SER} 
19 Pretend to understand (6) ASSUME [DD]
20 Unusual example of the ear (6) EXOTIC {EX}{OTIC}
21 River in American anterior region mostly (6) AMAZON {AM}{A}{ZONe}
23 Enthusiastic like an upcoming singer (4) AVID<=

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46 comments:

  1. Richard24 October 2013 at 08:56

    Off track:

    Legendary playback singer Manna Dey is no more. Babumoshai died in his adoptive city of Bangalore.

    He was the last link of the quartet with others - Rafi sa'ab, Kishore-da and Mukesh-ji.

    Kasme vaade pyaar wafaa sab, baaten hai baaton kya, koi kisi ka nahin yeh jhoote, naaten hai naaton ka kya... Upkar -1967

    Alvida, Manna-da!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Col_Gopinath24 October 2013 at 09:00

      RIP

      Delete
    2. Kishore24 October 2013 at 09:07

      Once, when I was flying back from CCU, he was next to me. After we landed, both of us were waiting next to each other at the HAL airport for our pickup and had a nice discussion on his songs. A thorough gentleman, in my opinion. My car came first and I offered to drop him, but he insisted that his car would come shortly. I spent some more time with him till his car came.

      He has just gone to another world :

      वो दुनिया मोरे बाबुल का घर
      ये दुनिया ससुराल


      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD5Pe4k3myI

      RIP.

      Delete
    3. Richard24 October 2013 at 09:11

      Deepak, I am sure you would remember Manna Dey's song Manasa maine varoo from Ramu Kariat's Malayalam movie, Chemmeen (1965) - lyrics by Vayalar set to music by Salil Chowdhury, another Bengali celebrity.

      Delete
    4. Richard24 October 2013 at 09:14

      Looks like that link does not work.

      Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCaMD9kg6c

      Delete
    5. Kishore24 October 2013 at 09:27

      Some of my fav. songs by him:

      Poocho na kaise maine rain betaayi
      Tu pyaar ka saagar hai
      Zindagi kaisi hai paheli
      Eh mere zohra-zabeen
      Na jaane kahaan tum the (with Suman)
      and of course, Ek chatur naar ..

      Delete
    6. Raghunath24 October 2013 at 09:45

      Many classical masterpieces were sung by him.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous24 October 2013 at 09:54

      His wife was from Kerala. Many moons back I had referred to one of his songs on THCC: Aaao twist karen ...

      Delete
    8. Richard24 October 2013 at 10:02

      Jhanak jhanak toh re baaje paayaliya,.... Shyam dhale Jamuna kinare

      Delete
    9. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 10:16

      "yeh raat bheegi bheegi" with Lata from Chori Chori in one of my favourites.

      Delete
    10. Suresh24 October 2013 at 10:38

      Yes, but more for Lata's part in the song.

      A few duets wit Rafi/Kishore too like Ek jaanib shamme mehfil, ye dosti ham nahin todenge etc.

      Delete
    11. Col_Gopinath24 October 2013 at 11:50

      Richard @ 9:11,

      Yes I do. Having been born and brought up, up north, and being an army kid Malayalam was not my forte. Subsequent to coming down south 'Chemeen' must have been one amongst the first few Malayalam movies I saw.

      Delete
    12. Unknown24 October 2013 at 14:36

      Great singae!

      Delete
  2. Raghunath24 October 2013 at 09:44

    Another excellent one from Buzzer. More tricky than yesterday's.

    I might be wrong but I think in 5 D the def is 'till ready', and if so is there a link word missing? Why the question mark?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 11:49

      5D : Yes, I too feel the definition should be " till ready" Arable = Suitable land(after tilling) ready for growing crops.

      Delete
    2. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 11:53

      ...or may be, suitable land ready for tilling.

      Delete
  3. Raghunath24 October 2013 at 09:49

    22 A Might be a case of DD involving reverse anagram.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 09:56

    Kishore's toon and his question : What do you see ?
    I see a keyhole for a peeping tom !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh24 October 2013 at 10:39

      Or an eves dropper.

      Delete
    2. Richard24 October 2013 at 10:53

      How many eves are dropped by the eavesdropper?

      Delete
    3. Raghunath24 October 2013 at 10:58

      I think It's Robin Hood peeping through SBI's locker.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous24 October 2013 at 12:13

      Richard, why drop? Retain ...

      Raghu, that's what crossed my mind as I drew.

      Delete
  5. VMA Nair24 October 2013 at 11:02

    Nice puzzle again.22 A just a Reverse anagram as it is drapes?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown24 October 2013 at 11:18

    RIP Manna da!
    You gave us so many memorable songs - zindagi kaisi hai paheli!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous24 October 2013 at 11:28


    tera apna khoon hi aakhir , tujhko aag lagayega

    ReplyDelete
  8. raju umamaheswar24 October 2013 at 12:19

    Today's Buzzer is a different compiler than the one of yesterday? Are there two of a kind? I found today's crossie so mellifluous as Manna Dey's voice !!

    RIP: Manna Dey ! He was a great playback, well-versed in classical Hindustani genre too ! Absolutely matchless. His end may have been brought about by some family squabbles over his property, causing him terminal stress. His voice for Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker was so well-suited, as a replacement to Mukesh's . Yeh bhai zara dhekhe chalo .

    CV: Yet to comment on my yesterday's ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous24 October 2013 at 12:31

      He had sung for RK in Laaga chunri mein daag too much earlier

      Delete
  9. Raghunath24 October 2013 at 12:39

    @CV or Buzzer,

    Are these abbreviations are found in Chambers Xword abbreviations or whatever the name of the book is:

    SER: Serial.
    A: Accepted. and Anterior
    SH: Shorthand

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bhavan24 October 2013 at 12:53

    They are all in the Chambers 12th edition dictionary

    ser. (abbrev) Serial, Series, Serine, Sermon
    s/h (abbrev) Shorthand
    a (abbrev) About, Absent, Acceleration, Accepted, Acre, Acreage, Acting, Active, Adjective, Advance, Advanced, Afternoon, Alto, Anonymous, Answer, Ante (Latin), Anterior, Are (metric measure), Atto-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath24 October 2013 at 12:55

      Thanks. Can you pl reply to my 9.44 post?

      Delete
    2. Bhavan24 October 2013 at 13:04

      Arabale = tillable is the definition.

      SInce 'till ready' is an oblique definition, I added the ?

      The wordplay is what colonel indicated. Not sure what link word do you think is missing.

      Delete
    3. Raghunath24 October 2013 at 14:06

      Just felt that a connector was needed before till ready as I'd felt the sentence to be incomplete. Seems OK however.

      Delete
  11. Unknown24 October 2013 at 14:39

    Hope, BUZZER has not started wearing BIFOCALS!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Navneeth24 October 2013 at 15:30

    Two consequitive Buzzer crossies without themes or anything hidden? Hm...

    Looks like I have to come to expect more from Buzzer than merely excellent crosswords. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 16:20

    ...and both the crossies were very compact in size and each clue limited to just a few words ! Some clues were of just two words !! Altogether a different style of cluing adopted by Buzzer.
    Learnt quite a few novel anagram indicators too. Thanks, Buzzer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 16:23

      TYPO : Ps read CLUEING for cluing !

      Delete
    2. Navneeth24 October 2013 at 16:41

      'Cluing' is not incorrect, in fact.

      Delete
    3. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 16:46

      Had a doubt and referred OED. It shows Clueing ! May be "cluing" in American usage ?

      Delete
  14. Nadathur Rajan24 October 2013 at 16:52

    MB, Not to worry.
    Clueing or cluing, ageing or aging, cueing or cuing, glueing or gluing, trueing or truing, blueish or bluish: The answer is that both are correct! The former is the form more commonly found, although the latter is occasionally used. [Needless to say, in the US, the reverse is the case.]

    The norm is to drop the final 'e' when forming the participle:
    Rage becomes raging as in: 'The storm was raging.'
    Stage becomes staging as in: 'They were staging 'Raghuvamsam'.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mukundala Balasubramanyam24 October 2013 at 16:58

    Thanks NR Sir, for elaborate explanation. I'll go for shorter "cluing" :) That's much easier ! And I thank Navaneeth too.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Rengaswamy24 October 2013 at 17:34

    I thought 'e' needs to be retained if a vowel precedes 'e' like in clue, true etc. But I am not arguing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rengaswamy24 October 2013 at 17:46

      Reminded me of old joke.

      English language is so Vagyoo you know.
      It is not Vagyoo, it is Veyg. (Vague)
      Sorry, English is not my mother tongyoo.
      It is not Tongyoo. It is tung. (tongue)
      Ok, don't arg.

      Delete
  17. jaggu24 October 2013 at 18:27

    My favourite Manna Dey number "Kaun Aaya Mere man Ke Dwaare'\"

    ReplyDelete
  18. Navneeth24 October 2013 at 19:48

    MB/Nadathur Rajan,
    While I was aware that both versions existed (since I had a made a similar 'typo' in the past), I wasn't sure whether 'cluing' was American, so before making that post I checked freedictionary and the Free Chambers online, and neither mentioned anything particular about usages.

    I'd appreciate any other information regarding this word or such word formations in general, especially in light of Rengaswamy's 05:34.

    And speaking of what comes before (or after) E, I was reminded of this episode from QI:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duqlZXiIZqA

    ReplyDelete

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