An Air Force special from Incognito.
ACROSS
1 Learner is involved in combat aviation (6) FLIGHT {F{L}IGHT}
4 Aircraft is commonly seen in deserts (6) MIRAGE [DD]
8 Reflected beam has energy for 12 months (4) YEAR {Y{E}AR<=}
11 Pointer is normally seen at the top of a weather-vane (5) ARROW [C&DD]
14 Though born a princess, queen is more impoverished (7) NEEDIER {NEE}{DI}{ER}
16 Act after call for departure and surpass (5) OUTDO {OUT}{DO}
19 Idiotic! But after Dada left, auricular … (4) OTIC idiOTIC
21 … fibrillation is resuming erratically, for starters. Shoot!
(4) FIRE {F}{I}{R}{E}
22 Draw a navigation aid (3) MAP [DD]
25 Dressed but unwilling to be in church dress at first (7) CLOTHED {C{LOTH}E}{D}
26 Girl with broken net gets communication equipment (7) ANTENNA {A{NET*}NNA}
29 King with foreign money (4) RAND {R}{AND}
31 Ran, after he went away, and grew old (4) AGED manAGED
33 Shun terrorism but hide a predator (6) HUNTER [T]
DOWN
1 Airborne insect lands on spilt gin in front of serviceman, one
directly under 1 Lieutenant (6,7) FLYING OFFICER {FLY}{GIN*} {OFFICER}
3 Badge when reversed can become a gun (3) TAG GAT<=
5 Type it in front of a government insurer (6) ITALIC {IT}{A}{LIC}
6 Lay honourable person is fit for takeoff (9) AIRWORTHY {AIR}{WORTHY}
7 Air force officer danced, courting Papa (5,7) GROUP CAPTAIN*
10 Biggles’s boss Raymond, say, hides gold in the potty after a
song (3,9) AIR COMMODRE {AIR} {COMMOD{OR}E}
12 An air force officer: squadrons displayed in front of a naval
officer (4,9) WING COMMANDER {WING}{COMMANDER}
13 Fly an aircraft when I get involved in a scheme (5) PILOT {P{I}LOT}
17 Type of engine designed with pub torpor (9) TURBOPROP*
20 Metal worker’s call for silence around American educational institution (5) SMITH {S{MIT}H}
24 The first, after loss of two consecutive letters, longing
(6) THIRST {THe fIRST}
27 Nearly time for darkness (5) NIGHT {NIGH}{T}
30 Had gone back for dit’s counterpart (3) DAH [CD]
Great job, Incognito
ReplyDeleteTHC has certainly gained some more stature in the past one year or so and we have had some very good thematic puzzles. Congrats to setters.
ReplyDeleteMy father too was in IAF, though on ground duty, and I have had a taste of life in IAF units such as Jalahalli and Begumpet.
Without taking anything away from today's crossword, may I invite you to visit
http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/litzer-of-month.html
where an interview of mine appears.
Congrats on being in the Shortz litz !
DeleteCongrats CV
DeleteCongrats CV Sir !
DeleteReally enjoyed the crossword today
ReplyDeleteBravo Incognito! Way to go- up in the sky! Very well compiled and I am sure it must have taken a lot of effort in the making.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that I knew so much of Air Force & flying though with some helpful clues. Preverbial samosa day though I needed help to get wapiti- should have got it without.
Hats off to the Engineer brothers and the other officers who keep our National Flag flying high and to Incognito for remembering them.
Forgot the map cartoon. Have added it now.
ReplyDeleteA much better find- radiating gold!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats CV. Nice interview and typical of CV we know. Revived old memories of the cake cutting ceremony- was it 10 months ago?
ReplyDeleteI am extremely delighted by today's theme in the Air Force. I solved it in a trice almost except for wapiti. I myself have worked for a short period in Sunabeda in Koraput HAL MIG Engine factory. My mother's uncle and cousins brought glory to our family in the maternal side by being the first fliers in Madras in 1936 or so and the two brothers joining the RAF , one of them Air Marshal Rajaram a DFC as Bomber pilot in Myanmar during WWII and the other Air Commodore Sitaram carving out for himself a distinguished career in the IAF. You may like to read Madras Miscellany in URL http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/03/13/stories/2006031300890501.htm
ReplyDeleteAfter two days of starving, had a stomachful of samosas today ! Took almost 40 minutes to complete the puzzle, the fastest by my standards !! Thank you very much Incognito for remembering Air Force personnel. An entertaining crossy all the way !
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone.
ReplyDeleteThere is a curious connection between 32a, 2d and 10d.
When TE Lawrence applied to the RAF, under a false name, the Recruiting officer who interviewed him was WE Johns, the author of Biggles. Later, when Lawrence jointed the RAF, he was posted at the Drigh Road base in Karachi.
Both Lawrence and Biggles starred in yesterday's cartoon too.
Yes, like Paddy I too had to take the help of WIKI to get WAPITI otherwise it was a smooth take-off and smooth landing in quick time !
ReplyDeleteNice theme and crossword. Well done Incognito!
ReplyDeleteA quick glance at all the clues and some of the answers, I thought to myself that Kishore must be on a high after solving this (pun not intended). And then it hit me.
ReplyDeleteWAPITI trouble for me too. The last to fall, but with the P T crossings, I had a vague recollection of seeing the name of the species before (although with a V beginning rather than a W), so entered VAPITI, which happens to be the Swedish spelling of the same word.
Smooth clues and a number of thematic entries in the grid - slick work there, Incognito!
ReplyDeleteMy Salaams to the IAF and to Incognito! Keep the Flag flying high. So proud of all our armed Forces.
ReplyDeleteWhat an enjoyable puzzle - got wapiti, strangely mirage was the last one to be solved!!
Divali greetings to all - good health, peace and prosperity, and keep solving those CWs for good mental health!!
There is a fresh post in Shuchi's blog though the link to it is yet to appear on the side bar here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.crosswordunclued.com/2013/11/interview-gaufrid.html
Great flying piloted by Incognito. In cloud nine, since I have not seen any thematic puzzle of this high-flying nature. Hovered around WAPITI as not quite familiar with the air bases, but finally landed it. IDI(OTIC), (Gadda) FI and Sad-DAM(Mad in reverse) had something in common amongst them? Clue of my day: Idiotic-- Da -Da Amin !
ReplyDeleteExcellent effort Incognito.
ReplyDelete'Force', if attack on 1D (6,7) Will this work?
I meant reverse anagram of "force if" for FLYING OFFICER. Can attack consider as a hint?
DeleteSorry for the off-topic question.
ReplyDeleteSurname Engineer - what's the origin? Is it Parsi originally or something adopted?
Like most adopted Parsi surnnames, Engineer would represent the trade or business that the family was engaged in. Other surnames that belong to this category and readily spring to mind are Daruwala, Batlivala, Vakil and Doctor. The father of these four brothers was a railway engineer by trade, but I have no idea if the surname was used by the family before him.
ReplyDeleteJoining in late. Congrats K on this great crossword.
DeleteOn occupation-based family names: I have always found the name Ronnie Screwvala amusing.
Former India wicketkeeper Farokh Maneksha Engineer is another example for the above.
Asghar Ali Engineer belonged to the Dawoodi Bohra community. Cricketer Vijay Merchant too had an occupation-based surname. He was neither a Parsi nor a Bohri. His original surname was Thackersey.
Wonderful theme and a really nice crossword to solve.
ReplyDelete