Thursday, 28 November 2013

No 10942, Thursday 28 Nov 2013, Neyartha

Neyartha in a medical mood today.
ACROSS
1 Fool in retreat packing diseased crane’s organ (8) PANCREAS {PA{CRANE*}S<=}
5 Start off taunt with a strong liquor (6) ARRACK bARRACK
9 Some return to protect boat damaged by the vigorously active (9) ACROBATIC {ACR{BOAT*}IC<=}
11 Escape with the first character’s ball which is shaped like an egg (5) OVOID {O}{VOID} (Addendum - (-a+o)OVOID - See comments)
12 Butterflies here may be a sign of nervousness (7) STOMACH [CD]
14 Strict about Union Station terminal’s emergency repair estimate initially (7) AUSTERE {A}{U}{S}{T}{E}{R}{E}
15 Characteristic of a soy candy Iris prepared (12) IDIOSYNCRASY*
17 Cleaner’s gift concealed in accommodation with kitchen facilities (4-8) SELF-CATERING*
20 Turkey abolished the different form of a title of respect (7) EFFENDI DIFFErENt*
22 Console revolutionary noble from the east (5,2) CHEER UP {CHE}{ER UP<=}
23 Nature of a stag, it’s said (5) HEART (~hart)
24 Life of a dangerous insect inside the English river (9) EXISTENCE {EX{INSECT*}E}
26 Criminal discarded winter underclothes to discover a heat unit (6) THERMA ? Anno pending (Addendum - THERMS THERMalS - See comments)
27 Support getting successfully anaesthetized in hurry to get back (8) UNDERPIN {UNDER}{PIN<=}

DOWN
1   Chopra is eager to contribute to the applause (6) PRAISE [T]
2   Sedate lift manufacturer surrounded by shellfish undergoing internal turmoil (9) NARCOTISE {NA(-c)R(+c)C{OTIS}E}
3   Polish massage (3) RUB [DD]
4   Tie man in confusion as his volunteers move in with medication (13) ANTIHISTAMINE {ANTI{HIS}{TA}MINE*}
6   Hotel amenity makes the sir come over awkwardly (4,7) ROOM SERVICE*

SEE THIS REQUEST FOR ROOM SERVICE

7   Battery part described in a Horatian ode (5) ANODE [T]
8   Organ given by family doctor originally moving north with the Oriental and the Yankee (6) KIDNEY KIDN{E}{Y} {KI{D}N}{E}{Y}
10 Restraint on ousted Democrat editing what keeps a nuclear reactor functioning (5,8) CHAIN REACTION {CHAIN} {REdACTION}
13 Main fund I misused to shield IT permanently (2,9) AD INFINITUM {AD INFIN{IT}UM*}
16 Pea variety found with a sweetener on the upset vessels (5,4) SUGAR SNAP {SUGAR} {SNAP<=}
18 Does a blacksmith find iron like this easy to work with? (3,3) RED HOT [CD]
19 Anger at sparkle from gas forced out by Poland (6) SPLEEN S(-h+p)PLEEN (Correction - S(-h+pl)PLEEN - See comments)
21 Dazzle with vocal talent (5) FLARE (~flair)
25 Couple’s hamper (3) TIE [DD]

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37 comments:

  1. SandhyaP28 November 2013 at 08:35

    26 Criminal discarded winter underclothes to discover a heat unit (6) THERM(-al)S?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhavan28 November 2013 at 08:35

    26 Criminal discarded winter underclothes to discover a heat unit (6) THERMA ? Anno pending

    THERM(-al)S

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chaturvasi28 November 2013 at 08:42

      Qn: Did the criminal discard 'winter underclothes'?
      Did he in the first place possess the winter clothes?
      OTOH, 'thermals' possess Al and could discard him if they so wish.
      So how would you revise the clue if you want to be more exact?

      Delete
    2. Bhavan28 November 2013 at 08:58

      I read criminal-discarded-winter-underclothes in the same way as fat-free-potato-chips i.e, chips are rid of fat, winter clothers are rid of criminal

      Delete
  3. SandhyaP28 November 2013 at 08:39

    19 Anger at sparkle from gas forced out by Poland (6) SPLEEN
    Typo: S(-h+pl)PLEEN (Poland: PL)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chaturvasi28 November 2013 at 08:48

      Again I am not sure if the surface reading as written conveys the intended meaning. How about: Anger at gas forced out by Poland from sparkle - where the cryptic grammar seems to be all right but the surface reading is nonsensical.

      Sorry to raise this question but as it occurred to me when I read the clue and the given answer with the suggested anno, I thought I would put it down as this place is where the clues are anatomised.

      Delete
    2. Bhavan28 November 2013 at 09:01

      I think the 'from' is misplaced in the clue.

      Anger from sparkle gas forced out by Poland (6) might be more cryptically accurate.

      But in either version I really don't get what the surface means.

      Delete
  4. Padmanabhan28 November 2013 at 09:28

    Normally I don't complete even 50% of Neyartha. So I approached the CW today with apprehension. But Voila! I could complete today though I needed 'support' to get the support- I mean underpin. But still happy. Good start for the day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous28 November 2013 at 09:43

    Nice cartoon for Room Service. Incidentally hotels do not have a big sign for this service. It is usually located in the innards of the building, with a minimalist sign, if at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chaturvasi28 November 2013 at 12:45

      You're correct!
      The signboard RECEPTION might be large. But we rarely see 'room service' is such bold letters.
      I didn't enjoy the cartoon much. I presume it's the bedbugs that are at the other end of the phone line: if so they won't say 'Could you send up some guests to the bedbugs...". If the wording had to be "Could you send up some guests to ..." then the callers must be shown as bedbugs elsewhere in the frame.
      The cartoon has a good idea but it is not executed properly.
      - A connoisseur of cartoons
      who laments the lack of quality in the cartoons that appear in Tamil magazines nowadays. Maybe in the fifties and sixties and a couple of decades later they were standard and had quality but they have degenerated in the past few years because it is not the cartoonists themselves who are thinking up ideas. These are submitted by readers for free-lance artists to draw. And the readers who submit ideas are not the well-read, knowledgeable and with taste but young people looking for a few bucks.

      Delete
  6. Unknown28 November 2013 at 11:00

    So is it 'therms' or 'therma'? I wrote 'therms'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. PKPSwami28 November 2013 at 11:18

    I wrote thermo

    ReplyDelete
  8. Padmanabhan28 November 2013 at 11:48

    The clue says 'a heat unit'. How can this be in plural? Heat unit is 'therm'.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 November 2013 at 11:54

    26 Criminal discarded winter underclothes to discover a heat unit (6) THERM(-al)S

    How is "AL" linked to criminal please ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh28 November 2013 at 12:04

      Al Capone

      Delete
    2. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 November 2013 at 12:07

      Got it. Thanks to WIKI. AL Capone the American gangster.

      Delete
    3. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 November 2013 at 12:11

      Thanks, Suresh garu. Actually before raising this doubt, I typed AL in search column of WIKI and found no answer. Later I typed it as A L and got the answer !

      Delete
  10. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 November 2013 at 12:32

    26 Criminal discarded winter underclothes to discover a heat unit (6) THERM(-al)S

    My silly doubt : How could Al Capone, the criminal, discard his thermals and get "therms" ?! (No offence intended but all in fun)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Chaturvasi28 November 2013 at 12:50

    I keep receiving mails worded as follows -

    Please view the document i uploaded for you using Google docs.

    Click here just sign in with your email to view the document its very important.

    Regards,

    - from friends and other correspondents.

    Of course I don''t click nor give any details. Just FYI.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Navneeth28 November 2013 at 12:59

      I was just to post about the same. I have received only one so far, from Raju Umamaheshwar's e-mail account. I think some of the blog readers' passwords may have been compromised and it might be sensible to change it immediately.

      If anyone receives a similarly spam-like message from my account, please let me know.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous28 November 2013 at 13:15

      I too have recd a similar mail from RU.

      Delete
    3. Lakshmi Vaidyanathan28 November 2013 at 21:20

      Even I have received a similar mail from Raju Sir.

      Delete
  12. Laxman28 November 2013 at 12:55

    How is CIRCA related to SOME in 9A.
    Is ESCAPE=O & FIRST CHARACTER'S BALL= VOID in 11A?
    What is the Anno of 27A
    and is KI= Family in 8D?
    Can someone please explain. I have been here for a couple of months trying to learn Crosswords.
    Thank You

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Navneeth28 November 2013 at 13:04

      9A: Circa means 'about', 'around' (circa 9 BCE = around 9 BCE). I feel that it's a slightly vague connection to 'some'.

      11A: It's the other way round. Escape is VOID and the first character (of the answer) is a ball, i.e. O.

      27A: To put someone under is to anaesthetise that person. To nip is to move quickly, or hurry.

      8D: KIN is family. Doctor originally (the first letter of 'doctor') moves north (up).

      Delete
  13. Padmanabhan28 November 2013 at 13:08

    27A-
    Family- kin
    originally doctor- D (first letter)
    Moving north- D moving up into kin becomes ki(d)n
    oriental- East-E
    Yankee-Y
    So it becomes {ki(d)n} (e))y)
    Def.- organ

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bhavan28 November 2013 at 13:14

    11 Escape with the first character’s ball which is shaped like an egg (5) OVOID {O}{VOID}

    Escape = Avoid
    First character is ball = O for A
    which is shaped like an egg = OVOID

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Navneeth28 November 2013 at 13:34

      Ah!

      Delete
    2. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 November 2013 at 13:45

      What's the indicator for deletion of A please ?

      Delete
    3. Padmanabhan28 November 2013 at 13:47

      In 'avoid', the first character is changed to 'O'.

      Delete
    4. Laxman28 November 2013 at 13:52

      Thank you Navneeth, Padmanabhan & Bhavan.
      In 8D i thought the N is from North. It escaped me at first that KI & N could be a word.
      Don't you think it's a bit too far fetched to connect CIRCA with SOME.
      Thanks again to all of you.

      Delete
  15. Deepak Gopinath28 November 2013 at 13:52

    MB @ 1:45

    There is no deletion A is replaced by O, 'First character is ball' as clarified by Bhavan @ 1:14

    ReplyDelete
  16. Padmanabhan28 November 2013 at 13:54

    I feel that in such answers one has to get the answer from crossings or otherwise and then justify. For me at least it looks very difficult to get it directly from the word play.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 November 2013 at 13:58

    Thanks, Paddy and Col Sir, for clarification of Anno "OVOID. I read Buzzer's comment @ 1:45 but still had the doubt.

    ReplyDelete
  18. raju umamaheswar28 November 2013 at 15:56

    Hi ye-all ! I have been tied up in knots with some unproductive activity and hence could not visit this blog. Even I'm surprised to receive lots of emails from my friends in my mailing list asking me about the link spammed from my email account. I'll change the password promptly and meanwhile, while seeking your kind indulgence for the inconvenience caused . Please DO NOT open that link under any circumstances. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

    ReplyDelete
  19. VJ28 November 2013 at 17:44

    Got a doubt on yesterday's puzzle blogged by Chaturvasi. Not sure how this particular clue works.

    "26 Rowers on team synchronised after starting off badly (7) BOATMEN - b + oatmen (anag of onteam)"

    How does "starting off badly" lead to B. Ideally, it should mean "ADLY."

    ReplyDelete
  20. Mukundala Balasubramanyam28 November 2013 at 18:42

    Please see Yesterday's post by RameshJ @ 9:55 AM and the reply post by Bhavan.

    ReplyDelete

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