Monday, 16 December 2013

No.10957, Monday 16 Dec 2013, The Phantom



ACROSS
1 French fruit left out of drink (6) FRAPPE (FR APPLE -L)
4 Hairstyles for posh poser initially with brush from Sweden (8) UPSWEEPS (U P SWEEP S)
          Reminded me of the 'buff' most of us used to sport decades back
10 Is no amity, in other words hatred? (9) ANIMOSITY (IS NO AMITY)*
          Can't afford this. Especially with the Phantom!
11 Jack’s holding back crowd with weapon (1,4) A BOMB (AB holding MOB<)
          Weapon could be a bomb or an A-Bomb too!
12 Stuck with an incomplete component of this puzzle? Newspaper’s guilty, primarily (5) CLUNG (CLUe N G)
13 Matters of the church, involved Special Order of Preachers (9) EPISCOPAL (SPECIAL O P)*
          This reminded me of a certain limerick ...
14 Mischief-maker caught in distribution of spam (5) SCAMP (C in SPAM*)
          Remembered Walt Disney's cartoon dog Scamp
16 Excellent quarters for everybody retiring in Capital (8) BUDAPEST (PAD U< in BEST)
19 Flirt being discreet in Middle Eastern country? Quite the opposite (8) WOMANISE (OMAN in WISE)
20 Noble’s turned bitter (5) LAGER (REGAL<)
23 Unemployed chap with old habits, in the end, scrounges (9) FREELOADS (FREE LAD with O, S)
24 Golden girl’s love of sound (5) AUDIO (AU DI O)
26 Chap, new to a gathering of witches (5) COVEN (COVE N)
          If this chap is there to 19, they might turn him into ...
27 Clever boy managed to overcome one recurrent problem with tact finally (9) BRILLIANT (B RAN around(1 ILL<) T)
28 Daughter expressing revulsion holding nose, initially queasy in squalid place (8) DUNGHILL (D UGH holding N, ILL)
29 Annotate C.E.A.T right now (2,4) AT ONCE (AT ON CE)

DOWN
1 Country’s Southern border falls to old European dictator (6) FRANCO (FRANCE-E+O)
2 Farewell present that’s suitable for everyone (5) ADIEU (AD IE U)
3 Sandwich of cheese and salad served in pub for a farmhand (10,5) PLOUGHMAN'S LUNCH
5 Shy writer, played croquets essentially, in gym for figure (8) PHYSIQUE ((SHY I)*  QU in PE)
6 What caught radio operator’s attention initially? Call it an unspecified device (15) WHATCHAMACALLIT (WHAT C HAM A CALL IT)
7 Past old globe, is outermost layer of earth’s air (9 ) EXOSPHERE (EX O SPHERE)
8 Stand-in obtains permission to enter Turkey’s borders with diplomacy (8) SUBTLETY (SUB, LET in TurkeY)
9 Blimey! Britisher’s left countryman behind (5) LIMEY (bLIMEY)
          Watch this space, if DD responds to this!
15 Vehicle in front, housing soft hearted writer’s mobile home (6,3) CAMPER VAN (CAR VAN housing ME with P=soft at its heart)
17 Insincere wife of accountant upset, caught by sleuth returning (3-5) TWO FACED (W OF CA< held by DET<)
18 Elements from Uzbekistan, Bulgaria meeting in a Capital (8) ISTANBUL (T)
           The Oriental end of the route of the Oriental Express
21 Good man breaks into song when awake (5) ASTIR (ST in AIR)
22 Jack, East German and the French push around (6) JOSTLE (J OST LE)
25 Tie front of nightgown that’s worn (5) DRAWN (DRAW N)

 SLIDE SHOW : WEDDING OF MY SON (GAURAV GOPINATH)

71 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. The moustache made it easier. I did not have to draw the lips. I am presently drawing an unmoustachioed person and struggling to get the lips right.

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  2. @Col: Thanks for sharing your son's wedding pics.
    I was totally confused at first when I couldn't spot Kishore anywhere - the title for the slide show is WEDDING OF MY SON and today's post is by Kishore! :P

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    Replies
    1. Nice to see the pics, Deepak.

      @ Sandy: I could not see my son either ;-)

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  3. Many many happy returns of the day Colonel :)

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  4. I have just come back from Sri Venugopalaswamy temple in Gopalapuram and logged in.
    Many happy returns of the day to the Colonel.
    Congrats to Kishore whose sketch of the birthday boy is good.

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  5. Many many more happy returns Col

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  6. Many many happy returns of the day, col.

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  7. Many many happy returns of the day Deepak

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  8. Wishing you a very happy birthday Col.

    @Kishore, really nice one.

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  9. Logging in very late.

    Many, Many Happy Returns of The Day, Col Saheb !

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  10. Good 'after'-morning everyone. Logging in late since I had to attend the Vijay Diwas observance to mark the victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. So solemn, so inspiring an experience.

    Deepak, many happy returns of the day. Kishore could be as much happy over a great creation of a graphic.

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  11. Many happy returns of the day Col.

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  12. Nice CW from The Ghost Who Walks. ( and is this the 1st comment today abt the CW ? )

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  13. By the way, it was a nice idea to have organized a slide show of the wedding. So convenient to watch. Got many interesting glimpses of the ceremony.

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    Replies
    1. And you seem to be spending most of your time today in acknowledging the greetings rather than celebrating... :-)

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  14. PHANTOM Vs BATMAN

    Unlike other days, I didn't want to go down without a fight. Hence it was a long drawn out battle today. In between a breather, I wished Col Saheb "Happy Birthday" and resumed the fight
    again to solve his puzzle ! Well, the final score declared by the judges was 10 - 9 in his favour !! No regrets and I thoroughly enjoyed this contest today. Thanks, Phantom.

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  15. 29 Annotate C.E.A.T right now (2,4) AT ONCE (AT ON CE)

    Anno not clear. "ON" for ? Is it 'anagram' type ? Hope somebody would clear my doubt.

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    Replies
    1. When you annotate CEAT (an answer) it would be At ON Ce (for example) A on B =BA

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    2. Not anagram, MB.

      When a clue says A on B, the answer is usually AB or BA.

      This device has been turned on its head.

      When you annotate AB or BA, it would be A on B, say or in this case AT on CE

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  16. Kishore @

    4 Hairstyles for posh poser initially with brush from Sweden (8) UPSWEEPS (U P SWEEP S)
    Reminded me of the 'buff' most of us used to sport decades back

    ...a la Devanand !

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    Replies
    1. Jo chala gayaa use bhool ja ...

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlXjF-Y1Fs0

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    2. @Kishore Nice portrait of Col sir !

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    3. You are right Kishore. Jo chala gaya use bhool jaana chahiye. It is not going to grow back, in any case

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    4. Kishore @ 1:17

      I was about to ask "Kisko bhool jaun, Devanand ko ya mere baal jo bees saal pahale hi chala gaya ?" Anyway, as Suresh garu says, be content with what you are left with(still) ! :)

      Delete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. One day I join in late and so much happens and that too outside a good ( though I am almost on par with MB!) CW. Missed all the fun. Anyway....

    1.Many happy returns of the day Colonel aaaa7 many many more years of blogging (in selfish interest)
    2.Thank you for the slide show for the benefit of all of us who missed the wedding and an opportunity to see Col. in traditional attire!
    3.Congratulations on an excellent and realistic portrait of Col. I have heard that portrait painting is very specialised (say, when compared to drawing a landscape or some such) One more feather in Kishore's cap ( I have already assumed he has changed into a bigger cap) Probably if the feathers are added inside the cap, he may be able to take it off altogether! Bhool na jana.

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  19. Forgive my typing code- 'aaaa7' stands for 'and'

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  20. Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day Col Gopinath.

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  21. Colonel Saheb,

    I've gone through almost all slides/pics of your son's wedding. The newly wed couple really look like "Made for each other!" I could spot your granddaughter just in a frame or two !
    And believe me, Sir, I mistook your better half (for a while) for Usha Uthop ! Pardon me and my eyes for saying so !! Thanks Sir, for sharing those pics with us.

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  22. Many happy returns, Colonel.
    That's a very nice portrait!

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  23. Thanks, everyone, for your kind words about the portrait. It was my first with MS Paint. I might go back to pencils for some other portraits in the pipeline.

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  24. Many Happy Returns of the Day, Col.

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  25. Hi Col. I wish you luck, happiness and riches today, tomorrow and beyond. Happy Birthday!
    Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.
    Wishing your Blog is filled with wishes from people you have never met!

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  26. Happy birthday Colonel! Great to see your son's wedding pics. Congrats to the newlyweds and the family.

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