As usual Buzzer ensures your brain works double time.
ACROSS
9 Personification of an icon online (6) AVATAR [CD]
12 Standard jade green treasures (6) DEGREE [T]
15 Ordinary tree as seen in street? (6-2-3-4) MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD Anno not clear (Addendum - sTREEt - See comments)
20 Alternate entertainment for kids (6 ) SEESAW [CD] Reminded me of the stupid and idiotic advertisement which comes on TV nowadays.
22 Deny detective inspector is bound by pledge (10) CONTRADICT {CONTRA{DI}CT}
 |
| Seen at the flyover near the Bangalore Race course. How will you explain this at the LL driving test? |
24 10 years' nothing for a crack (6) DECODE DEC(-a+o)ODE
25 Bring about changes in teenager (8) GENERATE*
DOWN
1 Dimple is intact by the mouth (4) HOLE (~whole)
2 Ring on severed tree is distinct (8) DISCRETE {DISC}{TREE*}
3 Agree to mete out punishment, reversing reprieve (6) PARDON {PAR}{DON}<=
4 Seaway fare (4,6) MAIN COURSE [CD]
5 Dance smack in the middle, atop a sports stadium (8) MACARENA {sMACk}{ARENA} Is this a dance by itself or a Dance to the Macarena song?
7 Contemplate trapping old rodent (5) MOUSE {M{O}USE}
8 Ian Fleming, so very creative for livelihood (5,2,6) MEANS OF LIVING {IAN+FLEMING+SO+V}*
13 Release government ordered deporting me (10) REDEMPTION {DEPORTINg+ME}* Release on double duty
16 Fairy tales son asks for earnestly (8) IMPLORES {IMP}{LORE}{S}
17 Not sure the tan is working (8) HESITANT*
19 Secured a vent, holding up one escaping (6) EVADER [T<=]
21 Caution a lieutenant displaying hesitation (5) ALERT {A}{L{ER}T}
23 Either side of non-uniform pattern (4) NORM {NOR}{M} (Addendum - {N}{OR}{M} - See comments)
15 Ordinary tree as seen in street? (6-2-3-4) MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD Anno not clear
ReplyDeleteordinary= defn, mediocre, not superior or inferior i.e. middle of the road
tree as seen in the street, can be in the middle of the road, but not necessarily ...
15 Ordinary// tree as seen in street? (6-2-3-4) MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD
ReplyDeleteI. average, moderate
2. sTREEt
Bingo, Sandy, I missed the T in the middle
DeleteGreat work Sandhya. As usual.
Delete23 Either side of non-uniform // pattern (4) NORM {NOR}{M}
ReplyDeletesides of Non-uniforM are N & M
Either of these - N or M
Also works as NOnunifoRM, though may not be the setter's intention
DeleteThere is a popular Agatha Christie novel with this name (the first in the Tommy-Tuppence series). The title was taken from a catechism in the Book of Common Prayer which asks, "What is your Christian name? Answer N. or M.
DeleteCf. the wordplay in a clue in THC (Gridman):
DeleteAgatha Christie's novel title provides standard (4)
13 Release government ordered deporting me (10) REDEMPTION {DEPORTINg+ME}* Release on double duty
ReplyDeleteI wish governments were on double duty ... they do not seem to be on single duty itself ...
Always a delight to get Buzzer or Xchequer on a Saturday. Enough time to enjoy and complete the grid.
ReplyDeleteMacarena
ReplyDeleteCould recall immediately as it was made popular by the song featuring Vijay and Shilpa Shetty from the Tamil Movie Kushy.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I595_45_3A "Mac Mac Macarena"
I heard this Mac Mac Macarena song now. Tell me, doesn't this echo a tune from an old MGR song?
DeleteThe Macarena song mentioned by Venkatesh above has nothing to do with the Macarena dance referred in the clue. See the You Tube link in the main post. Don't know about the old MGR song. Maybe Shrikant can clarify.
DeleteYes, the Indian version of Macarena mentioned by Venkatesh is entirely different from the one mentioned by Col Sir.
DeleteEnjoyed the original Macarena, a peppy hip swinging song ! Thanks, Col Sir.
Got stuck on a four letter word RUNE. Otherwise smooth going. Middle of the road in the centre of the crossword was a nice tuch
ReplyDeleteI feel this should be TUNE. For+Tune = Good luck
DeleteRight, Bhala. I put down Tune because I did not know any word called 'rune'. But did not figure out the anno
DeleteRef CV @ 10:11
ReplyDeleteCouldn't find that post, found these two
THC 10670 – Gridman
Standard in a region in France expelling a boy (4) NORM NORMandy
THC 10364 Gridman
What is usual among men or maids (4) - NORM [T]
My brain had to work triple time today to negate yesterday's flop show (of mine) ! Scraped through the halfway line and feeling happy today :) Thanks, Buzzer.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle as usual by Buzzer;
ReplyDelete10 Song pursued for good luck (4) RUNE
Song pursues FOR: FOR + TUNE as Bhala's said.
4 High season around Japan’s capital (3,4) SAN JOSE {SAN{J}OSE*}
Feel just 'capital' is inadequate def. of a state in US.
I think the capital of Costa Rica is what he had in mind, and OK at that. Anyway the other one is not a capital, so no harm no foul
DeleteRaghunath San Jose linked in main post
Delete15 Ordinary tree as seen in street? (6-2-3-4) MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD
ReplyDeleteDon't know about others,of my category,but I could get only 'middle' of the Middle-of-the-Road, Middle Road missing !
?
DeleteI could get only 2-3 out of (6-2-3-4) enumeration :)
DeleteMB,
DeleteSee Sandhya's comment at 8:40
Yes, Sir. Saw her post much earlier than my above post and I fully understood her explanation. I just wanted to mention how far I could succeed in my attempt to solve that clue, in a lighter vein :)
DeleteTomorrow's special is Daily Crossword Puzzle No (Now The Hindu Crossword) 1 which appeared on 15 Feb 1971
ReplyDeleteFrom the article 'Solving crosswords, building friendships' in 'The Hindu issue of 12.2.12:
DeleteC.G. Rishikesh .... has done every one of The Hindu 's crosswords since 1971. “.... I still remember doing The Hindu 's Crossword ‘number 1' in 1971. A couple of days ago, I completed ‘number 10,381',” he says.
He has been solving THC for the last 42 years now, besides being also a setter!
A clue from The Daily Crossword No. 1 of The Hindu has been cited in the book 'Cluetopia' by David Astle, one of the books published recently in celebration of the crossword centenary. That is in the Chapter titled 1971.
DeleteNear-saint heading without direction and confused (6)
DeleteSome more clues for solving:
Drat and Double Drat! It’s what we do (2,10)
What’re you doing tonight? (6)
It’s upsetting to teach sheep to sing ‘Shoot the Boer’ (4,6)
Woman stares wildly at calamity (8)
And, here is one for Kishore and Richard:
Nombre del líder supremo que rige nuestro destino? Barbado (5,6)
Woman stares wildly at calamity (8)
Delete{DI}{SASTER*}
There used to be one NOEL DAVID in Hyderabad & Indian Cricket team!
ReplyDelete1 - A - Well made-out. NH4 could be National Highway 4, also.
Yes, he made just one or two appearances and then disappeared from the scene ! I mean from Indian cricket team !
Delete15 Ordinary// tree as seen in street? (6-2-3-4) MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD
ReplyDeleteCan we classify it as DD please ? If not, what's it ?
MB, choose from the following :-)
DeleteIllustrative, Representative, Descriptive, Explanatory, Interpretive, Expository, Explicatory, Illustrational
Well, the list is too long, Sir ! I think, almost all of them, fit into a suitable classification of that clue ! One more novel clue from Buzzer ! I feel this must be the today's COD.
DeleteCV,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. I heard the song "Macarena" from 'Kushi'. The charanam is direct copy from that of an MGR starrer Vettaikkaran "unnaiyarindhaal... nee unnayarindhaal". In case of two other songs in the same film - "Kattipudida", the pallavi is a straight lift from "senthamizh thenmozhiyaal", and the charanam from a Hindi song "Nahi nahi.. abhi nahi" (old Kishore Kumar - Asha Bhonsle hit from Jawani Deewani); and ."Megam karukkudhu" is from a Punjabi song.
The music composer Deva has the reputation of being Annu Malik of Tamil movies.
Col,
ReplyDeleteGridman's clue for NorM mentioned by CV is from THC 9276 of 15.07.2008.
Here are two clues from that for cold solving:
1 Predictably they have to work in season and out of season (7,8)
8 One should not get drunk to be in this (5,2,8)
1 : Weather Stations ?
Delete1:Weather Prophets
Delete2:State of Sobriety
Prashanth has got both right.
DeleteI have brain freeze in the Delhi cold!
ReplyDeleteStill, enjoyable CW from Buzzer -
Nice puzzle.18,20,22,24a 3,16d real brainteasers but we could crack thanks to well laid-out clues.6a & 5d failed me. I wrote embolism & habanera resp.
ReplyDeleteWho was the world's first crossword editor?
ReplyDeleteAns: Margaret Petherbridge,who was recruited by Arthur Wynne, in 1921, to oversee the World crossword.
ReplyDeleteShe drafted a set of rules, insisted that all grid patterns observe symmetry, and replaced the dual-numbering system in vogue then (e.g.,clue 35–36) with single-digit markings (e.g., 27 Across).
Here's a bonus clue from the first Word-Cross: The fibre of the gomuti palm (3)
SAP
DeleteMB, No, try again.
DeletePl scroll up to see a few more clues just above Vijay Sarvagnam's post
Hint: It is same as an exclamation popularized by the fictional character Homer Simpson.
DeleteI give up, Sir :)
DeleteAnd when Mukundala sees the answer he'll go "D'oh!".
ReplyDeleteLovely puzzles, both yesterday and today. Delectable clues like 11A and 3D today, and 10A from yesterday.
I had TUNE and HOLE, but was not confident enough to fill them in without annos. SEESAW was the only one that I couldn't crack otherwise.
D'oh ! It was DOH after all ! Thanks, Navneeth :)
DeleteNR 6:29 pm - Havana special, I guess. FIDEL CASTRO?
ReplyDeleteThe clue may have been set during those days when cigar smoke was around. Quite a flattering tribute to the autocratic rule. By the way, where did you pick it from? One of Cuban newspapers?
Please also have a look at the clue again. Is it possible that DEL and STRO have been intentionally included to suggest the answer? It could be a coincidence. But if it was intended, quite clever indeed.
I am on tour for three days. Got to surf the Net only in t he early hours of Dec 5 morning. Hope this post will not miss your attention.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteYou are very perceptive.
This clue is at 13 Horizontales (Across) in
http://runrun.es/humor/43278/el-crucigrama-nacional-por-laureano-marquez.html
Also, the Venezuelan site - http://www.talcualdigital.com/movil/visor.aspx?id=70401
Cited in 'Cluetopia' by David Astle (for 2012)
While the Spanish call it crucigrama, the Czechs call it the křížovky, and the Swedes the korsord. Arabic speakers know the diversion as the ,ةعطاقتملا تاملكلا while the Chinese go for the 填字游戏 (words-in-the-blanks game). Crosswords have entertained mankind for a hundred years now!