Wednesday, 19 February 2014

No 11012, Wednesday 19 Feb 2014, Incognito


Incognito still in 'fauji' mode after his Air Force, Navy, Army specials

ACROSS
1,24 Air force functionary’s tirade after fight with an authoritative person (7,7) WARRANT OFFICER {WAR}{RANT} {OFFICER}
4   Accommodate for a 25 cents coin (7) QUARTER [DD]
7   Get control over a turbulent stream (6) MASTER*
8   NCO’s insect hides under some cloth (8) SERGEANT {SERGE}{ANT}
10 King and girl carry minced bait in knapsack (6) KITBAG {K}{BAIT*}{G}
13 Coming closer, knight takes ear-ring without right (7) NEARING {N}{EAR-rING}
15 A wife in January for the Indian sepoy (5) JAWAN {J{A}{W}AN}
17 No baron drops ingot at 1200 hours (4) NOON {NO barON}
18 Trainee beaten about for a sword handle (4) HILT {HI{L}T}
20 A piece of pasteboard held by Dracula when returning (4) CARD [T<=]
21 First serviceman has ordered a decorative girdle (4) SASH {S}{HAS*}
22 Network engineer’s spear (5) LANCE {LAN}{CE}
24 See 1 across
25 Ordinary sailor’s evaluation (6) RATING [DD]
29 Continued existence of mutated virus before lava flowed back endlessly (8) SURVIVAL {{VIRUS*}{aVAL<=}
30 Roguish Zulu regiments with first strike helicopters … (6) IMPISH {IMPI}{S}{H}
31 … go before the first pioneers return (7) PRECEDE {P}{RECEDE}
32 After loss of a round, sub-editor sent it out for a JCO (7) SUBEDAR {SUB-ED(-it+a)AoR}

DOWN
1   West Indian military policeman is a sissy (4) WIMP {WI}{MP}
2   Irish-Indian conceals an Indian sage (5) RISHI [T]
3   Lady rebuilt manor (5) NORMA*
4   Royal parent like the once “Smiling Duchess’’, say (5,6) QUEEN MOTHER {QUEEN}{MOTHER}
5   Place three consecutive letters between two articles for this countryman (6) AFGHAN {A}{FGH}AN}
6   Regularly, star found Aditi violating custom (9) TRADITION {sTaR}{ADITI}{fOuNd}
9   Tie; go back inside with one another (8) TOGETHER {T{OG<=}ETHER}
11 Cosby is biting heartlessly (4) BING BItiNG
12 Army transport sometimes used for a state funeral (3,8) GUN CARRIAGE [CD]
14 Bouncers to throw out other ranks (8) EJECTORS {EJECT}{ORS}
16 Crew, put some relish into a wok for the civil engineer (9) WORKFORCE {WO{R}K}{FOR}{CE}
19 Strong lieutenant has a suite (4) FLAT {F}{L{A}T}
23 Author put a cradle in the south east (6) SCRIBE {S{CRIB}E}
26 Goodbye! Give up the ghost in Australia (5) ADIEU {A{DIE}U}
27 Diana becomes a nymph (5) NAIAD*
28 Fish caught by Acharya (4) CHAR [T]


74 comments:

  1. Good crossie form Mr No-longer Incognito!

    True tribute to our brethren in the armed forces.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But what is our friend doing in 2D in army-related puzzle?

      Delete
    2. The previous ones had mainly officer ranks. Thought other men and equipment too deserved to be covered.

      Delete
    3. He is of a military background ! His father was in the IAF ;-)

      Delete
    4. Oh yes, missed that point.

      Delete
  2. I put IMPISH based on guess. A link to IMPI (=Zulu) could be of help.

    MB, did you like this clue?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard @ 8:36

      Yes, I did ! :) For "ZULU" happens to be part of my password !

      Delete
    2. Wondering how Richard could have gueseed your password!

      Delete
    3. Paddy, 8:58 I swear, MB never passed a word about it.

      Delete
    4. What did you pass, MB?

      Delete
    5. 3 states of matter!

      Delete
    6. Solid answer, holds water and no gas!

      Delete
    7. Couldn't continue the thread after 8:55 AM. Power cuts in my area from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.
      Enjoyed the pun ! :)

      Delete
  3. A classic- no less. Hats off to you 'Cognito"! A smooth flowing one which I was able to complete (except for 30A) well before time. Reminded me of Sankalak's puzzles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Agree it was rather impish of me to bring in Zulu regiments. I cannot dream of reaching Sankalak's levels, but I shall certainly try.

      Delete
    2. Try clueing 14 or 15 lettered anagrams, a must in late Sankalak's puzzles. I was late to learn about his sad demise. May his soul rest in peace.

      Delete
  4. Col.,
    The yellow letters in the clues are hardly visible. can something be done?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He already has!

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan are you also colour blind like the ones above above below your 8:57

      Delete
  5. AFGHAN seems to be one of the very few sensible words - proper names included - in the vocabulary, which contain at least three consecutive alphabetical characters, FGH in this case. The word fiRST is another.

    Can our friends here come out with more words which they may have come across? I haven't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Building on first is thirst, Sandhurst, Pankhurst, wurst etc.

      Delete
    2. Many words starting with DEF like Defence, ...

      Delete
    3. DEFace
      HIJack
      aiRSTrip
      couGHIng
      ***
      If we think hard, we should be able to get many. Of course, certain strings may not be amenable.

      Delete
  6. Smooth one Kishore.
    Poor Dracula would turn anaemic biting into cards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He was coming back by train, hence holding the pasteboard. Remember our old railway tickets?

      Delete
    2. We can tell him to B+

      Delete
    3. Like Anil Kapoor keeps repeating "B+ Yaar" in the movie 'No entry'.

      Delete
  7. OVERSTUFF, OVERSTUDIOUS, OVERSTUNK, UNDERSTUFF, UNDERSTUMBLE, SUPERSTUD, OVERSTUMBLE, SUPERSTUFF, UNDERSTUDY,BIERSTUBE. CREMNOPHOBIA, GYMNOPAEDIC, GYMNOPHOBIA, GYMNOPLAST, LIMNOPHILE, LIMNOPHORA, LIMNOPHORID, LIMNOPLANKTON, SEMNOPITHECINE, SOMNOPATHY, and THAMNOPHILE.ANALYZABLE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore, you may have remembered ALEXYZ, a popular cartoonist in Goa.

      Delete
  8. It was a stroll in the park for me today. Enjoyable puzzle. Thanks, Incognito.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like I am being pearl-harboured with entries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Change the specs to 4 consecutive letters ...

      Delete
    2. A person with soMNOPathy might be thinking such things as he is counting sheep.

      Delete
    3. Reminds me of a dyslexic insomniac philospher lying awake at night musing abou the existence of dog

      Delete
  10. Hydroxyzine,Tuvalu,Genghiz Khan,Hymnology,Calmness

    ReplyDelete
  11. 21 A, 1, 14 and 19 D also have a connection with the military in the clues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghu @ 9:14,

      That's why those words are in a different colour code. You can add 13, 18, 30 and 31A to that list

      Delete
    2. The Col. Has highlighted those and a few more in the clues by using whatever colour that is.

      Delete
    3. Blogger says that colour is Orange

      Delete
    4. I use the same strategem. Whenever I mention the name of a colour I have used, I note down what name it shows. But when the colour is inbound, I have issues.

      Delete
    5. Re colour, I too have the same problem as you and Kishore,

      Delete
    6. That is why they say 'indiscriminate of colour and class'

      Delete
  12. Incognito is good for health

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meaning you get more time to concentrate on your cycling? ;-)

      Delete
    2. Speaking of health, it worries me no end to see people drinking to others' health while ruining their own...

      Delete
    3. Let's raise a toast to that

      Delete
    4. Suresh, probably gives you enough time to cycle and recycle

      Delete
    5. In the Indian army we drink a toast in honour of the President at the end of the dinner, however the wine glasses are filled with water for the toast

      Delete
    6. Due to cut in defence spending? ;-)

      Delete
  13. Beautiful clue in IE today:

    Cape familiar to the matador? (4)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Recognized today's crossie as from Incognito. Couldn't have been simpler. Acrosses and Downs all cleared in Army March precision in one Order. Thanks, we always get ashore with Kishore !

    ReplyDelete
  15. Really a feast to relish. Felt as if in the thick of military manoeuvres. A cognitive salute(to) incognito.

    ReplyDelete
  16. IMO Kishore aka Incognito's motto is to keep everyone happy, not only with his easy and smooth flowing crossies, but also with his ever present wit, pun, banter etc, etc !!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks, veryone. Promise to make you go crackers next month ...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Gopinath sir...could you please tell me why some some clues have ....at the end, eg in today's puzzle 30 & 31ac. Interesting today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When ellipsis are used at the end of one clue and at the beginning of the next, the clues can be read as one continuous sentence for surface reading. More on this at:

      http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2010/05/ellipsis-linked-clues.html

      Delete
  19. Thank you Incognito. Am doing the crossies after many days, thanks to my sick baby. Also at a relatively sensible hour. I just finished it and got all of them. Quite pleased. Only thing - for 9A, I took "some cloth" as "garment without the M" as garnet and "insect hides" as "se hiding between in & ct" and arrived at the answer. I did have a niggling doubt about insect being ant but couldn't connect to the serge. Nevertheless, I got the answer. And part guessed Impish for 30A. New thing learnt today about Impi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Firstly, may I wish a speedy recovery to your sick baby. I would rather have you doing your puzzles at an unearthly hour than doing it early due to a sick baby.

      Re: 8a, some cloth refers to a variety of cloth i.e. serge. Say and for example are also used in a similar fashion. An ant is definitely an insect, even when it shows good behaviour. In your anno, garment-m+se does contain all the letters involved, but then the clue would be lacking an anagram indicator. The Col.'s anno is the intended one. It does rarely happen that two annotations may fit the same clue. We had an instance of that quite recently:
      in TH No.11002, Friday 07 Feb 2014, Neyartha clued:

      17 Fleece cut with a piece of snow gliding gear (3) SKI (SKIn or SKIm)

      Now fleece as a noun can be SKIN, and as a verb can me SKIM (as in take away money - incidently skin can also mean charge exorbitantly or fleece a person). I favour the SKIN version of this anno.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the detailed explanation. I did understand from the anno above what you have also tried to explain. I got "se" from Tse Tse - thought that there must be some oblique reference. :-)
      And, thanks for the wishes for my kid too. He is getting better.

      Delete

deepakgita@gmail.com