Thursday 20 February 2014

No 11013, Thursday 20 Feb 2014, Skulldugger


ACROSS
1   Swear and argue heatedly about stake (9) GUARANTEE {GUAR{ANTE}E*}
6   Cats and dogs step out of line (4) PETS*
8   Wide roof taken apart for fuel (8) FIREWOOD*
9   Stuck up peons attend regularly (6) POSTED PeOnS aTtEnD
10 Iron Man’s a woman (6) FEMALE {FE}{MALE}
11 Lonely setter’s only love finally left, breaking date (8) ISOLATED {I}{SOLo}{DATE*}
12 Nails prison guards (6) SCREWS [DD]
15 Comic book villain who is bad to the bone? (8) SKELETOR [GK]
16 Impressive tower in our country (8) INSPIRED {IN{SPIRE}D}
19 Disorganized, messy model breaks rule (6) SYSTEM {MESSY+T}*
21 Princess, nuts, leaving lover primarily for scintillating stones (8) DIAMONDS {DI}{AlMONDS}
22 Google directions to monument (6) SEARCH {S}{E}{ARCH}
24 Thick clump of hair that is square, soft and often silky (6) HANKIE {HANK}{IE}
25 Violently race into retaliation (8) REACTION*
26 Unsuccessful despite being almost innocent (4) LEAN cLEAN
27 Protected the elders in disguise (9) SHELTERED*

DOWN
1   Counsellor’s old Dutch coin missing sides (5) GUIDE GUIlDEr
2   Ordinary state: degenerate (7) AVERAGE {AVER}{AGE}
3   Roused wonder, overwhelming approval (5) AWOKE {AW{OK}E}
4   Edward passes away leaving toys (7) TEDDIES {TED}{DIES}
5   Mistresses deviously elope with my significant other heartlessly (9) EMPLOYERS {ELOPE+MY+S+R}*
6   Father’s prudent transition (7) PASSAGE {PA'S}{SAGE}
7   Consequently dismissed tax officer from prior to that time (9) THEREFORE THEREtoFORE
13 Is princess capable of going out with a suitable person? (9) CANDIDATE {CAN}{DI}{DATE} My COD
14 Park officials on street are newcomers (9) STRANGERS {ST}{RANGERS}
17 Squash and put the screws on relatives (7) PUMPKIN {PUMP}{KIN}
18 Be worthy of French Minister (7) DESERVE {DE}{SERVE}
20 Get out of here, Lawrence. Run. Disperse. (7) SCATTER {SCAT}{TE}{R}
22 Elegant electric cars return (5) SMART<=
23 Vocally string a number of notes together (5) CHORD (~cord)

63 comments:

  1. Nice puzzle.

    GURANTEE, INSPIRED, DIAMONDS, {AW{OK}E}, PUMPKIN, CANDIDATE and other well clued.

    MISTRESSES was a trap for employers.

    Although completed, two and three annos are awaited.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, CANDIDATE was superb. TEDDIES too was well constructed.

      Delete
    2. Gurantee may be the place where the Phantom's friend stars playing golf

      Delete
    3. 20D - SCATTER was also well made.

      Delete
  2. Skeletor looks like Skulldugger in a hoody

    ReplyDelete
  3. The princess stars in both of my fav clues

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  4. 10A reminded me of the newest setter IRONMAN*.

    The cartoon reminded me of a humorous poem I had read ages ago: It described someone's driving. The words may not be very authentic. But the gist is unaffected.

    He drove his car
    Went to the bar
    Hit the bottle
    Pulled the throttle
    Feeling nifty
    Going fifty
    Hospital, nurse
    Ambulance, Hearse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The full stop is significant ...

      Delete
    2. Maybe like the end of a sentence called life for some.

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    3. Long back I had heard a joke about a male snakecharmer marrying a lady undertaker. Their towels were marked 'Hiss' and 'Hearse'

      Delete
    4. Richard, you will find this in the file I sent you today:

      Falleank mortolo mhunn aizuch fonddat poddche re?

      Delete
  5. Kishore:
    A clue for you and you alone to solve:
    The man hits bottom in vehicle (7)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ref. toon for answer, but enu 6?

      Delete
    2. Apologies for the mistake in enu - I go to great lengths to avoid them in published work but was careless in this instant clueing.

      Delete
    3. I spent some time looking for a 7 letter word and suddenly realised something in my above mentioned stuff must have prompted you to address the clue to just one person.

      Delete
    4. CV, sorry for showing you the door in my 859 ;-)

      Delete
  6. A very interesting offering though I could not complete a few and got the correct anno for a few more from the blog. Liked the 'messy' system and misleading mistresses! Agree with the comments about candid person.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A nice compact poem and to the point (or is it the stop?)

    ReplyDelete
  8. squash for a gourd is new to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poirot grows them after retirement, as I faintly remember

      Delete
    2. I grow colocasia, Malabar spinach, a couple of variety of beans, chillies and regular spinach at present

      Delete
  9. 12 Nails prison guards (6) SCREWS I first thought to substitute SS for guards

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice smooth crossword. Include me too for the C O D comment.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Get out of here, Lawrence. Run. Disperse. (7) SCATTER Why Lawrence is te?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TE are the initials of the famous Lawrence of Arabia and commonly used in cwds

      Delete
  12. My second cartoon was based on the question whether nails can be a synonym for screws. Both as nouns are fasteners and as verb are fastening together. In math a=b and b=c may mean a=c, but can this equation be stretched in language. It reminded me of God is love and love is blind being equated as god is blind ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes they are not the same as verbs.

      Delete
    2. Once can use a screwdriver (or Allenkey or even a hammer) with a screw, but only a hammer with a nail. So they are not the same as nouns too. The grip that a screw exterts is much more than a similar sized nail.

      Delete
    3. In other words you can nail a screw but you can't screw a nail :-)

      Delete
    4. They are same when used as a verb, but that meaning would upset the prudes...

      Delete
  13. I came across an auto which carried a line "Everything is nothing.But God is everything"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I came across one which said "Love is pisson"

      Delete
  14. Kishore,

    This Phantom has no friend called GURAN. The only Tee he knows is a shirt (being far removed from golf).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am brown, and have a formidable tummy. I can act that role if I get a grass hat and skirt

      Delete
    2. When I stand next to my 6'5" son, yes!

      Delete
    3. Kishore, you are fine as you are. There's no need of the straw hat and skirt. Hope we meet some day.

      Delete
    4. Oh that is quite simple. You just have to come to the edge of the Deep Woods and ask for Mr. Balker. Don't balk.

      Delete
    5. You're Bengali from Bangalla?

      Delete
    6. No. I am Svengali from Svengalla. But wait, there is still the matter of identification. So that I don't mistake you for Superman or one of those Marvels, you should carry a gift for me. My favourite childhood cigarette.

      Delete
  15. Is it that the current crop of compilers are having a compilers' block? How come the bar is lowered and the crossies are getting easier and easier ? I'm of course, not complaining. Good one from Skulldugger--- SKELETOR and CANDIDATE and PUMPKIN and EMPLOYERS -- the last two good decoy clues -- are the clues of my day.

    Kishore: HISS & HEARSE = symbols have always confused me ! Like Face Book, any moves towards making them'' more'' gender-friendly? I was reminded of that guy disguised in a Burka and entering a HEARSE in a Mall in CBE here a few months ago !!

    ReplyDelete
  16. 19-A - I thought both 'Disorganized' and 'breaks' are anagram indicators. Please clarify.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I took it like this:
      Disorganised - anagrind
      messy - fodder
      model - t
      breaks - intrudes ie. t breaks into messy*
      rule - defn = system
      hence the anno is
      t in messy*

      Delete
  17. Regarding Sujatha's comment today in yesterday's post, I have always thought Occam's razor works fine in such cases.

    ReplyDelete
  18. So sorry, Scotland !

    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/19/scottish-independence-76-things-apologise?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

    ReplyDelete
  19. Really abrainteaser.13d- relished the pun & piece of mischief.22a- google synonymised with search. Nice.5d-employers likened to mistresses- new line of thought. In fine, a creative & formative puzzle to enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  20. WRT today's COD, not sure how the anno really works. The order seems jumbled. Could somebody explain?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is princess capable of going out?
      As a phrase is equal to
      Can Di date?

      Delete
    2. This morning when I read the answers I too wondered how the anno worked but I gave it no thought.
      Now that you ask, I began thinking and within seconds resolved it.
      Now, for anno, don't look for subsidiary indications, don't look for which word in the clue gives what component.
      Read the clue: Is princess capable of going out with a suitable person?
      Now look for a phrase that can express thes ame idea in differently.
      Can Di date?
      These words telescoped provide than answer!

      Delete
    3. I took more time typing!
      Meanwhile Raghunath has provided his anno.
      But I think mine works better.

      Delete
    4. Kishore's suggestion had not appeared when I set out to write my Reply.
      We are of one mind - great or small!

      Delete
    5. I bag small. As the poem, greatly publicised by James Herriot, goes:

      All things bright and beautiful,
      All creatures great and small,
      All things wise and wonderful,
      The Lord God made them all.

      (CF Alexander - I had to Google this!)

      Delete
  21. 13 Is princess capable of going out with a suitable person? (9) CANDIDATE {CAN}{DI}{DATE} My COD

    Is princess capable of: CAN DI?

    going out with: DATE. "to go out socially on dates". from Thefreedic.. "5 tr & intr, colloq to go out with someone, especially to do so regularly" from Chambers.

    In a sense it might be a semi & lit.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh my, thanks all. Interesting!! Feeling kind of dumb for not having figured this out

    ReplyDelete
  23. Is there any free software to draw the blank grids? How the solution grid is drawn by you, DG Sir, before filling in the answers, in this blog? Any quick and short cut ways?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember once CV Sir wrote that he would get the grid in a jiffy. He can also throw some light.

      Delete
  24. "The council say decanting Muirfield pupils to the huts will speed up construction."
    Graeme Bletcher; Arbroath Primary School Move Branded 'Insane'; The Courier (Dundee, Scotland); Nov 8, 2013.

    In this sentence the 'council' is used as a plural and hence the verb used is 'say'. Curiously the spell check okays both 'say' & 'says'. U.S.version accepts both whereas in the English version it is 'say'. What do we say?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Scat = to go hastily, leave at once (freedic)
    Lawrence = TE Refer to earlier comments
    R stands for run which the authou himself highlighted
    Disperse is the defn

    ReplyDelete
  26. Logging in again only late in the evening.

    Further to my 8:41, I had missed out two lines, without which the sense wouldn't be complete. . The full version of the poem is something like this.

    He drove his car
    Went to the bar
    Hit the bottle
    Pulled the throttle
    Feeling nifty
    Going fifty
    Hit a pole
    Poor old soul
    Hospital, nurse
    Ambulance, Hearse.

    ReplyDelete

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