B seems to have politically balanced this puzzle, albeit unintentionally as one can find a ref to both RaGa and NaMo ;-)
The interlocutor seems to have a hoarse in his throat Corrected, thanks to Raghu
ACROSS
1 The act of taking off one’s cap, evening clothes (6) ESCAPE (T)
Recently in the news wrt Jupiter
5 Hindu deity changes in a way after an initial loss (6) GANESH (cHANGES*)
10 Setters artfully pursuing modern hobbies… (9) INTERESTS (IN SETTERS*)
Setters may be chasing balls, if they are doggies or sportspersons
11 … are looking back to poetic inspiration (5) ERATO (ARE< TO)
12 All stretched like big tops so to speak (5) TENSE (~TENTS)
13 Here and there a bent team gets suspension (9) ABATEMENT (A BENT TEAM)*
14 Ney bows out, he puts in the papers (7) NEWSBOY (NEY BOWS)*
16 Spin out press release for capital Chinese tea (7) PROLONG ((+PR o)OLONG)
Oolong loses its head! I thought only beer lost its head ... Tea anyone?
18 In country of opportunity, a tennis player is unproductive (7) USELESS (SELES in US, the land of honey, milk and opportunity)
Someone had a stab at the World-class Tennis .......... player
20 Exchange penny for euro with flexible card (7) PLASTIC (ELASTIC-E+P)
21 Sank Western Co producing maize (5,4) SWEET CORN (WESTERN CO)*
23 Grid is first-rate I say (5) GRATE (G RATE) (~great)
25 Jaggy English flower (5) EROSE (E ROSE)
26 Man’s taken by a sign in a reference book (9) THESAURUS (HE'S in TAURUS)
27 Guard posted to Katar at last back in country (6) SENTRY (SENT R Y)
B's use of Katar instead of Qatar, makes me think there might be more to this clue. There seems to be a village called Katar in U.K. (not United Kingdom, but Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, which also has a place usually referred to as Castle Rock (U.K.)! ). Maybee was ref.ing to this
28 Move unsteadily with support on terrace (6) TEETER (TEE TER)
DOWN
2 A nit’s comic material (5) SATIN (A NIT'S)*
3 A Spartan, for the most part clever and charming (9) AGREEABLE (A GREEk ABLE)
4 Scintilla of elation or delight (7) ECSTASY (a bit of (scintilla of) elation is e, which is ecstasy or delight)
5 Light source bang in the middle of space (3,4) GAS LAMP (SLAM in GAP)
6 Clue finally appealing on the surface? That’s relative (5) NIECE (E in NICE)
7 Spiffy duo at first mastered having public in a daze (6-3) SPACED OUT Anno not clear DUO*? (SP ACED OUT) See comments
8 Sun I’d sighted setting around isle is outstanding (13) DISTINGUISHED (SUN I'D SIGHTED* around I)
9 Fan out these cage/cote dairy produce (7,6) COTTAGE CHEESE (THESE CAGE COTE)*
Try saying thing when posing for a photo
15 Ardently ask individual to pursue with Old English Blue (9) WOEBEGONE (BEG ONE to pursue W O E)
17 Vulgar ad gear, one for a fruit drink (9) ORANGEADE (AD GEAR ONE)*
19 Skullcaps, hats on rebate to lure young ones briefly (7) SHORTLY (Acrostic)
20 Cryptic essentially has one Parisian man sharp (7) PUNGENT (P UN GENT)
22 Text we e-type makes up Twitter (5) TWEET (CD,T)
24 After misplacing foot, Explorer finds safe place on a cliff (5) AERIE (AftER InternetExplorer)
ReplyDeleteMasterly presentation from Buzzer. Engaging, challenging and enjoyable at the same time.
Some clever telescopic clues like ESCAPE and TWEET. Awesome anagrams like DISTINGUISHED, COTTAGE CHEESE, INTERESTS, ABATEMENT and ORANGEADE, with innovative anagrinds. Liked clue formation in NEWSBOY, THESAURUS, ERATO
Have taken 12A as TENSE (~TENS) and 20A as TRAFFIC based on crossings. Not being sure, just waiting to check the blog. Also not sure of the anno for 7D.
27A 'Guard posted to Katar'. Katar appears to have been used as a place-name, and not a dagger. (Remembered the good old Admiral, the crossword specialist.)
If meant as a place, it should have been Qatar ('State of Qatar' in the Middle East), I presume. But then, perhaps, the definition could have been affected. Yet to see the anno in the blog.
Missed GANESH from the list. That was one of the first ones I cracked.
Delete19D - are BRIEFLY and SHORTLY synonymous? I always took SHORTLY for 'very soon' or 'in the near future'
18A - If the US is the land of opportunity, what about Oz?
The land of the Wizard of Croz
DeleteI recently received an email asking me to 'bare' with them. Of course, briefly is better than barely.
DeleteI was wrong on anno of 12A, although the answer was correct. Was wondering how TENSE and TENS could be homophonic, as the latter is pronounced TENZ.
DeleteLiked 6D NIECE also.
I goofed up at 20A.
DeleteKishore 8:36 ;-)
8:37 Remembered the story of Santa, who was asked to speak in brief on the occasion, and in what form he turned out on the podium.
7D – {SP(-iffy)}{ACED} {OUT}
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deepak
DeleteIs the newsboy 'make' deliberate?
ReplyDeleteYeah, and particularly picked the part where we have four vertically parallel lines. Brand loyalty.
DeleteThanks for the correction. I thought you were referring to the 'make' of the newspaper ... and hence the above response.
DeleteAfter uploading at around 8, I went off to attend to other chores and saw your message just now !
DeleteA good exercise for grey cells ! Challenging but enjoyable !! Came a cropper on 23A, 28A and 24D. Thanks Buzzer, for an engaging and engrossing puzzle. :)
ReplyDelete28a must not have been a problem. You must have heard of : Teeter ke do aage teeter, teeter ke do piche teeter, aage teeter, piche teeter, bolo kitne teeter ...
Delete...maaloom nahin ! :)
DeleteBut the lyrics of the song picturized on Simi Garewal slightly differ...
DeleteWhat if the students had sung, teacher teacher aage teacher peechhe teacher... in the movie?
And, in 28A, for once, we have 'tee' for 'support'! ;-)
You can watch it at:
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0F9dXTOlOk&feature=kp
In the above, if you are a buff, you will like seeing the YG loco. I hope my identification is correct. There appears to be a mismatch as one would expect a YP on a passenger train. But this is just a movie and may not always be factually correct.
Other than the fact that it is a CR loco, details like the number is not visible. Hence, suspect my identification.
DeleteBrings back nice memories of peering out through windows, appreciating the length of train right from the guard van to the YP or Canadian engine getting coal dust into your eyes, as it snaked through a curve.
DeleteAnd they have provided a good counterpoint to the train after it crosses the bridge. The children cross the bridge in the reverse direction pretending to a train.
DeleteA bit of nitpicking on 24D-
ReplyDeleteIs it 'misplacing foot' or 'losing foot'. Going by the anno the foot (ft) is lost.
I felt it was ok. When you misplace something, you usually lose it, at least temporarily.
DeleteTill you solve the entire grid? thank you Kishore. I was trying to place 'ft' elsewhere.
DeleteI lost it long ago ;-).
DeleteI run into problems with most of homonym clues. Filled in 'tents' for 'tense' and got into 'agreeable' problems!
ReplyDelete6D- what does 'on the surface' mean?
6 Clue finally =e
Deleteappealing=nice
on the surface= e has nice on its surface, i.e. it is wearing nice as a skin (E in NICE)
That’s relative = defn NIECE
Thank you Again. Filled in 'uncle' first without thinking much.
ReplyDeleteProbably niece is more of a favourite than uncle (to setters,I mean)
ReplyDeleteMost of them might be uncles having nieces, rather than the other way round
DeletePerhaps 'uncle' is kept at bay because of the Shylockesque connotation...
DeleteLike Richard I also feel that 12 A TENTS and TENSE are not homophones.
ReplyDeleteCorrection:
23 Grid is first-rate I say (5) GRATE (G RATE)
~ GREAT This one's definitely homophonic.
That definitely sounds more like it. Will update later.
DeleteWhen you pronounce tents, the second 't' is not emphasised at all. So they are homophone enough for crosswords, I feel.
Delete(Another expected reaction, Raghu?)
You are spot on about the reaction. I however am not sure about the homophone.
DeleteDid a part of the clue 25A sound familiar to anyone?
ReplyDeleteThose days thankfully I was not into solving crossies regularly, but it does ring a bell,.
DeleteNeat-a clue! We were really jaggy.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't lose your foot there! ;-)
DeleteSpecially remembered when reading part of 28a
DeleteThe theme, anyone?
ReplyDeleteHaving a hint of tweet from an insect of sorts,
ReplyDeleteI draw your attention to the first words of the first 6 across clues and the bits and pieces from the remaining, given hereunder, in seriatim, picking the first few letters of those clues:
14 Ney artha
16 Spin ner
18 In co gnito
20 Exch equer
21 Sank alak
23 Grid man
25 Jagg i
26 Man na
27 Katar i (this one is not the first letters, but the first setter)
28 Move r
2 A nit ya
3 A Sparta me
4 Scintilla tor
5 Light ning
6 Clue (~Klue Klux Klan)
7 Spiffy trix
8 Sun net
9 Fan (~Phan tom)
15 Arden (The only setter to appear in full)
17 Vul can
19 Skull dugger
20 Crypt onyte
22 Text rous
24 After Dark
One setter, of course, is missing and that it why I have clued him in in my intro to this post
Further, one setter's real name to appears as an answer ...
Whoops, is all I can say!
This, one, Deepak, will have to be market 'themed' without giving the gird or a new category needs to be created...
DeleteSo, those Chinese whispers about Katar and Jaggy were not entirely off the subject
DeleteThe list @ 10:24. There is a glaring omission. Doppel...
DeleteMaybe there was no suitable word available to accommodate it.
Maybe because Doppel sets for THCC and not THC
DeleteWell investigated, Kishore. And, a great idea, Buzzer.
ReplyDeleteThe blog is 'Buzz'ing!
ReplyDelete26 Man’s taken by a sign in a reference book (9) THESAURUS (HE in TAURUS)
ReplyDeleteIn the Anno, Col Sir's 'bugbear' S is missing after HE :)
7 Spiffy duo at first mastered having public in a daze (6-3) SPACED OUT
In the clue 'Sp' is shown as cut instead of 'iffy'
Thanks, MB. Lots of 'senior moments' nowadays, as one of my friends put it.
DeleteWhile on the subject of 'senior moments', here is an anecdote :
DeleteA certain world renowned scientist was also recognized as a particularly absent-minded professor.
One day, on board a train, he was unable to find his ticket.
The conductor said, "Take it easy. You'll find it."
When the conductor returned, the professor still couldn't find the ticket. The conductor, recognizing the famous scientist, said, "I'm sure you bought a ticket. Just forget about it."
"You're very kind," the professor said, "but I must find it, otherwise I won't know where to get off."
:-) Quite a few of us can hide under that.
ReplyDeleteCould not cotton on to the central idea, though I was feeling all along that there was a different standard of clueing by Buzzer. Trust him to come up with novel themes!
ReplyDelete+ 1
DeleteYep, great effort from Buzzer. The surface was a little odd in some cases (not as consistent as usual), but that is definitely excusable considering the tricky nature of theme chosen.
DeleteSorry for digressing, but I have received some queries about YP and YG above. In the steam loco era, engines were classified into different categories with X for BG, Y for MG and Z for narrow/others and P for passenger duty, G for Goods and M for mixed. So, an YG was a MG goods type and YP was a MG passenger type.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, it has been extended to a 3(sometimes more) alphabet string. What you see commonly nowadays is WAP, i.e. a broad gauge Alternating current Passenger type, usually with a dash and number for eg. WAP-7 etc. On the diesel lines, you usually see a WDM, a broad gauge Diesel-electric Mixed variety.
DeleteMB
ReplyDeleteAny comment in posts more than 2 days old need my approval. So what are you trying to test?
Sorry Sir, I was testing how to create underlined link that carries intended message/'info etc as is seen in our blog. Did not know about the time limit.
DeleteOnly the main post by blogger allows links. In our Comments section, we cannot provide them. We can (and do) give the URL which readers can (and do)paste in the address field in their browser and visit.
ReplyDeleteThanks, CV Sir.
DeleteThe Hindu
ReplyDeleteIf the above link works, we can provide links from comments too
ReplyDeleteLinks can be provided with the comments as Ramesh has shown above photographs cannot be inserted with comments.
ReplyDeleteHTML code has to be used
[a href="URL"]TITLE[/a] < > should be used instead of [ ]
Unique idea from Buzzer ! Would this be called a clue acrostic ? Or some thing different ?
ReplyDeleteCould somebody explain 4D and 28A please? I didn't get them. I am not able to understand from the answers above either. Thanks.
ReplyDelete4 Scintilla of elation or delight (7) ECSTASY (a bit of (scintilla of) elation is e, which is ecstasy or delight)
DeleteScintilla means an iota of or a bit of
a bit of elation is e
which is the short form for the drug called ecstasy (you have usually seen it used in the reverse sense in cwds as ecstasy being used to clue in e)
delight= ecstasy
28 Move unsteadily with support on terrace (6) TEETER (TEE TER)
Move unsteadily=defn=teeter
support = tee (as used in golf)
terrace = ter
As per Chambers ter can be used for terrace and territory.
Thanks so much. E thanks to your Tee. :-)
DeleteReally nice one from Buzzer - both the crossword & the theme. Enjoyed solving it.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why "Katar" for a bit, but did not look deeper. Very nicely done.