ACROSS
1 Staff involved in compensation farce (6) PARODY (ROD in PAY)
One rank, one pay?
4 Unconventional people, tense with society, responsible for scraps (8) ODDMENTS (ODD MEN T S)
10 Main river feature, grand-looking (9) SEARCHING (SEA R CHIN G)
I once heard a chap from Chennai say "I am churching for chumbody in Chelam" . One of the rare cases I preferred Chennai over Madras (which I am more prone to use) due to alliteration.
11 Party means to exert pressure taking contrary sides (5) REVEL (LEVER with sides (R and L) switched)
12 Animal you loaded with heavy weight getting stressed at the end (7) OXYTONE (OX TON in YE)
13 Shift near the city (7) TEHERAN (NEAR THE)*
14 Solid state circuits with switch (4) SWAP 2 Not sure about the electronics part of it...
15 Strike back against lack of knowledge overlooking men’s evil nature (10) MALIGNANCE (LAMn IGNorANCE)
19 Translated funny dig that is distasteful (10) UNEDIFYING (FUNNY DIG I.E.)*
20 First time convict, 21 maybe, needs to reflect (4) STAR (RATS<) 21=rodents=rats fits, but I don't get the convict part of it. Maybe freshman convicts are called Stars? Or may be xC is ref. to the one currently on parole?
23 Aircraft storage compartment contains only rubbish (7) BALONEY (LONE in BAY)
26 Seared fish accompanied by wine perhaps (7) CHARRED (CHAR RED)
27 Debate runs in a sticky matter left unaddressed (5) ARGUE (R in A GLUE-L)
28 Hundred years without unity, pine for romantic holiday (9) HONEYMOON (H Y outside ONE, MOON)
The intervening period between love and war ... . Wodehouse says this is the period when men, in a state of stupor or indulgence, do silly things, like converting their bank accounts into joint accounts ...
29 Cutting out historic city from pleasure trip, one provides a substitute (8) EXCISION (EXCURSION-UR+1)
30 Sins go away with spiritual knowledge (6) GNOSIS (SINS GO)*
DOWN
1 Ministers and personal assistant to king — isolated sections (7) PASTORS (PA S(TO R)S)
2 “Hardly bespoke money”, said the housekeeper (5-4) READY MADE (READY=money, ~maid)
3 Opportunity seized, about time to manipulate (6) DOCTOR (DOOR around C T)
5 Appreciate what Preity and Sushmita have in common: figure? (5) DIGIT (DIG IT, the common letters, or oomph, whichever way you want to see it)
6 Dealer ordered lining for parchments (8) MERCHANT (pARCHMENTs)*
7 At no time you get two of this in the hire purchase system (5) NEVER (Hire Purchase is also called "Never Never")
8 Muzzle is golden maybe? (7) SILENCE CD
9 Change without current information, in retrospect, may leave you peevish (8) VINEGARY (VARY outside I GEN)
16 Clean barring pronounced smell (8) INNOCENT (INN O CENT ~scent) liked the way barring gets split as bar=INN and ring=O
Remembered a Malayalam actor, who is Innocent even if he commits an offence
17 Daffy Duck on tour is having a bad image (9) NOTORIOUS (duck=O ON TOUR IS)*
18 Innovators will be first to rise among equals (8) PIONEERS (NO1< in PEERS)
19 Dress up in posh garments essentially causing resentment (7) UMBRAGE (GARB< in U garMEnts)
21 Too much to take, breaks into tears seeing squirrels for instance (7) RODENTS (overdose=OD in RENTS)
Rats !
22 Gorge on sweets in the beginning, no place for food at the end (6) CANYON (CANdY ON)
Reminded me of the famous pun on Grand Canyon - It's gorgeous !
24 Reason private couples look conservative (5) LOGIC (GI couples(joins) LO C)
25 Brute, primarily a hood, locked up (5) YAHOO (T)
Not a happy day today. Cannot decide whether the puzzle was tough or my frame of mind was not conducive.
ReplyDeleteManaged just over 50% like PARODY, UNEDIFYING, ARGUE, GNOSIS, PIONEERS, NOTORIOUS and others. Then gave up. Yet to listen to others' woes.
Could manage 25% only :-(
DeleteSame here :(
Delete20 First time convict, 21 maybe, needs to reflect (4) STAR
ReplyDeleteStar: a convict serving his first prison sentence (Freedict)
Thanks for confirming.
DeleteIn that case the comment on the man on frequent parole fits like a T.
DeleteAnd now you are promoting a particular party's campaign ;-)
DeleteThe other day's word DEMITASSE, although meaning half a cup, did not evoke any chai pe charcha!
DeleteB'cos the D cup is used mainly for coffee, not-tea!
DeleteIs there any lawyer around here? Or are lawyers so busy notind down points in law that they can't spend time on word puzzles?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, can anyone tell me if there is any difference between 'parole' and 'furlough' that prisoners are granted?
As one wag said recently, Nirupa Roy got ma roles and Sanjay Dutt got paroles. Furlough would not work in this gag ...
DeleteLOL. It seems that for you to utter a pun, we needn't tap you anywhere.
DeleteYou only have to return the tap, ie pat!
DeleteThere was a heated discussion in the Times Now yesternight. I heard in passing, the Man on his High Horse, as accused by Mahesh Bhatt, commenting that Parole is discretionary whereas Furlough (pronounced Furlow and NOT like enough !) is a right given to every prisoner-- whether STAR or otherwise, periodically, limited in number , though in the case of the Star in dispute, it has been given many times without a break , thus reducing his incarceration period. I.m no lawyer but if there are any here in this blog, they can comment further.
DeleteIdeally, such free periods should get added to the length of the sentence and be served later. The sentence is x months of imprisonment. A person is not imprisoned when on parole.
DeleteIt is added. There is no remission
DeleteAwaiting responses for the crossnumber puzzles, which I sent to some friends. I have the first correct answer from Alistair Cuthbertson
ReplyDeleteThe Magpie and Listener setter?
DeleteYes.
DeleteYesterday I used the word 'people' twice in the same sentence without using any pronoun.
ReplyDeleteI then remembered a sentence in a PGW novel in which he uses the very word several times to a high comic effect.
I am sorry I can't quote it because I have not made any collection and I am not a Kishore who summons passages from PGW even when no hat has dropped.
only when a penny is dropped...
DeleteA penny is not even a tuppence. Drop something more substantial and maybe I can coax the old gears to start working. For the nonce, As PGW said (paraphrases)-
DeleteIf men were dominoes, i'd be the double blank
Shall I pound you?
DeleteDo you want to lose a few pounds?
DeletePGW in "The girl on the boat" : people's people generally want people to marry people people don't want to marry
DeleteDS, Thanks. That exactly is the passage I had in mind. I read the book in the late Sixties or early Seventies and I even used to quote it sometimes thereafter. But now my memory is fading.
DeleteI appreciate you recalling it.
Richard@8.30- I fully agree. Probably a bit of both (equal measure?)
ReplyDeleteDeepak is away today on an early morning mission to sink a small ball in a hole in a large one near a reef near Bangalore. Long time back I had gone underground in that area.
ReplyDeleteI was at a depth of 7000 ft.
You have The Heart of A Goof indeed
Delete;-). And thanks for the prople quote
Deletesometimes the ball decides to take a dip instead of settling in a small hole (as was reported by Col. last time) 7000 feet? Pacific?
DeleteChampion Reef
DeleteHad to google 'Heart of a goof'. I have not read it.Should get one and read.
ReplyDeleteKishore@9.25-
ReplyDeleteI do not have pounds to loose!
Maybe Euros, then
DeleteAdhu yaro?
Delete14 Solid state circuits with switch (4) SWAP 2 Not sure about the electronics part of it...
ReplyDeleteIs it S W AP. S: Solid. State AP (No more) W: With? Provided S is Solid in some list of abbreviations.
Aha! Had to come from a Hydera-baddie!
DeleteLet's see on whose side Ramesh, MB and Suresh are on!
DeleteCertainly, on your side :)
DeleteET VIEW, in today's Banged has some classic lines under the heading " Hold thy Hand, Great Crusher" is superbly written. A quote: As if social media were a strip of bubble wrap, whose individual blisters you can burst in harmless fun.
ReplyDeleteThis, apart from the pun in the title and more ...
I have been solving the crossword published by The Hindu for over 20 years now. It was always on pen and paper along with my morning cup of coffee. It is only recently that I have been forced to do the puzzle on my computer. In the earlier years, my focus was on getting as many right answers as I could and look up those that defeated me, the next day. Gradually I had improved with each passing puzzle. Initially I did not pay attention to the person providing my daily dose of entertainment, but soon learned to see the name above the puzzle and know to some extent what to expect. A friend who was equally enthusiastic about the puzzle pointed me to this blog and I was glad to find so many like minded people. The daily blogs helped me understand the answers and explanations without having to wait for the next day. I thank the owner of this blog for that. When I read about the sad passing away of my favourite setter Sankalak recently, I shed a silent tear. From what I read here, he was as thorough a gentleman as his gentle puzzles. His puzzles and those of Gridman, M Manna and Nita Jaggi had been part of my mornings for a very long time now. They provided a familiar comfort. Nowadays I feel like I am back to where I had started all those years ago - unable to solve more than a handful clues. Even after reading the clues and answers here along with the explanations, I still don't understand some of them. Setters seem more intent on showing how clever they are than providing an average solver like me with a more accessible puzzle. The bells and whistles like themes, pangrams - terminology that I learned here in the blog - seem to be having more importance than the puzzle itself. I wait each month patiently in the hope of meeting my old friends Sankalak and Gridman. I watched in dismay as the old guard vanished. I tried to keep up with the new ones, but now with Sankalak too gone, I fear my days of solving the puzzle are numbered.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Hema
I, for one, agree to a large measure with what Hema says, without mentioning any particular setter.
DeleteAgree with Hema. Some setters try to be too clever by half! The cluing in this instance is too convoluted to be enjoyable. The ingredients of good clueing in a crossword is to be tricky(sure) but with humour and not with the intention of being drab & to defeat the solver.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hemalatha, welcome to this blog, Kishore and Satish. When I make such comments, I find rejoinders, splitting hairs, though not mine, since I have none on my pate,
DeleteAs for me, variety is the key and I welcome the toughest to be pitted against, as that's the only way to learn to face the challenges of the compilers. More the merrier. THC provides this in multifarious ways, very unique !
Patience and perseverance is the only answer, Hemalatha. May your coffee mornings be more aromatic with diverse blends of crossies !!
Raju, Hema is no newbie, I think.
DeleteAdd me to the list. I would like to enjoy my solving and have fun, may be have a laugh at a punny/ funny way of putting things across- rather than a test of skills.
ReplyDeleteExactly, for a test of skills, a seasoned solver can try puzzles like the Guardian Genius or the Crossword Centre. I assure you these puzzles are tough. For day to day entertainment, I like puzzles which do not demand too much of my time on weekdays. I prefer to do the toughies on weekends.
DeleteWelcome aboard, Hema. Finally it took a first-timer like you to bell the cat and call a spade a spade.
ReplyDeleteRemember the king's new clothes! I appreciate her candidness.
DeleteFully agree with Hema and Padmanabhan! Solving a crossword puzzle is a pleasurable mental activity crossing a gamut of emotions like surprise, agreement, admiration and amusement; a smile, a grin and an occassional giggle is the experience on the way; finally a deep sense of satisfaction equal to that given by an aromatic, invigorating coffee! Remembering old knowledge is more pleasant than acquiring new knowledge. A confession from from a pate with greying hair!
ReplyDeleteEach to his own. I think it would be of interest to know in a month how many of these puzzles are relatively easy and how many are tough. The difficult ones may just be a few. I had heard on this blog that, setters probably are not aware of the difficulty level of the crossies they set.
ReplyDeleteI found today’s puzzle much tougher than the usual Exch puzzles and hence can fully understand Hema ‘s plaints
I totally agree with Hema. Lately, we have had a number of setters who set very arcane and baffling crosswords, impossible to enjoy. They leave me quite frustrated at the end of the morning, which, for me, is not really the aim of solving crosswords! Some tussle, some tweaking of the grey cells is fun, and I look forward to that.
ReplyDeleteLet us hope that we get a run of good ones, soon!
Difficulty level is one thing and clueing quality is another.
ReplyDeleteA mere glance tells me that the surface reading of many clues today is superb. We must appreciate that.
My grouse is not against this particular puzzle. I agree that the clueing is excellent. In fact, that is a case with quite a few of the tough ones that we have seen. What I am concerned about it that many puzzles may be outside the abilities of the average solver given the time that one may be able to devote to the puzzle, which will result in flagging interest at large.
Delete
Delete+1, rem ecu tetigisti ! Kishore
I agree. People like me found it very difficult. My contention that people like GRIDMAN, late SANKALAK and few others, design the clues so that the average solver finds it easy to solve. There are few who frame it to make it a challenge.
DeleteThat I presume is Vinayak Ekbote, one of the participants at IXL.
DeleteYes, Kishore. Its me, one of the 'also ran's at the IXL.
DeleteI too am an also ran. With the army onslaught, I too fell at the Last Post!
DeleteIs the army onslaught still on somewhere, that we've not had an appearance here today?
DeleteThe regular army has reported in at 1719 hrs. The next-gen brigade has not weighed in today.
Delete+1 for the cluing today.
ReplyDeleteI am in total agreement with Hema.She has expressed what I had in mind.The pleasure of solving gets eroded when the puzzles are too tricky.I am also an old timer of average capacity level.I also definitely miss Sankalak and others like him.Thank you Hema for airing my views. Rajalakshmi
DeleteBack after a 70 Km drive one way to The Champion Reef County golf course between Kolar and Bangarpet, close to the place where Kishore went 7000 feet underground, luckily I had to sink the small ball into small holes only which were not as deep as where Kishore went. Had a below average round, was fortunate I didn't lose any of those balls like I normally do, but my game could have been much better. My partner was an ace player but looks like my bad game influenced his good game and we were at the losing end after the 18 holes.
ReplyDeleteNice golf course with Villas being developed around the course by Confident Group. I wonder who though who will go and stay in a place so far out!! with nothing to do other than play golf!!!
Kishore thanks for standing in for me. I am yet to have a look at the crossword read only the comments which make me wonder how I will fare.
As regards the comments regarding enjoyment I am sure we will agree that we need to take the tough with the easy. I don't agree that all the crosswords that come in one cycle from all the setters are tough, maybe around 5 to 6 out of a cycle of 30 are tough which is around 20% I don't think we should crib because of that. If all 30 of them were easy then the diehard solvers would shy away from these CWs. So let's take the tough with the easy and enjoy.
Deepak
ReplyDeleteRe easy and hard crosswords.
You've put the issue in the right perspective.
Having gone through the CW now after a tiring 18 rounds of Golf I am lucky that it fell upon Kishore to blog today. Agreed some clues were tough, nothing wrong with the cluing though. If I had blogged today there would have been a couple of holes in the answers at 8:30.
ReplyDeleteKishore in 15A 'men's' is not part of the definition, it gives OR which is to be deleted from IGNorANCE further the anno for 16D should be {INN}{O}{CENT{~scent)} and not as shown. By the way Innocent is one of my favourite comedians in Malayalam movies
Hemalatha ,
ReplyDeleteAre you the same Hemalatha who comments on Mrs PP's blog at the Hub? If so I don't understand, because I feel you are an expert solver with your 20 years experience, as I have many a times seen you post answers to clues which I have found impossible to crack. I comment there as 'deepakgita'
Dear Hemalatha,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your nice comments about my father. Your and your fellow cross word lovers' kind words have helped my family and me so much in trying to cope with this sudden void in our lives. Thanks again.
And thanks Rishikesh for pointing me to these fresh comments
Oh my, some very harsh comments today. A few solvers are being too hard on setters I feel.
ReplyDeleteIf we thought about it objectively, we'd realize that difficulty levels are set in our own minds than anyplace else. If we knew all or majority of the words or devices used in today's crossword, we wouldn't find anything tough or difficult. Well while some people may have greater vocabulary than others, as intelligent humans, we'd naturally wanna graduate and take our vocabulary and solving skills to the next level. It'd definitely turn out to be a fun exercise if you ask me.
As regards wordplay, we should be open to accepting new devices and ideas as long as they are fair and convey the meaning that's required. There's no challenge in going through the same set of containment, hidden word or anagram indicators over and over again each day. If we knew what to expect, it ceases to be a puzzle anymore. There'd no cracking involved in such an exercise.
So the point is, it'd be nice if solvers were ready to take challenging puzzles in their stride. Nothing's "tough" or "pleasure"less if perceived in the right spirit. As having tried my hand at solving, I can guarantee that it's no easy job. Lot of effort goes into setting a fair puzzle. I think any setter's first interest would be to set a neat crossword with all the right instructions. Getting one up over the solver is likely to be least of their worries
24D, howzit that private becomes GI, can somebody explain plz/
ReplyDeletePrivate in the US Army is known as a GI (Government Issue or General Issue). See further details HERE.
DeleteHeard of GI Joe?
I am a total newbie. Started doing crosswords in October 2013. I find time to do my crosswords only 2-3 times a week. I save up the crosswords & file them hoping I will be able to do them some day. I do the crosswords after 9 PM, when I get my kid to asleep. I give myself an hour or 1.5 hours at the most. This is my only exercise for mental stimulation, a breather time away from my kid. When I started out, I knew nothing but slowly figured out some helpful links and this blog which has improved my understanding to a great extent. In about 5 months now, I can do anywhere between 6-7 to 20 clues per day depending on how tough or easy it is for me. I don't understand some of the explanations either, I don't understand anagrind, anind, pangram etc. But, I see myself improving and learning a lot everyday. I don't grudge the tough crosswords (am thankful for the opportunity to know more) nor do I feel elated when I crack them all (twice since I started) - I feel that the setter has just been kind. I guess a setter has an unenviable task of catering to people with varied experience in cracking crosswords. I also don't think one can categorize crosswords as easy, medium, hard or evil as one would with Sudoku. Just my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that - I didn't understand some of the explanations also today. Would somebody please care to explain?
15A - I understood ignorance - lack of knowledge. Where does lamn come from? And, within the clue, how do I figure out that or has to be removed from ignorance?
10 A - This was grand guess work for me. In some clues, it is easy as in when I see words like essentially, regularly, initially etc. I know that I have to pick at the specific letters from within the words. But, in this, what would tell me to pick r from river, g from grand while I was totally thrown away by grand-looking as a hyphenated word?
20 A - 21 may be? I googled after seeing the reference. 21st dead rats is a song. I would have never figured that out without google. Which makes me think - what would people do in the days without the internet? You just had to know it all? Not everything is in books, thesaurus and dictionary, no?
2 D - ready = money? How?
Thanks
15A: There seems to be a typo. It should have read " LAM<-- " [ strike = LAM. So, strike back = MAL ].
Delete"men" commonly refers to soldiers, which is further abbreviated as OR (other ranks)
"overlooking men" is the indication to remove 'men', i.e. OR from IGNORANCE
10A etc: Certain words have standard abbreviations (which may be outdated, but still popular among crosswords). Like River = r, Grand = g [ You may check out this link for a fairly comprehensive list of standard abbreviations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword_abbreviations ].
20A: "21" is a sneaky allusion to the clue numbered 21 (21 down, in this case). The answer to 21D is Rodents, which could be RATS
So, "21 maybe, needs to reflect" = RATS <-- = STAR [the rest of the clue is the definition]
2D: I can't seem to find any online reference for ready = money. Web searches reveal the phrase "ready-money", but that wouldn't validate the standalone use of 'ready' for 'money'
2D From the ODE:
Deleteready ▶ noun (pl. readies) (readies or the ready) Brit. informal available money; cash.
Some eye-opening comments, and not just from those posting for the first time here.
ReplyDeleteIf a few solvers call a puzzle/setter as too hard for them, they are out of line, but it is all right for us to call such solvers as being hard on the setter? So it is basically a one way street where solvers have to live with what is dished out by setters and learn how to tune into each setter's wavelength (ironically dedicated/addicted solvers have no other option) but setters should not be criticised for perceived difficulties in tackling their puzzles?
And we wonder why many people prefer visiting the blog silently and not bother to comment especially to express a contrary opinion.
I feel quality of a puzzle I.e incorrect wordplay, definition or clueing on the whole, can be criticized. But criticizing a puzzle for its level of difficulty doesn't seem fair. It's a known fact that CAT is perceived to be tough. Those that want to get through, work hard and somehow manage. Complaining that the examination is tough and knocking ones that set these tests isn't cool
ReplyDeleteWhen a setter sets a crossie, does he/she know it is going to be tough for the average solver?
ReplyDeleteThey may not know, but, setting a clue as a challenge, is problematic. Many new setters take it as a challenge, rather than being helpful. That is why novices like me get foxed. Well, as some blogger has written like SUDOKU, we should have classification - Easy, Hard or Evil.
Delete