Tuesday 11 March 2014

No 11029, Tuesday 11 Mar 2014, Gridman


ACROSS
1   Transparent measure entertained by Punjab University detectives (8) PELLUCID {P{ELL}U}{CID}
6   Taking finally a red-black dress (4) GARB {G}{A}{R}{B}
9   Lumpen components in legislature (6) PLENUM*
10 Fight with beginner in cowboy’s domain (7) WRANGLE {W}{RANG{L}E}
13 If I don’t let you __ __ __, you can’t solve this! (4,1,4) HAVE A CLUE [CD]
14 Handle a crazy person (5) CRANK [DD]
15 What is saved by a stitch (4) NINE [GK]
16 Marriage law? (3,2,5) ACT OF UNION [CD]
19 Argued against mistake Dan perpetrated (4,1,5) MADE A STINK*
21 Spanish wine for accountant and vice-admiral (4) CAVA {CA}{VA}
24 Sir announced time (5) NIGHT (~knight)
25 He and Alberta brewed a soothing beverage (6,3) HERBAL TEA*
26 Disappointment for the French suburb around 1st of December (3-4) LET-DOWN {LE}{T-{D}OWN}
27 Journalist proceeding without circular frame (6) EDGING {ED}{GoING}
28 Character in Winnie the Pooh left initial directions long ago (4) YORE eeYORE
29 Henry crosses large mine to reach well-intentioned place (8) HOSPITAL {H{OS}{PIT}AL}

DOWN
2   Mr. Cardus backs replacing second learner with new beginner to perk up (7) ENLIVEN {E(-l+n)NLIVEN<=}
3   Some measurements are such, I learn anew (6) LINEAR*
4   Involved with others, Commanding Officer and politician are lawful (9) COMPLICIT {CO}{MP}{LICIT}
5   Originally divine old water source exactly (5) DOWSE {D}{O}{W}{S}{E} &lit
7   Kind of coat I got for foreign money (7) AFGHANI {AFGHAN}{I}
8   Separating, one might encounter a yaw (8,4) BREAKING AWAY {A+YAW}*
11 Add up to a group of hands, we hear (6) ACCRUE (~a crew)
12 To a remarkable extent, friendly about man Menon transferred (12) PHENOMENALLY {P{HE}{MENON*}ALLY}
17 Perhaps common is now lesser used (9) OWNERLESS*
18 Beat needleworker’s art? (6) TATTOO [DD]
20 Lassie follows sailor (3,4) DOG STAR {DOG} {STAR} {DOG S}{TAR} - See comments
22 Feeler by worker making girl rise (7) ANTENNA {ANT}{ENNA<=}
23 Capital! Finally you get one (6) BANGUI {BANG}{U}{1}
25 Guess vandal’s about to launch first of heists (5) HUNCH {HUN}{C}{H}

59 comments:

  1. Richard's comment recd via e-mail

    QUOTE

    Completed the puzzle early. Requested the Col to post this. Will join after a few hours.

    Another interesting Gridman offering.

    My COD - 13A. Superb!

    Liked ACT OF UNION, MADE A STINK, HERBAL TEA, HOSPITAL, COMPLICIT, PHENOMINALLY, HUNCH, BREAKING AWAY, OWNERLESS, DOGSTAR, ANTENNA, TATTOO and others. Not sure of annno for 23D.

    Just wondering which one would be picked for the cartoon.

    UNQUOTE

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  2. Hurrah ! On cloud nine today !! Could crack it before time and had no problem with Annos too. A beautiful crossy. Thanks, CV Sir. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. 20 Lassie follows sailor (3,4) DOG STAR {DOG} {STAR}
    Anno should be {DOG,S}{TAR}

    ReplyDelete
  4. 20 Lassie follows sailor (3,4) DOG STAR {DOG} {STAR}

    Typo: {DOG S}{TAR}

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1 Transparent measure entertained by Punjab University detectives (8) PELLUCID {P{ELL}U}{CID}
    Pellucidar was the name of the world at earth's core in the David Innes' series by ERB.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I liked Hammond Innes better!

      Delete
  6. 15A 'What is' or 'What are'?
    The answer is nine (stitches)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think there is any problem here but I am ready to listen to comments from any other reader.

      Delete
    2. I think it is fine. The adage is "A stitch in time saves nine". Nine is just a number. We do not say "nine are a number". On the other hand 'What are' would work if the answer was 'nine stitches' and not just 'nine'

      Delete
    3. Reminded me of a boy who was asked to form a sentence using "I". He started saying "I is ..." when he was interrupted by the teacher, "You can't start a sentence with I is, it has to be I am". So the boy continued hesitatingly, "I am the ninth letter of the alphabet"

      Delete
    4. Expressions like 'All I want is a few biscuits, a cup of coffee and a newspaper' do fit into some contexts. I found 15A OK.

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    5. Your wish will be granted shortly.

      Delete
    6. My! You've saved my life!

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  7. (following some late-evening posts yesterday)
    Tonga songs?
    I see films rarely nowadays but certainly I remember effortlessly two tonga songs from Tamil movies from my balmier days.
    One is Rajavin paarvai... with MGR and Sarojadevi.
    The other is Oruvan oruvan muthalali... with Rajini.
    The two are quite contrasting. The first one is shot in studio, with the tonga puller not to be seen at all and the bridle held by MGR so lax that if there had been any horse it would have been only at the starting post without moving an inch forward. The wheel rotates like the blades of a table electric fan would do.
    The other, shot when technology had improved, is far better with outdoors and rapid movement of the vehicle.
    In both, the actors leave the tonga and come to the ground. But when they get off and when they climb back, only the film-makers know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nenjamundu nermai undu odu raja, ....... MGR starring in EnAnnan is another of this genre.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, muralee. I re-heard it just now. I did remember this old tune, though it's quite a long time since I heard it. Once I was a regular listener of Tamil film songs on the radio but after the advent of FM radio and the endless blabber by the anchors I stopped that pastime.
      This song has excellent lyrics.
      "Meesai murukku" says the singer, except that he has only a pencil-thin moustache.
      Nice to see those red buses that we once had in Madras. The autos were yellow even then. The yellow and black taxis raised nostalgic memories. Even Anna Salai has a leisurely air that we can now only dream of.

      Delete
  8. 16 Marriage law? (3,2,5) ACT OF UNION [CD]
    It could be taken as DD also.
    1) marriage
    2) law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Union

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, got the answer for 23 Down but BANG part was not clear. This was the only Anno I couldn't figure. Help please.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MB
      Bang came an answer from Kishore elsewhere.
      I warn you, though. There are some jokers and they may mislead you and give a wrong meaning of the word. Please look it up in a dictionary and satisfy yourself.

      Delete
    2. But 'Bang came an answer' would lead to immediately and not 'Finally'.

      Delete
    3. That's right! As Kishore provided the answer to V's query immediately, I said 'Bang came his reply'.

      Delete
    4. I think, "finally" in the clue refers to "bang on time" and hence BANG ! Thanks, Col Sir. (For warning too) :-)

      Delete
    5. 'Finally' also does not lead to 'Bang on time'

      Delete
    6. Correction in my post @9:06

      Please replace Col Sir for CV Sir !

      Delete
    7. Re Bang, our friends from Bangalore are best qualified to answer. ;-)

      Delete
    8. To answer MB
      Capital! Finally you get one (6)
      Capital = Defn
      ! = Bang
      Finally you = u
      Get = connector
      One = i

      Delete
    9. Thanks, Ramesh. Never knew exclamation mark '!' refers to 'bang' too !

      Delete
    10. Of course, in comics, the word BANG always ends with "!" mark !

      Delete
    11. May be it (!) has something to do with The Big Bang Theory ! ;-)

      Delete
    12. Ramesh
      Thanks for the explanation.
      Yes, that was my original thinking. Yesterday when I re-checked the CWD for yet another time prior to publication, I did not think twice about it.
      Even today only on repeated questions here and the Col's imputs, I was wondering if I had made any mistake.
      Your explanation has relieved me. You see, I had forgotten how the clue worked. We setters sometimes can't recall our own annos to clue we wrote long ago.
      BTW, the crossword sub caught an error in another clue that I had overlooked. Thanks be to him.

      Delete
    13. Dwelling on Ramesh's post @ 9:58

      23 Capital! Finally you get one (6)
      ! for 'bang' appearing finally after 'Capital', 'u' for 'you' and 'one' for 'i'

      Does this parsing hold any water ?!


      Delete
    14. The exclamation mark or exclamation point is known, in printers' and programmers' jargon, as the "bang". This may be because the ! appeared in comics in dialogue balloons to represent a gun being fired; the nickname could have also been started with letterpress printing.

      The combination of question (interrogation) mark with exclamation mark (?! or !?) is called Interrobang.
      These two marks can also be superimposed as a glyph.

      Delete
  10. CVSir @ 8.39 One more ....Azhagukum malarukkum jaathi illai from Nenjam Marappathillai Kalyankumar

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just as a matter of interest, was it the same Kalyan Kumar (1929-1999) from Kannada movies, by chance?

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    2. Thanks, ram. I knew you would come up with another suggestion. I re-heard it on my iPad a short while ago. These old tunes we can never forget. Simple and soulful.

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    3. Yes, it is the same Kalyan Kumar. His appearance in the Tamil film Nenjil Oor Aalayam I remember.

      Delete
    4. I have viewed its Hindi remake bearing the verbatim translation of the title Dil Ek Mandir starring Rajendra Kumar, Meena Kumari and Raaj 'Jaani' Kumar.

      I think the Hindi remake was also directed by Sridhar, a hit director of Tamil and Hindi films those days.

      Delete
    5. The song Tora man darpan kahlaaye is being regularly played by a Bangalore FM channel in the morning when it plays devotional songs between 0530 and 0600 hrs.

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    6. But that bhajan was from Kaajal (1965), also starring Meena Kumari and Raaj Kumar. But the leading man was Dharmendra, if I am not mistaken.

      Delete
    7. You are correct. I mixed up the two songs.

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    8. Was a bhajan picturized on Meena Kumari as an invocation for her husband's recovery from terminal illness in Dil Ek Mandir? I have a faint image in mind. Can you recollect?

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    9. Almost all the songs were hits. The title song, Hum tere pyar maein sarah alam, Juhi ki kali meri laaDli, Ruk jaa raat Thehar jaare chanda, Yaad na jaaye beete dinon ki. The last one was a Mohammed Rafi classic.

      Delete
  11. 5 Originally divine old water source exactly (5) DOWSE {D}{O}{W}{S}{E} &lit

    Could this clue have been handled better? Though 'divine' has many meanings, it's also 'dowse'. Maybe 'dig' or 'discover'?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My test solver had raised a query about this but I did not get down to changing the clue.

      Delete
    2. Yes, I hear about it for the first time. Obviously a CW software to check clues. CV can explain.

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    3. No software, a test solver is another crossword solver or setter who checks the CW of a setter for errors

      Delete
    4. In this case--? Anyone from our blog?

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    5. That only CV can tell you. In my my case CV test solved the Prize Jumbo CW I had posted on the anniversary of the blog.

      Delete
    6. Thank you Col. Good to know.

      Delete
  12. 9 Lumpen components in legislature (6)

    Very topical clue!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore,
      Do you the collective noun for a group of owls?
      A parliament of owls.
      And that for eagles...
      A convocation of eagles!

      Delete
  13. 12d- pally is friendly he is man phenominally to a remarkable extent. WoW. 18d- lovely clue.26a-equally nice. Nice puzzle today.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dog star reminds the brightest star of the sky. It is also called Sirius and alpha canis major.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I had read something about it connected to pyramids of Egypt. They are built in such a way the star is seen from a Pyramid since Sirius was considered sacred by them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A study of the star alignment with the Great Pyramid of Giza shows Orion (associated with the god Osiris) to be aligned with the King’s Chamber while Sirius (associated with the goddess Isis) is aligned with the Queen’s Chamber.

      Anubis, the dog-headed god of death, (remember the movie - Mummy) had a connection with the dog star.

      In Masonic lodges, Sirius is known as the “Blazing Star” and is the first and most exalted object that demands the freemasons' attention in the Lodge. For them, the Blazing Star is a symbol of deity, of omnipresence (the Creator is present everywhere) and of omniscience (the Creator sees and knows all). It is the destination of the Mason’s journey, the “sacred place” that all Masons must ascend to. In Masonic symbolism, the eye of Horus (or the All-Seeing Eye) is often depicted surrounded by the glittering of light of Sirius.

      On reverse side of the US$ bill, we see a barren landscape dominated by an unfinished pyramid of 13 steps, topped by the Eye of Providence within a triangle. The light behind the All-Seeing Eye is not from the sun - but from Sirius! As the Great Pyramid of Giza was built in alignment with Sirius, it is shown shining right above this Pyramid.

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  16. Maria Von Trapp of Sound of Music fame passed away recently at a ripe old age of 99. There is a nice article in today's Young World.

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  17. muraleedharan kr@2:56 pm, I thought it was the Sun.

    ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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