Saturday, 15 March 2014

No 11033, Saturday 15 Mar 2014, Neyartha


Woke up in the morning to find Neyartha inducing us to get back in bed!!

ACROSS
1   Abnormal debt risk from covering placed under 27 Ac. (3,5) BED SKIRT*
5   Cloudy backdrop a queen concealed (6) OPAQUE [T]
Luckily this is not what Raju is seeing today in the Orkut App !
9   Took issue with grease preparation executed outside (9) DISAGREED {DI{GREASE*}D}
11 Medicinal plant’s sulphur removed by Frenchman with African tree copal (5) ANIME ANI(-s+m)ME
12 Valedictory form sent back to Iowa confiscated by the Election Commission (7) ELEGIAC {E{LEG<=}{IA}C}
14 Felt excited when Greenland’s movement to push back the Tory leader was flashed briefly (7) GLINTED (-t+gl)GLIN(-gl+t)TED
15 Cut spiritual arrangement with the beekeeper (12) APICULTURIST*
17 Adjusts to accommodate the gangster and the first of the experts in Asian culture (12) ORIENTALISTS {ORIENT{AL}{1ST}S}
20 Gene activating agent found by freakishly manicured graduate goes missing (7) INDUCER maNICURED*
22 Suffocating auditor’s without an inheritor (7) AIRLESS (~heirless)
23 Rouse knight to go behind corruption in retreat (5) LIVEN {LIVE<=}{N}
24 Breaking: Democrat moving forward to embrace Switzerland gets a souse (9) DRENCHING {(+d)DREN(-d){CH}ING}
26 Gossip about a microblogging service after commencement (6) WITTER tWITTER
27 Scottish cap returned with lock on the palliasse, say (8) MATTRESS {MAT<=}{TRESS}

 DOWN
1   Plan to get funds (6) BUDGET [CD]
2   Rapid rise may result in a collapse (9) DISREPAIR* Semi&lit
3   Powder in this may suddenly become dangerous (3) KEG [CD]
4   Note about the firm peacekeepers’ entertainment by a musical instrument was found again (13) REENCOUNTERED {RE{EN{CO}{UN}TER}ED}
6   Salesman sent up to entertain a girl is a crooked literary pirate (11) PLAGIARISER {P{A+GIRL+IS+A}*ER<=}
7   Soft student getting rid of the Oriental’s sleeping gear (5) QUILT QUI(-e+l)LT
8   Improves satisfaction for the audience (6) EMENDS (~amends)
10 It can take photographs, but not on film (7,6) DIGITAL CAMERA [CD]
13 Birdie executed surprisingly by Charlie entering spot with a play of colours (11) IRIDESCENCE {bIRDIE}*{SCEN{C}E}
16 Arrange and organize a routine on the island quarter (9) SYSTEMISE {SYSTEM}{I}{SE}
18 Fights that may result in sleeping gear being thrown about (6) PILLOW [CD]
19 Measures need no introduction for some native Americans (6) OSAGES dOSAGES
21 Sleeping gear belonging to a Kathmandu veterinarian (5) DUVET [T]
25 Fingerstall found in a baby’s sleeping gear (3) COT [DD]

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56 comments:

  1. Kishore15 March 2014 at 08:30

    Wondered what the digital camera was doing in the bedroom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Col_Gopinath15 March 2014 at 08:49

    Where is our early bird?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Padmanabhan15 March 2014 at 08:55

    To do some fishing with the worm?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Padmanabhan15 March 2014 at 08:56

    Lots of troubled water for fishing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Padmanabhan15 March 2014 at 08:57

    I am happy though I could not complete. I did much better for a Neyartha CW.
    CH code for Switzerland?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Venkatesh15 March 2014 at 09:02

      Switzerland is officially the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH).

      Delete
  6. Padmanabhan15 March 2014 at 08:59

    12A- form=>leg?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Venkatesh15 March 2014 at 09:00

    16 Arrange and organize a routine on the island quarter (9) SYSTEMISE {SYSTEM}{I}{SE}
    Quarter usually indicates one of four - n, s, e, w (compass directions).
    It is not clear how Neyartha has used it for SE. Perhaps, he has taken SE, NW, NE & SW as the four quarters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Venkatesh15 March 2014 at 09:11

      http://sphinx.mythic-beasts.com/~mark/random/indicators/
      Cryptic CW Indicators & Abbreviations: Ross Beresford's compilation and the updated one above show all 8 as quarters.

      Delete
    2. Kishore15 March 2014 at 09:11

      In a crossword grid, we may have the NW, NE, SW and SE quarters

      Delete
    3. Raghunath15 March 2014 at 09:14

      Or is 'is' short for island Ross Beresford's compilation?

      Delete
    4. Venkatesh15 March 2014 at 10:52

      Kishore,
      Don't we use 'quadrants' for this purpose?
      I agree with Raghu on 'is' for island and 'e' for quarter.

      Delete
    5. Kishore15 March 2014 at 11:01

      I checked with Neyartha. His intended anno is SYSTEM I SE.

      Delete
  8. Raghunath15 March 2014 at 09:12

    Kishore,

    Are we in a state of' 'emergency'?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore15 March 2014 at 10:04

      You are: Telangana is emerging. For me, nope: mission accomplished! RL must be looking in the wrong place for a worm that is not there.

      Delete
  9. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 10:31

    Good exercise for grey cells today ! Couldn't get 26 Ac and 18 Dn. Felt happy to have solved more than 90% of Neyartha's puzzle ! Thanks, Neyartha, for a nice crossy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Suresh15 March 2014 at 10:46

    Forget early birds. The late Latif is here. After using the Dictionary extensively for words he did not know

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 10:51

    4 Note about the firm peacekeepers’ entertainment by a musical instrument was found again (13) REENCOUNTERED {RE{EN{CO}{UN}TER}ED}

    What is the link for 'enter' in the Anno pl ? Role of 'Note' in the clue ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore15 March 2014 at 10:58

      When you note something, you enter it (on paper, in a log etc)

      Delete
    2. Venkatesh15 March 2014 at 10:59

      4 Note ENTER (record/note/put in writing)
      about
      the firm CO
      peacekeepers’ UN

      entertained by CONTAINMENT INDICATOR
      a musical instrument REED
      Defn: was found again {RE{EN{CO}{UN}TER}ED}

      Delete
    3. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 11:03

      Thanks, Kishore and Venkatesh.

      Delete
  12. Kishore15 March 2014 at 10:52

    Richard was on the blower just now. No, he is not after worms. He is counting waves in Kasaragod, away from the harmful addiction of the internet.

    He was drawing a mental picture for me:

    "There are waves, and a nice sea breeze. I am sitting on a lovely ...."

    And then he spoilt it all by saying "beach"

    ReplyDelete
  13. Richard15 March 2014 at 11:04

    Just wondering what all things can go on behind one's back when being away.

    That apart, what a break from the 40 degrees Celsius heat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15 March 2014 at 11:19

      From the frying pan into the cooler.

      Remember the cooler in The Bridge on the river Kwai?

      Delete
  14. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 11:57

    13 Birdie executed surprisingly by Charlie entering spot with a play of colours (11) IRIDESCENCE {bIRDIE}*{SCEN{C}E}

    How is 'b' deleted in the Anno pl ?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Padmanabhan15 March 2014 at 11:59

    Kishore@ 11.19-
    happened to see the movie recently in the USIS library here. What a film!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15 March 2014 at 12:29

      David Lean wanted the soldiers to sing "Hitler has just one ____", but that was felt to be vulgar, and they ended up just whistling Col.Bogey March instead. Both that song and its tune are my favourites!

      Delete
  16. Anonymous15 March 2014 at 12:59

    One week and the aircraft is still untraced. Reminded me of the old song "The Bismarck" -

    For seven days and seven night we searched the seven seas ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan15 March 2014 at 14:10

      Now they seem to be searching more than seven seas!
      On a more serious note, will not some satellite images to guide them to a smaller circle in stead of go on widening it? The question they are not able to answer at the moment seems to be how long did the plane fly after it "lost' contact.

      Delete
  17. Col_Gopinath15 March 2014 at 13:00

    I am struggling with the CW set by our new setter 'Troy' for tomorrow's special

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous15 March 2014 at 13:10

      That'sparta the game!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous15 March 2014 at 13:12

      If you are struggling, it must be tough. Will give it a go later in the day, if your draft is up

      Delete
    3. Kishore15 March 2014 at 20:55

      I have 3 pending in the SE after an hour.

      Delete
    4. Deepak Gopinath15 March 2014 at 21:03

      I did manage to crack the whole thing but I have some doubts on the annos. Lets see tom, though I won' t be at home betn 9:30 and 2:30. Will try and log in with my phone

      Delete
    5. Anonymous15 March 2014 at 21:58

      Quite well done, though I did see an indirect anagram. But what the hell!

      Delete
  18. Ramani15 March 2014 at 15:16

    May I suggest that the stalwarts give room for the novices like me, upto, say 3.00pm after which the author of the blog, the punster, the-suitable-reply givers,like Richard sir, Paddy, Suresh, Sandy,Geethu, PP mams, Nadathur, MB, setters like Ajeesh, Srikanth et al who-you-knew, will take the stage to compete and complete. Your views pl. You may advance 3 pm to even 1,30 also if you think it is too long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore15 March 2014 at 15:41

      As the Boss may decide. However, nothing prevents anybody from logging in later at their convenience ...

      Delete
    2. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 16:12

      I don't mind taking a back-seat ! My suggestion, why not limit the answers to two per head for regulars, upto 1:00 PM ? And the remaining one can be filled later. This way the new comers and novices can have a better chance of participation. But the million dollar question is, how many persons of this category will take active part in answering the clues ?!

      Delete
    3. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 16:21

      ...and BTW, Ram, I don't consider myself to be a stalwart ! :-)

      Delete
    4. Col_Gopinath15 March 2014 at 16:43

      Ram,
      I presume you are talking of the Sunday special.
      Firstly who is to decide whether he is a stalwart or a novice? In any case even with 3 answers per head, invariably the answers are not complete till after 1 PM. At present I'm not changing anything for tomorrow till I get some more views.
      I can only suggest to the so called stalwarts to wait for a while before they pitch in.Maybe those who consider themselves as the stalwarts can start posting after an hour, say 11:30.

      Delete
    5. Kishore15 March 2014 at 16:46

      ... and BTW, Ram, we do not compete and complete. There is no competition here, except on rare occasions when announced. Rather we co-operate and complete with friends dropping in to give their take on clues unsolved, wrongly solved or wrongly annotated.

      Delete
    6. Lakshmi Vaidyanathan15 March 2014 at 17:16

      (I am not an ace solver ) On some Sundays I go out after lunch & come back only by 7 or 8 . Then it will not be possible for me to participate :(

      Delete
    7. Kishore15 March 2014 at 18:13

      I am no stalward and I have no vices except punning. All my comments above are on the presumption that Ram was talking about the weekday blog and not the Sunday one. I got the impression that he would like to see the weekday one work like the Sunday one. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

      On most Sundays, either I attempt at 1030 or not at all, as on many Sundays I have other activities. So, I have no problem with whatever is decided.

      Delete
  19. raju umamaheswar15 March 2014 at 15:48

    Nyet ! Nicht ! Neyartha made no artha in a few convoluted cluing. Is he in any way remotely related to Enjay? Eg: REENCOUNTERED and ORIENTALISTS.
    I'm not inviting any retaliatory comments as I still enjoyed the crossie ! A change from the rut is gut !!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Richard15 March 2014 at 17:40

    Re Ram's plaint 3:16pm, I think the Col and others have suitably replied to the point. I am chipping in only since my name finds a place among the superiors. I must admit I am no stalwart. There are days when I manage to crack only 75%.

    Obviously, as the Col has expressed, the issue is about the Sunday special. If the solvers are asked to post only after a fixed time, how is one sure that the three clues solved would not coincide with others' answers? It would be a more frustrating experience to realize that the answers you have kept ready are submitted by others in the meantime.

    I do not think the idea would be practical. Very often by the evening deadline, there would still be a few left unsolved. With the crossings available it would be much easier a task for the late loggers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard15 March 2014 at 17:48

      To add a point, I would endorse MB's suggestion that the individual contribution be limited to two and the deadline be advanced to 1 pm. But then here too there could be complaints that the closing time is too early. :-)

      Delete
  21. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 18:15

    14 Felt excited when Greenland’s movement to push back the Tory leader was flashed briefly (7) GLINTED (-t+gl)GLIN(-gl+t)TED

    Initially I had a problem in understanding the Anno and as I didn't want to be spoon-fed always, I had not raised the doubt. Took my own time to analyze it.

    Felt excited = TINGLED. From this GL(Greenland) moved to T's place and pushed it(T) back to it's(GL) place, to become GLINTED (Flashed briefly)

    Hope, next time around, I'll be able to annotate it the way, Col Sir, did.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Padmanabhan15 March 2014 at 18:22

    MB,
    I think in such cases the crossings help, though purists would frown at it. What I mean is that with the help of crossings we can fill it up and then try o justify/ annotate it (just the way you did it now). I find myself doing it in what I classify as tough CW.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam15 March 2014 at 19:00

      Paddy,
      I got the answer alright. If this answer were to appear in a Sunday Spl, I would have really struggled to annotate it in correct manner (inspite of getting the answer).
      Next time around, I am sure, I can annotate such answers ! (a la Col Sir)

      Delete

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