Not clear on 2D, otherwise a good opener from Arden.
ACROSS
1 Play ball with Chinaman, or an ex-president (7,7) ABRAHAM LINCOLN {BALL+CHINAMAN+OR}*
11 Looks closely, after being with some eminent men (4,5) LIFE PEERS {LIFE} {PEERS}
12 Giving attention to article by name is elemental (7) EARTHEN {EAR}{THE}{N}
13 Resin makes entry in one direction (7) STYRENE {S{ENTRY*}E}
14 Part of Chennai addicted to spirit (5) NAIAD [T]
19 Come out with Nancy…. not an exigency (9) EMERGENCY {EMERGE}{NanCY}
20 Bother the dog (5) HOUND [DD]
22 Late Democrat turned Republican, passed on (7) RELAYED (-d+r)RELAYED
25 Stretched over the fore-end of the ship is a missile launcher (7) LONGBOW {LONG}{BOW}
28 Cover monkey behind door frame (5) DRAPE {DooR}{APE}
29 Seasonal growth in living rooms, perhaps (9,5) CHRISTMAS TREES [CD]
DOWN
2 It’s smoked cheese for soldiers holding rank (9) BRIARPIPE {BRI{ARPIP}E} Anno not clear. Enumeration should be (5,4) if the answer is right (Addendum - BRIERPIPE {BRIE}{R{PIP}E} - See comments)
3 A clean way to get drenched (5) AWASH {A}{WASH}
4 Long train moving to many a city in the US (9) ARLINGTON*
5 Sun rises about a foot in such high places (5) LOFTS {LO{FT}S<=}
6 Any sharp pressure fluctuation will bother a baby (5,4) NAPPY RASH {ANY+SHARP+P}*
7 Gross incursion across Chinese border from south (5) OBESE [T<=]
8 Just beginning to make a name with a perfume (7) NASCENT {N}{A}{SCENT}
9 Asian or oriental featured in the holy book (6) KOREAN {KOR{E}AN}
15 Pet gets to kep the leftovers (5,4) DOGGY BAGS {DOGGY} {BAGS} Typo I presume: Read KEEP for KEP
17 Payments for imposing lashes (9) ROYALTIES {ROYAL}{TIES}
18 Overshadow with a foolish estimate (9) ADUMBRATE {A}{DUMB}{RATE} New word for me
19 Yogi Berra ticked off for being somewhat unpredictable (7) ERRATIC [T]
21 Diviner translated English words (6) DOWSER {E+WORDS}*
23 When rising it’s true about sun light (5) LASER {LA{S}ER<=}
24 Transport missed? No school, says this principle (5) DEISM MISsED*
26 Do away with Android mobile, it’s the pits (5) NADIR ANdRoID*
1d I thought PIP came from rank, the rank badge stars on an army uniform. AR from Army Reserve, Artillery Regiment, Armoured Regiment? None of these are in Chambers.
ReplyDeleteThat's 2d
DeleteAnother possibility is mistake. Looks like soldier holding rank is RE holding PIP. Then Brie is wrongly taken in wordplay as Bria ...Something's gone agley between the pipe and lip
DeleteDo you know which is the most popular object in the Modern Physics collection at the Smithsonian?
DeleteEinstein's brierpipe.
That's all because of relativity. If it was my brierpipe (related to me), it would not be famous at all.
DeleteI m with your possibility of mistake Re holding pip. Even in the clue cheese not holding anything
DeleteRegarding Old age, I recently read this poem (author unknown)
ReplyDeleteAn Ode To Old Age:
There's quite an art to falling apart as the years go by,
And life doesn't begin at 40. That's a big fat lie.
My hair's getting thinner, my body is not;
The few teeth I have are beginning to rot.
I smell of Vick's-Vapo-Rub, not Chanel # 5;
My new pacemaker's all that keeps me alive.
When asked of my past, every detail I'll know,
But what was I doing 10 minutes ago? I might not know!
Well, you get the idea, what more can I say?
I'm off to read the obituary, like I do every day;
If my names ain't there, I'll once again start -
Perfecting the art of falling apart.
DG's intro and Kishore's 8:32 - You must be referring to 2D and not 1D.
ReplyDelete2 It’s smoked cheese for soldiers holding rank (9) BRIARPIPE {BRI{ARPIP}E}
ReplyDeleteI think it's BRIE R(PIP)E, Pip: Insignia
Well, Chambers does have Brier and Briar as alternative spellings for the shrub. So the anno's clear enough and only the enu is erroneous
DeleteStill does not make sense
DeleteBut briar pipe is the correct word.
DeleteWhy, it does:
Deleteit's smoked=def= brier pipe
cheese=brie
soldiers holding rank = RE holding PIP
BRIE R-(PIP)E
Pip, pip to you!
If the pipe is made from briar/brier wood, it can be called briar pipe or brier pipe
DeleteIn fact, in Chambers brier (second entry) has this def: a tobacco pipe made of of its root, brier root or brier wood
Did not find it in the online Chambers. Too lazy to ref to the book.
DeleteThe 12th Edition of The Chambers Dictionary with a wine red cover emblazoned with the letters A and Z in gold, has this on its lower spine:
Delete"Chambers is the one I keep at my right hand" Philip Pullman
I seriously disagree with Mr Pullman and keep it at my left hand ...
Any online link for brier pipe?
DeleteGoogling for brier/briar pipe will get you plenty
Delete1A - I put in WILLIAM ('Bill') CLINTON and got stuck for a while! :-(
ReplyDeleteWhat did you put in William 'Bill' Clinton? Is it your turn, intern?
DeleteJust to avoid questions from someone like you, since he was best known as Bill Clinton rather than by his first moniker William.
DeleteKishore,
DeleteWhat did you put in William 'Bill' Clinton? Is it your turn, intern? On the contrary, said the intern!
Do we have the makings of a limerick/ limerick contest here?
Delete"On the contrary" like it's in crosswords.
DeleteAha!
DeleteI'm not convinced but could it be?
ReplyDeleteIt’s smoked cheese for soldiers holding rank (9) BRI{AR}{PIP}E
AR: Army Regulation
PIP: rank (insignia)
I thought so too, but Chambers does not list this abbn. as it does not list the other possible ones I have listed ...
DeleteOr even Armoured Regiment (though Armoured Brigade or Corps seems to be more common in usage)
DeleteRaghunath's anno is correct.
DeleteAccording to Freedict, a brier is a pipe made of brierroot.
@Kishore: Sorry, didn't realise you had already posted this info!
DeleteThat's fine, Sandy. Raghu was busy trying to disprove his own anno! So I had to convince him that he was right in the first place and wrong in the second.
Delete'Adumbrate' is an old-fashioned word and must have been popular in pre-Independence days. I use that word occasionally in my writing (you can't work it into any bit of conversation with a relative or friend, can you?).
ReplyDeleteI came across it long ago in a speech/essay by Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer.
The root of the word is 'umbra' - the same as that of 'umbrella'.
If we do a bit of lookup and understand the root of a word, we would remember the exact meaning and even the place where we came across it first.
If a marketing manager adumbrates to the company chairman his plan for the next financial year, he gives an outline, a foreshadow - not complete details.
I first recognised umbra along with its cognate penumbra in physics shadow play
DeleteUnless there is a trannie in our midst. Remember the dictator in Hot Shots 2 movie?
DeleteIt’s smoked by setter wearing bra for soldiers holding rank (5,4)
ReplyDeleteAs on date only one candidate who qualifies to fit that !
DeleteUnless there is a trannie in our midst! Remember the dictator in the movie Hot Shots 2 ?
DeleteToss a coin-
ReplyDeleteWhich is more interesting- CW or the blog?!
I hear 'oui' for one & 'ja' for the other.
ReplyDeleteKishore, your poem on old age, and today's cartoon reminded me of these two -
ReplyDeleteI've got used to my arthritis,
To my dentures, I'm resigned.
I can manage my bifocals,
But, Oh God, I miss my mind!
And the other -
My forgetter's getting better
But my remembrance is broke.
To you that may seem funny
But to me, that is no joke.
Nice. Sometimes I forget to remember, sometimes I remember to forget ...
DeleteToo much padding in 19A?
ReplyDeleteYou mean 19D, right?
DeleteSorry. You are right.
DeleteIF WISHES WERE DONKEYS!!! RAJU.
ReplyDeleteI wish the life cycle is all backwards!!
You should start out dead and get it out of the way.
Then, you wake up in an old age home feeling better every day.
You get kicked out for being too healthy; go collect your pension,
When you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day.
You work 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement.
You drink alcohol, you party, you're generally promiscuous and you get
ready for High School.
You go to primary school, you become a kid , you play, you have no
responsibilities, you become a baby, and then...
You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, in spa-like
conditions; central heating, room service on tap, larger quarters very
day, and then, you finish off as an orgasm.
I rest my case.
Raju : My ideas of living life all over again !! Any one willing to join me in this fantasy?
An excellent and doable crossie by ARDEN , who never fails to mix and match wit and witch !!
Raja, that's like the story of Benjamin Button!
ReplyDeleteThat should read 'Raju' .
ReplyDeleteMaybe. But the thought is that of living like a Raja,
DeleteRaju getting into H.G.Well's 'Time machine' with full control of where he wants to get off!
ReplyDeleteIn his remote, he is operating the 'slow backward' in stead of 'fast forward'.
A note to those who use CC (I am deliberately leaving it to your guess as I do not want to mention the name of a commercial software as I am not its brand ambassador.)
ReplyDeleteI think I have written the following before, but I an repeating it.
Once the words are filled in grid, we select Edit clue (from a drop-down) to write the clue. The pop-up opens and offers a clue-editor, depending on the slot in which your cursor was.
In this you don't add enu because under settings the app itself enters the enu when the file is exported or when the clues are simply copy-pasted.
When you write the clue, see if the solution word in the grey area above the input box is one word or as per the phrasal requirement.
If the phrase is in the in-built dict, it will be BRIAR PIPE or BRIER PIPE. If it is not, it will be only one word. If it is shown as one word, the enu in exported clue list will be only (9) not (5,4) as you want it to be.
So the first thing before you write the clue, what you must do is to check the phrase in the grey area and see if it is as you want it to be..
If in this instance it's BRIARPIPE, you highlight the word, it turns red, you retype it as you want it to be. If you retype it as BRIAR PIPE, the enu in a lower box will turn 5,4. Now you can be sure that the exported file will show it thus. Also, note that once you have retyped the phrase and saved it (that is, clicked OK), the red will turn black as it was before you fixed it.
If, instead of using the individual clue editor, you drop down to review/edit clues, the entire list appears in the pop-up box. here you run the eye down the list and wherever a phrase is not a phrase you highlight it and retype. So you highlight briarpipe (it will be in lowercase in the list) you retype it as briar pipe and save. You can be sure now that the exported list will have (5,4) against the clue. If you had not done this, it will be (9).
In any case, as you don't see the enu in the clue editor, any clue sheet exported from the app needs to be checked clue-by-clue to ensure that the enu of phrasal entries show the phrasal demand.
+++
Those who use an online facility and export clues need to check for words running into each other.
My guess is that where a clue is in two lines (or for some other reason - I don't use the online facility and so I don't know), in the exported file the two lines run into each other and so there is no space between words.
This is a very common presentation.
Clues exported from online facility need to be checked and this problem fixed. That is, ensure that there is space between words and that they don't run into each other like this:
betweenwords andthat theydon't (DON'T TRY! for representation purpsoe only!)
I C, CV
DeleteThe version I use (9.05) allows to set the enum as 5,4 in the clue editor..in "Word Format"
DeleteLet's ignore minor errors (spelling, grammatical) in Comments - unless the typo changes the meaning drastically.
ReplyDeleteWe condole the demise of the veteran writer, punster, historian and crossword enthusiast, Sardar Kushwant Singh. He was just short of completing a century. He will be remembered for his eventful tenure as editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India.
ReplyDeleteWhile I followed his editorship of the Weekly contemporaneously and went through his columns regularly, I got a chance to read Khushwant Singh's early novel 'Train to Pakistan' only a couple of years ago. I liked it very much. The last chapter was gripping and I shared it with an old, visually-impaired friend of mine (an established, award-winning short-story writer in Tamil) by going to his home and reading it to him.
DeleteI think that in some passages this first novel of the writer has foreshadow of dirtiness that was to manifest later.
End of an era. RIP.
DeleteJust a couple of months back, King's College London had awarded esteemed alumnus Khushwant Singh a Fellowship of the College, its highest honour. The award was given at a private ceremony at his home in Delhi on 12 January. 2014 marked the 80th anniversary of his admission to King's as an undergraduate in 1934.
DeleteAnother little known fact about Kushwant Singh is that he was called to the Bar by The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in 1938. Beginning his legal career on the eve of the Second World War, he spent eight years practising law at the High Court of Lahore.
In 1947, he entered the diplomatic service of independent India serving his country for four years in London and Ottawa.
He had worked for nine years with the Illustrated Weekly, raising its circulation from 65,000 to 4,00,000 (The Tamil weekly, Kumudham, was a close rival with a circulation of 6,20,000 in 1986.) One week before he was to retire, he was abruptly asked to leave with immediate effect. Khushwant Singh quietly got up, collected his umbrella and left the office without a word to his staff.
Amrita Singh (the 'Mard' girl and former Begum of Saif Ali Khan) is his niece. She is the daughter of Shavinder Singh, and Rukhsana Sultana, a political activist. The renowned actress, Begum Para, was Rukhsana's aunt.
DeleteShavinder and Khushwant siblings?
DeleteWiki says his brother's name as Daljit.
Deletecorr. was Daljit.
DeleteI always used to go first to the Jest a Minute page in TIWOI where the sardarji in the bulb used to reside. RIP, KS.
DeleteThe grandparents and the grandchildren go together always, because.....
ReplyDeletethey have a common enemy the middle generation!
Is it so? You may join the 'issue'
"Enemy" is a big word. Otherwise, the sentiment that the middle generation gets bypassed may have some truth in it. Grandparents tend to pet their little ones leaving the conditioning or being a disciplinarian to the parents.
ReplyDeleteThough never far from controversy or close to being "dirty" as CV put it, he was always an interesting read with a thread of humour. RIP.
ReplyDeleteThere is an article on "Makkal Auto' in the Chennai edition of Metro Plus. A centrally monitored system of autos for safe and hassle free transportation in the city ( with GPS and 'in flight' entertainment etc.). It may not be there in other editions. Seems to be a good beginning. For those who are interested read about it here-
ReplyDeletehttp://makkalauto.com/home.html#
One can predict and manipulate the time of birth but no one has yet invented anything that can predict the time of death. Nonagenarian Khushwant Singh is well -remembered for all his articles in his columns: With Malice towards all'' , written so tongue in cheek, interspersed with anecdotes of human value and of course jokes thrown in. His love love for wine and women was Omar Khayyamisque == a possible cause of his long life, lived well? RIP : May your soul remain KHUSH and not WANT more !'ll pull out his inimitable joke books and remember him afresh !
ReplyDeleteHe used to be the biggest distributor of sardarji jokes and one of his main contributors was "J.P. Singh Kaka". Was that an aka?
DeleteAh, just finished the THC crossword today for the first time in my life! (well, except for the briarpipe thingy). Chuffed...
ReplyDeleteWell done, congrats
ReplyDelete27D - Def. should be 'Conductor'.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder, when I took net help for 'composer', I got TOMMASINI and not TOSCANINI !
ReplyDelete