Some = problem today, mainly with my salt ...
ACROSS
6 Material to channel energy in one direction (5) SERGE (ERG in SE)
7 Tumblers lift one during performances (8) ACROBATS (ROB(=lift, as in shoplift) A during ACTS)
10 The woman keeps quiet on the way as it’s extremely moist (7) DAMPEST (DAME keeps P STreet)
11 The rookie will practice with ease, it’s said (7) TRAINEE (TRAIN with EE(=Es=~ease)
12 It is played in Great Britain, as the Spanish and the French share a point (7) UKELELE (UK EL LE round E)
Bertie Wilberforce Wooster plays it (at least he thinks he does). However, Hugh Laurie does play a mean piano when acting as Wooster in his "House"
13 A standard story mostly based on a book (7) EPITOME (EPI
14 In love, there is way I see for such medicine (11) HOMEOPATHIC (HOME O PATH I C)
19 Writing without luck, gets sore (7) CHANCRE (CHANCE=luck is without, ie outside R=writing)
21 Get mail sorted out as there is a delay (4,3) TIME LAG (GET MAIL)*
23 Mother prepared sweet, she played her part (3,4) MAE WEST (MA SWEET*)
Many a time a sailor goes overboard when he thinks of Mae West
25 Group finds shelter by the lake (7) COTERIE (COT ERIE)
26 He believes he made an impression over the girl (8) ADHERENT (A DENT around HER)
27 Was prone to lose tempo as things drew to a close (5) ENDED (
DOWN
1 Catholic city has many a church and tomb (8) CROMLECH (C ROME has L CH)
2 River allowed in the quay, reportedly (6) DELETE (LET in DEE) (quay, pronounced as key leads us to the 'Delete' key on our keyboard)
3 Do soldiers follow a war game? (10) BATTLEDORE (BATTLE DO RE)
4 What do you call a kid who wants to play cricket right inside? (4) BRAT (BAT, R inside)
5 After a bite order beer (6) STINGO (STING O) Thanks to DG
6 & 16 dn. Salt kind of discoloured aim (6,8) SODIUM CHLORIDE (DISCOLOURED AIM)* Error in fodder - our salt seems adulterated -See comments - 'aim' should have been 'him'
8 Carry his cross, being pessimistic (7) BEARISH (BEAR HIS*)
9 Otherwise very safe, avoids say, sickness (5) FEVER (VERY SAFE-SAY)*
13 Italian trade picked up — Rome, for example gives you flexibility (10) ELASTICITY ((IT. SALE) < CITY)
15 Playing team gets a revolutionary cutter (7) MACHETE (TEAM* around CHE)
16 See 6
17 The rascal’s quiet after the loot (5) SCAMP (SCAM P)
18 Is adult rapacity accepted? (6) AGREED (A GREED)
20 Plan to get old bunch of politicians (6) AGENDA (AGE NDA, one of our political alternatives)
22 People have had it over time to keep warm (6) MITTEN (MEN have IT T) &LIT
24 After a change of diet they are at par (4) TIED (DIET*)
OT
ReplyDeleteExcellent memoir on K by his son in ToI front page. The last thing K did before demise was a crossword puzzle, we're told. Also excellent reproduction of a write-up by K in the Speaking Tree on the Edit page. Tributes by writers such as Vinod Mehta on an inside page quite apt.
* * *
Wrt my lengthy post on the behaviour of CC. I must record my experience this morning.
I had ONAVERAGE in the grid.
In the Review/edit clues, it was one word. But in Edit clue mode, it was two words in the grey area and 2,7 in word format box.
Further strange behaviour noted.
I am not criticising this excellent software which takes care of the many desiderata of the setters; I am only cautioning my fellow-setters to be careful about enumerations in the clues after exporting/copy-pasting the clues.
I recheck the word file for these kind of clues
Delete6&16Dn DISCOLOURED HIM
ReplyDeletehim intead of AIM
Looks like a typo at the newspaper's end
DeleteIf the intent of a crossword setter is to entertain, this puzzle has succeeded admirably. So many excellent clues to pick from - acrobats, coterie, fever, mitten but brat was brilliant I thought.
ReplyDeleteBrat was my favourite too...
DeleteFrom Day One I have liked Arden's puzzles. Smooth and not too far away from the air of a UK puzzle.
DeleteThe crossword is a British institution and I am of the opinion that any good crossword set by an Indian would still lack a certain ineffable quality that only UK crosswords can and will have.
I don't mean to say the Indian newspapers should only reproduce UK puzzles as most of them do now - publishing a Christmas puzzle three months after its outing in its original home.
Does anyone on the staff - leave alone the sub in-charge - solve these puzzles?
Who solves the US synonymic in the comics/games page ToI? Raise your hand!
Dave Dobson, where are you?
DeleteWhen I met DD, he had mentioned the same thing. That Arden puzzles make him think of the British ones, and felt that Arden must have lived in the UK or been there many times, for that was clear in the way he used English.
For an Indian to use English the way the English do, he need not have lived there or gone there several times.
DeleteMaybe acquaintance with books, novels, movies, radio talks will do.
My father never crossed the oceans but his English, colloquial English, was admired by RAF/RIAF officers who embraced him in their fold, calling him Gopi.
He did not live there, but his flightpath crossed the RAF/RIAF when they came here!
DeleteSome nice clues.
DeleteBRAT could have been better in my opinion. "Right inside" seemed kind of an odd usage in the context of the clue message.
And 2d seemed kind of indirect.
Wonder whose favorite a 'brat' would be? -:). But yes that's a nice clue.
Delete10 A. What does this clue convey?
ReplyDeleteWhy? That she is not bothered by the sludge!
DeleteHow many of you have already read the interview of Kishore in CU?
ReplyDeleteSee link at left panel.
Before I opened the blog, after logging in late, I checked my mail and saw Shuchi's newsletter announcing Kishore's interview.
DeleteGood job and congrats to both of them. And a lovely portrait of the interviewer. I would say Kishore has done full justice to the smile which her full name represents.
The credit for my photo on top goes to Richard. Do you recall snapping it on your mobile at the Woodlands in December last?
DeleteK 10:32 It was well past sunset. I was worried that the flash would not be enough. That apart, some people's radiance cannot be suppressed, you know...
DeleteIt was clicked on my Canon camera and not mobile. I know for sure, since I am still not well-versed in forwarding pics clicked on mobile.
DeleteThe flash got into my eyes, I could not attest whether it was a mobile or a camera!
DeleteNow flash-blind too?
DeleteAll of us are flash blind. Only duration may vary. Recently read a Perry Mason novel where an identification made after such flash blind proved to be false.
DeleteIt was you, Richard, wasn't it? Or was it someone else?
DeleteCV@9.33-
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I might have missed a gem (at least for a time) Nice start for the day.Kishore did not disappoint.
I could not quite understand 9D.
ReplyDeleteDelete SAY from VERY SAFE = VERFE*
DeleteThank you Richard. Got it.
Delete2 D type clue allowded where there is no direct definition?
ReplyDeleteHave the same doubt regarding 2D. It would seem to pave the way for a whole new range of clue types
ReplyDeleteA double cryptic? I have no problem with such clues.
DeleteIt is a rarely used but nonetheless valid clue type - a reverse homophone where the homophone is in the definition rather than the answer.
DeleteUnderstandable why it is rarely used because of the confusion it creates in appearing like it is indirect.
Well, some clues are &lit where we have to read the whole clue again for def.
DeleteSome clues have wordplay and what is called a cryptic def - not a straightforward, synonymic def.
In 2d, there is wordplay and the def - key - is a sound-alike. This is absolutely new and whether solvers accept it or not is entirely up to them.
Kishore has accepted it - the other two have merely raised doubts.
I have not formed an opinion as yet.
ra clue
Congratulations to both Shuchi and Kishore for an excellent interaction in CU. However, no fun without a mention of the pun that is shot out of Kishore's Gun ? That , to me, would have made the run made a nun eat a bun !!
ReplyDeleteThere is a very subtle pun. Figure it out!
DeleteARDEN at his best in throwing red herrings !! I( had put in PETER for FEVER and DAMPISH FOR DAMPEST and didn't put in HOMEOPATHIC as I thought it could be ALLOPATHIC!
ReplyDeletePLASTICITY for ELASTICITY and PARABLE for EPITOME were examples of being flexible with
word play. Surely, the kind of crossie I enjoy where my wife had Bheja fry for lunch !
MAE West was the best ! Isn't AGENDA and NDA a bit oof course for non- Indian solvers ?
UKELELE is a clever way of playing on this instrument . I liked it.
How many non-Indian solvers try THC? I would like to know.
DeleteThis is an Indian crossword rooted in an Indian paper for solvers mostly in India.
So NDA is well within its ambit.
With regard to the above comments, thanks God for Orkut where one can delete and insert the correct ones as opposed to pen on paper which is my most preferred means. Why can't Orkut also be published on Across Life? most convenient.
ReplyDeleteRichard,
ReplyDeleteThis refers to your comment yesterday on genealogy of Amrita Singh. She is actually grand-niece of Khushwant Singh. His sister, Mohinder Kaur, was the mother of Shavinder Singh.
KS' nephew, Tejbir Singh, the editor of Seminar magazine, married publisher Malvika 'Mala' Singh, daughter of journalists Raj and Romesh Thapar. Malvika's brother, Valmik Thapar, an internationally known tiger conservationist, is married to Sanjana Kapoor (Shashi Kapoor's daughter who runs Prithvi). Malvika's aunt is the well known historian Romila Thapar. Journalist Karan Thapar is Romesh's cousin.
Complying with his wish, his family arranged for donating his eyes immediately following his death.
Delete2D is poor. Did Arden mean CELESTE and forgot the 'S'.
ReplyDeleteIt's an indirect homonym clue difficult to solve. Unfair I think.
DeleteAgree Raghu
DeleteAt last, Suresh!
DeleteHow would it be if there was no homophone involved? Not this particular clue,but any clue with two wordplay or cryptic definitions?
Delete)£@#$$$%%&&
DeleteYou want change Raghu? :-)
Delete-:)
DeleteLong time since we saw a Nina here, however Nina has arrived in Bhavan's home
ReplyDeleteHearty Congratulations to Bhavan on the new arrival.
DeleteCongratulations Bhavan & Amudha
DeleteCongrats Bhavan & Amudha !
DeleteCongrats to Bhavan and Amudha on your bundle of joy. Guess you are going to name her NINA. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Bhavan on the new arrival.
ReplyDeleteHearty Congratulations to Bhavan & Amudha.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Bhavan!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the new arrival and congos to the parents!
ReplyDeleteBhavan & Amudha,
ReplyDeleteHearty congratulations.
Commenting for the first time here. Would 24D have been better off as 'At par after a change of diet (4)'? Asking because ' ... they are at par (4)' implies that the answer is a plural noun.
ReplyDeleteWelcome PS :)
DeleteThanks, LV ... wish I had joined earlier! :)
Delete:)
Delete