This is an entertaining puzzle with several good clues and nice stories in the surfaces. If you like doing themed crosswords – especially those that rely on cross referencing clues, you might be doubly pleased. If you are like me and don’t like being sent all over the grid to solve a clue, then this may not be your cup of tea.
ACROSS
1,18 Good Friday, Palm Sunday or 20’s creation (1,8,5) A MOVEABLE FEAST (DD)
6 Progenitor or 20 called so affectionately (4) PAPA (DD)
8 Running amok around campsite to ensure that it happens (4,2,2) MAKE IT SO (AMOK* outside SITE*)
9 Crawler, wingless, fears twigs (6) EARWIG (fEARs tWIGs)
10 Southern lassies going gaga over 20’s work (3,3,4,5) THE SUN ALSO RISES (SOUTHERN LASSIES)*
11 Accolade 20 received tucked away in kimono belt (5) NOBEL (T)
13 Settles a score, being secure, special, steady (4,4) GETS EVEN (GET + S + EVEN)
15 Brashest, most reckless military officers (3,5) THE BRASS (BRASHEST)*
18 See 1
20 Brash belletrist belts out 9 teen hymns (6,9) ERNEST HEMINGWAY (EARWIG TEEN HYMNS)*
23 Miami baseball team mascot makes an appearance in AT & T Stadium, Arlington (6) MARLIN (T) Too much padding in the clue for my liking
24 Shell dweller likely to end up as hors d’oeuvre (8) ESCARGOT (E)
25 Lizards eat flies, termites and spider heads (4) EFTS (Acrostic)
26 Cricket commentator’s difficult, trying ego (4,5) TONY GREIG (TRYING EGO)*
Who can forget lines like "They are dancing in the aisles in Sharjah" ? See more here
DOWN
1 Cause embarrassment for a party (5) ABASH (A + BASH)
2 Soused stevedore removed shirt and finally became direct (7) OVERSEE (StEVEdORE)*
3 Taken in by British college, reportedly (5) EATEN (~ETON)
4 Black-market loot mysteriously discovered in Panhandle (7) BOOTLEG (LOOT* inside BEG)
5 Peeper almost took the tailless canine (3,5) EYE TOOTH (EYE + TOOk + THe)
6 I cut back on non-kosher edibles primarily, like pig (7) PORCINE (I CROP <- + N E)
7 Lacking direction without a ruler? Very amusing! (9) PRICELESS (PRInCE LESS) Why is direction not any of the other Es or Ss?
12 One’s spouse might be dangerous for health (5,4) OTHER HALF (FOR HEALTH)* Cue all personal anecdotes :) ?
14 Percussion instrument or How to Catch a 23? (8) CASTANET (CAST A NET)
r + N)
19 Furiously enraged and ready for attack (2,5) EN GARDE (ENRAGED)*
21 Unidentified gnomic man vanishes mysteriously (5) INCOG (GNOmIC)* I'm now thinking if I should have let Kishore blog today!
22 In the company of a large number of new generation leaders (5) AMONG (A + M + O N G)
ACROSS
1,18 Good Friday, Palm Sunday or 20’s creation (1,8,5) A MOVEABLE FEAST (DD)
6 Progenitor or 20 called so affectionately (4) PAPA (DD)
8 Running amok around campsite to ensure that it happens (4,2,2) MAKE IT SO (AMOK* outside SITE*)
9 Crawler, wingless, fears twigs (6) EARWIG (
10 Southern lassies going gaga over 20’s work (3,3,4,5) THE SUN ALSO RISES (SOUTHERN LASSIES)*
11 Accolade 20 received tucked away in kimono belt (5) NOBEL (T)
13 Settles a score, being secure, special, steady (4,4) GETS EVEN (GET + S + EVEN)
15 Brashest, most reckless military officers (3,5) THE BRASS (BRASHEST)*
18 See 1
20 Brash belletrist belts out 9 teen hymns (6,9) ERNEST HEMINGWAY (EARWIG TEEN HYMNS)*
23 Miami baseball team mascot makes an appearance in AT & T Stadium, Arlington (6) MARLIN (T) Too much padding in the clue for my liking
25 Lizards eat flies, termites and spider heads (4) EFTS (Acrostic)
26 Cricket commentator’s difficult, trying ego (4,5) TONY GREIG (TRYING EGO)*
Who can forget lines like "They are dancing in the aisles in Sharjah" ? See more here
DOWN
1 Cause embarrassment for a party (5) ABASH (A + BASH)
2 Soused stevedore removed shirt and finally became direct (7) OVERSEE (S
3 Taken in by British college, reportedly (5) EATEN (~ETON)
4 Black-market loot mysteriously discovered in Panhandle (7) BOOTLEG (LOOT* inside BEG)
5 Peeper almost took the tailless canine (3,5) EYE TOOTH (EYE + TOO
6 I cut back on non-kosher edibles primarily, like pig (7) PORCINE (I CROP <- + N E)
7 Lacking direction without a ruler? Very amusing! (9) PRICELESS (PRI
12 One’s spouse might be dangerous for health (5,4) OTHER HALF (FOR HEALTH)* Cue all personal anecdotes :) ?
14 Percussion instrument or How to Catch a 23? (8) CASTANET (CAST A NET)
16 Many an insect // scurries around (7) BEETLES (DD) Does't the scurrying come from how beetles move ?
17 Shady bar where the woman got beer, mostly at noon (7) SHEBEEN (SHE + BEE19 Furiously enraged and ready for attack (2,5) EN GARDE (ENRAGED)*
21 Unidentified gnomic man vanishes mysteriously (5) INCOG (GNO
22 In the company of a large number of new generation leaders (5) AMONG (A + M + O N G)
Earnestly, without hemming my way with words, this was a toughie, especially to persons not familiar with Papa or his works.
ReplyDeleteI read The Old Man and the Sea at a time when I was fascinated by sea stories, The Cruel Sea, by Nicholas Monserrat, a few by Maclean and the Clive Cussler series. Also, Ray Bradbury's "The Parrot who met Papa" was excellent, having been published dos a dos.
Special thanks go out to Nina who woke Bhavan up so that he could blog today, thus saving me the stress of solving, blogging and drawing. I had to only solve and draw.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how Bhavan was able to blog with the li'l un around - now I know :P
DeleteThe li'l un is the driving force !
DeleteBTW, the self skewered marlin is inspired by the ouroboros ...
ReplyDeleteWow! (I had to check the meaning of ouroboros to understand what you meant)
DeleteThen you probably did not read the latest in Crossword Unclued!
DeleteI did, but missed the word :(
DeleteEnjoyed the crossword. Themed ones are fun :)
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed it. After Papa fell, things dropped into place quite fast.
DeleteThere are two types of themed puzzles, imo:
Delete1. Where the answers are common place words or names and not having a common definition (or synonyms of it). These ones are easier to solve and do not require domain knowledge of the theme. The theme is not overtly stated and hence one may or may not discover it.
2. Where answers have a common definition (or synonyms of it), are undefined starred ones or are linked like this one. In such cases, without domain knowledge it might well be impossible for a person to solve it. With over 3000 types of fish, if one made a starred puzzle without definition and used some of the rarer names, it could become very tough.
Is there an option in CC to set both these kinds of thematic puzzles?
DeleteBoth van be done in CC, as there is no change required in gridfill. The change is the way you write the clues, which for CC is just text.
DeleteAlong with Tony Grieg, remembered Tony Lewis, from the time long, long ago when I used to follow cricket.
ReplyDeleteFirst Nobel, then papa then google.
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteI got the 'Nobel' part, googled of course but did not get Papa.
@ Suresh I did the same :)
DeleteRaju will recall Sandy Vohra's hotel The Stanley in Nairobi and the Thorn Tree cafe there. Ernest Hemingway was reported to be a regular there. The Macomber Affair (based on a short story by Papa) was filmed in the old Stanley (before renovation).
ReplyDelete12 One’s spouse might be dangerous for health (5,4)
ReplyDeleteMost of our spouses are! They make such tasty stuff - our figure proves it, making us prey to all kinds of ailments.
Gave up quickly :-(
ReplyDeleteSo is your paper on the aj eesh where is basis?
DeleteOoh god crossword was easy
DeleteIn 8 Across, how would we know to take only 'site' from 'campsite'? And is 'running' the anagrind for 'amok' and 'around' the anagrind for '(camp)site'?
ReplyDeleteCamp (artificial) and running are anagrinds.
DeleteWord splitting to get anag ind.? Kosher?
Delete'Out' has previously been used as a deletion & anagrind when being part of a word, like say 'rightout', 'outright'.
DeleteThanks, Raghunath. Hadn't come across 'camp' as an anagrind before.
DeleteSo can I use unlawful to get nul* or both words unl and awful in this case should have meaning?
Delete+ for the setter then, though I did not like the cw with this particular theme, having little or no knowledge of literature.
DeleteLiterature and English classical writers
Delete@Ajeesh, setters should aim to convey unambiguously what they mean with each cryptic element. Not look for what can they get away with. By that measure, I find the campsite usage poor.
DeleteGiven how difficult it was to decipher eits* from campsite, why would you want to do something similar with a construct like unlawful?
Thanks Bhavan. Was just giving an example
DeleteI agree with you Bhavan. Mostly it is a case of justifying AFTER you can get the answer than the pther way around. 7D is one such example.
DeleteTough, could not progress much but enjoyed after seeing the blog.Realised the importance of the blog. Otherwise nothing more would have been left on my head after scratching! Quite a few were so near yet so far.
ReplyDeleteKnew about Hemingway and have read and enjoyed 'Old Man and the Sea', but did not know him well enough to call him 'Papa'
26A- Really kicking myself for a while for not getting the name of a cricket commentator. But after getting it I realised that I knew him better as a player and a captain and the only English player who was able to find a way to play our ace Chandrasekar.
Got a lot to read about Hemingway today.
ReplyDelete7D-where do we get 'less' from? Is amusing priceless?
ReplyDeleteWithout
DeleteYes. Amusing is priceless
DeleteActually priceless would be more than just amusing. Maybe, hilarious
Delete:(
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to my latest crossword Tenth brand crossword Do try it and leave me your feedback on clues you liked, any mistakes or if you need any annotations..
ReplyDelete@Sowmya
DeleteNice xword ! :)
Thanks Lakshmi:)
DeleteSo many *girls* are participating here :-D
DeleteWhat has happened to your spelling, Ajeesh?!
DeleteGerls!
@ Kishore :)
Delete@ Ajeesh What......?
Escapeeeeee again:-D
DeletePlaying Hide and Seek ?
DeleteI don't like to eat that ;-)
DeleteTry Little Hearts !
Delete50-50...
DeleteLakshmi mam already gave me whip. And happy will ....so no more :-D
DeleteSowmya@ 11.23-
ReplyDeleteThat is so nice of you. Thank you.
You're most welcome:)..Since all the crossword aficionados invariably assemble at the Colonel's blog..I thought it would be nice to get some feedback from all of you..
DeleteThat's a good one, Sowmya. Well done
DeleteThanks Kishore:)
DeleteI solved the first of the series and found it to be good.
DeleteI was very glad that an interactive version was launched and wrote to the Editor about my pleasure. He wrote to me back saying that I was too quick to notice its launch.
I must confess that I have not been solving it though I do get the paper at home. There are many reasons for this but we needn't go into them.
I said that I found the puzzle to be good. I will try to solve the latest and give my Comments here.
___
I have one query, though. We can write good clues for most brand names as these are all of multinational products or Indian products aiming for an international market. Jones, for example! I am happy that they have won a lawsuit against a foreign company trying to stifle them.
What about Indian products with pucca Indian names? Can we write a good, acceptable clue for AMRUTANJAN or KESHAVARDHINI? Try!
BTW, in Sowmya do we have yet another chartered accountant in these parts?
DeleteHeadache ointment discovered when Arjun mantra was interpreted after first rishi left (10)
DeleteA bit verbose, I thought.
Deleteamrutanjan
DeleteI have done a few uniquely Indian brands..most recent one I recall off the top of my head ..Alas, Quiz phobia can hound you to seek pain balm (5) from Crossword 9:).
DeleteNot a Chartered Accountant CV sir, a Chartered Financial Analyst (the US investment banker qualification)..Have been a banker for most of my career, in investment banking and risk management..I am also a blogger with two blogs that I maintain Gitaaonline and Mantraaonline
Watch out for Amrutanjan and Keshavardhini:) Perhaps I can clue those some day:):)
Developing kids have hair around one. Use this (13)
DeleteKishore, *n* from?
DeleteHi Sowmya
DeletePls check the link to Gitaaonline. It appears to containsan error. While embedding the URL, I think a comma has been typed in the place of the full-stop before 'com' - as part of 'dotcom'. So it does not open.
* corr. 'It appears to contain an error'
DeleteThanks Richard. The preview in blogger was not too useful:( The right link should be Gitaaonline
DeleteError on my part in striking off letters on my scratch pad. I scratched of n instead of i.
DeleteDeveloping kids have hair around centre of fontanelles. Use this (13)
21 Unidentified gnomic man vanishes mysteriously (5) INCOG (GNOmIC)* I'm now thinking if I should have let Kishore blog today!
ReplyDeleteStrangely, I am like Schrodinger's cat. I am Incognito and at the same time I am not
The cat is out of the bag!!
DeleteIt is a mystery how you managed to remain incognito for so long! That will remain a mystery forever.
Kishore: The Thorn Tree at the Stanley in Nairobi was an excellent contact point for friends. The huge Thorn tree was at the centre of a cafe excellently set up for breakfast and quick lunches. On that tree, there was a wire mesh( if I recall correctly) strung around , in which friends would leave messages for each other ! Over the years, due to insecurity at the City Centre , this popular meeting place lost its charm. I have spent many a calming hour at this joint doing my crosswords in my bachelor days and made friends too !~! This place was as popular as the Gaylord at Churchgate in Bombay where film personalities used to gather. The late Jaikishen, renowned hindi film music composer was a regular here, in the evenings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nostalgia jog !
Talking of jogs, when I used to jog from the Panafric to The Stanley, a security guy used to jog with me, given the security situation on Kenyatta Avenue. It was better on another visit when I stayed at The Garden (?) hotel on the hillock behind the Panafric (opp the Israeli embassy) as it had pretty large grounds. When in Mombasa, I went for a haircut, with an armed escort! Actually, cash was also being transferred to town from Whitesands on the same trip.
DeleteJust looked up Googlemaps. It is not Garden, it is Fairview. They had a good garden.
DeleteToday I was deprived of my Samosas and Biscuits !!! :(
ReplyDelete...and Chai too :(
DeleteYou got snails & fishes instead!!
Delete:)
DeleteI became newbie again
DeleteAjeesh, I am afraid of asking you to go and stand in a corner. You will open a tea shop ;-)
DeleteIf one opens a tea shop, he is destined to go higher up!
DeleteSince politics is not discussed here, I presume you mean the top of the Everest!
DeleteSacrosant. But if you do set up a teashop on top of the Everest, you will have bring back 8 kg of garbage. May include teacups used by Hillary and Tenzing when they were given tea by the vendor atop.
DeleteDeleted because grammar was off
DeleteTalking of film personalities at restaurants, I have met the late P.B.Srinivas at the (erstwhile) Drive in restaurant in Chennai almost on a daily basisi. One can see him sitting at his favourite seat and writing down lyrics in different languages. I once introduced a friend visiting from Bangalore and it turned out he was one of the fiercest fans and he was so thrilled on meeting him in person and also bought one of his cassettes (no CD's those days!)
ReplyDeleteHi everyone. Logging in late. Missed a lot of fun, it looks like.
ReplyDeleteRe AMRUTANJAN and KESHAVARDHINI - there are a lot of interesting possibilities. Since KESHAVARDHINI contains all the letters from the word HAIR, creativity can run riot.
Head too
DeleteRef my 130 above using HAIR. I have not used HEAD! ;-)
DeleteHa lol ...support at home not working for me. Still could not understand your aj eesh basis comment
DeleteThat one was using your name as a pun in saying that your newspaper was in its virgin state i.e. as is where is basis
Delete@ Sowmya:
ReplyDeleteAlas, Quiz phobia can hound you to seek pain balm (5)
Should 'Alas' be 'At last' ?
or 'Finally'
DeleteMy mistake:( Should have been At last..
DeleteWow! How the number of comments gets soaring!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow come? Nothing naughty was said here...
DeleteA valid point there !
DeleteNaughty or not naughty, PP's comments are always welcome.
ReplyDeleteTougher the CW, more comments since it gives us an opportunity to talk about everything else!
Another valid point here !
DeleteSo it is a foregone conclusion that I speak only as a puritan school teacher? lol. I was simply happy to see the blog becoming a very lively place with increasing interaction. A bit green with envy too!!! Kidding! Congrats, Colonel, for having provided such a nice place for exchanging info, pleasantries and banters!
DeleteMy clue for AMRUTANJAN: Man! A nut and jar somehow can relieve you of headache (10)
ReplyDeleteKESHAVARDHINI - Ha! I have drinks! Somehow, it can be hair-raising (12), in an oily way. (Too long?)
Cobbled up in a hurry. Both are open to refinement by others.
Sorry, enu should follow oily way.
DeleteThe second one appears faulty. I replace with the following:
DeleteHa! Divine shark! Somehow it can be hair-raising in an oily way (13)
What about non anagram clues? ;-)
DeleteExactly my thought! Since individual components read sequentially do not make sense, nor do they phonetically, I think we will end up with mainly anagram clues for such words.
DeleteTelescopic may work for some short ones, but not such long ones.
DeleteOintment, mummy, nature endlessly returns before a new month (10)
DeleteSurface a bit iffy!
Kishore: I stayed right across Fairview Hotel on Valley Road. The garden here had very many unseen and exotic flowers and plants. There have been many a Saturday mornings where I have enjoyed its ambience, reading Wodehouse and nourishing a White cap or Pilsner and bites of sandwiches that were so delicious . Oh, those were the days when there was price control on beer-- whether one had it at the wayside or at the Fairview.
ReplyDeleteLater in the 80s, the Israeli Embassy was set up near the Fairview with their own security barriers.
I understand that setting up of the Embassy improved the security in the area considerably. I was there in the late nineties, after the US embassy bombings.
DeleteHere, Ajeesh, no anagram:
ReplyDeleteOintment mother returned to Russia was brown before the first month (10)
AM < RU TAN JAN
DeleteNice incognito
I wanted to say acknowledgement by Amruta in Malayalam
Deletenjan amruta# amruta njan
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCV like any of us, made a mistake. So what? What he meant was clear to me in the context.
DeleteAre we in the censorship days of the emergency again?
You do realise this is a private blog and the owner has every right to autonomously decide what to retain and what to delete?
We don't have a fundamental right to comment here, we have been given that privilege.
Venkatesh
ReplyDeleteIn the preamble itself I had said that readers may excuse me for any error.
I think that after that admission, you should have restrained yourself.
If an earlier message by you was deleted, you must understand that it must have been done for some valid reasons and accepted that graciously.
It may have been deleted for quite some other reason than what you think. And it may have been deleted on my request for reasons that only I know.
So all that was needed was a quiet burial to the issue.
To re-post your message is certainly not in order.
Please note that I always admit any mistake. Indeed if you had written your post delicately I would have thanked you. But I am afraid that your message was not worded properly and was also on a false premise. I was not quoting anybody and I alone take responsibility for the phraseology that I used.
In comments section in UK blogs readers, including myself, do point out typos in solutions/annos but see how gently they do it. But they won't point out any mistake in the usage of the commenter's language.
Here we do discuss usage and that in a crossword-related blog is OK. But these usage notes are OK as long as they are in general terms and not in any accusatory/commentative manner. Also, persistently pointing out a slip in post - we have never said that we are writing literature here - is not in the interests of language but appears to be a nit-picking exercise.
I have edited MSS of some of the greatest writers of India and my changes were approved by them. Can I go around mentioning this to the public that so-and-so has done such-and-such slips?
I think you should see things in proper perspective.
Also accept decisions by the owner and moderator of any blog under which you post Comments without alleging shades of 'censorship'.
This is not the first time that you have trodden on someone's foot. Mind you, these feet are not sore and tender but somewhat thick.
I am not re-reading this post for any slips, so take care!
Best.
When we went to the Rose Garden in Berkeley, CA, we got out of the car, walked to the parapet and gazed at the countless flowers of different colours that were down the slope. My little grandson, in awe and wonderment, exclaimed: Too many flowers.
ReplyDeleteA young American woman laughed and appreciated the expression of joy from the child.
Venkatesh,
ReplyDeleteI am sure you have got wind of our sentiments and let me tell you that what has been expressed here are the views of quite a few of the regulars here.
If you feel "we are in the censorship days of the emergency again" so be it. You are welcome to free yourself from the shackles of this censorship and air your views elsewhere.
.
I am sorry that I have to put it to you so bluntly and since you are an expert at reading between the lines you are welcome to take the hint
The Colonel has been gracious enough to let us air our views without moderating every comment, like many other blogs do. For that, we should actually thank him. He has set the moderation 'on' on rare occasions like a prize crossword, where inadvertently posted messages may reveal the answers and act as spoilers. As posters, it is our responsibility not to trod on other's feet. Gentle ribbing and camaraderie adds to the bonding in the blog, whereas harsh words can only hurt. It has been my observation that Deepak is a very patient and tolerant person and does not bristle unless the provocation is extreme. No doubt he has tolerated other posts in the past, but it is his blog and he not only has the right to edit / retain matters, if he so feels necessary, or put forth restrictions since he is, as owner, also responsible for the matter that appears in the blog. For example, if I quoted some poem without accrediting the author (even if I do not know the name, I can Google it and give credit), he has the right to delete it, as he will be the one who gets violation notices, if any.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking for myself, if anyone feels that I have, even in jest, hurt anyone's feelings, please let me know and I shall delete the comment myself.