Gridman is as entertaining as ever. Ticked SASHAY, WHISPER, FELLA and AMOROSA for their smooth surfaces.
ACROSS
1 Sunny rooms where also air is circulating (7) SOLARIA (ALSO AIR)*
5 Has gone round in state excursion (6) SASHAY (HAS* inside SAY)
9 Is conversant reportedly with son’s features (5) NOSES (~KNOWS + S)
10 Relax! Mumbai’s leading academic, having paid out fine, is abroad (6,3) MELLOW OUT (M +fELLOW + OUT)
11 Tracked poles leaving with backing (7) SPOORED (SPOnsORED)
12 Communication pioneer who was never wired (7) MARCONI (CD)
13 Ancient idol, broken, found at far end of cave (5) OLDIE (IDOL* + E)
14 it would contain characters of this kind only (5,4) lower case (cd, definition by example)
16 One is usually retired when wearing this (9) NIGHTGOWN (CD)
19 Congress’ head gets member to go up (5) CLIMB (C + LIMB)
21 Speak very softly with that man’s agent leaning back (7) WHISPER (W + HIS + REP<=)
23 He grabs American’s purer variety (7) USURPER (US + PURER*)
24 About the fellows, one of debtors is improving (2,3,4) ON THE MEND (ON + THE + MEN + D)
25 Took the plunge with a guy (5) FELLA (FELL + A)
26 Leader of Tamils out of practice but dependable (6) TRUSTY (T + RUSTY)
27 Continues travelling, like Don Quixote perhaps (5,2) RIDES ON (CD, Def by example)
DOWN
1 Goes down as never before as an enterprising archaeologist might (5,2,1,3,3) SINKS TO A NEW LOW (D&CD)
2 Caught girl and journalist carrying nothing (7) LASSOED (LASS + ED outside O)
3 Certain soldier’s book (7) RESERVE (DD)
4 Rama’s unusual fuss about sick animal (9) ARMADILLO (RAMA* + DO outside ILL)
5 Lame’s fixed in town (5) SALEM (LAME'S)*
6 More certain about company, he cleans vigorously (7) SCOURER (SURER outside CO)
7 Sherry for lover? (7) AMOROSA (DD)
8 Agree on terms in a discount store? (6,1,7) STRIKE A BARGAIN (CD)
15 Folded and became submerged (4,5) WENT UNDER (DD)
17 Girl’s young family to look bright (7) GLITTER (G + LITTER)
18 With nothing above the waist – having no revolutionary toy (7) TOPLESS (TOP LESS)
19 Very pleased, hit took in hero’s head (7) CHUFFED (CUFFED outside H)
20 Sticks with naughty children consuming drink (7) IMPALES (IMPS outside ALE)
22 Never satisfied abandoned girl, tall and thin (5) REEDY (gREEDY)
ACROSS
1 Sunny rooms where also air is circulating (7) SOLARIA (ALSO AIR)*
5 Has gone round in state excursion (6) SASHAY (HAS* inside SAY)
9 Is conversant reportedly with son’s features (5) NOSES (~KNOWS + S)
10 Relax! Mumbai’s leading academic, having paid out fine, is abroad (6,3) MELLOW OUT (M +
11 Tracked poles leaving with backing (7) SPOORED (SPO
12 Communication pioneer who was never wired (7) MARCONI (CD)
14 it would contain characters of this kind only (5,4) lower case (cd, definition by example)
16 One is usually retired when wearing this (9) NIGHTGOWN (CD)
19 Congress’ head gets member to go up (5) CLIMB (C + LIMB)
21 Speak very softly with that man’s agent leaning back (7) WHISPER (W + HIS + REP<=)
23 He grabs American’s purer variety (7) USURPER (US + PURER*)
24 About the fellows, one of debtors is improving (2,3,4) ON THE MEND (ON + THE + MEN + D)
25 Took the plunge with a guy (5) FELLA (FELL + A)
26 Leader of Tamils out of practice but dependable (6) TRUSTY (T + RUSTY)
27 Continues travelling, like Don Quixote perhaps (5,2) RIDES ON (CD, Def by example)
DOWN
1 Goes down as never before as an enterprising archaeologist might (5,2,1,3,3) SINKS TO A NEW LOW (D&CD)
2 Caught girl and journalist carrying nothing (7) LASSOED (LASS + ED outside O)
3 Certain soldier’s book (7) RESERVE (DD)
4 Rama’s unusual fuss about sick animal (9) ARMADILLO (RAMA* + DO outside ILL)
5 Lame’s fixed in town (5) SALEM (LAME'S)*
6 More certain about company, he cleans vigorously (7) SCOURER (SURER outside CO)
7 Sherry for lover? (7) AMOROSA (DD)
8 Agree on terms in a discount store? (6,1,7) STRIKE A BARGAIN (CD)
15 Folded and became submerged (4,5) WENT UNDER (DD)
17 Girl’s young family to look bright (7) GLITTER (G + LITTER)
18 With nothing above the waist – having no revolutionary toy (7) TOPLESS (TOP LESS)
20 Sticks with naughty children consuming drink (7) IMPALES (IMPS outside ALE)
22 Never satisfied abandoned girl, tall and thin (5) REEDY (
Today also 70% - Sothapified in South West Corner
ReplyDeleteSmooth cw, Gridman! Great start to the weekend.3D and 11A made me think a while.
ReplyDeleteLately, The Hindu keeps experimenting with the position of this crossword in the Delhi edition, today it is again on the back page!
I said the other day that a lot of checking is needed after a CWD is done if we wish to make it better. It is not that when we set the crossword we are careless - and nowadays the software takes care of many things which would have been big chores decades ago. It is that the CWD needs to be looked at from different angles one after the other - if we look at the set crossword with different criteria in mind, we are apt to miss something. Are the enus OK? You must do this and then go on to "Is any abbr. repeated in wordplay?" If you have both questions in mind and review the clues, you may miss out something.
ReplyDeleteAn early warning came but I had overlooked or failed to check carefully and had SCOURED and SCOURER in the grid. Just minutes before publication, I revised SCOURED to SPOORED and suggested the present clue.
I did say over the phone that the p in Poles is to be capitalised but alas it is not so.
I don't - can't - blame anyone. What I am saying is there will always be room for improvement.
Rita
ReplyDeleteTHC in Chennai edition too has been appearing in different pages.
It depends on the page level - which in turn might depend upon the volume of advts.
We solvers might expect the crossword to be in a particular position - say the back page, lower left or whatever - but nowadays papers are not able to ensure any such fixed position.
In the case of THC, we must be thankful that at least sufficient space is given, that the clues are in reasonably readable font-size and that the sol grid too is readable.
You must look at the brand CWD in TH's sister publication Business Line - where type size is small, the sol grid has such light letters that it is hard to read.
ToI, NIE CWDs are all impossible to do in print edition - they just sit in the paper because they must be in there.
I do agree about the readability of CW page in TH. In stead of trying it out in the last page where there is likely to be competition for space they can stick to the present space (one page before the centre spread which is fairly uncontested.Today, the Chennai edition carries it there. Obviously it is left to the individual centres to decide on the location based on space availability.
DeleteAnother smooth edition of Gridman.Had reservations in the NW corner (or rather did not have!) Thought of 'snooped' for 11A, but could not find anno for it. I was not sure of 'Amorosa' till I looked into the blog.
ReplyDeleteDo the setters forward the crossword to the publishers in soft form? Or otherwise?
ReplyDeleteIf soft copy, the mistakes like 'export' for expert and 'film' for firm would not have crept in.
Soft copy. But curiously they prefer to retype it adding more enigma to the existing conundrun! Now, don't ask me why they retype it. I had test-solved these puzzles and can confirm that the correct words appeared in the draft sent to me by Gridman in both the cases cited by you.
DeleteBut today they haven't erred with 'it' in 14 Ac ! They could have easily printed it as 'It' and we wouldn't have noticed anything abnormal here! Strange are the ways of The Hindu!!
DeleteThat would be because Gridman would have specifically to their attention. He can expect them to err here (due to Autocorrect), but he cannot anticipate every word the might accidentally type wrongly.
DeleteThe Metroplus supplement today has taken a completely new avatar in Chennai edition. I doubt if any other edition too is as snazzy as this one.
ReplyDeleteThis is a lifestyle magazine - not for the average Madrassi clad in dhoti and the cotton banian from Khadi bhavan or Ramraj veshti and ulladai.
Why you should burn your old bikini - so screams a headline.
I have absolutely no problem in any woman who does this as long as she reaches for another and wears it. It might be from Naidu Hall's In-Store which I believe now offers more space in the lingerie section for leisurely and comfortable selection and purchase.
Now the pic accompanying the story presents a scene that seems out of the mundane world of Madaraspattanam
Ninetynine per cent of the readership will sigh and then worry: what is the spelling of sashay? Is it an English word? Does it have any French influence? Is there any suggestion of the swish of clothes in that word?... Oh, I forgot! I must fill some buckets of water before the main line is closed and the taps go dry...
Banged seems to have moved to it a few days earlier - remember my lament about the black(?) colour in the quickie.
DeleteCV,
ReplyDeleteThe new avatar of Metroplus was announced with a lot of fanfare a few days back with the announcement of the designer's name etc.- it looked like trying to compete with some other leading newspaper/s!
18 With nothing above the waist?
ReplyDeleteThe toon seems to suggest not only nothing above the neck, but also nothing below the waist, though it matches with one meaning of the solution word.
I thought it meant that someone had made off with the bottom and had gone topless
DeleteThen we would sort of end up with a knife without a handle which has no blade
DeleteKnifeless?!
Delete14 it would contain characters of this kind only (5,4) lower case (cd, definition by example)
ReplyDeleteNice presentation, Bhavan!
+ 1
DeleteBhavan's presentation matches the quality of his CW's. half way through reading the solutions I felt it had his touch and so scrolled down to confirm.
DeleteThanks Kishore. That was an afterthought.
DeleteA nice puzzle. Missed out on 25Ac and 20Dn. I filled in 20Dn as IMPLIES knowing pretty well 'lie' cannot become a 'drink'. Some more thought here, I could have got the correct answer and subsequent answer for 25Ac too! Thank you Gridman for an engrossing puzzle.
ReplyDelete7 Sherry for lover? (7) AMOROSA (DD)
ReplyDeleteSherry = Wine; Lover = courtesan = Amorosa. How is it a DD? Does 'sherry' also mean a 'lover'?
Amorosa is a sherry
DeleteThanks, Suresh garu. :)
DeleteActually my OED as well as thefreedictionary gives the spelling of the sherry as AMOROSO.
DeleteWell, I too checked the freedictionary and OED and then raised my doubt @ 11:37. There seems to be some confusion with AMOROSA and AMOROSO.
DeleteNice crossie.Missed out 14a &15d (wrote as sank u/r inst.went u/r).12a first I triedsth sremming from morse and corrected to the right one later.As a whole entertaining & engrossing puzzle.thanks GM.
ReplyDeleteMade the same mistake too,
DeleteOverall it's been an incredible week,So reassuring that some of the grey matter has escaped the apoptotic black hole,Thank. You Gridman:)
Chambers online also does not have AMOROSA only amoroso
ReplyDeleteamoroso is masc.
ReplyDeleteamorosa is fem.
amorosos is pl.
Look up amoroso and read the def under it.Somewhere you may see amorosa within brackets.
CV Sir, the doubt here was, does 'amorosa' give the meaning of 'wine' for 'sherry' in 7Dn clue?
DeleteI looked into my Chambers 12th edition following this discussion.
DeleteAmorosa is the feminine version of amoroso (lover)
Amoroso also has a different meaning -sherry. So not sure if there is any 'amorosa sherry'
I had no problem with amorosa for lover. Only for thesherry meaning.
DeleteI concede there is a problem there. Sorry.
DeleteGood one form Gridman. Liked AMOROSA-- AMOROSO_ male? Ho Ho, SHERRY is a female? because it has a SHE in it?
ReplyDeleteAny way, imbibing too much of it , male or female, is bound to become morose !
SINK TO NEW LOW took us all to a new HIgh !! good clue !
Isn't SASHAY a word for the ramp, where models strut their wears and or wares?
Kishor?e: Any comment on the etymology, gender, from any language, ending in O and A? Ying and Yang.
CV Sir, thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteRaja, SherryHas a 'she' as you said, but it also has a 'he' in it! Amoroso - Amorosa?
Both good!!
Rita:
DeleteThat's why I mentioned Ying and Yang ! One cannot do without the other !! That's the duality of life !
Yes, the ToI and Eco Times crosswords are well nigh impossible to read, except in good light, reading glasses on, and maybe even a magnifying glass!! (Last one is just a joke!!)
ReplyDeleteWhat is the role of 'certain' in 3D?
ReplyDelete1D - A marine archaeologist, perhaps? :-)
3d: All reserves may not be soldiers. A reserve may be a certain soldier!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reply. I wonder if such qualification is required. After all we often take 'soldier' to mean GI or RE without being told whether they are American or British. Moreover, without it, the clue appears more compact, IMHO. :-)
Delete