It is always a pleasure to see Arden's name on a puzzle. Today was no exception with some really good clues in IMPAIR, STENO, ERGONOMIC, ONE-LINER, PUNISH, SPARLING and BEACON
ACROSS
1 Pipe carrying water for cows behind enclosure (8) PENSTOCK (PEN + STOCK)
5 Harm one Frenchman and two will follow (6) IMPAIR (I + M + PAIR)
10 Drink by the dock when it gets colder (7) NIPPIER (NIP + PIER)
11 Shouted warning before one is subjected to evaluation (7) BERATED (BE RATED)
12 By the way, one is back at work under a dictator (5) STENO (ST + ONE<=)
13 Designed to maximise efficiency, therefore cut income possibly (9) ERGONOMIC (ERGO + INCOMe*)
14 Instruments to influence the jury, perhaps (7,5) CONTROL PANEL (CONTROL + PANEL)
18 Appliance takes time to imitate the judge (4,8) TAPE RECORDER (T + APE + RECORDER)
21 European city inn, a clone anyway (9) BARCELONA (BAR + A CLONE*)
23 Letter containing article on volunteers (5) THETA (THE + TA)
24 Letter only a short distance away (7) OMICRON (O + MICRON)
25 See 4 dn.
26 Overshoot and bag gold (6) NUGGET (GUN<= + NET)
DOWN
1 Sentence, wordplay and his adaptation (6) PUNISH (PUN + HIS*)
2 Changing planes in the city (6) NAPLES (PLANES)*
3 A standard shade after a short journey (9) TRICOLOUR (TRIp + COLOUR)
4 & 25 ac. It’s FM’s headache now — bill to enumerate shortfall (7,7,7) CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT (CURRENT + AC + COUNT + DEFICIT)
6 One isn’t bright to show infatuation over Romeo (5) MORON (MOON outside R)
7 My nation’s processing a metal (8) ANTIMONY (MY NATION)*
8 Mock a former dictator protected by cruel organisation (8) RIDICULE (IDI inside CRUEL*)
9 A line from a song, // could you repeat that? (1,3,4,6) I BEG YOUR PARDON (DD)
15 Hapless having advanced, but lost it in abundance (9) PLENTIFUL (PITIFUL with LENT for IT)
16 Doubt said to make a physicist adamant (8) STUBBORN (~dout = STUB + BORN)
17 Box with fish smelt (8) SPARLING (SPAR + LING)
19 Guide’s advice to take up crime (6) BEACON (BE A CON)
20 He has balls to face and fish to fry them in (6) BATTER (DD)
22 Oriental tribe was spooky (5) EERIE (E + ERIE)
ACROSS
1 Pipe carrying water for cows behind enclosure (8) PENSTOCK (PEN + STOCK)
10 Drink by the dock when it gets colder (7) NIPPIER (NIP + PIER)
11 Shouted warning before one is subjected to evaluation (7) BERATED (BE RATED)
12 By the way, one is back at work under a dictator (5) STENO (ST + ONE<=)
13 Designed to maximise efficiency, therefore cut income possibly (9) ERGONOMIC (ERGO + INCOM
14 Instruments to influence the jury, perhaps (7,5) CONTROL PANEL (CONTROL + PANEL)
18 Appliance takes time to imitate the judge (4,8) TAPE RECORDER (T + APE + RECORDER)
21 European city inn, a clone anyway (9) BARCELONA (BAR + A CLONE*)
23 Letter containing article on volunteers (5) THETA (THE + TA)
24 Letter only a short distance away (7) OMICRON (O + MICRON)
25 See 4 dn.
26 Overshoot and bag gold (6) NUGGET (GUN<= + NET)
27 A ship for some amusement (3-5) ONE-LINER (ONE + LINER)
DOWN
1 Sentence, wordplay and his adaptation (6) PUNISH (PUN + HIS*)
2 Changing planes in the city (6) NAPLES (PLANES)*
3 A standard shade after a short journey (9) TRICOLOUR (TRI
7 My nation’s processing a metal (8) ANTIMONY (MY NATION)*
8 Mock a former dictator protected by cruel organisation (8) RIDICULE (IDI inside CRUEL*)
9 A line from a song, // could you repeat that? (1,3,4,6) I BEG YOUR PARDON (DD)
16 Doubt said to make a physicist adamant (8) STUBBORN (~dout = STUB + BORN)
17 Box with fish smelt (8) SPARLING (SPAR + LING)
19 Guide’s advice to take up crime (6) BEACON (BE A CON)
20 He has balls to face and fish to fry them in (6) BATTER (DD)
22 Oriental tribe was spooky (5) EERIE (E + ERIE)
Thanks for the link to the song I beg your pardon by Lynn Anderson, one of my all-time favourites.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is interested in the lyrics, they are here. Quite interesting.
"Rose Garden" - One of my favourites. Thanks, Bhavan, for sharing the song with us. And thanking Richard, for the lyrics.
DeleteI am happy that planes in 2d didn't crash.
ReplyDeleteThey only change!
DeleteHow can we curb the tendency to write letters to the Editor when they have little chance of being published. I wish I knew.
ReplyDeleteA couple of days ago after reading the excellent article in our paper by a sociologist on the pleasures of walking, I could not but help penning my thoughts.
Rather than sending it to the paper, I would have preferred sending it to the author but his email ID was not given. I googled and got one but the mail bounced.
Reluctantly I sent it to the paper but as I had expected it didn't see light of day.
I have no problem with the letters that were indeed used the next day but for the life of me I don't understand on what basis the sub decides this letter can go and not that letter.
While on the subject, it is disconcerting to see the same names frequently.
As a former journalist I can confidently say no sub is preferential to a particular writer - is there one from Mr X, let me use it? - but still the same names recur.
Incidentally, how often does a letter from a woman writer appear?
Do you keep track of published letters? What is rate of acceptance?
DeleteOnce there was a Reader's editor piece about this. Let me see if I can get hold of it
Deletehttp://www.thehindu.com/opinion/Readers-Editor/the-centrality-of-readers-engagement/article4206879.ece
DeleteYou are great one at digging out information, like you did day before yesterday also.
DeleteLooks like the best place to reach any writer is the comments section under the article.
DeleteCV ji please check your mail for the specific writer that you were trying to reach
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteCV ji@10:22 Someone once had done a survey of the 'Letters to the editor' published in the Hindu & had come to same conclusion that you have done.
DeleteI said that because by every criterion that is mentioned there, my letter must have been published!
DeleteDon't misunderstand me: I am not complaining that my letter was not published. I can live with that eventuality. But let not editors yap about the mode of selection.
There will always be lacuna. There will always be writers dismayed at the non-publication of their letters and publication of letters from same old fellows.
The Hindu is legendary for the same names appearing again & again. So there must a formula that these folks have cracked.
DeleteIf there is any formula it is: Write every day - write several letters every day.
DeleteThese people - at least some of them - are keen on seeing their name in print, they collect their letters in folders, they carry visiting cards calling themselves 'journalist', at meetings they may even want to sit in the section meant for Press and receive the brochures. .
Others, sure that their letters stand little chance of being published, don't write.
So on any given day when the sub has selected letters to fill the space, some of these happen to be from the regulars without whose fodder the column may languish.
Happy to say twice my letters were published-one a strong retort to the editorial, I think, about AIDS propaganda and another to support Shakespeare! I was surpriesed to see my letters published and received much appreciation from friends and relatives. Got the letters by googling!
Deletehttp://www.hindu.com/2002/08/12/stories/2002081200091000.htm
http://hindu.com/2003/09/05/stories/2003090500501006.htm
On the subject of penstock 7 hydel power here is a joke I once heard-
ReplyDeleteThere wsa an agitation by farmers ( I forget the place but it is somewhere in the North) that they take away all the 'power' in the water and hence the water that they get does not contain enough nutrition for the fields!
CV: Do you recall my recent gripe with the press on the subject of letters written to them? I reproduce for the benefit of other bloggers. I have been writing letters from my college days and used to take pride when they appear , especially when others appreciate my views. I have almost stopped writing now in India as I find that they don't get published and if they do, they are so badly truncated and edited to, probably, fit in a given space in the columns. There used to be a scribe called Anthony Parakkal who used to be very prolific and his name did feature in the Books of Records. I have four files of my letters which I go through when I get nostalgic. My name was known in Kenya as a '' letters '' man and I had made innumerable friends.
ReplyDeleteI reckon, the editors use a secret source, may be a guild, from which the frequently appearing names are sourced. The same applies to the middles. You have been a journalist and perhaps know the tricks of the trade? so, we as non- scribes, do not stand a bone's chance !!
Quote:By any chance, is the Readers column syndicated? Why is it that we do not see any letters from your vast readership as claimed by opinion polls and instead features only a few regular names like those listeners in the Vividh Bharati hindi programs of yore?
Are there no more creative and critical minds out there ? Is our ilk a dwindling lot ? Or is there censorship for many and freedom only for a chosen few ? : Unquote:
At first sight, it looked as though : oh, ugh !! another tough ! But as the pieces fell in place, one cannot but admire this very elusive style of crossie by ARDEN !! Simbly great !
ReplyDeleteCURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT has been the permanent head ache for all FMs who sopmehow survive by fudging figures ! Chi Chi da pambaram !!
BATTER was what our teams get from others in the IPL !
Have heard of STARLING but SPARLING is a new one for me !
PUNISH must have been easy for Kishore as he is always PUNNISH?
Ah ! the joy of completing a good and flawless cryptic is immeasurable !
Simply brilliant puzzle, thoroughly enjoyed
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog, Bhavan.
ReplyDeleteRe. 15: the definition should be "in abundance" - abundance by itself won't work since the answer is an adjective.
Sorry my mistake while highlighting the definition. Have corrected it.
DeleteWonderful mosaic with varied items pieced together.1,14,18,21,27a 4d &25a & 9d fantastic clues,fabulous disposition. A real brain-teaser.Nice & thoroughly enjoyable CW.
ReplyDeleteExcellent cartoon from Kishore.
ReplyDeleteInitially, it was puzzling why he has depicted Shram Shakti Bhavan on Rafi Marg (which houses the Power Ministry of GoI) like this. Then, it dawned that he has shown Vidhan Soudha of Bangalore. Here, in Govt of Karnataka, we call it the Energy Department, not Power. But, this is a minor matter.
You are factually correct. I did not have the energy (!) or patience to look it up. Also, presently the CM looks after the energy portfolio, so there is no power minister too. I never said this was the present. Karnataka has been having a deficit of around 20% for quite some time. But tell me, you use the words "Here, in the GOK..." . Have you any connection with GOK?
DeleteBesides, the toon also looks at 3d
DeleteKishore,
DeleteAn exercise in futility ;-)
Presently the CM who holds the Energy portfolio also holds the Finance one. So this cannot be the present.
DeleteDG, Yes, but the Shram Shakti Bhavan on Rafi Marg looks nothing like the picture in the toon. Maybe Venkatesh, a Delhi resident, can confirm.
DeleteLovely opener from Arden, delight to solve.
ReplyDeleteWow... What a lovely hard puzzle...! TAPE RECORDER, CONTROL PANEL, IMPAIR, so many wonderful clues. Topper for me was ONE LINER, brilliant. Hard puzzle, but am very happy to say that after 2 hours of undivided attenion, I got all but PENSTOCK. Excellent, thank you very much...
ReplyDelete