Monday 26 May 2014

No. 11094, Monday 26 May 2014, Gridman

Gridman’s puzzle today is devious and* partially understandable ...


ACROSS 
1 Snake caught on entering a country without capital (8) ANACONDA (C ON in cANADA)
5 Relative to divest incompletely? Not exactly (4,2) KIND OF (KIN DOFf)
10 Copper-T, out-of-order, fell (3,4) CUT DOWN (CU T DOWN)
          262 to 59
11 You of old accept reach outside Church of author (7) THOREAU (THOU accepts REAch
          Read with 8dn:  "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."-HD Thoreau
12 Step on circular block (4) LEGO (LEG O)
13 Daughter goes after new lawyer in case that’s demolished (10) VANDALISED (D goes after N DA in VALISE)
14 Good individual is missing (4) GONE (G ONE)
15 One succeeds, finding target in talk (10) DESCENDANT (END in DESCANT)
          Sometimes a descendant does not succeed ...
18 They cant’t tread a measure as they lack partners (3-7) NON DANCERS (CD)
21 Yes, in Italy, see where the fodder might be (4) SILO (SI LO)
23 All who are there at 10:00 get ball (10) ATTENDANCE (AT TEN DANCE)
          8 HoSs
25 First of financiers to look back on charges (4) FEES (F SEE<)
27 One bender, relaxing, not to go outside the family (7) INBREED (1 BE
NDER*)
28 Something wrong with the wax, it’s true (7) SINCERE (SIN CERE=wax) 
                                                                                          Cartoon by Bhargav
30 Directs son to chase cattle (6) STEERS (S to chase STEER)

31 Group, past its prime, is wrapped up (8) BANDAGED (BAND AGED)

DOWN
1 Part of a circle in the Bihar camp (3) ARC (T)
2 Worker begins indicating lowdown on immune-response trigger (7) ANTIGEN (ANT I GEN=info=lowdown)
3 Old boy has note extracted from one pipe (4) OBOE (OB OnE)
4 Having teeth, somehow tend to eat nuts (7) DENTATE (TEND* EAT*)
6 Gridman and boy nearly fall upon breathing machine (4,4) IRON LUNG (I RON LUNGe)
7 Speed camera Marc dropped carelessly in lower oceans (4-3) DEEP SEA (SPEED CAMERA-MARC)*
          It is these deep sea movements that cause tsunamis, I understand
8 Discovered states have no new bases (11) FOUNDATIONS (FOUND nATIONS)
9 Endless investigation of horse-breeding establishment (4) STUD (STUDy)
12 Renowned people sign after conclusion of a stretch? (11) LEGENDARIES (LEG END ARIES)
16 Child is out to seek redress (3) SUE (isSUE)
17 Garment that is no good on a sunny day (8) RAINWEAR (CD)
          Not in Bangalore. A sunny day can turn into a rainy day before you can say "Bangalore"
19 Distinguished person turning up on schedule (7) NOTABLE (ON< TABLE)
         Ref.23a
20 Shikar rushed madly to grab cheetah’s head in cart (7) RICKSHA (SHIKAR* grabbing C)
22 Cold and unemotional person? Beg Eric to change! (7) ICEBERG (BEG ERIC)*
24 Puts together a cutting instrument, we’re told (4) ADDS (~ADZE)
          282+18+16+6+4+3+2+1+1+1+1+1=336 Yes, it all adds up
26 One in last part is author Blyton (4) ENID (1 in END)
29 Conclusion is shepherd hasn’t begun (3) END (tEND)
          An apt grid-fill for this slot!




58 comments:

  1. For those of you who missed seeing photographs of the ADAI meet, posted at the THCC Families blog, see it at this link ADAI Meet

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak, apparently an error in embedding the link. The last character in extension name html has been missed out, if I am not mistaken.

      http://thccfamilies.blogspot.in/2014/05/adai-meet-at-rsi-bangalore-25-may-2014.html

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    2. Yes, the link needs some minor repair!

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    3. Corrected
      For those of you who missed seeing photographs of the ADAI meet, posted at the THCC Families blog, see it at this link ADAI Meet

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  2. Good puzzle, although challenging in part.

    Specially liked ATTENDANCE, FEES, SILO, SINCERE, BANDAGED, INBREED, ICEBERG and a few others.

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  3. Thanks for a great puzzle, Gridman! Very nice surfaces indeed. Especially liked 27a and 8d. And 10a, although I feel sorry for the poor woman!

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    Replies
    1. You seem to enjoy keeping others on tenterhooks. What, pray, is the enigma behind 262 to 59?

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    2. It is a numbers game ...

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    3. Tom kuchh bhi bolta nahin!

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    4. May be he wants to say : nahin nahin abhi nahin abhi karo intezaar...

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    5. What, pray, is the enigma behind 262 to 59?

      The answer can be found in the text up above

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    6. Hum bolega to bologey ki bolta hai!

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    7. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CIOnnQXp_3c

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  4. A highly commendable puzzle from Gridman !

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  5. Off-track:

    For the benefit of new members here in particular, I am repeating what I had posted in this forum just about four years ago. This is ideal to be used in English classes or at corporate or family get-togethers.

    This is a word game I had come across at a party many years ago. Those who had read my post on that occasion - when participation in the blog was far lower - or those who manage to crack it at once today can just say they have the answer.

    Let's hold back the answer until 5 pm IST. This would give others too a chance to work on it.

    The game goes like this.

    Some words in the following sentence are missing. The missing words in all three blank spaces are made of the same set of letters in the same order. But the number of words could be different in each case.

    The ....... surgeon was ....... to conduct the operation because there was .......

    Get cracking, folks!

    I repeat. Post only responses now, but actual answers only at 5 pm IST.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ps: Inspiration from Gridman.

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    2. The last of the teens is always interesting times

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  6. Knowing Kishore's interests, I think 262 and 59 refer to Fighter Aircraft models.

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    Replies
    1. No, my ref is to something more mundane, which everone seems to be discussing these days

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    2. ... As are other remarks in the blog and comments section made today. When the penny drops, everything will be clear. For eg remarks under 10 and 15 are linked and are the other side of the coin having some other remarks ...

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    3. UPA seats from 2009 to 2014

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    4. Now for the dominoes ...

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    5. Abhay, that also explains the second line in my 931


      The answer can be found in the text UP Above

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    6. And the comment for 24d is, of course, the other side of the coin.

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    7. 7d and 23a too

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  7. My comments like commeNDAble, muNDAne, and CV's acrostics all lead to Delhi today.

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  8. By gosh, oath taking and swearing in special from CV

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  9. Grim NDA reconstitution=Gridman!

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    Replies
    1. That's a cue for everyone to give a mad grin!

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  10. I'm grand, I might say boastfully!

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  11. Damn rig, others might interject.

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  12. Richard Sir, the second dash has to be broken in to two dashes, I suppose.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't been knighted, Ram. Not as yet. The number of words in each slot is left to your guess.

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    2. The 3rd too if you are thinking in terms of dashes. May be that is why Zr has used dots. R has said that no. of words may not be the same

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  13. MY comments posted yesternight , late, lest ye-all have missed it !

    Thanks ye-all for your comments and only minor barbs.

    Richard: I 'm sorry for those abominable 15 lettered answers. It was my intention to do away with those first at the periphery and do the innards. MY Wren & Martin is a bit tatty and I was too much in a hurry to complete the task at hand which seemed to me to be too much to have been taken up. I was getting frustrated with the power outages , compelling me to redo all over, over a period of five hours.

    MB: If you found any resemblance to any cluing similarities to any other crossword or compiler, it was purely unintentional and incidental. I was too busy compiling an original one. Did YOU find the puzzle tough?

    Padmanabhan: sure, I'll try and put in more cryptic clues in my next. Shubh aarambh toh kar diya ! I'm not very familiar with the facilitator I was using and had to struggle to get the grid first and then the fills. I've now learnt the tricks.

    CV: if we think more, we will find more reasons. They are as plentiful as blackberries. Thanks for picking cherries in my raspberries , as I was only trying to pick the lowest available berries. However, i bow to the Elderberry tree !

    Ajeesh and Abhay and Venkatesh: Thanks for your valuable comments.

    Suresh: Paradigm shift is a buzz-word that is commonly used nowadays and i found it convenient to use it. Peculiarity of the English language where the digm is pronounced as dime !

    My next one will be a mixed bag and more in keeping with the Special that we are all used to. Brace yourself, ye-all. Thanks for your active participation and a SPECIAL thanks to dear Col for allowing me to break the cue balls in the crossboard.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Raju, I did not detest the 15-letter words in the crossie, but in fact appreciated that so many of those had been fitted in.

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    2. good-- abominable from my point of view , not yours !

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    3. Raju yesterday I did not bring out the following with respect to your first effort as I had too much beer at lunch and later I got engrossed in the cricket thriller. I would like to point out the following.
      Your 10D must have been a record of sorts as it had 7 unches (unchecked letters) even 2 unches are frowned upon at times. moreover there was no homophone indicator besides the fact that nickles are not dimes.
      The entire crossword with just 22 clues had too many E type clues making it more in the fashion of an Easy CW rather than a Cryptic.
      You have not responded to some of the queries raised by the commenters like that on 8A and 15A.
      Some of the other shortcomings were pointed out yesterday.

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    4. Hi Raju, yes, I did find the puzzle a bit tough by my standards. Anyway I'm happy to get 2 of the 7 fifteen letter words. After 6:00 PM I could get one more i.e. 8A = ENGUARD but am not sure if it's correct. Friend Ajeesh too raised a doubt about it.

      Looking forward to your next Special.

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  14. The word DANCE can also be a theme here as one can find a few of them in the grid, going backwards, forwards etc ! Made us dance to your tune, eh. Gridman? e?Band also can be a part of a dance ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't notice it until you told me.
      DANCE occurs in two lights.
      In another an anagram of DANCE is within.

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  15. http://www.espncricinfo.com/thestands/content/story/747931.html

    From cricinfo

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  16. Please see

    http://www.dramadose.com/mukhyamantri/

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  17. MB @ 4:10 mridang!

    What a dabangg of an idea, sirji!

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  18. Re my puzzle @9:50

    Nobody has offered any answer, while the presumption is that old-timers - no reflection on age factor, this - may have held back the answer to give scope to recent entrants..

    The first clue was my ps @ 9:50 - Inspiration from Gridman. The answer is in today's crossword.

    Second clue came from Kishore @ 9:55 The last of the teens is always interesting times

    The answer is 19D. Now split the word as and how you want in second and third slots.

    ReplyDelete

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