Vulcan's gone to a movie "Gone With the Wind" today ;-)
My domain knowledge on this is scrappy (and I am not sure the 's' is required or not) at best, and I have relied on Wiki for identifying theme words ...
E.& O.E.
ACROSS
1 Movie and wine tonight, we had not even planned (4,4,3,4) GONE WITH THE WIND (WINE TONIGHT WE HaD)*
9 One who blunders — person who creates a buzz! (7) BUMBLER (2) A bumble bee
We have a rare case where a Buzzer is not a bumbler ...
10 Wordplay parsed and the components are spread! (7) ANAGRAM(E) (PARSED*=SPREAD) See comments
11 Group of nine men, without leader, head off to work (6) ENNEAD (mEN kNEAD)
This word has suddenly become popular with setters!
12 Man of position, one with power, left over with a lot of money (8) SEIGNEUR (SIGNER, ie person with signing authority, with EUro)
14 Finally, one with criminal links arrested in the heart of this city (8) HELSINKI (E LINKS* in HI)
15 Old actress with limitless skill (5) LEIGH (sLEIGHt)
17 At home, I do this, a fixture on the side (5) INSET (IN SET,a variant of sit) See comments
20 Reporters, say, have to study about Marx? (8) COMEDIAN (CON around MEDIA)
I am not sure which comedian he is referring to: Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, Chico or Gummo. Delhi-ites may even think of Karl, I think
23 Cairo’s business institutions primarily struggling under constant pressure (8) ISOBARIC (CAIROS B I)*
24 One’s picture in files — it’s all over — peak of egotism (6) SELFIE (FILES* E)
It would be rather selfie-sh of me to include one here. I could, perhaps, have used the above sketch ...
Cartoon by Rishi
27 City, I note, is in Washington (7) WICHITA (I CHIT in WA)
I thought this might be linked to the theme, but was unable to find a connection
28 State involved in secret exploitative practice (7) SLAVERY (AVER in SLY)
29 Price you pay for wanting change (11,4) REPLACEMENT COST (E)
DOWN
1 Good, talented Hollywood actor (5) GABLE (G ABLE)
2 Candidate, corrupt one, losing deposit (7) NOMINEE (ONE* around MINE)
The film did have Oscar nominations, so is this also a theme word?
3 Couple of points about God’s people (7) WALLAHS (W S about ALLAH)
Time to brush up on my Hobson-Jobson
4 Army reached Atlanta at first, to get to 1’s plantation (4) TARA (TA R A)
5 Bones and shapes (10) TRAPEZIUMS (2)
6 In Geneva, large gathering for a preacher (7) EVANGEL (GENEVA L)* We are more familiar with the variant Evangelist.
7 Person of Asian origin, old British politician, needs no introduction (7) ISRAELI (dISRAELI) Isn't a 'say' or 'perhaps' required for the definition?
Gladstone would take umbrage at this reference to Disraeli. He would have probably liked him to be beheaded instead ...
8 Political initiative of the French and English to check the advance (8) DEMARCHE (DEaround E around MARCH) See comments
13 Vatican ties cut, controversial halt (10) INACTIVATE (VATICAN TIEs)*
16 Not a friendly clash by any means (5,3) CIVIL WAR (CD)
18 Presently cold inside tunnel — one on top of the mountain! (7) SNOWCAP (NOW C in SAP)
Remembered a sapper who once 'fessed up to not knowing this meaning of "sap" ;-) My very Best Wishes to him and his wife on their Wedding Anniversary. All the Best, Deepak and Gita.
19 She lived in a palace in Amritsar — inaccessible (7) TSARINA (T)
21 Regimen players mostly adopted to get to shape (3-4) DIE CAST (DIEt CAST)
22 Use lard and cream, essentially of white sauce (7) ALFREDO (LARD E OF)*
25 Commit a fraud in alien country (5) EGYPT (GYP in ET)
26 Land owned by Fiji’s leaders (4) ISLE (T)
My domain knowledge on this is scrappy (and I am not sure the 's' is required or not) at best, and I have relied on Wiki for identifying theme words ...
E.& O.E.
ACROSS
1 Movie and wine tonight, we had not even planned (4,4,3,4) GONE WITH THE WIND (WINE TONIGHT WE H
9 One who blunders — person who creates a buzz! (7) BUMBLER (2) A bumble bee
We have a rare case where a Buzzer is not a bumbler ...
10 Wordplay parsed and the components are spread! (7) ANAGRAM
11 Group of nine men, without leader, head off to work (6) ENNEAD (
This word has suddenly become popular with setters!
12 Man of position, one with power, left over with a lot of money (8) SEIGNEUR (SIGNER, ie person with signing authority, with EU
14 Finally, one with criminal links arrested in the heart of this city (8) HELSINKI (E LINKS* in HI)
15 Old actress with limitless skill (5) LEIGH (
17 At home, I do this, a fixture on the side (5) INSET (IN SET,
20 Reporters, say, have to study about Marx? (8) COMEDIAN (CON around MEDIA)
I am not sure which comedian he is referring to: Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, Chico or Gummo. Delhi-ites may even think of Karl, I think
23 Cairo’s business institutions primarily struggling under constant pressure (8) ISOBARIC (CAIROS B I)*
24 One’s picture in files — it’s all over — peak of egotism (6) SELFIE (FILES* E)
It would be rather selfie-sh of me to include one here. I could, perhaps, have used the above sketch ...
27 City, I note, is in Washington (7) WICHITA (I CHIT in WA)
I thought this might be linked to the theme, but was unable to find a connection
28 State involved in secret exploitative practice (7) SLAVERY (AVER in SLY)
29 Price you pay for wanting change (11,4) REPLACEMENT COST (E)
DOWN
1 Good, talented Hollywood actor (5) GABLE (G ABLE)
2 Candidate, corrupt one, losing deposit (7) NOMINEE (ONE* around MINE)
The film did have Oscar nominations, so is this also a theme word?
3 Couple of points about God’s people (7) WALLAHS (W S about ALLAH)
Time to brush up on my Hobson-Jobson
4 Army reached Atlanta at first, to get to 1’s plantation (4) TARA (TA R A)
5 Bones and shapes (10) TRAPEZIUMS (2)
6 In Geneva, large gathering for a preacher (7) EVANGEL (GENEVA L)* We are more familiar with the variant Evangelist.
7 Person of Asian origin, old British politician, needs no introduction (7) ISRAELI (
Gladstone would take umbrage at this reference to Disraeli. He would have probably liked him to be beheaded instead ...
8 Political initiative of the French and English to check the advance (8) DEMARCHE (DE
13 Vatican ties cut, controversial halt (10) INACTIVATE (VATICAN TIE
16 Not a friendly clash by any means (5,3) CIVIL WAR (CD)
18 Presently cold inside tunnel — one on top of the mountain! (7) SNOWCAP (NOW C in SAP)
Remembered a sapper who once 'fessed up to not knowing this meaning of "sap" ;-) My very Best Wishes to him and his wife on their Wedding Anniversary. All the Best, Deepak and Gita.
19 She lived in a palace in Amritsar — inaccessible (7) TSARINA (T)
21 Regimen players mostly adopted to get to shape (3-4) DIE CAST (DIEt CAST)
22 Use lard and cream, essentially of white sauce (7) ALFREDO (LARD E OF)*
25 Commit a fraud in alien country (5) EGYPT (GYP in ET)
26 Land owned by Fiji’s leaders (4) ISLE (T)
Tough going today. Tribute to Kishore for having the solution by 8.30
ReplyDeleteSolving was the easier part. Searching for theme words was more difficult. I kept the Wiki page open and searched for every suspect, including Wichita, nominee etc., one by one.
DeleteAlso, it left me short of time. Hence, Groucho is not wearing any clothes.
Delete4 Army reached Atlanta at first, to get to 1’s plantation (4) TARA (TA R A)
ReplyDeleteIs there a typo in this clue? Should the number have been 15 instead of 1?
Both might work.
Delete1. 15 in the sense the plantation belonged to Scarlett O'Hara (Vivian Leigh)
2. 1 in the sense, it is the "Gone With the Wind" 's plantation
IMO, the second option fits better, since answer for 15 is Leigh and it is not "Leigh's plantation"
Thanks Kishore!
DeleteIt, however, is not 1d Gable's plantation. Even if it became Rhett's plantation-in-law on marriage to Scarlett, it will still not be Gable's.
DeleteCurious how both the characters are teetotalers in the end ;-)
I meant rheTT and scarleTT
DeleteHats off to your powers of observation!
DeleteAny more Ts and they could set up a mini golf course on Tara
Delete19d Queen commits extraordinary sin in 4d
ReplyDeleteWhich led to 16 d
DeleteInstead of Imperial vs. Union as in 16d, that sin might have led to an imperial union.
Delete'Frank'ly, Tsarina can sing well too!
DeleteFor Frank Sinatra!
Delete10 Wordplay parsed and the components are spread! (7) ANAGRAM (E)
ReplyDeleteI think the answer comes from PARSED* = SPREAD.
Thanks. Will update.
DeleteTara is a popular name amongst Americans of Indian origin, as it works in both cultures. So is Neil/Neel. I have niece and nephew by those names.
ReplyDeleteI found it difficult today and needed quite a bit of help to finish it. Nice weather in Mangalore today due to heavy rains yesterday.
ReplyDeleteDitto, in Bangalore. You can swim on the roads and walk in the drains ...
DeleteDitto, in Hyderabad. It's raining cats and dogs!
DeleteSee if you can get a Lab. Shrikanth is looking for one
DeleteOnly Dingo(s) available !
Deletelab short for labrador?
DeleteNice bright sunshine in Chennai. Nice, because it is not the usual May temp.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePaddy @ 10:01 : lab short for labrador?
DeleteThat's what I presume.
Kishore I got one today ... Zeno the philosopher is home already and sinking his teeth all over the place
Delete19 She lived in a palace in Amritsar — inaccessible (7) TSARINA (T)
ReplyDeleteIn fact 'She' was inaccessable to me! It took me a while and finally I could spot her in Amritsar's inaccessable palace!! Nice 'T' clue.
Typo : Inaccessible.
Delete13 Vatican ties cut, controversial halt (10) INACTIVATE (VATICAN TIE)*
ReplyDeleteI think in the Anno TIE needs small 's' too
Done
DeleteToughie today :(
ReplyDelete...partially !
DeleteOur Best wishes to Mrs and Mr Deepak on their Wedding Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ram
DeleteThat proves at least some people are reading the Obiter Dicta !
DeleteBest wishes Col.
DeleteAlexandra Ripley wrote "Scarlett" as sequel to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind".
ReplyDeleteLooks like a difficult one today..Haven't yet had a chance to try it, but thanks for the heads up about the theme. For those who are interested, here's my latest Brand Crossword. Do try it and appreciate any feedback from the bloggers here. Would especially love to know if you complete it:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vulcan and Kishore! I parsed two of the solutions somewhat differently:
ReplyDelete- In 8d, I see it as DE and E ("from the French" and English) checking the advance (MARCH), so I see it as DE and E with MARCH in between. I am not sure why DE would go around.
- In 17a, I don't think the SET is related to sit - I saw it as the setter saying "I do this", which is SET
Agree with your interpretation of 17a. 8d was a typo on my part. Thanks.
Delete'From' the French was misleading. It should have been just from French.
Delete@ Abhay: so I see it as DE and E with MARCH in between. I am not sure why DE would go around.
DeleteI think it works with D E going around MARCH also. There's no hard and fast rule for that.
If we leave out the definition ("Political initiative"), it seems clear from the wordplay that "from the French" and "English" are 'checking' the "advance". For DE to go around E MARCH (not just MARCH), the word play would need to indicate that "from the French" is going around "English" "advance" (e.g., "Political initiative from the French to check the English advance"). The answer doesn't change - just the parsing!
DeleteMy mistake. The spelling is DE MARCH E, so it should be DE + E around MARCH.
DeleteA red letter day! My Best wishes to Mrs and Mr Deepak on their Wedding Anniversary!!
ReplyDeleteThanks MB.
DeleteIt's a Happy Anniversary to Kishore and Gita also.
ReplyDeleteMy Best Wishes to Mrs and Mr Kishore Rao on their Wedding Anniversaery !
ReplyDeleteHappy Wedding Anniversary to the Gopinaths (D&G) and the Raos (K&G).
ReplyDeleteHappy Wedding Anniversary Col and Kishore
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary to the Gopinaths and the Raos. Wish both the couples many more years of joy together:)
ReplyDeleteA couple of couples (as K would quip)!
DeleteHere is Art Tatum playing them out to the strains of: “Tea For TWO”.
Thanks everyone for your kind wishes
ReplyDeleteLiked the theme. Gone With The Wind is an awesome movie. If you're really into movies, this is one that is not to be missed. Scarlett, the lead character, was brilliantly portrayed by Vivian Leigh. Clarke Gable was nice too. It'd really make you wonder if the movie was really shot in 1939. I thought the movie was far ahead of its time. A true masterpiece indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the Anniversary greetings
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary Mrs & Mr Kishore!
ReplyDeleteDEEPAKji & KISHOREji, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to both of You & Your wives. I am one day behind You. My marriage date is 10.05.1981.
ReplyDeleteIn a lighter vein, here is A Wedding Anniversary Joke.
ReplyDeleteMarried couples, both 60 years old, were celebrating their 35th anniversary. During their party, a fairy appeared to congratulate them and grant them each one a wish. The wife wanted to travel around the world. The fairy waved her wand and poof -- the wife had tickets in her hand for a world cruise. Next, the fairy asked the husband what he wanted. He said, "I wish I had a wife 30 years younger than me." So the fairy picked up her wand and poof -- the husband was 90.
Great MB!! I could not resist laughing out loud. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLogging in late and hence belated Best Wishes to Col. & Kishore. Double coincidence of wedding date and the names of their wives. Looks like preordained to join hands and make merry in the blog. Wish both of you celebrate many more anniversaries.
ReplyDeleteMany happy returns of the Day to the Gopinaths and the Raos!
ReplyDeleteGreetings to Deepak and Kishore and their respective Gitas on their wedding anniversary. NIce coincidence of dates, but I'm sure the years will be different? May you both have many more days of togetherness. God bless you, the quartet.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit disheartened and disappointed to see the Orkut showing its blank squares sionce Sunday and hence I'm not able to participate actively here. What could be the reason? To add to my agony, probably due to heavy rains here,, I missed my copy of the NEw Indian Express too for two days.Strangely, no newsvendor keeps this paper, despite hunting at every street corner !! So this gives me an opportunity to do up the collected clippings but the anguish of having missed the usuals cannot be appeased. I mope around to the chagrin of my wife ! My grief !!
Ah! Hate to be a late Latif...
ReplyDeleteWas away since morning. Better late than never. Best wishes to DeepGita and KishGita on their wedding anniversary. Stay on, come what may...
Prabhanjan 9:18 - Nice to hear you mention my city's name. Are you based here or are you on a visit?
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone, once again. BTW, my wife's best friend also shares our wedding anniversary! We've been wishing them on this day for over 25 years and the Colonel was added to that calling list last year!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone once again from our side as well.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary Col.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary Kishore.
Happy anniversary Kishore
ReplyDelete