Thursday 29 May 2014

No.11097, Thursday 29 May 2014, Gridman

People who do not like compact discs might be uncomfortable today ...

ACROSS
1 Pen: ‘’Saint has rosette with top worn off’’ (8) STOCKADE (ST cOCKADE)
5 Roughly trace Eastern form (6) CREATE (TRACE E)*
9 Absurd, scholar being kept out of a kind of vocabulary (7) IDIOTIC (IDIOmaTIC)
10 The sort of force behind a wheel? (7) DRIVING (CD)
            The most dangerous part of the car is supposed to be the nut behind the wheel
11 Make a lodging arrangement as an itinerant might in a hotel (4,1,4) BOOK A ROOM (CD)
12 Wager for the Spanish leaf (5) BETEL (BET EL)
            You must have head of Bikram and Vettel ...
13 Is cognizant of stated feature (4) NOSE (~KNOWS)
14 What an inventive writer might do when the thesaurus is of no help (4,1,4) COIN A WORD (CD)
          "Figgymisgrugifooniyn".  For details, please ref this wonderful poem
17 Ordered: Dante must be a silent witness (5,4) STAND MUTE (DANTE MUST)*
19 The choral bears repetition (4) ECHO (T)
23 A pal trickily surrounded hard Greek character (5) ALPHA ((A PAL)* around H)
24 How a postman might walk over (5,4) STAMP DOWN (CD)
25 Tranquil sea (7) PACIFIC (CD)
26 Excess media reporting on dismissal of leader (7) OVERAGE (cOVERAGE)
           Reminded me of Vitamin bottles' "Appropriate overages added
27 Scheming to hug odd lady regularly in an unrestrained manner (6) WILDLY (WILY hugging LaDy)
28 Declared a dessert is well-cooked (8) ASSERTED (A DESSERT)*

DOWN
1 Part of foot that gets its kicks (8) SHINBONE (CD)
2 Threatening Mantra I almost sound violent (7) OMINOUS (OM I SOUN*d)
3 Its contents are uniform (6) KITBAG (CD)
4 A harmonious sounding physician? (6,2,5) DOCTOR OF MUSIC (CD)

           What this chappie certainly ain't !
Intro from Toccata by Johann Sebastian Bach

6 Excited Rani bends before colourful arcs (8) RAINBOWS (RANI* BOWS)
          Contrast with "Across a pale parabola of joy ..." written by Psmith,  masquerading as poet Ralston Mc Todd, on the flyleaf of a book ...
7 He flies a number over a hill (7) AVIATOR (A VI A TOR)
8 Overwhelm English girl withdrawing complaint (6) ENGULF (EN G FLU<)
10 Showers? (13) DEMONSTRATORS (CD) They show
           students how to go about things in labs and show up at picket lines
15 Kind of activity that is beyond provisions in any Act (8) UNLAWFUL (CD)
16 ’’My happiness is not the means — — —‘’ (Ayn Rand) (2,3,3) TO ANY END (FIB: GK-GOOGLE)
18 Of current interest in stormy Capitol (7) TOPICAL (CAPITOL*)
20 Great! Worker gets fluid (7) COOLANT (COOL ANT)
21 Father with double fruit (6) PAWPAW ((PA W) x 2)
22 A bit to each (6) APIECE (A PIECE)

61 comments:

  1. Bit of a struggle today! Still could complete the puzzle in time. My first take on 21Dn was PAPAYA and it took me some time to get PAWPAW with the help of Net. Thank you Gridman for entertaining us with yet one more wonderful CW.

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  2. 21Dn : Could the Anno be PA(W)PA(W) pl? With = W (Twice)

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    Replies
    1. Works fine. I will change to that. Though Paw is used for father in some western usages

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    2. My anno was what MB hazarded guardedly.

      But after I wrote the clue with that parsing in mind, I, while reviewing and rechecking, did come to know that 'paw' in itself has the meaning of father.

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    3. That's interesting. In that case, what is implied by a cat's paw? ;-)

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    4. Cat's mom's hubby

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    5. Pause to remember that a cat usually has 4 paws

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    6. and nine lives, to boot...

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  3. @Kishore: Wow, pianist too! Any more talents?

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    Replies
    1. Let me look in my hat cupboard !

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    2. Just started learning a few weeks back

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    3. 4D Good effort to begin with. For some time, the music you belt out may sound like doctored music... ;-)

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    4. Nice going Kishore! Keep it up. :)

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  4. I like CDs, but not the ones in this puzzle (except KITBAG) - they're more like straight definitions. Not complaining though - at least one of them gave us a chance to discover another talent of yours!

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    Replies
    1. He's a future Adnan Sami (I am referring to the skill on keyboards)

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    2. Adnan Sami, if heard in colloquial Kannada, could mean 'That is me, sir', or in accurate grammar, 'That is I, sir'.

      It can be explained as an contracted form of 'Adu naanu swamy'

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    3. *corr. a contracted form.

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  5. Oops! I think I made a mistake in 14Ac. I filled in as LOAN A WORD.

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    Replies
    1. Loan is usually large, not coins!

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    2. Got the coin alright, but got kicked in 1D and did not find the uniform in the kitbag.
      Satisfying puzzle and a Thank you to CV.

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    3. Kitbag is 'part and parcel' of every member in the Armed Forces!

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  6. Comment against 14A: "Figgymisgrugifooniyn" reminded me of honorificabilitudinitatibus which is reputed to be the longest word in any of Shakespeare's works.

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    Replies
    1. Incidentally, it means "the state of being able to achieve honours". No prizes for guessing who among the bloggers qualifies most. ;-)

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  7. 6D - Any reference to the Bollywood star who recemtly tied the knot with a director under arc lights?

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    Replies
    1. Another one may well say "I rani"

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  8. 370 back in news though aircraft not found!

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    Replies
    1. Only Kishore can match 370's! There is a saying in Tamil- "mottai thalaikkum muzhannkalukkum". Roughly translated it means trying to connect a bald head and part of leg ( I don't know why the head had to be bald!)

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  9. Cartoon- a different take on an old picture- old wine in new bottle? Older it is, better it is said to be!

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  10. It is interesting how cartoonists take care to make their toons accurate. Probably they go through photos or videos. I was impressed by a cartoonist in Indian Express yesterday showing NaMo wearing his watch on his right hand. This is a habit of his as also of Rajnath Singh (Rightists?).

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    Replies
    1. It would be good if they take 'time'ly action on issues.

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    2. NR's point @ 9:49 brought this to mind.

      It is a normal practice to wear one's watch on the left wrist. I have noticed that some people consider those wearing on right as snobbish or one-uppish, or bohemian.

      Is there any written rule about it? I for one must confess here that I have been wearing it on my right hand ever since I got a watch in high school. An exchange of ideas could be interesting.

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    3. Ideally one should wear a watch on the less dominant hand: a right hander on the left and vice versa. It makes it easier to watch without disturbing the working hand and makes it less susceptible to damage. I do not wear a watch. Stopped around ten years back.

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    4. Ten years back! Maybe after you got a mobile phone with a clock.

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    5. I too wore a watch on my right hand and like Kishore haven't worn it, for around 20 years.

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  11. 26 Excess media reporting on dismissal of leader (7) OVERAGE (cOVERAGE)
    media reporting COVERAGE
    dismissal of leader - deletion of C
    Defn: excess OVERAGE (an excess or surplus, especially the amount by which a sum of money is greater than a previous estimate)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for pointing error in marking defn

      Delete
  12. An OMINOUS start had me DRIVING WILDLY around the North West corner. Could get {A PIECE} of that sorted out only after completing a PACIFIC journey around the rest of the GRID - MAN, that was some ride! Thanks for the trip.

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  13. No problem with compact discs. Only do not like non-cryptics like 15D

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  14. In 27a, 'regularly' seems to be redundant ('odd lady' works by itself to provide LD). It sent me on a brief hunt for regular letters in the word(s) following it. Is it serving a purpose that I can't see? The 'LD' is in the exact centre of WILY, but I am not sure that warrants specific indication.

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    Replies
    1. 'odd' is redundant. 'Often' in place of regularly might have been apt.

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    2. "Odd lady" quite clearly gives us the required LD. Why then is 'odd' redundant?

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    3. I meant either 'odd' or 'regularly/ often' could be used.

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    4. It could be

      Scheming to hug odd lady in an unrestrained manner
      or
      Scheming to hug lady regularly in an unrestrained manner

      Either 'odd' or 'regularly' is redundant

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    5. My Internet connectivity played truant this morning. Just restored.
      Agreed with the view on WILDLY clue. Overlooked at all stages.

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  15. Kishore, there is a TYPO in your remark for 10 across clue pl.

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  16. I think CD a difficult clue to write. I too do not like CDs. However, a well written CD is really enjoyable.

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  17. NAMO has many passions. Pens are his favourite-- like me ! Did any one notice that while swearing in, he didn't use the one on the desk but his own? Again, it looked like a MONTBLAC.

    I too wear my watches on my right hand, evensince I got on-- a Favre-leuba (correct spelling?) as gift from my dad for having passed my Inter exams. I still wear one-- of many makes - more for completing my dresing up for the day ! I color coordinate too ! Black with steel and brown with gold. I'm ambidextrous and probably the reason for using my left to tie it up on my right. I also shave with my left,light a match with left, use the hammer with left and used to wind the cord on the top with left and play with right ! Many such oddities ! like left is for sinister !

    I read somewhere that those who wear on the right are impatient , but not intolerant like me !~

    Most Gujerati men and women are left-handed in many chores ! Am I right?

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  18. I would say it is traditional against a desire to do something different from others. After all, this is the easiest of them all- esp. if one is ambidextrous like Raju!

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  19. Paddy 9 51 - When you bend the 'muzhangaal' it looks like 'mottaithalai' or bald head - But the saying is for connecting two entirely unrelated things! It may be for 'Monai' (Ethugai, monai - you might have studied in Tamil Grammar)

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  20. M G R used to wear the watch on his right hand

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  21. My latest brand crossword is here, for those who may be interested (will be out in print tomorrow). Incidentally, Bangalore gets a hat tip in 2D:)

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  22. An OMINOUS start had me DRIVING WILDLY around the North West corner. Could get {A PIECE} of that sorted out only after completing a PACIFIC journey around the rest of the GRID - MAN, that was some ride! Thanks for the trip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How on earth did this show up again? I posted it only once in the morning!

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  23. A small bone to pick- 1d shin is part of the limb between the knee and the ankle(leg), thevfootvis the area below.

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  24. Sorry for the spelling mistakes, the vs kind of inserted themselves on either side of 'foot'!

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  25. I have seen Doctors wearing the watch in their right hand to facilitate
    seeing the time and checking the pulse rate with their left hand.

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  26. 3D, being a CD, shouldn't it be 'uniforms'?

    Despite being a member of Gen Y (or is it Z?), I still like to buy compact discs. ;-) On the other hand, I'm with Shuchi on CDs (pending the decision on KITBAG, of course).

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  27. Hello all,

    Just to inform you that The Caravan has carried an article about my father, Sankalak, in its June edition.

    Regards, Jayashankar

    ReplyDelete
  28. 3D, being a CD, shouldn't it be 'uniforms'? - I don't think so.
    1d shin is part of the limb between the knee and the ankle(leg) - Absolutely! Sorry, dcotor, again this is an inadvertent error that escaped my attention though I was - I remember - thinking of the leg when I wrote the clue long ago. Thanks for pointing it out.

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