Typical Incognito. How many of our Ministers can you find hiding in here? Don't spoil the fun for the others by naming them, just indicate the number that you found and not the names.
ACROSS
8 Modify part to make a snare (4) TRAP*
9 Nine in pigpen get three score (5) SIXTY {S{IX}TY}
10 This may collapse in a marcher (4) ARCH [T]
11 Goya left agony aunts shattered to get some type of lotion (6) SUNTAN {A
12 Agreed and let out Eastern student (8) RELENTED {R{E}{L}ENTED}
13 Storage units for groups of ministers (8) CABINETS [DD]
15 Indian Joan toured around Virginia (6) NAVAJO {NA{VA}JO*}
17 Warn gag can result in measure to resolve territorial dispute violently (4-3) GANG-WAR*
19 Pesters about and arranges in advance (7) PRESETS*
22 Abnormal praise for Iran in olden days (6) PERSIA*
24 Announce in favour of assertion (8) PROCLAIM {PRO}{CLAIM}
26 In New York, for example, Sing Sing houses these prisoners (8) CONVICTS [GK]
28 Protective clothes found in airports (6) APRONS [DD]
30 I leave Iblur and obfuscate (4) BLUR
31 Ice House policeman has a water closet (5) IGLOO {IG}{LOO}
DOWN
1 French, Australian and German woman (4) FRAU {FR}{AU}
2 Expectorating type of image a Doppelganger may be (8) SPITTING [DD]
3 Time to pay for America to have new engineer (6) USANCE
4 Utter "Hazrat Nizamuddin-Chennai Duronto’’, for example (7) EXPRESS [DD]
5 See, ship is cosmetic (8) EYELINER {EYE}{LINER}
6 Vasant invented a steering mechanism (3-3) SAT-NAV*
7 A revolutionary pain (4) ACHE {A}{CHE}
14 Saw Lord Byron’s daughter get engaged initially (5) ADAGE {ADA}{G}{E}
16 Jaitley, I hear is an action movie star Lianjie (3,2) JET LI (~jaitley)
18 Rebellious Archie, without a hint of enthusiasm, infiltrates African National Congress (8) ANARCHIC {AN{ARCHI
20 Swaraj US feller redefined (4-4) SELF-RULE*
21 Record first. Before the French letter (7) EPISTLE {EP}{1ST}{LE}
23 Harsh cut before beginning of Easter (6) SEVERE {SEVER}{E}
25 He may stand on a soapbox or a rocky height (6) ORATOR {OR}{A}{TOR}
27 Birds that are sort of slow (4) OWLS*
29 Indian corporal is new Air India King (4) NAIK {N}{A}{I}{K}
Incognito on an extended quota!
ReplyDeleteSmooth crossie. The setter could feel free to raise the bar slightly. :-)
About 60% could be solved at first look. TRAP, ARCH, BLUR, LAID, OWLS and the like were total giveaway.
SIXTY, SUNTAN, RELENTED, GANG-WAR, APRONS, IGLOO, EYELINER, NAIK were interesting. So were FRAU, USANCE, ADAGE, SPITTING, EXPRESS, SELF-RULE, EPISTLE, ANARCHIC, ORATORwhich were well-clued.
Had heard the word SATNAV often, but had not bothered to find out the meaning. JET LI was a new word. The new defence minister came to my rescue. ;-)
Richard you don't like dishum-dishum english movies? If so you must have seen Jet Li
DeleteIf you think I watch Chinese action movies, you wing the wong number.
Delete3 in a row from Incognito! Pleasantly surprised to see my name in a clue!
ReplyDeleteNAVAJO brought to mind the loquacious Sheri Paaji, Navjot.
ReplyDeleteSurprised to see Incognito's extra puzzle today! Found this one, particularly the bottom half, slightly tougher than yesterday's offering, but enjoyed it nonetheless. And a 'centum' today as well.
ReplyDeleteHad to Google for Lord Byron's daughter (14Dn) and "Sing Sing' (26Ac). I liked 14Dn clue simply because I never knew SAW means ADAGE ! Thank you Incognito for one more humdinger of a puzzle! :-)
I see a footloose former cricketer and current joker-commentator.
ReplyDeleteBut he does speak much better than many of our 'leaders'. Listen to this awesome speech in parliament ...
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz6OYvfsI0Q
Current joker-commentator, who? A-Ja or Gau-Ka? Just curious to know.
DeleteKishore @ 8:44 Reg Navjot Singh Sidhu's speech.
DeleteIt is simply superb marvellous, awesome and spellbinding!!! Hats off to Sidhu!!! For once all the members of the House were all ears and silent during the entire speech!!!!
Thank you Kishore for the link.
Had heard the word SATNAV often, but had not bothered to find out the meaning.
ReplyDeleteRichard
That means you didn't solve THC 11302 on Fri, Mar 14, 2014 (Gridman), having gone out on an assignment. See 22d there.
Thousand apologies!
DeleteThat reminds me 'Mind your language'
DeleteI had the same thing in mind, in a lighter vein.
DeleteThat reminds me of the chap who says "Mind the gaaaaap" in that series ...
DeleteMB
ReplyDeleteAnd then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
(Shakespeare, Jacques's soliloquy, The Seven Ages of Man, in AYLI.)
Compliments are due to Deepak. He found one minister more than I had hidden !
ReplyDeleteThank you Incognito for my Centum. Don't look at Richard's EPISTLE above. ;)
ReplyDeleteHey Ram! ;-)
DeleteOf course, he likes his bar within his arm's reach ...
DeleteEnakkum 'athukkum' kaatha thooram! (Miles between bar and me)
DeleteRichard, I mean, not you ..
DeleteCV Sir @ 8:44
DeleteThanks, Sir. I saw your Shakespeare quote for my comment on 'saw'!
I did this today in Venkatraman's THC Online.
ReplyDeleteA write-in at the speed of 4dn.
Not being a fan of English movies (Naan Thamizhanda... Thamizhnaatule piranthu, valaranthu, vaazhgiraen. En udal-le Thamizh raththam odarathu...) I was derailed by two Dn clues - 14d and 16d.
Byron's daughter Ada is more familiar to students of computer history. She was a mathematician and is sometimes described as the world's first computer programmer. A computer language is named after her.
DeleteI'm surprised that 14Dn derailed you. Does it run from Chennai to Erode ;-)
DeleteI am familiar only with Byron's poetry - not his children.
Delete'Duronto' may mean 'express' in Bengali. That's my guess. Someone can correct me.
DeleteBut in Sanskrit and a few other Indian languages, 'duranta' or 'durant' means a mishap or tragic end!
I am worried if someone will bring in Will Dur....
Duronto in Bengali, Thuranth in Hindi, do mean express
DeleteDuronto Expresses were started when Didi was our Rly Min
DeleteRichard, I don't want to raise the 'ante
DeleteKishore 8:55 on Byron's daugher.
DeleteAda! da! da! I am amazed at the fund of general knowledge.
Why, most people know she cooked Babbage's cabbages ...
DeleteI remember something vaguely --- when Didi introduced Duronto, it was explained to mean a 'restless boy'. In fact I was surprised at the name: in Hindi, it sounds like a 'bad ending' - Durant, as pronounced by a Bengali.
DeleteI'm off to Coimbatore today will be back on 16th evening
ReplyDeleteIn the new (or should I say newer) car? All the best for a happy and safe journey
DeleteAlone by train
DeleteNo Duronto on that sector, I think ...
DeleteAnent Richard's request above, how would our setter raise the bar?
ReplyDeleteHe is already attending gym sessions, I'm told...
DeleteI don't know Hindi but I think there is this term 'thuranth' which I think means fast. Is 'duranto' related to that term?
DeleteSorry for putting this in wrong place. Thanks to Deepak for anticipating me and also confirming my statement.
DeleteRichard seems to be obsessed with the bar ...
DeleteIn my opinion, 'turant', representing emergency or exigency, is different from 'durant', which is derived from dur+ant ( = sad end or tragedy). 'Dur' is a Sanskrit prefix for bad or negative.
DeleteYour are correct, R. Ref my 916 in above thread. The Bengali word means restless and the train does not stop ...
DeleteRichard seems to be obsessed with the bar ...
DeleteFeeling sad that your Garden City is turning into Bar-pub city...and lately Garbage City as well.
Remembered Bar bar dekho, hazar bar dekho...
There he goes again, on a pub-lic problem ...
DeleteRichard, a recent visitor to the city appreciated the bar culture (not the garbage, of course) as he said it was no fun visiting Tasmac in Chennai.
DeleteLooks like people are still on the look out for our Ministers
ReplyDeleteI could count only 7 including the whole and I had a feeling I missed some, esp. after Kishore said you found one more than him! This is a comparatively small cabinet,you know.
DeleteI have 9 surnames although 1 can be attributed to 3 people in the cabinet. If that's allowed, I have 11. BTW, I have enjoyed doing the crossword for the last 3 days. Thanks Incognito.
DeleteSujatha, look at the underlined parts in the main post that do not have embedded links
DeleteOne more breeze. :) Tried in Venkat's online app. Pretty good ..
ReplyDeleteVenkat, there is a bug in 3 down ( letters didn't get bold )
You mean it is full of hot air and methane?
DeleteNo problem with 3D at my end
DeleteOn my machine on entering 3d answer, it came out bold and in color.
DeleteThe interface is neat and good to look at. All present features appreciated.
AD
DeleteIf you enter the letters in one slot and then without pressing the Enter button you move the cursor to another cell, then the answer won't change color and become bold.
I too did today's CW on THC Online and enjoyed it. No glitches at all at my end.
DeleteThis puzzle was meant to be published next month. However, death of a minister, prompted me to worry about any reshuffles that might shunt out any of them and hence it got printed ASAP
ReplyDeleteHow many of our Ministers can you find hiding in here? .
ReplyDeleteI'm not counting but there are about 9 a 26 a, in 13 a, indulging in 2 d, 17 a and 18 d 20 d. They cause me a head-7a. I'd call them 27 d in Hindi and not ministers!.
Now have some patience and work that out!
Nice one Incognito.
Apologies to all ministers. None of the above was intentional and was in fun.
Delete27D in Hindi is often repeated in an AD shown endlessly during IPL.
DeleteNice line, Raghu. Figuring out on this page, involved quite a bit of wear and tear on the scroll wheel.
DeleteBreeze- and a pleasant monsoon one. Thank you so much for one of the most enjoyable CW. Sped like a 'Duranto' whatever it means. Travelled in one recently from Madurai to Madras overnight.
ReplyDelete3D Time to pay for America to have new engineer (6) USANCE {US}{A}{N}{CE}
ReplyDeleteAnno is {USA}{N}{CE}
Correct, Renga.
DeleteWhere is the Ladies' League? Everything seems to be quiet on that front for many days.
ReplyDeleteAny pen-down, er, mouse-down?
Very much here! Silent mode! Enjoying the camaderies!
DeleteI never knew females had a 'silent' mode! Must check the missus ...
DeleteDitto
DeleteI knew only the 'vibrant' mode...
Deletelol! Silence is possible for women and of course more often it could be ominous portending unpleasant scenes! For men or women, generally speaking, silence is a powerful/vibrant tool, showing one as being politic, discreet and safe. In children, definitely a sign of mischief hatched! Anyway glad to keep guys guessing what is brewing!
DeleteMust have admitted right in the beginning- talking of mobile modes I am allergic to mobile phones, I try to keep away from them treating them like plague! A beautiful smartphone presented to me by my son lies idle! There is a limit to my adopting modern gadgets!
DeleteDur- occurs in many words in Tamil.
ReplyDeletedurgathi - bad state or situation
dur adhirishtam - ill luck
dur bhagyavathi - unfortunate woman
dur maranam - tragic death
All the above are closed form compound words.
DeleteDuridham in Tamil means fast.
ReplyDeleteDuridhamaga vaa. (COME FAST)
25 He may stand on a soapbox or a rocky height (6) ORATOR {OR}{A}{TOR}
ReplyDeleteWhat is the indicator for inclusion of 'OR' and 'A' in the Anno/Clue pl?
It is a charade.
DeleteHe may stand on a soapbox/ - this is def - orators stand on soapboxes as in the famous Hyde Park in London
/or a rocky height - this gives the charade elements OR A TOR (rocky height)
Thanks, CV Sir.
Deletedursagunam - bad omen
ReplyDeletedur soppanam - bad dream
ReplyDeleteRam
ReplyDeleteI am from a period before Parasakthi and the Dravidian movement. I like Sanskritised Tamil.
As a matter of fact, Sanskrit forms the base of many languages (not just Tamil) like Malayalam, a form of Hindi and even German. Dravidian movement may deny it but cannot take away its acceptability.
DeleteDUR MUHURTHAM -INAUSPICIOUS TIME
DeleteDuranto met a duradirshtam because of durdasha?? I totally detested the weird color of those coaches !
ReplyDeleteOn dur, if I recall my Sanskrit correctly (of course, not mentioning my gold medal in it), du: is the the root prefix for bad just like sa/su is for good. But when it is conjoined with the word it modifies it is pronounced as dur due to sandhi. Hence, you will find many words with dur or su as prefix denoting opposite meaning. Durjan, sajjan; durbhagya, sowbhagya; durgati, sadgati;, ...
ReplyDeleteOne noted example: Duryodhana, the bad/malevolent warrior. Several older books call him Suyodhana. Do you think Dhritarashtra would have named his sons as Duryodhana, Dushasana (bad administrator), and the like?
You need to explain Su+ku+mari...
DeleteI am sure you can work it out!
DeleteThis one was a breeze...15 minutes on whole..
ReplyDeleteDid this Incognito on Online devised by Venkatraman. Very user friendly and makes solving a breeze, by highlighting the clues and the boxes. One doubt, though . Is there a way of saving the solved grid? I tried but;lost three times. Helps me to forgo my need for a patented
ReplyDeletedouble-barreled pen and whiteout. No one yet for a solution to the dried out refills ?!
I agree with King Richard that Incognito can raise the bar higher unless his intention is to lure newbies in which case it is very noble of him. I have no complaints on the crossie[s construction. refreshingly good for thi
s summer heat without having to heat the brains too !! Well clued with a hidden agenda for the Cabinet names . Keep it up !
My intentions are as you say and have been indicated in this blog when my first puzzle was published on 13-4-2012
DeleteBut DUR able makes it DURABLE
ReplyDeleteDur-upoyog of another brand name with the same first three letters DUR can put one in a DUR dasha !!!
DeleteForesight, indeed. Doordarshan.
Delete