As usual three answers per commenter with annotations till 6 PM
ACROSS
6. P eddle beer on foot, being abandoned (6)
8. O n the rocks from 1AD! (3)
9. E mploy captured soldier, about 50, to turn over (American farm, perhaps?) (4)
10. M etal eating metal? That's hot! (4)
11. S ignified by going after headless campers as well as... (3)
12. ...elite river? (6)
13,18 R ewrite mad recipe, Horace - do it now! (5,4)
14. O ne brings many together by confining her within? (9)
18. [See 13a]
20. B athroom fittings from the Mughal Gardens collection? (5)
21. E cstatic over the green cheese ball? (4)
23. R etaining licence, arrives to provide navigation instruments (9)
25. T he setback in iron imports may be trivial... (5)
28. ...but deputy law officer detains family for questioning (6)
30. F orces replacing PC persons on chair and spokes (3)
31. R ook in tender response to avian specimen (4)
32. O pen heart, chant, open eyes - you're in! (4)
33. S tems from one's resolve to get odd floors (3)
34. T ake back sample of remblai rubble for landfill? (6)
DOWN
1. Regularly timed exits cast link leading to North American state capital (8)
2. Stay, little prince, and lament (6)
3. Double creates a dilemma (4)
4. Ill-earned penny given to little creature (4)
5. Tramp's times – or ours (6)
7. Tritium beam on a platter (4)
9. Plan for British version taking on setter (7)
15. Recall part of Caddel's iambic passage (5)
16. Potato dish identified with tag (4)
17. Slips, drops or slips up (4)
19. Mother fish taking student with cartographic features (7)
22. Not a detour? We're off, then (2,3,3)
24. Footwear for a leather supplier (6)
26. Natural DNA ribbon modified to eliminate bad parts (6)
27. Rebuff Bath rolls? (4)
29. Hook-headed giant albacore feeds four (4)
30. Defaces fourth rock (4)
Across Lite version can be accessed at the following link PLURALIST 2
Enjoy.
29. Hook-headed giant albacore feeds four (4) G A F F (HOOK - DEFN)
ReplyDelete26 Dn . Natural DNA ribbon modified to eliminate bad parts (6) INBORN (dNa RIbBON)* (-bad)
ReplyDelete15. Recall part of Caddel's iambic passage (5) AISLE (T<-)
ReplyDelete13 7 18 A-
ReplyDeleteCarpe Diem- (Mad Recipr)*
Def.-Do it now
It should be 13 & 18A
ReplyDeleteACROSS
ReplyDelete6. Peddle beer on foot, being abandoned (6) {BERE*}{FT]
13,18 Rewrite mad recipe, Horace - do it now! (5,4) CARPE DIEM* (poet Horace's aphorism 'seize the day')
DOWN
7. Tritium beam on a platter (4) {T}{RAY}
Replacing for duplication:
Delete23. Retaining licence, arrives to provide navigation instruments (9) COM(PASS)ES
7D-Tray
ReplyDeleteDef.-Platter
Tritium-T
Beam-Ray
8A: (I)(CE)
ReplyDelete34A:BURIAL T<
7. Tritium beam on a platter (4) T - RAY
ReplyDelete23A-Compasses- COM(PASS)ES
ReplyDeleteArrives - comes
retaining
License- Pass
Def.- Navigation instruments
26D: INBORN{ DNA RIBBON(-BAD)}*
ReplyDelete32 A HOME ( H eart OM E yes )
ReplyDeleteReplacing For Duplication:
ReplyDelete31A: BI(R)D
28. ...but deputy law officer detains family for questioning (6)AS(KIN)G
ReplyDeleteASG: Asst Solicitor General?
16. Potato dish identified with tag (4) HASH (Tag)
5. Tramp's times – or ours (6) MODERN [2]
28 Perfect. In Indian context, ASG could also be Addl Solicitor General.
Delete5. To better understand the first definition:
DeleteModern Times - a movie by Charlie Chaplin, where he plays the Little Tramp character.
NR - Thanks for that explanation! I am satisfied now!
Delete14A One brings many together by confining her within? (9) ---- GAT(HER)ING
ReplyDelete30D Defaces fourth rock (4) ---- MARS (DD)
4D Ill-earned penny given to little creature (4) ---- P ELF
12.Ac ...elite river? (6) FLOWER (To blossom) (Not the one that flows i.e. Flower) Def ; Elite
ReplyDelete4Dn. Ill-earned penny given to little creature (4) PELF (P ELF)
Flower could be DD
Delete1) elite (in the meaning of best or most outstanding thing in class);
2) river? (flow..er), as you have correctly identified
LV - You've solved a good clue. Here is another that I loved solving:
ReplyDelete11. Signified by going after headless campers as well as... (3) AND
Anno: [c]AMPERSAND = & which is a symbol = as well as
Excellent clue for such a commonly used three letter word.
DeleteCryptic & Double Definition
Delete1) Signified by going after headless campers
2) as well as...
10a FIRE - iridium IR in iron FE Definition - that's hot
ReplyDelete2d BE WEE P
11d MA P(L)IKE
Not 11d, it is 19d.
DeleteAnnotation: {mother MA} + {fish PIKE taking student L}
Definition: with cartographic features
19a: WP is OK but surface reading is poor.
DeleteThe above should be 19d. Apologies.
DeleteFor future solvers -
ReplyDeleteAc: 9, 20, 21, 30
Dn: 1, 3, 9, 17, 22, 24, 27
(E&OE)
The down list seems to be right, but the remaining across clues are:
Delete9, 20, 21, 25, 33
30d is solved, but 30a is still open.
DeleteMy apologies - you are right.
DeleteCompensating for 4Dn
ReplyDelete9Ac. Employ captured soldier, about 50, to turn over (American farm, perhaps?) (4) PLOT {P(L)O}{T} Def : Employ
I am afraid PLOT is not the correct answer.
DeleteWarning: Uses an unusual spelling of a familiar word.
NR and CV are right. PLOW is the American spelling. It's used here for a specific reason!
DeleteWhen a solver has entered his quota of three, I don't understand how he can give a fourth answer in the guise of correcting someone else's wrong answer. I pointed out gently and politely that the entered answer is wrong but here is a member who gives no chance to the original solver to rethink and revise.
DeleteThis does not seem to be in the best interests of this blog.
MB,
DeletePlease go ahead and give the anno as advised by CV.
OK. Here it goes!
DeleteCompensating for 4Dn
9Ac. Employ captured soldier, about 50, to turn over (American farm, perhaps? PLOW {P(L)OW}
MB, Sorry if I inconvenienced you in thinking through to the right solution. It was done on the spur of the moment. CV has given the right guidance to make you think on the right lines. I am sure you would have worked out the purpose hinted by Pluralist.
Delete9Ac Definition : Turn over = Plough British/Plow American version.
DeleteNR @12:26 : NR, No problem at all. Everything is OK with me :) Yes, CV Sir's reminder about the wrong answer would have certainly made me re-think about it.
DeleteIs it just 'P' for prisoner. I read it as
DeleteP- Prisoner
fifty- L
To return- OT<=
Sorry. 'To' turnover.
Delete...but captured soldier is generally known as POW meaning 'prisoner of war'!
DeleteThat's correct.
Deletecaptured soldier - Prisoner of War (POW)
about - Containment Indicator
fifty - L
Defn: employ .... to turn over (American farm, perhaps) P(L)OW
Thanks to Col for putting this up! And thank you to all solvers and commenters...
ReplyDelete...and especially to CV for both the bouquet and the brickbat - the latter is well deserved!
(Although some solutions are yet to come in,) this might be a good point to ask if anyone has spotted the theme! Please don't specify it till all the solutions have come in, but do look for it if you haven't already spotted it. I'll put up the details once the answers come in.
9D PROGRAM -me
ReplyDelete21A MOON (DD)
ReplyDelete22D ON OUR WAY (DD)
ReplyDeleteI think I have got an idea of what the so-called theme is.
ReplyDeleteI had a suspicion - which is now confirmed with an answer by Gita who has tackled some of the difficult ones here.
However, I am not disclosing it.
I am merely
WOWING
O
R
D
S
8a is good but I would expect a space between 1 and AD.
ReplyDeleteBTW, do we say 1 AD or AD 1 ?
DeleteThe space is there in the Across Lite version
Delete8A- Is the answer given above as 'ICE' correct or not? I am now confused with AD.
DeleteThe convention is AD space number (e.g., AD 1) while for BC, it is number space BC (e.g. 60 BC).
DeleteI could work out the theme which was confirmed from the clue sheet.
Abhay, don't put up the details yourself. Let members first try to guess the theme.
Sure
DeleteJust now saw the acrostic from the Ac.clues!
DeletePaddy, CE is an alternative form of usage for AD. It stands for Christian/Common/Current Era.
DeleteSo, (1)(CE) is right.
Thank you NR.
Delete33. Stems from one's resolve to get odd floors (3) F O R
ReplyDelete(Acrostic is FOR and odd f (l) o (o) r is also FOR) ?
Compensating for TRAY
Looks like a DD.
DeleteSingle definition ("to get", in the sense of "try TO GET the prize" = "try FOR the prize"), but two sets of wordplay.
DeleteJust came back after attending half the General Boday Meeting of our Apartment association. Left halfway through as it has transformed into a shouting match!!! A pity considering that our association was a model one till just about two years ago. Pity.
ReplyDeleteJust goes to show how one rotten egg can spoil the whole basket of eggs!
3D - MIND [CD]
ReplyDelete20A - ROSES [DD]
25A - {MINOR} <=
3D needs rethinking! :)
Delete25Ac : MINOR : Superb Reverse 'T' clue! Wonder how, many of us could not notice it?!
DeleteIs it 'Bind'?
DeleteYes, it IS. Bind is a difficult situation or dilemma.
DeleteBingo! One can be of two "minds", but a dilemma is a "double" BIND!
DeleteBIND it is. However 'double mind' is indecisiveness which is also a dilemma so the answer is not way off
DeleteWhen I was setting it, I *did* wonder if the clue could suggest MIND (since the first letter is unchecked), but decided after checking a few references that "double bind" was a common enough synonym for dilemma, while the phrase using the word "mind" is normally "in two minds". I should have taken more care to avoid confusion.
DeleteLeftovers
ReplyDeleteAcross - 30
Down - 1, 17, 24, 27
Now that we are close to the end I take the liberty of taking a pot shot at the theme-
ReplyDeletePoems-ROBERT FROST
as seen from the first letters of all Ac. clues.
Titles and words from the poems of Robert Frost.
Good one from Abhay aka 'Pluralist'.
Good one from Pluralist. Thank you
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a student, Frost's poems were not 'prescribed'. You know the heavy bias to British literature our educationists had in those decades! Yet I bought complete collection of Frost's poems for my reading pleasure. That book I have just taken out of my library. Some of my favourite poems: Mending Wall; Birches; Out, out -; Mowing; The Tuft of Flowers; Apple-picking...
ReplyDeleteAnother Complete Collection that I bought was Emily Dickinson's.
Same here - both with Frost and Dickinson! The only Frost poem we learnt at school was the cliched "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening". I discovered the gorgeous "Moon Compasses" when my wife (then my girlfriend) sent me a collection of Frost with this poem marked out. This led to a journey of discovery. Frost can often be annoyingly moralistic and/or self-conscious, but at his best (e.g., "Moon Compasses", "Minor Bird", "Tree At My Window", "Acquainted With The Night") he is, quite simply, among the best!
DeleteHere is the link to Frost-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.poemhunter.com/robert-frost/
Great clues!
ReplyDeleteVery entertaining & quite a challenging puzzle!
ReplyDeleteGreat solving, Paddy.
ReplyDeletePluralist,
Thanks for an absorbing cryptic. It is difficult to imagine it is only your second attempt at setting. It has the touch of an experienced setter. Very crisp clues.
It will be good to keep imagery in mind (19D), what the clue conjures up, as advised by our Crossword Clue Explicator.
1. Regularly timed exits cast link leading to North American state capital (8)
ReplyDeleteMEXICALI
tiMEdeXItsCAstLI (regularly after every two letters)
Incidentally MEXICALI is North Mexican state capital and not North American state capital
Delete"North America" is not equivalent to the USA alone. It is a continent that contains several countries including Mexico which in turn contains the state of Baja California, of which Mexicali is the capital. Misleading, I agree, and deliberately so, but quite accurate!
DeleteMEXICALI - Got the answer with the help of Net but was unable to parse it. Now with Renga's explanation, it looks so simple !
DeleteThe definition of regularly does not cover the way the letters have been selected.
DeleteWhy not? It is two letters regularly after every two letters. It is okay.
DeleteI fully agree with you Abhay, your clue is perfect and your intention to deliberately mislead the solvers has succeeded well!
DeleteIn sated of alt. letters, it is a set of 2 letters with a 2 letter break. It is even right through. Though we have not come across this so far, I feel it is fair since he uses the term 'regularly'.
Delete"Mexicali" and its adjacent sister city in Imperial county of California, “Calexico”, are portmanteaus of California and Mexico.
DeleteThat was great, Renga. I tried my best at all single letter alternatives. Nice wordplay by Abhay.
ReplyDeleteThank you NR for your complements. I was led along the right path more than half way across.
24. Footwear for a leather supplier (6)
ReplyDeleteOX SHOE (CD)
Very nice clues, Abhay. Quite tricky too.
ReplyDeleteCould never have cottoned on to the theme, being far removed from poetry, literature etc.
ReplyDeleteIs something missing from the clue 3d?
3d has been discussed above starting with DG's comment at 12:55pm.
DeleteI often have problems with themed crosswords when the topic is out of my range of interests/knowledge, so I framed the clues for the themed entries to ensure that no knowledge of the poet or his poems was required to solve them. I hope it worked!
DeleteYes, it did, Abhay. Got 27Dn alright but struggling with 30Ac and 17Dn, as of now!
Delete3d: I meant should there have ... after Double?
DeleteI think that leaves 30a, 17d, and 27d.
ReplyDeleteWhere are our late Lateef's Suresh and Raju? Kishore is also missing today.
ReplyDelete...so is (not late Lateefs) Richard and regular Sunday visitor C A Prasad.
Delete17. Slips, drops or slips up (4)
ReplyDeleteERRS ----> ERRORS dropping OR
For a long time I was carried away by another slip which was not supportive for a change!
Yet one more tricky clue where most of us were forced to err!!!
DeleteDo we still wait Col. or any of us can go ahead?
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to wait till 6 PM
Delete...and wait, we shall, certainly Sir! :)
Delete33a. The def 'to get' is in the middle so not sure whether that's OK. I know that it leaves the sentence incomplete, without odd floors
ReplyDeleteI hunted around for guidance on this while setting a clue, and found a few references that said it was okay in the odd instance. The clearest statement comes Shuchi at http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2011/08/unusual-positions-for-clue-definition.html where says:
Delete"A clue with the definition in the middle can be tricky to solve (more so since we aren't used to it), but it is considered fair as long as the wording tells the solver unambiguously how to decipher it."
In my opinion, that last condition is met in the clue in question - but the final word, of course, has to come from the people solving it!
It's not convention, so I had a doubt. What about my 2.29 comment?
DeleteSorry for all the typos in the earlier post!
Delete"...while setting *the* clue..."
"The clearest statement comes *from* Shuchi at http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2011/08/unusual-positions-for-clue-definition.html where *she* says..."
Oh, I had a doubt too, hence the reference checks!
DeleteSorry to have missed your question at 2:29pm. I think putting the "..." after "double" would have made it a fairly simple fill-in-the-blank question! Going by the responses starting with DG's post on it, it seems to work as a CD as it stands.
What Col might have meant is 'to be double-minded' which is, of course, to be in two minds on a subject. In the US, they say, 'to be of two minds'.
DeleteTo be in two minds is to be unable to decide about something.
A double bind , on the other hand, is an emotionally distressing dilemma in communication in which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, and one message negates the other.
27b down: BUNS
ReplyDeleteClose, but no cigar!
Delete27 DOWN:Rebuff bathrolls: SNUB- REVERSE OF BUNS
ReplyDelete30 ACROSS:men CHAIRPERSONS AND SPOKESPERSONS-- Persons -men
Bingo!
DeleteAbhay,
DeleteDid you mean "Men are from Mars..."?
Nothing so elaborate, I'm afraid: with (armed) "Forces" as the definition, the wordplay, as Raju has shown, involves replacing "persons" in the "Politically Correct" words with the non-PC 'MEN'!
DeleteAt last Raju wakes up!
ReplyDeleteNow, is it 'Buns' or is it 'Snub'? Pl.Check again with crossings.
I think Raju's contributions complete the puzzle. Requesting Col to upload the solution with the themed clues marked out clearly.
ReplyDeleteI found this crossie extremely excruciatingly painful to my cells. As a late Latif , I start working on them post-lunch when the mind is at its worst soporific mode. I give up if I get burnt too much and go at ait post dinner after 2300 hrs when again, one is ready for the Land of Nod.
ReplyDeleteDeepak roused me up literally to respnd.
To all those who have posted above: many thanks for participating, and for all the feedback and suggestions - all very useful indeed!
ReplyDeleteAs many of you have worked out, the theme is poems of Robert Frost: *all* the Across entries are titles of his poems. I started out trying to fit in only my favourite ones, but fitting them into a symmetrical grid started becoming a problem, so I dropped a couple of favourites and brought in the titles of some (IMO) very-good-but-not-great pieces.
For neatness, I separated the words formed by the openings of the Across clues by starting the intervening clues with an ellipsis ((Poems...Robert...Frost), but the design got a bit of a knock with the clue of 18a being clubbed with an earlier clue - a parenthesis suddenly came up in the middle of Robert - RO[BERT! I tried to find a way around it but finally decided to let it go.
I thoroughly enjoyed setting the crossword, and am glad to find that many of you have enjoyed solving it. A few clues could have done with tightening or rewording - will work more on that next time!
Will work more on that next time? I'm still untangling my coiled nerves =Puh=lease spare me ! I'm sure none of us will have Alzheimer's with setters like ABHAY.
DeleteSNub it is-- as BURIAL fits in for 34 across.as an embedded reverse in REMBLAI RUBBLE.
ReplyDeleteAbhay: Thanks for an excellent metal work out. You know how to wake up sleeping dogs !
I am a firm believer in letting sleeping dogs lie!
DeleteMy only niggle: Please keep the 3,4,and 5 letter words from running riot ! CLue of my day" HASH--it made my brains into a potato podimash !!
ReplyDeleteSorry about that - trying to keep the poem titles intact necessitated using works like THE and AND, as well as the 4-letter American spelling of PLOW!
DeleteSolution grid added and clue Acrostic highlighted
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting up the solution grid, Col!
ReplyDeleteAs the colour-coded grid shows (one colour per title), the 19 'across' entries come from the titles of 9 poems:
- BEREFT
- FIRE AND ICE
- PLOWMEN (split into two words to fit it into the grid)
- CARPE DIEM
- FLOWER GATHERING
- MOON COMPASSES
- MINOR BIRD
- ASKING FOR ROSES
- HOME BURIAL
Good job Abhay. it's not easy to ensure that all the Across lights form part of the theme while maintaining symmetry and all the other requirements for a grid
ReplyDelete+1.
ReplyDeleteSome sort record for no. of posts?
DOUBLE MIND DOUBLE BIND put me in a Duvhdha-- I put it in first as BIND , tying it up with Double creates a dilemma . So decided to get out of the BIND and put in MIND !
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe clue acted like a Double-Edged Sword !!
DeleteA big thank you once again for all the comments!
ReplyDeleteI am heading out for the evening and may not be able to respond to any posts till late at night, so please don't take it amiss if a question/comment goes unacknowledged.
Keep up the good work. Enjoyed solving it and the comments added THE spl. flavour. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteNice work, Abhay. Looking forward many more brain teasing puzzles from you. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteTypo : Pl add 'to' btn forward and many.
DeleteGood one, Abhay. I did this puzzle yesterday by taking a sneak peek, in the blogger, at the post that was scheduled for today 1030. Mexicali was referred by me in my 1st May cartoon, so I was familiar with the Calexico/Mexicali combos.
ReplyDeletehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-chovhPsblnY/U2GyAQKQ_JI/AAAAAAAABXg/lqtGrjeJKh8/s1600/Cartoon+Open+Border.jpg
http://thehinducrosswordcorner.blogspot.in/2014/05/no-11073-thursday-01-may-2014-gridman.html
I have to admit I missed the acrostic and the theme altogether ;-)
DeleteOne reason I could not comment earlier was that I was stopping by the woodside on a Sunday morning ...
DeleteBlockages elsewhere ?
DeleteYes, but not 'Frost'y ... it was not a winter morning you see ;-)
DeleteAwesome work! Haven't solved the puzzle yet but looks like a lot of hard work has gone into creating the grid. Not easy at all
ReplyDelete