Zimbly loved it!
ACROSS
8 Finest way to live, first of all (4) BEST (ST, with BE first)
9 Responsible move — Arsenal were extremely brilliant to start with (10) ANSWERABLE (ARSENAL W E B)*
10 Unusual shocks reported (6) SCARCE (~SCARES)
11 Drive with an elegance in a competition of speed (4,4) DRAG RACE (DR A GRACE)
12 I belong to myself. Being disheartened not on the cards (8) IMMINENT (I'M MINE NoT)
14 Programmer breaks the ice (6) TECHIE (THE ICE)*
16 Billions enter the website (4) BLOG (B LOG)
17 Man, say, one last to jump in bed (5) BIPED (1 P in BED)
18 Bail out an undeveloped backward state — heart of India (4) PUMP (UP< MP)
19 Express disapproval over a doctor prescribing grass (6) BAMBOO (BOO around A MB)
21 Criticism of princess directed at a family (8) DIATRIBE (DI A TRIBE)
23 I left, lit a cigar, smoked — sad (8) TRAGICAL (LiT A CIGAR)*
26 Use 1 ml special mixture with breakfast cereal (6) MUESLI (USE 1 ML)*
27 Style of architecture, Eva, our aunt resorted to (3,7) ART NOUVEAU (EVA OUR AUNT)*
28 Remain in dire straits (4) REST (T)
DOWN
1 Blame cheap ingredients used for making dessert (5,5) PEACH MELBA (BLAME CHEAP)*
2 Rest, swim and fish — excellent (8) STERLING (REST* LING)
3 I dare you to a contest in flower arrangement (6) RACEME (RACE ME)
I dare you to Race 'Me !'
4 American English Dictionary primarily employed (4) USED (US E D)
5 Dead man leaving a share in the title (8) DEPARTED (PART in DEED)
7 Stop, say, an alliance (4) BLOC (~BLOCK)
13 Source of protein in food — turned out to be not so exciting (5) TEPID (P in DIET<)
15 Disable PIN (10) IMMOBILISE (2) Nice misdirection by capitalising 'pin', a wrestling or chess move)
17 Dealers for readers? (4,4) BOOK CLUB CD
18 One leaving money for developing a flower garden (8) PARTERRE (PARTER RE)
20 Plead with an individual to go away (6) BEGONE (BEG ONE)
22 Covering Republican's involvement in an affair (6) ARMOUR (R in AMOUR)
24 Exceptional part of Maharashtra region (4) RARE (T)
25 Look stunned, upset (4) LEER (REEL<)
GRID :
ACROSS
8 Finest way to live, first of all (4) BEST (ST, with BE first)
9 Responsible move — Arsenal were extremely brilliant to start with (10) ANSWERABLE (ARSENAL W E B)*
10 Unusual shocks reported (6) SCARCE (~SCARES)
11 Drive with an elegance in a competition of speed (4,4) DRAG RACE (DR A GRACE)
12 I belong to myself. Being disheartened not on the cards (8) IMMINENT (I'M MINE N
14 Programmer breaks the ice (6) TECHIE (THE ICE)*
16 Billions enter the website (4) BLOG (B LOG)
17 Man, say, one last to jump in bed (5) BIPED (1 P in BED)
18 Bail out an undeveloped backward state — heart of India (4) PUMP (UP< MP)
19 Express disapproval over a doctor prescribing grass (6) BAMBOO (BOO around A MB)
21 Criticism of princess directed at a family (8) DIATRIBE (DI A TRIBE)
Cartoon by Rishi
23 I left, lit a cigar, smoked — sad (8) TRAGICAL (L
26 Use 1 ml special mixture with breakfast cereal (6) MUESLI (USE 1 ML)*
27 Style of architecture, Eva, our aunt resorted to (3,7) ART NOUVEAU (EVA OUR AUNT)*
28 Remain in dire straits (4) REST (T)
DOWN
1 Blame cheap ingredients used for making dessert (5,5) PEACH MELBA (BLAME CHEAP)*
2 Rest, swim and fish — excellent (8) STERLING (REST* LING)
3 I dare you to a contest in flower arrangement (6) RACEME (RACE ME)
I dare you to Race 'Me !'
4 American English Dictionary primarily employed (4) USED (US E D)
5 Dead man leaving a share in the title (8) DEPARTED (PART in DEED)
Cartoon by Bhargav
6 Football club wearing a rib kind of material (6) FABRIC (F.C. wearing (A RIB)*) Is kind=sort, the anind?7 Stop, say, an alliance (4) BLOC (~BLOCK)
13 Source of protein in food — turned out to be not so exciting (5) TEPID (P in DIET<)
15 Disable PIN (10) IMMOBILISE (2) Nice misdirection by capitalising 'pin', a wrestling or chess move)
17 Dealers for readers? (4,4) BOOK CLUB CD
18 One leaving money for developing a flower garden (8) PARTERRE (PARTER RE)
20 Plead with an individual to go away (6) BEGONE (BEG ONE)
22 Covering Republican's involvement in an affair (6) ARMOUR (R in AMOUR)
24 Exceptional part of Maharashtra region (4) RARE (T)
25 Look stunned, upset (4) LEER (REEL<)
GRID :
Very satisfying solve this one.
ReplyDelete25d, Stunned = reeled and stun = reel?
Look on double duty?
DeleteYes, Bhavan. The one glitch in an otherwise excellent crossword
Delete1A says it all. Loved solving it, though not all. Hats off to Vulcan for an enjoyable CW.
ReplyDeleteMonday morning blues? So few comment(d)s. No World cup to blame!
I go by the byline of Kishore
DeletePEACH MELBA: Yester years one of the favourites in Beach Buhari at Marina Beach. Along with COME SEPTERMBER playing on the Juke Box. A chef by name Julian and another favourite: JULIAN FRIED RICE. Anyone remember?
ReplyDeleteI was fond of "Tenga, Manga, Battani Sundel" sold at Marina Beach!
DeleteThe then modern writers like Sujatha Pushpa Thangathurai et all used to write the hero and heroine taste peach Melba while talking about sweet nothings.
DeleteMB,
Deleteit is 'Pattani'
Yes, U R right. I typed Telugu 'Pattani' instead!! :)
DeleteI remember the first 2 very clearly. There were hardly any good dinners without Peach Melba.
ReplyDeleteWhere have the cartoonists gone today?
ReplyDeleteClues that teased and tormented at the start, but yielded slowly as one persevered in wooing them - good work, Vulcan! Too many good ones to pick out a few of them for praise, but especially loved PARTERRE and IMMOBILISE, the latter not just a double definition, but evoking the thought of what one would do to a 'mobile' by forgetting the 'PIN'! :)
ReplyDeleteRe. FABRIC, I think the anind is "kind of", not just kind. But I have a small quibble with the clue there: given that to "wear" something is to have it on the outside, surely that is ARIB* "wearing" FC rather than FC wearing ARIB*?
Thanks for the blog, Kishore!
Abhay @ Re. FABRIC - 'wear' worn outside.
DeletePerhaps, Vulcan, meant inner 'wear' to justify the clue ! :)
9 Responsible move — Arsenal were extremely brilliant to start with (10) ANSWERABLE (ARSENAL W E B)*
ReplyDeleteResponsible : Definition. Arsenal-No problem. 'Extremely' when applied to 'were' it may give w,e or simply e. When applied to 'brilliant', b,t or t. Briliant to start with will give 'b'.
Does 'to start with' mean 1st letters of all preceding (how many) words?
I parsed the clue as an anagram of 'ARSENAL', '[W]ea[R] extremely', and '[B]rilliant to start with'. But Kishore's version works too.
DeleteI read it like this-
DeleteArsenal/ were extremely (we) / Brilliant to start with (B)
Re. my comment at 11:15 - as MB has pointed out below, it should be [W]er[E]. I guess I can blame the hangover of quibbling about "wear" in my comment at 10:21! ;)
DeleteAbhay @ 11:15 Arsenal 'were' was the word. Typo : You meant [W]er[E] extremely, I think. Thanks, Abhay and Paddy.
ReplyDeleteIndeed - sorry for the typo!
DeleteLovely crossword from Vulcan.
ReplyDeleteNice neat crossword.
ReplyDeleteVulcan better bail out. Guys from UP might take offence in 18 A
Delightful crossie.. Hats Off Vulcan
ReplyDeleteMarina Beach -- I had visited years ago and my only earworm is those urchins shouting Inji- marba Inji.- Marba ! reckon this means tangy Inji? or ginger?
ReplyDeleteAnother typical earworm that I get to remember is Kamla-raina Raina- kamla !! I wondered ! then that arai anna fell in the slot ! Those catty women were selling Kamla fruit which is Orange?
Kamala orange is what used to be called 'Loose jacket' owing to their easy peelability (as against the normal orange or sathukudi in Tamil). Those "aray anna" fruits are nowadays not less than Rs.10.
DeleteJust inserted CGB's cartoon. It was Departed- but it got uploaded Late ... Sorry for the delay ... I was tied up ...
ReplyDeleteI was wondering Suresh Raina was not around those days!
ReplyDeleteMy 1.44 in reply to raju's 1.20
ReplyDeleteKishore,
ReplyDeleteThank God the deer did not depart till then!
CGB,
The deer have not departed. They can still be seen in the Children's park adjoining Gandhi Mandapam ( incidentally it has been given a face lift recently) and Raj Bhawan. They can also be seen wandering on to Guindy-Adyar too and sometimes they get hit by passing motorists. The they depart!
The cartoon has reference to a famous one-act play: THE DEAR DEPARTED
ReplyDeletehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11663546-the-dear-departed
My school had enacted this play in an inter-school competition. I played the part of the dead old man and got a prize - for just lying still in an armchair! :)
DeleteIn the fifties this play was staged in Madras by a visiting UK troupe.
DeleteIt was sponsored by Moral Re-Armament or its members were the cast.
I have a vague remembrance.
Our father not only introduced us to books but also exposed us to such events.
OMG! Now I remember. I just dished out my 1960 Diary and inside it is the introduction booklet for Two one-act plays presented by the Benachitti Amateur Theatrical Society at The Iscon Club on 10.09.1960.
DeleteIndian Summer by Betty Brydon Beecher and The Dear Departed by Stanley Houghton. Almost 54 years back and it flashed today morning on my seeing the word "DEPARTED".
"I just dished out my 1960 Diary"
DeleteYikes! You could find a 54-year-old diary just like that? I can't find stuff I put away last week! :(
Benachitty is a village in Durgapur, WB, where the steel company's officers had quarters.
DeleteIscon must be Indian Steel Construction Company.
As the steel plant was erected with UK collaboration, the British employees must have had various activities like book club, amateur dramatics society and so on.
I was in Durgapur for a year but being senior to CGB I had moved down south to pursue my studies as facilities were not available there at that time.
Was away whole morning on a visit to the hospital plus other errands
ReplyDelete15D is not a good double definition. The 2 words are more or less synonymous...
ReplyDelete25D seems erroneous too
That 25d is defective has been mentioned already.
DeleteRe 15d, I do agree that in a DD the two meanings must not be too close to each other. However, "Disable PIN" (where 'pin' is capitalised to make us think of personal index number) appears to be acceptable - or at least pardonable.