ACROSS
7 Gabriel Garcia Marquez's girl has a tailless snake chasing her (4) GABO {G}{A}{BO
8 Fair troublemaker has a Right to Information application lodged, for starters (9) IMPARTIAL {IMP}{A}{R}{T}{I}{A}{L}
10 Confused, mad dad took the lead (6) ADDLED {DAD*}{LED}
11 Hold minced sole in talon to make a salad dish (8) COLESLAW {C{SOLE*}LAW}
12 A type of competition where tailless prawn is cooked with rice (5,3) PRICE WAR {P{RICE}WAR
Cartoon by Rishi
14 He is well known for a high point of Paris tourism (6) EIFFEL [CD]
18 Sinewy round object in a pigpen (7) STRINGY {ST{RING}Y}
23 Great devil composed song about setter (8) IMPOSING {IMP}{OS{I}NG*}
25 Clear air turbulence occurs before heater loses a connecting pipe (8) CATHETER
27 Landlord's circular (6) LETTER [DD]
29 Tram lines were modified into airport buildings (9) TERMINALS*
30 Engineer a new legume (4) BEAN {BE}{A}{N}
DOWN
1 Chinese male has remodelled drain (8) MANDARIN {MAN}{DRAIN*}
2 Spin rock (4) ROLL [DD]
3 Opening for lady who has lost her husband around first of November (6) WINDOW {WI{N}DOW}
4 Inspect residence for hidden ghost (7) SPECTRE [T]
5 Funniest 2 enter from French Street (8) DROLLEST {D{ROLL}E}{ST}
6 Give lip service to a King on Indian ship (4) KISS {K}{I}{SS}
9 Ferment without nitrogen and go away (5) LEAVE LEAVE
13 Turn recreation vehicle carrying cue? Or the other way round? (5) CURVE {CU{RV}E}
15 Organises fires and cooks in oil (5) FRIES*
17 Physicist is stumped having one German on each side (8) EINSTEIN {EIN}{ST}{EIN}
19 Alloy for mashing mung and others (8) GUNMETAL {MUNG*}{ETAL}
20 Daily placing of a pot in the middle of a clock face (7) DIURNAL{DI{URN}AL}
22 Raise a glass to a saint (5) TOAST {TO}{A}{ST}
24 Varnish from Poland (6) POLISH [DD]
26 After I leave, rhino appendage is used in a car (4) HORN RH
28 Travel underground by electric-train, for starters, in this (4) TUBE Acrostic Semi&lit
GRID
Nice one Incognito. Smooth. Are all abbreviations found in Chambers? For e.g C, A, T, R and V.
ReplyDeletein 17 D maybe that's the reason why he ran off to the US?
I thought CAT and RV where fairly commonly known abbreviations, as is RTI. TH specs do not specify presence in Chambers and we've also been told earlier that commomly known abbreviations can be used
DeleteI took 'occurs' as indicator for taking CAT from clear air turbulence
DeleteStarts/originates would have been a better word if my intention was to take first letters. My intention was to use CAT as a standard abbreviation as used in aviation.
DeleteThe reason I asked was because it's not found in Chambers and I could also use it in future.
DeleteFrom thefreedic:
DeleteCAT: abbr.
1. clear-air turbulence
2. computerized axial tomography
RV:abbr
1. recreational vehicle
2. reentry vehicle
3. Revised Version
Never heard of that CAT
Delete"C.A.T maane billi" as Kishore would say.
Delete1 is a fav of pilots when asking us to fasten belts in flight
Delete2 is the catscan
I think I recognise a person in the ET photo...
ReplyDeleteIs it Me !
DeleteIt is Me ! On my right, I think
DeleteYes it is, enroute to Mozambique for a recce prior to a UN Mission in 1993
DeleteThough 4d is an easy clue, I like the surface reading. Simple, plausible, understandable. Imagine that the house you're about to move into is haunted by a spirit such as the Canterville ghost.
ReplyDeleteAlso that's when a setter avoids the cliche anagram of 'respect'.
The challenge for setters is how they can avoid a well-known and well-worn device and impart some novelty to the clue they are writing.
While I agree with you about the surface of 4d (and there are quite a few others which I liked, not to mention the lovely def in 6d), I'm not sure the surface or cryptic grammar works well in some clues:
Delete29d, 'Tram lines turned into airport buildings' sounds more possible. If I'm reading the current surface right, tracks becoming buildings sounds implausible?
4d, Does 'for hidden' adequately convey that the fodder preceding it hides the answer?
5d, Shouldn't it be 'enters/entering/entered'? [wordplay component] enter [wordplay component] doesn't sound right?
26d, Same - 'leaves/leaving/left' ? And what is the anagram indicator?
Thanks for 16d. I agree with you on 5, 26 and 29d. In 4d, Inspect was intended to be double duty, being a part of the fodder and instruction 'inspect ... For' , which may not be very convincing.
DeleteThe setter agrees with Bhavan's points, so I should perhaps let it be, but am still putting forth my two bits as I don't see all the points the same way. In my view, the surface grammar in 5d and 26d works quite well.
Delete5d: The clue is "Funniest 2 enter from French Street". Given that the subject is "Funniest 2" (a contraction for "the two funniest people"), the verb cannot be conjugated as for a singular noun (enters). Changing it to 'entered' or 'entering' is a choice, but I don't see what is wrong with the clue as it stands.
26d: Same issue with subject-verb agreement. "I" being used in the sense of the pronoun, the verb can't be conjugated as "leaves". Again, "left" is a choice, but the grammar seems quite right as it stands. I do agree about the absence of an anagram indicator, though.
Re 5D, 26D:
DeleteI agree with Bhavan on 26D: 'I' leave 'rhino' doesn't read right, for the cryptic reading.
As for 5D, I think it can be read as: [the letters] ROLL enter DE ST, in which case, the clue should work
@Abhay: The surface grammar for both clues is fine. Bhavan's raising an issue with the cryptic grammar
The font size is bigger today ...
ReplyDeleteResults of the Hindi prize crossword are announced at Crossword Unclued. Congrats to the winner!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the winners. Though I didn't win, I had a whale of a time looking for hindi translation of CD, DD, GK etc
ReplyDeleteCompared to the stroll in the park, it was a brisk 'constitutional' today and I was found wanting a couple of times. Enjoyed it all the same.
ReplyDelete25A- turbulence following 'air' led me to an anagram and ....
5D- I was searching around a French street (Rue) and got nowhere! (Probably my recent visit to Pondy may be at fault)
You went up the wrong street?
DeleteI did! (hopefully it is not one way!)
Delete5D- 'De' is French for both of & from?
ReplyDeleteQuite an international ride from Mandarin to 'Polish', Eiffel tower, London tube, German one on either side (particularly liked this). Enjoyed it.
Nice euphemism- Lip service. Worth quoting!
Theme?
ReplyDeleteWhen an answer is expected of you, you are asking a question! I thought 'may be'. I forgot to add Gabo.
DeleteThough there are many international references, that is not the intended theme. The theme is not very directly visible... It requires a little extra work
DeleteBetter known cat for us in India is Common Aptitue Test. Strange it was not mentioned by any of you- of course it may not be in any dictionary. It will fall in the category of 'well known'.
ReplyDeleteRaghu at 9.32 a.m.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STHxsPSM3uo
Thank you CGB for the link. Enjoyed this peppy number sung by Kishore and Asha. It reminds me of yet another song - 'Eena Meena Deeka' sung by the same duo.
DeleteLoved the crossword and I am not kissing here.
ReplyDeleteDo you want to go to France for that?
DeleteAnother gentle, enjoyable ride from Incognito. Some very nice surfaces - 30a, 6d, 22d in particular.
ReplyDelete"Lip service" could be construed as anything by naughty minds! On another track, it reminded me of one of my favourite Ghalib couplets:
dikhaake jumbish-e-lab hii tamaam kar ham ko
na de jo bosaa to muu.Nh se kahii.n jawaab to de!
"Leave me undone just by moving your lips:
If not a kiss, at least give me an answer!"
Thanks to the blogger and the cartoonists.
"Lip service" could be construed as anything by naughty minds!"
DeleteNot me, Abhay. I am a simple fella...
And leave everything to each one's imagination (wild?) after just that initial hint!
DeleteDoes the simple fella... know that a lawful kiss is never worth a stolen one?!
DeleteOne more enjoyable CW from Incognito.
ReplyDeleteAs for the theme, these answers Polish, Fries, Leave, Kiss, Window, Roll and Bean(s) need prefix French.
Am I correct Incognito?!
Perfectly correct, MB. The prefix can also be used with LETTER, CURVE, HORN and TOAST
Delete11 words with 'French' prefix! That is really something!
DeleteTks Kishore :)
DeleteAnd there is of course the French tower!And the rench street which misled me. Maybe you are right.
ReplyDeleteOther than the tower and the street, ENTREES is also a word of French origin, though the theme, as correctly identified by MB, was words which could be prefixed with French.
DeleteAlso, now revealed, the theme and Nina in the Hindi crossword ...
ReplyDeleteThanks K for giving me 100% after a long time (for me) and very encouraging - that too 70% without any reference from the study of clues alone.
ReplyDeleteSome very enjoyable surfaces.
ReplyDeleteAbhay, I think Bhavan is referring to the cryptic readings of 5 and 26D. In each clue the corresponding subject is singular: '2', or the answer to the clue 2D, in 5D. Similarly, the letter 'I' in 26D.
Lovely cw.thanks to nice(building)materials,mice blocks,the edifice could easible be sighted.8a,19&20d -mind drilling bits.6d-naughty pun(ch).Thank you Incognito.
ReplyDeleteTypo.pl. read as 'nice blocks'.
ReplyDelete16 A little dash in front of woody plants can get you to the main courses (7) ENTREES {EN}{TREES}
ReplyDeleteFor the benefit of folks like me, some info on EN(A little dash) : Here is the link : http://www.dashhyphen.com/using-em-dash/
Thank you MB for the informative link. One keeps learning new things thanks to the CW and of course the blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone for your pointers and enjoying the puzzle
ReplyDelete