Plenty of lovely surfaces today. Liked EARDRUM, DISUSE, IN A CORNER et al.
ACROSS
1 Marvellous endlessly plush cloth material (6) FABRIC {FAB}{RIC
5 Hurt ego it's something that goes up in smoke (6) STOGIE*
10 Book a meeting behind old complex (9) OBSESSION {O}{B}{SESSION}
11 Muse over a topic in part (5) ERATO [T]
12 Cheapskate having a change of heart makes one speechless (5) MIMER MI(-s+m)MER
Cartoon by Rishi
13 Delay affected power (3,2,4) PUT ON HOLD {PUT ON} {HOLD}
14 Bit by stick form of larva (7) TADPOLE {TAD}{POLE}
18 One among listeners is a murder suspect (7) EARDRUM* My COD
Cartoon by Rishi
20 I must be in a largely broadminded country (7) LIBERIA {LIBER{I}A
25 Beast is right at home inside house (5) RHINO {R}{H{IN}O}
26 City built near Aruba (5,4) URBAN AREA*
27 Unwanted effect of snapping in an overnight journey (6) REDEYE [DD]
28 Neglect studies wasting time foolishly (6) DISUSE S
DOWN
2 A service counter for tea (5) ASSAM {A}{SSAM<=}
3 Source of errors I've rectified (9) RESERVOIR*
4 Harm brought by cold wave (7) CRIPPLE {C}{RIPPLE}
5 Man's cut out for a holy place (7) SANCTUM*
6 Poem about a Greek theatre (5) ODEON {ODE}{ON}
7 Worn out incinerator, it collapsed under pressure (2,1,6) IN A CORNER INC
9 Merchandise in a mart arranged by a helper (4,9) GOOD SAMARITAN {GOOD S}{A}{IN+A+MART*}
15 Awful working without a command (9) DIRECTIVE {DIRE}{
17 Be mad and embargo/ban a nasty piece (2,7) GO BANANAS [T]
19 Standard of Foreign Ministry's all right (7) MEASURE {MEA}{SURE}
20 Was untruthful about an honest man being a bum (3-4) LIE-ABED {LIE-{ABE}D}
22 Ordinary writing from professionals reportedly (5) PROSE (~pros)
24 Cooker say, so often has vegetables (5) OKRAS
GRID
The simplicity of Me!'s cartoons is breathtaking!
ReplyDeleteSuperb cartoon, Deepak. I am speechless!
ReplyDeleteYes, many clues in this crossword are very good.
ReplyDeleteI had brought up the point of Indian papers syndicating the CW's from UK papers and of The Hindu being the only one with Indian setters at the Inaugural launch event of IXL-2014.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to have been very poor media coverage of the event. Whoever reported the event used the same brief report that was put out be PTI. While trawling the net I found on the next day that the event had been streamed live through the internet, I wish the organisers had publicised that.
I too noticed that the press reports were sparse. As you say, the papers that did notice the event depended on press release from the organisers or the news agency report. And even the latter appeared to have been written by some cub reporter on the desk without going to the venue but ensuring over a phone call from the office that it took place.
DeleteReally, was the event streamed live? On which site?
DeletePoor media coverage or not, it was a poor experience for online participants. Hours of a Sunday morning spent in indefinite wait for the crossword to get uploaded. When the timestamp of submission is critical to the contest, the organizers cannot be so casual about puzzle upload time. With such an easy puzzle, the ranks can vary by the second.
I saw that link somewhere on Monday, can't seem to find it now
DeleteThe delay was on account of the event starting late. In any case I don't know why they mentione 11 AM as the event was scheduled to start only at 11:30 and finally commenced at around 12 only
Delete+1 Suchi. I got fed up and checked at 2:30 only. Added to the qwoews are the difficulties in saving and submitting, not to mention the nuisance of having to manually move the cursor for each letter.
DeleteAs I mentioned this is a test of patience and not of solving skills
This is where I think they were streaming live : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ixl-2014-launch
DeleteI wish we had known.
It was almost 1pm by the time they put the puzzle up online.
I submitted much after 3pm :( as I could solve it only once I had reached home from the event!
Will have to be supersonic in solving next week's!!
The miscellaneous section in the online Hindu has nothing today
ReplyDeleteMe! in a corner- simply good! Lest said, most effective.
ReplyDeleteThere was a discussion here a few days ago about 'Tea'- Assam,Darjeeling, China etc.
ReplyDeleteI get yesterday's items including Neyartha CW in Misc. section.
ReplyDeleteA very good puzzle from Buzzer. LIked IN A CORNER and COMMIT PERJURY. Didn't like on bit
ReplyDeleteOKRAS" construction. Can someone clarify why"" COOKER say""? Any way, I have never lied Oka as a vegetable in my plate !!
As for the Sunday puzzle, we can reserve our comments for coming Sunday. Lets see whe
ther any improvement is shown for the solver .
An event like this, one of its kind , certainly needs more publicity and participaion.
'Often' is the indicator here to pick letters on a regular basis. You will observe that the Col. has highlighted o k r a s in the clue.
DeleteI love okra, even when it is raw!
DeleteRaw!
DeleteYes, Sir!
DeleteRead above : ONE BIT for on bit and LIKED OKRA
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteExcellent puzzle. Just a nit to pick re 12a. The def leads to mute, dumb, tongue tied etc. Even if you read one speechless as 'one who is speechless' it's not exactly mimer.
DeleteMimer is one type of speechless person or more accurately one who is in speechless state
ReplyDeleteMimer is one who mimes or communicates with gestures. What I'd meant was the def is not totally accurate
DeleteHere we go again, Raghu.
DeleteI do not see any problem with the definition. A mimer is someone who does not speak during the act and hence is "speechless"
I'm not sure whether 'one speechless' = 'one who is speechless' = noun as in case of mimer.
ReplyDeleteI think it would, if you do not read it with the rest of the sentence. Cryptically I think it is fine.
DeleteFor IXL 2014
ReplyDeleteSep 20, 12am Submission of answers for First Round to end.
Sep 20, 12am Announcement of Leaderboard for Round 1
Does it mean the submission of answers by Sep 19, 23.59.59 hrs. and the results will be immediately afterwards or it is Sep 20, 23.59.59 hrs. Also time zone IST, GMT etc. to be mentioned as this contest is open to all Indian living all over the globe. We know it is IST but those living outside may not be sure of that.
The organizers should clarify this point clearly without any ambiguity as Sep 20, 12.00 am means starting of the day Sep 20 at midnight at 12.00 am and my feeling is that organizers mean upto end of Sep 20, 23.59.59 hrs.
Rengaswamy,
DeleteI don't presume anyone will wait till 19 Sep 23:59:59 hrs to submit his/her solution. They will have the leaderboard prepared and will publish it at 12 AM, even if someone submits a correct answer at the time mentioned by you it will figure at the end of the leaderboard and can be easily added.
Anyway I suggest yend them an e-mail through the option available at their site
What is meant by 12am is not clear to me at all and may not be clear to several people. I recently got a notice for personal hearing from the Asst. Commissioner's office giving the time for hearing as 12 am. I presume he meant noon.
DeleteTechnically 12 cannot be am or pm since the ref point is mereidium or midday. It can be noon or g.
DeleteYour notice at least is capable of being interpreted as noon. If he wanted you to visit him after office hours the dairy at the gate may have had your name. In the case of IXL it is open to interpretation
Splendid xw.Spl. mention to14a,8d3d nice .First I couldn't catch the proper line.After a while I was able to crack & could hear the buzz of Buzzer.Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSuperb grid. Really enjoyed even though I couldnt finish EARDRUM was my COD too...!!
ReplyDeleteEARDRUM and PUT ON HOLD were my favourites!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant as usual. 8 & 9 Dn are my CODs. Couple of queries though. On 18A, we have seen usage of listener in the wordplay for year. But can it stand as a definition for ear? And 14A, isn't the definition bit of a stretch?
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ReplyDelete