This Superb Treat Shows That Setter Thirumalaiswami Shrikanth Takes Special Themes Seriously
Across
1 Note bent bones (6) TIBIAS (TI BIAS)
4 Circle around Spain in vehicles (6) TRIKES (SKIRT< around España)
9 Sources of the Ebola disease slowly spreads (4) TEDS (acrostic) The surface seems to have a grammar issue
10 Organise, sell tour by a vehicle (10) TROLLEYBUS (SELL TOUR BY)*
11 High tension hitting the ball out in the game (6) TENNIS (TENSIoN)*
12 Abstainers in exotic resort raise horses (8) TROTTERS (TT in RESORT*)
13 Go around the corner, organise special beef cuts (9) TOURNEDOS (TOUR NE DO S)
15 Escaped criminal's profiles found during inspections (5) TOURS (conTOURS)
16 Call girls for pastries (5) TARTS (2)
18 Ate at intervals (3,6) TEA BREAKS (rev anag of ATE*)
22 Gets more complicated when porous checkpoints loses cop (8) THICKENS (CHECKPOINTS - COP)* Deleted letters are not in the same order
23 Measure a large Scotch first for the counts (6) TOTALS (TOT A L S)
25 Guards behind odd looking stranger to find the breach (10) TRANSGRESS (SS behind STRANGER*)
26 Relationships that is inside the society (4) TIES (IE in T S)
27 Article IRS takes belongs to them (6) THEIRS (THE IRS) Strictly 'belongs to them'= 'ís theirs'
28 Darling, come back, take oriental drug and have first of sessions in the tents (6) TEPEES (PET< E E S)
Down
1 In addition to the Royal Engineers, get tax officer... (7) THERETO (THE RE TO) Is the defn. ok?
2 ...bisexual boy to find animal (5) BISON (BI SON)
3 AGM expelled new magistrate for being a comedian (7) ARTISTE (MAGISTRATE - AGM)* as in 22a
5 Have taken out hapless lovelorn woman's garment (4-2) ROLL-ON (LOVELORN - 'VE)*
6 Say, escape action in a single press of computer button (9) KEYSTROKE (KEY STROKE)
7 Conservative rule is more just (7) SQUARER (SQUARE R)
8 Almost restrict jingles about setter's debates (13) CONTROVERSIES (CONTROL VERSES around I)
14 Restraint to erect nice building (9) RETICENCE (ERECT NICE)*
17 Is very eager to get a new T Shirt (7) ATHIRST (A TSHIRT*)
19 Say, Bradman's first English fabric (7) BATISTE (BAT IST E)
20 King sick about queen's assassins (7) KILLERS (K ILL ER'S)
21 Angled Geryi Piranha in a weighted line (6) LEDGER (T)
24 Position bird at Lake Elizabeth (5) TITLE (TIT L E)
GRID
Across
1 Note bent bones (6) TIBIAS (TI BIAS)
4 Circle around Spain in vehicles (6) TRIKES (SKIRT< around España)
9 Sources of the Ebola disease slowly spreads (4) TEDS (acrostic) The surface seems to have a grammar issue
10 Organise, sell tour by a vehicle (10) TROLLEYBUS (SELL TOUR BY)*
11 High tension hitting the ball out in the game (6) TENNIS (TENSI
12 Abstainers in exotic resort raise horses (8) TROTTERS (TT in RESORT*)
13 Go around the corner, organise special beef cuts (9) TOURNEDOS (TOUR NE DO S)
15 Escaped criminal's profiles found during inspections (5) TOURS (
16 Call girls for pastries (5) TARTS (2)
18 Ate at intervals (3,6) TEA BREAKS (rev anag of ATE*)
22 Gets more complicated when porous checkpoints loses cop (8) THICKENS (CHECKPOINTS - COP)* Deleted letters are not in the same order
23 Measure a large Scotch first for the counts (6) TOTALS (TOT A L S)
25 Guards behind odd looking stranger to find the breach (10) TRANSGRESS (SS behind STRANGER*)
26 Relationships that is inside the society (4) TIES (IE in T S)
27 Article IRS takes belongs to them (6) THEIRS (THE IRS) Strictly 'belongs to them'= 'ís theirs'
28 Darling, come back, take oriental drug and have first of sessions in the tents (6) TEPEES (PET< E E S)
Down
1 In addition to the Royal Engineers, get tax officer... (7) THERETO (THE RE TO) Is the defn. ok?
2 ...bisexual boy to find animal (5) BISON (BI SON)
3 AGM expelled new magistrate for being a comedian (7) ARTISTE (MAGISTRATE - AGM)* as in 22a
5 Have taken out hapless lovelorn woman's garment (4-2) ROLL-ON (LOVELORN - 'VE)*
6 Say, escape action in a single press of computer button (9) KEYSTROKE (KEY STROKE)
7 Conservative rule is more just (7) SQUARER (SQUARE R)
8 Almost restrict jingles about setter's debates (13) CONTROVERSIES (CONTRO
14 Restraint to erect nice building (9) RETICENCE (ERECT NICE)*
17 Is very eager to get a new T Shirt (7) ATHIRST (A TSHIRT*)
19 Say, Bradman's first English fabric (7) BATISTE (BAT IST E)
20 King sick about queen's assassins (7) KILLERS (K ILL ER'S)
21 Angled Geryi Piranha in a weighted line (6) LEDGER (T)
24 Position bird at Lake Elizabeth (5) TITLE (TIT L E)
GRID
Quite a feat TS! :)
ReplyDelete+1. I would say "Quite a feast TS!" :)
DeleteTremendouS
Deleteor
TorturouS?
(from yesterday)
ReplyDeleteI set a CWE for JIGARTHANDA.
Following were entered yesterday:
Subbaraj's latest – a grand hit released on the 1st of August (11)
Col and Raju to tell me if theirs were entries to the CWE. Any omissions in this list may be notified to me.
CWE is open till Sat midnight IST. Entries in any latest day's Comment section
Comments and the most favourite pick in the Comments section under the Sun post.
Yes it was
DeleteSorry - don't know how my list above is incomplete. Will post the list afresh.
DeleteThe list (Col's will be added later)
DeleteJIGARTHANDA
Drink a Taj hard gin coctail (11) (KMR)
Judge presided crazy night including one artist and lawyer for a drink (11) (AD)
Jack had Granita, refreshing drink (11) (VJ)
Dating Rajah went wrong to Jil Jil beverage (11) (CGB)
Indian Sir in courtyard with a drink (11) (PBP)
Jack's not against hard cocktail drink from Madurai (11) (AVM)
Jig had an art for getting a Madurai special (11) (PP)
North Indian cools his heart with this in Madurai (11) (SD)
Refresher of dance technique exhibited by Chinese prosecutor (11) (RJ)
Dance with skill to get applause and a drink (11) (RP)
Subbaraj's latest – a grand hit released on the 1st of August (11) (M)
There was one more of CGB , I think.
DeleteAs a theme, all Across entries starting with a particular letter and ending with a particular letter is great and may be acclaimed.
ReplyDeleteHowever -
In crossword setting, the convention in gridfilling is that words ending in S (verb inflected or noun pluralised) must not be overdone as the letter termination is a giveaway.
I forget what the minimum is, but what do you as solvers think it could be in say 30 solutions words?
Personally I find nothing wrong in that
DeleteTaking 3 consecutive clues:
Delete4 Circle around Spain in vehicles (6) TRIKES (SKIRT< around España)
9 Sources of the Ebola disease slowly spreads (4) TEDS (acrostic) The surface seems to have a grammar issue
10 Organise, sell tour by a vehicle (10) TROLLEYBUS (SELL TOUR BY)*
we have 4 a plural, 9 a verb and 10 a non-plural noun. I personally feel nothing wrong with the 9 and 10. Glut of plurals, may, however, be avoided.
Another thing we need to keep in mind is that the theme is T*S, so that is unavoidable here. Further, due to this theme, the first and last columns are exclusively Ts and Ss
Not sure about convention, but it does hint that word is a plural.
DeleteOT. I'm not a fan of themed puzzles, where the focus is lost on clue construction, surface etc. I'm not referring to this cw but in general. I'd rather attempt an error puzzle, which I'm still striving to achieve.
Q to CV for benefit of setters:
DeleteWould TH be willing to take up 'error' or 'letter switch puzzles' like the CC or GG ?
No, I don't think so.
DeleteBy 'error' I think you mean letter misprint.
There is no room for such specialist puzzles in TH.
The Col's Sun spl slot may be used for those off-beat, occasional puzzles.
I have taken part in CWCs where such specified clue-types needed to be entered.
Yes, misprint is one type of it.
DeleteI think that could be attempted for a much smaller group, say like THCC.
DeleteAs a crossword is the food for us cruciverbalists
ReplyDeleteGive us excess
4A has around on double duty.
ReplyDeleteRaise in 12A is misleading
4 Circle around Spain in vehicles (6) TRIKES
DeleteCan we take Spain in as there is an 'in' to indicate that?
+1 re 12A
I felt in an Across clue, raise can't be taken as a reversal indicator.
DeleteBut there is no reversal in 12A
DeleteActually, the raise made me think of stud farmers/ horse breeders etc., though enu won't permit those words
DeleteThat is what I meant .. Since it was an Across clue , the word raise would not be misconstrued as an indicator and hence not be misleading. So it was permissible to use.
DeleteSo what's the role of raise?
DeleteIt's there for surface, but it's definitely misleading
DeleteThe wordplay brings up the answer. Raise in that context.
Delete28a Just wondering what intent act happened under cover.
ReplyDeleteThat would be revealing ;-)
DeleteSome Ob session ??
DeleteGyn will follow !
DeleteThankS Ts for the TreatS!
ReplyDelete22 Gets more complicated when porous checkpoints loses cop (8) THICKENS
ReplyDelete26 Relationships that is inside the society (4) TIES
Shouldn't the clues have LOSE and ARE instead of LOSES and IS?
+1. Sandhya seems more involved today? :)
DeleteYes.. With TEDS , there are 3 grammatical errors and counting...
DeleteBut why T...S? Is it a special occasion?
DeleteWell, it is The Second by Thirumalaiswami Shrikanth ... so played around
Deletei.e. TS now has Two Submission of puzzles in a cycle
DeleteGreat effort Afterdark... Lot of work must have gone into creating the grid and grid fills. Kudos!
ReplyDelete21 Angled Geryi Piranha in a weighted line (6) LEDGER (T)
ReplyDeleteIs an ind for hidden missing.
Just looked into yesterday's late night comments... Mohsin's &lit for the word JIGARTHANDA is very nice. Not sure if the indicator "latest" has any effect on the position, but a brilliant effort nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI think that could changed to:
DeleteAt last, Subbaraj released a grand hit on the 1st of August
But that's wouldn't make it an &lit
DeleteWhy not?
DeleteIt's J +A GRAND HIT* + A
It's just a sentence . The whole clue is not definition for Jigarthanda.
DeleteI mean with at last
DeleteHow's it different from 'latest', though latest does not work here?
DeleteSubbaraj's latest – a grand hit released on the 1st of August (11
DeleteThe above is definition for Jigarthanda even though we are not sure of latest as letter picking ind . But your clue is a statement about Jigarthanda not a definition
What' s the def?
DeleteSubbaraj's latest movie ie Jigarthanda
DeleteI see. Not familiar with the 'movie' nor knew who Subbaraj was till I saw Mohsin's clue.
DeleteSo you were replying without knowing movie? :-D it's a nice movie of Lakshmi Menon
DeleteI meant not knowing it was the 'latest', and also I didn't know about the movie & Subbaraj till I saw the link placed below the clue.
Delete+1 for VJ's comment. Excellent clue
Delete+1 for VJ's comment. Excellent clue
DeleteThat was more like +2 including the proxy ;)
DeletePlease note that my mention of the convention of -S words being limited in grid fills was general in the context of today's CWD.
ReplyDeleteThat was obvious in the first sentence.
The convention is mentioned in CWD manuals.
Great effort AD
ReplyDeleteAVM. This crossie is not by AD. It is by TS ;-)
ReplyDeleteYeah ;-) but annekku njan yaare paathen. AD or TS ? Ok leave it
DeleteWrite a clue for JIGARTHANDA:
ReplyDeleteDrink had rating problem in Jamaica (11)
Gr8 CW TS/AD.
ReplyDeleteBraced up and waiting for HUD HUD
ReplyDeleteWhat is that?
DeleteCyclone
DeleteOk, I recall the name now
DeleteGuardian crossword editor's comment given below on the use of IC for 99, which has figured frequently in the blog may be of interest to bloggers.
ReplyDeleteBoatman's Cyptic puzzle of 19 September (No 26,369) contained a clue (27 across) which read: 'Little chap, separated from master wizard, about 99, with his staff (5,4)', which required 99 to be IC in Roman numerals in order to make MAGIC WAND [where 'little chap' = ALF, MA = Master of Arts, the wizard is GANDALF and W = 'with', producing MA/G(IC/W)AND(alf). Richard W. protested, having had a proper grounding in Latin at school, that the correct way to write 99 is XCIX, not IC. He was generous enough to say that, perhaps, by now IC is an established crossword convention and that there aren't any real Romans around to argue. This issue has come up before and, obviously, neither Julius nor any other of the Caesars would have had the least idea what IC was supposed to mean. But my memory is of some authority on post-classical, medieval and other dog god Latin with evidence that, for many hundreds of years, IC and the like were used pretty extensively, presumably to save space. However, if I found such an authority then, I cannot immediately find it now and so fall back on Australian support for the use of IC in Cryptic puzzles. www.highlightpress.com.au provides me with the following:
'Sometimes cryptic clues break the conventional use of Roman numerals. Examples: 49 = IL, 99 = IC, 499 = ID , 999 = IM.'
Very late to spot! Kishore had highlighted "TS"(for Thirumalaiswami Shrikanth) not only in the toon but also in the preamble six times!! Nice work, Kishore. :)
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteI like 16 at 18! ;-)
ReplyDeleteJIGARTHANDA : G sounds respectful as a prefix to this comic strip character along with a cooling of the heart when you drink this.
ReplyDeleteCV: IN reply to your unusual query: Yes indeed, the above posted yesterday late night, is my entry for the cluing competition. You've so easily and patently disqualified me by your query?
So AD has Turned inTo TS? ThaT's greaT !! Mistaking The Trees for The woods?
I'd rather dub him as a Take-away Trickster !! If ye-all have noticed, there are very many Take aways in his cluing Technique !! Today's Theme is suits me To a T !!
Could get time to solve the puzzle only now. Just loved it. Great xword!
ReplyDelete