Monday, 10 November 2014

No.11236, Monday 10 Nov 2014, Anon


An asymmetric grid! (I know why, but I am bound by 2d...) Enjoyable nonetheless ...
Quite a few heads in here from headboy, headman to headless enemy and headless female relatives...
Noticed a few mini themes- the press (scoop, copy reader etc), coffee and espresso, aspersion and polemic

Across
1 Obscure to demand payment for entry into nightclub (5,6) COVER CHARGE (COVER CHARGE)
          If it is a strip club, then I think it should be called an un-cover charge
9 Genuine, almost from an earlier time (7) SINCERE (SINCe ERE)
10 Disease from Mumbai suburb reaches Breach Candy eventually (6) MALADY (MALAD Y)
11 Order newly married man to leave London clock tower (5) EDICT (BENEDICT - BEN)  A factual error here, imo. Big Ben (how does the 'Big' disappear when parsing the clue?) is the bell and not the tower as mentioned in the clue, though I concede that this error is so common that the above link gives the tower as one of the meanings of Big Ben. But this might be Much Ado About Nothing ...
          Benedict for newly married man reminded me of the recent engagement of Benedict Cumberbatch!
12 Wanders off during introductions of missing heartless Parsee (7) RAMBLES (PREAMBLES - ParseE)
         The Parsee has a rather large heart, though he is said to be heartless! 4 out of 6 letters ...
15 Belt found in Lhasa shores (4) SASH (T)
16 Difficult, dopy career of editor (10) COPYREADER (DOPY CAREER)*
18 Nearly stand against informal associates (5) OPPOS (OPPOSe)
20 Ugly base (4) MEAN (2)
21 Not even bowmen are geniuses (4) ACES (ArChErS)
24 Headboy cuts source of blatant cacophony (7) BLARING (B gLARING)
25 To look at, it is the same either way (5) REFER <>
27 Headless enemy is vomiting (6) EMESIS (nEMESIS) My COD Why? See below:
          Paints a gory picture, like the headless horseman: From where does he vomit? The hole left after decapitation? ;-) I would have loved to draw Sir Barf-a-lot, but I am running short of time
28 Examine pain originating in innards of bug, for one (7) INSPECT (P in INSECT)
29 Tool exclusive to small hut (5,6) SCOOP SHOVEL (SCOOP S HOVEL)

Down
2 Confused democrat leaves DC with vow of silence (6) OMERTA (DEMOCRAT-DC)*
          Remembered seeing a movie with this name
3 Sheep returning from sewer with tail chopped off (4) EWES (SEWEr<)
4 Firm valet is a loyal employee (7,3) COMPANY MAN (COMPANY MAN)
5 Modern library’s shortened couch is made up (2-6) AD LIBBED (A.D. LIBrary BED)
6 Blessing from the Almighty’s side (7) GODSEND (GOD'S END)
7 According to Israel, slur... (9) ASPERSION (AS PER SION)
8 ...releases headless female relatives (6) UNTIES (aUNTIES)
13 Masses of old men finally replaced with wise man by Bolsheviks (10) COMMUNISTS (COMMUNITIES-TIES+STS??) wise man or men? (COMMUNIONS with ON replaced by ST) See comments
14 Overwhelmed by ghastly poster art (9) PROSTRATE (POSTER ART)*
17 This is Spanish media’s love of coffee (8) ESPRESSO (ES PRESS O)
19 Controversy with European has headman in charge (7) POLEMIC (POLE M I C) not sure if defn is adequate
22 Box for beverage not completely rusted on top (6) COFFER (COFFEe R)
23 Loud noise — racket (6) CROSSE (~gross?) [DD] - See comments
26 Say goodbye to spies with love? (4) CIAO (CIA O)

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63 comments:

  1. Raghunath10 November 2014 at 08:55

    The Parsee has a rather large heart, though he is said to be heartless! 4 out of 6 letters ...

    Maybe some other part is missing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 09:05

      Maybe, just a big heart!

      Delete
    2. Raghunath10 November 2014 at 09:48

      Look a little more carefully

      Delete
    3. Kishore10 November 2014 at 10:00

      I noticed that too, butt thought I'd keep things clean ...

      Delete
    4. Deepak Gopinath10 November 2014 at 10:08

      Paddy look back again

      Delete
    5. Kishore10 November 2014 at 10:10

      He left the hearse

      Delete
    6. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 11:32

      Tut,tut! I am clean and I look at only the heart (of the word)part! No diversions (in spite of the 3 cornered attack)

      Delete
    7. Kishore10 November 2014 at 11:46

      Paper with Putin face is now on sale in Ukraine. Just to rub his nose in ...

      Delete
    8. Kishore10 November 2014 at 11:55

      http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/toilet-paper-printed-with-the-picture-of-valdimir-putin/slideshow/37903314.cms

      Delete
    9. VMA Nair10 November 2014 at 13:13

      Attack from the back is not good I think

      Delete
  2. VMA Nair10 November 2014 at 08:59

    Communion - (o+ma(n)) +sts

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath10 November 2014 at 09:05

      If that is the case then its should be COMMUNI(-o)(-n)(+st)STS with N coming from 'men finally'

      Delete
    2. SandhyaP10 November 2014 at 09:05

      COMMUNI(-o)(-n){ST}S

      Delete
    3. Kishore10 November 2014 at 09:34

      Thanks,AVM and Sandy

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 09:37

      Wise man- ST?

      Delete
    5. Kishore10 November 2014 at 09:47

      Saint Santa

      Delete
    6. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 11:18

      Thank you. I am wiser now.

      Delete
    7. Kishore10 November 2014 at 11:48

      St. Patrick is also referred to as Paddy (when saying St. Patrick's Day, many use the words, Paddy's Day)

      Delete
    8. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 12:24

      Greener version ( I think they wear green on St.Patrick's day)

      Delete
  3. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 09:00

    Just one comment? Monday morning blues?
    Nice CW. Would like K to break his vow.
    A fw gaps and a few unexplained fills does not diminish the enjoyment. Blog comes to the rescue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore10 November 2014 at 09:35

      vow?

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 09:38

      Of silence.

      Delete
    3. Kishore10 November 2014 at 10:09

      Unless The Official Crossword Examiner (who has the list of who is who) or Anon come forth, my lips are sealed

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 11:19

      Lips are sealed may have a different connotation nowadays!

      Delete
    5. Kishore10 November 2014 at 11:44

      What I mean is that I cannot be a whistle blower right now. As our master strategist politicians like to say: ït will all be revealed at the right time (or worse) please read my (auto)biography ...

      Delete
    6. Mukundala Balasubramanyam10 November 2014 at 11:45

      Then Press Here to listen to Jim Reeves version!

      Delete
    7. Mukundala Balasubramanyam10 November 2014 at 11:47

      The post above is in response to Paddy @ 11:19.

      Delete
    8. Kishore10 November 2014 at 11:53

      Thanks for the song, MB. My fav. JR song is 'But you love me, daddy"

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORUj1KNWJ8w

      Delete
    9. Mukundala Balasubramanyam10 November 2014 at 12:09

      That's my favourite too. :) Along with Bimbo and Billy Bayou.

      Delete
  4. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 09:04

    3D- Is it the head or the tail that is chopped off? Depends on which way you look at it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore10 November 2014 at 10:03

      Tail when it goes out and head when it returns

      Delete
    2. Subbaraman10 November 2014 at 16:32

      Returning from the sewer with the tail ( of the sewer) chopped off. So it's ok.

      Delete
  5. Deepak Gopinath10 November 2014 at 09:06

    Need to pull up my socks for the next three days :-(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ramani10 November 2014 at 10:57

    @Deepak 9.06 Then we can straight away come to the blog at 8.30 without trying...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Padmanabhan10 November 2014 at 11:39

    Should I say +1?

    ReplyDelete
  8. VMA Nair10 November 2014 at 13:20

    rack·et 2   (rkt)

    n.

    23 D Racket also means a loud distressing noise. But here crosse is the answer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath10 November 2014 at 13:39

      Crosse is the racket used in the game Lacrosse, so it is a DD

      Delete
    2. Kishore10 November 2014 at 13:51

      Lacrosse racket is one defn. What's the other?

      Delete
    3. Suresh10 November 2014 at 13:57

      Only 1 definition. Loud means crass with noise being the homophone indicator

      Delete
    4. Raghunath10 November 2014 at 14:04

      Where is 'crass' in the clue? It's a DD with 'loud noise' = racket = Crosse

      Delete
    5. Suresh10 November 2014 at 14:13

      crass sounds like crosse. Crosse does not mean loud noise.

      Delete
    6. VMA Nair10 November 2014 at 14:16

      Agree with Kishore. if crosse is in clue instead of racket with racket as answer it is a DD

      Delete
    7. Kishore10 November 2014 at 14:17

      If we don't hear from Anon anon, maybe the OCE can chip in on this

      Delete
    8. VMA Nair10 November 2014 at 14:18

      No pun?

      Delete
    9. Suresh10 November 2014 at 14:19

      How is it a double definition. Loud noise does not define the word crasse. I thought we were on fairly elementary ground here.

      Delete
    10. VMA Nair10 November 2014 at 14:21

      not a DD with crosse as answer . I meant Loud noise — crosse (6) with racket as answer will make it a DD

      Delete
    11. Suresh10 November 2014 at 14:24

      But racket is not the answer

      Delete
    12. VMA Nair10 November 2014 at 14:30

      yes. but crass and crosse are HPs? or cross hp?

      Delete
    13. Suresh10 November 2014 at 14:34

      That is a moot point. In any case it is not a DD

      Delete
    14. Raghunath10 November 2014 at 14:46

      Suresh,

      crass sounds like crosse. Crosse does not mean loud noise.

      Visit http://www.thefreedictionary.com/crass and hear the Brit pronunciation of both Crosse and Crass. Both are different. So IMO it's not a homophone clue.

      Delete
    15. Raghunath10 November 2014 at 14:50

      But you are correct in that it's not a DD. Maybe Anon got his wires all crossed like I did. CROSSE is not loud noise for it to be a DD.

      Delete
    16. Suresh10 November 2014 at 14:57

      That is why I said it is a moot point whether it is a valid homophone or not. Maybe in cases like this the word roughly or crudely can be added to make it acceptable. Like heard you becoming Urdu roughly in an old ET crossie.

      Delete
    17. Kishore10 November 2014 at 15:05

      Beside the point wrt the clue under discussion, but for heard you to be a homophone of Urdu, one not only requires a very rough tongue, but should also think Urdu id pronounced as 'er-dyoo' with ur as in urban and dyoo rhyming with view

      Delete
    18. Mukundala Balasubramanyam10 November 2014 at 15:56

      Amidst all this racket/noise here is a diversion.

      A man is being interviewed for a job.

      Q : What are your qualifications for the job of night watchman?
      A : The slightest NOISE wakes me up

      Delete
    19. Subbaraman10 November 2014 at 16:23

      Employing such night watchmen is a big racket.

      Delete
  9. Anon10 November 2014 at 15:41

    Raghu, I think that you're spot on. I must have had my wires crosse-d. Bad clue, plain and simple.
    Sorry about that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Subbaraman10 November 2014 at 16:20

    Nether ' crass' nor ' cross' which might be considered HPs of ' crosse' mean loud noise. So this cannot be a DD. Apart from this clue, the others were quite enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Safe Trax11 November 2014 at 12:10

    Wow, Excellent post.

    Employee Transportation Solution in India | Transport Management System

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com

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