Some amazing clues from Gridman... 29a probably takes the cake and eats it too ... not forgetting the two long ones on the lateral extremes ...and quite a few tails cut-off today. Stumped by 14d
Across
1 Emperor about to admit fighter to haul back (8) CALIGULA (CA to admit ALI LUG<)
Remembered old Caligula Minus from Asterix
5 Women mix up in duckwalk (6) WADDLE (W ADDLE)
A waddle is considered comical while a goose-step is considered martial (while still being comical)
10 Cattle disease brought by endless fog and deluge (7) MURRAIN (MUR
11 Finale has mice spreading out over a wide area (7) ENDEMIC (END MICE*)
The Finale coming up shortly will have ace solvers coming in from a wide area
12 Merchant tarred badly (6) TRADER (TARRED)*
13 A doctor almost got up with one drop of amrit — food for the gods (8) AMBROSIA (A MB ROS
15 On top of which, a house is nothing (4) ALSO (A LS O)
That house is now in session ....
16 Reader's voluminous notes by the side (10) MARGINALIA (CD)
Fermat's Last Theorem was arguably one of the most intriguing bits of marginalia (Hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet-Wiki).. I still don't get it ... the proof, I mean ...
18 No siren is for such a situation (10) UNALARMING (CD)
But after an air raid siren there used to be an all-clear one too, signalling that the situation was now unalarming ;-)
20 It's half-kind to writer (4) SAKI (it=SA KI
23 Having alighted, I rate assembled intellectuals (8) LITERATI (LIT (I RATE)*)
24 Fruit — old chum almost swallows it (6) CITRON (IT in CRON
26 Drink quite mixed by the French (7) TEQUILA (QUITE* LA)
Mixed, yes ... but shaken or stirred?
27 Was father mean until he became this? (7) GRANDPA (CD)
28 Baby, go with grass endlessly (6) PEEWEE (PEE WEE
If you gotta go, you gotta go, man ...
29 Eat, perhaps, besides drinking during this time (3,5) TEA BREAK (EAT*) (CD)
Down
1 Thus some sentences might end (4,2,1,4,4) COME TO A FULL STOP (CD)
2 They are often cast in Westerns (7) LARIATS (CD)
3 State support for beard (6) GOATEE (GOA TEE)
4 Single bunch: novel without energy (4) LONE (NO
6 Moreover, smoothens the firewood holders (8) ANDIRONS (AND IRONS)
7 Mother's sole provision for old girl (7) DAMOSEL (DAM SOLE*)
8 Once the silent one's state took away opening sign! (11,4) EXCLAMATION MARK (EX CLAM
9 Whose target man? Perhaps! (9) TERMAGANT (TARGET MAN) (CD)
14 Cultural centre? (9) -A-M-T-A- Did not get it ... Addendum FARMSTEAD See comments
17 United, perhaps, following husband, victim of recession (8) HAIRLINE (AIRLINE following H)
19 Old lark, we hear (7) ANTIQUE (~ANTIC)
21 Shorten a game (7) ABRIDGE (A BRIDGE)
22 About to run into feeding-time requirement — tummy soother (6) BICARB (CA R in BIB)
25 Fever? Dispute rightaway! (4) AGUE (A
14 Cultural centre? FARMSTEAD (CD)
ReplyDeleteIn which sense? B'cos they grow Bt crops?
DeleteCulture : 6. The cultivation of soil; tillage http://www.thefreedictionary.com/culture
DeleteSo cultural center is a place where things are grown = farmstead
Trust Ramesh to dig deep into the soil to come up with the cultural conn;-)
DeleteAs long as connection is abbreviated to conn I am ok :)
Delete14 dn Is it farmstead?
ReplyDeleteWhy? Why not dalmatian ... That too fits, but I am not able to decipher how the clue works
Delete4 Single bunch: novel without energy (4) LONE (NOvEL)* fodder deletion error?
ReplyDeleteV: volt
That would be indirect abbreviation. GM has confirmed error
DeleteVolt is not energy.
DeletePB to revolt
Delete:-)
DeleteThe support in 3d, coming as it were from GM, had me thinking on a different angle at first
ReplyDeleteThis support is for the Col.
DeleteSometimes the support may come unexpectedly.
DeleteSuddenly.
Unannounced and unheralded, needing some effort to see it..
It may be nothing new but decades old.
--O-O--
DeletePaddy, your comment reminds me of the first joke at
Deletehttp://www.goldensurf.com/humor_laughter.htm
Terrific Joke! The second one that I liked is - A 90 year old man calling his wife "Honey, My Love, Darling, Sweetheart, Pumpkin, etc" !! Thanks, Kishore, for the link. :)
DeleteTalking of Hearing aid jokes-
DeleteDid you hear about an old man who had to change his Will many times since getting his Hearing aid (of course, it is to be assumed that his family did not know about it!)
O/T
ReplyDeleteYesterday's BL tell me India and Bangla Desh are finally going to swap enclaves and adversely possessed lands. That means the only enclave of the third order - land possessed by India wholly surrounded by BD wholly surrounded by I wholly surrounded by BD will lose that unique status
I'm confounded by the surroundings
DeleteVisit http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahala_Khagrabari and enjoy
DeleteRichard seems to have gone off the radar nowadays
ReplyDeleteHe says he's very busy in the mornings, and by the time he gets down to the CW, the blog has said it all
DeleteI replied to his Amul forwards asking about his whereabouts, to which there was no answer.
DeleteSame here. Hope all is well with Richard. .
DeleteI too get Amul & other interesting forwards. Being 'Busy' is good for business! He may soon catch up on CW.
DeleteIs not 'Bicarb' an abbreviation? If so, any indication needed or is it a common one nad hence accepted?
ReplyDeleteApologies to solvers for the mistake in 4d which doesn't lead to the intended answer - which is nevertheless given by Kishore. Escaped repeated checks.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Gridman's CD Player is in perfect condition now! Today it played a whopping 7 CDs!!
ReplyDeleteThis citron is our 'Sathukudi' (orange) or is it a kind of melon?
ReplyDeleteIsn't Sathukudi a mosambi/ musambi or sweet lime?
DeleteYes, it is. I think 'Citron' is a generic name including lime, orange etc.
DeleteCitrus the family, but citron is a fruit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citron#Varieties_.26_hybrids
DeleteThank you Kishore.
DeleteCitron is naarthangai. Pretty popular in Tamilnadu. Usually, consumed as a pickle.
DeleteOh! Thank you. Now I get it. I was close but could not get it.
DeleteCouldn't get the purpose of 'mean' here:
ReplyDelete27 Was father mean until he became this? (7) GRANDPA (CD)
Grand would be the opposite of mean. So was he a mean pa before he became a grand pa?
Delete8Dn : Once the silent one's state took away opening sign! (11,4) EXCLAMATION MARK (EX CLAM nATION MARK)
ReplyDeleteIndicator for deletion of 'n' pl?
state took away opening = n ATION
DeleteThanks, Raghu. :)
DeleteHere's a piece about Admiral Katari from funny guy Sidhun Vadukut:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyletter.com/NowHereThis/letters/now-here-this-16
Talking of Vice Admirals, today's TH carries an item on V Adm N Krishnan at
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/how-we-won-the-1971-war/article6641846.ece
I still remember that he was standing behiy Lt gen JS Aurora, when Lt Gen AAK Niazi was signing the instrument of surrender in 1971
Yes. That was a famous photo.
DeleteCould somebody explain 7D please? I guessed it right. Mother's (MA) SOLE provision for girl. This is how I got parsed it but couldn't figure out the D. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMother's sole provision for old girl (7)
ReplyDeleteMother = Dam ( Female parent of say a horse )
Sole = Anag Fodder
Provision = Anag Indicator
For = Link word
Old = Archaic indicator
Girl = Defn
Thank you Ramesh. I was also not sure of it. Damsel (in disresss?) is more popular,but I am coming across Damosel for the first time.
DeleteGM used damosel in a pclue on 12.9.14
DeleteBlame my database ( I mean my memory)
DeleteJust looked up the CW blogged by you colourfully! (and of course the poem refereed to) Thank you for correcting me. I should be more careful and attentive (But momory?)
DeleteFarmstead was discussed in the morning. The Free dictionary meaning-
ReplyDelete. farmstead - the buildings and adjacent grounds of a farmfarmstead - the buildings and adjacent grounds of a farm
15A: Aren't LS, RS etc. Houses, i.e. with a capital H?
ReplyDelete19D: Although I solved the clue, with the help of crossings of course, I wonder whether ANTIC and ANTIQUE are truly homophones.
As usual, it's wonderful to learn more new words, thanks to Gridman.
9 D
ReplyDeleteTarget man *
A semi &lit ?