Wednesday 7 January 2015

No 11286, Wednesday 07 Jan 2015, Neyartha


Neyartha's been to a football game recently as a 9A.

ACROSS
1   Saddle horse finds pails of the missing alien family (8) BUCKSKIN {BUCKetS}{KIN}
5   Drafter seeks to smuggle in the British desserts (6) AFTERS [T]
9   Lazy fellow considering approval with hesitation is an eyewitness (6-2) LOOKER-ON {LO{OK}{ER}-ON}
10 Sagging low-quality counter with dirty edges on either side (6) DROOPY {Dir{ROOP<=}tY}
11 Lash-using punishment administrator with fish for the impudent youngster (14) WHIPPERSNAPPER {WHIPPER}{SNAPPER}
14 Under no circumstances would a woman forcing out the visiting chief be more trendy (5) NEWER NE(-v+w)WER
16 Reform worker split about patch up with yours truly (9) AMENDMENT {A{MEND}{ME}NT}
17 Daughter and son with note enter benefit for a prolific writer (9) WORDSMITH {WOR{D}{S}{MI}TH}
19 Auditor's messenger brings a song of praise (5) PAEAN (~peon)
20 It may be used to convey what someone else said (8,6) REPORTED SPEECH [CD]
23 Firing them may be harmless (6) BLANKS [CD]
24 Eminent songwriter stunned by the Rajya Sabha's censoring (8) TOWERING sONGWRITEr*
25 Chopper sent back around the red building with a room full of seats (6) EXEDRA {EX{RED*}A<=}
26 Animal going around a fanatic, one sent out by a soccer player (8) DEFENDER {DE{FiEND}ER}

DOWN
1   Being adventurous, reportedly played a game of ninepins (4) BOLD (~bowled)
2   Fabric, hot, put below the young male horse undergoing internal turmoil (5) CLOTH {C(O<=>L)T}{H}
3   Cleaning implement with a soccer player stationed in front of a goalkeeper (7) SWEEPER [DD]
4   Useless musical drama becomes part of the arranged invite (11) INOPERATIVE {IN{OPERA}TIVE*}
6   Soccer player in favour of tug going north (7) FORWARD {FOR}{DRAW<=}
7   One may leave this prior to entering outer space (9) EXOSPHERE [CD]
8   Message from above? (10) SKYWRITING [CD]
12 Adjusted rheostat range and removed radium with a medical instrument (11) STETHOSCOPE {rHEOSTaT*}{SCOPE}
13 Responsible for harming barn weasel (10) ANSWERABLE*
15 A factory or office employee might spend 9 to 5 here (9) WORKPLACE [CD]
18 Soccer player found on a carrom board? (7) STRIKER [DD]
19 Pave the way for crepe cooked by upset Ed (7) PRECEDE {CREPE*}{ED<=}
21 Wept as the time-tested model was replaced by a Conservative (5) CRIED (-t+c)CRIED
22 Algae extract found in the Niagara Falls (4) AGAR [T]

GRID

18 comments:

  1. One more good puzzle. Slightly more challenging than yday but very fair and solvable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice bit more of skywriting, Deepak. When Sq Ldr Baldev Singh had a serious 'problem' with his IJT when taking off a few years back at Aero India, this was the response of the IAF commentator on the PA system. He was probably reading the writing in the sky.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome Mr Ramamurthy.
      It is nice to see you here.
      I am Rishikesh as you have known me some forty years ago.
      Friends,
      Once on a crossword show on Madras Doordarshan Mr Ramamurthy was the setter and quizmaster and I a solver.

      Delete
  3. I beg to differ Shrikanth. I could get samosas today whereas it was very few fills yesterday for me. In fact, I started with great hesitation, but slowly everything fell in place. Thank you Neyartha.

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  4. Quote from Ed-page blurb in ET Bang-ed today:

    "Had I not been a signer, I would have loved to spend my entire life in a garage fine tuning a Fiat or a Maruti."-Bhimsen Joshi, Musician

    Viva la spellcheck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As per spell check 'signer' is a correct word and as the name implies it checks only spellings and not context. But it will readily jump to correct,say,Kishore with incredible alternatives. I cannot understand why it cannot be programmed to ignore proper names (all, not just western)

      Delete
  5. I think this was the fastest I have solved a Neyartha puzzle! Very enjoyable indeed. Thanks to setter and blogger!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Today TH has published a correction on yesterday's editorial.
    It says the use of the word 'incredulous' was wrong and they should have had 'incredible' instead.
    I have written to the RE arguing that in fact the word 'incredulous' is more apt and 'incredible' is not the right word.
    Would you agree?
    The sentence is:
    With Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting the tone for this antiquity frenzy with his implausible claims that cosmetic surgery was practised thousands of years ago and in-vitro fertilisation-like procedure was resorted to long back, and different political leaders following it up with several other incredulous claims well before the start of the national event, the reason for the inclusion of the session becomes supremely clear.
    Is anything wrong with 'incredulous'? Should it be 'incredible'?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In my view: claims/assertions are credible or incredible; people are credulous or incredulous. The claims, thus, are incredible; the people believing in them are credulous; most others are incredulous!

      Delete
    2. I think it should have been "ridiculous."

      Delete
    3. Abhay
      You're right. That is a popular understanding.
      Even before I saw your note above I was wondering whether I was hasty.
      But on further research I find that dictionaries do give the meaning incredible right under 'incredulous'.
      I think the correction was not that necessary.
      So I think incred

      Delete
  7. Very good one from Neyartha - had to put in some hard thinking, but completed it. Samosas and chai, for sure. Even more welcome in Delhi's chilly weather!
    Agree with VJ - it should be 'ridiculous'.

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  8. Incredible that TH changed from 'Incredulous' to 'Incredible'. Unbelievable!

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  9. Last 2 days have been a totally different Neyartha- interesting, enjoyable but eminently reachable. Missed samosas today due to 'Exedra'. So near yet so far.

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  10. A real blockbuster today. Lovely clues. smooth surfaces.I relished the punch in 4d 'useless musical drama' where 'useless' is the def. In sw corner I found it a tad difficult. Once I cracked 25a things became easy. Thank you Neyartha.

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  11. Now that IXL is over those interested can start sending in their CWs for the Sunday Specials

    ReplyDelete

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