Comparatively easier than the last two from Arden. Today I was scratching my head over 1D and Kishore standing on my shoulder.
ACROSS
9 Ruth Abraham starts after you pick an operatic heroine (7) ELECTRA {ELECT}{R
10 Introduce a law in, say a transparent medium (7) OPALINE {OP{A}{L}INE}
11 Beg soldiers to set up a tent outside (7) ENTREAT {ENT{RE}AT*}
12 Allowed to touch base outside a city in U.S. (7) OAKLAND {O{A}K}{LAND}
13 They feel wine cards should include port (9) TENTACLES {TENT}{AC{L}ES}
15 Gutta percha holds a candle (5) TAPER [T]
16 Drink will irritate painter (7) CHAGALL {CHA}{GALL}
19 I'm between two sets of opponents, maybe twins (7) SIAMESE {S{I}{AM}E}{SE}
20 Not sure database is not bad/bad (2,3) AT SEA
21 Flower on the breakfast table (9) BUTTERCUP [DD]
26 Flaying with rope (7) LASHING [DD]
28 Contrarian — A way to secure profit (7) AGAINST {A}{GAIN}{ST}
29 Tough to track killer whale, but it bears fruit (7) ORCHARD {ORC}{HARD}
DOWN
1 Collaboration to support a month of hype (6) DECEIT {DEC}{EIT<=} Collaboration = TIE UP
2 He was aware, reportedly, of not rising but falling 7 (6) NEWTON (~knew){NEW}{TON<=}
3 Disgusting place, called an eyesore (4) STYE (~sty)
4 Group makes former U.S. President switch sides finally (6) CARTEL CARTE(-r+l)L
5 Big business at a disadvantage with you and me (8) COLOSSUS {CO}{LOSS}{US}
6 Hamper action — must be a nervous wreck (6,4) BASKET CASE {BASKET} {CASE}
7 Peasgood's — nonsuch for New York (3,5) BIG APPLE [DD]
8 Police get information on armed criminal (8) GENDARME {GEN}{ARMED*}
14 Extremely hard to wrongly detain a fellow inside (10) ADAMANTINE {AD{A}{MAN}TINE*}
16 He presides over college and he follows a musical (8) CHAIRMAN {C}{HAIR}{MAN}
17 Dalmatians lose Mark, become another breed (8) ALSATIAN
18 Poles escaped from East Berlin, maybe free (8) LIBERATE {EA
22 Old chess champion is short and fat (6) TALLOW {TAL}{LOW}
23 Creeping mad maniac (6) CAIMAN*
24 Temple in the outskirts of Patna houses a deity (6) PAGODA {P
27 Fire rifle (4) SACK [DD]
GRID
Exactly the same one I was stuck too. :)
ReplyDeleteInvariably I am floored by such clues where the reversal indicator is part of the word
DeleteWhat a sucker punch it was!
DeleteRe: opening remarks. That was my shin you were scratching not your head....
ReplyDeleteRemote control?
DeleteDid you scratch his head in return?
My hands were otherwise deployed- scratching my own head
DeleteYesterday I witnessed a dance performance at the Music Academy.
ReplyDeleteTo this worse half's left, beyond the better half, were seated an elderly couple who till the prog began, were solving a crossword printed out from a paper.
From the distance I could not exactly determine which Crossword it was but knew from the grid and design that it must be NIE or ET.
I never declare that I am a crossword setter but better halves always like to mention their worse halves.
Thus during an interval the couple were told that I was a tormentor
They were very happy and greeted me and were excited to see a setter in flesh and blood, though the former was deteriorating and latter was slow-flowing.
They said they found THC 'tough'.
But I do not like to chat in auditoriums - even whispers are left to those on the stage.
So I could not tell them about THCC.
Nice interlude- for us.
DeleteI had met Suresh in Vizag about a year ago and he had called over Mrs Vijayalakshmi (I think) also for dinner. To my extreme embarrassment she asked for my autograph after being introduced by Suresh
ReplyDeleteShe probably wanted The Phantom's autograph, not Raghunath's ;-)
DeleteDoes the Ghost who walks (in flesh and blood) think so?!
DeleteI am glad I did not embarrass Phantom when Gridman was kind enough to call me for lunch & intro.
DeleteMaybe if she meets incognito she may swoon
DeleteNice puzzle. My COD 2Dn : NEWTON. Yes, he was aware that what goes up must come down and Arden too was aware to include it as a downward clue!
ReplyDelete21A reminded me of the Dean Martin song, watch it at Buttercup a golden hair
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the song and the video too, Sir. A song worth listening any number of times!
DeleteA doubt regarding 7dn. Should N in nonsuch be in capital letters? It seems to be a proper name... It reminded me of the tea estate Nonsuch near Coonoor
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the puzzle, Arden - thank you! Thank you to DG for the blog - and to Kishore for allowing the shin-scratching that led to the parsing of DECEIT!
ReplyDeleteI didn't find it quite so simple, partly due to my own mistake: I put in DIAMANTINE for 14d without checking the letters carefully enough, and was thus stuck on 13a (and consequently 1d) for a long time! I, too, couldn't parse the latter half of DECEIT.
Learning for the day was that ORC is a variant of ORCA - thus far, I had only come across the former in the sense used by Tolkien.
One very minor niggle: GENDARME is an individual policeman, which makes the "Police get..." part seem ungrammatical.
On further reflection, I think "police" as definition for GENDARME is itself a bit off - it should be "policeman". "Police" is almost always a collective noun (the equivalent would be GENDARMERIE).
DeleteIt's all French to me!
ReplyDeleteFor old timers, I stumbled upon this on you tube The Shadows - The Final Tour Live 2004 Watch and enjoy, it's over 2 hours though.
ReplyDeleteNice one, Sir. Shall download this show and intend to enjoy in a leisurely manner some time later.
DeleteMy COD is 17D- Dalmatians losing their mark!
ReplyDeleteI had to do lot more head scratching than just 1D. I agree with Col. about the reversal indicator part.
You have to get the German shephard first before you can get their mark
DeleteBut I started by dismantling the dalmatians by deducting marks.
Deletee"
ReplyDeletePosted late yesternight for Kishore:
It would have helped if you had clarified that Sampooran Singh Kalra is our respected poet and lyricist Gulzar saheb. His lyrics are all so elusive, surrealistic and evocative of purity and nature. He alas also wrote the lyrics for that abominable Beedi jallayee de for which Bipasha Basu did the item jig !!
His synergy with RD Burman is soul-binding of two creative persons.
I am sure that our friends, who unravel cryptic clues, could decipher that ...
DeleteI am all at ...!
DeleteKishore:
ReplyDeleteYour comments yesterday
That's a royal scam, Abhay. ER pays taxes to the Exchequer (not Bhala), who in turn gives it back to her as pocket money. The great unwashed are, however, taken to the cleaners in the exercise. What a washout!
Who is ER? I only know of the ER TV series !! Please clarify.
As Paddy says, HM
DeleteAbhay, whose comment preceded mine, had mentioned the comment in ref to the clue for RECESS, and referred to the Queen and her erstwhile tax shelter
DeleteKishore, there's one lonely, sorry, I mean, one 'akelarajput' seeking your help to solve puzzles! Pl see last two posts in yesterday's comments column.
ReplyDeleteI have just replied there to the missive from Rajpootana .
DeleteI think ER refers to QE (!) Queen Elizabeth. I think with that the whole thing should fall in place.
ReplyDeleteDeepak, AVM has just jumped off the fence, in favour of the S&B
ReplyDeleteAfter ER, it is AVM ( I could only think of the film maker) I had to a bit of digging to get Ajeesh. We need an official decoder! ( unless he does not want them decoded!)
ReplyDeleteWelcome Ajeesh.
What's a bit of hither and thither between friends?! AVM was easily unravelled, wasn't it? Btw, I often call him AVM on FB. And ER must have been easier than that. It was in the clue for RECESS yesterday ...
DeleteLovely puzzle... finally managed to solve a full grid without any help...!! Thank you Arden.
ReplyDelete