Thursday, 29 January 2015

No 11304, Thursday 29 Jan 2015, Afterdark


A pangram with something to do with R-Day? Saw Gandhi and Swaraj couldn't find the rest. I'm bad when it comes to History.

ACROSS
1   Jews losing margins on capital deposited earlier on tree (6) CASHEW {CASH}{jEWs}
5   Cuba’s capital, say is wrong at the end (6) CLIMAX {Cuba}{LIMA}{X} Capital on double duty
10 As reformed sage, I wield a weapon (7) ASSEGAI {AS}{SAGE*}{I}
11 New villa baron occupied at England is habitable (7) LIVABLE {LIVA{B}L*}{E}
12 To appear indistinct, heartless cheat hid amidst valley (6) DARKLE {DA{RooK}LE}
15 Mother-in-law by the new icehouse chose to leave the location (6) MILIEU {M-I-L}{IcEhoUse}
16 Yes, road laid by military leader and short railway worker (7) YARDMAN {YA}{RD}{Mi...y}{ANd}
17 Leaders of Indian republic and Qatar seen in another country (4) IRAQ Acrostic
18 Look, go back with the French... (4) OGLE {OG<=}{LE}
19 ...old fellow on new Ford/Alto designed for travelling (3-4) OFF-ROAD {O}{F}{F-ROAD*}
20 Used Iodine and Vanadium to make a weapon (4) SHIV {SH}{I}{V} SH for second hand?
22 Army at Line of Control, discharged a round to get a mineral (4) TALC {TA}{LoC}
25 Maple leaf trimmed on both sides, fermented to make a drink (4,3) PALE ALE {mAPLE+LEAf}*
27 Animal moves about further high, consumes a bit of sherry and misbehaves (4,2) ACTS UP {CAT*}{Sh...y} {UP} (Addendum - {(-c)A(+c)CT}{Sh...y} {UP} - See comments)
28 Sick seamen given injections, perhaps (6) ENEMAS*
31 And lutetium introduced in with Uranium makes top abrasive (7) ALUNDUM {A{LU}ND}{U}{Makes}
32 Bulb onion Northern Ireland exported is a parody (7) LAMPOON {LAMP}{OniON}
33 Write, scribble about husband being more pale (6) WHITER {W{H}ITER*}
34 Complain about light infantry's confidence (6) BELIEF {BE{LI}EF}

DOWN
2   Gold on road, river at Iowa and another country (7) AUSTRIA {AU}{ST}{R}{IA}
3   Tall lady is heartless, very much (6) HIGHLY {HIGH}{ladY}
4   To move quickly, wife and husband first zipped past the island (4) WHIZ {W}{H}{I}{Zi...d}
5   To seal leak, evacuate accountant first (4) CALK {CA}{LeaK}
6   Fruitless to regularly sign a villain, out bedridden (2,4) IN VAIN {sIgN} {VillAIN}
7   Wandering with one Doctor Lingam before noon passed (7) AMBLING {A}{MB}{LINGam}
8   Leader's handshake accepted by soldier (6) GANDHI {G{HAND*}I}
9   Overthrown Burmese king ran away in a daze (6) BEMUSE BUrMESE*
13 Listener at French capital to fold perhaps, a cover (7) EARFLAP {EAR}{Fr...h}{LAP}
14 Crowned king after a party, service by earl and duke followed (7) ADORNED {A}{DO}{RN}{E}{D}
15 Restrain person taking gold from prophet (7) MANACLE {MAN}{orACLE}
20 Netaji's war, a justifiable part of self-rule in India (6) SWARAJ [T]
21 Fact revealed by hit & run accident around the junction (2,5) IN TRUTH {IN {T}RUTH*}
23 Deranged mother-in-law's twin out to make an opening in the garment (7) ARMHOLE MOtHER-in-LAw*
24 Nothing left after accountant's error at gambling den (6) CASINO {CA}{SIN}{O}
25 Expert in joke died, his heart tripped first (6) PUNDIT {PUN}{D}{hIs}{Tr...d}
26 Coat of animal about to be taken off by nurse coming earlier (6) ENAMEL {EN}{cAMEL}
29 General appearance of man inside... (4) AMIR {A{M}IR}
30 ...is of a lout throwing son upfront (4) SLOB (+s)SLOB(-s)


GRID

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38 comments:

  1. Rengaswamy29 January 2015 at 08:37

    It is not just a pangram, but the pangram is made out of last letter of the words. Unique.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rengaswamy29 January 2015 at 08:43

      Correction. It is not just a pangram, but the pangram is made out of first or last letter of the words. Unique (M is not appearing as the last letter in any word)

      Delete
    2. Shrikanth29 January 2015 at 08:48

      31A

      Delete
    3. Rengaswamy29 January 2015 at 10:31

      Mmm......... It escaped from my eyes. Thanks for the lovely Xwords.

      Delete
  2. Deepak Gopinath29 January 2015 at 08:50

    Well spotted Renga it's all last letters not first and last

    ReplyDelete
  3. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 08:50

    27 Animal moves about further high, consumes a bit of sherry and misbehaves (4,2) ACTS UP {CAT*}{Sh...y} {UP}

    CAT becomes (+A)C(-a)T. Is 'a' = about?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 08:55

      It's in Chambers dic. A= about

      Delete
    2. Deepak Gopinath29 January 2015 at 08:55

      Animal = CAT, moves about is the Anind

      Delete
    3. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 08:57

      Then it's an indirect anag

      Delete
    4. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 08:59

      Using further from the wordplay we move 'a' before c

      Delete
    5. RameshJ29 January 2015 at 09:13

      I had it as about=c & animal=cat & wordplay says c moves forward

      Delete
    6. Anonymous29 January 2015 at 09:14

      My thought was C = About , move further .. so C goes after A. If it was a down clue, 'high' could have done double duty and moved A up.

      Delete
    7. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 09:50

      I thought moving further in A or D clue was to jump the queue and be first. It could also be as you and Ramesh have said.

      Delete
  4. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 08:57

    Very nice AD! Tremendous patience and skill required to to do this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gita SB29 January 2015 at 09:10

    Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kishore29 January 2015 at 09:34

    Wonderful, AD. Also noticed something different, not usually seen in THC grids. There are 4 2x2 squares of lights. For eg: the LE of DARKLE and YA of YARDMAN. This sort of checking is more common in DH grids.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shrikanth29 January 2015 at 09:43

      Thanks Kishore. Yes, its not a grid normally used by me , for that matter anyone. I took special dispensation to accommodate this idea.

      Delete
    2. Kishore29 January 2015 at 09:56

      3x3s are pretty common in DH. On Wednesday, we had 2x4s too

      Delete
    3. Shrikanth29 January 2015 at 13:56

      Thanks Kishore. Yes, its not a grid normally used by me , for that matter anyone. I took special dispensation to accommodate this idea.

      Delete
  7. Deepak Gopinath29 January 2015 at 09:52

    Seen on facebook

    Obama's car protection ...

    3 layer bomb protection, automatic chemical weapons launcher if bullet touches car, fully bullet proof so on and so forth ...

    Modi or our car's protection

    3 Chillies
    &
    1 Lemon

    ReplyDelete
  8. Padmanabhan29 January 2015 at 13:17

    Nice one Col. Thank you.
    Is it proportional to perceived threat or connected to the saffron robe?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam29 January 2015 at 17:30

      Modi is fearless, you see! He doesn't need all those paraphernalia of Obama's car. ;-)

      Delete
  9. Padmanabhan29 January 2015 at 13:20

    AD-
    Joining in late. Another good one today. Enjoyed solving it though a few blanks were there. The bar seems to be continually raised- Pangram, Double pangram,pangram of last letter... what next? Great job requiring a lot of planning & hard work.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mukundala Balasubramanyam29 January 2015 at 16:57

    Nice last letter pangram, AD! Keep up the show and looking forward to many more such innovations!! Tough one. Couldn't fare well today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shrikanth29 January 2015 at 18:26

      Thanks MB. Sorry if you found it tough. Many times we dont realize it when we set. But mine I thought was always simple.

      Delete
    2. Shrikanth29 January 2015 at 18:27

      Thanks MB. Sorry if you found it tough. Many times we dont realize it when we set. But mine I thought was always simple.

      Delete
  11. Mukundala Balasubramanyam29 January 2015 at 17:02

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Chaturvasi29 January 2015 at 19:01

    Today's grid is cyclically symmetrical. That is the pattern remains the same whichever way you turn it.
    Of course I have used such grids but those of Gridman in THC are not.
    Four x four square lights I have used in some synonym if puzzles elsewhere.
    While all setters are innovative, AD takes credit for some novel variations of used devices.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Chaturvasi29 January 2015 at 19:04

    Read synonymic puzzles or quick/straightforward puzzles.
    My desktop needs some attn. and typing in iPad is a pain.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Abhay29 January 2015 at 19:24

    Got around to doing this very late today. Quite enjoyed it - thank you, Afterdark. A pangram only in ending letters is quite a feat - congratulations! Enjoyed many of the clues.

    A couple of doubts:
    - 5d: Given that "evacuate" applies to the preceding word, should it perhaps have been "evacuated"? (This wouldn't affect the surface, either.) As it stands, it appears to apply to the following word.
    - 9d: "In a daze" is surely BEMUSED? I don't think the definition fits BEMUSE.

    Thanks to DG for the blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 20:16

      you're right about 5d. This also applies in the same manner to verbal anagrinds which we sometimes overlook, when it follows the fodder.

      Delete
  15. Ramani29 January 2015 at 19:35

    Nice one. Slob & Belief took away my samosas. Very Happy to solve the rest. Thanks AD.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Chaturvasi29 January 2015 at 19:45

    Just wonderbraing. - sorry, wondering - why AD didn't use Lovable at 11ac.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath29 January 2015 at 20:13

      Because there's no 'love' in any form featuring in it ;)

      Delete
    2. raju umamaheswar31 January 2015 at 00:02

      Arrived in New York, after an Odysseous journey of 30 plus hours, with halts at Madras for five hours and Abudhabi for three hours. The drive from JFK airport to Manhattan took almost an hour and a half was very picturesque with vast white swathes of snow covered areas and cars parked giving an imagery of igloos. Temperature at -7 degrees-- very bracing and brrrr !!
      First experience of snowfall in scotch mist drizzles, very ethereal to look at. God is there in his heaven and all is right with the world !!

      Completed fifteen crossies of a Guardian puzzles book, bought in the bombay pavements in 1977. The book has be preserved well thanks to my meticulous bracing of the covers by cardboard, with the smell being heavenly. Foreword by Brian Redhead very encouraging and ego- boosting. Says: a crossword is an abstraction---all association and no emotion.--- A law unto itself. Those who practise that law daily are men( not women?) assured, regular habits, confident that
      the sun will rise in the morning and that 16 across will prove to be a misprint. I see them set in their ways-- disciplined and organized. They sit , rhythmically filling in those tiny squares.They share a daily joke with an anonymous but familiar and well understood compiler.He who does a crossword sets off each day on a journey into the known, not the unknown. He travels hopefully and arrives almost always.

      Ye-all Agree?.

      I feel that a crossword is a meeting of souls of the acrosses and downs ! One is useless without yhe other ? What a magic weave?

      Delete
  17. raju umamaheswar31 January 2015 at 00:09

    Thanks Col for your blog that binds us all fads in an emotional hug. My posts may not be read by others as I'll be late by a whole 13 to 15 hours. But I intend using this blog as a daily dairy, as far as I can. Hope you don't mind? Today;s entry was conceived in the bed after 4am when the jet lagged off my body and the mind got all wired up as a transmitter.Your blog is the planchette and others reading them are the receivers in this telepathic mode.

    ReplyDelete

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