Monday, 20 July 2015

No 11451, Monday 20 Jul 2015, Aspartame


True to his name Aspartame has sweetened this CW.

 ACROSS
9, 13 Fosters heroic youth for a long-lasting impact (6,3,6,2,7) CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY {FOSTERS+HEROIC+YOUTH}*
10 It always gets subtracted (7) MINUEND [CD]
12 You will report about diary cake (4,3) YULE LOG (~you'll){YULE} {LOG}
14 Before heads of plants resign, increase official remuneration (5) PRIOR Acrostic
15 Carbon pipe is carrying fluid at the centre of a ship (7) CRUISER {C}{R{flUid}ISER}
18 It’s said to be the best attack (7) DEFENCE [CD]
21 Cuts shirt and skirts (5) TRIMS {T}{RIMS}
23, 29 Postmodern Taiwan focusses on development of nuclear bombs (7,2,4,11) WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION*
25 Oddly, noodle found in a container that’s half-opened is sweet (7) CANNOLI {CAN}{NoOdLi}{Ie} (Addendum - {CAN{NoOdLi}Ister} - See comments)
26 Poker is played by dogs (7) PORKIES*

DOWN
1   Dirty film on rotten individual (4) SCUM [DD]
2   Young deer reportedly found enchanted woods (4) FAWN (~faun) (Addendum - FAUN (~fawn) - See comments)
3   See gross, terrible creatures (8) OGRESSES*
4   Workplace of television company (6) STUDIO [C&DD]
5   West Asian surrounded by Yankee leaders is indeed close to tears (4-4) DEWY-EYED {DE{W}{Y-{E}Y}ED}
6   Work on revolutionary referendum at ball (6) DOLLOP {DO}{LLOP<=}
7   XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX (8) TRILLION [CD] There should have been only 13 of them! See comments

8   Geeks are urged to cook sugar free dish (8) KEDGEREE {GEEKs+aRE+urgED}*
11 Theorize about gin ferment extract (5) INFER [T]
15 Accountant’s account buried in burial place that’s a maze (8) CATACOMB {CA}{T{AC}OMB}
16 Group will employ housing leaders of nations in one neutral institute (8) UNIONISE {U{Na...s}{In}{One}{Ne...l}{In...e}SE}
17 Handling weird sot is most troublesome (8) ROWDIEST*
19 Professional, a little distance ahead, drank sip of Rasna at marathon (8) FOOTRACE {FOOT}{Rasna}{ACE}
20 Check vehicular valve (5) CHOKE [DD]
22 Poor-quality wine needs two drops of sherbet for little taste (6) SHODDY (-t+sh}SHODDY
24 A first-class senator found with topless woman and ecstasy (6) AMPERE {A}{MP}{hER}{E}
27 Bird found among Serengeti bisons (4) IBIS [T]
28 Peacekeepers in the borders of Shivalik went underwater (4) SUNK {Shiv{UN}aliK}


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26 comments:

  1. Chaturvasi20 July 2015 at 08:47

    9, 13: The solution CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY is imperative but the def as given seems to suggest it is a noun.
    12 What is a 'diary cake'? Shouldn't surface reading be plausible even if bizarre?
    22 SHODDY is adj. As the def 'poor-quality' is hyphenated we may take it as pointing to an adj, though usually we would say something is "of poor quality".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhavan20 July 2015 at 09:03

    7 XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX (8) TRILLION [CD] There should have been only 13 of them!

    I think the upper case X denotes 10 and the lower case x denotes multiplication. Trillion is 10 multiplied 12 times.

    ReplyDelete
  3. RameshJ20 July 2015 at 09:31

    18A: The saying is "Attack is the best form of defence" Looks like Aspartame has turned it on its head and has made defence the best attack. Is that acceptable?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mukundala Balasubramanyam20 July 2015 at 09:32

    I was about to raise a query about CHANGE in the solution of 9,13 clue but after giving it a thought for a while, realized that it was a 'reverse anagram' clue!

    Nice puzzle. Found NE corner tough. A satisfactory solve though.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Padmanabhan20 July 2015 at 09:48

    Nice workout, but kedgeree,fawn,yule log,cannoli made things difficult.
    Agree about attack being best defence.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Padmanabhan20 July 2015 at 10:06

    Is it in order to use 'Half opened' to use a letter of 'ie'? Strangely it applies to 'is' as well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Padmanabhan20 July 2015 at 10:07

    Of course it goes so well with the container in surface reading.

    ReplyDelete
  8. RameshJ20 July 2015 at 10:11

    For some reason, I was always under the impression that Aspartame was a female CW setter. Col. seems to have insider info. Now I need to go and fix my mental image of Aspartame.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sujatha20 July 2015 at 10:33

    I guessed 15A. C = carbon. U = fluid at the center. What gives the "riser" part?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RameshJ20 July 2015 at 10:51

      Pipe is a riser

      Delete
    2. Rengaswamy20 July 2015 at 13:47

      In offshore platforms, the pipes (lines) that come out from sea-bed to the deck carrying hydrocarbon are termed as Risers.

      Delete
    3. Deepak Gopinath20 July 2015 at 14:12

      Any pipe which transports material in the vertical direction is a riser

      Delete
    4. Sujatha21 July 2015 at 11:42

      Thanks a lot for the clarifications.

      Delete
  10. Heyyou20 July 2015 at 12:02

    25 Ac - CAN(N O L) I with CANI coming from half-opened canister.
    2 D - Faun (~ fawn).

    As always brickbats are most appreciated. Thanks all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam20 July 2015 at 14:34

      Your explanation of the above - most appreciated :)

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan20 July 2015 at 15:16

      Thank you Aspertame.
      One more doubt- Is trillion 10 power 12 as explained by Bnavan?

      Delete
    3. Suresh20 July 2015 at 16:37

      Yes it is Paddy. 6 0's is million 1000 million is billion 1000 billion is trillion. The British have it as million million and million billion leading to 10 power 18.

      Delete
  11. Vasant20 July 2015 at 12:11

    Phew!3 hrs of monumental struggle...still missed out on cannoli...no give aways....happy to have got the rest

    ReplyDelete
  12. mohsin20 July 2015 at 15:21

    Isn't MINUEND the number from which one subtracts? And SUBTRAHEND the number which gets subtracted?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh20 July 2015 at 15:34

      Same double here. But the M is what gets reduced (subtarcted) to the extent of the S.

      Delete
    2. Suresh20 July 2015 at 15:34

      read 'doubt' for 'double'

      Delete
    3. Padmanabhan20 July 2015 at 16:14

      You are right. minuend is the no. from which something is subtracted as is given in the link.
      The clue means "the numbers gets reduced' or becomes lesser.The wording could have been ' the number gets reduced' in stead of subtracted,to make it clear.

      Delete
  13. Padmanabhan20 July 2015 at 16:16

    The number which gets subtracted would be 'subtrahend'.

    ReplyDelete

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