Across
1 Patronising technique of graduate through fine material, we hear (4,4) BABY TALK {BA}{BY}{~TOQUE}5 Piece by one nationalist leader of Gujarat is heavily satirical (6) BITING {BIT}{I}{N}{G}
10 Rhythmic flow in exotic dance in church (7) CADENCE DANCE* in CE
11 When this is done, math answer sheets may be handed over (4,3) LAST SUM (CD)
12 A French scholar’s neutral team (6) ELEVEN {ELEVE}{N}
13 Acts through a lot of paperwork (8) PERFORMS {PER}{FORMS}
15 Passionately studying how what was bisected fell reportedly (4) INTO {~IN TWO}
16 Juvenile delinquent makes pairs bolt away to far end of viaduct (6,4) SPOILT BRAT {PAIRS BOLT}*{
18 Eleven that has no winning ways (6,4) LOSING SIDE (CD)
20 Silly smile from Russian leader during drink (4) GRIN {G{R
23 Soldier has two sides to cover woman's former status (8) GIRLHOOD {GI}{R}{L}{HOOD}
24 There's nothing in here (6) VACUUM (CD)
26 Warrior uncle catches European of the Raj hatless (7) SAMURAI {SAM}{
27 Hyderabad hates harbouring a disreputable mischief-maker (1,3,3) A BAD HAT (T)
28 Modes less in circulation around the limits of Tinnevelly (6) STYLES {LESS}* around {T
29 Cut down expenses on a kind of coat (8) RETRENCH {RE}{TRENCH}
Down
1 Boaster's logic: it will do for scientists who study micro-organisms (15) BACTERIOLOGISTS {BOASTERS LOGIC IT}*2 Upcoming society girl and others get what the doctor ordered (3,4) BED REST {BED<=}{REST}
3 Take care to protect small group that is on edge (6) TENSED {TEN{SE
4 Deposit metal that's sent up after losing tonnes (4) LEES {LEE
6 How a person under NSG cover moves about (2,6) IN SAFETY (CD)
7 More certain, going after one new risk-taker (7) INSURER {I}{N}{SURER}
8 Willing to be determined plus duplicate a decisive victory (4,3,3,5) GAME SET AND MATCH {GAME}{SET}{AND}{MATCH}
9 Not that these feathered friends are gloomy (9) BLUEBIRDS CD)
14 Resort's second detective not entirely irregular (9) SPASMODIC {SPA'S}{MO}{DIC
17 Measure gear released by person responsible (2-6) IN-CHARGE {IN-CH}{GEAR*}
19 Frugal credit to little scamp having agent around (7) SCRIMPY {S{CR}{IM
21 Almost red, man gets extremely stern chap (7) ROUGHEN {ROUG
22 Fair restriction around last letter and couple of articles (6) BAZAAR {BA{Z}{AA}R}
25 One in church is a support for the elderly (4) CANE {C{AN}E}
Reference list
Graduate=BA, Through=By, One=I, Nationalist=N, Church=CE, Neutral=N A=PER, Drink=Gin, Soldier=GI, Two sides=RL (Right&Left), Uncle=Sam, On=Re
Society girl=Deb, Tonnes=T, One=I, New=N, Second=Mo, Measure=Inch Credit=Cr, Agent=Spy, Man=He, Last letter=Z, Couple of articles=AA, One=An, Church=CE
Society girl=Deb, Tonnes=T, One=I, New=N, Second=Mo, Measure=Inch Credit=Cr, Agent=Spy, Man=He, Last letter=Z, Couple of articles=AA, One=An, Church=CE
Missed yesterday's special crossword. Sadhya is NOT me - please give credit to the setter - whoever she/he may be :)
ReplyDeleteSomewhat toughie for me. Could score only 80%. Put Losing Ones for Losing Side and In Secret for In safety and lost many. When the 1D and 8D fell in place, I thought samosas are nearer. But it was not so.
ReplyDelete1A Toque is a new word for me. Th dictionaries say it means a kind of hat, albeit made of satin material. Is fine material' adequate and correct to indicate toque?
ReplyDelete1a. I think it is Talc not toque which is the similar sounding word.. talc is a fine material. Got Last sum wrong .. had it as lump sum so didnt get In safety and performs :( first time for me when i got a Gridman so wrong :( but uhmm lesson to check before turning in the answer sheet hee hee i guess :) enjoyed girlhood clue, game set and match clues :) tks Gridman
ReplyDeleteTALC doesn't sound like TALK
DeleteI think we pronounce 'talc' as talk in talcum powder
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Just heard the word talc pronounced in the dictionary
DeleteVery good blog . Spoiled by a terrible puzzle
ReplyDeleteAs usual you are alone in your thoughts Mahesh. I have no found any defects in this puzzle. And I, like several others in this blog solve not only this bu also Guardian,s puzzles, including their prize ang Genius crosswords. I have not found any devices used here which are not found in the UK puzzles.
DeleteBut for some reason you seem to find solving the Hindu crossword very distasteful. My principle is never to indulge in what I do not enjoy unless there is some greater benefit to be got from it.
Mahesh all of us here have had enough and more of your distasteful comments. From tomorrow onwards if you insist on such comments without substantiating your claim I will have no option other than to delete your comment.
DeleteLastly as you find all the Crosswords in The Hindu terrible/awful/disastrous etc I suggest you stop solving CW from The Hindu and restrict yourself to CWs by Rufus.
Mahesh,
DeleteYou have declared openly and vociferously that you like Rufus crosswords. As far as I know Rufus puzzles appear only once a week or so in The Guardian. Some crosswords set by the same compiler are published in some other UK newspapers under different pseudonyms and you may or may not be aware of them. Be that as it may be, if you want an inexhaustible supply of crosswords set by your favourite setter Rufus but without his byline, please drop a line here and I will tell you where you can find them. You can solve a Rufus puzzle every weekday without being bothered with these terrible crosswords in TH, to which you can give a wide berth.
I was taking of Rufus puzzles on weekdays. Mahesh, do you miss Rufus puzzles on Sundays? If so and if you need the fix, please drop a line here. I will tell you where on a Sunday you can solve two Rufus puzzles - yes, two - except that it's not two different puzzles but the same puzzle twice in the same issue. (It must be a terribly wonderful experience.) So not only on weekdays but also on Sundays you can have your favourite setter's work with his preponderance of CDs and DDs. To hell with THC.
DeleteVery good blog. Spoiled by terrible comments.
DeleteLOL!
I appreciated the blog am I right? There is no malaise to be held. I compliment when it's due My only intention is to assist the setter The arrogance from VJ is unacceptable . As expressed earlier I also like Sankalak and am in search of a setter with an equal skill set
DeleteEven I appreciated the blog. It's a pretty good blog indeed. My only intention is to assist the commenter. Trust me, I ain't being arrogant. I'm sorry if you saw it that way.
DeleteIf you want to assist the setter tell him where it is faulty and needs improvement. Otherwise the comment is of no use to anybody
DeleteSaying something is terrible without giving reasons is the greatest sigh of arrogance Mr. Mahesh.
DeleteVJ, how are you? 😂
DeleteAjeesh, how are you? :)
DeleteLOL VJ :D
DeleteYou know you've made it big on the internet when you attract incessant, insufferable, yet easily ignorable trolls.
DeleteLoved this 15 letter grid by the maestro...4D was the last in..8D was my COD
ReplyDeleteFor the life of me cannot understand why this was a terrible puzzle...a classic puzzle that had wonderful clues strewn around the grid...
I will not deny you your opinion.
DeleteBut you have no right to deny me mine
If I felt it was terrible I will call it so
Some of us will label a movie good some will label it bad We are only giving our honest voices
But there is no substantiation of why the puzzle is terrible...that is the problem...which are the clues that u didnt like? Whats wrong in the wordplay?if instead of denouncing it in one short sentence u can provide meaningful feedback..it will be welcomed by all..
Delete+1, Vasant. Nobody here is trying to say that the crosswords here are without glitches. All we are saying that the blogger should give specifics rather than just a general comment.
DeleteOf course,we can always choose to ignore any such general comment. That is one way of getting peace.
There is a deeper malaise here. It's just not about unsubstantiated one word criticism. Even when another blogger provides a valid explanation Mahesh is unconvinced. So all of us here are on one side having the same understanding of crptic CW rules and Mahesh is on the other side. Seems to be an ideological war. Yet when Ramki provided an example from Rufus using the same device as Exa did, there is no reply. For me it appears that this is criticism for the sake of it. Mahesh why don't you contribute to one Sunday Special in this blog? It would be an experience for us too.
DeleteLovely grid by G'man. Pleasure, as always.
ReplyDeleteCan't understand Mahesh's rant, though
Many thanks to Padmanabhan and Chaturvasi for explaining eight as the answer to '23' in the
ReplyDeleteGuardian clue of Thursday. It is a ritual with me to solve THC and move to the Guardian on weekdays and on Sundays. I loved solving Sadhya's Special yesterday. Thank you, Sadhya.
Folks, I want your feedback on colour coding of components. Does it work? Is it useful?
ReplyDeleteI do not use it. I think it is too complicated to have so many colours.
DeleteBut sure, it gives it a nice look
DeleteRamesh, I tend to agree with Suresh, besides you are increasing your work
DeleteI think it is very useful for beginners..e.g. 8D looks absolutely fantastic & leaves no doubt about the different components of charade
DeleteI might have given my opinion earlier.
DeleteI feel such elaborate colour coding is unnecessary. It involves a lot of careful typing.
Once the anno is given, a reader should put in some effort of his own to match the SI in clues and the components in the answers. We need to expect that much of participation by the visitor/reader.
Besides on Saturdays we seem to have fewer visitors and fewer comments. That is another reason why too much of effort needn't go into the blog.
Ramesh, the colour coding is probably useful to some, I'm not sure. But personally I found the profusion of colours distracting. But you've taken so much trouble over it - appreciate that very much
DeleteThanks for all the feedback folks. I will continue to use this colour coding scheme (but sparingly) till I come across a better alternative
DeleteRamesh-
ReplyDeleteFor ex. 8D. I agree with Vasant. I did the seme thing on paper in tiny letters ( of the same colour of course) in the clus section before filling in the grid, simply because there were so many components of charade. I was no doubt happy getting it confirmed by you. But you have to decide depending on the extra work involved, albeit on a holiday. If you don't mind doing it- once a week- it would be welcome by all and useful to some. I refer to it when I have a doubt and it is cleared instantly. You may even try numbering (1,2,3 etc.) in stead of so many colour codes to make your work simpler.
Mahesh,
ReplyDeletePl. be at peace (without doing THC) and leave us in peace. We find it very difficult and hurtful to read about some of our favourite setters' puzzles being dismissed in one stroke as 'terrible' If you have Rufus, we have our own. Of course, as you rightly said you are free to have your own opinion, but there is no reason to keep publishing it to all repeatedly. All of us fail to understand why you still keep reading/ trying to solve in spite of not liking them. Either stop doing them or stop thrusting your opinions on us. Both of us have better jobs to do.
Well said, Padmanabhan!
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+1
DeleteMahesh,
ReplyDeleteI am really sorry for you.
I have been a member, blogger, commenter here since the blog was started.
I have appreciated Sankalak's work since his crossword no. 1 to the last. He was a friend of mine. He has attended some S and B meetings with us here in Chennai.
We appreciate many other setters - international and Indian - along with Sankalak.
And we never fail to point out mistakes, if any. Do you know that I - among others - have pointed out any slip-up by international masters while blogging/commenting on UK sites and they have accepted them?
When we find a fault we point it out. But we don't denigrate puzzle/setter wholesale. We don't call a puzzle 'terrible' without saying why.
Have you stopped for a moment to consider why not one in these parts is with you?
Mind you many of us have met personally but we never ever carried the impression that any of us is arrogant.
Have you picked up any message from today's Comments by various people here?
ReplyDeleteI am not the enemy here Ask yourselves Haven't you labelled a movie terrible before? Why can't I label a crossword terrible therefore? It'll encourage the setter to set a better puzzle Praise will only bring the standards down
I accept that my comment might be terrible to VJ
ReplyDeleteSimilarly you must accept this puzzle is terrible to me
Mahesh, I have had enough of tripe from you. I suggest you do not post your comments any more on my blog as you are not welcome here any more as you insist on posting derogatory comments without substantiation. To avoid the ignominy of having your comments deleted please do not post them here henceforth, this is my decision as the owner of this blog.
ReplyDelete+infinity :)
DeleteBetter ignore trolls
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete