Amazing how Sunnet churns out themed pangrams month after month.
ACROSS
1 Most favourable conditions to select army trainer (6) OPTIMA {OPT}{IMA}
4 Attendant of water locks (8) WAITRESS {WAI}{TRESS}
10 Praises some cumin perhaps (9) ENCOMIUMS*
11 Arrive at range (5) REACH [DD]
12 Elegant custom mostly followed by unknowns (5) RITZY {RIT
13 Explode grenade at restaurant (3,6) TEA GARDEN*
14 Figure union territory's right in the middle of... (7) PYRAMID {PY}{R}{AMID}
16 ... river Ouse which is empty (4) NILE
19 Iceland's goddess (4) ISIS {IS}{IS}
21 Relative, first to get Dominican Republic's land (7) KINGDOM {KIN}{G
24 Cheated Greek character to peddle education (9) CHISELLED {CHI}{SELL}{ED}
25 She inspires selection of flower at Ooty (5) ERATO [T]
26 Wonderful! One by one get distances from the centre of the circle (5) RADII {RAD}{11}
27 A: Let Yen's adjustment become explosive material (9) ACETYLENE
28 Complains about moist dish (4,4) BEEF STEW {BEEF S}{TEW<=}
29 Rank us immediately ahead (6) STATUS {STAT}{US}
DOWN
1 Concluded low grade copy in the middle, is past its best (8) OVERRIPE {OVER}{RIP}{E}
2 Reserved new one act play (8) TACITURN {1+ACT}*{TURN}
3 Take beer to heartless Mary's mother (5) MUMMY {MUM}{M
5 Refrain from taking sailor to spot (7) ABSTAIN {AB}{STAIN}
6 Blacken boy in canvas (9) TARPAULIN {TAR}{PAUL}{IN}
7 Deer in English estates (6) ELANDS {E}{LANDS}
8 Monster ship's broken by neutron ray (6) SPHINX {SHIP}*{N}{X}
15 Said to leave out big plants' secrets (9) MYSTERIES
17 Touching jade can't deform it (8) ADJACENT*
18 Sanctions measure by forces (8) EMPOWERS {EM}{POWERS}
20 Rescue barbarian's hand (7) SALVAGE {SA{L}VAGE}
21 Sort of organ (6) KIDNEY [DD]
22 Beetle mark on seaman (6) SCARAB {SCAR}{AB}
25 Gothic type found around German state (5) EGYPT {E{G}YPT*}
GRID
15A MISS TREES
ReplyDeleteKingdom could be a theme word too.
ReplyDeleteTypo in Sphinx
Typo corrected
DeleteMiddle & Kingdom were both theme words
Delete+1 for the tagline. Marvellous achievement
ReplyDeleteAdd one more
DeleteMe too
DeleteMe too
DeleteOne more :)
Delete16 ... river Ouse which is empty (4) NILE Anno pending
ReplyDeleteO..E = NIL E
Good explanation Raghu
DeleteYay Raghunath! :)
DeleteOh ok, even Sandhya didn't get it earlier. Awesome crack Raghu
DeleteThat's a great clue. I just reverse engineered the answer. Thanks anyway.
Delete27 A: Let Yen's adjustment become explosive material (9) ACETYLENE {A}{C}{LET+YEN}*
ReplyDeleteIs it: ACE + LETYEN*? Where A = ACE?
I guess it is drive A in computer parlance
DeleteWhat about the CE following A?
DeleteYes, you are right. A for ACE as in Chambers
DeleteRaghu's explanation seems to be correct. 9 letters in the answer.
DeleteI missed out on the E I took C for Colon
DeleteI still feel that the intention of the A: was for {A}{C} and Sunnet missed out on the E
DeleteA for Ace is what I had in mind
DeleteExactly! A for Ace in cards. Why go elsewhere?
DeleteSolve this clue to go with the theme...
ReplyDeleteA woman must have the stomach to sway provocatively (5,5)
BELLY DANCE &lit
DeleteAn extra E in th answer to 27a or am I missing something
ReplyDeleteWhere?
DeleteACE+TYLENE*
DeleteI suppose Suresh meant a missing E from my first Anno
DeleteThat is right. Just that I figured out later on the throne .
DeleteThanks for all the feedback folks.
ReplyDeleteWould be great if you can also list which clue you liked the best & which one you hated the most (and if possibly why). To set the ball rolling here is my view
Liked Nile the best. Answer was mostly obvious (easier because of the theme), but the anno required a bit of out of box thinking
Didn't like Acetylene too much. Wasn't able to put a finger on it. Perhaps the instinctive dislike for 'nounal' anag
ReplyDelete
I didnt hate any clue..loved all of them...best among them ofcourse was Nile followed by chiselled ..beefstew...encomiums(isnt the plural encomia?)...
DeleteA superb puzzle!
Liked NILE, BEET STEW, ABSTAIN, ADJACENT among the several ones.
DeleteI would not have ventured to list out, but since you asked us:
Did not like: TEA GARDEN mainly because of the negative action involved.
Is there a mismatch in Locks and TRESS?
I am ok with all except 15D Mysteries. The hp will be mis turees.
DeleteNo KKR. It is pronounced as miss trees
DeleteThanks Vasant. Both encomiums & encomia are accepted. Encomiums is used more commonly
DeleteThanks Raghu. Never thought about the Tea garden clue from a pure surface point of view & it being too close to reality in today's world
DeleteOED gives Locks as synonym for tress
Thanks KKR. As Suresh @10:01 said, the British pronunciation is miss trees
DeleteThank you Ramesh. Please share the OED website address. Seems to cover more than what Chambers does.
DeleteFor TEA GARDEN I meant the setter is asking one to explode a grenade.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/
DeleteOr you can type the word in Google. To narrow the search you may have to include either "meaning" or "definition" after the word whose meaning you are looking for.
I think Google uses OED
Smashing theme from Sunnet :) I loved the surface of Middle - nice def that fits well with the surface...i had the answer but did not get it till "eye of the storm" occurred .. but a little puzzled on some clues - on Egypt..whats the role of Gothic?? Not a fan of double subsitutions - empty Ouse = OE becomes Nil E.. uhmm but i see some people here like it here sooo :) .. In Over ripe is it meant to be "the end" instead "the middle" ? else how do we get the E at the end ? In Kingdom, what is role of republic?
ReplyDelete1 Concluded low grade copy in the middle, is past its best (8) OVERRIPE {OVER}{RIP}{E}
DeleteConcluded: OVER.
Low Grade: E,
Copy in the middle: Place RIP in between OVER & E. I suppose you never received a low grade so you did not connect it to E;)?
Oh i thought Rip was a low grade copy :) usually we use the term rip off for a copy thats lesser than the original.. didnt break it as low grade separately and Rip = copy.. but yes that is probably fine too.. thanks
Deleteand oh.. i have received several Es in my life :)
DeleteGothic in the sense of crude is the anagram indicator
DeleteDominican Republic gives Dom
You are right, in a way, Srividya. E could be the result of low grade copying. Proper copying would get you a 'A'. ))
DeleteFor folks that are interested in Statistics : Over the last year (counting from 12th May 2015 to today) we have had an amazing 60+ themed CWs in The Hindu.
ReplyDelete@RameshJ
ReplyDeleteMy COD is NILE :)
Using boy for proper name is what confuses me a lot :)
Thanks LV. Yeah boy could stand for too many names. Will keep that in mind
DeleteTo be honest, I have been solving cryptics for decades now, especially the British ones. How do our THC setters stand in comparison to the British or American ones ? I find ours to be so unique and unusual -- much above par ! Cryptic crosswords being universal, how would the British solvers find our setters? In terms of the clue building, surface reading, anagrams, deletions and additions etc ? My question is : Is our crop of setters setting new standards? How far is the reach of THC puzzles,given that the blog is open to the whole solving world?
ReplyDeleteCan others, particularly CV and Shuchi comment please?
You are an acknowledged solver of British crosswords in India and foreign climes for decades, sometimes raising the eyebrows of compatriots or aliens. So if, instead of asking these questions, you had made an appraisal and given your valued opinions, other solvers, setters and bloggers might have chipped in, either agreeing with you or otherwise. In the past I may have touched upon all or at least some of these questions in this very forum when the occasion warranted it. So, for the present, I will watch this space or spaces succeeding this.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is already expressed succinctly above. I find the Indian compilers quite creative, unusual and unique in their efforts. Sometimes a bit outre' and overzealous in their imagination, bordering on being NJ-esque, whom we used to bait often. What I wanted was whether any foreigners( excluding NRIs) are taking access to the THC and if so, their opinions. Not that I consider them as the best arbiters but my curiosity as to how they consider our setters' efforts. Is there any way by which we can get to know the source and identity of the bloggers? I feel, the THC is more popular only amongst the solvers this side of the Vindhyas and those up above and the flankers in the West and East of our country are only used to their own regional crosswords that are syndicated from the UK or p'haps, Australia? The Mumbai mirror(I'm sure from Bombay compiler) ,Hindustan Times and The Statesman or The Telegraph of Calcutta are also syndicated?
DeleteMy idea is to explore the possibility of getting solvers/ bloggers from the UK fora wider reach; if they are already not in, even as a few.
My own experience is a modest confession that I do find our Indian compilers a bit hard to solve and at time frustrating to know how easy the clues were ! I am looking for a solver who can claim to be able to solve all and any cryptic puzzles, at all times, not given , of course any time constraints. I read somewhere of a Mexican woman who waited for several years to crack a clue before succeeding !
If your intention is to bait me into stirring up a hornet's nest .I'm sorry cannot oblige you ! Haah !
HEY!!!!
ReplyDeleteTH has come up with interactive CW on its website starting today and today's AD's CW is the first to be up already- for interactive solving- on line!
Thank you Hindu!
Yes, I saw it today.
DeleteDoes it spell doom to our interactive cessions? Loud thinking
Padmanabhanji: That's great news for solvers like us who miss out on Sundays and other days too when we are not in the country. How easy is the access to the interactive source?
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, please let me know your location and email ID (as I have another Padmanabhan in Bangalore with your initials too !) He keeps getting my mails on crosswords and wonders whether I'm trying to indoctrinating him into our cult !