ACROSS
1 Plain genius, one outstanding fictional scientist (12) FRANKENSTEIN {FRANK}{E
8 Time to squeeze a criminal (4) THUG {T}{HUG}
9 Funny one at times is flat (10) MAISONETTE*
11 Army staff screened and classified (4,2) WANT AD {WAN{T A}D}
12 Set off with one friend to work out (8) ESTIMATE {SET*}{1}{MATE}
14 North America these days regressing for nothing (4) NADA {NA}{AD<=}
16 Bound through meadow unburdened (7) LEASHED {LEA}{SHED}
18 Foyer has grass spread around wall front to back (7) HALLWAY {H{(-w)ALL(+w)W}AY}
19 Land mass surrounded by Helsinki to the west (4) ISLE [T<=]
22 Was aware of food shop mentioned in capital city (3,5) NEW DELHI (~knew deli)
23 Single man losing heart in earnest (6) SOLEMN {SOLE}{M
24 Represented thus, Indian? (10) HINDUSTANI* &lit
26 Intellect is not half bright (4) NOUS
27 Arcade nearly built in 12 months (8,4) CALENDAR YEAR*
DOWN
2 Hang-glider sailing across top of Times Square (5-6) RIGHT-ANGLED {HANG-GLIDER}* across {T
3 Identified growing endless need (5) NAMED DEMAN
4 Size up over 50% of news in online journals (1-5) E-ZINES {E-ZI{NE
5 Kind to restrain hot head showing impatience (9) SHORTNESS {S{H}ORT}{NESS}
6 I say look at ... (3) EYE (~ i)
7 ... tastelessly showy man wearing crown (5) CHEAP {C{HE}AP}
10 Air temperature at first to hold within certain limits (6) TETHER {T
13 Guardroom is cell, an early imprisoning variety (11) MISCELLANEA [T]
15 Nasty snide lady causing anger perhaps (6,3) DEADLY SIN*
17 Mansion with own lake on island (6) HAVELI {HAVE}{L}{I} That reminded me of Master Haveliram of Buniyaad
20 Spy agency to confiscate new age design bug (6) CICADA {CI{CAD}A}
23 Bristled to turn round adversity at last (5) SPINY {SPIN}{
25 Pulse ideally must be taken regularly (3) DAL {
I think, Buzzer has lowered the bar yesterday and today.
ReplyDelete...just by a few notches only!...happy with 90% :)
DeleteMissed out on 12A, 16A, 4D & 10D.
DeleteBuzzer homesick? Many Indian references, Hindustani, Dal, New Delhi.
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein, Calenderyear, et al, added 13D to the puzzle.
Loved it immensely.
As usual Buzzer excels in the [T] type of clues. Hindustani was very nice too.
ReplyDeleteYes, multi word long T specialist. Did not realise that 'Miscellanea' was a T.
DeleteLoved the CW. Thank you Buzzer. Could not wait for the 8.30 deadline. Th on line helped me fill in a few blanks. Sometimes what you don't like comes in handy.
17D: Now that you have mentioned it, Col, Buniyaad brought back schooltime memories of the quaint romance of Masterji & Lajoji..quality of the first episodes were outstanding befitting the director of Sholay.
ReplyDeleteSince then Aloknath like A K Hangal was destined to play only old men's roles.
DeleteHaveli reminded me of the purani havelis in old Hindi horror films
DeleteHas A.K. Hangal ever played a role other than an old man? Though I remember in Bavarchi he was not that old ( a gin drinking clerk, the eldest son of Hirendranath Chatopadhya)
DeleteJoke that went around is that he was born bald!
DeleteWikipaedia says he started his filmi career as a character actor in 1966 at the age of 52, so he has never acted as a young man
DeleteRemembered his Shaukeen..where he alongwith two other oldies Ashok Kumar & Utpal Dutt were besooted by the gorgeous Rati Agnihotri..
DeleteAnd his dialogue in Sholay is still quoted whenever there is a sudden pin drop silence, "Itni khamoshi kyo hai bhai?"
My last but one day in Nagoya . Buzzer has this knack of building the clues for which we get the answers in a jiffy, but work out the parsing immediately thereafter and chuckle in one's sleeves. A new take on hum hai HINDUSTANI and HAVELI is the clue of my day-- very Indian and for a cryptic solver a ready answer if one had a spattering knowldge of Hindi. Is this word in the English dictionary?
ReplyDeleteFRANK & EINSTEIN is a beautiful name formation.
almost less than 15 minutes of sheer joy - this BUZZER's spicy Paratha !
Haveli is there in OED
DeleteThanks Suresh garu. I thought as much as Buzzer will never fail in his punctiliousness !
DeleteBuzzer's DESIstance, wonderful!
ReplyDeleteRaju sounds like wishing to extend his far eastern sojourn- enjoyment unlimited.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could at least for my gurgling, cooinng and bawling five month old grandson, REN. Though the visa is granted for six monrhs, the stamping for stay is only for a month and again, we are lkimited by ticketting for return by a fixed date. In about three months time, we would had to the Western side to await the delivery of twins by our daughter. Quite daunting six months to be spent there. They say parenthood never ends ! As paddy says, enjoyment unlimited but of a different kind ! Crosswords will keep my sanity in tact !
DeleteHave a safe pleasant trip back home and welcome back to share the summer heat with us- maybe Coimbatore is better off than scorching Chennai.
DeleteDid this online and buzzers hindustani kinda blew me away :) i also thoroughly enjoyed Want ad clue and Right angled of course.. did a solemn "wah wah" when i spotted the Miscellanea Telescopic... telescopic clues are inherently a bit solemn wattsay? Or maybe it was the mention of guardrooms and cells that did tat :) Not very happy with the Hallway device.. with w being brought back.. thot easier to have done an anagram but.. well lemme Buzz off now :)
ReplyDeleteSince the time THC became interactive I have been unfailingly successful and fast too. I am in NY now and solve the puzzle at around 5 am India time and wait for the blog post. I also find no need to google for help.
ReplyDeleteNice to hear this, sir. It gives me a great pleasure to learn that THC has such a devoted following. Have a great time in NY. Early next month I am expecting my daughter and her family to visit us from Calif. Hope to have some good time with my grandchildren.
DeleteThank you very much, sir. I wish you a pleasurable time.
DeleteEnjoyable puzzle by Buzzer.
ReplyDeleteJust read yesterday's discussion. For those interested, the longest length of a hidden word answer (as of now) is 18 letters, by Tom Borland:
Some clocks tock and bar relaxation altogether (4,5,3,6)
Nice.Thanks.
Delete