Friday, 8 December 2017

No 12183, Friday 08 Dec 2017, The Phantom


ACROSS
1   Turned on, one's about to get book that's steamy (6) EROTIC {RE<=}{OT}{1}{C}
5   Six footer with stride full of energy overtakes African animal (8) ANTELOPE {ANT}{E}{LOPE}
9   Embarrassed over hugging weird male member of rock band (7) DRUMMER {RED<=} over {RUM}{M}
10 Crew in Delhi offers to take film back to the start (6) REWIND [T]
11 Hectic Monday for live wire (6) DYNAMO*
12 At the theatre's old counter handout describes musical drama (8) OPERETTA {AT}{ThE}{REP}{O} <=
13 Hairy problem for fifty aboard vessel having hollow bottom (5,4) SPLIT ENDS SP{L}IT{ENDS} Anno pending (Addendum - {S{P{L}IT}{END}S} - See comments)
15 Like model to sport company's tie (5) ASCOT {AS}{CO}{T}
17 Vegetables from boat sent over through sailor (5) OKRAS {ARK<=} in {OS}
19 One in train unhappy about Eastern Railway schedule (9)  ITINERARY {IT{1}N{E}RA*}{RY}
22 Ten alight train perhaps to have second round of coffee (8) ESPRESSO {E(-x+s)SPRESS}{O}
23 Letters oddly missing in Berlin — signs of a current phenomenon? (2,4) EL NINO {bErLiN+sIgNs+Of}
25 Arrive by a posh cab perhaps (6) LANDAU {LAND}{A}{U}
26 Rogue party involved in the Spanish revolution's collapse (7) IMPLODE {IMP} and {E{DO}L} <=
27 Pound’s good to hold one criminal till death (8) LIFELONG {L}{1}{FELON}{G}
28 Lock and key pulled hard (6) YANKED*

DOWN
2   Take companion's hat off to get sunburnt? (5) RUDDY {R}{bUDDY} Take/Recipe
3   Upcoming soccer team during its trips gets big wave (7) TSUNAMI {MANU<=} in {ITS}*
4   What music director A. R. Rehman did to be calm? (8) COMPOSED [DD]
5   Excellent crew maintains train's temperature control system (3-12) AIR-CONDITIONING {A1}{RIN{CONDITION}G}
6   Others' suffering causing distress (6) THROES*
7   Wild girl's out; left in company of partners (7) LAWLESS {LASS} over {W}{L}{E}
8   Climbing ladder to pick, not the best variety of grapes (5,4) PINOT NOIR {RIP<=} over {NOT}{NO1}
14 Neighbour at ski resort in extreme pain (9) PAKISTANI {AT+SKI}* in {PAIN}*
16 Compensate unfairly when lad in abject penury needs pounds (8) UNDERPAY {lAD+PENURY}*
18 Contract featuring in a game of cards (7) ABRIDGE {A}{BRIDGE}
20 Criticise a review (7) RUNDOWN [DD]
21 Sixth sense about shifty duo being phoney (6) PSEUDO {ESP<=}{DUO*}
24 One replacing son in scene turned out to be his cousin (5) NIECE {(-s+i)ICENE}* Semi&lit

GRID

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43 comments:

  1. Ramki Krishnan8 December 2017 at 08:33

    13 Hairy problem for fifty aboard vessel having hollow bottom (5,4)
    def = hairy problem
    S P(L)IT END S (ss = vessel, hollow = pit, bottom = end, fifty = L)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ramki Krishnan8 December 2017 at 08:36

    Enjoyable grid, thanks Phantom!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ramki Krishnan8 December 2017 at 08:37

    8D: to pick is the container ind?
    This was the LOI for me - could not anno till I saw the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. C.G. BHARGAV8 December 2017 at 08:38

    +1 and one of those days I could complete before 0830

    ReplyDelete
  5. Padmanabhan8 December 2017 at 08:44

    Yesterday it was 'Zinfandel' & today it becomes 'Pinot Noir'. Season for red wines?
    Needing quite a few annos and I found the here.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Vasant8 December 2017 at 09:06

    Phantom returns(after missing two runs?) with a bang!Super puzzle!Thanks Mr. Walker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raghunath8 December 2017 at 09:25

      Had a hard disk crash and could not recover any files. So I excused myself (conveniently ;-)) from submitting puzzles for two cycles.

      Delete
    2. Shrikanth8 December 2017 at 09:40

      Our loss :(

      Delete
    3. Vasant8 December 2017 at 10:01

      I had read somewhere that CV Sir also keeps back up in Google Drive. So if system crashes the db can be recovered.

      Delete
    4. Satyen Nabar8 December 2017 at 10:12

      Welcome back Phantom! :)

      Delete
    5. Raghunath8 December 2017 at 10:21

      Thanks. Feel writing clues is a chore nowadays.

      Delete
    6. Chaturvasi8 December 2017 at 10:33

      Recovery of lost files might be possible under certain circumstances and conditions, I guess. But it will cost you.

      Delete
  7. Shrikanth8 December 2017 at 09:06

    There is some inconsistency in Hindu's policies. At least thrice in the last 3 cycles I was called to replace clues that had names of living celebrities and in one case, even dead ones. For e.g this clue was rejected . Jimmy Carter collects loose cash from certain persons (10) . But there was Jonty and today ARR. Was the editor absent?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree8 December 2017 at 09:33

      Use of "did" on a living person and continuing to do, to indicate past tense. Grammatically allowed?

      Delete
    2. Satyen Nabar8 December 2017 at 10:12

      Characters (carter)* in (cash)*

      Delete
    3. Chaturvasi8 December 2017 at 10:31

      And he spells his name A. R. Rahman, not 'e'.

      Delete
    4. Chaturvasi8 December 2017 at 10:48

      In today's clue
      What music director A. R. Rehman did to be calm? (8)
      the name of a living person is used but its reference is to an occupation that the music director follows. Compose is what he does.
      Perhaps this was the subeditor's thinking.
      Names of living (or dead) persons are liberally used in UK crosswords though one paper or the other might disallow all or any of these.
      If a brand name (or a person's name) is used in such a way that the surface of the clue shows the company (or person) in bad light, the subeditor may have some reservation.
      Maybe it is better to avoid personal/brand names.
      After all, the specs sheet that we have received mentions that these are no-ns
      Once I had used hsbc in the breakup/wordplay while writing a clue for CASHBOX but luckily it went through the gate as the clue did not put the name in bad light, I think.

      Delete
    5. Chaturvasi8 December 2017 at 10:57

      I just checked the clue in which Jonty is used. Here, it is without first name. Don't we use names like this in our clues where the operation the name undergoes contributes to wordplay?

      Delete
    6. Shrikanth8 December 2017 at 20:19

      I agree. I don't see this as a problem. But I didn't think even dead person's name can't be used.

      Delete
  8. Kolluru Koteswara Rao8 December 2017 at 09:17

    Tough one The Phantom!
    Had difficulties in the first go. Only eight clues in Across could be cracked. Thanks for the easy ones in Down which helped solving many.
    Clue of the Day: 8DN. Could parse up to Not No.1. I did search Chambers Thesaurus for synonyms of ladder. Rip is not there. But for RIP, synonym ladder is given.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree8 December 2017 at 09:26

      Ladder is the verticle hole in tights (caused by the parallel stitches coming off, probably). The laddered jeans!!!

      Delete
    2. C.G. BHARGAV8 December 2017 at 10:18

      sree_sree
      Do you have the knowhow to recover files from a crashed hard disc?

      Delete
    3. Raghunath8 December 2017 at 10:22

      If you are willing to spend in thousands, it is possible.

      Delete
    4. Raghunath8 December 2017 at 11:36

      The BIOS did not recognise the HDD, so using software was out of question.

      Delete
    5. Raghunath8 December 2017 at 11:39

      sree_sree didn't read what he wrote, if you know what I mean ;-)

      Delete
    6. sree_sree8 December 2017 at 11:43

      Oh, sorry for the goof-up. Have to stop typing from my phone.

      Delete
  9. C.G. BHARGAV8 December 2017 at 10:41

    Going down memory lane...

    While in college Puru the DRUMMER was my college mate. What a DYNAMO he was!
    Soon after leaving college I, with my friends, entered business in the AIR CONDITIONING industry. Another job we undertook was to REWIND burnt electric motors.
    Business was a LIFELONG struggle.
    But it was peaceful and exciting.

    Times are difficult now. Most workers are PSEUDO technicians who will leave one with SPLIT ENDS.

    Also it is tough to remain COMPOSED when we seem to be in the THROES of a LAWLESS society...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Col_Gopinath8 December 2017 at 11:30

    Happy Birthday Paddy

    ReplyDelete
  11. C.G. BHARGAV8 December 2017 at 11:33

    Wishing you a very Happy Birthday Paddy

    ReplyDelete
  12. Padmanabhan8 December 2017 at 12:11

    Thank you Col. & MB.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kolluru Koteswara Rao8 December 2017 at 12:23

    Happy Birthday Paddy!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Padmanabhan8 December 2017 at 12:44

    Thank you KKR.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mukundala Balasubramanyam8 December 2017 at 12:45

    Many happy returns of the day, Paddy!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Satyen Nabar8 December 2017 at 12:54

    Many happy returns of the day Paddy! Have a wonderful year :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ramani8 December 2017 at 13:04

    Happy birthday to you Paddy!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Vasant8 December 2017 at 13:16

    Many Happy Returns Of The Day, Paddy.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Padmanabhan8 December 2017 at 13:43

    Thank you all- Doc, Ram,Vasant.MB
    Looking for a wonderful year with contributions from all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  20. ranger8 December 2017 at 19:45

    Many happy returns of the day Paddy

    ReplyDelete
  21. Padmanabhan8 December 2017 at 20:59

    Thank you Ranger/ Arden/ Devanathan.

    ReplyDelete

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