Thursday, 1 March 2018

No 12253, Thursday 01 Mar 2018, Incognito


Answer and anno for 17D left for a first time commenter till 10 AM.
Any rookie commenter to detect and comment on the theme if any.

ACROSS
1   Spooner says kinsmen indulging in wordplay make an ingenious scheme (7,4) CUNNING PLAN (-p+c)CUNNING (-c+p)PLAN
9   A piece of wood one used for crowd control (5) LATHI {LATH}{1}
10 Frederic and I ordered Chinese food (5,4) FRIED RICE {FREDERIC+I}*
11 Warmly push this way and that? It's bound to create problems (7,3) MURPHYS LAW*
12 Help maiden to some extent (4) AIDE [T]
13 Lout places dried grass over eggs (5) YAHOO {HAY<=}{OO}
15 Limb fracture is something that a bowler may inflict (3,5) LEG BREAK {LEG} {BREAK}
17 Drunk Kris is bad and very dangerous (4-4) HIGH-RISK {HIGH}-{KRIS}*
19 A rector's heir's fiery crime (5) ARSON {A}{R}{SON}
22 Endless confectionery after departure of European aristocrat, perhaps (4) TOFF TOFFee
23 Our hot sake is brewed in country (5,5) SOUTH KOREA*
26 Aloo tikki, for example, starts to taste excellent after a game (9) CROQUETTE {CROQUET}{Ta..e}{Ex...t}
Aloo tikki.jpg
By Number55 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
27 Just before United Nations note leaked in the beginning (5) UNTIL {UN}{TI}{Le...d}
28 One's confused with yard/garden having British king and Paul Pry (5-6) NOSEY-PARKER {ONES*}{Y}-{PARK}{ER}

DOWN
1   Pour tea into empty container and provide food (5) CATER {TEA}* in {Co...eR}
2  Wildly hug O'Brien — he lives next door (9) NEIGHBOUR*
3   US fine can be steep (6) INFUSE*
4   Stern champion's facial expression (7) GRIMACE {GRIM}{ACE}
5   Endlessly yodels about mineral deposit (4) LODE {yODELs}*
6   Sen is so upset about Indian state of cacophony (9) NOISINESS {SEN+IS+SO}* over {IN}
7   Exclamation of surprise at finding fruit in the outskirts of Bombay (6) BLIMEY {Bom{LIME}baY}
8   Adorn Engineer's pack of playing cards (6) BEDECK {BE}{DECK}
14 Grandiose like Blackbird? (4-5) HIGH-FLOWN [DD]
16 Indian antelope — it was targeted by demonetisation, perhaps? (9) BLACKBUCK {BLACK}{BUCK}
Antilope cervicapra from velavadar.JPG
By Chinmayisk - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
17 Popular Eastern church is sophisticated (2-4) H?-T?C? (Addendum - HI-TECH {HIT}{E}{CH} - See comments)
18 Soon undersized Yankee caught student (7) SHORTLY {SHORT}{L}{Y}
20 Lower small pulley, at last, skillfully (6) NEATLY {NEAT}{s..lL}{p...eY}
21 Minerva, thereafter, was accepted by Automobile Association (6) ATHENA {A{THEN}A}
24 A helicopter's lifting device — upwards or downwards (5) ROTOR [CD]
25 Vigorously sued for outstandings (4) DUES*

GRID

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51 comments:

  1. sree_sree1 March 2018 at 08:33

    that Super solver feeling again. thanks to incognito.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree1 March 2018 at 08:35

      lower-> neat becoming signature of Incognito!!!

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 09:22

      That was my doubt- lower= neat?
      When you say signature, it means he has used it before?

      Delete
    3. sree_sree1 March 2018 at 11:52

      lower-> cow->cattle->neat, combo used multiple times. ex clean cattle

      Delete
  2. Vasant1 March 2018 at 08:35

    Nice puzzle! Loved Murphy's Law,Nosey Parker and even the Spoonerism!
    After relishing the dish for close to 4 decades learnt today that aloo tiki is a type of croquette!
    Thanks Incognito.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree1 March 2018 at 08:43

      spoonerism is evolving into B of the BODMAS rule. thank got no one has invented a cryptic for spooner yet. or have they?

      Delete
    2. C.G. BHARGAV1 March 2018 at 08:43

      +1

      Delete
  3. KARTHIK1 March 2018 at 08:40

    17D) Popular = HIT; eastern church = ECH; HITECH is the solution

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath1 March 2018 at 08:46

      Good one, Karthikeyan.
      You are now no longer a first time commenter.

      Delete
  4. C.G. BHARGAV1 March 2018 at 08:40

    Maybe it was a CUNNING PLAN to NEATLY make some BLACKBUCK saying it is for capital INFUSE or whatever. Who knows?
    Everything is fine UNTIL some NOSEY PARKER spins a story to his NEIGHBOUR. Then it is taken over by the media.
    The HIGH FLOWN Romeo gets down from his ?????? private jet with his AIDE.
    Is he in HIGH RISK? Is he SHORTLY going to be nabbed?
    Nothing of that kind!!
    The guy, with a GRIMACE is soon heard singing YAHOO Chahe koi mujhe...and is off to play a game of CROQUETTE!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant1 March 2018 at 08:50

      😀😀👌👌👌👌

      Delete
    2. Chaturvasi1 March 2018 at 08:59

      Emojis posted prob. from Android/IoS devices don't appear as such on Windows desktop. So a short wordy/alphanumeric remark like Gud/Gr8 might be better.

      Delete
    3. sree_sree1 March 2018 at 09:12

      i can see them on desktop CV sir

      Delete
    4. Kolluru Koteswara Rao1 March 2018 at 09:17

      I too can't find them. Probably, we have to download

      Delete
    5. Vasant1 March 2018 at 09:22

      Probably posting in words is better! But emojis do convey the feelings appropriately and succinctly and from cell phones far easier to post!

      Delete
    6. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 09:27

      :-)

      Delete
  5. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 09:26

    Steep= infuse was new to me.
    As usual, easy outing by Incognito.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chaturvasi1 March 2018 at 09:27

      I guess you haven't drunk green tea. Or have you?

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 09:32

      Green tea?

      Delete
    3. Satyen Nabar1 March 2018 at 11:55

      Steep also means to soak tea etc in liquid to extract the flavour Paddy. That's how green tea is made, hence the statement by CV.

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 13:55

      Thank you Doc. for clearing my doubt. I did not know this connection for steep.

      Delete
  6. Chaturvasi1 March 2018 at 09:26

    It might depend on browsers and their versions. I had Windows 10 but after a recent PC crash I have reverted to Win7 Pro said to be more stable than Win8.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 09:29

      Yes, I was also advised not to install W-8. I believe it slows down the system, probably downloading lot of needless stuff. I am getting a daily pop up asking me to install it.

      Delete
    2. Satyen Nabar1 March 2018 at 11:09

      Same here. After Windows 10 crashed, I have shifted to Windows 7 Pro. Most stable and best version imo.

      Delete
    3. sree_sree1 March 2018 at 11:50

      its actually font problem. Segoe UI Emoji font. in windows 10 only En-US (English US with region set to US) is available. Crash is mostly linked to the default insider program option, where it allows you to be beta tester of new updates. why MS did it? they haven't answered. once it is disabled its lot peaceful.

      Delete
  7. Vanchinathan1 March 2018 at 09:36

    Enyoyed Murphy's Law, Blackbuck (target of demonitisation!)
    and the Spoonerism.
    Could not get Aloo Tikki, Nosey Parker, and Minerva.
    The clue for 1D though easy to crack was a nice one.
    After a long time I came this close to completing a grid. Thanks Incognito.
    22A. I arrived at TOFF after guessing and locating it in a dictionary.
    Two deletions (of the same letter E) indicated independently. Is this a new technique?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath1 March 2018 at 10:02

      Both E's don't come from European

      Endless confectionery = TOFFE(-e)
      after departure of = Deletion indicator
      European = E
      aristocrat, perhaps = TOFF(-e)(-e)

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 10:29

      He has said 'indicated independently'. So he is sure about 2 different types of deletions- only that they are used in the same clue,right sir?

      Delete
    3. Kishore1 March 2018 at 10:59

      There is a slight difference between the two deletions. Endlessly, is a concatenation/shortening, i.e., a deletion of the last letter, while the deletion of the other E is a specific letter deletion. Incidentally, it happens to be the last letter in this case.

      I am sure the device has been used earlier.

      Delete
  8. Mukundala Balasubramanyam1 March 2018 at 09:38

    Simple and elegant one from Incognito.

    Surprisingly had no problem with the spoonerism clue today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 09:40

      There are various degrees of Spoonerism, probably. I too could get it easily.

      Delete
  9. Dr. Krishnamoorthy. A, Vellore1 March 2018 at 10:22

    17d: Hitech - hit(popular)+e+ch

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kishore1 March 2018 at 10:51

    Blackadder fans might recall Baldrick's cunning plans ...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kishore1 March 2018 at 10:52

    No theme today ...

    ReplyDelete
  12. vdsprasad49@gmail.com1 March 2018 at 11:39

    14D. Grandiose, being the definition, should be made made 'bold' in the blog.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lakshmi Vaidyanathan1 March 2018 at 11:42

    Nice one Kishore sir !

    ReplyDelete
  14. raju umamaheswar1 March 2018 at 11:54

    Blackbuck was also the target of Salman Khan . Usually used as an alternative to the American dollar. Was the demonetization also targeting the American Bucks? It no doubt has bucked up the economic horse, though many in the opposition bucked it. We Indians have converted our currency to bucks ( as in lend me fifty bucks ) . Finally the buck stopped at the Finance Minister's desk. Doesn't the English language buck up our mood with its multifarious use of one word? Shhesh ! don't give me a bucksheesh !

    Incognito does get buck naked with his signature clues.

    ReplyDelete
  15. sree_sree1 March 2018 at 12:01

    BUCKDUCK from Raju

    ReplyDelete
  16. C.G. BHARGAV1 March 2018 at 13:05

    @Raju

    Oh buck buck buck
    Buckum buckum maadapura!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam1 March 2018 at 13:50

      I love this Tamil song. Its Telugu version is... Oho oho paavurama!

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan1 March 2018 at 14:00

      I think you got the 2 songs confused MB. If I remember right, 'Paavurama' was sung by Banumathi- a much older classic song. This madappura is from a a Tamil film called 'Annai' and came out much later.

      Delete
    3. Vasant1 March 2018 at 14:19

      I listened to the song (Tamil one) now only having not heard of it before. Nice song!

      Delete
    4. Vasant1 March 2018 at 14:21

      In you tube the credit is given to Banumathi from the film Annai

      Delete
    5. Mukundala Balasubramanyam1 March 2018 at 14:50

      Paddy @ 2:00 pm

      Yes, some kind of confusion! In Telugu it was sung by Bhanumathi, but the tune is same!

      Delete
    6. raju umamaheswar1 March 2018 at 17:20

      ????? I am lost in translation ! some sort of gaali for me? Then I'll buck & duck.

      Delete
    7. Vasant1 March 2018 at 21:38

      No gaali..only extension of your buck theme

      Delete
  17. raju umamaheswar1 March 2018 at 18:07

    I saw the video of this song. Was impressed with the foot movements of the dancer -- reminded me of comedian Jerry Lewis ! The song was well picturized wit white doves (tame ones?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. C.G. BHARGAV1 March 2018 at 20:21

      Chandrababu was often likened to the style of Jerry Lewis...

      Delete

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