Across
1. Draw near a very soft insect (8) APPROACH {A}{PP}{ROACH}5. Generates small tools (6) SPAWNS {S}{PAWNS}
9. Group is right out of share (7) FACTION {F
10. Upstart with average, limited means (7) PARVENU {PAR}{VENU
11. They make many a stiff preservation (9) EMBALMERS (CD)
12. Where an Eskimo goes into — a police officer's washroom (5) IGLOO {IG}{LOO}
13. Cook some lunch effortlessly (4) CHEF (T)
14. Official making many an impression authoritatively (5,4) STAMP USER (CD?)
17. Give an exaggerated picture and receive trouble in public (9) OVERPAINT {OVER{PAIN}T}
19. Indian spinach’s over, here’s palm starch (4) SAGO {SAG}{O}
23. Exercise high and get impish (5) PESKY {PE}{SKY}
24. Accept an increase and go away (4,1,4) TAKE A HIKE {TAKE}{A}{HIKE}
25. 1 is gone for pronouncedly rough retort (7) OUTDOOR
26. As a result, multi-coloured production ignored lurid Left (7) OUTCOME {MU
27. Plucks idly — must somehow go through some time (6) THRUMS {MUST*} around {HR}
28. Small boy rides happily without Indian haulers (8) SKIDDERS {S}{KID}{R
Down
1. A student, almost new, gets company in the cool air (8) ALFRESCO {A}{L}{FRES2. Father's guy is forgiving (7) PACABLE {PA}{CABLE}
3. Love one in part of colourful flier (6) ORIOLE {O}{R{I}OLE}
4. Can mere contracts get leading member of orchestra? Yes, in a way (13) CONCERTMASTER {MERE+CONTRACTS*}
6. Open-minded, each village officer embraces one university student (8) PERVIOUS {PER}{V{I}{O}{U}{S}
7. We go over the man's 'invention' in bike trick (7) WHEELIE {W{HE}E}{LIE}
8. Puts out nothing to royal in trance (6) STUPOR {PUTS*}{O}{R}
10. Now it's hardly heard when mails arrive (8,5) POSTMAN'S KNOCK (CD)
15. Caterpillar? My marrow's hit (4,4) ARMY WORM {MY+MARROW*}
16. How fish is served by boy — with not all offered (8) BONELESS {B}{ONE LESS}
18. Guest gets rotis served after 6 (7) VISITOR {VI}{ROTIS*}
20. A girl model is fat (7) ADIPOSE {A}[DI}{POSE}
21. French author promotes son: "Begin to blossom!" (6) SPROUT {(+S)PROU(-s)T}
22. Tangled from being crazy about railway official (6) MATTED {MA{TTE}D}
Reference List
Very soft=PP, Small=S, Right=R, Average=Par, Police officer=IG, Over=O, Exercise=PE, Left=L, Indian=I
Student=L, Company=Co, Love=O, One=I, Each=Per, Village Officer=VO, University=U, Student=S, Man=He, Royal=R, Boy=B, 6=VI, Girl=Di, Railway official=TTE
Colour/Font Scheme
Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous
GRID
Bhargav's Talepiece
The bouncer and the dancer - Part 88
All the money made Clement a vain man!
PARVENU Clement soon became IMPERVIOUS to criticism.
When customers were not prepared to TAKE A HIKE he increased the charges arguing that there was no competition.
Instead of serving Roasted Brussels SPROUT with Pecans he had his CHEF prepare SAGO soup and it was served with a fancy name: SAI MAI LOU.
He set up an OUTDOOR BBQ which hardly had any takers.
Contract with the Landscape company was not renewed and the lawn and much of the crops was damaged by ARMY WORMS.
A WHEELIE with his frequent APPROACH into the dance area turned out to be PESKY to the VISITORS.
Meanwhile SS strengthened his own FACTION.
What happened next?
25. 1 is gone for pronouncedly rough retort (7) OUTDOOR
ReplyDeleteI read it as OUT + ROOD<< (ROOD = hp RUDE (pronouncedly rough) and "retort" as reversal ind)
But I guess that could be a bit indirect
DeleteI saw it as {OUT}{DOOR}(~dour)
DeleteBut dour is not "rough retort" right (adj vs noun). Dour = rough is okay
DeleteMy intended anno is the same as Ramki's. Actually I wanted to rewrite the clue because there is also 1ac in this grid and if we use 1dn it is ugly. But I forgot even in the last-minute pre-publication checking.
DeleteApologies to Gridman/Col. for jumping into this CW comment section with response to an older query
ReplyDeleteI have responded to Esha_iitm's queries on Wednesday's CW. We can continue the discussion there or with Gridman/Col.'s permission continue to pollute this comment section with that discussion
"Pollute"?
DeleteI thought your point wise reply to the queries/criticism was quite cogent.
DeleteIt can continue here
Deletetx ramesh for d reply, will post my counter in a while
DeleteCounter..................
DeleteTrust Gridman to bring in words like PACABLE & PERVIOUS ! one rarely cpome across these words in this form - more common is Placable and impervious.
ReplyDeletePOSTMAN'S KNOCK has been replaced by doorbells at home and pings in computers !
CGB sir takes us for a ride on HONDA!
ReplyDeleteI searched and found THC 11901 (https://thehinducrosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2017/01/no-11901-wednesday-11-jan-2017.html) has the same theme as yours, with common words like archer, balance, twin, etc.. but I didn’t blame u, impossible to know unless a common the theme database is maintained
ReplyDeleteGood surfaces do not need to be explained, they read natural. Since you insist on defending, here is my counter..
11 Alarming an admin is not the same as alarming “a web”.. Cannot cut a larger sentence arbitrarily and expect to have meaning
12, 16 East and State are not common last names, their usage is why the clues are weird. None of today’s Gridman clues use arbitrary proper nouns and none are weird.
5 You can hold a horse’s reins or a horseshoe, but a horse? Unless you are speaking in the idiomatic sense which you are not. And what is exactly “half” normal, “quarter” normal etc? Which scale to measure that?
7 Cannot find reference for “Simpler is one who gathers medicines.” Simpler as noun is archaic. Even otherwise, a simpler becoming a slave is why the clue is weird. Even for that weird explanation, the clue will have to be ’simpler’s owner’.
i meant thc theme database
DeleteThanks for the response
DeleteSo the difference essentially is -
Can a clue be a some part of a sentence or should it be phrase.
Knowledgeable folks please chime in
On 12 & 16, just because they are uncommon does not make them weird. That is the reason why East was capitalized
On whether one can hold a horse or not, quite a few horse books talk about how to hold them. A quick google search should be sufficient to confirm.
BTW the theme words for No 11901 were CRABBY, RAMROD, EWER, BULL, SCORPION, CAPRICE, TWIN, BALANCE, LEONINE, VIRGO, ARCHERS
DeleteQuite different from the list above so not sure what the objection is?
I think the discussion is not on technicalities. A crossword with a theme and a pangram..how many can create?
DeleteWe should appreciate the art of setting and clue writing..perhaps try to emulate. Nitpicking & carping is easy.
Another interesting tidbit.
DeleteSeveral years ago we were regularly solving the ET crosswords in the ORKUT community. Once Ganesh ( Neyartha) finding many clues familiar googled and discovered that a complete set of crosswords were just repeatedly used. Once this was known we gave up..
This is one downside of using the internet...Crosswords are at best enjoyed with pen and paper and just our brain!!
I am not entering into the debate but, for 'simpler', as one familiar with that meaning (I was - and am - a serious student of Eng Lit) let me cite
ReplyDeleteThe Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Simpler \Sim"pler\, n.
One who collects simples, or medicinal plants; a herbalist; a
simplist.
[1913 Webster]