Wednesday, 20 November 2019

No 12785, Wednesday 20 Nov 2019, Hypatia


ACROSS
9   French official boarding party bus condemned hypocrisy (6,9) DOUBLE STANDARDS {DO}{UB{LE STANDARD}S*}
10 Busy Santa Claus oddly left dried fruit (7) SULTANA {SANTA+cLaUs}*
11 Since French and German articles are separated (7) ASUNDER {AS}{UN}{DER}
12 Drama staged in front of love sick creature (9) ARMADILLO {DRAMA*}{ILL}{0} Is the sequence of wordplay correct?
14 Thin recorder? (5) TAPER [DD]
17 Say, extras in total, e.g. by estimation (3,4) LEG BYES [T]
19 Sensible paper trashed without liberal notion (7) INKLING {thINK{L}ING}
21 Stole and returned without a fight (5) SCARF FRACaS<=
23 Cushy life at her Edinburgh house (9) FEATHERED [T]
25 Eat bear (7) SWALLOW [DD]
27 Around lunch time, two queens became increasingly lustful (7) RANDIER {R}{AND}{1}{ER}
30 Face up to something else (7,3,2,3) ANOTHER CUP OF TEA {FACE+UP +TO}* [RA]

DOWN
1   They’re not even large to cover priest (4) ODDS {O{DD}S}
2   Roll up flag after fine address (4) FURL {F}{URL}
3   When it doesn’t rain on Spooner’s beloved earth (5,3) CLEAR DAY  (~dear clay)
4   Attack gangster without one back-up (6) ASSAIL {A{1}L}<=>{ASS}
5   Ratnam, perhaps devours Italian’s favourite pasta (8) MACARONI {MA{CARO}NI}
6   Judge wore a clean suit (6) ADJUST {A}{D{J}UST}
7   Boring book finally offered for reading to a toddler (4)  ARID {A}{(-k+r)RID}
8   For starters, ultimately someone employing resources (4) USER Acrostic &lit
12 World-class book for students? (5) ATLAS [DD]
13 Mother and grandmother rock! (5) MAGMA {MA}{G}{MA}
15 Former busybody on the telephone (5) PRIOR (~prier)
16 Hard cryptic grid cracked by Incognito, at first (5) RIGID {RIG{In...o}D*}
18 Picked up comfy clothes for program (8) SOFTWARE (~ soft wear)
20 Robbed diamond that made Robinhood broke (3-1-4) KOH-I-NOOR {robINHOOd+bROKe}* [CA]
22 Awkwardly lift hubby’s coat that’s dirty (6) FILTHY {LIFT*}{HubbY}
24 Launching regularly, can ISRO gain gravity with World body’s projectile? (3,3) AIR GUN {cAn+IsRo}{G}{UN} Projectile or Weapon?
25 Members go up and trade (4) SWAP<=
26 Crazy man in perfect condition (4) AMOK {M} in {A OK}
28 Hint: Reverse the first 9 letters (4) IOTA {A TO I}<=
29 Scan metal with the other hand (4) READ (-l+r)READ

Reference List
Party = DO, Love = 0, Paper = TH, Liberal = L, Queen = R, ER, Large = OS, Priest = DD, Fine = F, Gangster = AL, Judge = J, Reading = R, Grand = G, Gravity = G, Man = M


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31 comments:

  1. gxdxr20 November 2019 at 08:39

    12A is correct. "in front of love, sick"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree20 November 2019 at 08:41

      Its rather hard without the , (though I got it at first read because of setters name in mind)

      Delete
  2. sree_sree20 November 2019 at 08:39

    4d a(I ass<=)l,imu

    ReplyDelete
  3. gxdxr20 November 2019 at 08:41

    27A I had the two queens as RANI & ER. Was left wondering how lunchtime = D!

    ReplyDelete
  4. sree_sree20 November 2019 at 08:54

    The Hindu paper, TH

    ReplyDelete
  5. C.G. BHARGAV20 November 2019 at 09:14

    Dei Mani

    Get me ANOTHER CUP OF TEA!

    I ADJUSTED the TV remote to the song and dance channel. Yes, we have indeed come a long day after Marconi.

    The song Macarena Macarena put me in a kushi mood.

    SOFTWARE did not help me in getting any INKLING of Ratnam. What are the ODDS that I will get it before 0830?

    I was told years back: READ and reread the clue slowly....

    Mani came and announced that my friend Ratnam has arrived.

    Mani tell Ratnam

    OMG I got it

    MANI RATNAM. The Alai flowed at last.

    ReplyDelete
  6. C.G. BHARGAV20 November 2019 at 09:16

    Read: long way...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree20 November 2019 at 16:59

      Expected a quip on mother and grandmother! Bahu and the saus!

      Delete
    2. Sowmya20 November 2019 at 22:01

      “Gem” of a story CGB sir. Enjoyed reading it.

      Delete
  7. Kolluru Koteswara Rao20 November 2019 at 09:41

    Thanks Hypatia. Many clues to my liking. 20DN took long with its unusual def.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree20 November 2019 at 09:45

      Its def in the middle, right? Def is only diamond.

      Delete
    2. Kolluru Koteswara Rao20 November 2019 at 10:58

      In as much as this is a Composite anagram type, we can probably accept it. Further, when anyone talks about this diamond, the first thing that comes to anybody's mind is it is robbed.

      Delete
    3. Vasant20 November 2019 at 11:23

      I think the definition as given in the blog is Robbed Diamond. Kohinoor was robbed.

      Delete
    4. sree_sree20 November 2019 at 11:30

      Vasant, there is an affadavit by Indian govt in SC that it was not robbed (maharajah may have been coerced as part of surrender!).

      But just sticking to cryptic cluing
      CA robbed+kohinoor = robinhood broke.
      So isn't diamond=kohinoor the def.

      Delete
    5. Vasant20 November 2019 at 12:55

      Officially yes, but everyone knows it was robbed. Moreover "Robbed diamond" as definition looks artistic whereas diamond coming not at the beginning looks off.

      Delete
    6. Avtaar20 November 2019 at 17:56

      In a composite anagram, definition can be in the middle. I think something like “this diamond “ is desirable. The cryptic reading is clear. Ultimately it all depends on the cryptic reading . ROBBED KOHINOOR anagrams into (MADE) ROBINHOOD BROKE. Great surface and cleverly done +2

      Delete
    7. Sowmya20 November 2019 at 22:03

      Thanks KKR garu, Vasant and Avtaar. Glad you liked the grid. As clarified by Sree Sree and Avtaar, the definition is indeed diamond (that). In composite anagrams, the definition can indeed be in the middle as long as the clue parses clearly.

      Delete
  8. Col_Gopinath20 November 2019 at 11:32

    No thoughts on 24D?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kolluru Koteswara Rao20 November 2019 at 11:38

      Sorry Col, didn't see it.
      Projectile is like missile and air-gun is defined by Chambers as:
      "A gun that discharges missiles by means of compressed air"
      It can be accepted, in my view.

      Delete
    2. sree_sree20 November 2019 at 17:39

      Imu, Projectile from a gun is a weapon. But not <=. I read "launching projectile?"as def. But that's also strictly not enough (one launching projectile).


      Delete
    3. Sowmya20 November 2019 at 22:04

      Agree. I originally had weapon and then tweaked the clue later. In hindsight, weapon was sufficient and correct.

      Delete
  9. Chaturvasi20 November 2019 at 11:47

    No, it should be weapon. Missile or projectile is shot by weapon. Air gun is a weapon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. cdrgani2920 November 2019 at 11:53

    High standard clues today. Maniratnam clue was like his Agni Nakshatram!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ramki Krishnan20 November 2019 at 14:05

    Very nice clues. ADJUST, KOH-I-NOOR, IOTA, FILTHY were favourites. Thanks Hypatia!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sowmya20 November 2019 at 22:05

      Thanks Ramki. Really appreciate your feedback. Glad you enjoyed the grid. 🙏

      Delete
  12. Amita Baviskar20 November 2019 at 16:46

    Nice clues. Thanks, Hypatia. I got Koh-i-Noor but the anagram felt awkward.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sowmya20 November 2019 at 22:09

      Thanks for the feedback Amrita. I felt that robbed and diamond went with the Robinhood story. Composite anagrams are one of the toughest clue types to perfect, since you have two sets of fodder to fit into a story, one anagrind to work with and the surface should parse clearly as an instruction with no extra words or padding. I usually try and include one of these in my grids, more as a challenge to myself as well as the solvers.

      Delete
  13. raju umamaheswar20 November 2019 at 17:35

    Hi,Hyper-super grid from Hypatia. Take a pat on your back.a1 clues.thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sowmya20 November 2019 at 22:09

      Thanks Rajuji. Hi to you and glad you enjoyed it 🙏

      Delete

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