Monday 14 February 2022

No 13479, Monday 14 Feb 2022, Vulcan

Artwork for Valentine's Day by Prasanna

Rangoli by Gowri

Solution to 9A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS
1   Mark runs into difficulty (6) STRAIN {ST{R}AIN}
4   City life basically is good in France (6) LISBON {Life}{IS}{BON}
8   Too much inside enclosure in small building (7) COTTAGE {C{OTT}AGE}
9   Compensate soldiers fairly (7) ?E?U?T? (Addendum - REQUITE {RE}{QUITE} - See comments)
11 At home, Elma and I cooked Punjabi lunch! (6,4) INDIAN MEAL {IN}{ELMA+AND+I}*
12 Essence extracted from basic oregano (4) CORE [T]
13 Bum is riled up (5) IDLER*
14 It’s baked with pasta — mostly stuffed with nothing (8) MACAROON {MACAR{O}ONi}
16 Band couple hired (8) BRACELET {BRACE}{LET}
18 Approaches listeners after the end of session (5) NEARS {EARS}<=>{s...oN}
20 Standard name for grassy area (4) LAWN {LAW}{N}
21 Just walk with one friend (10) LEGITIMATE {LEG IT}{I}{MATE}
23 Dish made from rice for starters — it’s too liquid (7) RISOTTO {Rice}{ITS+TOO}* 
24 A new shirt got dirty (7) TARNISH {A+N+SHIRT}* 
25 No dyer works over there (6) YONDER*
26 Essentially fund an event that’s discriminatory (6) UNFAIR {fUNd}{FAIR}

DOWN
1   Displayed and flashed, say (5) SHOWN (~shone)
2   About time liar gets exposed in new hearing (7) RETRIAL {RE}{T}{LIAR*}
3   E-learning — difficult for the most part (2,7) IN GENERAL*
5   Theoretical standard (5) IDEAL [DD]
6   Delivery person employed by a bar (7) BOUNCER [CD] (Correction [C&DD] - See comments)
7   Infamous tour opposition leader is on after uprising (9) NOTORIOUS {TOUR+Op...n+IS+ON}*
10 Tradition to include the head of monks in a retreat (9) HERMITAGE {HER{Mo..s}ITAGE} Semi&lit
13 Actually it’s a kind of linearity (2,7) IN REALITY*
15 Limit jailbirds’ workout (9) CONSTRAIN {CONS}{TRAIN}
17 Unite with clubs operating in/around Jordan (7) CONJOIN {C}{ON}{JO}{IN}
19 Country song about people (7) ARMENIA {AR{MEN}IA}
21 Large article securing a machine (5) LATHE {L}{A}{THE}
22 It’s a problem without the second weapon (5) TASER TeASER 

Refrence List
Runs = R, Good in French = BON, Too much = OTT(Over the top), Soldeirs = RE(Royal Engineers), Name = N, New = N, About = RE, Time = T, Clubs = C, Large = L 

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51 comments:

  1. Badri14 February 2022 at 08:30

    9a. soldier=re. fairly=quite componsate = re+quite

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous14 February 2022 at 08:31

    Col - kindly add my rangoli mailed to u.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 08:45

    Why is it mostly Runs for R (1A) and Clubs for C (17D)- and no in singular?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VMA Nair14 February 2022 at 10:13

      Runs = R (cricket). See entries under British English
      https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/r

      Clubs = C (Playing cards)
      https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/C

      Run and Club variants also work apparently

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 11:53

      Thank you Ajeesh.

      Delete
  4. Abhishek Sridhar14 February 2022 at 08:46

    6D) CD and DD

    ReplyDelete
  5. C.G. BHARGAV14 February 2022 at 08:51

    IDLER Vladimir was in STRAIN
    His feelings he had to CONSTRAIN
    IN GENERAL
    It's his funeral
    IDEAL situation is to avoid pain.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AJ14 February 2022 at 09:02

    Great artwork Prasanna!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 09:08

    +1. One for the occasion.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mukundala Balasubramanyam14 February 2022 at 09:16

    A pleasant start to the week! Thank you Vulcan. 🙂

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous14 February 2022 at 09:56

    Dear all
    Out of context - i want to share something.

    " *Can A Word Be Its Own Opposite?* "

    Yes! They are called *Contronyms* —words that are their own antonyms, depending on usage.
    Here are a few examples

    "Dust" :
    can mean ‘to add fine particles’ or ‘to remove fine particles’.

    "Left" :
    can mean both
    ‘remaining’ and ‘departed’.

    "Off" :
    can mean both ‘activated’ and ‘deactivated’.
    Eg:- “Set off” - Activated
    “ Switch off - Deactivated

    "Oversight" :
    means both ‘watchful care’ and ‘an inadvertent error’.

    "Screen" :
    can mean both ‘to show’ and ‘to hide’.

    "Sanction"
    can mean both ‘a penalty for disobeying a law’ and ‘official permission or approval for an action.

    That's Amazing English!
    (To all English- Lovers)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant14 February 2022 at 11:22

      Contranyms work beautifully in cryptic crosswords as given in this blog article:
      https://www.crosswordunclued.com/2015/04/contronyms.html

      Delete
    2. Suresh Panje, New Delhi14 February 2022 at 11:34

      Thank you Mme. Gowri for sharing this 'Wordsplay'....

      Delete
    3. Prasanna Rao14 February 2022 at 11:48

      Nice to know about contronyms. In fact SHUCHI mentioned, it reflects in Hindi also. Good Example(KAL). Thanks Vasant.

      @ Gowri +1 for Beautiful Rangoli

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 11:56

      Gowrie, Cleave can be added to the list. It my mean both splitting & joining. Gridman mentioned this once and I was amazed then.

      Delete
  10. VMA Nair14 February 2022 at 10:14

    Great clues. Thanks Vulcan

    ReplyDelete
  11. cdrgani2914 February 2022 at 11:29

    In 8A how is TOO equal to OTT?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sree_sree14 February 2022 at 11:33

      OTT is too much/excessive/exaggerated.

      Delete
    2. Col_Gopinath14 February 2022 at 11:34

      Sir see the explanation in the Reference List at the bottom of the post

      Delete
    3. cdrgani2914 February 2022 at 11:44

      Oh yes, seen. Thanks!

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 11:57

      Is it an abbreviation of 'Over the top'?

      Delete
    5. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 12:02

      Sorry Col. That is also there in the original post.

      Delete
  12. Prasanna Rao14 February 2022 at 11:33

    Great start by Vulcan. yet to solve few. TARNISH, UNFAIR & ARMENIA are my CoD. 23A-Itallian rice (RISOTTO) picture was too good. Thanks to col.sir for the perfect picture.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ramesh ss14 February 2022 at 11:40

    Lovely crossie. Legitimate and bouncer my favourites. Good one Vulcan.

    ReplyDelete
  14. ramesh ss14 February 2022 at 11:41

    Excellent art work and rangoli.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prasanna Rao14 February 2022 at 11:49

      Thanks a lot sir.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14 February 2022 at 13:04

      Ramesh - i wrote a poem for u yday. Did u read it? 😊

      Delete
    3. ramesh ss14 February 2022 at 19:10

      Yes of course. And I acknowledged the limerick therein. Thanks

      Delete
  15. cdrgani2914 February 2022 at 11:46

    Excellant examples from this master Anagramist!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sohil Bhagat14 February 2022 at 11:50

    I had BARN for 20A (Standard = Bar) and kept wondering why the definition wasn't ideal. Had to press 'Reveal' online since I completely blanked out on LAW. Nice and fun crossword overall - good start to the week :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 12:00

    Beautiful Rangoli. Colorful and imaginative.Done with real flowers and petals?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 February 2022 at 13:05

      No Paddy. Only powder. Made to look like flowers.

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 13:39

      Very realistic.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous14 February 2022 at 13:43

      To be honest- we lost a lot of flowering plants including pavazhamalli in the december floods. Have to start the garden again.

      Delete
    4. Padmanabhan14 February 2022 at 14:31

      So did we. Lot of water logging soaking all the plants.

      Delete
    5. sree_sree14 February 2022 at 15:38

      Why not try vertical gardens/hydroponics

      Delete
    6. Anonymous14 February 2022 at 16:12

      Those r separate. These r plants/ trees in the patch in front of the house. Where due to lack of municipal drainage - water logging was there in most parts of chennai. This with clayey soil kills the plants - rotting them.

      Delete
  18. Suresh Panje, New Delhi14 February 2022 at 12:10

    Hello Dear All,
    A Bright Good Morning to each one of you on the occasion of Valentine’s Day and let us pledge to reiterate for eradication of social, religious and geo-political animosity & hatred with a commitment to redefine the most beautiful word ‘LOVE’ as
    Life
    Of
    Virtuous
    Emotions

    Have a nice fruitful day... Cheers!!!
    Suresh Panje

    ReplyDelete
  19. AJ14 February 2022 at 12:28

    Beautiful rangoli, Gowri!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh Panje, New Delhi15 February 2022 at 13:39

      Indeed, it is and perhaps in the present day world of so-called digital communication, Rangoli has been the sole survivor to counter all those modes of expression, be they in words or through art and creative concepts...

      Delete
  20. Anonymous14 February 2022 at 22:34

    Thanx to all of you.
    Nice grid. Finished in 30 mins.

    ReplyDelete

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