Saturday, 26 April 2025

No 14469, Saturday 26 Apr 2025, Hypatia

 ACROSS
1 Fill drink before travel (6) SUPPLY {SUP}{PLY}
4 Sensibilities affecting cold, detached economist (8) EMOTIONS {EcONOMIST}*
9 Tom, Dick or Harry (most of those reading this) boring Hathaway, say (6) ANYONE {AN{YOu}NE} Anne Hathaway, the actress or Shakespeare's wife
10 Forefather captivated by dance story (8) ANCESTOR [T]
11 Mini cosmos in embassy (4,10) HIGH COMMISION {MINI COSMOS}* [RA]
13 Squibs essentially going into crackers out of place (10) UNSUITABLE {sqUIbs} going into {UNSTABLE}
14 Fruit//chaat (4) BHEL [DD]
16 Bob doesn't use chair, kneeling originally (4) DUCK [Acrostic]
18 Software capturing racing cars registered in Burj Khalifa, for one (10) SKYSCRAPER {CARS}* in {SKYPE}+{R}
21 Attempt to salvage via tense discussions during heated cult wars (6,2,6) CLUTCH AT STRAWS {T}{CHATS} in {CULT WARS}*
23 Roast about performance in shows (8) DISPLAYS {DIS{PLAY}S}
24 A father stopped by priest for long (6) ASPIRE {A}{S{P}IRE}
25 Disheartened doctors nursing veteran's strange depression (8) DOLDRUMS {DoctorS} nursing {OLD}{RUM}
26 America declines applications (6) USAGES {US}{AGES}

DOWN
1 Instant// photo (4) SNAP [DD]
2 Shy models in images for school subject (7) PHYSICS {SHY}* in {PICS}
3 Playing regularly, composer's skipping over main part (8) LYNCHPIN {pLaYiNg}{CHoPIN}
5 Artists cropped missing Tamil reels (11) MINIMALISTS {MISSINg TAMIL}*
6 Bees tested hold up - some fly (6) TSETSE [T<]
7 Nest ultimately circled by large magnificent bird (7) OSTRICH {nesT} in {OS}{RICH}
8 Jet through special skating arena next to the French river (9) SPRINKLER {SP}{RINK}{LE}{R}
12 Poet and old character actor crossing my city (Manama), at last (4,7) OMAR KHAYYAM {O}{MARK}{HA{mY}{citY}{manamA}M} Easy to solve, tough to parse
13 Global organization's detectives indeed on the fence (9) UNDECIDED {UN} {DE{CID}ED}
15 Checks admitting million supporters of members? (8) ARMRESTS {AR{M}RESTS}
17 Lawyer cracking clue with son (7) COUNSEL*
19 Making a pledge beneath park's shelter (7) PAWNING {P}{AWNING}
20 Basically observe crystals under light augmenting range of vision (6) OCULAR [Acrostic]
22 A man and woman heading for salon cuts (4) HEWS {HE}{W}{Salon}

REFERENCE LIST
Cold=C, Registered=R, Tense=T, Roast=Diss, Priest=P, America=US, Large=OS (Outsize), Special=SP, The French=LE(THE in French), Old=O, Park=P, Man=He, Woman=W.

32 comments:

  1. Many fantastic clues in this grid by Hypatia. Enjoyed throughly solving them. Looking forward to the next one. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 13D. Indeed. Why in goes ?. Any indicator which I missed ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In is container indicator. CID in DEED

      Delete
    2. In does not go. Indeed is split into in & deed. De (CID)ed- CID in 'Deed'.

      Delete
  3. 21a typo chats
    12d O mark ha(yya) m!

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  4. Good crossy but a small nibble. Software for skype is too weak.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And 9a those plural! the would have sufficed

      Delete
    2. Thanks Sree_sree - Guess you mean niggle? I thought it might be a giveaway clue if I put webcommunication software or some such and was also difficult to work that into the surface story. What would you suggest?

      For 9A, I intentionally kept it as those, so atleast a few solvers can be led down the garden path

      Delete
  5. At first glance I am at a loss. Then,
    after many glances more, I could
    complete the grid. Thoroughly
    enjoyed the exercise!

    ReplyDelete
  6. 12D: I had read Edward Fitzgerald's translation of Omar Khayyam Rubaiyat(Quatrains) in my school days. It was just magical. Sample these two:
    Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
    I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,
    "Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
    Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry."
    And this:
    And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
    The Tavern shouted – "Open then the Door!
    You know how little while we have to stay,
    And once departed, may return no more."
    Later on I read Harivansh Rai Bacchan's Madushala. How can one not be stirred by these lines:
    मदिरालय जाने को घर से चलता है पीनेवला,
    'किस पथ से जाऊँ?' असमंजस में है वह भोलाभाला,
    अलग-अलग पथ बतलाते सब पर मैं यह बतलाता हूँ -
    'राह पकड़ तू एक चला चल, पा जाएगा मधुशाला
    or this one:
    मुसलमान औ' हिन्दू है दो, एक, मगर, उनका प्याला,
    एक, मगर, उनका मदिरालय, एक, मगर, उनकी हाला,
    दोनों रहते एक न जब तक मस्जिद मन्दिर में जाते,
    बैर बढ़ाते मस्जिद मन्दिर मेल कराती मधुशाला!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are many translations.
      I have read the one in Telugu by
      Kavikokila Duvvuri Rami Reddy,
      'Panasala'.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for blogging today and for the lovely pics and these samples of poetry. Really interesting. While I love poetry, I don't know as much Hindi to appreciate the poetry in that language, since I mostly learnt the language by watching TV shows and movies. There is something fascinating about poetry. I do remember large chunks of the English, tamil and sanskrit poetry that I learnt at school and I can spend hours discussing those:).

      Delete
    3. Poetry indeed is fascinating to me so much so that I learn new languages just to read poetry in its original form. I was fascinated by the Keatsian life of the Punjabi poet, Shiv Kumar Batalvi. I learnt to read Punjabi so that I could read "Ghazala te Geet" in original . Ditto with Tagore's Geetanjali. I am now learning Tamil and Thai to read poetry in original.

      Delete
    4. Tamil poetry is unbelievably good with a lot of fascinating variations.
      So, with English- what I learnt of it through my father.

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    5. Vasanth- I too read the Fitzgerald translation while in school & HR Bachchan later.
      Thanx for the quotes.
      I also learnt Tamizh only in the second half of my life & many of the old classic poetry in tamizh is fascinating.

      Learning a language just to appreciate it's poetry. Great! Wow!

      Delete
    6. Hi Gowri. Nice to know your fascination with literature. I had the good fortune of interacting with the late Chaturvasi Sir( the Setter Gridman) who used to write stories both in English and Tamil. He translated many Tamil writers works in English. I still have one of his books, a collection of stories translated by him from Tamil.

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. It was a paradox that the poet of Madhushala was a teetotaler!
      Another paradox is that Bachhan was a professor of English Literature ( Having done his thesis on W.B. Yeats) but wrote all his works ( including a 4 volume autobiography) in Hindi!

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    2. 4 volumes of autobiography?!! Must be something. What happened to all the English he studied? Good in a way, that we have something we can call our own, instead of being in a foreign language.
      No wonder Amitabh Bachchan was better known as his son in his initial days in films!

      Delete
    3. Indeed the 4 volume autobiography is a seminal work. I had the good fortune to read them around 25 years back. One of them was titled "Need ka Nirman Phir Phir"(Rebuiding of nest) and the last volume was called " Dushdwar se Sopan tak". The 3rd volume contained his sojourn to Ireland to see his "guru" Yeats's house and museum. Yeats's occultism and poetry had a deep influence on Bachhan.

      Delete
    4. I haven't had the good fortune to read this. Will attempt.

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  8. Kudos to Mme Hypatia, the compiler & setter of today's CW grid, which in fact did prompt Mr. Vasant to go down the memory lane that also enlightened guys like me on many unknown & less-known facts about the late Bachchan, truly a literary genius.
    Thanks to all....

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  9. Lovely crossword Hypatia. Thrilled to solve it.
    Esp loved
    ANYONE, UNDECIDED (Ardenesque clue), SPRINKLER, OMAR KHAYYAM.
    Thanx

    ReplyDelete

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