Monday, 23 June 2025

No 14518, Monday 23 Jun 2025, Hypatia

Solution to 10A 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. 

Open for anyone to solve, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS
7   Modern AI trial unit's practical (11) UTILITARIAN*
8   Socialise after captain of Mumbai team retired (3) MIX {Mu...i}{XI<=}
10 Bragged in party (4) ?R?W (Addendum - CREW [DD] - See comments)
11 Middle Easterners re-building Basra (5) ARABS*
12 Attacks fools (4) MUGS [DD]
13 River Seine, extremely hot earlier to bathe (5) RINSE {R}{SeinE}<=>{IN}
15 Fancy clothes in wash - rest mostly dirty (9) SHERWANIS {IN+WAS+RESt}*
16 Invites him later to tour capital city (6) SHIMLA [T]
18 Colourful bird or two on air before May (6) TOUCAN {(~two)TOU}{CAN}
21 A rich child's booster seat (4-5) HIGH-CHAIR {A+RICH}* [RA]
23 Leaders of huge empires inheriting remarkable status! (5) HEIRS Acrostic Semi&lit
25 Women passing through never sent back in Sabarimala, say (4) TOWN {N{W}OT<=} Sabarimala is a hill and not a town
26 Perfect old performance (5) EXACT {EX}{ACT}
27 Incomplete cipher requiring a final part (4) CODA {CODe}{A}
28 Oddly join with girl to dance (3) JIG {JoIn}{G}
29 Reserved match, pointed Spooner (5-6) TIGHT-LIPPED (~light tipped to tight-lipped)

DOWN
1   Sea creature's prominent angle (8) STARFISH {STAR}{FISH}
2   Reflection of animal in stream (4) FLOW<=
3   Ultimately unfinished country album? (5) ATLAS {AT LASt}
4   Infuse exotic herb tea (7) BREATHE*
5   Language without writing tools, pens (8) SANSKRIT {SANS}{K{R}IT}
6   Antelope seen in his log cabin regularly (6) NILGAI {iN+hIs+LoG+cAbIn}
9   Young author's unpopular, discontented, boring friend (8) IMMATURE {I'M}{MAT{Un...aR}E}
14 Recalled why no HP mystery features a musical composition (8) SYMPHONY [T<=]
17 Allow sharing chat - one unusually active (8) ATHLETIC {LET} in {CHAT+1}*
19 A newly wed daughter securing ghunghat initially clipped (8) ABRIDGED {A}{BRID{Gh...t}E}{D}
20 Basic test about state leading to arrest killer (7) PIRANHA {P{IRAN}H}{Ar...t}
22 Working in ICICI? Most famous! (6) ICONIC {IC{ON}ICi}
24 Looted from shop changing hands (5) STOLE STO(-r+l)LE
27 Initially cut or paste your transcript (4) COPY Acrostic 

Reference List
Hot = IN, Women = W, Girl = G, Writing = R, Basic test = Ph

21 comments:

  1. 18A- Can/ May interchangeable?
    Nice enjoyable CW. Thank yo Hypatia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nowadays it seems it is. Earlier
      days people used to distinguish
      between the two. 'can' represents our ability and 'may'
      a request. There's a difference between asking, can I use the
      phone and may I use the phone.

      Delete
    2. No. In the above sentence both represent request for permission "be allowed to".

      Delete
    3. I agree with Sree Sree garu.

      Delete
    4. I beg to differ. Can represents ability - a person sitting in Chennai obviously cannot use the phone in Hyderabad. May is asking for permission from whoever owns the phone.
      Apart from the above- May introduces an element of doubt. To quote Nehru- "May also may mean maynot"!!!

      Delete
    5. be able to.
      "they can run fast"
      be able to through acquired knowledge or skill.
      "I can speak Italian"
      have the opportunity or possibility to.
      "there are many ways holidaymakers can take money abroad"
      used to express doubt or surprise about the possibility of something's being the case.
      "he can't have finished"
      used to indicate that something is typically the case.
      "antique clocks can seem out of place in modern homes"
      2.
      be permitted to.
      "you can use the phone if you want to"
      3.
      used to request someone to do something.

      Delete
    6. This extract below is from Chambers online. While I do understand the nuanced difference, I believe there are many instances where one can be substituted with the other

      can, may
      Essentially, can denotes capability or capacity, and may denotes permission or opportunity. Because these two sets of meaning constantly overlap, the two words have become highly interchangeable, with can more versatile than may • Hospital trusts attract more staff and can determine their own pay rates • You can do it when you come home from work. In both these examples, may is also possible.

      Both can and may are used to denote what is probable or habitual • A quiet river on a summer's day may be a raging torrent in February • Things can go dreadfully wrong at this stage. When capability or capacity is predominant, can is used • I can't cope with life at the moment • Can you see the point I am trying to make?

      Delete
    7. Thank you for the exhaustive
      response. I do see the point and agree that they are sometimes
      interchangeable but not every
      where. Even dictionaries agreeing about their similarity
      make a distinction as informal,
      formal and more formal between can, could and may.
      Purists respond harshly when
      someone asks can I use the...
      and respond like how do I know
      whether you can use it or not?

      Delete
  2. 10A Crew DD (Bragged, Party)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Clean and clever clues, thanks Hypatia. I especially enjoyed 3D.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Amita. Nice to see you back here :)

      Delete
  5. 18 A English teacher driving home the point:
    Student: Ma'am, can I use the toilet?
    Teacher:( rather cruelly) You can but you may not

    ReplyDelete
  6. But surely setters must have some leeway in wp

    ReplyDelete
  7. Me: Col, MAY I point to the typo in 15a. Can you please rectify it.
    Col: I CAN. May be I will or May be I won't.
    (Fictional conversation)

    ReplyDelete
  8. With MAY just ending, sometime back, we CAN look forward to better weather!

    If u don't CAN your apple jam properly, u MAY end with spoilt stuff! šŸ™‚

    Is that confusing enough? šŸ˜•

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely puzzle Sowmya - I didn't get CREW.
    Bragged is CROWED? Haven't heard of CREW there.

    My fav - ATLAS, IMMATURE, ABRIDGED, SANSKRIT.
    Thank u!

    ReplyDelete

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