Saturday 26 June 2010

No 9879, Saturday 26 Jun 10, Gridman

ACROSS
1   - What you pay for a cube of sugar? Not exactly! (4,3) - {LUMP} {SUM} [CD]
5   - Fellow in yon retreat is an insignificant person (6) - {NO{BOD}Y*}
9   - Cliff hangar? (5) - AERIE [CD]
10 - “Visit once more.” “Pardon?” (4,5) - COME AGAIN [DD]
11 - Hand always about a signal sender (7) - {E{MITT}ER}
12 - Eminence of king featured in a bust, perhaps (7) - {STATU{R}E}
13 - Falsehood in French handout (5) - {F{LIE}R}
14 - How you would describe a monkey, e.g., completely? (3,2,4) - TOP TO TAIL [CD]
16 - A building feature that's projected to bring in air and light (3,6) - BAY WINDOW [E]
19 - Turned to second Chinese dynasty (5) - {S}{WUNG} Found a WANG dynasty but not WUNG?
21 - Saying nothing about a luxury car falling back is a mistake (7) - {E{RR}{A}TUM}<-
23 - River is obstacle to one prisoner (7) - {RUB}{I}{CON}
24 - Bewilderment of fool over type of jazz (9) - {CON}{FUSION}
25 - Defeats in circuitous tours (5) - ROUTS*
26 - Sanction rise to the auditor (6) - ASSENT(~ascent)
27 - Roughly chart each air passage (7) - {TRACH*}{EA}
DOWN
1   - This permits one to take time off (5,2,7) -  LEAVE OF ABSENCE [CD]
2   - Craft shown in small cocktail (7) - {M{ART}INI}
3   - Place of refinement (7) - SMELTER [E]
4   - Scot, taking time with Edward, became thin (9) - {MAC}{ERA}{TED} New word for me.
5   - Stuns figures with no hesitation (5) - NUMBerS
6   - Boast villain has restrained publicity (7) - {BRAV{AD}O} Never knew Bravo also meant villain.
7   - Auld car refurbished for the count (7) - DRACULA*
8   - Highbrows with elitist leaning, possibly (14) - INTELLIGENTSIA*
15 - One to supply energy (5,4) - {POWER} {UNIT} &lit
17 - Heard why dummy corporations produce underpants (1-6) - (~why){Y}-{FRONTS}
18 - Agitated nit, not being polite, to gatecrash (7) - {INT*}{RUDE}
19 - Southern peninsula, a place of exile (7) - {S}{IBERIA}
20 - Dirty Hun hovering around court with no right (7) - {UN{COUrT}H*}
22 - Circle in poor visibility, getting a little wet (5) - {M{O}IST}

36 comments:

  1. Good morning folks

    Liked COME AGAIN, BAY WINDOW, SWUNG, RUBICON, CONFUSION, TRACHEA and others.

    8A - Very nice clue. I am aware that Gridman takes extreme care in choosing words when it comes to synonyms etc. But just seeking a clarification. While 'intellegentsia' is complimentary, 'highbrows' while being the former's equivalent, also suggests an element of affectation or affected learning. What do the experts say?

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  2. Deepak, just wondering as to how you manage your time, in posting, besides annos, very apt cartoons, which are turning deliciously cheekier by the day. Have you been maintaining a cartoon bank?

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  3. Richard
    Every highbrow is intelligentsia but every intelligentsia may not be highbrow.

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  4. Thanks, Chats. That in essence is the exact point I had in mind.

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  5. Deepak
    I would like to congratulate you on injecting a certain amount of entertainment in the day's proceedings by providing us with cartoons selected from the Internet to go with some solutions.
    I liked both the cartoons today.
    I trust my wife doesn't rummage through my drawer.

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  6. Thanks CV & Richard,

    I only hope I don't get hauled up for copyright violations with the cartoons. No, I don't have a cartoon bank.

    CV,

    In the comments section one needs to use the < > bracketing to get italics an bold

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  7. Thanks, Deepak.
    It is < > here and [ ] in Orkut.
    I sometimes use the wrong brackets in wrong places!
    Re copyright. I have been wondering about that. I wonder what the rules are. In another UK-based forum which uses cartoons and videos, I raised this question and the blogger was confident that as these were in public domain he was not violating any rights.
    It might be argued that since the copyright notice is there on the cartoon, it is very clear who produced the cartoon and who holds the copyright. And you are not gaining anything monetarily.
    Yet I would be interested in knowing where exactly we stand.

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  8. Deepak, sorry for being pedantic. There's a typo in your OP.

    6D: "new" should be "knew"

    Or is it my ignorance and I gotta go like "never knew new also meant knew."

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  9. I was going through cartoonstock's FAQ.

    Looks like you gotta pay to use their cartoons.

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  10. Nothing really to add to above. Hence posting a hidden word puzzle from Pablo C. Villasenor

    World Cup host countries are hidden in each sentence below. Can you find them? Happy searching!

    1. John saw in the pit a lying elephant.
    2. Jeff ran ceaselessly during the final lap of the race.
    3. There will be no magic happening even if I say the word abracadabra zillion times.
    4. Two of my paternal cousins wed English women.
    5. In the church, I learned to pray intently.
    6. Using a quill or a remex, I concluded the contract by affixing my signature.
    7. Is painless childbirth really non-traumatic?
    8. As ordered by the raja, pandas were given comfortable dwellings.
    9. If you become a bigger man, your shirts and pants will appear smaller.
    10. With an acoustic guitar, gent in a black suit will be coming to the city to perform in a concert.

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  11. Italy
    France
    Brazil
    Sweden
    Chile
    Mexico
    Spain
    Japan
    Germany
    Argentina

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  12. Italy, France, Brazil, Sweden, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Germany, Argentina

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  13. 1. Italy
    2. France
    3. Brazil
    4. Sweden
    5. Chile
    6. Mexico
    7. Spain
    8. Japan
    9. Germany
    10. Argentina

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  14. Lovely clues today!

    Lump Sum was the best.

    I thought 19A was S TUNG.

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  15. About image copyright - there are actually very few good image sites that allow you to use them FREE. Some require a link back, some have conditions about whether the pictures can be modified or not, some require payment.

    Cartoonstock does require payment even for non-commercial blogs (GBP 7.00), but since Colonel is embedding from the source and not republishing the image, this is free. Do look up their section on "Permissable uses of CartoonStock images on blogs, social networking websites and in forum posts without licensing".

    I get some of my images from a paid membership site. I am permitted single online use for them, with no redistribution.

    Any image on the net is not in the public domain for free use. Crossword Unclued images will show up through Google Image search, but I will be mighty miffed if an image I have put in effort to create OR paid for is used by someone else without acknowledgment or permission! For every image we intend to use, it's best to check the owner site's FAQ/licensing terms.

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  16. Shuchi

    Thanks for the clarification.

    The Hindu app grabs the crossword from the website and puts it in there so the user may solve it interactively without having to visit the website where anyway an ineractive version is not available.

    I raised the question of copyright with the app creators but they ignored me saying they had written to the paper and they would want to hear from them. They added that the app clearly states that the copyright rests with the paper (even as they had taken it from there and are reproducing it somewhere!) and that they did not gain anything monetarily.

    I raised the question with the Editor-in-chief who said clearly in writing that they would not want to give permission to the app grabbing the crossword from their site.

    Things stand there!

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  17. Of course the app is great, its interface is neat, some of its features are wonderful and all that. I like it!
    But the point is how legal it is for a crossword published somewhere being grabbed and put in an app and made available publicly.
    The monetary question is beside the point.

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  18. CV: To avoid complications, I think it would be best for all concerned sites, blogs and communities to get a clearence from the paper concerned, if this is possible.

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  19. Hmmm. Has the Editor-in-Chief conveyed the 'permission denied' message to the app creators? I'm sure they could come to an agreement that everyone is happy about. The interactive crossword is a very useful feature for solvers.

    I notice that Colonel always embeds images directly from the source rather than copies them. This is a good fair way to go about it when the exact licensing terms are not known.

    @Kishore: When I launched Crossword Unclued in 2008, I wrote to The Hindu saying that I would like to quote their clues to support my articles. Thankfully I did get permission from them to do so.

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  20. Plus, the Hindu clearly knows about and approves of Col's blog and the Orkut community - they published an article about them, after all!

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  21. @ Shuchi 1052: In that case at least of a plea of No 9876, Wednesday 23 Jun 10, Gridman: 7 d - Legal bar lest Pope should be at variance (8) is possible.

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  22. The fact that the Editor-in-Chief of the paper gives no permission to the crossword being grabbed from the paper and put in the app (that is ported to such sites as the Orkut community and FB) is in a note on a letter that I wrote to him.
    This is not enough for the owners of the app.
    Till such time that they have got permission in writing from the paper, should they not conclude that they have no permission?

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  23. Thanks Shuchi,

    That put's my mind at rest, I was wondering when I would get a 'bamboo' from the creators of the cartoons. Yes I only embed from the source.

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  24. Till such time that they have got permission in writing from the paper, should they not conclude that they have no permission?

    This is a difficult one! One might conclude from 'no response' that a small non-commercial app is inconsequential to a big publication house. Why deny ourselves of the joy of interactive solving specially when we mean no harm by it, because the paper did not think our request even worthy of response? If the app creators think this way, it is but natural.

    If The Hindu is aware of the app and objects to it, they can easily reply to the app creators' request for permission, can't they?

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  25. In addition to HTML and PDF, it'd be nice if TH online has crossword applet too - just like in the crossword pages of globe and mail, mirror etc.

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  26. When I launched Crossword Unclued in 2008, I wrote to The Hindu saying that I would like to quote their clues to support my articles. Thankfully I did get permission from them to do so.

    Actually, copyright notices usually say that excerpts from books may be used for review purposes without any express permission.

    Shuchi, in your blog you only cite previously published clues. Yet, the fact that you wrote to the papers for permission to do so and that they granted it is gratifying.

    A highly satisfying reult all round.

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  27. Now that we are on the subject...
    Who holds the copyright to the crossword or any bylined article in the paper?
    The paper or the particular setter?
    Whose permission would be required if it were to be used elsewhere?
    The paper's or the setter's?

    ReplyDelete
  28. I always believe in sharing useful information with my friends in this forum.

    Many of you may be aware of this. But this is meant for those who are not. I have been taking the help of a website which can trace the location of mobile and landline numbers (in case of nasty calls), tracing IP addresses, vehicle registry numbers (ideal in hit-and-run cases), finding out PINcodes and many other types of useful information related to India.

    Try it out yourselves by clicking INDIATRACE

    Let me know if you will have found it useful.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Richard @ 15.02

    Thanks for this useful link.I saw the site and I am sure it will be handy .

    ReplyDelete
  30. Chaturvasi, if a compiler (freelancer or otherwise) is employed by a newspaper, ideally, the latter should own the copyright (IMO).

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  31. I am not sure!
    Well, ultimately it might depend upon any contracts that exist.
    Usually in books it's not the publisher! It is the writer! And if it's a translation, the copyright of the original rests with the author and that of the translation with the translator.
    I admire The Hindu crossword app. I applaud the work of its creators. Yes, I like it. But I believe that when something like that is in public domain and is ported to the Orkut community and FB, all things must be carefully considered.
    It is not just a question of non-commercial use or just a few users.

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  32. If it's a book, I'd tend to agree with you. Things are a bit different when it's a crossword compiled by a freelancer or an employee, exclusively for a newspaper or a magazine.

    I agree with your views on The Hindu Crossword app. The way I see it, it's nothing but republishing a work that has a certain commercial value. So the creators of the applet should have the permission of TH. There would be many of us who buy the paper or visit its website just for its crosswords. It'd not be fair to make it available to public in a domain that has nothing to do with the paper.

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  33. A paper has a website with certain exclusive features.
    It has ads. It would expect and be happy with the countless eyes that see the ads.
    Now when the app gives a chance for people - however few they may be - to be able to do the crossword without ever visiting the website, it is not quite fair to the paper.
    If the app is passed on to people on request privately, it's a different matter, though what I have said above still holds good.
    Making it available publicly gives a twist to it.

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  34. Yep, my point exactly. I agree with you 100%.

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  35. What you say seems fair, CV Sir and VJ, but if it matters to the paper, all it will take for them is a message to the creators of the app. Why do they not do that?

    I might add that to look up an old clue or to glance through all the clues published on the current day, I visit Colonel's blog and not The Hindu's site. If the clues were not getting reproduced publicly here, I would go to the paper. So, they miss out on at least one pair of eyes from looking at their ads.

    Where should the line be drawn? It is for the paper to decide. If they think something makes them lose substantial money, they will certainly do something about it. Since they are aware of the app and ignoring it, why should you and I complain?

    I would rather appreciate the efforts that the app creators have taken to help solvers, than object on behalf of the newspaper that does not care enough to even reply to them.

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  36. @CV 08 50 Sir, In certain areas of Tamilnadu, the half-pants are also called 'drawer'.

    What an indepth analysis on 'copy right' - wonderful

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