Friday 13 August 2010

No 9920, Friday 13 Aug 10, Neyartha

Lots of anagrams and lots of Googling to complete todays CW. Neyartha seems to have dedicated today's CW to our very own 2D.
ACROSS
1   - Absurd jest in portico by a cinema theatre employee (13) - PROJECTIONIST*
9   - Lid taken off the money jar found in the American dustbin (3-3) - {cASH}-{CAN}
10 - Reveal iron clasp of hurt revolutionary in novel (8) - {AIR}{F{RAM}E} Had to google this
11 - Well-built British chief forced out by George's spear (3) - (b+g)GIG
12 - Act on call for an unimaginably largeamount (6) - {BILL}{YO}
13 - Mysterious non-American confounded by equality of measure (8) - ISOMETRYus*


14 - Expert admitted to using permits to obtain a whale oil product (10) - {SPERM{ACE}TI*} Googled this also
17 - In space, astronaut finds the right direction (4) - EAST [T]
18 - Victim's vocal petition (4) - PREY(~pray)
19 - Anomalous gain forged by the devout (3-7) - GOD-FEARING*
21 - Worms on tropical shrub from the east cover the top (8) - {ANNE{LID}S<-} Annother googled effort
23 - Field the ball (6) - SPHERE [DD]
25 - __ red, when angry? (3) - SEE [CD]
26 - Produce sent back to the border in a sequence of events (8) - SIDELINE ? Anno pending ({TIME<-}{LINE} - Thanks to Kishore)
27 - Nuclear body related article goes missing (6) - (-an)ATOMIC
28 - Determines VAT wrongly, and a notice results! (13) - ADVERTISEMENT*
DOWN
2   - Leader of some Europeans goes down all the way to see a Hindu lad (5) - iRISH(+i)I Hindu sage would have been better
3   - Corrected local jury with humour (9) - JOCULARLY*
4   - Country with love for a Latin American dance (5) - CONG(a+o)O
5   - Judge picture (7) - IMAGINE [DD]
6   - Administer drugs to yield crazy reactions (9) - NARCOTISE*
7   - Sometimes, this may result in an ace (5) - SERVE [CD]
8   - Elf playing outside upsets master and intern (8) - {IMP}{RIS<-}{ON}
15 - Short paragraph about a number of Iraqi leaders evokes an unsettling thought (8) - {PAR{A}{N}{O}{I}A}
16 - Funny evangelistic vet sent off to assume the English ways (9) - ANGLICISEvet*
17 - Bait for the angler's mother, raw perhaps (9) - EARTHWORM*
20 - Take issue with some Saudis' sentimentalism (7) - DISSENT [T]
22 - First person to participate in the objective is Polish (5) - {E{ME}ND}
23 - Shuts up marine mammals (5) - SEALS [DD]
24 - Government in Speaker's control (5) - REIGN(~rein) Nice one

40 comments:

  1. Good morning folks

    Some nice anagrams and homophones. PROJECTIONIST was a new word. In common parlance, the person is referred as an 'operator', whatever be the other connotations of the word.

    So was SPERMACETI. EAST, GOD-FEARING, ANNELIDS, SPHERE, ATOMIC (nice one), ADVERTISEMENT, JOCULARLY, PARANOIA, EARTHWORM, DISSENT and others were easy.

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  2. Hi
    Dedicated to 2D.
    19a Some are GOD FEARING, some just reverse the first word in this. Is there some hidden meaning (Neyartha) in this. ANNELIDS and EARTHWORMS. SPERM(ACE)TI and SERVE which is sometimes an ace. (-b+G)IG a spear with three prongs was new. TIME LINE, ATOMIC were nice.

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  3. 10a was easy for me because my son was reading the book just last month, so it was lying near my computer !

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  4. 26a TIME<-- LINE

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  5. I liked REIGN-REIN homophone and SEALS.

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  6. 2D HINDU (pun intended) setter would have been even better !

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  7. Neyartha seems to have dedicated today's CW to our very own 1D.

    Thumbs up!

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  8. Nice puzzle. Had to google some words on the life side of the grid 'cause there was hardly any help from the crossings.

    Couldn't quite figure out the connection between AIRFRAME and novel. Could somebody help?

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  9. VJ,
    AIRFRAME is the name of a Novel by Michael Crichton, see the link in the main post

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  10. OK get it... Air frame is a novel. Never heard of it. I don't read Chricton.

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  11. Thanks Gopinath. Didn't notice the link.

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  12. As Kishore said, the dedication of today's CW should be to 2D and not 1D.

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  13. SERVE and Ace remind of John McEnroe and his colourful language !

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  14. 2d: Could the definition have been Hindi actor?

    Whenever RISHI appears in The Times or the Daily Telegraph grid, commenters make similar remarks because the handle I have been using in international Web forums for the past ten years and more is the short name.

    My colleagues - whether in the city college where I started my career as a lecturer or in the newspaper offices - always called me Rishi. At home I am Kesi. In the temple where I am a volunteer I am a double MA.

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  15. John Mcernroe is an awesome funny guy. I wish there were more players like him today. It's a treat to watch him argue with the chair umpires.

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  16. ".... Hindu setter" or just "....the setter" or even "....me." Who knows...

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  17. That's an interesting tidbit, Chaturvasi. Thanks for sharing.

    That inspired me to set a clue. It's an easy one.

    Mother twice gets her brother in India (4)

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  18. Congrats Deepak for BILLYO.

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  19. It is disheartening to note that solvers have stopped recognising the themes in the puzzles ever since I stopped putting in starred clues :(

    Has anyone managed to crack this puzzle's common thread?

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  20. Michael Crichton's novels are one of the themes.

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  21. Airframe, Congo, Sphere are all novels by Crichton.

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  22. The theme is Michael Crichton's novels with TIMELINE and PREY in addition to the three listed above

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  23. Could also be seen as a "spiritual" puzzle.

    EAST (kind of)
    RISHI
    ASH CAN
    PRAY (indirect though)
    GOD FEARING

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  24. Agreed, VJ. It's all how we look at it!

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  25. You've given it a nice twist :)

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  26. VJ: 907: Agree with you on the choice of your last quoted word in the mail. In this world of subterfuge, where a person has multiple identities... Cold war Russia was just an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Here anything is possible. Have you read "Primal Fear" ? I am not sure if we have Roy, or Aaron or how many more 'mukhoutas ' here.

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  28. Mr Hidden meaning: Were you heartened yesterday when I gave the common theme ?

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  29. Rider: Should we look for a theme everyday ?

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  30. A commenter in a post in Fifteensquared today writes: "I never notice themes unless we’re told by the setter that there is one."

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  31. CV, I liked the way you turned Rider into Haggard, but tell me why did you answer question posed to Neyartha? Blown your cover?

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  32. Kishore, the ever suspicious auditor

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  33. Kishore, nope, I haven't read "Primal fear." I got the movie though. Now that you've reminded me, I think I might watch it tonight.

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  34. Suresh, most of us are natural born conspiracy theorists.

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  35. VJ Are you also from the same fraternity as Kishore and I

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  36. Suresh, nope, I'm not a Charted Account, if that's what you mean. I can barely count.

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  37. But you can count on them, anytime. :)

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  38. My good friend and Bram Stoker's protagonist too ..

    VJ, you sail in un-charted seas on a chartered vessel, my friend..

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