1 - Ash, for example, to strut. That's a bird! (8) - {WOOD}{COCK}
9 - Call girl said to be a problem (7) - (~dial){DIL}{EMMA}
11 - In difficulty, there and then (2-3-4) - ON-THE-SPOT [DD]
12 - Best powdered milk — without hesitation! (5) - CREAM
13 - Rest from work with novice going away from the canvas holder (4) - EASE
14 - When you can't do more than what you have done (2,3,4) - AT THE MOST [CD]
17 - Arriv? (4,5) - {COME} {SHORT}
19 - To a number, this fever is unspecified (4) -
23 - Greek character in the unit (5) - {THE}{TA}
24 - Gushings from an infant or a river (9) - BABBLINGS [CD]
25 - Sing in depression to get approbation (7) - {P{LAUD}IT}
26 - Goth, one turned very active (2,3,2) - ON THE GO*
27 - Name woman playing regularly (6) - {EVE}{L}{Y}{N}
28 - Take me back to the limits of Puducherry — near intimations of heaven (8) - {EM}{P}{Y}{REAN*}
DOWN
1 - Having no restrictions, Poe wined madly (4-4) - WIDE OPEN*
2 - Old boy has what's on top of list of runners moved down for monastery residents (7) - {OB}{(-s)LATE(+s)S} See the explanation for Slate in the link provided with runners
3 - Tent occupant will impede if cold is exchanged for hot (6) - (-h+c)CAMPER
4 - Show impatience as a stable occupant might (5,2,3,3) - CHAMP AT THE BIT [CD]
6 - Vault to get Tom a grooming aid (8) - {CAT}{A}{COMB}
7 - Daring expert, we take a vessel (7) - {PRO}{WE}{SS}
8 - Opening word? (6) - SESAME [CD]
10 - To Rushmore, BBC despatched plant (8,5) - BUTCHERS BROOM*
16 - As used to create a stir at the coffee table? (8) - TEASPOON [CD]
18 - Old area within limit to the superannuated (7) - {O}{VER{A}GE}
20 - Italian dope: nothing to see about (7) - {GE{NO}ESE} (Addendum - {GEN}{O}{ESE*} - See comments}
21 - By the way, plea altered to get basic stuff (6) - {ST}{APLE*}
22 - Rush around pillar in a monotonous way (6) - {F{LAT}LY} Couldn't get the connection between Pillat & LAT is it Latitude?
Hi
ReplyDeleteI think the TEASPOON on a coffee table was the CHAMP(ion) (AT THE BIT). Laud in PLAUDIT anagram reminded of AULD ... . Being in a difficulty is being in a spot, but the answer seems to be ON THE SPOT. BUTCHERS BROOM required cheating ! GEN-O-ESE* was wickedly devious. SESAME, FLATLY, DIS(COP-E)S, CAT-A-COMB and CREAM(-er) were cute. BOTTOMS was tops. DI(A)L EMMA for Murder. BABBLINGS reminded of the language children speak all over the world, not English, Spanish, Flemish, et al but Gibberish. OB(-s)LATE(+s) brought back memories of the Lost Horizon. Did not quite get the anno for FLATLY initially: Rush, of course is fly, but is it F(LAT)LY ( lat is pillar?) or FL(ATL)Y? Then found that stone pillars are called LATs. Here is more on it at LAT. Good to know new, next time I can say, now I know.
After seeing Deepak's cartoon for 9a, I have to continue my BABBLINGS:
ReplyDeleteThe mermaid is sure to go to pot, sooner or later, in more ways than one.
Additional bonus for Richard: You may interpret 'pot' in above line even in Konkani.
ReplyDeleteFor the rest of the world, who can stomach it: Pot in Konkani means stomach, so she can either become 'pet se' as in Hindi or end up in the 'pet'. The second, of course, cannot come first.
ReplyDeleteKishore @ 8:31
ReplyDeleteIs LAT and english word or is it Hindustani?
Deepak
ReplyDeleteNot knowing Hindi, I didn't know it is an Indian word.
It is in the Chambers Englis dictionary but the origin is indeed from Hindi.
If Gridman uses an Indian word which is not in an English dictionary, he might mark it as Indian.
Kishore 08:34 and 08:36 Your 'pot' in Konkani reminds me of 'potbelly' too.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your potpourri of witticisms. (But, alas, this being a French term, 'tea' in the 'pot' is silent!)
Deepak, have you watched a late 1960s Shammi Kapoor movie called Laat Saheb?
ReplyDeleteI dont think it is English. I am not sure of its origins. However, I also found this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indiainfoweb.com/haryana/mosques/lat-ki-masjid.html
So maybe Hindi/Urdu/Hindustani origins. Nearest I can think of is the Hindi word 'lat' used for women's tresses, locks, plaits, etc., maybe the pillars resembled plaits :-)
Not everyone of us face the same dilemma as the cannibal in the cartoon. But we do have similar situation. Recall any dilemma that you found yourself in.
ReplyDeleteIn the morning, with bleary eyes I fo the washbasin and take out my toothbrush from the stand. On it there are the bristles and those indentations on the handle or the head. Should I first brush my teeth or clean my tongue?
Richard, we shall go by the morning train, says a popular song from that movie...along with the thought, kuch leke aaye hain, kuch leke jaayenge,
ReplyDeleteCV, the order is fine as long as you wash your hands first.
ReplyDeleteRichard @ 8:46,
ReplyDeleteDon't recall seeing that movie.But LAAT and LAT would be pronounced differently. LAT would be closer to tresses as mentioned in Kishore's 8:48.
I couldn't find a connection between LAT and Pillar anywhere on the web other than the link given in Kishore's opening post
Yes, Kishore, the 1967 movie with Shammi Kapoor and Nutan had, at least as far as I can remember, two hits rendered by the legendary Mohammed Rafi: 1. (the one you mentioned) Sawere wali gadi se chale jayenge and 2. Jane mera dil kise dhoond raha hai, in hari bhari wadiyon mein.
ReplyDeleteKishore
ReplyDeleteIn this era of scams, my hands are clean!
CV @ 8:51,
ReplyDeleteI think from time immemorial the teeth have been cleaned first, I am talking of the days when we used to go our village in Kerala and we would get the black concoction called (Ummikeri) made from charred rice husk, for brushing the teeth and after that we would get a sliver from the coconut leafs central portion to clean the tongue. So the teeth get cleaned first and then the tongue.
COMES SHORT doesn't come short of anything. Nice one.
ReplyDeleteI liked DILEMMA the best.
Thought THETA was too straight forward.
Was clueless on BABBLINGS and GENOESE.
Chaturvasi (859), and you'll go scot free even if it isn't.
ReplyDeleteWhere is Nanjangud?
ReplyDeleteRemember the Nanjangud tooth powder? Rose-coloured powder in rectangular paper bag of brownish colour with brand name printed in quaint type? You didn't struggle to open it (as you do with some modern packages); just snipped a corner with bare fingers. (Please correct me if my memory of any detail is at fault.)
VJ
ReplyDeleteYou're entitled to your view but THETA is a charade (as the Col has noted). THE is given gratis. But TA is from unit, i.e., territorial army.
VJ/Deepak
ReplyDeleteGEN. O (ESE)*
Italian - def
dope: - GEN (info, inside info)
nothing- O
to
see about - anag. of SEE, so ESE
CV,
ReplyDeleteThanks. I took Dope to be Geese, was not happy with it while annotating, but forgot about it and never went back later to have a relook at it.
C'vasi 09:41 Nanjangud is a taluk centre in Mysore district. It is about 23 kilometres south of Mysore, on the way to Udhagamandalam (Ooty) via Gundlupet.
ReplyDeleteAnother road deviates from there towards Chamarajanagar, Sathiamangalam onward to Coimbatore.
Nanjangud (called NANJANAGOODU in Kannada) is well known for Ayurvedic pharmacies and products and also for olden temples.
The name is derived from Nanjundeshwara (Nanju + unda + Ishwara = the deity who drank poison), after Shiva.
My maternal grandpa hailed from Ottappalam (he was a post master there) and lived later in CBE. No wonder I saw this ayurvedic product in his home and my mother carried the tradition from there. And I have seen many ayurvedic pharmacies in CBE long before MNCs came in with their high-priced herbal products.
ReplyDeleteChaturvasi (943), I got no complaints there. I just felt that the wordplay element THE was a give away especially seeing that the clue word is "Greek character"
ReplyDeleteAttendance for S & B II is static at 10.
ReplyDeleteCV@9:41
ReplyDeleteand "Pyorrhea Palpodi"?( with a number 1043?)
Deepak 1117
ReplyDeleteBut the meeting will be dynamic.
Yes, VJ.
ReplyDeleteIt could have been written as
Greek character brings article to unit (5)
But Gridman's thought didn't take that course.
Nowadays I hear only of Gopal PalpoDi. Dabur Lal is also conspicuous by absence, as is Colgate.
ReplyDeleteReplace last sea with endless tea in CV's 1149.
I have a nit to pick. Dial and dil in dilemma are not quite homophones and the Chambers vindicates this... :)
ReplyDeleteRemember Monkey Brand tooth powder ?
ReplyDeleteI am also one of those who used nanjangudu tooth powder in my childhood very regularly.Description given by CV fits it to a T.As Kishore said,Gopal seems to have replaced it these days.It is a wonder it can still hold on against severe competition from MNC's tooth pastes.
ReplyDeleteShyam, I think if you read dial + Emma in one go, it'd sound pretty much like dilemma. You're more likely to leave out the "a" sound in "dial."
ReplyDeleteCV,
ReplyDeleteGenoese refers to people of the town Genova in Italy?
VJ
ReplyDeleteThat was not what Shyam implied.
I think he meant to say that di- is pronounced as in dirigible or distance and not as in diabolic or diatribe.
Shyam
I pronounce di- it as in diatribe.
This too is allowed in Chambers. It is given as an alternative though your way of saying it is the first one.
Gridman is not immune from making mistakes but for any homophone clues he usually checks the dict or puts it rhough a text to speech software. The latter is with you!
Hi CVasi Sir
ReplyDeleteI meant what you said, i.e. the usage of di-lemˈə. But even for the other case, I sort of find it hard to convince myself that the 'a' disappears, as VJ puts it.
Dilemma = dī-lemˈə/
Dial Emma = dīˈəl emˈə/
I usually like homophone clues for after some convincing, I understand how much I deviate from the native pronunciation. For eg., necked a = nectar, last week at the FT! Indians' erratic rhoticity!
Chaturvasi, I checked one of the online dictionaries for UK and US pronunciations of the word "dilemma." The former goes like ~diatribe and latter like ~distance. Not sure how accurate it is.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall ever using the word myself though LOL. From what I've heard I think most of 'em over here pronounce it like the di sound in diabolic.
I would reckon that dī-lemˈə is right, given the word's etymology - di+lemma (2 assumptions) and considering similar words like dicotyledon, diatomic and dibasic. But pronunciations do not conform to set norms, do they?
ReplyDeletePad.
ReplyDeleteFor inhabitants of Genoa, both Genoese and Genovese are correct.
One kinky homophone clue from today's FT:
ReplyDeleteIndian city where it’s said Elaine revealed all! (3,5)
CV 1722: Genoan too.
ReplyDeleteShyam: 3,5 gives it away unlike US where you have plenty of News. However, liked the homophone usage of conjoined words.
Elaine pronounced as Eli?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYes VJ... Just as Vijay calls himself VJ :)
ReplyDeleteShyam, LOL
ReplyDeleteThe FT clue was
ReplyDeleteIndian city where it’s said Elaine
revealed all! (3,5)
Actually it's a homophone of nude Ellie (not Eli), Ellie being a diminutive of Elaine.
The clue is hilarious but the wordplay doesn't quite work for me.
"Elaine revealed all", grammatically can't give 'nude Ellie'; it can give only 'Ellie bared' or 'Ellie stripped' - which won't work, though.
For 'nude Ellie', it must be 'Elaine who bared it all' or something like that.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found todays crossword very tough .Got only 3-4 today. But I guess I am learning well.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain 1 AC. And where in internet can I find a list of crossword jargons like TA for unit etc
Chaturvasi, would it work if we break it down this way?
ReplyDeleteElaine revealed all means Ellie is nude = Nude Ellie ~ NEW DELHI
Karthik, on 1A:
ReplyDeleteI think Ash is in reference to Ash wood, which is used for making furniture. So it's something like saying "Teak, for example," for which your answer might be WOOD.
to strut = COCK = to walk in a proud manner.
So, WOOD + COCK = WOOD COCK = a bird
I think these two sites sites would help you find some of the commonly used abbreviates. Of course you might not find ones like unit (as used here), in which case, you'd have to look for different possible definitions/ abbreviations for the word and finally go in for the one that fits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword_abbreviations
http://www.btinternet.com/~ed.xword/AbbrevA_C.html
In surface reading, Ash refers to a woman's name, popular dimunitive of a certain Aishwarya.
ReplyDeleteVJ 2006:
ReplyDeleteMaybe it works.