Wednesday 5 January 2011

No 10043, Wednesday 05 Jan 11, M Manna

Too many CD's/DD's/E's today, 14 by my count. It's Neyartha from tomorrow.
ACROSS
1   - A name is wrongly given due to forgetfulness (7) - AMNESIA*
5   - A scruffy robe held by abstainer on American stool (7) - {T{A}{BORE}T} Should have been TABOURET (See comments)
9   - Searched thoroughly and cleared out (7) - SCOURED [DD]
10 - But it does not stop the listener from receiving a radio communication (7) - EARPLUG [CD]
11 - Soldier again fired (5) - {RE}{LIT} Anno not clear
12 - Raise cost somehow, or get cut off (9) - OSTRACISE*
13 - Relieve from military duty (9) - DISCHARGE [CD]
15 - Allies oneself with one team (5) - SIDES [E]
16 - Horse trained to keep a rate of speed (5) - PACER [CD]
18 - A cleansing agent (9) - DETERGENT [E]
21 - Tries anew to fit into food tins and coffee tins (9) - {CAN{ISTER*}S}
24 - To eject ten quietly, Lee hands copper the problem (5) - {E{X}{P}EL*}What is 'copper the problem'?
25 - Traders prepared to market freshwater diving birds (7) - DARTERS*
26 - Again putting into circulation (7) - REISSUE [E]
27 - He makes little noise while stealing (7) - RUSTLER [CD]
28 - Mean scoundrel with left winger shortly coming at a gentle pace (7) - {DOG}{TROTsky}
DOWN
1   - Same as guaranteed (7) - ASSURED [CD]
2   - Soon led astray and may end in the soup (7) - NOODLES*
3   - Conveyance laid on by accident, maybe (9) - STRETCHER [CD]


4   - The best duo for reproduction of recorded music (5) - AUDIO*(ai+duo)
5   - In case it might reduce ill-feeling (9) - TREATMENT [CD]
6   - A bur to a graduate may entice him to visit this Asian country (5) - {BUR}{MA}
7   - All ride to assembly to make a renewed effort (7) - RALLIED*
8   - They are the forcible pullers (7) - TUGGERS [CD]
14 - Writing about some furniture restorer (9) - {RE}{DRESSER}
15 - Showing there's cover-up? (9) - SCREENING [DD]
16 - One using a lance on a crop I'd harvested (7) - PICADOR*
17 - Key institutions about to invest in U.S. currency (7) - {CENT{RE}S}
19 - No longer a model for the investigative journalist? (7) - {EX}{POSER}
20 - Most unreasonable of everyone involved in investigation (7) - {T{ALL}EST}
22 - An explosive projectile (5) - SHELL [CD]
23 - Be quiet when colourful paper is cut (5) - {SH}{RED}

29 comments:

  1. 10 - But it does not stop the listener from receiving a radio communication (7) - EARPLUG [CD]

    {EAR}{PLUG}

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  2. Hi
    TABORET had to be confirmed by Google. Liked DOG-TROT(sky) best.

    8d reminded of a nice poem.

    Quite a few topics referred more than once: Cleaning: SCOURED, DETERGENT; Military: 11a Soldier, 13a military, 22d explosive SHELL, 13a DISCHARGE, 21a CANISTERS, , Furniture: 14d furniture (DRESSER), 6a TABORET, Sound: 4d AUDIO, 10a EARPLUG; Animals/birds: 16a PACER, 28a DOG-trot, 25a DARTERS.

    Cop???

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  3. {T{A}{BORE}T} Should have been TABOURET

    I think its the US spelling variant and hence American stool

    {E{X}{P}EL*}What is 'copper the problem'?

    A suggestion to anagram X + LEE + P ?

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  4. 5 - A scruffy robe held by abstainer on American stool (7) - {T{A}{BORE}T} Should have been TABOURET

    Wiki says both spellings are ok:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboret

    11 - Soldier again fired (5) - {RE}{LIT} Anno not clear

    Looked if there was a type of soldier called RELIT like Chindit (especially since Burma was appearing as 6d), but could not find any...

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  5. One of those 'quick' crosswords. Mostly non-cryptic and boring for people like me

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  6. Agree that earplugs may not stop R/T, but R/T snags, even on the transmit side and other jams can be quite frustrating...

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  7. I have never seen a PANTHER yet on this CW, I think, though many other animals have appeared.

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  8. Agree with Suresh. Very boring one today.
    Soldier again fired (5) - {RE}{LIT} Anno not clear
    Is it a &lit where lit is coming from fired(light up) itself?

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  9. Nothing unknown for this animal(2).

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  10. A box without a bee !

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  11. On 3.1.11, 837 I had posted.

    CO and OC are used as Commanding Officer / Officer Commanding but not as abbreviation of Colonel.

    For eg: OC 108 squadron !!

    This, however, is also wrong usage !

    CO would be the chief of the operational unit and OC would be the chief of the location

    Hence, CO 108 squadron would be correct and not as given above.

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  12. Kishore @ 9:35

    OC stands for Officer Commanding and CO Commanding Officer.

    In our army officers upto the rank Maj/Lt Col commanding a unit/sub-unit are known as OC's and Col's commanding a unit are known as CO's. In the earlier days before upgradation, a Maj was an OC and Lt Col was a CO.

    Eg., OC Independent Field Coy would be a Maj or Lt Col whereas CO Engineer Regiment or Infantry Batallion would be a Col.

    Accordingly since a Squadron is commanded by a Sqn Ldr, OC 108 Squadron would be correct

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  13. Kishore @ 0900

    From my dB of Gridman's crosswords:

    Breathes noisily, with that woman trapped by wild animals (8) - THC 8599 (May 10, 2006)

    No panther straying into Greek temple (9) - THC 9753 (Jan 30, 2010)

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  14. 14D
    "Writing" appears superfluous.
    about RE
    some furniture DRESSER
    Defn: restorer {RE}{DRESSER}

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  15. Quietly worker follows that woman's pet- a wild animal! (7)

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  16. is the 'p' coming from 'copper' as in policeman, by any chance?

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  17. I think quietly(p) is insertion indicator for x . and p is from copper as in copper penny(p)

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  19. 14 Writing about some furniture restorer (9) {RE}{DRESSER}

    While holding no brief for the present setter, some of whose clues may indeed have unnecessary words, I don't think 'writing' is redundant here.

    The surface reading is smooth, especially considering the position of the word in the grid and also that of other longer words/phrases.

    While solving some clues we may have to supply some words in between.

    Try

    14 [if we get to]Writing about (i.e., near) [a word that means] some furniture [we would get a word that means] restorer (9) {RE}{DRESSER}

    What I mean to say is that the way the clue is written an interpretation of the kind above becomes possible.

    So I think there is nothing superfluous in the clue cited.

    I would be most interested to know what others on this forum think.

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  20. 14 Writing about some furniture restorer (9) REDRESSER

    I think this is a good example of crafting the surface while keeping the wordplay fair. For me the clue is better as it is than if "writing" were dropped.

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  21. Thanks Deepak and CV, for the OC/CO and Panthers.

    I prefer the clue for REDRESSER in the form it is presently worded than without the 'writing'.

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  22. Then, Deepak, that probably explains the CO=Colonel that happened a few days back, though COs could be higher ranks possibly.

    My understanding of the IAF usage was that if for eg. No.23 Sqn and No.108 Sqn were based at AFS Hindon, the chief of the base would be OC Hindon, whereas both the Sqn chiefs would be COs.

    I give below the positions Air Marshal Dhatigara (who I remember for the famous bhujia I heard he used to make)held :
    CO 15Sqn CO 1Sqn CO 12Sqn OC Jorhat OC Gauhati OC Chabua CinC EAC
    He passed away around 3 months back and is one of the few officers remembered for his culinary delight. (I understand the Ambala Dhaba has a Sandhu Daal :-) named after Air Cmde AJS Sandhu)

    Also, from around '62, Sqns are commanded by Wg Cdrs, not Sqn Ldrs, though there are notable exceptions like No.5 which had a Wg Cdr CO even in 1948.

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  23. I found this ref to the famous bhujia:

    http://www.financialexpress.com/news/ceremonies-of-the-past/90321/0

    Wonder if the Marriot's manager referred to in the news item is related to AM LM Katre ! Because this bhujia though well known in the IAF circles is hardly known outside.

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  24. Kishore,

    Not very sure about the usage in the Air Force, maybe you are right. My 9:48 should be restricted to Army usage. I think you have taken the details from a site called Bharat Rakshak don't know how authentic that is with regards to usage of ranks.

    If Sqns were commanded by Wg Cdrs since 62 then they will be commanded by Gp Capts now.

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  26. Possibly yes, especially since the lowest com rank of PO is out, just like 2/Lt.

    Yes, I have refered to BR, but that is not the only source. For eg: Unless I knew about the existence of a name called Dhatigara (quite rare you will admit), I could not have thought of it. I had heard about the Bhujia from Jit Dhawan, from whom I collected a lot of info. Also, I had mentioned earlier that I had learnt 'Natation' at AFS Hindon. The pool is a peculiar 8 shaped one there. This sort of info would not be available at BR.

    SKAT 52 Sqdn. has, at present, 3 Wg Cdrs, 9 Sqn Ldrs and 1 Flt Lt. But then, it is a very special case. Other combat units may not be so staffed.

    Anyhow CV (with his IAF parentage) or some other IAF officer can confirm...

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  27. Another Manna in the crosswords today:

    In The Metro Plus (Bang ed), The Guardian Quick Crossword -10380:

    3d Heavenly grub ? (5)

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  28. Kishore

    Anyhow CV (with his IAF parentage) ...can confirm...

    I must admit to rank failure to be able to do so.

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  29. Then its open for the cognoscenti to clarify, where we rank on this issue so that we can close the file

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