Wednesday 2 February 2011

No 10067, Wednesday 02 Feb 11, M Manna

Too many CD/DD/E's
ACROSS
1   - One must take sound steps to provide entertainment (3,6) - TAP DANCER [CD]
6   - One who gets up a steep part of the staircase (5) - RISER [DD]
9   - Breeds animals (5) - BEARS [DD]
10 - Made crass error — shown no mercy (9) - MASSACRED*

SEE THIS CARTOON

11 - Undertaking to go in force (10) - {ENTER}{PRISE}
12 - Viewer's complaint in the middle of last year (4) - STYE [T]
14 - Little creatures point to nicest possible disposition (7) - {INSECT*}{S}
15 - Goes to quarter to arrange for scapegoats (7) - {S}{TO}{OGES*} Remember these guys?
17 - They can possibly be used for attaining higher status (7) - LADDERS [CD]
19 - One's prepared for more turns on the road (7) - RETREAD [CD]
20 - Not everyone is upset by gin (4) - TRAP*
22 - Order a book for an officer (10) - {COMMAND}{A}{NT}
25 - Make light of everything I've brought up and consumed (9) - {ALL}{EVI<-}{ATE}
26 - The French tie presented to the pick of the group (5) - (EL)(ITE)*
27 - Went wrong when embarrassed following a hesitation (5) - {ER}{RED}
28 - Credit so arranged to avoid payment burden (4,5) - EASY TERMS [CD]
DOWN
1   - A code of law (5) - TABLE [CD]
2   - Perfectly proficient? (9) - PRACTISED [E]
3   - Having been stolen is miles away (10) - ABSTRACTED [DD]
4   - Sam takes care to record images on his apparatus (7) - CAMERAS*
5   - Rest support sister as she opposes to give in (7) - {RE{SIS}TS*}
6   - Rare to assemble behind a fleet (4) - REAR*
7   - Walk with a pompous bearing (5) - STRUT [E]
8   - Put right clothes on again it would seem (9) - REDRESSED [CD]
13 - Many a man holding on can appear uncertain (10) - {C}{ON}{TIN}{GENT} My COD
14 - I shall have a joke when not at home (3,2,4) - {I'LL} {A}{T EASE}
16 - The guard re-reading orders (9) - GRENADIER*
18 - Placing information in computer memory (7) - STORAGE [CD]
19 - Clothing for boisterous babes (7) - ROMPERS [DD]
21 - Having enough power and means to be skilful (5) - ABLER [E]
23 - Rows marked by the sound of weeping (5) - TIERS(~tears) Sound of weeping or signs of weeping?
24 - This poet got nothing with six pence (4) - {O}{VI}{D}

GRID


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43 comments:

  1. Anonymous2 February 2011 at 08:31

    Hi
    ALL (EVI<-)ATE my cod.
    A question for CV:
    It is seen in many clues with hidden word that the clue is printed in two lines and the hidden word is at the end of the first line and beginning of the second. Eg: Today’s 12a STYE. Does this happen:
    a. By the setter adjusting the length of the clue in such a way that it traverses a known column width, say be use of indicators of different lengths or some other device.
    b. Specific instruction to the printer to wrap it around.
    c. Both the above methods are used.
    It is seen that THC is usually printed in a standard width for clues, but in ET the grids and clues seem to get stretched like India rubber.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deepak Gopinath2 February 2011 at 08:46

    Kishore,

    Though you've asked CV, the answer in my opinion is
    'None of the above'

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 08:46

    Kishore
    As you have asked me, I'll tell!
    When I - and generally crossword setters - write 'hidden' clues, how they will appear in print is not kept in mind.
    No special instruction is given to the printer.
    It's just that it has panned out as you have noted, that's all!
    I have not noted how the fodder appeared in the hidden clues of Gridman that have been published so far.
    While US (definitional) crosswords specify clearly - and strictly - the word-limit for each clue (depending upon the space allotted for the feature and the col width), no such limit has been set for TH setters: for all I know, Gridman can write a clue that is as long as Hanumar's tail, but he won't, will he?
    The longest clue of Gridman so far has been:
    One who sets down something or one in which something is set down or even the instrument that sets something down (6)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Deepak Gopinath2 February 2011 at 08:48

    Continuing with the above, if you see the online edition the clue for 12A is in one line only.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bhavan2 February 2011 at 08:49

    20 - Not everyone is upset by gin (4) - TRAP*

    Odd to see an across clue using upset for reversal.

    My COD is 1A.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 08:54

    Deepak
    Re "Reactions".
    For this widget, is "Reactions" a 'must'? I mean, can we have boxes with terms without that initial word.
    My suggestion is:
    Instead of terms such as Good/Poor and Tough/Easy w/o in-betweens, why not have
    (ascending) Difficulty (three boxes) Quality (three boxes)
    If a person has ticked the last of three in each head, it is Most difficult, Excellent.
    The first of three in each: Easy, Poor
    PS: 'Ascending' is 'must' so we know the gradation.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 08:58

    Bhavan
    Is 'not everyone' OK as a def for PART?
    Should it be 'everyone' or 'every one'? (There's a difference between 'everyday' and 'every day', for instance)
    I am sure Deepak is not one to be upset by gin in its spirited sense.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bhavan2 February 2011 at 09:06

    @CV, as a matter of fact equating PART to 'not everyone' wasn't to my liking.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Deepak Gopinath2 February 2011 at 09:06

    I'm never upset by Gin, it's my favourite

    ReplyDelete
  10. Deepak Gopinath2 February 2011 at 09:11

    I took 'upset' as the AInd and not 'reversal' indicator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. veer2 February 2011 at 09:12

    Here is a clue from today's London Times to go with yesterday's NAKED FLAME..

    1 Ac.
    Her protest was in the altogether unusual form of a very giddy ’olá’! (4,6)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 09:18

    Veer
    Thanks for bearing/baring the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deepak Gopinath2 February 2011 at 09:18

    CV @ 8:54

    The name can be changed from Reactions to anything else. However it can be in one line only I cannot put in two lines with one for Difficulty and one for Quality, moreover I cannot put in three blank boxes for indicating ascending levels of difficulty/quality.

    ReplyDelete
  14. veer2 February 2011 at 09:19

    Digressing a bit from Manna but staying on cryptics - Coming up with cryptic clues with a really great surface for some words is so challenging..One example was yesterday's OMPHALOS. I was browsing Derek Harrison's andlit site and the word / phrase to clue for January's competition was DUVET DAY. Try as I might, I could not even submit a clue! On the Times Crossword Club, the phrase to clue for this month's competition is RUBBER CHICKEN CIRCUIT - I am at somewhat of a loss here too. Any words of wisdom from the resident experts here would be interesting to read as well...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 09:23

    Deepak
    Of course, I know two lines are not permissible.
    That's why I asked if 'Reactions' can be changed to Ascending (which is a must).
    So will the following go in a single line:
    Ascending Quality box 1 box 2 box 3 Difficulty box 1 box 2 box 3
    After all, boxes occupy little space.

    ReplyDelete
  16. veer2 February 2011 at 09:25

    23 - Rows marked by the sound of weeping (5) - TIERS(~tears) Sound of weeping or signs of weeping?

    I think Manna intended sound signs of weeping.. -)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 09:30

    Veer
    I did see DUVET DAY - only the topic name. Didn't visit the thread.
    As of now, I have no idea what the phrase as a whole means, though I do know what a duvet is!
    As for 'rubber neck circuit' - Again, I haven't come across this long phrase before, though I do know what a 'rubberneck' is and may have even clued it or used it in a clue for another word.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 09:35

    Told intensively to examine lawyer - unknown for rest (5,3)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 09:37

    Sorry veer
    Mistook 'rubber chicken' for 'rubberneck'

    ReplyDelete
  20. veer2 February 2011 at 09:37

    I hadn't heard of those phrases either..

    Duvet Day refers to a sanctioned holiday that companies in UK and US allow its employees to take for no reason other than they wake up in the morning and don't feel like going to work and so take the day off - they stay under the covers and hence the phrase duvet day as opposed to sick leave, or holiday leave etc. There are some funny cartoons on this phrase..

    Rubber Chicken Circuit refers to fund raising events that serve dinners that folks like politicians attend to raise money for their campaigns or pet programs etc..The term itself refers to the most common menu item on these dinners which I believe is some type of chicken that is rubbery in texture and not so good..When one has go do a series of the events during election season say, they call it by this phrase.

    These phrases were just not that easy to break into components to clue and also make a great surface, and hence, were interesting and presented a challenge to a novice like myself.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Deepak Gopinath2 February 2011 at 09:40

    CV @ 9:23,

    I cannot put in the boxes like you have suggested, one name will have one box after it.
    Shall tweak the template after my son gets back from the Dominican Republic by mid Feb, and try to make the reactions in two lines

    ReplyDelete
  22. veer2 February 2011 at 09:40

    CVasi Sir: That is actually a very nice clue that you had concocted in a minute or less.. When I see a winner in the forum I will post it..will be a couple of weeks likely.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ramani2 February 2011 at 09:50

    18d Is the grammar ok? - Placing information and Storage

    ReplyDelete
  24. veer2 February 2011 at 09:58

    @ram: Clearly not. As the clue stands it should be WRITING or STORING depending on crossings..

    With a bit less laziness, the clue could have been
    Placement of information in computer memory (7)
    or
    Information placement in computer memory (7)
    which I think would lead to STORAGE..

    ReplyDelete
  25. Shyam2 February 2011 at 09:59

    Hi veer,

    Agree with you on those... I struggled for a long time on 'duvet day' and finally came up with a real dirty one... :P

    I was especially surprised to see so many people using 'down' in their clues. It takes quite a bit of command over the language to map duvet=feathers=down and then come up with the clue.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Shyam2 February 2011 at 10:01

    And where is this Times crossword club? Does it need a membership fee to participate?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous2 February 2011 at 10:04

    CV846 DG848

    In that case, the fairly frequent occurrence of this sort of thing must be a result of the mind noting such occurrences when they happen (as against when they appear in the same line) just like we notice it when the other queue/lane is moving but don't give much importance to the fact that our own lane/queue is moving.

    ReplyDelete
  28. veer2 February 2011 at 10:05

    Hi shyam,

    Yep, the Times Xwd club is a paid thing..It gives you access to all of the puzzles in the London Times - you get quite a lot, like the Times jumbo, cryptic, concise, listener puzzles and so on..And in addition, you get this little competition.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Vikram2 February 2011 at 10:06

    @Deepak, haven't been visiting the blog for a while. What does "My COD" mean? (listed against 13D)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Suresh2 February 2011 at 10:08

    Not so enjoyable today. Too any not so cryptic CDs. Did not rate since it is not a good CW and not a poor one either.

    Kishore,Maybe an upset gin would bring sounds of signs of weeping

    ReplyDelete
  31. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 10:10

    The reason why I have not become a member of the Times Crossword Club is I will have more than I can chew... already, it is up to the 'thondai'.

    ReplyDelete
  32. veer2 February 2011 at 10:11

    @Kishore 10:04, In the UK based puzzles this sort of thing is sometimes intentionally done. Not only in hidden word clues to make it harder but sometimes in anagram clues or charades when the word needs to be broken in order to arrive at the charade.

    An example is the FT clue:
    The state of vehicle in rain-
    storm (7)

    If one has seen an FT puzzle in print, one will recognize the subterfuge in the hyphenated storm!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 10:12

    Not forgetting that a member has access to the archives going back to several years.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 10:13

    NIRVANA?

    ReplyDelete
  35. Deepak Gopinath2 February 2011 at 10:13

    Vikram @ 10:06,

    COD stands for 'Clue of the day'

    ReplyDelete
  36. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 10:32

    veer
    While I do not want to disenchant you, I still think that it's perhaps the typographical setting 'ragged-right' that perhaps brings such an effect in FT crossword rather than any studied intent.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Vikram2 February 2011 at 10:37

    Thanks, Deepak. Where does TIN part of "Contingent" come from (in the clue)?

    ReplyDelete
  38. veer2 February 2011 at 10:44

    Bingo, CV sir. Thought it was an interesting workaround Ximenes, though I realize opinion's divided on whether it was intentional. Some ordinarily in the know tend to think so..

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous2 February 2011 at 11:05

    Veer, I also thought it was done intentionally. Hence my query on the modus operandi. It would be counterproductive if the setter cleverly broke it up only to find the printer/CW editor has undone his work, looking on it as a mere telescopic clue as against a 'wrapped telescopic' clue, if one may call it that..

    BTW, Vikram, can=tin

    ReplyDelete
  40. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 15:49

    Deepak
    Re Reactions
    I hope you wouldn't mind if I offer one more suggestion for you to try in the meanwhile.
    Try one line:
    Reactions G box Ave box P box H box Ave box E box
    That these stand for good, average, poor and hard, average and easy we will know by convention.
    If space permits two more VG/VH can be tried.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Chaturvasi2 February 2011 at 18:53

    After finishing today's regular work, I thought of tackling the long phrase -

    Contraceptive with yellow line in endless intercourses (6,7,7)

    ReplyDelete
  42. Navneeth2 February 2011 at 19:22

    This might need some polishing...

    A day off to celebrate two WWII occurrences that happened on Tuesday (5,3)

    A Day off = DUVET DAY; also doing double duty as deletion indicator

    celebrate = anagram indicator

    two WWII occurrences = D-DAY and V-DAY

    Tuesday = TUE

    (It's a historical fact that both D-DAY and V-DAY (Victory in Europe Day, at least) took place on Tuesdays)

    ReplyDelete
  43. Chaturvasi3 February 2011 at 07:34

    The clue for RUBBER CHICKEN CIRCUIT that I tossed off late last evening might perhaps read better thus:
    Contraceptive (yellow line) in endless intercourses (6,7,7)

    ReplyDelete

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