Tuesday 17 May 2011

No 10156, Tuesday 17 May 2011, Gridman

Thanks Colonel for the opportunity. Enjoyable puzzle from Gridman as usual.
ACROSS
1 Spread credit by a measure for flying machines (8) AIRCRAFT AIR+CR+A+FT

 5 Body found right in the woods (6) CORPSE CO(R)PSE
9 Quiet! Corrida in a riot has lost core horseman (7) PICADOR P+COR(-r)IDA* 
Complex clue with a charade, deletion and anagram but still handled well.

10 Seeker to question about flavouring compound (7) QUESTER  Q+U+ESTER
About = U as in a turn?
11 Get together again once Verne appears (9) RECONVENE  (once Verne)*
Not a fan of using random proper nouns, but today there seem to be a few artists in the puzzle.
12 Send off the Oriental who is thick (5) DENSE  (Send)*+E
13 …JKMN...? (4) NOEL CD/Pun
The kind of variety clue where getting the answer makes you go ...oh...doh or ugh.
14 Refraining from drinking? Not exactly! (3,3,3) OFF,THE,PEG DD
17 Despicable people holding vandalised oil colour (9) VERMILION  VERMIN+oil*
Wordplay is fine, but wondering about the image this one paints.
19 Parliament writer is pointless (4) DUMA  DUMA(-s)
Who would have thought the author of The Three Musketeers can be pointless!
23 Military forces lose many a sign (5) ARIES AR(-m)IES
24 Swiss cheese for fellows in remote hamlet (9) EMMENTHAL MEN in(hamlet)*
25 PO, skier, trotting out lies (7) PORKIES (PO skier)*
Cockney slang for lies is pork pies or porkies for short.
26 Had a sway though it's said to be controlled (7) REIGNED  (~reined)
Nice surface reminding of may be a ballet dancer.
27 Workman, powerless, to move slowly (6) LUMBER (p-)LUMBER
Wonder if the commas are adding anything to the surface.
28 Statue demolished — only without working in a clever manner (8) ASTUTELY (Statue)*+(-on)ly
Like the agitators on Tank Bund?

DOWN
1 Clear a quiet father (8) APPARENT A+P+Parent
2 Pedal again and be ecofriendly in a way (7) RECYCLE DD 
3 I'd entered into arena for equestrian activity (6) RIDING  I'd in Ring
Said the jockey
4 The reason for many a miss in your life (13) FORGETFULNESS CD
Good misleading clue. Made me think of polygamy at first :)
6 Took too much from the bank (8) OVERDREW CD
7 Force work back on a number in church (7) POTENCE  Op<-- + Ten + CE
8 Money maker's hesitation about composer (6) EARNER ER about Arne
Another British artist.
10 What dissatisfied examinees do when they apply for reassessment (8,5)  QUESTION,MARKS CD
15 Leaving out love letter (8) OMISSIVE  Love(O)+letter(Missive)
It is so easy to fall into the omission trap with this. But we are looking for an adjective for leaving out. Plus mission doesn't mean a letter.
16 Intimate stuffing cover in an ashen manner (8) PALLIDLY Intimate(Pally) about cover(Lid)
18 Saying pie is doled out by weight (7) EPIGRAM pie*+gram
20 One in France consuming asafoetida is upset (7)  UNHINGE Une consuming asafoetida (hing)
While the surface is fine, wondering if a verb like UNHINGE can map to the noun UPSET in the clue...
21 Note Pearl dissecting flower part (6) CARPEL  C+Pearl*
Going with the artist theme today, this gem of an author might be Pearl S Buck.
22 Pin-up, peeled, assumes pose undisturbed (2,4) IN SITU (-p)IN U(-p) takes in pose(SIT)
Like any fan would vouch for.

26 comments:

  1. Good Job.

    Your ref to Tank Bund (in Hyd, I presume) reminds me of the military tank at the end of that road I used to clamber on when a kid.

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  2. @Bhavan: Congrats and thanks for posting the clues :)

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  3. With Gridman's fetish for pin ups, yesterday as an answer and today as a part of a clue, I initially miss read miss in 4d to mean a miss of the feminine sex.

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  4. It is so easy to fall into the omission trap with this. But we are looking for an adjective for leaving out. Plus mission doesn't mean a letter.

    Time to fess up. I did fall into the trap till I p(LUMBER)ed in.

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  5. More than artists, I would say authors:

    Pearl, Verne, Dumas

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  6. @Kishore, I was indeed referring to the road near Hussain Sagar lake.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. As I recall that road was exactly a kilometer (or was it a mile?) long. I used to haunt it in the mid seventies when we used to live on Naubat Pahad and the Birla Mandir was under construction.

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  9. Just got back home, great job Bhavan, much better than my normally drab posts I would say.
    Thanks for helping me out.

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  10. @Sandhya : Tx

    @Colonel : Welcome back. It's all yours.

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  11. CV: We await your anno on Gridman's PIN-UP of yesterday.

    Bhavan: Well done. An excellent critique with clues dissected and analysed threadbare.

    We did miss Col's cartoons, though. Carefully chosen, apt and witty, they added not only colour but also spice to the post.

    Col: Congrats on your foresight in developing a 2 i/c. It will help in exigencies when you are away.

    A suggestion: Bhavan can do the post once a week. This will give you a much needed break once in a while.

    For Sundays, a Guest Puzzle would be welcome as the discussion on Everyman's THC peters out by 9 AM. Shyam (Peekaboo) and Bhavan have already proven their mettle.

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  12. For some reason CV is unable to post here, but here is what he had to say in response to various comments of mine

    This is in response to Bhavan's comments in the Col's blog:

    10a Actually it'a QU+ ESTER
    'about' is position ind.

    14a is not a DD.

    17a 'colour' here is def. But in surface reading 'oil colour' is a 'painting in oil colours'.

    19a It's the Parliament writer who is pointless. Not Dumas!

    27a The word 'powerless' is in what is called apposition. So the commas are required. As in "The newspaperman, well-informed as he was, asked searching questions at the press conference."

    28a In the Fifties I was in Sec'bad. So 'tank bund' is familiar to me.

    20d When a person is mad, he is upset. When you unhinge someone, you make him mad.

    21d Buck was a favourite author of mine. In my college days, starting from The Good Earth, I read a book a day. That was while sitting in a cane sofa in the hall of our palatial house in Gopalapuram (now developed!).

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  13. CV,
    I am quite surprised as to why you are unable to post here when the others can. You did have this problem once earlier, do you remember how you resolved it on that occasion?

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  14. Nice puzzle today, and nice work Bhavan.
    Did not particularly like 10A, where 'question' figures in the clue and solution is 'quester'

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  15. The problem occurs the very first time when one is posting a comment. I go about it this way: Copy the comment before posting it. It is not taken up. But when I come back to the blog, the comment slot is ready to accept and is displaying my name in profile. Then, I paste the comment and post it.

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  16. Bhavan,
    Mission very well accomplished.Enjoyed your notes.
    Col, Thanks for giving us a Lieutenant Colonel
    in Bhavan

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  17. That was a good one DS.Lt.Col. is good as Col. himself.No need to worry when Col. is away.Congrats & well done,Bhavan!

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  18. Could not get the connection in 13A.Noel & JKMN..?Can somebody pl. explain?

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  19. Great work Bhavan..Why VERMILION alone in red? COD?
    Paddy,
    JK(L)MN.
    In which category this clue belongs? CD?

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  20. Thank you Harvey & Ajeesh.Now I am able to understand why Bhavan said "arg..,ugh.."etc.I am saying the very same things now!!

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  21. Remote is an anagram indicator?!

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  22. I think Bhavan put VERMILION in vermilion to stand for the colour itself and not as COD. Perhaps he can confirm.

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  23. PORKIES is also not blue, mebbe B's COD?

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  24. @Navneeth good question. I hadn't considered it until you brought it up!

    @Ajeesh, Kishore had it right, no other significance.

    @Kishore, I added a wiki link to the word so porkies is also not in blue.

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