ACROSS
1 - Being fond, yearned after a race (8) - {A}{TT}{ACHED} ATTACHED
6 - Watering-hole to circle around (4) - LOOP <-
9 - Kudos showered on the first to unlock puzzle (6) - {SUDOK*}{U} SUDOKU
10 - Thinking, I leave for primarily easy job (7) - OP(-i+e)ENING OPENING
13 - With this, one's possessed (9) - OWNERSHIP [CD]
14 - Yawn from little boy at end of term (5) - {CH}AS{M} Anno pending(Addendum - {CHAS}{M} - See comments) CHASM
15 - Then approval's back for milk source (4) - {SO}{AY<-} SOYA
16 - With such a budget you can't get designer footwear (10) - SHOESTRING [CD]
19 - Letter may come calling with this (4,6) - RENT DEMAND [CD]
21 - Pole makes ship commander drop hesitation (4) - MASTer MAST
24 - Credit to Oriental ship bringing vegetable (5) - {CR}{E}{SS} CRESS
26 - Light in fine, rich fabric (7) - {IN}{F}{LAME} INFLAME
27 - I am inclined to accept newbie's first plan (6) - {I}{N}{TEND} INTEND
28 - Drag, without power, named useless (4) - (-p+n) NULL
29 - Binding bandage (8) - LIGATURE [DD]
DOWN
2 - Team leader doesn't begin travel to competition (7) - {T}{jOURNEY} TOURNEY
3 - Inside a panel (6) - {A}{BOARD} ABOARD
5 - Wilt as daughter comes on sorry redound (5) - {D}{ROOP<-} DROOP
7 - Nothing to frolic? I and mother return with paper folding (7) - {O}{RIG}{AM<-}{I<-} ORIGAMI
8 - Greedy persons' power on insect — that's unbelievable! (4,5,3) - {PIGS} {MIGHT] {FLY} PIGS MIGHT FLY
12 - Building up for an interpretation? (12) - CONSTRUCTION [DD]
17 - None flashed expensive jewellery — that's dignifying (9) - {ENNO*}{BLING} ENNOBLING
20 - Requisite fund to be distributed around the limits of Erode by end of April (7) - {N{ErodE}DFU*}{L} NEEDFUL
23 - Bird, man, worthless horse (6) - {TOM}{TIT} TOMTIT
I swayed between SHELL and SWELL, both satisfying place of turmoil, and finally settled on shell, though not 'defeat decisively', I thought.
ReplyDelete14 - Yawn from little boy at end of term (5) - {CH}AS{M} Anno pending CHASM
CHAS for abbreviated Charles, I think
14 - Yawn from little boy at end of term (5) - {CH}AS{M} Anno pending CHASM
ReplyDelete{CHAS(-e)}{M}
Similar to Thos for Thomas. CV, remember Thos Gregson, son of Aunt Agatha?
ReplyDeleteA solution word is repeated here from the previous crossword.
ReplyDeleteGridman would like to clarify that generally he ensures that no word is repeated at least in his month's bunch of six crosswords. This he does by putting the list of words in a bunch through a duplicate finder and if any is found he makes amends.
This can be done by reworking the corner (which he has done often) or by simply swapping the crossword with another from a future bunch (which too he has done occasionally when reworking is impossible).
However, this he didn't do this time.
Reworking the corner in this puzzle wasn't found easy while checking it on the day prior to publication.
shell v. - come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
ReplyDeleteSee onelook dictionary
Sandhya @ 8:34,
ReplyDeleteHave you taken 'Chase' as the name of a boy or is there another meaning to it?
@Colonel: Name of a boy - like James Hadley Chase
ReplyDeleteReaders will remember having seen in old books a single character that combines two letters together, e.g., f and i joined.
ReplyDeleteI think it's called 'ligature'.
Kishore, please confirm.
In modern-day computerised setting, this character has vanished, I think. Again, Kishore will tell me.
Ah, I didn't see that possibility.
ReplyDeleteI saw Chas as diminutive of Charles.
But Sandhya's Chas[e] is also a possibility and I, as a rabid fan of the writer Chase in my college days, congratulate her.
Could you name some typical characteristics of the writer?
Cartoon under 8d is hilarious - when you have seen the headline on the newspaper page facing you.
ReplyDeleteCV, 841 & 846 as usual, you are perfectly correct. This post has something which started out as a typographic ligature. Et is the origin of this ligature and is still in use in this computer era. I, however, interpreted this clue in the medical sense of a ligature.
ReplyDeleteCV 849: Fast, crime stories well written. Usually not too long winding. I first came across the words grand, broad, heist, payroll etc in his books.
ReplyDelete28 - Drag, without power, named useless (4) (p-)(N+)ULL
ReplyDeleteAs per the instruction in the clue, I get (-p)ULL N. Is that right or am I reading it wrong?
Bhavan
ReplyDeleteA very good question!
You're right! But not completely!
The setter's intention is that you put N where you removed P (wink, wink).
The intention is plain and nothing else fits the answer, but I was asking about the wordplay.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly is RENT,DEMAND a phrase in the dictionary? I haven't looked in chambers yet but wondering.
Kishore
ReplyDeleteRe: Chase
Agreed on all counts.
May endings would be totally unexpected. But not as in the work of some writers (I forget examples) in which they say one thing happened and some paras further down merely add something to suggest that it did not happen.
However, one device of Chase's that I didn't like was: some novels having a few last paras wherein in a short compass he summarised many happenings.
Anyone here remember Chase from House?
ReplyDeleteCV 906, yes, some endings were Like a Hole in the Head.
ReplyDeleteBhavan
ReplyDeleteAnother good question from you!
RENT DEMAND will not be in Chambers or any standard dict.
However, it is not completely made up by the setter. We could hear the phrases used in Indian conversations.
Just a minute! Let me check.
See R????????? in CC. Quite British! Dave?
Kishore
ReplyDeleteDon't remind me of A Hole in the Head.
In the recent surgery that I had, I had four made in my head. And they have left visible dents on my cranium.
Several nice things!
ReplyDeleteLoved solving this one, so putting down a few things I liked very much.
1) Use of 'showered' as anagrind in 9A
2) Cleverness of the CD at 16A
3) Good surfaces at 2D and 17D, among a few others.
Grouse: 4D looked like a word from last week's set and use of boy or man for arbitrary English names (such words can only be worked backwards, after arriving at the solution). Also, I'd have expected Gridman to be naughtier with 23D ;)
4D looked like a word from last week's set
ReplyDeleteSudalamani
You're right, though it did not occur to me until you pointed it out. What was that setter's clue?
Anyway, THC setters work together, but they work apart (some Frost line). So they wouldn't know of others' gridfills. It seems TH does not (for obvious reasons) keep track of word frequencies.
CV 916, that was the first title that came back and matched to a T. Hope the shock of white has covered the dents by now. All the best.
ReplyDeleteHad a tough time with unpronounceable words and unknown meanings
ReplyDeleteAnyway, THC setters work together, but they work apart
ReplyDeleteDiversity in Unity?
Indian papers too have carried the following item
ReplyDeletehttp://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/26/wisconsin-professor-wins-bad-writing-award
This reminds me of a column (title I forget) in Bombaythe magazine (from India Today stable) which invited readers to send paras that they found highly convoluted.
Once they used an item that I sent.
Who was the writer?
No less a person than Justice V R Krishna Iyer who, like Caesar's wife, is above suspicion and who you know can NEVER be accused of being non compos mentis and whose modus operandi is quite well known and who often delivers obiter dicta.
Sorry - slept in! I think rent demand is fine, it didn't raise any hackles as I put it in. Quite often the red bills that come through are known as final demands. Loved the word play on letter though.
ReplyDeleteAgain a lovely, if belated, start to the day!
Cpl of questions:
ReplyDelete1A: Is TT a shortform for Race ?
6A:
The way I read it:
Watering hole == pool
circle around == loop
Not sure where the reversal indicator is, hence the query.
Thanks.
The famous TT motorbike race is held on the Isle of Man every year.
ReplyDeleteAnd the way I read the other clue was
ReplyDeleteWatering hole -- pool
Circle -- reversal indicator
Around -- loop
David
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that your parsing is the closest to being correct, I can't quite see why Loop=around. Especially, it means equating an adverb with a verb, which I don't find very acceptable.
I guess I was giving it the leniency of sounds like "a round"
ReplyDeleteActually the original clue was:
ReplyDeleteCircle around watering-hole (4) for LOOP
Yesterday at the last minute G thought he should change it because it is ambiguous - whether the ans. is LOOP or POOL.
While revising, G seems to have written a clue for POOL ! (without looking at the sol. grid for the entry at the slot!)
Sorry! In any case, I can explain it away:
In the present clue "Watering-hole to circle around" POOL does a turn around so you get LOOP. What then is the rev ind? '[C]ircle around' does double duty! Isn't 'circle around' tautological?
Maybe.
As for the surface reading, some word are implicit, thus:
Watering-hole [for one to] to circle around
Idhu eppadi irukku?
*words
ReplyDeleteAppadidhan naanum ninaichen.
ReplyDeleteG concedes he is "explaining it away", but in any case I don't think double duties are legal devices for setters. How are the solvers to know if an element is working twice? Also, 'a round' also is not a fair thing, as we are interested in 'word'play here as opposed to 'letter'play.
ReplyDeleteSo, idhu anyayama irukku :P
While G may be 'explaining away' there is nothing wrong with Double devices. They are 'legal' and ok if they make good surface reading
ReplyDeleteGrouse/gripes:
ReplyDelete24A Is Cress a vegetable? The online references I referred to call it a plant related to mustard.
29A - This type of DD is not a favourite of mine where the two meanings are closely related.
Having said that, I must admit I liked 16A.
Colonel,
Shouldn't the anno. for 11D be {EX}{CITE}(~site)?
cress - a name for many pungent-leaved cruciferous plants of various genera often used as a culinary garnish and in salads (Chambers)
ReplyDeletevegetable - a plant or part of one for food (Chambers)
Can't the def 'vegetable' for 'cress' be used?
Thanks David, Chaturvasi for the explanation.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Cress is a vegetable. Its leaves are used just for seasoning - like we use basil, parsley etc. Maybe it could have been clued as a herb.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that 6A is a bit unfair. Had it been an &lit, maybe it'd have worked. Now that it's not an &lit, we have an overlapping of definition and wordplay.
It is admitted that 6a is unfair.
ReplyDeleteCircumstances under which the mistake happened have been explained above and also 'Sorry' has been mentioned.
Facetiously, I was trying to explain it away.
Clues where some components have double duty are not uncommon, though I don't say they can be used. G generally does not use that device, I think.
Deepak
ReplyDeleteA suggestion.
I am greatly impressed by excellent comments made by members here.
Some new Commenters are on the scene.
If we click on Blogger profile we do not always get details as not all care to fill in.
I am wondering if you could have one more blog/page/link called THCC members where we can give some details such as Year of Birth, education, work, etc. That will be interesting.
Chaturvasi@16:04,
ReplyDeleteAll vegetables may be plants or parts thereof, but not all plants are vegetables. :-)
CV @ 16:51
ReplyDeleteI do not know if anyone will enter their details there as they have not done so in their blogger profile. Shall explore the possibility of having a separate file here itself like where I have given my contact details above and THCC commenters can send me the details which I will enter there. Shall work it out and let everyone know. Suggestions could be given as to what details are required.
I can think of
Name
Age
Education
Location
Profession
Employed with
Family details
Deepak
ReplyDeletePlease do get reactions from other people here before you start that.
Anyway,re your list. That's about all. Instead of age, it must be Year of Birth.
Profession alone would do; 'employed with' isn't needed.
As I said, please wait for others' reactions.
I have created a page THCC members (see the top) for entering details of THCC members. The only problem is that only I can enter the details there. Those interested can sent their details to my email ID deepakgita@gmail.com and I will add the details to the list above
ReplyDeleteCV @ 18:18
ReplyDeleteI have created the page. I can always delete it if the response is poor
"Ligature' to me is a thread or cord which we often use to tie Blood vessels and other hollow tissue in Surgery. The term "ligature mark " is used in hanging or strangulation.I have never thought of it as a "Binding bandage'. Needless to say, I missed this particular clue in spite of dealing with ligatures day in and out.
ReplyDeleteLIGATURE [2] - DOUBLE DEFINITION
ReplyDelete1) binding, Something that unites; a bond.
2) bandage - A cord, wire, or bandage used for tying or binding.
@ CV, Dr S Jagadish, Director Professor & Head, Department of Surgery at JIPMER, Puducherry is an ardent THC solver, though, as he himself told us on this forum, he sits down with the puzzle in the evening after finishing his day's work of surgeries, OPD, Ward work, academics and research. He has been my mentor and senior at both school and college.
Venkatesh
ReplyDeleteYes, I knew that 'jaggu' is a doctor but you have given additional info on him. Thanks.
It is gratifying to know of such ardent solvers.
It is also nice to know that we have solvers from such varying fields as defence services, IT, medicine, accountancy, etc.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChaturvasi: 4down: Novel horse race: HOUYHNHNM-- !!! Thanks for introducing this as a new word for my dictionary, in my sdolving career of three decades and more. What ecxactly is this? I've not come across this dark horse in any of the UK papers --The Times, Daily Telgraph, Independent, Guardian etc, which I used to solve in Kenya. Would be delighted to know the history and background, on which no other solver seems to have commented.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes feel the crop of Hindu compilers have caught a viral from NJ.!!
More the merrier, eh?
Raju Umamaheswar