ACROSS
1 - Cynical cousin lured by mistake (11) - INCREDULOUS*
9 - Moderate president (5) - CHAIR [DD]
10 - Melodious beat? I can reproduce that!(9) - CANTABILE {CANTABI{L}E*}Origin of 'L' not known Neyatha has clarified at the Orkut group that 'BEAT' is a typo for 'BLEAT'
11 - Some stars disregard the English Catholic prayers (5) - NOVAS NOVenAS
12 - Decrease in balance prevented by this cheque writer's PS (4,7) - STOP PAYMENT [CD]
13 - Revamp building for the temptress (6) - VAMPER*
14 - Ruling of the clever dictator (7) - VERDICT [T]
18 - Weak young bovine sent back by the police department (7) - FLACCID {FLAC<-}{CID}
20 - Flowering plant named after a Greek sea monster, according to hearsay (6) - SCILLA (~SCYLLA)
24 - Soaked the wool and made it less strong (7,4) - WATERED DOWN {WATERED} {DOWN}
26 - Sign of joy as the Oriental ousts the Indian chief (5) - BLESS BL(-i+e)ESS
27 - AT&T renounced battleground design by Swedish-born U.S. sculptor (9) - OLDENBURG OLDENBURGatt* Never heard of him
28 - Composer I'd spotted with cleric in retreat (5) - VERDI {VER}{D'I} <-
29 - Free port Ali blended with mushroom (11) - PROLIFERATE*
DOWN
1 - Tentative cut from French sharp (8) - INCISIVE INdeCISIVE
2 - Such a map may be angle-preserving (9) - CONFORMAL [E]
3 - Teaching that is better than precept (7) - EXAMPLE [CD]
4 - Consolidate the news agency's February margins (5) - UNIFY {UNI}{F)(Y}
5 - Vigilant office drudge's ring put on top and inspected (4-4) - OPEN-EYED {(+o)OPE(-o)N} {EYED}
6 - Perfumed letters from the adolescent editor (7) - SCENTED [T]
7 - Sharp remark about the volumes (5) - SAVVY {SA{VV}Y}
8 - Abandoned work in retreat on the study of versification as being dull (5) -PROSE PRO(po<-)SE Not sure of Anno (Addendum - PROSY {PROS{od<-}Y} - See comments}
15 - Early closing for the informal seminars (9) - COLLOQUIA COLLOQUIAl
16 - Master Victor's riotous when drunk (8) - VIRTUOSO {V}{IRTUOSO*}
17 - Famous American philanthropist in a Melbourne suburb (8) - CARNEGIE [DD]
19 - Sent up small picture framing frisky owls with primrose (7) - COWSLIP {C{OWSL*}IP<-}
21 - Incorrectly accede enclosure to the Pole on the beat (7) - CADENCE {CADE{N}CE*}
22 - Up there is Eva climbing sheltered sacred Sinhalese tree (5) - ABOVE {A{BO}VE<-}
23 - Gem found in fold, reportedly (5) - PEARL (~purl)
25 - Geometrical features on a tuner circuit blown out by the current (5) - RADII RADI(-o+i)I
1 - Cynical cousin lured by mistake (11) - INCREDULOUS*
9 - Moderate president (5) - CHAIR [DD]
10 - Melodious beat? I can reproduce that!(9) - CANTABILE {CANTABI{L}E*}
11 - Some stars disregard the English Catholic prayers (5) - NOVAS NOV
12 - Decrease in balance prevented by this cheque writer's PS (4,7) - STOP PAYMENT [CD]
13 - Revamp building for the temptress (6) - VAMPER*
14 - Ruling of the clever dictator (7) - VERDICT [T]
18 - Weak young bovine sent back by the police department (7) - FLACCID {FLAC<-}{CID}
20 - Flowering plant named after a Greek sea monster, according to hearsay (6) - SCILLA (~SCYLLA)
26 - Sign of joy as the Oriental ousts the Indian chief (5) - BLESS BL(-i+e)ESS
27 - AT&T renounced battleground design by Swedish-born U.S. sculptor (9) - OLDENBURG OLDENBURG
28 - Composer I'd spotted with cleric in retreat (5) - VERDI {VER}{D'I} <-
29 - Free port Ali blended with mushroom (11) - PROLIFERATE*
DOWN
1 - Tentative cut from French sharp (8) - INCISIVE IN
2 - Such a map may be angle-preserving (9) - CONFORMAL [E]
3 - Teaching that is better than precept (7) - EXAMPLE [CD]
4 - Consolidate the news agency's February margins (5) - UNIFY {UNI}{F)(Y}
5 - Vigilant office drudge's ring put on top and inspected (4-4) - OPEN-EYED {(+o)OPE(-o)N} {EYED}
6 - Perfumed letters from the adolescent editor (7) - SCENTED [T]
7 - Sharp remark about the volumes (5) - SAVVY {SA{VV}Y}
8 - Abandoned work in retreat on the study of versification as being dull (5) -
15 - Early closing for the informal seminars (9) - COLLOQUIA COLLOQUIA
16 - Master Victor's riotous when drunk (8) - VIRTUOSO {V}{IRTUOSO*}
17 - Famous American philanthropist in a Melbourne suburb (8) - CARNEGIE [DD]
19 - Sent up small picture framing frisky owls with primrose (7) - COWSLIP {C{OWSL*}IP<-}
22 - Up there is Eva climbing sheltered sacred Sinhalese tree (5) - ABOVE {A{BO}VE<-}
23 - Gem found in fold, reportedly (5) - PEARL (~purl)
25 - Geometrical features on a tuner circuit blown out by the current (5) - RADII RADI(-o+i)I
8 - Abandoned work in retreat on the study of versification as being dull (5) - PROSE PRO(po<-)SE Not sure of Anno
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if N intended this:
study of versification=PROSODY
abandoned work in retreat= delete do<-
being dull=PROS(-od)Y
8 - Abandoned work in retreat on the study of versification as being dull (5) - PROSE PRO(po<-)SE Not sure of Anno
ReplyDelete---
The answer is PROSY.
The anno: PROSODY (study of versification)
From the above OD (DO, work in retreat) is abandoned.
'dull' is the def.
Of course, I am more used to 'prosaic' rather than 'prosy'.
ReplyDeleteThe latter I would take to mean only as too full of prose.
Not to question N's clue. C has the word and the sense.
Theme?
ReplyDeleteThanks Kishore & CV,
ReplyDeletePoetry & Prose not my forte
Could not detect theme. However, one observation:
ReplyDeleteQuite a few answers have a doubled letter:
FLACCID,SCILLA,BLESS, SAVVY, COLLOQUIA, RADII.
Surprised to know from today's paper that Veer weights 800kgs.
ReplyDelete2D: Is N some analysis guru or what! Talking of conformal mapping and analytic functions :)
ReplyDelete16D: Why is Victor=V? I think I have also seen Peter=P from Neyartha, don't know when. Is it some accepted convention?
Didn't like the anagram in 13A also. The esoterica in 27A and 17D are turn-offs as well. But in spite of all this, enjoyed the offering as a whole...
I do not think N's theme comes across strongly these days. Just 2-3 somewhat related words scattered across the puzzle do not make a theme, IMHO. Maybe he can mix and match between this type and the starred clues thingy he used a year(?) back.
ReplyDeleteV is pronounced as Victor in the phonetic alphabet. So that is fine.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet
But I agree with S on 13a,27a,17d.
Thanks Kishore. Didn't know the phonetic equivalent for V...
ReplyDeleteStrong themes in crosswords are possible only if the setter has complete liberty in the grids that he (yes, I am unabashedly using this gender) uses.
ReplyDeleteTH does not permit setters to use grids for the nonce; once fixed, they have to use them repeatedly.
This must be a constraint on setters who use themes; we should appreciate that they are still doing it.
22D: BO is Sinhalese, but is 'sacred Sinhalese tree' a clear way of cluing BO? The tree is more associated with religion than language.
ReplyDeleteMy thought: N could have played with body odour, given it is a girl climbing up.
Just like Erode or Guduvanchery would possibly be of no interest to solvers outside India/South India/Chennai, I did not like Carnegie. Would have actually preferred a Mellon reference instead, the university being probably better known that suburbs of cities.
ReplyDeleteCV@9.15
ReplyDeleteO, that's news to me. But N was very effective (though a bit esoteric, which he is, even now - that seems to be his nature) when he had those starred clues. I especially used to love the one that came on the day following the starred one - where the theme subtly exists all over the grid.
'bo' is from Sinhalese 'bo', from Pali 'bodhi', perfect knowledge.
ReplyDeleteMy fat fingers put that for than above.
ReplyDeleteHouse full of visitors so my morning routine not running as smoothly as normal. Enjoyed today's crossword (apart from vamper). Had forgotten about the "themes" but really used to enjoy the linked clues.
ReplyDeleteTheme: MUSIC (cantabile, Verdi, virtuoso, cadence)
ReplyDeleteOf course, Sandhya
ReplyDeleteSince we will not have a CW from 'The Hindu' on 16 Aug (15 Aug being a holiday), is there anyone who wants to publish his own CW here on the 16th, if so please send it to me and I will do so.
ReplyDeleteK@8:52: I was kind of hoping to be a space shuttle or something, but turns out I am only an SUV. My god, Kishore, you do really *read* the newspaper - I had to hunt for what you were talking about.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I am sorry I have not logged on the past couple of days and hence missed uploading the xwd early enough. Partly due to no motivation to solve MM with all the indirect anagrams etc., etc.
The Kishore effect is elsewhere too:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ukpuzzle.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=179
You have to scroll down a bit to see a lot of punning.
Normally 15 Aug is not a holiday for TH. Probably there will be a paper on 16th
ReplyDeleteSuresh,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. There was a paper last year on 16 Aug, I just checked the old posts.