Another neat CW from Sankalak, how easy he makes the CW appear. If NJ were to make the clues for these words we would have been running around in circles (which we will be doing next thursday onwards). I wish The HINDU runs a competition where the same set of answers is given to all the setters for preparing the clues and then we would know who is the best amongst our setters.
ACROSS
ACROSS
1 - Lab equipment used in Pusa, a part needing repair (9) - APPARATUS*
5 - Dentist's admonition to uncooperative patient! (5) - WIDER [CD]
8 - Growing weak, applying drugs around half of Rome (8) - DROOPING {D{ROme}OPING}
9 - Making a request to a singular ruler (6) - ASKING {A}{S}{KING}
11 - Material from Mediterranean island quietly substituted for leader in textiles (5) - CREPE CRE(-t+p)PE
12 - Having a flaming top, he dreaded change (9) - REDHEADED*
13 - It is operating in a computer (6) - SYSTEM [CD]
14 - One willing to use any opportunity for profit, unknown in record office (8) - CHANCERY {CHANCER}{Y}
16 - Putting two and two together (8) - ADDITION [E]
18 - Property — plantations, for example (6) - ESTATE [E]
22 - Filled with wonder, ‘e was running, chased by lorry (9) - AWESTRUCK {AWES*}{TRUCK}
23 - Weapon very common around capital of Liberia (5) - RIFLE {RIF{L}E}
24 - Bad luck for small-time criminal with spectacles (6) - HOODOO {HOOD}{OO}
25 - Using indecent language in making a promise (8) - SWEARING [DD]
26 - Shows excessive liking for spots around the east (5) - DOTES {DOT{E}S}
27 - Possible consequence of alcohol abuse (9) - CIRRHOSIS [E] Though of addiction first
1 - Slaves of habit ditch the salad, ignore health and suffer (7) - ADDICTS (DITCh the SalAD)*
2 - Series of operations gets officer covered by media (7) - PROCESS {PR{OC}ESS}
3 - Statements of demands relating to award ceremonies (15) - REPRESENTATIONS {RE}{PRESENTATIONS}
4 - Holding a job for a time, I leave retinue confused (6) - TENURE RETiNUE*
5 - Squander lung power and give advice that is not heeded (5,4,6) - WASTE ONE'S BREATH [DD]
6 - Led astray about blow, slack off (7) - DWINDLE {D{WIND}LE*}
7 - Fit out without any specific purpose but in an unbending manner (7) - RIGIDLY {RIG}{IDLY}
10 - State of America as reflected in an Aloha ditty (5) - IDAHO [T<-]
15 - A meeting to discuss and get university in shape (5) - FORUM {FOR{U}M}
16 - Embarrassed by deposit in a part of the garden (7) - ABASHED {A}{B{ASH}ED}
17 - One ousted, disgraced, ceases to be (4,3) - DIESOUT D(I)ESOUT*
19 - “There is a tide in the __ of men, which, taken at the flood …” ( Julius Caesar ) (7) - AFFAIRS
20 - Schemer, gesturing, comes out here (7) - EMERGES [T]
21 - It holds meat being roasted, with offensive smells rising all around (6) - SKEWER {SKE{W}ER<-}
Perfectly correct, Deepak. Sankalak leaves us nothing to comment, except applaud.
ReplyDeleteWith some other (I advisedly use a singular here), it is 5d
Very smooth solving.
ReplyDeleteOnly hitch was in selection of YOUR or ONES in 5D, which got finalised with the Xings..
Ditto. Sankalak always a pleasure, and today was very smooth. He is like an excellent driver - one can actually relax and enjoy the journey, whereas others have you on the edge of your seat, wondering if you are about to be lost completely or career into the path of an oncoming bus.
ReplyDeleteNeat crossword, but not sure about Col's comment. If everyone sets like Sankalak, then the newspaper will lose its variety!
ReplyDeleteThough easy to solve and annotate, Sankalak does give some lousy CDs that are not interesting. Didn't like 13A, 16A, 18A and 27A today.
Sankalak yet again proves he is a consummate setter.
ReplyDelete+1 for Sankalak's simple elegance.
ReplyDelete@SR : It is quite common and accepted that YOUR and ONES are used interchangeably with most sayings when they are entered into grids.
Recently I read at Shuchi's blog that as a setter you need to pace yourself with the clues. You cannot create 26 brilliant clues for one puzzle. So yes, in any one puzzle, few will be outstanding, few will be unexciting, few will use cliches etc.
Sudalamani,
ReplyDeleteI never said that everyone should set like Sankalak but that does not mean that we should get the kind of tripe that some other setter produces. I would prefer Sankalak all days a week rather than you know who.
Yesterday CV wrote about the different uses of ... clues and we have 19D today to vindicate that ?
ReplyDeleteJust 22A at the simple elegance.
ReplyDeleteComplicated it by putting in deducing for 16A before realising my mistake.
OK Col. You had NJ in mind, while I had the young ones from Neyartha to Cryptonyte. I loved all puzzles last week, I had to ponder long and hard to get the answers. Sankalak is quite different, the puzzles lie somewhere between 'quick' and 'cryptic' crosswords.
ReplyDeleteGiven the army of new setters, it will be good if Manna, Gridman, Sankalak and NJ reduce their quota to 4 per cycle. Firstly, 6/7 appears pretty long, secondly, this wouldn't affect their total contribution in the long run, say, a year.
ReplyDeleteFor eg.,Gridman contributing 6 puzzles every 1.5 months (I guess approx cycle duration now) or 4 puzzles every month (new cycle duration) will both amount to 48 puzzles a year. The solvers will feel fresh that way, IMHO :)
A forest of Arden?
ReplyDeleteAs a fairly green Cryptic solver, I cannot tell you how much I love Sankalak's grids.
ReplyDeleteApart from the fact that it boosts one's interest in solving cryptics and keeps the confidence up for the inevitable week-long torture of NJ, it is very helpful in getting the hang of working out clues.
The words in Sankalak's grids practically leap out of the clue. More importantly it gives beginners like me some grip on how clues work in cryptics since I can work backwards and *get* the clues.
For instance, I got 24A "hoodoo" from the clue and the first four letters (small time criminal), but had no idea that "spectacles" in a clue can mean "oo"!
What I wish the editor would do is break the cycle and simply mix the puzzles up for publishing instead of one setter on several consecutive days.
ReplyDeleteAnyone here did the guardian quick crossword-10574 printed in today's Metro Plus (Bang-Ed). Something rummy here:
ReplyDelete1a and 9d are both 10 letter words and synonyms of each other and appear on the north and east edges with the clues: Dilapidated and Rickety-derelict.
Similarly, 6d and 23a which appear on the west and south edges are near synonyms with the clues semicomatose (4,6) and Nap (5,5)
Has anyone here come across anything similar in any other CW?
What I wish the editor would do is break the cycle and simply mix the puzzles up for publishing instead of one setter on several consecutive days.
ReplyDeleteI like that suggestion. My only worry is that it should be done competently. Else we may either end up with A's answer grid for B's CW or the answer grid before the CW or even worse the answer grid for the same day's CW.
@Kishore I suspect the total number of puzzles for each month will be available to the editor well in advance. It will be a question of randomizing those 26/27 puzzles
ReplyDelete@Bhavan: Agreed, only my worry is answers too get randomized.
ReplyDeleteBhavan, how early do you have to submit CWs?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there are any hard and fast rules as such, but judging by what Gridman said at times, some of the puzzles are created and sent as much as 3-4 months in advance.
ReplyDeleteGood side stepping ;-)
ReplyDeletehard and fast rules
ReplyDeleteDelhi Police have fast rules...
Kishore is a master at the art of leg-pulling, I suppose :P
ReplyDeletePerhaps Gridman can say if the quota reduction is a nice idea. Bhavan's idea of mixing puzzles up is also very interesting and should be worth a try.
I for one wouldn't want the quotas to be reduced.
ReplyDeletePrecisely for the reason Alok mentioned. We have our own favourite setters for our own reasons. Accommodating new ones like it has been happening is good. But not at the expense of existing ones.
The advantage however with the present system is that one can judge the days when free time will be available in the mornings for other activities thereby permitting advance planning.
ReplyDeleteFor e.g., on NJ days I have to get up much earlier to ensure I meet my 8:30 dealine and still there are days when I can't make it!!
This is zimbly crate. Ithu nokuka:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1970877950875&comments
DG 1107: That, I suppose, gives you time to plan your gowf.
ReplyDelete@Col, 1107: LOL
ReplyDelete@Bhavan, 1104: See my 0959 post. The number of puzzles doesn't reduce at all. We just have a small cycle duration.
Alok @ 10:07, being a rookie myself, could not agree with you more.
ReplyDeleteStruggled to complete this cycle since Manna started, and the hangover lingered through the new setters. The moment Sankalak's puzzles appear, the answers seem to find me :)
Looking forward to 3 more enjoyable ones ..
Sankalak's trick:
ReplyDeleteSimple vocabulary, crisp word associations/ definitions, straight forward CD's of very common phrases, easy clues/ anagrams in places like 1A, 1D to help solvers get a good start, clear indicators that are hard to miss and not to mention,consistently good surface. WTG!
Couldn't agree more with all of you who have bunged in your lots to sing paeans of praise on Sankalak. His compiling is redolent of the Times of London and Daily Telegraph-- not too complicated, yet crisp and cryptic. Just decent enough to keep us delighted and deluded. But then, as they say, variety is the masala of life and we do need the kinds of NJ and Manna who believe in having our legs curled around our heads.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sure, the editor can easily mix and match different compilers for us to compare and contrast, on a daily rota basis. So long as we get our daily shots.
Following up on Kishore's comments the Guardian ones are also quite tornadoean(my adaptation) twisters. Why not have members comment on them too on a daily basis?
Kishore@10.28
ReplyDeleteYes,I do the Metroplus crossword also daily.I noticed the North & East ones as you pointed out.But missed the other one,probably I was 6D ! (Half asleep)Me too-this is the first time I come across such a thing.Interesting.
Folks, I just got an email from a reputed bank (not a fake mail) which offered x 'lacks' of money as loan.
ReplyDeleteLaksha/Laakh in many Indian languages got Anglicized to Lakhs first (like many other words) and later to the resinous 'lacs' and now this metamorphosis lacks logic and shows complete lack of any idea of the word.
Kishore. Looks like spell check and auto correct at work.
ReplyDeleteThe computer is a dummy.
Yup, you've struck the tack on the noggin. It can do wonderful things. ;-)
ReplyDeleteTo err is human. But to really mess everything up you need a computer
ReplyDeleteThank you Sankalak for a thoroughly enjoyable solving experience these past few days!
ReplyDelete