ACROSS
9 - Internally the Pentagon do lack transport (7) - GONDOLA [T]
10 - You kind of follow endless mantra for ancient tea ritual (7) - CHANOYU {CHANt}{OYU*}
11 - Cracker if wet becomes a bomb (5) - SQUIB [DD]
12 - Soldier's coffee contains fine bits of almond, yucca, eclair (9) - LAFAYETTE {LA{F}{A}{Y}{E}TTE}
13 - Use tech in improvement of life science (9) - EUTHENICS*
14 - Short synthetic article is here! (5) - VOILA {VOILe}{A}
15 - Boy holding map to a place in Europe (7) - LAPLAND {LA{PLAN}D}
17 - A real miracle does this to belief (7) - BEGGARS [CD]
19 - Sign of failure in German bread (1- 4) - D-MARK [DD]
22 - First song about love at last (6,3) - NUMBER ONE {NUMBER} {ON}{E}
24 - See 18 Down
25 - Army gets lifetime surety (7) - HOSTAGE {HOST}{AGE}
26 - Suspicious character in plot — he'll overhear secrets (7) - OTHELLO [T]
DOWN
1 - Porcelain paint (8) - EGGSHELL [DD]
2 - Peacekeeper merely being biased (6) - UNJUST {UN}{JUST}
3 - Speak utter nonsense (6,4) - DOUBLE TALK [E]
4 - Flycatcher in hospital room nursing broken bill (8) - WALLBIRD {WA{LLBI*}RD}
5 - The French run out of fights in slippers (6) - SCUFFS SCUFFleS
6 - Good-for-nothing undergoes top change? Difficult to see (4) - HAZY (-l+h)HAZY
7 - Left left left house in capital (4,4) - PORT VILA {PORT} {VIlLA}
8 - Greek version of bingo? (6) - EUREKA [CD]
14 - Wicked one in church kept watch over Christ within (5,5) - VIGIL LIGHT {VIGIL} {LIGHT} &lit
16 - Actively I'm pals with St. David for one (8) - PSALMIST {PSALMI*}{ST}
17 - A tired American coach might be headed here (3,5) - BUS DEPOT [CD]
18, 24A, 20D - Framework (tin) he built to hide a secret (8,2,3,6) - SKELETON IN THE CLOSET {SKELETON} {IN THE*} {CLOSET}
19 - Raft of noise first of gunshots ends in hurry (6) - DINGHY {DIN}{G}{HurrY} My COD
20 - See 18 Down
21 - Initially very important things always look silly but they are indispensable (6) - VITALS {V}{I}{T}{A}{L}{S}
23 - Test old claim (4) - EXAM {EX}{AM}
Good one. A pangram.
ReplyDelete3 - Speak utter nonsense (6,4) - DOUBLE TALK [E]
ReplyDeleteMy take: It is a CD - SPEAK and UTTER are synonyms of TALK - so double TALK
Definition - nonsense
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSandhya
ReplyDeleteI didn't do this cwd, but 3d is a good clue, as you say.
A single clue like this can light up a whole crossword.
I may not classify it as CD; it defies classification, doesn't it?
Loved this crossword. Best I've done in a very long time. So many excellent clues with great wordplay, but top faves are port vila, double talk and squib. Got a question though - are apostrophes normally included in the letter count or not ( c'est la vie)?
ReplyDeleteYes CV 3D may not be a CD. It is my COD
ReplyDeleteYahoo mail not opening today. Anybody else noticed this problem?
ReplyDeleteDave
ReplyDeleteApostrophes are not counted in enumeration.
For the simple reason that you don't put it in any cell in the crossword grid!
Hyphens are treated differently. WELL-FED is still 7, not 8, but the enu is given as 4-3.
OTOH, AARON'S ROD is not (5'1, 3) but just (6,3). Defies logic!
Mail is back
ReplyDeleteDD, if they are treated as a separate character then they would need a separate box and that would mean they would have to appear in the crossing word, which I suspect would be mighty tough, though not impossible. The present usage is in order with the counting of the hyphen but I have seen clue enumerations with (4-3) sort of usage, so should this be (1'3,2,3), but then c and est are not separately meaningful, it would have expanded as ce and est to make them meaningful. The difference is probably due to the fact that a hyphen does not represent a missing letter whereas an apostrophe does. Similarly, I have not seen other diacritic marks like grave,cedila, tilde etc being used in enu. Of course, these would not warrant a separate box since they are attached to the parent letter.
ReplyDeleteHowever, another question: Is any indication required for a foreign language phrase/word ? Does the level of acceptance of such a word into a language matter ?
Addendum: If a separate box is provided for an apostrophe, it may even be possible for it to represent two separate letters in two different words, leading to further befuddlement.
ReplyDeleteWorse it may not even represent a letter, if it is the used in the possessive way.
OCCAM'S RAZOR crossing with IT'S
Suresh 1006:
ReplyDeleteThat is an Irishman.
I would think that the fact that C'EST LA VIE is French must have been indicated in the clue. Gridman used CHALTA HAI in a recent grid but he indicated that the phrase was Indian by including the words 'in India' in the clue. 'C'est la vie' (like G's 'chalta hai') is very much in Chambers and other dictionaries of the English language, but it is marked Fr.
ReplyDeleteFurther to CV's 1021:
ReplyDeleteWords like Facade or Gendarme or phrases like mala-fide and ad-hoc many not warrant that disclosure due to their absorption into English.
See the link with the word C'EST LA VIE (in the main post) for many more French words used by English speakers
ReplyDeleteYes,Col. I saw that and wanted to thank you for that very useful link.
ReplyDeleteVery enjoyable. Was actually just thinking yesterday that it's been a long time since we came across Buzzer, and voila!
ReplyDeleteRecently,I wrote here about the hyphenated word recently and how the Americans have shed the same, like other double lettered words as in enroll. The original English lexicographers must be turning in their graves,I'm sure.Many such dashes are cut, for eg: Under way , Underway and under-way!Wears one down under alright?
ReplyDeleteAs for the apostrophe in crosswords, mostly, they are not counted as an additional letter but the indications are given in the clue.Punctuation is for punctilious and not for pusillanimous folks and no one's ego needs to be punctured.
@CV(8:43): Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the use of 'tired' in the cryptic reading of 17D? I assumed it was a misprint of tiered, although the surface might lose meaning in that case.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the use of 'tired' in the cryptic reading of 17D. I assumed it was a misprint of tiered, although the surface might lose meaning in that case. And I wonder if 'American' is superficial.
ReplyDeleteNavneeth@22.15-
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about 'tiered'. It may be a bus (coach as called by Americans)) with tiers for sleeping.Obviously going to the depot.
Navneeth
ReplyDeleteThe Americans spell 'tyre' as 'tire'.
'coach' here is not 'trainer' but 'a vehicle'.
A 'tired coach', that is, a 'coach' fitted with 'tires', may be headed for BUS DEPOT.
After I saw your query, I wrote this in a trice.
I don't know how others interpreted the clue