Thursday 16 February 2012

No 10387, Thursday 16 Feb 12, Sankalak

Just a 'W' short of a Pangram, if  2D had been aware we would have had one!!
ACROSS
1   - Display of false confidence by Vora bad flop (7) - BRAVADO*
5   - The patient one, not so important, with no work to do (7) - JOBLESS {JOB}{LESS}
9   - What a struggling, new comedian lacked — an ornament (7,8) - DIAMOND NECKLACE {N+COMEDIAN+LACKED}*
10 - Hear observers spar for a simple cooler (6) - ICEBOX (~eyes){ICE}{BOX}
11 - Obsessive about routine, corps leader flips (8) - NEUROTIC {ROUTINE+C}*
13 - Bring out — about ten pence? That is clear (8) - EXPLICIT {E{X}{P}{LICIT}
15 - Vegetable it comes out in great speed (6) - CELERY CELERitY
18 - Ingenious leader of class, learner always … (6) - CLEVER {C}{L}{EVER}
19 - … blustered about Election Commissioner but withdrew his statement (8) - RECANTED {R{EC}ANTED}
22 - Elaborate action to conceal shadow (8) - DETAILED {DE{TAIL}ED}
24 - Marshbird, losing right, is annoyed (6) - BITTEN BITTErN
27 - Unfurl racist art, curiously relating to basic physical facilities (15) - INFRASTRUCTURAL*
28 - Discomfort of a man accepting All India Service (7) - MALAISE {MAL{AIS}E}
29 - Flaming hair, not that of a Socialist chief necessarily (7) - REDHEAD {RED}{HEAD}
DOWN
1   - Manner expected of a doctor in a plot, right? Maybe (7) - BEDSIDE {BED}{SIDE}
2   - Memorable words from a duke over time (5) - ADAGE {A}{D}{AGE}
3   - Say sorry! (9) - APOLOGIZE or APOLOGISE [E]
4   - Theologist in very large advantage (4) - ODDS {O{DD}S}
5   - Junior engineer made a mistake losing heart and was mocked (6) - JEERED {JE}{ERrED}
6   - He reportedly needs to make a living (5) - BAKER [CD]
7   - Statute made by English people on time to include new deed (9) - ENACTMENT {E}{N}{ACT}{MEN}{T}
8   - Drawing beginning to yellow is incomplete (7) - SKETCHY {SKETCH}{Y}
12 - Seed, very soft one inside (3) - PIP {P{I}P}
14 - Abundant enough to fill up net perhaps (9) - PLENTIFUL*
16 - With incomplete detail, came back wasted (9) - EMACIATED {DETAIl}{CAME}<-
17 - Barrel, weight 2.2 pounds, contains earth (3) - KEG {K{E}G}
18 - Element, one found in churned mud in English river (7) - CADMIUM {CA{DM{I}U*}M}
20 - Suspended and in a corner hemmed in by our TV (7) - DANGLED {D{ANGLE}D}
21 - A nuisance the French found in the kitchen (6) - PESTLE {PEST}{LE}
23 - Middle-easterner on All India Radio, IQ suspect (5) - IRAQI {AIR+IQ}*
25 - Minimum number for a crowd? (5) - THREE [CD]
26 - Source of gummy stuff from Antigua researched (4) - GUAR [T]




22 comments:

  1. And a Q without an U...

    JEER reminded me of the usage in respect of Mutts, another word sounding odd when you put it in English

    GUAR: I had once done a project on this. Did you know Guar gum has is a fairly large export earner and is used in industries widely varying as food and petroleum drilling....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pl ignore the 'has' above

      Delete
    2. Another word like JEER is EMBAR.

      A legitimate word in English, it is also knoawn as a prefix with certain names. I recall Sanskrit scholar Embar Vijayaraghavachariar and the mridangist Embar Kannan.

      Just now I learn that 'embar' means 'a person who does not know darkness'. Any Sanskrit scholar who can explain it further? Is there any temple dedicated to Embar?

      I have been tempted to bring the Indian connection while clueing EMBAR. Don't remember if I have actually done so.

      Delete
    3. Sir,

      Embar Kannan is a Violinist

      Delete
    4. I guess Sankalak is a Chemistry man with a good exposure into textiles related chemistry.

      Some of his clues in each innings will explicitly show this--- such as Guar Gum in today's clue

      Delete
    5. Apologies to the violinist and my readers.

      Delete
  2. 'Embar' to my knowledge is a title, probably given for proficiency in religious or scriptural matters. It is likely that the descendants of that person may continue to use it as a family title.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. More likely! I too was under the impression that Embar could be a little-known village in south India but I have not been able to get any "Google" hit. Has anyone else tried?

      Delete
  3. I was under the opinion that EMBAR is a name of a place

    ReplyDelete
  4. Re origin of the word 'Embar'
    please refer http://www.madhuramangalam.ramanujartemples.net/Embar.htm
    ranger

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are unable to reach this page.

      Delete
    2. Try this and you can reach the page where you can explore:

      http://www.madhuramangalam.ramanujartemples.net/

      Delete
  5. Embar is the shortened word for the Tamil Title "Emperumanar" given to Sri Ramanujacharya.

    You can look over here: http://www.trsiyengar.com/id283.shtml

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here is a version received from my friend:

      On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 10:23 PM, Seshadri Srinivasan wrote:
      actually embar is thename of an acharya in vaishnava tradition
      his descendents have this as prefix
      that is all
      just as we do swamimalai srinivasan
      shirdi sai etc
      the word may have a meaning which originally is given to them for qualities
      just as rama was given by sage vasishta

      Delete
  6. 24A would have sounded better, IMHO, if it had been "Composer,...", instead of marshbird. After all, how many marshbids do we know that are or were annoyed. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I always get caught on the GK part of Sankalak's puzzles :) What with the birds and all :)
    For 18A and 19A, my first recaction was SALMAN KHURSHID!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CS, My thoughts exactly. However, I did not put it here as I felt it might be politically incorrect. After all SK is Praxy's son in law.

      Delete
  8. Sorry for being a newbie to this, but can someone explain the thought process to cracking the 13 across ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bring out = ELICIT
      about = Indicator for encapsulation
      ten = X
      pence? = P
      That is
      clear = Definition = {E{X}{P}}LICIT}

      Delete
  9. 13 - Bring out — about ten pence? That is clear (8) - EXPLICIT {E{X}{P}{LICIT}
    ELICIT - Bring out
    ten - X
    Pence - P

    ELICIT around ten(X) and pence(P) = E(X)(P)LICIT = clear

    ReplyDelete

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