Quite sporting of Lightning today . Also talks of 'stoned sports heroes'. Does he mean the dopey ones? Like some listed in this puzzle
Happy Women's Day. Wishing all the best to the ladies who bear males, in more than one way
17 Lay off a volley, which is very easy (3,4) PUT AWAY DD
DOWN
Happy Women's Day. Wishing all the best to the ladies who bear males, in more than one way
ACROSS
8 So far, the red team, all at sea at this soccer stadium (7,2,6) THEATRE OF DREAMS of the ManU, which incidentally is the 'red team' at home (SO THE RED TEAM)*
9 Say, “Usain Bolt – King!” (8) SPRINTER (SPRINT(=BOLT)+ER) &lit
10 Armstrong and his companions are a force in Rohan (6) RIDERS , they were a force(army) in Rohan (Middle Earth, by JRR Tolkien)
11 Handicap score in golf, which is very rare (9) ALBATROSS CD, a rare handicap in golf. I don't have it
12 Stoned sports heroes? (5) IDOLS CD
15 Trick shot in tennis exhibited in between errant forehands (7) TWEENER (T) Watch this if you can... and look at the shot from different angles in the replays
17 Lay off a volley, which is very easy (3,4) PUT AWAY DD
19 Holds the handle of an epee with a touch of safety (5) GRIPS (GRIP +S)
20 Bares fist agitatedly at a quarter of the way to home plate (5,4) FIRST BASE (BARES FIST)*
23 Phelps’ action to add fuel to the fire surrounding the origin of racism (6) ST(R)OKE
25 Mesh of heavy metal in a football field (8) GRIDIRON (GRID+IRON), found in North American football
26 To adhere to this, a cricketer must walk rather than sledge (6,2,3,4) SPIRIT OF THE GAME CD
DOWN
1 Man, a priest for the most part at the Sistine, perhaps (6) CHAP ELi
2 Animal knotted with rope to obtain a fibre (6,4) MANILA HEMP (ANIMAL* + HEMP)
3 Violent riots arose without a bit of stimulation in places of prayer (9) ORATORIES (RIOTS+AROsE)*
4 Supply wild rhinos to be taken outside Uruguay (7) NOURISH (RHINOS* around U)
5 Revere a revolutionary Judean king with no trace of haughtiness (5) ADORE (A hEROD*)
6 Shape the beginnings of British Energy’s nuclear division (4) B E N D
7 The Spanish student steps into a shadow for cover (8) UMBR(EL L)A
13 Design a link for a structure that can be raised (10) DRAW BRIDGE
14 Makers of firearms, comfortable in retrospect, without Wesson’s partner (9) GUNSMITHS (SNUG< around SMITH (of the Smith and Wesson fame)
16 Intercepts cable on upcoming dispute (8) WIRETAPS (WIRE+SPAT<)
18 Phone call not satisfactory? Hang Up! (4,3) RING OFF DD
21 Wild tale about the onset of malaria (6) STOR(M)Y
22 Southpaw abandoned close to Bellary (5) LEFTY (LEFT+Y)
24 Giant mineral deposit around the border of Gujarat (4) OGRE (ORE around G)
I believe women bear males when the missionary position is adopted. Right?
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean that men bear females if the missionary position is not adopted?
Deletebear
Delete/be(ə)r/
Verb
(of a person) Carry: "he was bearing a tray".
Synonyms
endure -suffer - stand - tolerate - , yes they do, even when we mutter 'This is not my cup of tea' under our breaths
carry, during pregnancy, infancy and in adult life, as mentioned by CV
support, this is the role in which they are irreplaceable
Deepak 847:
DeleteWOT a question, sir!
Women are 'bear' necessities in life...
DeleteThere goes Baloo...
DeleteWhy is it called 'missionary'? Any idea, brothers and sisters?
DeleteI guessed 'Jungle Book' was your favourite...
DeleteKishore, 8:56 It's up to some visionary to answer...
DeleteRichard 900:
DeleteI like reading, writing and Kipling.
I don't know what you people might think, but Lightning just made us all get to First Base in 20a
DeleteA 22D compliment?
Delete@Kishore: Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wishes :)
Thanks everybody for your wishes and compliments!
ReplyDeleteI don't want to monkey around with you looking over our shoulders ;-)
DeleteHope our sisters here would bear your bare humour...
DeleteTransparency is the requirement of the day.
DeleteWe do bear humour bare or otherwise!
ReplyDeleteWe try to forbear crossing the limits anyway!
DeleteAll the Across clues plus 22D had a sporting connection
ReplyDeleteI did not get your 22d reference, though I got the sporting references in the across clues and hence mentioned it
DeleteA cricketer bowler using his left hand is called a southpaw, I suppose.
DeleteA bowler in cricket, I mean.
DeleteBut southpaw is a general reference, even for a non-athletic person like me, who was also a southpaw (in addition to being a northpaw, if there is such a thing) till about 10 years of age
DeleteA southpaw is also a predominantly left handed boxer
DeleteA southpaw is a left hander, be it boxing, batting, bowling (cricket or otherwise) or even writing. Hence, sport is not directly implied.
DeleteTerm originated from left handed baseball pitchers.
Delete26 To adhere to this, a cricketer must walk rather than sledge (6,2,3,4) SPIRIT OF THE GAME CD
ReplyDeleteNo other game embodies THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME like golf does... especially at the nineteenth hole
The spirit is all the more enjoyable at the nineteenth if one can manage an albatross between one and eighteen. I haven't managed any of the birds on the course, have had plenty of bogies though!!!
DeleteAs mentioned in the main post, I too have not had an albatross or any of the other feathered friends since I do not play golf
DeleteKishore@9:39
DeleteBut you would have mastered everything in Golf from "The Heart of a Goof and other stories" by your favourite writer as evinced from your 9:16 comment
To complete - or even nearly complete - a crossword, write a blog and post it at the well-established deadline of 8-30 a.m. is no easy task. The Col who has been doing it for years and the other members who have joined his brigade deserve our thanks and congrats.
ReplyDeleteIt was easy in the initial years when the free to all edition of The HINDU used to be online by 2:30 AM, now it comes up only at around 6:15 leaving just over 2 hours for all the above activities.
DeleteCV, you went on a 'mission' @ 8-39 and ever since the rest of us have been baring our fists. Just watching the fun?
Deletewho have joined his brigade
DeleteThe Colonel has now become a Brigadier ;-) Congrats, Sir.
Today, I finished my walk by around 630 and sat down. Made a typo in the Orkut grid typing THEATER and had a bit of a problem with the resultant crossing. I had finished around 650 and started composing the post, when the most unkindest cut happened (a power outage, which lasted nearly an hour). I was able to resume only at around 800 and was wondering what Rohan was all about. I had to invoke the services of my friend Mr Googlekar to link it to Tolkien. But it was fun and worth the time spent.
Which tells me I need to commandeer one of my son's laptop on my posting days.
DeleteThat makes 10A a DD
DeleteStraightforward and well written. This clue put me off the track a bit:
ReplyDelete7 The Spanish student steps into a shadow for cover (8) UMBR(EL L)A
I was trying to get a word starting with EL and so a question arises:
If I read it as The Spanish student does it not mean: ELL and not EL+L? As there is no single word for The Spanish Student should it not have been STEP instead of STEPS with a comma probably separating Spanish and student?
Raghunath,
DeleteI have no problem, I feel it's perfect as it is, both cryptically and surface reading wise
I don't get it. You mean The Spanish student is ELL in which case steps works? I feel it is EL L and the clue wording has to tweaked.
DeleteWhy not
DeleteThe Spanish = EL
student = L
If you want to use STEP then it will have to be 'The Spanish students...'
I meant it as:
DeleteThe Spanish, student step into... (EL, L step into...)as I feel ELL is not one word but two.
Maybe 'and' instead of the comma would also have worked, but would have been a giveaway.
DeleteI'm not nitpicking here, but as I was mislead by the clue am expressing my opinion.
I was ok with the clue. Since Raghu has mentioned he is not nitpicking, I can confidently say that nitpicking is a louse-y exercise
DeleteI see no problem. 'ELL'(Spanush student) steps into 'umbra'(shadow). It is 'steps' to make the surface reading correct.
ReplyDeleteTypo- read 'Spanish' instead of Spanush.
ReplyDeleteKishore,
ReplyDeleteI am coming across JRR for the first time in THC. May be my memory is short. I loved his books.
JRR three to four decades back had a limited niche audience and was comparatively unknown to most Indian readers. After popularity of the fantasy genre of novels, he has suddenly shot into prominence in the last decade or so.
DeleteOrcs/Orks from JRR have appeared before
DeleteSmith & Wesson must be familiar to those who read crime stories.
ReplyDeleteI was trying 'Penumbra' for 7D and had trouble with crossings. But it is a pale shadow if I can put it that way.
Kishore, thanks for the wishes!
ReplyDeleteBare headed, barefoot, sometimes even bare handed, our tribe often bears bear faced insults, yet marches onward. I salute all those wonderfully intrepid sisters to-day!
Happy Women's Day to all our ladies here (and of course elsewhere too)
ReplyDeleteSorry for the typo - bear faced should read bare faced.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the wishes!
I thought that was a Freudian slip
Delete
ReplyDeleteHave been sending in puzzles as Lightning, offering some clarifications/comments:
Thanks for the entertaining post Kishore, you made my day with the video for 15A.
As the Col noted in his comment @ 9:45 10A was clued as a DD
Likewise 11A was also clued as a DD where "Handicap" would be one def & "score in golf, which is rare" being the other
17A & 18D were meant to be charades, but I guess it did not come across that way.
The "stoned" reference & the athlete in 10A are purely coincidental :) The crossword was set way back during Olympics 2012 at which time issue had not surfaced.
Raghunath@ 9:31: I thought it was ok the have one containment indicator for multiple words as is the case here. Will have to investigate more on this.
One other thing which I feel deserves mention here: We have long been debating about whether TH does some level of editing of the crosswords. I had provided the enumeration of 8A incorrectly as 7,2,5. It was well past 9 last night by the time I realized it and sent an email requesting a correction. My guess is someone had looked at it and changed it a priori. Either way, was really glad to see the mistake eliminated.
Last but not least, Happy Women's Day to all the ladies.
Raghunath may indeed have a valid point on 7D. I don't think it came in the way of the solving (at least for me) or detracts from a very good clue, but just a question of what is the right grammar at the cryptic level. To avoid this issue, and to make it consistent for both surface and cryptic reading, the gerund form works in most cases!
DeleteFair point. So would this cover all aspects ?
Delete"The Spanish student stepping into a shadow for cover"
I got the UMBRELLA answer after I got the 1 AC answer. Even if I had the answer cold, it would still have puzzled me. My grammar knowledge is passable, but I felt STEPS had to be used in case ELL was one word.
DeleteVP,
The reworded clue seems great!
+1. VP: in this case, even 'stepped' would work. It's just the present tense that poses problems usually
DeleteGood job, VP.
Delete8Across - Due to the Red team: theater of dreams was straight fwd but couldn't get the significance of 'all at sea'?? :(
ReplyDeleteAll at sea is an anagram indicator, and the words before your colon are the fodder
DeleteHappy Women's Day to all the ladies.
ReplyDeleteLovely puzzle, entertaining and smooth
ReplyDeleteHAPPY WOMEN'S DAY TO ALL THOSE KIND AND GENTLE SOULS HEREIN. WE ARE HERE BECAUSE OF YOU.
ReplyDeleteI BOW TO YE-ALL IN DEEP REVERENCE.
What a missionary zeal ye-all have ! Bare-handed compliment to all those in the fairer sex who are obliged to bear all this !
ReplyDeleteBeing a predominant South-paw and part North-paw, instead of becoming ambidextrous, I have managed to be Omni-dextrous.Not exactly Obstreperous though, in words.
Thanks to all for your wishes!
ReplyDeleteVP,
ReplyDeleteA job- sporty CW- well done. Enjoyed solving it and a big Thank you.
Did not know there was a word for it though I had watched Federer doing it on TV and saw it again on the you tube. I have to thank you & Kishore for it.
Thanks for the wishes, guys!
ReplyDeleteHappy Womens' Day to all bloggers (not forgetting the men). For if the women are happy so are the men.
ReplyDeleteMy cup of tea?
DeleteInter alia
DeleteReally a brainteaser and enjoyable as well though Albatross & chapel failed me.4d first I tried furnish(supply) but the crossing o settled the issue.NiceCW in general.
ReplyDelete16 D - Initially, as it was sports centered, i solved it as BLANCOED, anagram of CABLE ON & D.
ReplyDelete