Tuesday 14 May 2013

No.10772, Tuesday 14 May 13, Vulcan

Quite a nice puzzle from Vulcan. Surfaces tell plausible stories. Too many good clues to list, but especially liked PROVIDENCE and OBNOXIOUS for their neat wordplay.

ACROSS
1 Area surrounding Delaware’s state capital (10) PROVIDENCE (PROVINCE outside DE)
6 Appeal to press (4) URGE (DD)
10 Opposed for an extended period of time, disappointed (4-5) LONG-FACED (FACED for LONG)
11 Dissatisfaction of European Union over lost ground (5) ENNUI (E + UNIoN*)
12 Right-handed reserve makes it into grand final in the end (7) DEXTRAL (EXTRA inside D, L)
13 Complaint from Polish appellants mainly (7) RUBELLA (RUB + ELLA)
14 New word in some lingo — weird (9) NEOLOGISM (SOME LINGO)*
16 I am 22 and need it to survive (5) DOUGH (DD)
18 A delicacy from his U.S. cook (5) SUSHI (HIS US)*
20 Bridge team’s idea essentially working (9) GANGPLANK (GANG + PLAN + K)
23 I passed through Rhone! A tourist attraction in the Mediterranean (7) RIVIERA (I inside RIVER + A)
26 Metal ring — the protection for broken limb (7) THIMBLE (THE outsie LIMB*)
27 Desire to run (5) DRIVE (DD)
28 Floored by England’s Last Queen — nearly rapt with wonder (9) PARQUETED (D + QUEEn + RAPT)*
29 Primary // metal (4) LEAD (DD)
30 All affected ones fighting for a place — unfortunate (3-7) ILL-STARRED Anno pending

DOWN
1 Boy in trouble — a hero (7) PALADIN (LAD inside PAIN)
2 Noticeable misprint: No.10 for 5 — lousy (9) OBNOXIOUS (OBVIOUS with NO.X for V)
3 Hell no, come to a conclusion before anything else (7) INFERNO (NO after INFER)
4 Former husband’s in jail, incarcerated, gets good beating (9) EXCELLING (EX + IN outside CELL, G)
5 Drink’s pesticide residue content (5) CIDER (T)
7 Of the eye? Not it — about /of the kidney (5) RENAL (REtiNAL)
8 Grave statement (7) EPITAPH (CD)
9 Where crashes happen in the ocean! (6) SEABED (CD) Crash as in sleep I suppose
15 Of 2 mean and smart fighters (3-2-4) MEN-AT-ARMS (MEAN SMART)*
17 Attack on a brutal city (4,5) ULAN, BATOR (ON A BRUTAL)*
18 Rustled up a pastry (7) STRUDEL (RUSTLED)*
19 Police menace keeping killers hidden (6) ICEMEN (T)
21 Precise — arranged evenly in nuclear plant (7) PRIMULA (PRIM + nUcLeAr)
22 Required, say, to be squeezed (7) KNEADED (~NEEDED)
24 There it is, Virginia’s fuel stock (5) VOILĂ€ (OIL inside VA)
25 Scare a friend over phone (5) APPAL (~ A PAL) Strictly speaking they are not homophones


62 comments:

  1. 30 All affected ones fighting for a place — unfortunate (3-7) ILL-STARRED Anno pending

    I took it be an anagram of ALL + STIRRED

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It might be ALL + STIRRED with I and A switching places?

      Delete
    2. That may be a typo for 'one's fighting for a'

      Delete
    3. I had the same view as Bhavan and Sandhya. I do not think it is a typo, which is why 'ones' is in plural.

      Delete
    4. Why should one be in plural if we are just to switch 'I' and 'A'

      Delete
    5. ones = A and 1 (i.e., I)

      These get switched.

      Delete
    6. When ones A and I are fighting for a place, they try to switch, with I going where A is and A going where I is.

      Delete
  2. 25 Scare a friend over phone (5) APPAL (~ A PAL) Strictly speaking they are not homophones

    It definitely isn't as APPAL is pronounced 'A PAUL'

    ReplyDelete
  3. I took it as A P(Phone)Pal(friend)- Def.scar
    'over' is appropriate in a Dn. clue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If we go by your argument we will get the answer ALAPP

      Scare - def
      a - A
      friend - PAL
      over - rev ind
      phone - P

      Besides, P is not a recognised abbr. for 'phone'.

      Have a nice time in the US.

      Delete
    2. Sorry. It could be A P(P)AL (as some have suggested) with 'over' as inserticator - except that P is not used for phone.

      Delete
  4. I will miss participating (though I will follow late)in the comments section from tomorrow since I am off to U.S. for a few months.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Padmanabhan: Bon Voyage!

      Delete
    2. Thank you everybody. I do hope to spend a few interesting months with my grandson who is just completeing his 6th Std.

      Delete
    3. Great Paddy, enjoy. Am in the US myself, have come for son's graduation, then will be holidaying for a bit

      Delete
  5. Crossword Clue Challenge

    Write a clue for KNEADED without bringing in the homophone 'needed'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sore dad keen to get massaged (7)

      Delete
    2. Shaped extremely divine naked forms (7)

      Delete
    3. Manipulated and massaged when struck with the knee without notice

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    4. Squeezed and eked out (7)

      Delete
    5. Filled joint with plug and finally moulded

      Delete
    6. Re CCC: KNEADED

      Comments and my pick of the lot under tomorrow's blog.

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    7. Short knee mixed up with the dead.Massaged?

      Delete
    8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    9. King Knight headed beheaded and formed

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    10. Blended darkened liquid without a trace of reason (7)

      Delete
  6. Appal: A PAL outside P (phone)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was tempted to read it that way, but can't find any reference to P meaning Phone

      Delete
  7. Sorry. Duplicated Padmanaban's anno.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cricinfo crossword link

    http://www.espncricinfo.com/thestands/content/story/635646.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. Re 30 ac. Back to the issue of a: 1. Secondly does fighting for a place convey swapping?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why not?
      Both A and I have place in ALL STIRRED.
      Now there is a fight between A and I as to where each should be.
      A says it has to be where I is. I says it should be where A is.
      If this is conceded, the answer emerges, doesn't it?

      Delete
  10. Really like Vulcan's clueing style - consistently produces very crisp and good surfaces. Great job.
    Couple of doubts that I had (30A,25D) already raised and answered here.

    @Padmanabhan: Enjoy your trip to the US.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Re: homophone clues. Some on line dics. like thefreedictionary.com have the facility to listen to the Eng & Am way of pronouncing. Setters can use this.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Re: 4d. In jail & incarcerated mean the same?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, one could be in jail but still be out in the open, taking food in the mess, exercising or, at worst, attacking another inmate.

      Here one is in jail and incarcerated - that is, confined.

      CV
      (in an ever-defensive mood)

      Delete
  13. Clue Editing Exercise

    22 To succeed put female in it (7) IN(HER)IT

    This was a clue in the last Sunday Special.

    I don't know if this clue invited any Comment but in my opinion this needs some editing.

    Anyone try?

    ReplyDelete
  14. 22 To succeed put in female in it (7) IN(HER)IT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am afraid this revision does not fix what I see is a problem in the original clue.
      To get the answer we need to put (or put in) female in a word.
      What is that word (or phrase)? It is INIT not IT as the original version suggests.
      In the original version (as well the suggested fresh version) the instruction is to insert HER in IT, not INIT.
      I believe there is no easy fix; the clue needs to be totally recast.

      Delete
    2. I think you need a totally diff set of words.

      Delete
    3. To succeed up to date female has appeal? This 'succeed' conveys a different meaning. Is this sort of clue acceptable?

      Delete
  15. Hi All,

    Thought I'd clarify a few queries.

    25D: Having just figured out how wrong I was, I'm completely APPALLED. I was so confident that I've gotten it right, I didn't even bother to check. My only defence at this moment is that I got a friend called Paul and I'm pretty sure of most of you people also so. Now, that's not going to save me, is it? :(

    And no comments on the spelling??? APPAL is an American spelling I thought. Thanks to the bad homophone, this one's completely forgotten.

    30A: I'm not surprised that you guys had so much trouble finding the anno for this one. Out of curiosity I was going through the clues of this particular puzzle yesterday and even I had no explanation for ILL-STARRED. I thought I'd messed it up pretty badly and was cursing myself. But thanks to you solvers for piecing it together for me. I think CV has explained it pretty nicely in his comment posted at 12:39. Now I come to think of it, this was what even I had in mind.

    Sorry for the goofs and thanks for solving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And 28A: I don't know why I've capitalised the L in `last'. Another error there I guess.

      Delete
  16. Hi Vulcan,
    IMO fighting in 30 A does not convey to swap. Still unsure of the incarceration and in jail in 4 d. Apart from this and the appal clue very nice CW.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Raghu,

      I got to admit that 30A could've been clearer. In the first reading even I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be. Well, though fighting doesn't strongly convey swapping, it, to some extent, signifies likely change in position - where one gets overthrown eventually.

      Incarcerated is used to indicate that CELL (from jail) goes inside EX and IN. With reference to surface, it gives a sense of meaning like, `He's locked up in jail'. or `He's in jail, locked up' or something like that.

      Delete
  17. I agree you had to use inca... to give meaning to the sentence, but I felt you could have used some other word.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TBH, I had the same doubt you had. So before going with this particular clue, I googled `incarcerated in jail' and found decent number of entries. So I was satisfied.

      BTW, I like your attention to details. Keep up the good work, pal.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Vulcan,

      Hope you heed my advice at 12.26 for homophone clues. I'd do it if I am setting such a clue.

      Delete
    3. In fact I use thefreedictionary.com extensively. It's my only source for definitions and pronunciations. This time I did not bother to check and got trapped

      Delete
    4. +1 for thefreedictionary.com. I always refer to it when solving.

      Delete
  18. In response to edit the clue "To succeed put female in it (7)" two submissions are entered above.

    To succeed put in female in it (7) IN(HER)IT

    ***An off-the-cuff, simple edit to fix the perceived problem. But "put in female in it" sounds unnatural.

    To succeed up to date female has appeal (7) IN HER IT

    ***I have no problem with the def "succeed". It means one thing in the surface reading and another as def for word reqd.

    I might expect hyphenated up-to-date as it is an adj qualifying female.

    The surface reading isn't quite meanigful or attractive.

    Qn: Should we use "that woman" to get HER? Can just "female" get HER?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'To succeed favored hermit should kiss the maiden goodbye'

      Delete
    2. 'To take over, I raise money with her inside help'

      Delete
    3. To succeed favored hermit should kiss the maiden goodbye'

      First I will correct the US spelling.

      Then I will either remove the end quote for goodbye or add the beginning quote.

      I might also add a comma after 'succeed'

      As no crossword clue is complete without the enu (even when we start with the solution word), I will add that.

      So the edited ver. is:

      To succeed, favoured hermit should kiss the maiden 'goodbye' (7)

      Good, plausible surface reading.

      Excellent del ind to remove the letter M.

      I have already said 'succeed' is a good def.

      A good attempt at clueing INHERIT.

      Qn: Can we give the def of word reqd in this grammatical form with 'to' before the word? (Sorry I don't know the W&M term). Will others address this?

      Delete
    4. To take over, I raise money with her inside help (7) I N(HER)IT<

      Apparently a Dn clue.

      Good def, good wordplay.

      raise money - apt rev ind of rev fodder as the phrase in itself is meaningful

      The c/c device too works well

      The word inserted is given gratis as it sits well in the surface reading.

      The word 'help' doesn't play a part in the wordplay and is put down merely to enhance the surface reading.


      Delete
  19. CV,
    I have no problem with the def "succeed". It means one thing in the surface reading and another as def for word reqd.

    I had that doubt and hence did not elaborate further on the clue.

    Up-to-date female has appeal to succeed?
    Up-to-date or whatever word for a modern female. Re: Her for woman, I have seen it used and justified here in THC though I don't like it's use in that manner.

    ReplyDelete

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