Wednesday 10 July 2013

No 10821, Wednesday 10 Jul 13, Arden

Another humdinger from Arden. Initially found it tough going, due to some very well disguised clues.

ACROSS
9   Brolly like in a polar storm (7) PARASOL {PAR{AS}OL*}
10 Put me out by two points too many (7) UMPTEEN {PUT+ME}*{E}{N}
11 Resistance rankles the soldiers (7) RANGERS {R}{ANGERS}
12 Not able to recollect free men in this part of the world (7) AMNESIA {A{MEN*}SIA}
13 Rule out a timeline, perhaps (9) ELIMINATE*
15 Be upset to figure among the last six employees (5) EXIST [T<=]
16 He lost his shirt for education (7) DIPLOMA DIPLOMAt
19 They raged at sea, while he escaped the calamity (7) TRAGEDY {TheY+RAGED}*
20 Admitted, it was to be a no-frills party (5) BEANO [T]
21 Perhaps Joseph would whine to go in (9) CARPENTER {CARP}{ENTER}
25 A negative puzzle (7) NONPLUS {NON}{PLUS}
26 He is in fact a mad maniac (7) FANATIC*
28 Noisier way to improve air quality (7) IONISER*
29 Number tracking sign like an animal (7) LEONINE {LEO}{NINE}

DOWN
1   Takes a second to analyse something rare (6) SPARSE {S}{PARSE}
2   Second letter one got from the country (6) BRUNEI {B}{RUNE}{1}
3   Evenly dissolves when there is water all around (4) ISLE dIsSoLvEs
4   Almost all spam could be something hot (6) PLASMA {ALl+SPAM}*
5   High class accommodation set up — among the best in the capital (8) BUDAPEST {B{U}{DAP<=}EST}
6   Free to watch the boy inside saying the magical words (4,6) OPEN SESAME {OPEN} {SE{SAM}E}
7   Each dream to follow without a sweat (8) PERSPIRE {PER}{aSPIRE} My COD
8   Soldiers find it extremely risky following one so young (8) INFANTRY {INFANT}{RiskY}
14 I study business revival finally, as one going against conventions (10) ICONOCLAST {I}{CON}{OC<=}{LAST}
16 Chic young girl comes out flying (8) DEBONAIR {DEB}{ON AIR}
17 Aiming to involve many in prospecting (8) PLANNING {P{L}ANNING}
18 Frances ignores father and will attempt to trace her lineage (8) ANCESTRY {frANCES}{TRY}
22 Draw from service and run endlessly (6) RAFFLE {RAF}{FLEe}
23 A bird gets some of the morsel (6) TITBIT {TIT}{BIT}
24 Perhaps take credit for all the noise (6) RACKET {TAKE+CR}*
27 None switched the light (4) NEON*


33 comments:

  1. Loved the cartoon which was topical when it had come in TH at a time when there were rumours of a coup as an armoured column or two rolled towards Delhi last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The real reason, of course, was reported to be quite foggy.

      Delete
  2. 16A He lost his shirt for education (7) DIPLOMA DIPLOMAt

    Was 'He' meant to be HE (His Excellency) since HE is oft used for ambassador or diplomat. Given Arden's skill at word-traps, it could be a red herring too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it is 'He' for 'HE' then it is misleading. It's acceptable to falsely capitalise, but when required it is to be shown in capitals.

      Delete
    2. If false capitalization is acceptable, the reverse should also work

      Delete
    3. If it is 'He' for 'HE' then is it misleading. It's acceptable to falsely capitalise, but when required is it to be shown in capitals? Or does it apply only to proper names?

      Delete
    4. I'm referring to Shuchi's article in: http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2009/11/false-capitalization.html

      Delete
  3. 16D - Did Bhargav recall the discussion here about an Indian magazine some time ago?

    ReplyDelete
  4. 12 Not able to recollect free men in this part of the world (7) A(MNE*)SIA
    "Not able to recollect" would lead to AMNESIC.
    As AMNESIA is a state where one is not able to recollect, "not being able to recollect" would have been more appropriate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think there's a similar problem in 14d too. Finally would lead to at last and not last

      Delete
    2. Finally leads to last ( as an adverb). I think this is fine.
      https://www.google.com/search?q=last&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=gu_cUbH3AoS3rAf-hYCABQ&ved=0CCoQkQ4

      Delete
  5. Richard,

    You are right.
    HE = DIPLOMAT
    losing
    shirt - T (shirt)
    gives DIPLOMA (education)

    Otherwise, to get DIPLOMAT for he is a far stretch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice one again from Arden. Needed to look in here to figure out the anno of 15A.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Replies
    1. No, in fact I thought the clue would be fine if "He is" was omitted altogether.

      Delete
  8. I filled in EXIST alright but was UPSET at not having figured it out, I mean the Anno. Finally a peep into the Blog
    and Lo, it seems so simple !

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Bhavan
    Also trace her in 18D. Col, it is not an anagram.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ajeesh, don't know why I put the asterisk there, shall remove it.

      Delete
    2. 12A : Sorry Col.Saheb ! The asteric holds good. Suppose I posted/published a comment, realizing the mistake, how do I proceed to delete it? I'm not a tech savvy.

      Delete
    3. Just click on the delete link immediately below the comment you want to delete

      Delete
    4. Dhanyavadh, Saheb ! Will it work even after having come out(signed out) and for example I want to delete my post @1:41 ?

      Delete
  10. MB,
    No. You must be logged in to delete your posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ajeesh,

      Sorry for bothering U again. Does it mean that I can log-in now and delete, say for example my post @ 1:41 ?

      Delete
  11. MB,
    Yes you can but it may make the following posts meaningless :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dont know why I am not able to Reply to any comments:( That button is not working for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A big THAN"Q" Ajeesh, one more time. Hereafter I'll think twice, thrice before posting comments. Still should there be any errors I'll
      either correct or delete them before signing out ! Hope Col.Saheb will pardon me for raising so many doubts.

      Delete
    2. You can always use the "Preview" button before clicking on "Publish" button to see how your post will appear before actually posting it.

      Delete
  13. Is 'free' a good anagrind? (Referring to 12A, of course.) As in freeing the word from being the word that it is? :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, as an adjective, free has enough synonyms to justify movement.

      Free (adj): loose, at large, unrestrained, rough ...

      Delete
  14. Had an arduous task doing this ARDEN. Clue of my day is: ICONOCLAST

    DEBONAIR : Is it used only for dashing men (and chic for women?) , like one always remembers Gregory Peck and Dev Anand and Aamir Khan and Clark Gable and Erroll Flynn

    ReplyDelete

deepakgita@gmail.com