Friday 2 August 2013

No.10841, Friday 02 Aug 2013, Gridman

Awesome opening from Gridman ! I had never thought a crossword would get me want to 'desperately' sing :
...
jineteando en mi caballo
Por la sierra yo me voy
 
The profusion of a variety of horses (by their colour or otherwise), which are marked yellow in the solution grid given below,  reminded me of the times I used to devour JT Edson, Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and Max Brand, and of course, Sudden and Lucky Luke on a regular basis. The only thing that prevents me from saying the Gridman is horsing around is the presence of other animals (including a cartoon one), which are marked fuchsia in the grid. Six of one and half a dozen of the other. No mean feat, this...


ACROSS
1 Reprimands Scot for getting a cow (8) FRIESIAN (FRIES + IAN, a Scotsman)
          For people who are wondering why I have given the picture of a horse when a cow is the definition:  Well, Friesian can also refer to a horse. Also, treating this as an horse, makes my count of 6 and 6 work !
5 Tom let out bovine group (6) CATTLE (CAT LET*)
9 Hold off leader returning horse (8) STALLION (STALL NO.1<)
10 American party animal? (6) DONKEY (CD)
          Re: Publican Democrat symbol. In America, it is said that there are three parties: Republican, Democrat and Cocktail and the popularity of last by far exceeds the popularity of the first two combined
12 Boy accepts a speckled steed (4) ROAN (RON around A)
13 Well, bet, forceful woman will become a leader (10) BELLWETHER (WELL BE)* HER
15 Second-rate Western hat (6) BOATER (B OATER)
          In addition to all the "hosses", another ref to westerns here...
17 Celeb ambitiously contributes to film (5) BAMBI (T)
20 Behold leader of rebels ahead in preliminary survey (5) RECCE (R ECCE ?) Anno not clear. See comments (Thanks to Deepak)
21 Feel bitter about tens wasted away (6) RESENT (RE TENS*)
          When somebody forgets to attach an attachment to a mail and later sends it again with a one word message 'Resent', I resent it.
24 Hot dog to follow for a dachshund (7,3) SAUSAGE DOG (SAUSAGE DOG)
          Ich bin ein Frankfurter/Hamburger/Berliner/Whatever
          In this clue "dog" becomes a sausage and "to follow" becomes "dog"
27 Time to go after army officer’s horse (4) COLT (COL. T)
29 Fine wool is new in ancient Greek market (6) ANGORA (N in AGORA)
30 Horse brought by friend for half-a-minute in circles (8) PALOMINO (PAL+ MIN in O-O)

31 Copper in dock? (6) SORREL (CD) A copper-coloured horse which may be in the paddock or stable
32 Wrong French river creature with a shell (8) TORTOISE (TORT OISE)

DOWN
1 Laser printer parts for primarily fussy customers (6) FUSERS (F USERS)
2 Possibly popular Anna Salai, perhaps (2,1,3) IN A WAY (IN+ A WAY)
3 Therefore laid first one out: off the shelf (4) SOLD (SO LaiD)
4 Aroused old king in fear (5) AWOKE (O K in AWE)
6 A flower moved from bed (5) AROSE (A ROSE)
          4d and 6d together reminded me of "Arise ! Awake, ...."
7 The sort of pay you have when you leave the office (4-4) TAKE HOME (CD,2)
          To the periya or chinna veeDu ?
8 Resembling a beetle’s wing case presented to Ridley (8)  ELYTROID (TO RIDLEY)*
          I had to cheat for this one ...
11 Warnings from a learner’s weapons (6) ALARMS (A L ARMS)
14 Plant, special, outside triangular area (4) GORE (GORsE)
          The third meaning given in the link. The first one referring to Al Gore reminded me of Mrinal Gore, a Mumbai politician who had been instrumental in water supply works. On her winning the elections in '77, a slogan had cropped up: "Paani waali bai gayi Dilli mein, Dilli waali bai gayi paani mein" 
16 Pangs of pain others suffered (6) THROES (OTHERS)*
17 Gunshot sound from a urban gang (4) BANG (T)
18 Spring lock outside? Force your way in! (8) TRESPASS (TRESS outside SPA) My CoD
          Loved the way Spring lock and forcing one's way in are juxtaposed.
19 Meticulous searcher passes over girl — one to flog convicts (8) SCOURGER (SCOURER around G)
22 Female practitioner of meditation loses head and road joyriding wildly (6) YOGINI (jOYrIdING)*

          This cartoon is based on a real life incident that happened to a relative by marriage, to wit: the wife. Demands for royalty for using the idea are under negotiation. I was also told that I have coloured the skin green, but my son asked me to retain it as a token of my colour-blindness. See, my characters are not white, black, brown,yellow, or whatever skin the human race has...
23 In, comfortable with one’s surroundings (2,4) AT HOME(CD,2)
25 Reach a settlement with a European for the most part (5) AGREE (A GREEk)
26 Old volunteers leave for a region of New Zealand (5) OTAGO (O TA GO)
          Google to the rescue ...
28 Lieutenant goes after chap’s short shake-up (4) JOLT (JOe LT.)

          It is also noted that Gridman has Army officer abbreviations and Greek references (two each)


36 comments:

  1. 10A Donkey is the symbol of the Democratic party (not Republican) in the US.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What an ass I am ! Of course, you are correct. D for Donkey and Democrat.

      Delete
  2. 20 Behold leader of rebels ahead in preliminary survey (5) RECCE (R ECCE ?) Anno not clear

    ECCE = Behold (ecce homo = Behold the man (Bible, John 19.5)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Another Latin phrase in which 'ecce' is used is Ecce signum - which means 'Behold the sign/proof'.

    The first time I came across this phrase was in Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part One when I was in college.

    I don't remember the context but it might have been Falstaff who might have said it holding up his mug of beer to prove that he was drunk!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kishore

    For 'Arise! Awake!..." you have rightly quoted Swami Vivekananda.

    But, for me, the resonance comes from Satan's call to the legions

    "Arise, awake, or be for ever fallen!"

    in Milton's Paradise Lost, Book I
    (again from my college days)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I once had the book. I lost it and never regained it.

      Delete
  5. 2 Possibly popular Anna Salai, perhaps (2,1,3) IN A WAY (IN+ A WAY)

    A rare clue where the Def could be taken at either end.

    I just have doubt. Where does the A come from? We normally use RD, ST, M1 etc. for way/ road, say. Or is it because it's specificaly named 'Anna Salai', that A comes in in?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have 2 possibilities here:

      a. Anna Salai is a way, a road,...
      b. If Mahatma Gandhi Road is MG Road, Anna Salai is A Salai or A way.

      I go with the former. Over to CV ...

      Delete
    2. 'b' is unfair, because A from Anna is not specified. I too feel 'a' is right, because the road has been named in the clue.

      Delete
    3. 'Anna Salai, perhaps' would lead to 'a way' not 'way'.

      Delete
  6. Yes,

    Possibly = in a way
    popular = IN
    Anna Salai = A WAY (with no reference to Anna) just as M.G. Road is 'a way'
    perhaps is added to suggest that it is only an example

    Didn't realise that word at either end could be taken as def. That's Raghunath's discovery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had marked perhaps as the defn. and after reading Raghu's post changed it to Possibly. But yes, both work.

      Delete
  7. Visit

    http://www.crossword.org.uk/RR6.html

    Guess which clue might have been written by me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is it OK to have dog in the clue and answer, both - as in 24A?
    Took a while to get Friesian!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I recently had the privilege of reading "From Out of Clay" an anthology of short stories written by KRA Narasiah in Tamil and translated by our own Mr C G Rishikesh to English. I liked the short stories immensely. They had that unique Indian flavour to them that one finds in the works of RK Narayanan. While the names and locations struck a chord,the stories exhibited little truths, which in reality are large truths. The translations are so nicely done that they no longer remain translations, but seem to have life of their own now in English.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kishore

      To put the record straight...

      The name is Narayan.

      Delete
  10. 1A : So when you want to reprimand a man, you can fry him too ! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roasting is a possibility too

      Delete
    2. Pity one can't eat.....! :-)

      You must read crime fiction.

      I am not mentioning the title of any murder story lest the very mention should give the game away.

      Kishore and others would know!

      Delete
    3. I hope not it's a Top Secret !? BTW Agatha Christie is my favourite novelist/writer/author whatever you may call it !!

      Delete
    4. Suffice to say it is not Agatha Christie but Roald Dahl.

      Delete
    5. Thanks ! Shall sample his notable works !!

      Delete
    6. This is a short story. Also, try his version of Mother Goose.

      Delete
  11. MB

    Here is suggested reading

    http://cgrishikesh.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/lord-dunsany-two-bottles-of-relish/

    Here is another:

    http://cgrishikesh.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/roald-dahl-slaughter-to-a-lamb/

    The text of the first story you have to get from some books. Unable to trace it on the Internet.

    Luckily, the text of the second story is found here:

    http://karennance.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/9/5/15952492/lamb_to_the_slaughter_by_roald_dahl.pdf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kishore and CV Sir. Noted the contents mentioned. Shall go through them definitely.

      Delete
  12. Just finished reading Lamb To The Slaughter, a terrific short story !!

    ReplyDelete
  13. 18D - My favourite too

    22D - Couldn't crack the surface reading!

    ReplyDelete
  14. "loses head and road" is a figure of speech. I think it's called zeugma (Kishore or anyone else can confirm and also give us some literary examples).

    When a person is joyriding - and that too wildly - they may lose their head (to become confused) and as a consequence of that they may also lose their way (road or flight path).

    That the person is a practitioner of meditation is a detail

    Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I understand from a newspaper headline today that the US Govt goes after leakers. If so, I am very worried. For I am a regular leaker.

    I am apprehensive if XKeyscore near New Delhi would sweep this blog for the word 'leaker' (along with 'whistleblower') and if the system analyst would catch me.

    I would like to assure the authorities concerned that I only go the bathroom very frequently. My doctors have confirmed that I am a leaker.

    ReplyDelete
  16. MB

    The story 'Two Bottles of Relish' is just not available online (as confirmed by others also).

    It is in many anthologies - one or two that I have in my library.

    However, I found a PDF of the script of a radio play based on the story.

    For now you may read it:

    http://www.americanradiotheater.org/pdfs/TWO-BOTTLES-OF-RELISH.pdf



    ReplyDelete
  17. Good, man, Gridman !! Thanks Gridman, for gridlocking that clue, leading to TRESPASS.

    Got stumped with ELYTROID ! a new word for me--well, one learns,each crossie improves one's experience
    curve. Some how, my got stuck with FREESIAN for a cow -- probably because of another word : FREESIA which is a plant. Now I'll use thought association technique to remember - fries ian. Have come across SCOURGE but not SCOURGER !! Rhymes well with SCROUNGER- a favourite expression of interjection of mine in my college days for those who used to borrow fags from me !!

    Wild Western novels written by Zane Grey, Max Brand etc(SORREL was a word that harks back to mind) ! used to be my favourites too in the college days when America was a distant land of dreams to be visited sometime in my life-- and here I'm sitting in NY, visiting my daughter !!

    Similarly, Japan was a land of my dreams after reading Perl Buck's book and there he is: my son sitting in Nagoya having married a Japanese girl !

    Now the remaining dream : GERMANY and ISRAEL to be visited --for their resilience as countries with hard core survival instincts.

    Truly said: some dreams come true to break the myth and open your eyes to realities of life .

    ReplyDelete

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