Wednesday 9 October 2013

No 10899, Wednesday 09 Oct 2013, Spinner


ACROSS
1   Small train houses mean bird (7) SPARROW {S}{PAR}{ROW}
5   Clever contraption (without ultimate adhesive) to stick with a loop, or several (6) VELCRO {CLEVeR}*{O} Semi&lit
11 Cancel yearly affair after ace pulled out (5) ANNUL ANNUaL
12 Dock worker, a good man, joined lady and daughter at Oregon (9) STEVEDORE {ST}{EVE}{D}{ORE}
13 Most extraordinary capture with advanced radar source (6) RAREST (+r)RA(-r)REST
14 A girl immersed in some messy syrup (8) MOLASSES {MO{LASS}ES*}
16 Book the book returned by Spinner (4) TOME {TO<=}{ME}
17 Lunatic can be livid, yet logical (10) VINDICABLE*
20 Pirates’ capsized copper vessel drowned in drinks (10) BUCCANEERS {B{UC<=}{CAN}EERS}
21 Sailor to raise male donkey as labourer, one of thirteen (4) JACK [MD]
24 Ghost-like body that made peace with U.S. president passed away (8) UNBODIED {UN}BO{DIED}US President BO?
26 If it’s DJ’s, it’s the bottom of the ocean (6) LOCKER [GK]
28 Turban knot essentially conceals the bills (9) BANKNOTES [T]
29 What elephants and whales do at the time of parturition (5) CALVE [E]
30 To fight the odds, Indian organisation evens return tie (6) RESIST {TIE<= within RSS}
31 Storage dismantled by tramps (7) MOORAGE Anno not clear (Addendum - TOERAGS* - See comments)

DOWN
2   Extensive fear grips the ring with the beast (9) PANORAMIC {PAN{O}{RAM}IC}
3   Really enjoy licking indigenous sweet herb’s roots (6) RELISH {R}{E}{L}{I}{S}{H} semi&lit
4   Body beheaded twice, approximately (2,2) OR SO{tORSO} Why 'twice'?
6   Cheap, yet proper way to prevent binocularity (8) EYEPATCH*
7,25 The result of a dislocation may be a partial sign of danger (5,5) CROSS BONES {CROSS} {BONES}
8   Shepherd’s stanza in the trimmed poem (7) OVERSEE {pO{VERSE}Em}
9   1 loses wings with time and becomes an imitator (6) PARROT {sPARROw}{T}
10 Requests for fresh supply went through hundred registrars (9) RECORDERS {RE{C}ORDERS}
15 Till beef’s prepared, these will keep you alive (4,5) LIFE BELTS*
18 Jet lag with a little fuzziness is definitely not a sign of surrender (5,4) BLACK FLAG {BLACK} {F}{LAG}
19 Kerchiefs with vitamin-laden fruits (8) BANDANAS {BAN{D}ANAS}
20 Fat, bald-headed unfit sailor (7) BLUBBER {B}{LUBBER}
22 Officer for the auditor’s core (6) KERNEL (~colonel)
23 Agree to steer the dog (6) CONCUR {CON}{CUR}
27 Mongols often returned to protect the capital (4) OSLO [T<=]


74 comments:

  1. 31 Storage dismantled by tramps (7) MOORAGE
    TOERAGS*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also solved it, but, i think it is hyphenated word. TOE-RAGS,.

      Delete
    2. Vijay Sarvagnam,

      I've checked OED and The Free Dictionary. The word TOERAG is not hyphenated.

      Delete
  2. Toerags it is !!!

    I liked Davy Jone's Locker

    Clue of my day : CROSS BONES

    A real Bheja fry of a crossword !! Any one for Kheema samosas?

    ReplyDelete
  3. 4 Body beheaded twice, approximately (2,2) OR SO{tORSO} Why 'twice'?

    T for twice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Body beheaded by itself gives (-t)ORSO so there is no need for 'twice'

      Delete
    2. Torso is defined as a body without a head. Second beheading gives us (-t)ORSO

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    3. Two headed person?

      Say, what if it's Ravana. There'll be no answer left to fill!

      Delete
    4. Kishore's managed to behead the skull too from the pirate's flag

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    5. Two headed person?

      Hydra bad !

      Delete
    6. Say, what if it's Ravana. There'll be no answer left to fill!

      Since minimum word length is 4, we would need to start with a 14 letter word and carry out multiple beheadings !

      O tempora, o mores!

      Delete
    7. Raghu, you notice that Hydrabad has no energy

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    8. Two headed person?

      Hydra bad

      No headed State is more like it.

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    9. Kishore @1058: Nowadays it's true.

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    10. Kishore @ 10:58 "Notice that HYDRABAD has no Energy"

      That's the reason essentially it is "DRAB" now- a- days !!!

      Delete
  4. Banana slips with a Death for sure !! Take my bandanas !!

    20 down : Much here to protest from Bald and obese persons ? -- with a gay abandon !!

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  5. There is a theme in the crossword.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandhya : You're very Naughtical !! Tell it to the Marines !1

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    2. Naughty gal ;-)

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    3. She is the nightingale for us, always chirping and chipping in with the right answers when we fumble.

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    4. A lady of few words i.e.Sandhya Ma'am !

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    5. Thank you guys - you'll give me too much credit. MB, the reason for my few words is because I 'm too lazy to type!

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    6. But you've nimble fingers Ma'am ! I remember, the other day, Kishore had referred you as FFF (Fastest Finger First) in solving clues !! Anyway you really are a source of inspiration to many solvers like me. Cheers !

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  6. I think the theme is pirates

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is. Even Stevedore might go with the nautical piracy theme. The only thing missing from the Jolly Roger was the skull and hence I drew the way I did.

      Delete
  7. Likee our judges' prononuncements : This is one of the rarest of rare crossie that I've done !!

    ReplyDelete
  8. These could also be added to the themed list: Stevedore, Locker, Banknotes & Lifebelts.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 24A BO is for Barack Obama, I think

    ReplyDelete
  10. The way I solved 1 Across. Got the answer for 9 Down as PARROT and then followed the hints given in that clue, the opposite way. I removed T, put PARRO in 1 Across and then attached S and W to PARRO to get SPARROWS ! Then there was no problem with Annotation !! How do you like my style , for a change ? :)

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. 19D- D for vitamin. It could be any letter of the alphabet with so many vitamins around! Maybe a 'say' could be added.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Col.
    The dreaded apostrophe in the link to locker confuses you further! (Jones'/ Jones's?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, that is one apostrophe I'm clear on :-)

      Delete
  14. Which one? (They have given 2)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have written here before at length on the use of apostrophes.

      Both Jones' and Jones's are correct.

      Just as Keats' or Keats's.

      I prefer the latter.

      If a name ends in a single s, use just an apo or an apo and s.

      If it ends in double s (e.g., princess) use an apo only without ading s.

      If, for Keats' poem, or Keats's poem, we write Keat's poem, we must go back to Class 1.

      Delete
    2. Thank God! I have passed class 1.

      Delete
  15. In all the banter, I forgot to appreciatea nice puzzle. Well bowled Spinner.

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  16. I am a 'tail-ender', yet I could score 60 runs ! Somehow I'm getting some measure of his bowling nowadays !! Nice puzzle, Spinner.

    ReplyDelete
  17. To clarify,
    Torso - The trunk of a human body without, or considered independently of, the head and limbs. So I had considered torso as a once-beheaded body, which lost it's head again, approximately.

    B.O - Is for Barack Obama, as pointed out above.

    Kishore-Ji, wonderful cartoon.

    MB Sir, you are an Ashton Agar in the making.

    Also, though I did not intend Stevedore/Lifebelts as themed entries, I intended both 'locker' and 'parrot' to be part of the theme.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well spun, cottons!

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    2. Kishore, I (too) don't like polyster!

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    3. My cottons ref. was to the cricketer ... ;-)

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    4. Kishore @ 3:38 ...now that you're winking, I smell a rat here ! Cottons who ? Never heard such a name in cricket. I know one Hutton who played for England.

      Delete
  18. And thank you for the encouragement, Raghunath-Ji.

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  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. I'd also like to clarify the intended annotation for 30A. 'To fight' is the definition.

    The word 'odds' indicates odd positions, occupied by R_S_ S_.

    The word 'evens' indicates even positions,occupied by TIE reversed, giving rEsIsT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 30 To fight the odds, Indian organisation evens return tie (6) ReSiSt

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    2. Including the odds in the definition was a mistake

      Delete
  21. Keep turning them out Spinner. Most enjoyable crossword today

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  22. Bo is also connected in another way with the First Family in US. It is the name of the pet dog of the Obama family, a neutered male Portuguese Water Dog. White House refers to him as the "DOTUS" (Dog of the United States) (ala POTUS) or "First Dog". Last August, Sunny, a female dog of the same breed joined Bo.

    BO also stands for Body Odour.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Bo was born on 9 October, 2008. That makes him 5 years old today.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Some more grammar class 1 C V Sir.
    Is it kerchiefs or kerchieves?
    Similarly 10 d - hundred went through re-orders or otherwise? Which is correct?

    ReplyDelete
  25. CV: Bandana: I was wanting to clear a lurking doubt as to the spelling could be BANDA ANNA but only one N fitted in. Ok,. When I checked Wikipedia, I cam across this:A bandana (from the Tamil: பந்தம் pantham, "a bond") is a type of large, usually colorful, kerchief, usually worn on the head or around the neck of a person ...

    another serendipity ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. bandana or bandanna doesn't come from the Tamil word for bond, they say. It comes from a Hindi word 'baadhnuu', meaning a mode of dyeing. But then we have heard of tie and dye, so there is some tying before dying and so we return to bond. So finally - ultimately, we can have our own conjectures.

      Delete
    2. I am reminded of the Carnatic song

      Vandanamu raghu nandana sethu
      bandhana bhakta chandana raama

      The youtube clips of this song that I got in search results are no good. Prob. amateur recordings.

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    3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mjj6HvO1_Y CV Sir, one of the best versions I've heard, by TNS.

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  26. The word serendipity itself is derived from Serendip: The name stems from Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon), from Arabic Sarandib. Parts of Sri Lanka were under the rule of South Indian kings for extended periods of time in history. Kings of Kerala, India (Cheranadu)were called Chera Kings and dheep means island, the island belonging to Chera King was called Cherandeep, hence called Sarandib by Arab traders.[3]

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  27. Usually words ending in -f or -fe end with -ves in plural form
    E.g.,
    calf-calves
    elf-elves
    half - halves
    hoof - hooves
    knife - knives
    leaf - leaves

    BUT there are exceptions.

    Thus:

    belief - beliefs
    cuff - cuffs

    Some words take both forms.

    The pl. of kerchief is kerchiefs or kerchieves.

    Usually in these examples, the -ves ending in plural form is too formal. So go for kerchiefs. Dwarfs, wharfs.

    Some that used to take both forms now take only one form -

    roof - roofs NOT rooves

    To say why, I must prob. have to go to the roots of the words. Not now, anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Talking of Bo, an impromptu ditty:

    Bo a beer, a free sale beer ...

    ReplyDelete
  29. If the question is whether it is re-orders or reorders, it's reorders.
    However if the letter is followed by another e, you put in the hyphen. So
    re-elect
    re-enact
    re-establish

    ReplyDelete
  30. CV: பந்தம் pantham Why the English transliteration should be pantham? phonetically, It should be bandham, isn't it? Pantham pronounced in Tamil will be pantham which can mean a torch?

    ReplyDelete
  31. @Kishore: Re: Well spun, cottons!
    There was/ is a company by the name Wellpsun Polyester. I thought you referred to that in yr post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I am aware of that. Keeping that in mind, I wanted to compliment Spinner, who plays cricket. Hence, those words were chosen

      Delete

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