Thursday 5 December 2013

No 10948, Thursday 05 Dec 2013, Scintillator

An elephantine CW today from Scintillator, who has me stumped as usual.

ACROSS
1   European social worker gathers help to heal animal (8) ELEPHANT {E}{HELP*}{ANT}
5   Write off Mandela’s men being in prison without a term (6) CANCEL {C{ANC}ELl}
9   Coup threatening delayed mate (8) COPULATE {COUP*}{LATE}
10 Charm of poking at a stubborn person (6) AMULET {AT+MULE}*
12 Ugly bro’s pic features big nose (9) PROBOSCIS {PROB{OS}CIS*}
13 Frenzy should extinguish eventually (5) MUSTH {MUST}{H}
14 Critical of regressive characters in Vedic Age (4) ACID [T<=]
16 Get down from French coach (7) DETRAIN {DE}{TRAIN}
19 Honest politician jailed on riot ending with blast (7) TRUMPET {TRU{MP}E}{T}
21 A posh country (4) PERU Anno not clear (Addendum - {PER}{U} - See comments)
24 Block in vacuum flask after replacing central part (5) DEBAR DE(-w+b)BAR Just 'DEWAR' cannot mean vacuum flask.
25 Brilliant star unreasonably ravenous to gain popularity initially (9) SUPERNOVA {SU{P}ERNOVA*}
27 World organisation’s quite unfair (6) UNJUST {UN}{JUST}
28 Constant good to be changed with a variable (8) AVOGADRO  Anno pending (Addendum - {GOOD+A+VAR}* - See comments}
29 Police officer can second dharnas (3-3) SIT-INS {SI}{T-IN}{S}
30 "Here’s to following fantastic shot in match” (4-4) TRUE-THAT ? [CD] (Addendum - FREE-SHOT {F}{REE-SHOT*} - See comments)

DOWN
1   Key to take to your heels (6) ESCAPE [DD]
2   Use a recipe not seen in Mylapore cooking (6) EMPLOY MYLaPOrE*
3   What a tragedy to get rid of books! (5) HELLO  otHELLO
4   Saw fit to be subdued by no education (7) NOTICED {NO}{TIC}{ED}
6   Teacher has a following outside school (4,5) ALMA MATER {A}{L{MAM}ATER}
7   Food firm and liquid as well (8) COLESLAW {CO}{AS+WELL*}
8   Making secure marriage differing at the start (8) LATCHING (-m+l)LATCHING
11 Worn out, very drunk (4) USED [DD] (Addendum - overUSED - See comments) (Addendum1 -  soUSED - See comments)
15 Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON Anno pending {CAP{A}RIS}{ON} ON for LEG, a cricket term, but a bit far fetched to imagine here.
17 Crook admits us in sporting arenas (8) STADIUMS*
18 Big airliner, though not big enough for 1 ac. (5,3) JUMBO JET [CD]
20 Sound of disapproval on biting bend in tooth (4) TUSK {T{U}SK}
21 Work’s done with topping of soft cake (7) POPOVER {P}{OP}{OVER}
22 Who had adjusted this seat? (6) HOWDAH*
23 A giant rider, say (6) MAHOUT [CD]
26 One of urchins involved in bloody gore? (5) ROGUE {ROG{U}E*} Semi&lit

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44 comments:

  1. Richard5 December 2013 at 08:42

    28A Constant good to be changed with a variable (8) AVOGADRO Anno pending

    GOOD A VAR* (VAR short for variable) - Is this OK?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shuchi5 December 2013 at 08:43

    Good morning Colonel.

    Constant good to be changed with a variable (8) AVOGADRO
    (GOOD + A + VAR)*

    Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON
    CAPRIS (trousers) around A, ON (leg - from cricket)
    Capris = trousers is doubtful though. Capris are mid-calf pants, trousers are ankle-length pants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard5 December 2013 at 08:45

      18A - Now three of us, Col...

      Delete
    2. Deepak Gopinath5 December 2013 at 08:45

      Thanks Shuchi,
      I stumbled onto CAPARISON just before your comment came in

      Delete
    3. Richard5 December 2013 at 08:46

      15D - Good cracking, Shuchi!

      Delete
    4. Deepak Gopinath5 December 2013 at 08:47

      I suppose it should be ok as both lead to some kind of pants, length not-withstanding

      Delete
    5. Shuchi5 December 2013 at 09:45

      Not convinced. Would you agree with shorts = trousers?

      Delete
    6. Col_Gopinath5 December 2013 at 10:05

      Bhavan's 9:59 below clarifies

      Delete
    7. Shuchi5 December 2013 at 10:35

      OK, Chambers wins over popular lingo :-) This, incidentally, is its take on tracksuit.

      Delete
  3. Deepak Gopinath5 December 2013 at 08:48

    Any ideas on 30A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RameshJ5 December 2013 at 08:49

      I took it as free shot (Here's to f)*

      Delete
    2. Deepak Gopinath5 December 2013 at 08:50

      What's the definition? 'Shot in match'?

      Delete
    3. RameshJ5 December 2013 at 08:58

      Yes. But shot appearing in the defn makes it less likely to be right

      Delete
  4. Padmanabhan5 December 2013 at 09:14

    'What' is the connection with 'hello'?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Padmanabhan5 December 2013 at 09:47

    Had to be that. Not fully convinced. IMO,Hello is more of a greeting than exclamation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Suresh5 December 2013 at 09:57

    30A I also had FREE SHOT an anagram of Heres to f(for following). Not happy because shot as a word is present in the clue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard5 December 2013 at 14:25

      Suresh, just noticed that your profile now carries the NO ENTRY sign...

      Delete
  7. Bhavan5 December 2013 at 09:59

    21 A posh country (4) PERU Anno not clear

    A = per (for each)
    posh = u (upper-class)
    ___________________________________________

    11 Worn out, very drunk (4) USED [DD]

    I haven't come across 'used' meaning drunk, but the wordplay suggests:

    Worn = overused
    very = over
    drunk = (over-) used
    ______________________________________________

    15 Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON

    Chambers:

    Capri pants (also Capris) plural noun : women's tapering trousers ending above the ankle, with a short slit on the outside leg.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Col_Gopinath5 December 2013 at 10:06

      Thanks Bhavan. I put in DD without checking

      Delete
    2. Padmanabhan5 December 2013 at 13:11

      I think 'user' & 'used' are generally used with drugs & not drinks.

      Delete
  8. Raghunath5 December 2013 at 11:43

    10 Charm of poking at a stubborn person (6) AMULET {AT+MULE}*

    I don't think it's an (indirect) anagram. He probably means Stubborn person (Mule) poking AT, but the word play seems faulty.

    6 Teacher has a following outside school (4,5) ALMA MATER {A}{L{MAM}ATER}

    Is MAM: Teacher? Isn't it MAAM or MARM

    15 Gaudy dress has trousers covering a leg (9) CAPARISON Anno pending {CAP{A}RIS}{ON} ON for LEG, a cricket term, but a bit far fetched to imagine here.

    +1.

    18 Big airliner, though not big enough for 1 ac. (5,3) JUMBO JET [CD]

    Don't get what the clue means.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath5 December 2013 at 12:48

      I suppose he means the Jumbo Jet is not big enough for a Jumbo(Elephant)

      Delete
    2. Raghunath5 December 2013 at 14:35

      I thought so too, but it's been done earlier i.e they have been transported in planes.

      Delete
  9. Scintillator5 December 2013 at 14:12

    Hi all,

    Apologies for a few bad/uncooked clues here; I ran into some serious time constraints. 30A is a particularly poor goof-up: I had actually intended 'stroke' instead of 'shot'. 28A veers towards an indirect anagram, and does not have a def-by-example indicator either. Note to self: never underestimate the importance of double-checking clues!

    11D: I meant drunk=SOUSED, very=SO. Guess the comma makes it unximenean.
    15D: ON=leg was very common, I thought. Maybe that's not the case in THC..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suresh5 December 2013 at 17:53

      I had no problem with on = leg. It is acceptable.

      Delete
  10. Padmanabhan5 December 2013 at 14:29

    I feel it is a little difficult to connect on & leg without a hint of cricket or at least 'side'.It has been used that way before in TH. Thank you,anyway,for the clarifications.

    ReplyDelete
  11. raju umamaheswar5 December 2013 at 15:53

    Something different for a change form Scintillator. Expected some convoluted cluing and was proved right. NOT the clue of my day : SURE SHOT. Flagrant violation of MY cluing rules: to repeat the word in the clue as well as the answer. Even PERU. Musth is an English word?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Navneeth5 December 2013 at 16:56

    SPAM above my head!

    Padmanabhan,
    Watch this hilarious discussion on the use of 'Hello/Hullo' as an exclamation of surprise.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xXSw07zrio


    Leg = On: I don't think it's unfair, although I never quite got the anno even after I filled in the boxes with a lucky geuss.

    Aren't words from naval parlance (without any explicit reference to the navy) used to indicate location/letters (e.g. port = L)?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nadathur Rajan5 December 2013 at 16:57

    11 Worn out, very drunk (4) USED [DD]

    Drunk = SOUSED
    out very = - SO
    Defn: worn [-so]USED

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deepak Gopinath5 December 2013 at 17:21

      This has already been indicated by Scintillator @ 2:12 above

      Delete
  14. jaggu5 December 2013 at 18:01

    17D-
    Is'n't plural of Stadium Stadia.instead of Stadiums.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam5 December 2013 at 18:21

      Both 'stadia' and 'stadiums' are plural form of 'stadium'.

      Delete
  15. Mukundala Balasubramanyam5 December 2013 at 18:15

    I find many words related to an elephant have been highlighted in green letters like : ELEPHANT, MUSTH, TRUMPET, JUMBO, TUSK and CAPARISON. I am not getting how the last word is related to an elephant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam5 December 2013 at 18:40

      To the list mentioned above MAHOUT and ROGUE too could be added.

      Delete
  16. Raghunath5 December 2013 at 18:26

    Elephant gone wild is a ROGUE elaphant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam5 December 2013 at 18:30

      That's correct, Raghu ji. My doubt is how the word 'caparison' is related to an elephant ?

      Delete
    2. Raghunath5 December 2013 at 18:39

      Caparison is a saddle/ decorative covering (generally on a horse).

      Delete
    3. Mukundala Balasubramanyam5 December 2013 at 18:44

      Thanks, Raghu ji. I believe, elephants too have such decorative coverings during festivals etc. Am satisfied now :)

      Delete
  17. Navneeth5 December 2013 at 18:56

    A couple of other elephant-related terms: PROBOSCIS and HOWDAH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mukundala Balasubramanyam5 December 2013 at 19:13

      So, it seems, in all we had ten such terms related to an elephant. Really a Jumbo list !!

      Delete
  18. Navneeth5 December 2013 at 18:59

    Oh, and re:my 04:56, lest someone thinks that I'm calling Raju Umamaheshwar a spammer, there was spam before my comment, but it has now been removed.

    ReplyDelete

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