Floored by Spinner in the SE corner.
ACROSS
1 Co-graduate swallowed by foal (6) COBALT {CO{BA}LT}
4 City where you open aperture and shoot nature endlessly (3,5) ABU DHABI {A}{BU D}{HABIt}
10 Ruin a meal with a trace of chilly (7) SCUPPER {S{C}UPPER}
11 Caught the girl with the reporter, but there was nothing between
them (7) LASSOED {LASS}{O}{ED}
12 Tailor exchanged unstrapped top for nothing with the client
(8) CUSTOMER C(-o+u)UST(-u+o)OMER
13 Elongated circular on blog (6) OBLONG*
15 Returning wagon has unknown vessels (4) NAVY {NAV <=}{Y}
17 CIA carved out stuff related to the corpse (9) CADAVERIC*
20 A twist in the sequence given by one from Aspartame’s family
(9) CYCLAMATE {CYCL{A}{MAT}E}
21 Wobble over and smirk (4) LEER <=
24 Plaster and return occupants’ lost container (6) STUCCO OCCUpanTS<=
25 Tramples small kids who belong to just one of a pair (8) (Addendum - STEPSONS {STEPS ON}{S}- See comments)
28 NRI has a way to pay almost all the money (7) EMIGREE {EMI}{GREEn}
29 Jazzy, furry kid exposed to the Italian football team (7) (Addendum - AZZURRI {jAZZy}{fURRy}{kId} - See comments)
30 I’m back in quiet house (8) DOMICLE {DO{MI<=}CILE}
31 The first miss… … (6) (Addendum - MAIDEN [MD] - See comments)
DOWN
1 Windows, say, in a church adhere to slope-ratio (8) COSECANT {C{OS}E}{CANT}
3 The French penny and 2000 pounds equal a Greek coin (6) LEPTON {LE}{P}{TON}
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5 A shock, if it’s from the family of 15,19 and 27 (4) BOLT [CD]
6 Girl’s first assistant fleeced the handicapped (8) DISABLED {DI'S}{A}{BLED}
7 Express regret for Ground-Zero spoilage (9) APOLOGISE {O+SPOILAGE}*
9 Military command from Mars? (5,4) ORDER ARMS *{MARS}
14 Drunken stalwarts might have used this at the end of the party
(4,5) LAST STRAW*
16 Following order, omit survey for lack of time (9) VOYEURISM {OMIt+SURVEY}* Definition seems inappropriate? (See comments.)
18 Energy plastic circlet cannot transmit? (8) ELECTRIC {E}{LECTRIC} Definition not clear (&lit - See comments)
19 Second prize in the kitty for Scot of old German origin? (8) (Addendum - PRUSSIAN {P{R}USS}{IAN} - See comments)
22 Mount Chimborazo, at first, was part of Andes by arrangement
(6) ASCEND {AS{C}END*}
26 Had a row with old attorney at first, and was embarrassed
(5) OARED {O}{A}{RED}
27 Pinch the head off the duck (4) TEAL sTEAL
Hi all
ReplyDeleteAs Paddy said yesterday, many bouncers and googlies today. Could conquer only the north-east completely and a few others like NAVY, TEAL, CADAVERIC and others.
Clue constructionwise, LASSOED was tongue-in-cheek. Also liked DISABLED and APOLOGISED. Drew a blank in a few others like 22D.
Corr. APOLOGISE
DeleteApologies accepted
Delete31a Maiden dd
ReplyDeleteMaybe an over in cricket when batsmen MISS to score runs.. .Just kidding...
DeleteYes those 6 dots indicate maiden over
DeleteSo not sure if it is just a DD
DeleteMy gag about MISS and maiden too had six dots, by sheer coincidence, without being intended. If Ajeesh spotted six dot balls in the clue, it was a hit and not a miss...
Delete...after all, it was not a "miss hit" !
Delete25 Tramples small kids who belong to just one of a pair (8) STEPS ON S
ReplyDelete19D P(R)USS IAN
ReplyDelete29 Jazzy, furry kid exposed to the Italian football team (7) jAZZy fURRy kId = AZZURI
ReplyDeleteThat's 6 letters
DeleteI checked for AZZ URR I but could not find any ref.
Deletetypo AZZURRI
DeleteSorry. AZZURRI is the It national F C
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_football_team
DeleteTheir nickname is Azzurri
5 A shock, if it’s from the family of 15,19 and 27 (4) BOLT [CD]
ReplyDeleteToday's quick cwd has:
3d Fasten - run off - Jamaican sprinter (4)
Have to confess, that though I put in Bolt(=a shock) for 5, I did not really get the remaining part of the wordplay.
Delete'A BOLT from the Blue' Good one. My tubelight just came on
DeleteAha! Navy blue, Prussian blue and teal. Good one.
DeleteKeeping in mind that Azzurri also comes from blue, is there a theme ?
DeleteCobalt, Electric blue and Indigo also form a part of that team
DeleteAnd 2d is BLUES
DeleteSome good clues. Thought defs in some clues could have been better, as a result the CW was difficult.
ReplyDelete18D is still not clear to me
ReplyDelete18 Energy plastic circlet cannot transmit? (8) ELECTRIC {E}{LECTRIC} Definition not clear
DeleteReading the whole clue, ELECTRIC energy is something that a plastic circlet cannnot transmit, since it is a bad conductor of electricity.
However, not fully sure whether energy translates to electric or electricity...
In ET page 2 today, two hilarious new items at the top of the page seem to have got their caricatures swapped!
ReplyDeleteKishore,
DeleteTwo new items become a news item?
In Times*?
Delete@CV: !
DeleteApropos the item on PC, it reminded me of TT. Nowadays, lifts seem to be taking people downwards !
Re Kishore's cartoon.
ReplyDeleteBased as it is on wordplay Lear/leer, the clue is so appropriate to a blog that tackles crosswords revelling in wordplay.
BTW, Ajit Ninan in ToI is a pastmaster in this kind of cartooning. I have always suspected that the man must be a cryptic crossword fan.
Another thing about his cartoons is the inclusion of many minor details that a connoisseur of cartoons can appreciate on close examination. A glance at the pic and a cursory reading of the caption might miss them.
Was caught on a rank turner of a pitch ! Had no clue which way the ball was turning !! Surrendered my wicket meekly for 10 runs :(
ReplyDeleteI liked Spinner's offering ( in spite of a few questionable defns as has been noted above ). 2D was the last to fall, though I had latched on to the theme much earlier. Liked 31A the best. I took it as a MD
ReplyDeleteThe first // miss // ... ... ( I took the 6 dots to mean a maiden over )
6 dot balls !
DeleteGood one Ramesh. I did not notice that link
DeleteA good morning to all.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the cartoon was brilliant. I enjoyed it thoroughly!
31A - The six dots were intended to indicate 'maiden over'. On a score sheet, one would see six dots like that in a maiden over. I think it caught Ajeesh's eye. So it was intended as a TD. The first// miss // ... ...
1D- It was intended to be BLUE (down) + S, which is also the theme. Several blues.
16D- There seems to be a mistake on my part. Apologies. The clue should have been "Following the bare order, omit survey for lack of time (9)". I think I've inadvertently removed 'the bare'.
18D- The whole clue was intended as the definition. Electric Energy is Energy that a plastic object doesn't transmit. Lookin at it now, the clue could have been conceived in a way to make the definition clearer.
PS: No highlighted grid for theme? Is it blogger specific?
I think nobody noticed the theme until you pointed it out
DeleteI pointed it out at 903, but DG hAs blogged today and only he will be able to upload the highlighted grid, which I am sure he will
DeleteStart reading posts from my post at 847 where I was flummoxed by BOLT and DG explained ...
DeleteMy 1026 was in response to RJ's 1024, since deleted by him
DeleteOops sorry about the delete. It read "Kishore @9:03?" . That was a question as a response to Suresh's 10:15 as to why he does not think yr 9:03 was a theme declaration ?
Delete31A MAIDEN:
ReplyDelete...... Strictly means MAIDEN OVER and not MAIDEN. But it as idea it's very good.
Maiden = Maiden over. "He bowled a maiden". Of course "He bowled a maiden over" has more interesting possibilities
DeleteTalking of reverse definitions, if a Maiden over is ......, then a maiden is ......< (with over as a reversal indicator) which makes it ......
Delete@RJ
Delete"Of course "He bowled a maiden over" has more interesting possibilities"
Of course, it is pregnant with possibilities ... ...
Unless "......" is head over heels in love !
DeleteKishore,
DeleteEnglish is a dangerous language!
Yes, it is dangerous ... One can get into 'trouble'
Delete1 Windows, say, in a church adhere to slope-ratio (8) COSECANT {C{OS}E}{CANT}
ReplyDelete{OS} for ?
Windows !
DeleteWindows Operating System or OS
DeleteFor once I managed to beat the "fastest finger" :)
DeleteYou can't count, RJ. Twice, look at the previous thread ;-)
DeleteWe were talking of different things there .So it does not count :)
DeleteRaghu now has a 10:35 now to really find if the fastest finger can be beaten twice
DeleteThanking Ramesh and Kishore. Knew it was something to do 'windows' but never thought it was a 'software' one !
DeleteMB, if someone says 'gates' you would sure recall William Henry ....III
DeleteBill Gates :) Wonder, why that suffix III ?
DeleteThe official name is William Henry Gates III, obviously a third generation Bill in succession. You can check in Wiki.
DeleteNow someone will play a pun on 'bill'. Can never trust the punsters, pun-stars and funsters among our friends here.
I don't want to fit or foot that bill
DeleteRichard @ 1:13
DeleteThis is what WIKI says : He was the fourth of his name in his family, but was known as William Gates III or "Trey" because his father had the "II" suffix.
So obviously he's a fourth generation Bill, I believe.
31A MAIDEN:
ReplyDelete...... Strictly means MAIDEN OVER and not MAIDEN. But it as idea it's very good.
How did this post appear again?
DeleteThe ghost of a message from the ghost who posts
Delete:)
DeleteSuresh, were you able to submit this month's Guardian Genius? I am having trouble with the submit button ...
ReplyDeleteYes. It went through easily. Undefined reasons.
DeleteIs there anything more to it than this:
DeleteGo to G page
Log in
Click on crosswords
Click on Genius cwd
Allow Java to run
Fill into grid
Click Save
Click Submit
Right. In fact i solve online and the page opens only on logging in
DeleteIf it was any more complex than what you wrote, Kishore I would have bee flummoxed. Maybe you could write to the crossword editor.
DeleteI have. I an awaiting reply. I lost all my progress which was saved. Luckily I saved a screenshot
DeleteMaybe you pressed clear instead of save
DeleteYour problem appears to have no definition
DeleteAfter saving i rechecked by clicking clear ans revert and confirmed that the data was saved before hitting submit
DeleteOn hitting submit, I am getting this message
DeleteSorry - we haven't been able to serve the page you asked for
May be a temporary problem on the site. I submitted on the 3rd Dec after Guardian corrected some errors in the enumeration of about half a dozen clues.
DeleteORDER ARMS
ReplyDeleteSomeone told it should be Ordered arms for RA to work
21st Dec 2013 is the crossword centenary. Wonder if we have a themed cw on that day
ReplyDeleteWe have IXL finale on that day
ReplyDeleteSure. But how about the multitude who are not participating in this. There is a themed cw in The Guardian today for the occasion
DeleteIf the organisers of IXL permit I shall publish the CW of the IXL Finals as a special on the 22nd
ReplyDeleteThanks Deepak. I was wondering if TH will come out with a centenary crossword. I guess we have to wait and see.
DeleteDon't tell me that the top ten would be solving just one puzzle - that too 13x13 - at the finale for the grand prize!
Delete31 The first miss… … (6) (Addendum - MAIDEN [DD]
ReplyDeleteI am familiar with terms DD and MD, but what is TD meant by the setter(Spinner) @ 10:12 am ?
By 'TD' he means Triple Definition
DeleteThanks, Sir. I presume in the clue 'first', 'miss' and '... ...' lead to Triple Definition.
DeleteAnd MD means Multiple definition ..... or Masala Dosai or Managing Director etc.
Delete:)
DeleteThat would be great! All of us would know what it was like. I think raju was also asking for it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with MB & Richard. There were lot of maidens......er, dots (or blanks) in the grid today!
ReplyDeleteNot sure if 16d is part of theme as Voy... Leads to films of this colour
ReplyDeleteNoble- Spinner's first theme (5)
ReplyDeleteTwo dimensional, of course!
DeleteIf we take DD to mean 'definition definition' for the double definition, we can indicate a triple definition thus: DDD
ReplyDeleteOKvaaaaaaaaaaaa?
How about ND for no definition
DeleteNearing a century after quite a long time
ReplyDeleteCV Sir @ 4:55
ReplyDeleteThe other day I saw 11 pics of IXL finalists. What is the correct figure please ? 10 or 11 ?
You are correct. Tho' the rules talk of 10, and the leaderboard lists first ten in blue, one more name seems to have been added. I suspect that one of the top 10 has communicated inability to attend. Sl.no 10 and 11 are not tied in the scores.
Delete...so till 21st, it's fingers crossed ! :)
Delete11 I think now 100
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Ajeesh ! Is it your maiden century ? :)
Delete... ... 100 times? Many a time
DeleteWOW ! You must be a 'He-man' !! :)
Delete