Wednesday 4 February 2015

Special, Wednesday 04 Feb 2015, 6th Anniversary Prize Special Results,


Thanks to all those who comment/visit this blog and who have helped the blog to flourish. 

Thanks also to all who participated in the prize special which was posted on Sunday, though I would have liked many more entries. 

Special thanks to Abhay for providing this Jumbo special. The solution grid and the annotations as intended by Abhay are appended at the end of this post.

A chronological list of entries received are shown in the two tables below, one for the solutions and the other for the annotations.

The regular blog will appear at 9 AM.

SOLUTIONS

Name
Received on
Errors
Remarks
Mohsin Ahmed

01 Feb @ 7:41 PM
All correct

Bhalchandra Pasupathy

02 Feb @ 1:58 AM
1 Error

Vinayak Ekbote

02 Feb @ 6:20 PM
2 errors

Kishore M Rao

03 Feb @ 9:57 AM
All correct

Sandhya Jagdish

03 Feb @ 3:31 PM
1 Error

Shrikanth T

03 Feb @ 5:28 PM
4 Errors

Raghunath

03 Feb @ 7:30 PM
4 Errors

Rangarajan Ramanujam

03 Feb @ 7:45 PM
1 Error
First entry with two errors was received on 02 Feb at 3:06 PM


ANNOTATIONS

Name
Received on
Errors
Remarks
Mohsin Ahmed

01 Feb @ 7:41 PM
1

Bhalachandra Pasupathy

02 Feb @ 5:19 PM
2

Vinayak Ekbote

02 Feb @ 6:20 PM
8

Kishore M Rao

03 Feb @ 9:57 AM
5

Raghunath

03 Feb @ 7:30 PM
12



PRIZE FOR ALL CORRECT SOLUTION

KISHORE M RAO

Only Mohsin and Kishore had all correct solutions and as Mohsin has the best list of annotations as well, the prize for the all correct solution is being awarded to Kishore

PRIZE FOR FIRST ALL CORRECT ANNOTATED SOLUTION

MOHSIN AHMED

Though I have shown 1 error in annotation against his name it is actually not a major error.

Congrats to both the winners. The prize will be handed over to them at the S&B meet at Chennai on 8th Feb as both are attending.

SOLUTIONS AND ANNOTATIONS AS INTENDED BY ABHAY

ACROSS
10
Moulds the mind within sea animals (11)
HAMMERHEADS = "sea animals"
{HAMMER{HEAD}S}
(Moulds = HAMMERS) with (mind = HEAD) within
12
Uropod cut in half just in the insect's abdomen (7)
UROMERE [is] "in the insect's abdomen"
{UROpod}+{MERE}
13
Winged sandals cast at a liar (7)
TALARIA = "winged sandals"
(AT A LIAR)*
Anind: cast
14
Less common to find odd ages regularly taking on the three Rs (5)
RARER = less common
{AgEs} "regularly taking on" {RRR}
15
Grow less intimate apart, or lightly sleep off? (5)
DRIFT = (with 'apart') grow less intimate, and (with 'off') lightly sleep
CD, DD
16
Found on side A, "Taken In" possibly makes Nell agog (4,3)
LONG LEG = "found on side" (treat onside as one word)
{A} "taken in" by LONG LEG produces the reverse anagram "Nell agog"
17
3/5 of 22 and 2/3 of 10 add up to a short story (5)
CONTE = short story
CON ("3/5" of 22 down EX-CON) and TE  ("2/3" of the word "ten")
18
Small rodent eats Indian cloth (5)
VOILE = cloth
{VO{I}LE}
19
Avid one excitedly referring to a mole (7)
NAEVOID = referring to a naevus (a mole)
(AVID ONE)*
Anind: excitedly
21
Singer Bruce led Aqua's comeback, essentially (5)
ADELE = singer
{brucE LED Aqua's} ß
Comeback suggests the reversal, essentially indicates that the central letters have to be picked
23
Parasite strain caught (5)
LEECH = parasite
Homophone of leach = "strain"
24
Capital city known for Rebus puzzles? (9)
EDINBURGH = capital city (of Scotland)
CD: Ian Rankin's series of detective mysteries ("puzzles") featuring DI John Rebus are set in Edinburgh
26
Follower perhaps reunited disbanded hitmen (9)
SUCCESSOR = "Follower, perhaps" in the sense of one who follows the predecessor
Hit=SUCCESS, men=OR
"Reuniting disbanded hitmen" suggests "disbanding" (separating) the word and then "reuniting" the synonyms
29
Gnome, too, oddly followed Hollande's word (5)
MOTTO = gnome
{ToO} followed MOT (French for "word", hence "Hollande's word")
32
Order setter, perhaps, to undertake a journey in hiding (5)
DOGGO = in hiding
Order given to setter (DOG) to undertake a journey (GO)
34
Minute aquatic organisms seen in north-east Texas city after evaporation of under-hydrogenated water (7)
NEUSTON = minute aquatic organisms
{NE}{hoUSTON}
Since water is H2O, under-hydrogenated water could well be HO!
35
Publish a central depiction of an old Germanic letter (5)
RUNIC = of an old Germanic letter (rune)
{RUN}(I}{depiCtion}
36
Infatuation a high-ranking officer had for a butterfly (5)
PASHA = both high-ranking officer and a butterfly
{PASH}{A}
Charade + DD
37
One is against a person deseeding cotton (7)
AGINNER = one [who is] against [something]
{A}{GINNER}
38
Post office suppresses steamy picture (5)
PHOTO = picture
{P{HOT}O}
39
That's a good beginning, Bill! (5)
FLIER = both "bill" and "good beginning"
DD
40
In Switzerland, a long line wears an expression of disbelief at finding bread for the Sabbath (7)
CHALLAH = bread for the [Jewish] Sabbath
{C{H{A}{L}{L}A}H}
CH = Switzerland, HA[!] = expression of disbelief, ALL from "a long line"
41
Surround swimmer when troubled at first (7)
ENWHEEL = surround
EEL with (WHEN)* "at first"
42
Locks set in motion by sensitive mechanism (4,7)
HAIR TRIGGER = sensitive mechanism
Locks = HAIR, set in motion = TRIGGER

DOWN

1
Novel describing able collector of incredible facts? Not really (3,8,2,6)
THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY = novel
CD: able = TALENTED, while the rest of the  clue refers to the Ripley of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!"
2
 Manage lien turning up lots of money in Africa (10)
EMALANGENI = money in Africa (Swaziland, to be precise). The "lots of" refers to the fact that this is the plural form of the monetary unit lilangeni
(MANAGE LIEN)*
3
Special bread dessert picked up for explosive variant of Russian mixed drink? (6,4)
PETROL BOMB = Molotov cocktail ("Russian mixed drink")
CD with wordplay: PET=special, (ROL BOMB) comes from the homophone ("picked up") for roll (bread) and dessert (bombe)
4
Half of them called for a Mass in 24 (6)
THRANG = Scots word for mass/mob/throng
{THem}{RANG}
5, 25
Tipsy metal worker preceded by almost aristocratic writer (8,9)
PATRICIA HIGHSMITH = writer
{HIGH}{SMITH} preceded by {PATRICIAn}
6
A stance taken when parrying detailed query about untenanted redevelopment of the lot (6)
QUARTE = a stance taken when parrying (in fencing)
({QUERy}{AbouT})*
Anind: redevelopment of the lot
7
Wander around military college with principal leading way to African building (8)
RONDAVEL = [South]African building
{RO{NDA}VE}{Leading}
8
Drain out dense, fixed concrete (8)
DEFINITE = concrete
{DensE}(FINITE}
9
"Quarter it", two women echo, finding direction before being stuck in the middle (7,4,3,5)
NEITHER HERE NOR THERE = stuck in the middle
{NE}{IT}{HER} {HER}{E} {NOR TH}{ERE}
11,33
Odder representation of Sinatra on film and book (9,2,1,5)
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN = film and book
STRANGER + (SINATRA ON)*
20
Put up with malfunctioning cloak for Robert Englund initially (5)
DURED = put up with
{DU{Robert Englund}D}
DUD = malfunctioning "cloak for" Robert Englund "initially"
22
Last flaw in erstwhile unwilling guest (2-3)
EX-CON = "erstwhile unwilling guest"
CD + wordplay, EX=last, CON=flaw
25
(see 5 down)


27
Circa 50 CE, Il Duce exiled criminal cell where all were involved, it is found, in cases of rape (6,4)
ERUCIC ACID = "it is found in cases of rape"
CD + wordplay:
(Circa + L + CE + Il Duce)*

28
That devilish study, for example, contains bronze orb and trunk (10)
SATANOLOGY = that devilish study
{SA{TAN}{O}{LOG}Y}
30
Reflection of standard chronograph display comprising, say, three digits? (3,2,3)
TEN TO TWO
CD based on how the standard way watches  are displayed would look in a mirror image; homophone of "ten, two, two"
31
When done with a quick but thorough look… (4-4)
ONCE-OVER = quick but thorough look
ONCE=when + OVER=done
33
 (see 11 down)


36
…find folios in a heap of rubbish (6)
PIFFLE = rubbish
{PI{FF}LE}
37
Writer, given names, censored and edited so automatically! (6)
ALCOTT = writer
(SO AUTOMATICALLY)* gives Louisa May Alcott,  from  which  the  "given names"   (Louisa May) are "censored"



51 comments:

  1. Congrats Mohsin & Kishore! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats Mac and Incognito.... Impressive indeed.... And Happy Anniversary to THCC

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  3. Happy Anniversary to THCC and Deepak. May there be many more. And congrats, Mac.

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  4. Congrats Mohsin & Kishore. And Happy Anniversary Colonel :) and all of us :D

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  5. Colonel, I think mine is 3 errors and not 4 as mentioned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 33D is 'ON A TRAIN' you had 'IN A TRAIN'

      Delete
    2. Yes Sir, just spotted it. It is 4 after all :( and all of them in short words and due to carelessness

      Delete
  6. Happy Anniversary Colonel. Three cheers for your blog! :)

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  7. Thanks, Abhay, for a wonderful puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. +1 Was one of the toughest I had done, but a wonderful one

      Delete
  8. Thanks to Abhay for the brain-racking crossword.

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  9. Congrats Mohsin & Kishore! Thanks Abhay, for the brain-teaser.

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  10. Happy Anniversary to Colonel Sir's THCC!

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  11. Congrats to Col. & Abhay.
    Many happy returns of the day Col.Your efforts have borne fruit in making us one big happy universal family.
    About the CW- need a 10 ft. pole to reach this level ! Got a glimpse of what is possible with wordplay.

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  12. In my excitement I forgot to congratulate Kishore & Mohsin on their stupendous efforts.
    Congratulations too for all the eight who have completed the CW, though with a few errors.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deepak
    On my screen the Ac anno table fits and I am able to read all the contents.
    However, the Dn anno table goes out of the screen on right and I don't have horizontal scroll bar to move.
    Could you reduce the size of the cells/columns to match the top table. TIA.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congrats Mohsin&Kishore. Thanks Abhay for the jumbo. Haven't yet solved it. Will continue wrestling with it.
    Thanks Col for the blog & thanks to Col, Kishore, Bhavan for unfailingly putting out the solved CW at 8:30 every day

    ReplyDelete
  15. Happy Anniversary to THCC, and congrats Mohsin and Kishore!

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  16. Today morning I was pleasantly surprised to see a mail from Deepak mentioning a comment by a lady in a two year old post. After some search, I was able to track the lady, who is my fourth cousin, and came across a photo of one of our common periyappas with MGR. I had mentioned this gentleman Mr Umanath Rao, who was with Gemini Studios, in THCC long back. Here's the link to the photo:

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151223263778005&set=a.10151039355233005.443154.543893004&type=1&theater

    He is right next to MGR and the little girl who is profrerring the platter to him is the lady who posted a comment on THCC. I have got in touch with her after over 30 years, thanks to THCC and Deepak.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. please read proffering in above instead of profrerring

      Delete
  17. Without commenting on Clue 30d, I think clock hands are pictured at 10:10.
    Am I right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. The clue says reflection though.

      Delete
    2. Yes, when reflected (as given in the clue) it looks like ten to two. Actually, the time shown is slightly less than 10:10 for purpose of symmetry since the hour hand would have moved a bit (nearly one unit for 12 mins). Hence the time is closer to 10:9 when it is symmetrical.

      Delete
  18. @Col Happy anniversary to THCC !
    Congrats Mohsin & Kishore :)

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  19. Happy anniversary to THCC.
    Congrats Mac, Incognito and others.

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  20. Thank you everyone. All of you have equal part in contributing towards the success of this blog.

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  21. Congrats to winners, thanks to Abhay and best wishes on the occasion of the anniversary to all

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  22. Congratulations to Kishore and Mohsin and also to all the others who have participated. Happy Anniversary to Colonel's Blog and thanks to Abhay for the wonderful Jumbo special.

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  23. Thank you, everyone, for the appreciation, and to DG for putting up my crossword as his prize puzzle. I thoroughly enjoyed setting up this crossword. I do realise that about a quarter of the words are uncommon; they got chosen partly due to the restrictions of the crossing letters and - in two cases (NEUSTON and ERUCIC ACID) also because of the wordplay possibilities that occurred to me as I looked at the words.

    I had just finished re-reading THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, and the puzzle started out as a themed one, with the size (19x19) being decided by the length of this one entry. The positioning of the three connected entries (1d, 5d-25d, and 11d-33d) was determined by a need to have each of them appear together without dispersing them all over the grid. Once they fell into place, I discovered that trying to fit in more Patricia Highsmith references brought up a greater number of difficult words, so I stopped at just these three.

    Any feedback on specific clues is welcome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a very enjoyable crossword -> Especially got thrilled while solving many of them. LONG LEG, TEN TO TWO, MOTTO to name a few

      However have to admit that I had to use the help of Google for a few of them - notably EMALANGENI, EDINBURGH (did not know the rebus connection), RONDAVEL and NEUSTON (though I could solve from the fodder).

      Delete
    2. Thank you for your comments. From my point of view, your last line - that you could "solve from the fodder" a word you didn't know - is vindication of the wordplay, so it is music to my ears!

      Delete
  24. Congrats to the winners & all those who submitted.
    Thanx Col.
    Abhay: Fantastic effort in producing this; the definitive x word that separates men from boys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Questions:

      Who are men?

      Who are boys?

      Where do our gals stand?

      Specify!

      Delete
    2. Men: those who submitted.
      Boys: toddlers like me.
      Gals stand as tall as the men

      Delete
  25. Happy anniversary to the blog Colonel and for the wonderful service you are providing to crossword enthusiasts from all over. Congrats Mac and Kishore (why am I not surprised:).

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  26. Congrats to the winners! Long live this Blog! I am able to do about 80 to 90 % of the THC daily, only because of the knowledge source obtained from this blog and the full credit goes to the Owner and the commentors. Thank you all for enriching my knowledge. I am really indebted to each and every one of you. Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Kishore & Mohsin, Congratulations!

    Tks Abhay for a tough puzzle.

    Congrats Col on the blog's anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Kishore & Mohsin, Congratulations!

    Tks Abhay for a tough puzzle.

    Congrats Col on the blog's anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Barring very busy days, this blog has become part of my daily routine when I am in Chennai (or, if travelling, when I can access the THC through the Net). I come here to check the answers and to see what others have to say about it, and to see whether my estimation of the difficulty of the puzzle - or of specific clues - tallies with what others feel.

    Many thanks to...
    - ...DG for setting this up and (the much more difficult part) keeping it going for so long;
    - ...DG and all the other bloggers who make sure that we solvers have the blog ready for our reference at 8:30am (I dread to think of how early they start their day!), and who often take the trouble to provide links for references to unusual words in the entries or the clues;
    - ... all the people who comment on the blog;
    - ... and all the people who set the Sunday Specials, which ensure that the absence of the regular THC puzzle that day doesn't matter so much! :)

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  30. Thanks all for the puzzle. Able to do only 70% and then gave up.. wish I had persevered :) Hats off to the winners...you are superstars :)

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  31. Let me add my best wishes to Colonel for keeping this blog alive and interesting every single day. Not to mention nurturing budding setters.

    I didn't get a chance to try this special crossword and from the comments looks like it was my loss. Congratulations to Mohsin and Kishore but not surprised with the podium winners. After all they are proven fastest solvers :)

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  32. Congratulations to Col on the 6th anniversary of this blog. Hats off to your perseverance, day in and day out.
    Mohsin and Kishore, fantastic solving! Congratulations.
    Special thanks to Abhay for a toughie befitting the occasion. I couldn't solve it as I was travelling
    but wish I had!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Congrats to Kishore & Mohsin , the winners. I'd love to now the time taken by each and whether any references were resorted to,in arriving at some of the answers ?.

    Thanks to Abhay and the Col for posting such a toughie (''toughier'') than the toughie of the Daily Telegraph ? I'm amazed and humbled to see that years of solving experience is no guarantee that all crosswords are solvable !! You have many more frontiers to conquer !! What does CV feel on this? Some old hands at this mind craft are not featured in the entries list. Why?
    On Abhay's comments for reactions:
    ""and to see what others have to say about it, and to see whether my estimation of the difficulty of the puzzle - or of specific clues - tallies with what others feel.""

    Yes indeed, this is a very tough crossword , seeing that many old hands have failed to appear in the entries list. When a compiler gets down to do so, does he keep in mind the profile of the solvers who are used to a certain patterns of compiling? Or he just fills in the grid with words and phrases that suit the crossings? Is computer assistance taken in doing so and you the compiler also find serendipitous words to use?

    Lastly, can some one do an analysis of the audience participation for a prize crossword like this ? If the majority failed to complete, is it a victory for the compiler's craft or a failure of the solvers' ability to come up to the level of the compiler? or is it a Pyrrhic victory for the compiler? If so, of what avail were his hours of efforts in engaging others in an unequal battle?

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  34. Wishing all the bloggers a very happy MEET on the 8th Feb. Why's the prize item kept a secret? Cash? Kind? Merit certificate? Any way, for the winners, it is the honour that comes with the prize and the also- rans and non-winners ( and not losers !!) can take comfort in the travelling than in arriving !At least, an attempt was made !!

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  35. Congratulations Mohsin and Kishore!

    Regards,
    Ramki.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Happy anniversary for the blog, and thanks to the Colonel and contributors for keeping it entertaining and informative! Congratulations to Mohsin and Kishore. I spent about an hour on the crossword, completed may be half the clues, and couldn't make more headway than that - those who completed it are in a different league!

    ReplyDelete

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