Stats -We had a good response to “Manpasand” and there were 26 submissions for this puzzle. Of those who submitted 15 got the full grid score of 26 and only 4 people got the maximum possible score of 33. Here’s the Solution grid
The following questions were asked at the end of the puzzle..
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- Identify the theme and list two theme words
- Identify two theme words in clue surfaces, where the answer is not part of the theme
- The verse in the header leads to the phrase “Yes, All – – – – – – – are – – – – -” Fill in the blanks
The correct answers to these were
(1) Theme is “words of Indian origin”. Any 2 of the following – 8A – SAINA, 22A- MANDIR, 24A – DELHI, 26A – JAWAN, 5D.- SAMOSA, 21D – ASHRAM
(2) Any 2 of the following 10A,22D,16A – Arjun, 4D – Tamil, 6D – Hazare, 15D – Lonavla
(3) “If you solved, this I must say ‘Well fought’
Look at the end of all you sought
All except first primes seven
But not without exception
The sixth drops by one
And # 8 fills in for seven
With trial and error will surface
A universal fact that is a phrase
Connected to the thread
Bung it in before you go to bed”
1st line – filler
2ND Line – Take last letters of all solution words
Except the first 7 primes viz Clue numbers 2,3,5,7,11,13,17
But the 6th one (13) becomes one less (12) and the 8th one 19 takes the place of 17
Instruction is therefore to take last letters of all clues except 2,3,5,7,11,12 and 19.
Trial and error – anagram the rest
Solution
YES, ALL INDIANS ARE SMART (Universal fact – also related to the theme – India)
Here are the Annotations.
Across:
7 All females on the left and right were dressed up for send-off parties (9) – {F(-emale)S ALL WERE)}*
8 A North Indian bureaucrat’s backing a sporting champion (5) – (A N IAS)<<<
9 Soldier finally leaves command centres seeking quiet places to go (9) – WA(-r)(SH)ROOMS
10/22D/16 Arjun, say, gets a damsel to concede nothing (4,1,,6,4) – BOW LOVER around A MAIDEN
12 Substitute fellow ‘s digging the ground in the middle (4,2) – F (-t)ILLIN(-g)
13 Airport played a Byzantine hymn (8) – (AIRPORT)* +A
14 Giacomo Casanova was one flummoxed by a ploy (7) – BYAPLOY*
17 Offshore banks? (7) – ISLANDS
20 God entered secretly (2,6) – IN CAME RA
22 Island withdraws free place of worship (6) – MAN + RID<<<
24 Head of Programming walks out of Oracle’s home town (5) – DEL(-p)HI
25 This collector is left negotiating Brexit (2-7) – (IS+L+BREXIT)*
26 Maharaja wantonly arrests a fighter (5) – JAWAN
27 Smoking grass, dear, is concerning (2,7) – AS REGARDS
Down:
1 Arab country’s retreat outside Tanzania’s borders (6) – IRAQ<<< outside T,A,
2 Outbreak of leptospirosis infected the partner with devastating effect (8) – L(THE)* ALLY
3 At the centre, pizza pot’s leaking hot concentrate (4,2) – piZza + (-h)EROIN
4 The Tamil coast is replete with recurrent wind and rain, say (7) – Reverse Telescopic
5 Well-done masala dosas without mixed fresh vegetables is a crunchy snack (6) – MA(-salad)OSAS*
6 Non-partisan Hazare loudly told a story (8) – ANNA LIED- hp
11 With oil, kale and spinach heads are sauteed in these (4) Acrostic
15 Very old retreat, say, in Lonavla- almost done up (8) – EG<<< inside (LONAVL(-a))*
16 See 10 Across
18 A born criminal- mad and lecherous, to start with – might be this (8) – A+BORN*+(M,A,L – acrostic)
19 Commie leader of China’s wearing smart pants (7) – XI in SMART*
21 Off-limits, chary Osama re-created a place to meditate (6) – ((-c)HAR(-y) (-o)SAM(-a))*
22 See 10 Across
23 One end is, in some way, restricted (6) – I+ENDIS*
Here is the scorecard (sorted by score and then in the order of submissions received)
Congrats to Mona, who submitted the first all correct entry and to Aashwina, Narayan R and Ramki who all managed to “max” the score.
14 people rated the puzzle as “Excellent” and the remaining 12 rated it “Good”. Thanks Avatar for a brilliant grid and managing to give all our champs a tough time, no mean feat..
Did you enjoy the puzzle? Do you have any feedback for us or for the setter. Do comment in the blog and let us know.