The timing of the puzzle was impeccable. During the contest, we celebrated the 50th year of the historic moon landing and also the successful launch of Chandrayaan 2, India’s second lunar mission. As is his wont, The Oracle managed to time two themed puzzles to appear at the same time – one in 1ACross and the other in The Hindu (as Incognito), during the contest.
Stats -We had a fabulous response for “Oh! To be a Lunatic!” and received 41 submissions, 8 more than last time. Of those who submitted, 26 got the full grid score of 39, of which, 19 got the maximum possible score of 42. Here’s the Solution grid.
The solvers had to answer the following questions after solving the grid:
(1) How is 11 connected to the theme? (Two answers expected)?
(2) What does the order of entries in 5d graphically illustrate? What does position of first entry in 5d illustrate?The correct answers are
(1) Apollo 11; and 11A is SATURN , the rocket which launched Apollo 11
(2) The relative positions (altitude with respect to the lunar surface) of the astronauts when man first stepped on the moon: Neil Armstrong on surface, Edwin Aldrin in The Eagle and Michael Collins in Columbia.Some solvers also made an interesting observation:
The first letters of Michael, Edwin and Neil in that order gives us MEN and hence signifies the fact that they were the first men on the moon.
Here are the Annotations:
Across:
1 Warren’s heartbroken? (5) – HEART*
4 A representative’s deed results in effect (6) – I MP ACT
10 Money order after morning for cartridges etc. (4) – AM MO
11 Roman god took seat on pot (6) – SAT URN
12 Mr Holmes has left my farm (5) – myCROFT
13 So, that chap lives in Tennessee? (4) – (T(HE)N
15 I club Mao violently in a part of DC (8) – (I CLUB MAO)*= District of Columbia
16 Warrior fired endlessly with firearm (6) – SHOt GUN
19 Some soothsayers mean “Yes” (3) – T
21 Design great seal to exclude star bird (5) – (GREAT SEAL- STAR)*
23 Like a way to go, to the auditor (5) – A ~DOOR
24 Heavens! Yaks stray after losing adult! (3) Y(-a)KS*
26 Composting without pong and mixing? It’s funny! (6) – (COMpoSTIng)
31 Adjust misalignments (after removing broken glass) any time now (8) – (MISALIGNMENTS-GLASS*)*
32 Drumming pattern’s hard beat (4) – F LAM
33 Send away to one-time French island (5) – EX ILE
34 Theodore, carrying top class student, followed (6) – T(AI L)ED
35 Care about tree (4) – CARE*
36 God broke pool table after losing crooked bet (6) – (POOL TABLE-bet)**
37 Legendary creature posed with Yankee senator at last (5) – SAT Y R.
Down:
2 Amorous British politician’s claim (7) – AM A TORY
3 Sutra composed about unifom? That’s bull! (6) – (SUTRA* around U)
5 (a) Claim he’s reformed to become a saint (7) (b) Perhaps, Hubble’s daughter dips into blended wine (5) (c) First man to step out of 21 smudged line (4) (Some mischief involved!) (15) – (CLAIM HE)*, D in WINE*, LINE*
6 First and last letter on minerals in Atlantic archipelago (6) – AZ ORES
7 Drumming pattern (6) – DD
8 Display Stern’s satellite (4) – DD
9 Aardvark at a Bern development (3,4) – (AT A BERN)*
14 Bird in the museum (3) – T
17 Girls get money for Coral, Amber, Ruby and Pearl, for example (4) – G (E) MS
18 Vehicle reversed by Yankee marine defense force (4) – VAN< +Y
19 Pals touring European mountains (4) (PALS)*
20 Leave old Roman with Italian (4) – EX IT
22 Build around fifth of November and burn (7) – CRE(M)ATE (also CD ref to Guy Fawkes Day/Night
25 Kidney stone operation for Otis president? (7) (KIDNEY STONE)* = (OTIS KENNEDY)*
27 Scoundrel is not vain? That’s sick! (3) – vILLain
28 Snapper arrived with artist (6) – CAME RA
29 Doc! Doc I’m confused about consuming last bit of medicine (6) – (DOC I’M) about E
30 One Ms Lollobrigida gets heartache (6) – AN GINA
32 Banner’s become tired (4) – DD
The first entry was submitted by Ramani and it was also the first all-correct entry. The last all-correct entry was received from Anirduh Sahni.
Congrats to the 19 awesome people who managed to max the score.
Here is the scorecard (sorted by total and then in Alphabetical order)
We requested solvers to rate the puzzle on a scale of 1 (Lowest) to 10 (Highest). The puzzle got a good score of 8.2 and got 10 perfect 10s.
We had requested solvers to pick 3 favorite clues each. The most favorite clues were “Moon” and “Croft” which got 12 votes each and “Shogun” and “Amatory” which got 11 votes apiece.
Hope you enjoyed this fun puzzle as much as we did. Thanks to “The Oracle” for making us “Lunatic” and Ecstatic with this thematic. We look forward to more puzzles from you.
Did you like the puzzle? Do you have any feedback for us or for the setter. Do comment in the blog and let us know.