Friday, 6 September 2013

No.10871, 06 Sep 2013, Sankalak

Long ones beautifully handled in this 25a Sankalak puzzle

ACROSS
1 The extra who chewed the actor (3,6) BIT PLAYER (BIT PLAYER)
          The extra reminded me of one of my favourite stories by Ray Bradbury -The Crowd
5 A number included in a term for this earth (5) WORLD (L in WORD)
8 Line of upper class people, non-oriental, behind the officer (6) COLUMN (U MeN behind COL.)
9 GI leaves iced greens curiously concealed (8) SCREENED (ICED GREENS-GI)*
11 Once a river, now a big display (4) EXPO (EX PO)
12 Bloomer on a barrier by one with no dancing partner (10) WALLFLOWER (FLOWER on WALL)
14 Breakfast food, hot inside causes expletives (5) OATHS (H inside OATS)
15 Live at home with a loose garment (7) INHABIT (IN HABIT)


16 Give fresh gear to engineer with an odd pique (7) RE-EQUIP (RE PIQUE*)
          I prefer it with a hyphen
17 Flower from the Battle of Brunanburh in England (5) RHINE (T)
          This had me 'phool-ed' for some time
19 Mature worker suppresses hesitation, finding contaminator (10) ADULTERANT (ADULT ANT suppresses ER)
20 Little money of old for a team leader (4) ANNA (2)
         Durai, Hazare, take your pick ...
22 Projection on bone featured in rambling lecture beginning to bore (8) TUBERCLE (Bore in LECTURE*)
23 Fitness left out right in the fireplace (6) HEARTH (HEALTH-L+R)
24 At the tip of the head, a mountain of a membrane (5) DURAL (heaD URAL)
25 Typical example of a cheap tyre bursting (9) ARCHETYPEAL (CHEAP TYRE) Typo corrected.

DOWN
1 Dollar note returned for a pail (6) BUCKET (BUCK TE<)
2 Digital identity of one called (9,6) TELEPHONE NUMBER (CD,DD)

3 Hit softly by light (4) LAMP (LAM  P)
4 Canal critter turns obstinate (12) RECALCITRANT (CANAL CRITTER*)
5 With a part of the foot, cleaning lady carries one in a mobile seat (10) WHEELCHAIR (With HEEL, 1 in CHAR)
6 Eco-friendly power got by processing new, green eastern barley (9,6) RENEWABLE ENERGY (NEW GREEN E BARLEY)
7 French philosopher who acted and ripped back (7) DIDEROT (DID TORE<)
          Had to Google this one
10 Drink for apsaras frolicking around a stream (12) SARSAPARILLA (APRSARAS* around A RILL)
13 Such steel as goes into the making of curt ultras (10) STRUCTURAL (CURT ULTRAS)*
16 Cooked in a kiln scarlet all around (7) ROASTED (RED around OAST)
18 Quiet one hugged by Miss West in club (6) MASHIE (MAE hugging SH 1)
          Some people remember her for the life jackets' fondly named after her, while other remember her for
           resembling those very inflated jackets and some for her quotes like "When women go wrong, men go
           right after them"
21 Father showing some temper eventually (4) PERE


60 comments:

  1. Kishore

    I enjoyed the cartoons.

    I am getting forgetful but it is mostly not being able to recall names of people, mixing up train numbers and missing or almost missing trains, being in the wrong place for an event... Or about to open the front door and leave without having combed my hair until my good wife gives me a dressing down.

    As for clothes, at worst it is buttoning up wrongly with mismatch between buttons and buttonholes. Luckily my wardrobe (limited) and my wife's (overflowing) are in different rooms.

    I would like to see your old man trying to wear stockings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would like to see your old man trying to wear stockings.

      'My' old man does not wear them. He prefers a munDu. Not that a Dhoti cannot evoke a cat-call. I remember our college principal wearing rather diaphanous dhotis and having to hear words like 'Sexy' and "What thigs, ma!". BTW, it was pronounced as 'thigs' and not 'thighs', hence typed so.

      If you are talking of the cartoon character, I thought I would keep it sober, by not putting him in hose and garters.

      Delete
    2. To this day, my wife buys my clothes and sets them out for me to wear, as she is 150% assured that, if I select them, I will make an absolute mismatch ...

      Delete
    3. CV, thanks to you the cartoon has become a 'strip' !

      Delete
  2. Kishore

    Do you draw only cartoons?

    Do you paint? If so, I would like you to do an oilcolour with the title "Apsaras frolicking around a stream".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have pinpointed my bete noir.

      I used to sketch wonderfully (including portraits), even if I say so, upto around 10 years back. I have not put pencil to paper after that. But with colour blindness in my armoury, I end up making an absolute mess of the sketch when I paint it. During my engagement days, I had palmed one of my oil paintings on my future wife and nobody except PGW can describe her face when that painting is mentioned. I know exactly what he means when he says: the dumb, suffering look ...

      Delete
    2. The title of the suggested painting is quite ravishing. To name a few, Ravi Varma, Hebbar and Hussain could do justice. I, as you will observe, am not listed.

      Delete
  3. Thanks.

    A misquote:
    ... until my good wife gives me a dressing gown.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Re your comment against 20:

    I took Karenina.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why not Kournikova? Younger than Karenina ...

      Delete
    2. Experience counts. As Agatha Christie said of hubby :

      An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her.

      Delete
    3. The Ks have 'it' !

      Delete
  5. 16A Give fresh gear to engineer with an odd pique (7) RE-EQUIP (RE PIQUE*)
    I prefer it with a hyphen


    Fully agree. Grammarians recommend a hyphen whenever vowels follow prefixes like 're-' and 'de-', just to avoid ambiguity.

    'Re-appear' and 'de-addiction' are good examples. (By the way, these two words are grist to c/w setters' mill. Reap+pear, dead+diction..., aren't they?)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Talking of Anna, we don't have any paisa left today and still we have shops (like Bata originally) pricing items at ??.99 only!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still have the copper round 1 paisa and the later cupro-nickel (or is it aluminium?) diamond shaped 1 paisa coins along with quite a few of the 2, 3, 5,10, 20, 25, 50 paise and Re.1 coins, along with the old pice, and various parts of an anna and rupee(1/4,1/2). Surprisingly I think the largest variety I have is in 10p coins.

      During my 4th standard (I think) I managed to shove a round 1 paisa coin into the open end of the tubular structure of the school chair and worried much and sorrowed more because I could not get it out.

      Delete
    2. After I have bought a pair of chappals costing Rs. ???-99 paise, if the bill with all taxes comes to Rs. ???-41 and if the salesman while returning change doesn't give me Rs. ???-59 paise but Rs. ???-50 paise, I always fight for it.

      Delete
    3. Right you are, and armed with a pair of chappals too, to boot !

      Delete
  7. I still remember my father telling me about the One anna he used to get as pocket money with which they could watch a movie also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and probably even save a bit to buy those 1 paisa biscuits that we used to get !

      Delete
  8. 10D - 'apsaras frolicking around a stream' brought back childhood memories.

    Indian Sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indicus) plants grew aplenty in our family farm by the side of a stream. This plant has longish leaves and long milky-white roots with a brown coating. We used to pick them and munch as a mouth-freshener.

    Extract from these roots is marketed by Ayurvedic companies. It is said to help keep acidity, dry throat and dehydration away and keep the kidneys in good order.

    I would not name the brand, lest it should mean promotion. It is made in Nanjangud in Karnataka. I take it regularly since I travel a lot. I have found it effective.

    Just thought of sharing the information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The brand name may be sared in a pvt mail, please

      Delete
    2. K, check your email pls. Also sent to a few other friends whose IDs were on hand.

      Delete
  9. The Tamil equivalent is nannaari. Nannaari sherbet is a refreshing drink.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks CV. Even the word 'nannaari' is used around coastal Karnataka. Equivalents in a few other languages are
      here.

      Delete
  10. The cartoons are very good, Kishore, specially the habit/nightdress wearing gent!
    Of course, the CW was very enjoyable.
    Good morning all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good morning to you too !

      Being a Sankalak puzzle, I has a few minutes on my hands, and you an idle brain is ...

      Delete
    2. Re HABIT - I had a poster which read as follows. (I don't remember the exact text.)

      HABIT is very hard to shed.

      You drop the H, you are left with A BIT.
      You drop the A, you are left with a BIT.
      Finally, you drop the B, and you are still left with IT.

      Delete
    3. Read above msg of 1002 with correction pointed out by RL at 1016 below.

      Delete
  11. Kishore 10:02

    and you an idle brain is ...

    I guess the word 'know' followed by a comma is missing.

    English is a dangerous language, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Replies
    1. Thanks, Groucho, for pointing out the 'type'

      Delete
  13. 7D : Regarding French Philosopher Dederot

    Kishore's comment : "Had to Google this one"

    Well, even French people would have Googled to get the name of this 17th/18th century Philosopher !!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Talking about Kishore's cartoons. Nice strip-tease show ! What next ? Want him in his birthday suit ? :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sankalak took us on a (5A) WORLD tour today ! (11A) exPO (Italy), (17A) RHINE (England), (7D) DEDEROT (France), (10D) SARSAPARILLA and
    (18D) MAshiE (America) !!

    ReplyDelete
  16. CV @ 8:49,

    Kishore has 'stripped' his cartoon to fulfil your desire !

    ReplyDelete
  17. SANKALAK had me in problem with 2 D. Instead of TELEPHONE, I solved it as CELLPHONE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too had it as Cellphone at first, the evidence of that is in the cartoon ;-)

      Delete
  18. Nice one from Sankalak, as usual. Learnt a couple of new things today.

    BTW, the iphone App has stopped working for me (starting this monday). I tried re-installing it and still the same issue - it is not able to pull the grid. Has anyone else faced the same problem this week ?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well disguised spam above it appears

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I don't like castor oil either !

      Delete
    2. Seriously, maybe people with memory problems will not like this particular cartoon. Apologies to them. I trust they will forgive and more importantly, forget.

      Delete
    3. I enjoyed those long words and phrases that struck the mind so readily. Good work, Sankalak. Such a delightful feeling when all the lights are cleared !!

      Kishore: Your strip-tease cartoons were rib-tickling !! You should have never given up the God-given talent of artwork but instead developed it to its fruition. My son too is good at drawing cartoons from his childhood days but alas, he has given this talent up due to disuse !!

      Why is a wallflower-ed damsel called so?

      SARSAPARILLA: What's the etymology of this word? Richard: Thanks for the the mail.
      CV: Isn't it the same as what Tamilians call as Mahani kizhangu? It's root is a source for dilicious pickles that my mother is to prepare and store in jars, with chillis and lime. I was told that this is good for
      keeping the digestive system in good order. I enjoy using this pickle with dahi- baath. I'm also told that this is the only pickle that doesn't need any preservative to keep the worms away , unlike mango pickles.
      It has a pungent aroma of a herb.
      I get it from the Ayyapan stores in CBE.
      Is it any relative of the other prominent item in the kitchen : Asafoetida ? How does one pronounce this word? ASA_FOE_TI_DA? or ASA_FE_TIDA? What's its source?

      Funny peculiar English language !!

      Delete
    4. I am not into pickles but I have just found out that you're right. Nannari and Magali kizhangu are one and the same.

      See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decalepis

      My mom used to make magali kizhangu pickles at home. My wife is very fond of pickles but they are store-bought.

      Delete
    5. 'asafoetida' comes from Persian asa - mastic, gum resin and Latin fetida - stinking,
      'oe' you can pronounces as ee in meet (or so I believe). There is a variant pronunciation too - oe as e in met.

      Delete
    6. It has a nickname -devil's dung

      Thanks for your kind words about the cartoon. Yes, i am seriously thinking of portraits again.

      Delete
    7. I used to store Pickles on my bookshelf. Suresh will understand. For the rest, refer:

      http://books.google.co.in/books/about/Accountancy.html?id=YsqTQgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

      Delete
  20. Kishore,

    I liked & admired your 'cartoon strip'! Your ability to draw blends well with your sense of humour.
    By the way, why Have you jumped a week and landed (of all dates!) on the 13th? ( I mean under the label)I think we have been talking too much about forgetfulness today. You had said"...and forget." It should be easy for them anyway!
    Reg. the PGW description of a shocked face-
    One of my friends was in the habit of using "vada, poda" etc.freely while talking to friends (in proper Tamil, it could be quite derogatory)One day, by just sheer habit, he used it with a newcomer to our office. One should have seen the expression on his face and his comment, " What! da?!". Ever since, we have been using those 2 words for such unexplainable (except of course by PGW in as many words as possible) looks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Paddy. The 'Sep 13' inthe label ref.s to te month and year and not date. No, Friday te 13th as not come a week early.

      Delete

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