No 12354, Wednesday 27 Jun 2018, Incognito

WHy short of a Pangram?

ACROSS
1   Native of Italy is perhaps blind (8) VENETIAN [DD]
5   Small, shapely and despicable (6) SCURVY {S}{CURVY}
10 Artists and engineers appear together before the king? That's comparatively uncommon! (5) RARER {RA}{RE}{R}
11 After wedding, sailor displays flag (5,4) UNION JACK {UNION} {JACK}

12 Alumnus saw and followed directions (6) OBEYED {OB}{EYED}
13 Most frightening when player had decay followed by onset of toothache (8) SCARIEST {S}{CARIES}{To...e}
15 Red army surrounded Arizona city square (5) PLAZA {PL{AZ}A}
17 Fighting Que Sera, Sera singer on December 26 (6,3) BOXING DAY {BOXING} {DAY}
19 Having noble ancestry, Peru princess had avarice (9) PEDIGREED {PE}{DI}{GREED}
20 Talks about stem (5) STALK*
21 Way to cook eggs and run for your aircraft (8) SCRAMBLE [DD]
23 Apostle Saul went around outskirts of township (2,4) ST PAUL {S{To...iP}AUL}
27 Direction: military supplies to be placed around island (9) ORDINANCE {ORD{I}NANCE}
28 Cradles and complains (5) CRIBS [DD]
29 Self-centred person recycled stogie (6) EGOIST*
30 Autocrat who orders a stenographer to take notes (8) DICTATOR [DD]

DOWN
1   Virudhunagar's top three government officers initially reveal celestial maiden (5) VIRGO {VIRu...r}{Go...t}{Of...s}
2   Female attendant to look after another female attendant (9) NURSEMAID {NURSE}{MAID}
3   Worried setter lost model brief (5) TERSE SEtTER*
4   Water colour seen after naval functionary goes away (4) AQUA AQUAmarine
6   Encounters frauds around fake establishment (9) CONFRONTS {CON{FRONT}S}
7   Plunder confused weaver who has lost a bit of wool (5) REAVE wEAVER*

8   Incessant chatter, yet garbled, between two animals (6-3) YAKETY-YAK {YAK}{YET*}{YAK}
9   After last letter, Indian company team finally gets English zincite (4,5) ZINC OXIDE {Z}{IN}{CO}{XI}D{E} D from?
14 Sailor's roof, without a bit of cement, is falling in a controlled manner (9) ABSEILING {ABS}{cEILING}
15 Peon's peso is rolling! It can be seen near the rump of a roast bird (5,4) POPES NOSE*

16 Differences in functional inputs (9) ARGUMENTS [DD]
18 Playwright has small drink at first (9) DRAMATIST {DRAM}{AT}{1ST}
22 Do air waves result in use of communication device? (5) RADIO*
24 Implicit diplomacy is required around setter (5) TACIT {TAC{I}T}
25 Erol's hybrid is a non-winner (5) LOSER*
26 French cap discovered in Lake Piru (4) KEPI [T]

GRID

Bhargav's Talepiece

The bouncer and the dancer - Part 72

The songs they hummed...(And thereby hangs a tale!!)

Some hum tunes as they like it. Some others according to their moods. But what about those in our tale? :-

LINDA:  Que sera sera. 

Margarita came like a gale. But soon thereafter Linda and Clement came to a TACIT understanding that they will not cross paths. The CONFRONTS and the ARGUMENTS ceased. Linda was often seen singing: Que sera sera. Yes. She took it upon herself that "Whatever will be, will be."

NURSEMAID: Barbie girl by AQUA.

Never in her duty will she fail.She had plenty of work to do. Clean the CRIB. Take care of the baby and feed her. Make her listen to rhymes on the RADIO. Often sang a few lines from Barbie girl.

UNCLE SAM: I'm a loser.

A disappointed male.After losing sight of the Earl and the Emir thought of himself as a Loser. Last seen singing: I'm a loser, I'm a loser And I'm not what I appear to be.

GERONIMO: Piya tu

Always wanting to have a whale of a time. An EGOIST. Like a DICTATOR often asked Lily to dance to the song Piya tu. Would cry; Lilllllllly Oh my darling!

HARRY the Lilliput: Ae meri ...

Always healthy and hale. Often seen tossing his KEPI and singing: Ae meri Kepi palat ke aa. (wonder who taught him that song. Must be Kayal.

ONLOOKERS:  Let it go.

It ricocheted from nearby hill and vale. The song most sung, always sung was from the onlookers. Like an ORDINANCE:

Let it go.

Can't hold it any more(!!)

Let it go!!

What happened next?

Trivia:

A disgruntled reader was heard singing: Onnume puriyale ulagathile. ennamo nadakkudhu marmamai irukkudhu

( Nothing is understood in this world / Something is happening (and) it is a mystery...)