No 12924, Friday 01 May 2020, Arden

Day 38 of 40 Stay safe at home

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ACROSS
1   Said to be constructed on ground — initially it could be sort of jerky (7) BILTONG (~built){BILT}{ON}{G}

5   Slip into low gear perhaps (7) MOORAGE {MOO}{GEAR*}
9   Foolish fellow with ego, puts one in a spot (5) IDIOT {I}{D{1}OT}
10 One being & lit. all set to go up in flames (9) IGNITIBLE {1+BEING+LIT}* All set on double duty
11 Servant has a duty, he is revered (9) AYATOLLAH {AY{A}{TOLL}AH}
12 Strict usage allows for some sudden attack (5) ICTUS [T]
13 First casting inside mould is cubic in shape (4) DICE {DI{Ca...g}E}
15 Time to plug extra covers, it’s a pledge (8) MORTGAGE {MOR{T}{GAG}E}
18 Don’t allow to carry tin bottle (8) DECANTER {DE{CAN}TER}
19 Not often will you see in a letter — a reminder (4) RARE [T]
22 Horse — one could be found in Goa or Mangalore, perhaps (5) PINTO [DD]
24 Exaggerated — close by backward point (9) OVERDRAWN {OVER}{WARD<=}{N}
26 Daily work, very essential trait (9) CHARACTER {CHAR}{ACT}{vERy}
27 Flower sample attached to plant (5) INDUS INDUStry
28 Back on, Arden’s off (4-3) REAR-END {RE}{ARDEN*}
29 Complete success in a gallop (4,3) HOME RUN [CD] (Addendum - {HOME}{RUN} - See comments)

DOWN
1   Bond covers thousand acres of lake (6) BAIKAL {BAI{K}{A}L} Name of this lake is stuck in my mind thanks to my Geography teacher in School, Mrs Rama Rao. God bless her soul.

2   Distressed ladies get help, saved (4,5) LAID ASIDE {L{AID}ASIDE*}
3   Lost the election, party becomes better (5) OUTDO {OUT}{DO}
4   Winger’s remorse over the French physician (9) GUILLEMOT {GUIL{LE}{MO}T}

5   Bird breaking many hearts (5) MYNAH {MANY*}{H}

6   Dismissed oil worker to keep things on even keel (9) OUTRIGGER {OUT}{RIGGER}

7   Ploy to get girl out of reach (5) AMBIT gAMBIT
8   However, decreases — only to provide support (4,2) EVEN SO {EVENS}{O}
14 Make way heading North, talk will disappear (9) EVAPORATE {PAVE<=}{ORATE}
16 They are rather placed in the periodic table (4,5) RARE EARTH* Semi&lit
17 Possible merger, also included the plant (9) GERMANDER {GERM{AND}ER*}

20 Washer’s room, right underneath... (6) SPACER {SPACE}{R}
21 ...as one finds bliss finally in marriage (6) UNISON {UNI{b..sS}ON}
23 One slept inside, rose to find a horny beast (5) NYALA {A{LAY}N}<=

24 Chose to take some time and performed the surgery (5) OPTED OPeraTED
25 Pride is missing, there is inner belief in God (5) DEISM [T]

Reference List
Ground = G, Low = MOO, Ego = I, Servant = AYAH, Time = T, Point = N, Daily = CHAR, On = RE, Thousand = K, Acre = A, Party = DO, The in French = LE, Physician = MO, Hearts = H, Girl = G, Only = O, Right = R, One = AN

Dr RKE's TalePiece

Mr.J.PINTO (name changed to protect patient privacy) had OPTED to consult me at my private clinic on a weekend. I had LAID ASIDE my plans of playing golf and had agreed to see him, as he had been referred by a physician friend, who had suspected that Pinto's was a RARE disease, out of a physician's AMBIT.

Mrs.Pinto complained that her husband was often behaving like an IDIOT. I smiled to myself - isn't that how most wives think of their hubbies? EVEN SO, I asked her to elaborate and give an example.  She said that at a party, he had suddenly picked up a DECANTER and dashed it to the ground. He had stared at the guests and appeared to mumbling something and he appeared to be rolling an invisible pair of DICE in his fingers. He had calmed down in a minute. There had been several such incidents.  I questioned JP and his memory of the events seemed to have completely EVAPORATEd. He said, "Doc, I am fine, I suspect my wife is making up some story. But I am troubled by these sounds I hear often. For some 10 seconds, I hear the call of a MYNAH in my left ear 3 or 4 times a day. That is strange as there are no birds in the congested colony we live in".

I spent time diligently doing a physical examination but there was nothing out of CHARACTER. The history led me to suspect an ICTUS of a complex partial seizure. I referred him to INDUS scans for MRI of the brain with gadolinium contrast. Gadolinium, as you know, is a RARE EARTH metal and when its compound is injected intravenously, it lights up the lesions in the brain. JP came back to me the next day and sure enough there was a sinister looking tumor at the REAR END of his amygdala in the right temporal lobe. This accounted for his IGNITIBLE behaviour. I proposed surgery. Since he had no insurance and as their account was already OVERDRAWN his wife had to MORTGAGE her jewels to pay for the operation. In  spite of modern neurosurgical technology (and not to mention my vast experience), I had to OUTDO myself to hit a HOME RUN with this complex and delicate operation. JP was fine after surgery and when I told them that the tumor was benign, they said in UNISON, "Thank God". Such is the power of DEISM.