No 13394, Thursday 04 Nov 2021, Arden

HAPPY DIWALI

Artwork by Prasanna

Solution to 11A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS

1   Supercilious crook dropping down (13) CONDESCENDING {CON}{DESCENDING}

10 Drug dealer’s lost his head — show him his place (5) USHER pUSHER

11 He gets it new — restricts pressure in the eyes, they say (9) R?C?P?E?T ()

12 Figure out God with deacon (9) DODECAGON*

13 Blemish covered in with rags (5) TAINT {TA{IN}T}

14 Other teams collect two points — that’s extremely foul (7) MEANEST {MEA{N}{E}ST*}

16 Review part of digital art — so real in front of the head (7) ROSTRAL [T<=]

18 Mobile phone... or has he been written off? (2-5) NO-HOPER* 

20 Drink — drink for happiness mostly (7) CHABLIS {CHA}{BLISs}

22 A duty to return grant (5) ALLOT {A}{TOLL<=}

24 Power cable, one kept on an instrument (9) ACCORDION {AC}{CORD}{1}{ON}

26 Cricket side not on time — you should make a law (9) LEGISLATE {LEG}{IS LATE}

27 Island of liberty (5) ELLIS [GK]

28 As is the custom, you won't find them in any legal tome (9,4) UNWRITTEN LAWS [C&DD]

DOWN

2   Drugs stashed inside, not set up by bushmasters, perhaps (7) OPHIDIA {OP{HID}IA} (Addendum - {OP{HID}IAtes} - See comments)

3   Reason why landfills don’t cost much? (4,5) DIRT CHEAP [C&DD]

4   Under silent cover, show you don’t care (5) SHRUG {SH}{RUG}

5   Off centre with commander in chief? (9) ECCENTRIC {CENTRE+CIC}*

6   Drank too much going up to station (5) DEPOT <=

7   Free ride to support those born poorer (7) NEEDIER {RIDE}*<=>{NEE}

8   Basically money and approval should correspond (13) FUNDAMENTALLY {FUND}{AMEN}{TALLY}

9   Not as much between, say headland and having no land to call one’s own (13) STATELESSNESS {LESS} in {STATE}{NESS}

15 Wine drinking — a gram turns her into a vixen (9) TERMAGANT {TE{A+GRAM}*NT}

17 Shaft — one goes in to mix thoroughly (9) STAIRWELL {A} in {STIR WELL}

19 A record going through layer of gas (7) HALOGEN {H{A}{LOG}EN}

21 Perhaps allow to carry papers when sick (4,3) LAID LOW {ALLOW}* over {ID}

23 One among others, grew up to be a stunner (5) TASER {RES{A}T}<=

25 Material stuck in the percolator brought up (5) CREPE [T<=]

Reference List

Silent = SH, Headland = NESS, Wine = TENT, Layer = HEN, Papers = ID 

TalePiece

By Dr RKE

It is the Diwali Night. As Kapil Chibber walks down the STAIRWELL of his Manhattan apartment, his hands fiddle the little diamond pendant hanging from his neck by a thin gold chain. It has the shape of a six-pointed star. His precise mind tells him that it is a DODECAGON. The diamond gives off a strange glow in the light of the HALOGEN lamp in the stairwell. As it always does, touching the diamond brings back memories of his great grandfather Ravinder Chibber, the one who had brought this family heirloom to the USA. As Kapil walks to the seafront at Battery Park, he sees the majestic firework display across the Hudson arranged this year for the All American Diwali. Spectacular as the display is, Kapil’s heart is after the ELLIS island, just adjacent to the island on which the Statue of Liberty stands, lighting hope in the hearts of millions of immigrants.

Ravinder Chibber had embarked at Ellis Island in 1905, having left Punjab after the great famine. He had sold his lands at a DIRT-CHEAP rate to pay for the fare, but through the thick and thin, he had miraculously managed to hold on to the diamond pendant. Needless to say, there were several NO HOPERS who travelled with him. But Ravinder’s eyes were filled with the Great American Dream. According to the UNWRITTEN LAWS at that time, whites from Europe were cleared at the Immigration Centre in hours but coloured people were held for several days in a DEPOT on the island, receiving the MEANEST treatment from the CONDESCENDING officers and guards. It was before the new immigration laws were LEGISLATEd, ALLOTing quotas for various countries. After release from the island, the new immigrants had to go through 2 years of being essentially in a condition of STATELESSNESS, a period in which they LAID LOW, did a string of odd jobs for a pittance, a few days at a time. If they managed to remain without a TAINT in the police records, they would become naturalized US citizens- the alternative was to face deportation. From being an USHER in Vaudeville, a sales assistant in an ACCORDION shop, working with an importer of CHABLIS, it was several years before Ravinder found his calling as a cab driver.

Of course, the diamond pendant had gone to the uncle often at NEEDIER times, but the FUNDAMENTALLY industrious Ravinder always miraculously managed to redeem it and pass on the heirloom to the next generation. This, despite having a TERMAGANT for a wife, Kapil’s great grandmother, that lady who scowls in a CREPE SHRUG in the framed photo, hanging in the foyer of Kapil’s apartment. It is Ravinder who stands by the side and surely that dodecagon star is there on his neck in that sepia photo. Through the wars and the depression years, Ravinder not only stayed afloat, but actually went on to become a fleet owner and tour operator. The next generations expanded Ravinder’s businesses and now Kapil is the RECIPIENT of the Parvasi Bharatiya Samman as the CEO of the Global Education Forum that empowers the marginalised in third world nations. All the effects of the lucky charm of the pendant you might think, no – it is sheer hard work and persistence. So let us together wish him and all fellow Indians who make us proud, a Happy Diwali!