No 13399, Thursday 11 Nov 2021, Incognito

Solution to 21D 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.

'JAI BHIM'. Great movie. Watch it if you can.

ACROSS

8   Bull in Belize building (4) ZEBU [T]

9   Film setter eating duck at six in Rome (5) MOVIE {M{0}{VI}E}

10 One spinner’s over (4) ATOP {A}{TOP}

11 Indian rural organisation for tribe living in TN (6) IRULAR* {I}{RURAL}*

12 Some baseball players and actress following feline creature with a piece of salmon (8) CATCHERS {CHER}<=>{CAT} and {Sa...n}

13 A type of drug that can give one a heavenly body? (8) ASTEROID {A}{STERIOD}

15 Supports for walking stiffly? (6) STRUTS [DD]

17 Designed Mac... even for troglodytes (7) CAVEMEN*

19 Mason travels around New York giving fake names (7) ANONYMS {ANO{NY}MS*}

22 Discount on some cricket equipment available at last (6) REBATE [RE}{BAT}{a...lE}

24 Champion sloppily cleans parts of churches (8) CHANCELS {CH}{CLEANS*}

26 Varied diets are more stable (8) STEADIER*

28 A yew building in the outskirts of Lancaster for advocate (6) LAWYER {A+YEW}* in {La...eR}

30 In short, a long car (4) LIMO [CD]

31 Dear husband is followed by a Yankee (5) HONEY {H}{ONE}{Y}

32 Associate in Ballygunge (4) ALLY [T]

DOWN

1   Don Williams’ exhilarated American rockers for starters (4) WEAR Aceostic

2   Sue belly dances in centre of Target (8) BULLSEYE*

3   Egg spoilt my robe (6) EMBRYO*

4   Fruit’s audio-visual with rotter wearing glasses (7) AVOCADO {AV} and {CAD} in {OO}

5   Drop male heir behind pier, say (8) JETTISON {SON}<=>{JETTI}(~jetty)

6   Collect gun with that lady (6) GATHER{GAT}{HER}

7   Moroccan tie (4) MOOR [DD}

14 Part of skinless, naked reptilian creature (5) SNAKE [T]

16 Troop leader composed mail in Indian language (5) TAMIL {Tr..p}{MAIL}

18 Yes, eight managed to get vision (8) EYESIGHT*

20 Ties boas for example (8) NECKWEAR [DD]

21 Making gashes for keeping track of runs (7) ?C?R?N? (Addendum - SCORING [DD] - See comments)

23 An endless labyrinth over large river (6) AMAZON {A}{MAZe}{ON}

25 Sally is worried about consuming egg in brass, steel, pewter, and the like (6) ALLOYS {ALL{0}YS*}

27 Fall outing (4) TRIP [DD]

29 Creatures found in steel shops (4) EELS [T]

Reference List

Six in Rome = VI, Indian = I, On = RE, Champion = CH, Husband = H, Yankee = Y, Gun = GAT

TalePiece

By Dr RKE

“Have you seen the MOVIE, Jai Bhim?” asked my friend. I said” yes, I started seeing it on AMAZON prime, but I could not stand it for more than 10 minutes”. You may wonder why I am so dismissive of a movie that is SCORING so high on IMDB.  It is supposed to be a movie that shows how a LAWYER fights for justice, for a pregnant woman from the IRULAR community of TAMILnadu, whose husband is jailed on false charges. This marginalised tribe, whose hunter-GATHERER way of life resembles the CAVEMEN of the past, are traditionally SNAKE and rat CATCHERS and they WEAR a standard NECKWEAR made of a black thread from which hangs the fang of a snake. They are famed for their keen EYESIGHT and hearing that helps them hit the BULL’S EYE while catching rodents and serpents from the MOOR. Of course, many youths from the community have JETTISONed their traditional ways of life and are becoming educated and employed.

My taste in movies is very different. I have no stomach for the harsh realism, those gut-wrenching scenes of violence meant to evoke sympathy and those windy dialogues in courtroom scenes. For me, movies should be an escape from the humdrum of daily existence; they must be chic and feature city -slickers riding LIMOs, who STRUT about eating AVOCADO dipped in HONEY! I can just about tolerate the sci-fi genre featuring TRIPs to ASTEROIDs. Or those Animal Planet types showing the growth of EELS from the EMBRYO stage. OK, I may even watch a treasure chase that takes you to the CHANCELS of ancient Roman churches or ATOP the White House dome (you know which exact movies I have in my mind).  Oh, did I mention that the other genre I hate is the jallikattu type where muscled men chase ZEBUs.  Give me any day a film that showcases the unALLOYed, STEADY love between a married couple or one that shows business ALLIES and their competition, I would prefer that to a hundred Jai Bhims, even if they come at a REBATE