No 13413, Saturday 27 Nov 2021, Incognito

 Across

8 Four followed female with a bit of envy. How many persons does that make? (4) FIVE {F}{IV}{Envy}
9 Lathe operator follows servant in unputdownable book (4-6) PAGE-TURNER {PAGE}{TURNER}
10 Note on lake a mythical creature of yore (6) FAERIE {FA}{ERIE}
11 Checks old pit having a bit of silver (8) EXAMINES {EX}{A}{MINE}{Silver}
12 Confused peers ask orators (8) SPEAKERS {PEERS+ASK*}
14 Father’s attempt to make food (6) PASTRY {PA'S}{TRY}
16 Bread dough (4) CASH (DD)
17 Hammer key currency (5) POUND (MD)
18 Trees in Wilhelmstrasse (4) ELMS (T)

19 Flee from Spanish promontory (6) ESCAPE {ES}{CAPE}
21 Mrs Lennon gets food by beginning of act in Japanese city (8) YOKOHAMA {YOKO}{HAM}{Act}
23 Liar sank violently in Ceylon (3,5) SRI LANKA {LIAR+SANK*}
26 Tells untruth about 51 flowers (6) LILIES {LI{LI}ES}
27 Badly create PIN using first prime for trainee (10) APPRENTICE {CREATE+PIN+Prime*}
28 Magazine editor’s requirement (4) NEED (T)

Down

1 Excitedly said, “Sapper vanishes” (10) DISAPPEARS {SAID+SAPPER*}
2 Scold poacher wandering around middle of April (8) REPROACH {POACHER*} around {apRil}
3 Superintendent of Police’s with that lady at beginning of evening ball (6) SPHERE {SP}{HER}{Evening}
4 Curve old girl makes with ease, I hear (4) OGEE {O}{G}{~EE}
5 Fitted belt and rushed around net (8) STRAPPED {S{TRAP}PED}
6 Coaches model before showers (6) TRAINS {T}{RAINS}
7 Repeatedly setter creates popularly transmitted idea (4) MEME {ME}{ME}
13 Dusty, littered den (5) STUDY {DUSTY*} 
15 Unforgotten and taken on rolls again? (10) REMEMBERED (D&CD)
17 Carrying empty gun, confused parent goes around (8) PREGNANT {PARENT*}around {GuN}
18 Yet Helen synthesised gas (8) ETHYLENE {YET+HELEN*}
20 Laurel’s funny charm (6) ALLURE {LAUREL*}
22 King is followed by sicker assassin (6) KILLER {K}{ILLER}
24 Hits gunners in front of private secretary (4) RAPS {RA}{PS}
25 Surrounded by some parts of pyramid (4) AMID (T)

Reference List

Four=IV, Female=F, Note=Fa, Old=Ex, Father=Pa, Spanish=ES, 51=LI

Superintendent of Police=SP, That lady=Her, Old=O, Girl=G, Model=T, Setter=Me, King=K, Gunners=RA, Private Secretary=PS

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Reference list word, Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Opposite indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous

TalePiece

By Dr RKE

Haruto Tanaka of Nissan Motor Corp, YOKOHAMA is on a special mission in SRI LANKA. The CASH STRAPPED Sri Lanka, cannot afford to set up manufacturing plants on its own but NEEDs vehicles for its army and agriculture. AMID intense competition, Nissan has sent Haruto Tanaka to secure the bid.  Haruto Tanaka, who had TRAINed as an APPRENTICE of Ashwani Gupta, the COO of Nissan, was made to STUDY not just the market in Sri Lanka but about all related SPHERES with the customary Japanese thoroughness.   This included the traditions of the Sri Lankans, the business ethics of the officials (or, rather the lack of it- you know, you cannot ESCAPE giving bribes at all levels) and the politicians involved in decision making.  He REMEMBERED to say “bohoma stuti” (thank you) every time he was greeted with the ubiquitous “ayu bowan”(wish you a long life).

Who would think that this long life would be cut short so cruelly? Yes, Haruto Tanaka has DISAPPEARed under mysterious circumstances. The police EXAMINE his mobile phone found on the driveway. The last message they find is to a gift company in Yokohama to home-deliver FIVE LILIES and some choice PASTRY to his PREGNANT wife back home. Nothing to indicate that he had left home in a great hurry, dropping the cell phone as he climbed into the car. His car is found abandoned in the ELMS Garden outside the city and the OGEE shaped tyre mark indicates he had swerved the car violently. But where is he or his body?

The Japanese High Commission is REPROACHing the police for making no headway. The media RAPS them for not closing in on the KILLER, publishing MEMEs that poke fun of their inaction. That the police do not discover the cause of the disappearance / death, makes it fit for a plot of a PAGE TURNER story.

Of course, this anecdote does not have a FAIRIE tale ending. Had only the body been found the police may have discovered that Haruto Tanaka was given ‘sake’ laced with ETHYLENE glycol. This colourless, odourless sweet liquid can be mixed in wine without altering its taste. It first excites the nervous system, makes the person flustered and finally causes heart and kidney failure. The professional killers (hired by rival auto companies) then must have followed his car and removed the body to dispose of it. From the scraps of information put out by the police, this is not just an ALLURing theory but actually the only plausible one, that your own Sherlock Holmes from Trichy has worked out.