No 13419, Saturday 04 Dec 2021, Bruno

Solution to 26A 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   Threatening to go back in the middle of prayer (6) CREEPY {CR{PEE<=}Y}

4   Salesman taking railway test (3,3) TRY OUT {T{RY}OUT}

8   Thieves run after pellet hidden in eggs shot at the head (7) ROBBERS {RO{BB}E}{R}{Shot}

9   Conveys love for a part of the supply chain (7) IMPORTS IMP(-a+o)ORTS

11 Another part of the supply chain uses hot ore smelting (10) STOREHOUSE*

12 Downpour washed away village’s essential provisions (4) FOOD FlOOD

13 What goes into 11Ac — daughter and son’s sentimental stuff at first (5) GOODS {D}{S}<=>{GOO}

14 Old city hemmed in by metropolis chases some elected leaders for protection (8) SECURITY {Some}{El...d}}{C{UR}ITY}

16 Setter’s embarassed after bad actor got drunk (8) HAMMERED {ME}{RED}<=>{HAM}

18 After end of November, send out payment (5) REMIT {n...eR}{EMIT}

20 Find out Latin’s not necessary to make money (4) EARN lEARN

21 Two unknowns in Rome — all lost had a cheese (10) MOZZARELLA  {MO{ZZ}{A}RE*}{ALL*}

23 Theatrical production of male wearing green-top (7) STAGING {STAG}{IN}{Gr..n}

24 Taxes on 9Ac is a set of traditional practices (7) CUSTOMS [DD]

25 When leader’s missing, go back, and escape (6) EGRESS rEGRESS

26 News about where 13Ac arrives from abroad (6) ?E?O?T (Addendum - REPORT {RE}{PORT} - See comments)

DOWN

1   13Ac essentially brought in boat for a small farm (5) CROFT CR(-a+o)OFT

2   Not allowing 9Ac to come ashore? That problem bar-goer grasps (7) EMBARGO [T]

3   One that buys natural bottled-drinks with rupees (9) PURCHASER {PUR{CHAS}E}{R}

5   Plant that is placed at the feet of Hindu God (5) RAMIE {IE}<=>{RAM}

6   Working and non-working equipment and rigs, basically, can be bought (2,5) ON OFFER {ON}{OFF}{Eq...t}{Rigs}

7   Retaliation, after Tito is forced to give up Eastern Territory (3,3,3) TIT FOR TAT {AFTeR+TITO}*{T}

10 Make cheap submarine with capacity to transport one’s defence (9) SUBSIDISE {SUB}{S{1}{D}IZE}

13 Grandmother had to obtain universal approval at first to have peg — swear! (9) GUARANTEE {G{U}{Ap...l}RAN}{TEE}

15 Dog’s privates — essentially, true representation of what makes something voluptuous? (9) CURVATURE {CUR}{priVAtes}{TRUE*}

17 Staff, over long time, have right to become boss (7) MANAGER {MAN}{AGE}{R}

19 Expert finds oxygen at the bottom of flowing stream (7) MAESTRO {O}<=>{STREAM}*

21 Energy sucked up by person’s revered spirits (5) MANES {MAN{E}S}

22 Breaking point of some slim items (5) LIMIT [T]

Reference List

Go = PEE, Railway = RY, Run = R, Daughter = D, Son = S, Latin = L, Unknown = Z, About = RE, Rupees =R, Eastern = E, Territory = T, Defence = D, Universal = E, Right = R, Energy = E

TalePiece

By Dr RKE

By Bhargav

Vinayak Kelkar, the MANAGER at the Mumbai CUSTOMS, is a man targeted by the underworld. He has EARNed a reputation for honesty and all attempts by them to bribe him have failed. All IMPORTS into the country have to pass through his strict scrutiny and smugglers know that he would open every single crate of GOODS arriving at the port. The only items that he lets pass are those labelled “perishable FOOD” that come in refrigerated containers as the STOREHOUSE at the port lacks the facility to maintain the cold storage, once they are opened. Even this does not provide a safe route for smugglers, as he has sometimes sent his SECURITY staff all the way to the destination of the cold container where they would be ultimately opened by the PURCHASER. Today there is a container of MOZZARELLA cheese meant for a chain of five-star hotels. Kelkar can only do an x-ray scanning of the container and he lets it go once the import duty was REMITted to the Government account.

.....Continued by Gowri.

A MAN'S TRUE INSTINCTS....

A similar container had been arriving without fail, once in 2 weeks, ever since Government lifted the EMBARGO on FOOD items post Corona. Kelkar's strong instincts often made him smell something fishy, rather than cheesy from the container, but it was a chance remark by his assistant RAMIE Raman, that brought matters to a head.

RAMIE, remarked casually, How much MOZZARELLA do you think these ROBBERS need, considering they merely use a sprinkling of it as topping? They have supposedly SUBSIDISED their rates, post Corona. I TRIED OUT their Mexican Pizza, which was ON OFFER, the other day & I needed a magnifying glass to spot the cheese there.

Kelkar's antenna were fully up now. Deciding on the spot, he called the hotel. As per protocol, CUSTOMS had to prior inform their clients, about their visits. Nothing sly, CREEPY or sudden was allowed. Kelkar spoke to the management, asking them not to HAMMER out the container till his arrival.

At the front entrance of the Grand Hotel, he was met by Ms. Ashwini Dasgupta - their Chief MANAGER in charge of FOOD & Beverages. Kelkar's eyes grew wide & not just by the CURVATURE of her figure, evident in her Corporate attire or her MANE of shiny black hair. He was stunned because - She was the same Ashwini, his classmate from College. A very good friend, who had professed repeated romantic interests in him. Things hadn't worked out then. Now an early widower at just 50, Kelkar was delighted to see her. She seemed equally so. Exchanging pleasantries, she guided him into their main restaurant offering him a cup of coffee. She confessed, she was still a spinster. In that pleasant ambience with CROFT's dim lights & MAESTRO's lilting violin, Kelkar's mind was STAGING all sorts of possibilities. They even fixed up a dinner date for Friday, before he came out of his reverie.

When he explained the purpose of his visit, she was mortified. Vinay! You are the LIMIT. Your suspicious nature has not changed at all. In college, you suspected my true feelings for you. Now you are questioning my professional integrity. I am personally responsible for each & every carton of food that enters our store room. Accusing our hotel of foul play, with respect to food imports is like directly accusing me. Go Ahead! Check the carton ! But I GUARANTEE, this will be our last meeting.

Quelling his instincts & allowing his emotions to get the better of him, he let the matter drop & agreed to meet her on Friday for dinner.

But little did he realise that Ashwini was neither a spinster, nor employed by the hotel chain.

She had infact been hired by Chadda, the local Mafia Don for a specific purpose.

The Mafia has its own research wing & Kelkar had been on their radar for a long time. This hotel was actually owned by their boss Ibrahim & the famous chain was merely managing it. As soon as the plan was hatched, to smuggle inside the MOZZARELLA containers, they knew, sooner or later, Kelkar would demand an inspection. Tracing Ashwini with great difficulty, they hired her for just such an emergency. They knew she could deflect Kelkar.

But what they did not know, was Vinay's true nature & very strong instincts. He had barely gone half way back, when he changed his mind & came back. When he asked to see the Foods & Beverages Manager, at the reception, he was met by young Anup Kumar, who had taken over recently.

Well the rest, as they say, was mere formality. But the real surprise was the identity of the smuggled goods. Imagine Kelkar's surprise, when he found hundreds of vials of an internationally banned Vaccine. Apparently, these were being administered to hapless locals, who had no clue, in the name of the regular Government approved local vaccine. It was a huge network involving many bigwigs.

As Kelkar wrote in his final REPORT, he had been looking to tap EGRESS of income for the government. Little did he know, that he would be uncovering such a big International scam, involving public health, safety & lives of millions.

Needless to say, huge arrests were made, Kelkar was declared a hero & given the prestigious civilian award. However, the image of a dimpled Bengal beauty, complete with a shiny MANE refused to leave his mind. If he wanted TIT FOR TAT, he could have named her. But for old times' sake, he left her out of it. He only hoped, she had learnt her lesson.

He was sure, he would live to tell this tale & who knew, they may well meet again. After all it's a small world!