No 13425, Saturday 11 Dec 2021, Gussalufz

Across

1 Prankster exposed and undermined(8) IMPAIRED {IMP}{AIRED}
5 With two active speakers, transcriber has to skip some nuances while penning note(6) STEREO {STEn{RE}O}
9 Top curse about debatable lineage, essentially(7) SWEATER {SWEA{debaTable}{linEage}R}
10 Burn in love side by side, intertwined(7) OXIDISE {O}{XI}{SIDE*}
11 Office worker shot rifle(5) FILER {RIFLE*}
12 Slow, oddly vacuous cook looks at fish(8) SOCKEYES {SlOw}{CooK}{EYES}
13 We retired after finding money tree(6) CASHEW {CASH}{WE<=}
14 Nerve pinched at ends in joint is raw(8) UNEDITED {UN{nervE}{pincheD}ITED}
18 Both enjoy endlessly flirting at work(2,3,3) ON THE JOB {bOTH+ENJOy*}
20 Ultimately alone in a crowd, a simple being(6) AMOEBA {A}{MO{alonE}B}{A}
23 Wanting closure, leave city in turmoil with purpose(8) ACTIVELY {LEAVe+CITY*}
25 Say no to second uncertain run after pushing initially(5) SPURN {S}{Pushing}{RUN*}
27 Power of attorney ends upon admission of swinging with drunk(7) ABILITY {Attorne{BI}{LIT}Y}
28 Misrepresented us again as “vegetarian creatures”!(7) IGUANAS {US+AGAIN*}
29 Two cells, united in frenzy, got enlarged(6) ZYGOTE (T)
30 Say, animals carrying empty, big, round, partitioned containers(3,5) EGG BOXES {EG}{BiG<=}{OXES} Anno correct? Oxes is a valid plural of Ox?

Down

1 Dear, this thereby forms a proof, as cited(4,5) IPSO FACTO 

{IPSO FACTO + DEAR *}= {A PROOF AS CITED}
2 Rice preparations with peas smeared all over inside(7) PAELLAS {PEAS*} around {ALL<=}
3 Popular royal visitor returns with fantastic free hamper(9) INTERFERE {IN}{{R}{ET}<=}}{FREE*}
4 Departure of retiring mess sergeant(6) EGRESS (T<=)
6 Stock starts to tank rapidly in terrified exchange(5) TRITE (Acrostic)
7 Tirade over Gussalufz and Gussalufz’s old clothes(7) RAIMENT {RA{I}{ME}NT}
8 Sign of love, guys!(4) OMEN {O}{MEN}
10 Of songbirds frolicking — so nice!(6) OSCINE {SO+NICE*}
15 Canada: MPs quibble, showing disappointment(4,5) DAMP SQUIB (T)
16 Revolutionary musical number “Help!” is what the doctor specified?(9) DIAGNOSIS {{SONG}{AID}<=}{IS}
17 Sweet that is almost yellow after cooking, laced with a hint of vanilla(6) LOVELY {YELLOw*} around {Vanilla}
19 Cloth left withdrawn in applying a light, sensuous touch?(7) TICKING {TICKlING}
21 Silly Don Quixote party and contest finally cancelled in semiannual event(7) EQUINOX {doN+QUIXOtE*}
22 Classification // work done in an office(6) TYPING (DD)
24 Factoid: industrialist from the right smuggles dope(5) IDIOT (T<=)
26 Improvisational music in Germany: yes, famous bearded rockers going topless!(4) JAZZ {JA}{ZZ top}

Reference List

Note=Re, Love=O, Side=XI, Second=S, Swinging=Bi, Drunk=Lit, Say=Eg
Popular=In, Royal=R, Visitor=ET, Love=O, Left=L, Party=Do, In Germany yes=Ja

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

Being ON THE JOB of a medical officer in a Munnar CASHEW estate appeared to be an easy life, when I first went there years back. I had SPURNed some offers from city hospitals and chosen this because I wanted some quiet time to study for my postgraduate entrance exam. Besides, I could put on a SWEATER and go out for a long walk in the unpolluted chill mornings, listen to the call of the birds, feast my eyes on the lush greenery….. you get the drift. When I got tired of nature, I could always put on my STEREO headphones and listen to some thumping JAZZ. There were only a few patients with routine illnesses and I had to rely solely on my clinical skills for making a DIAGNOSIS, be it AMOEBiasis or arthritis. To the simple folk there, my word was the gospel- they never did INTERFERE like the “informed” city slickers, who keep questioning your diagnosis and treatment.

I still remember a particular date during my stay there. It was the autumnal EQUINOX – 22^nd of September. The cook said something bad was going to happen as she had seen an IGUANA cross her path from left to right, when she went out to fill the EGG BOXES. The hill tribes believe that to be an ill OMEN.  That evening a FILER in the estate office was brought in with IMPAIRED consciousness. He reeked of wine and IPSO FACTO, I concluded that he must have hit the bottle right after lunch. I admitted him to my 4-bedded ‘hospital’, put him on a glucose drip and said he would wake up in the morning when his head cleared.  The estate manager decided to shift the patient to Kochi, in spite of my protest.

I learnt later that the patient had died soon after reaching the Kochi hospital- he had had diabetic ketoacidosis- undoubtedly worsened by all the glucose I had pumped in. In this disease the breath has a characteristic odour, akin to some sweet wine- that the texts describe somewhat inexactly as ‘fruity’. I thought I had to make an inglorious EGRESS from the estate before I was pilloried by the locals. But you know, the hill people are simple sweet folk. They only said “poor thing, the filer was fated to die, our young doctor after all tried his best”. That remark hurt way more than it would have if I had been hauled over the coals.