No 13429, Thursday 16 Dec 2021, Afterdark

Solution to 1D 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.

Rangoli by Gowri

ACROSS

1   Hijacks, first neutralises driver with ease reportedly to collect money (11) COMMANDEERS {COMMA}{Ne...s}{Dr...r}{EE}{RS}

9   Gallery gets approval abroad; recorded (7) NOTATED {NO{TATE}D}

10 Used fake riots, removed leader at State reorganisation (5-2) SHAKE-UP {SH}{fAKE}{UP} No riots required for this

11 Snap at prince, angry with second loss (5) PHOTO {P}{HOT}{lOss}

12 War paint on spectators: commotion between husband and wife (3,6) EYE SHADOW {EYES}{H}{ADO}{W}

13 I’m mining uranium to process in country (5) NAURU URANiUm*

15 Relatives working in first and last shifts, by rule get a bonus essentially (4-2-3) SONS-IN-LAW {Shi{ON}ftS}{1}{boNus}{LAW}

18 Nair in showers... (9) RAINFALLS {NAIR}* [RA]

21 ... spirited, animated, lively, invigorated, vivacious, energetic from the beginning (5) ALIVE Acrostic

22 Nursery apparatus in a country has rust, to be returned (9) INCUBATOR {IN}{CUBA}{ROT<=}

24 Give good oration (5) GRANT {G}{RANT}

26 Gynaecologist’s treatment is vague (7) OBSCURE {OB'S}{CURE}

27 Deduced it’s excellent to accommodate monk (1,6) A PRIORI {A{PRIOR}1}

28 Like a successful book about singles picking top boys, exercising leverage tactfully (4-7) BEST-SELLING {SINGLES+Boys+Ex...g+Le...e+Ta...y}*

DOWN

1   Put up with Cook, say to get a kitchen implement (3,6) C?N ?P?N?R (Addendum - CAN OPENER {CAN}{OPENER} - See comments)

2   Saying that teetotaller is holding glasses afternoon (5) MOTTO {O{TT}O}<=>{M}

3   Harry’s frustration’s not in playing surface (9) ASTROTURF {FRUSTRATiOn}*

4   Cheats extracted money from tenants day before (7) DODGERS {lODGERS}<=>{D}

5   Perhaps Asian, fourth in order, an authoritarian (7) EASTERN {ordEr}{A}{STERN}

6   Cut lady out, take man to crush (5) SMASH S(-l+m)MASH

7   Latest by first of December, Chile leader to be toppled in a riot at capital (3,5) NEW DELHI {NEW}{De...r}{cHILE*}

8   Special woman, full of energy in issue (4) SPEW {SP}{E}{W}

14 Expenses incurred on product/service delivery cuts into distribution (4,4) UNIT COST*

16 Maiden won by a new promise, a life starts (9) INAUGURAL {IN}{AUGUR}{A}{Life}

17 Fighting and winning over lady (9) WRESTLING {WREST{L}ING}

19 If they are French, they will help in population control (7) LETTERS [CD]

20 Go after Suresh halfway and beat (7)  SURPASS {PASS}<=>{SUResh}

22 Hero to perform in Israel (4) IDOL {I{DO}L}

23 Link on top right corner in books for advertisement (5) BLURB {L}{U}{R} in {BB}

25 Sauce added with a bit of rosemary and vinegar to make this dish (5) AIOLI rAvIOLI

Reference List

Used = SH(Second Hand), Prince = P, Husband = H, Wife = W, Good = G, Teetotaller = TT, Glasses = OO, Afternoon = M(Meridian),  Lady = L, Man = M, Special = SP, Woman = W, Energy = E, Israel = IL, Link = L, Top = U, Book = B, Right = R 

TalePiece

By Dr RKE

Rani Mehta, the BEST-SELLING author is at the Cha Bar at the Oxford Book Store, Connaught Place, NEW DELHI for the INAUGURAL sale of her latest work of fiction. The PHOTO in the BLURB of this book is the same one that she has been using for 20 years. She looks visibly older now- the EYE SHADOW cannot hide her age entirely. Didn’t the Bard say ‘age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety?’. This IDOL of women authors is reputed to have SURPASSed all records in sales figures. That was thought impossible for a woman hailing from an OBSCURE town in EASTERN U.P. To have a mass readership and be praised by men of LETTERS is something only a few authors achieve.

The new book is called “SONS-IN-LAW”. It is claimed to be the story of 2 men married into the family of NAURU Bhicaji Rustomji, the business magnate from GRANT road Mumbai. Rustomji has only 2 daughters and they are into art and music, with no aptitude for taking over the huge empire he had painstakingly built. So, Veer and Sameer, their husbands, are WRESTLING with each other to gain control of the aging Rustomji’s companies. Veer, the elder one has the MOTTO - “SMASH any rule, if it helps your business”. Sameer believes that honesty alone pays. He wants to SHAKE UP the entire staff and weed out the artful DODGERS. Veer SPEWs venom at the sight of Sameer, but Sameer is more even-tempered. There is a sub-plot in which Veer’s new born son is being kept ALIVE on an INCUBATOR and can only be saved by bone marrow transplant and the only matching donor is…………. 

I do not want to issue spoilers. Buy the book (its UNIT COST is only Rs.350) and read it, enjoy the pacy narration. Don’t miss the striking use of language which is why Rani Mehta is the reigning queen of this genre.