RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS ON FRIDAYS ONLY
All those who are not regular commenters but who are rookie commenters or silent followers of the blog are requested to post answers with annotations in the comments section. In your own interest please avoid looking up the answers from the interactive version. Don't hesitate to post your annotations, in case you make a mistake in the annotation someone will correct it with the right annotation.
PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED
Each commenter is requested to post only 5 answers thereby giving others also a chance to participate. Please provide all your answers in one comment.
Regular solvers/Veterans can post 1 answer each, but after 11 AM only
 |
| Rangoli by Gowri |
Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.
ACROSS
1 Just about wild herbs taking space from shrub (8,5) BUTCHERS BROOM {BUT}{C}{HERBS*}{ROOM}
_(15720512577).jpg)
11 Strip of wood found at the outskirts of Coalchel near Erode (5) CLEAT {Co...eL}{EAT}
12 I am getting engineer to procure something used in construction (1-4) I-BEAM {I{BE}AM}
13 Two animals with mother leaving to get an insect (9) TIGERMOTH {TIGER}[mamMOTH} Enu should be (5,4)
.jpg)
16 No bell frequently for Christmas (4) NOEL {NO}{bElL}
19 Move slowly with load in the front (4) TAXI {TAX}{In}
20 Mean to deposit money in Singapore? Why I say (6) STINGY {S{TIN}G}{(~why)Y}
25 Order exam to be conducted for a complaint (9) XERODERMA*
26 Data I gathered displayed in Eurasian forests (5) TAIGA [T]
29 Shock and cheat people collecting surge rates without a hint of affectation (13) CONSTERNATION {CON}{NATION} over {RaTES}*
DOWN
2 Relatives and mother returning to America (5,3) UNCLE SAM {UNCLES}{MA<=}
4 Breaks out in purest form (6) ERUPTS*
5 Cut of meat to ship, has prime calf rib (5,3) SCRAG END {S{Calf}{RAG}END}
_Zoo_Itatiba.jpg)
9 Nervous boy stayed mean (5) ITCHY bITCHY
15 Understand, prepare and discuss a different point of view (9) READDRESS {READ}{DRESS}
17 Look, search for weapon (3,5) AIR RIFLE {AIR}{RIFLE}
18 Maybe Walter White in another avatar smuggling Bliss essentially (4,4) ANTI HERO {ANOTHER}* over {blIss}
21 Annual party finally advanced (6) YEARLY {p..tY}{EARLY}
22 Tens to be kept in a moneybox first by principle (5) AXIOM {A}{X}{10}{Mo...x}
23 White foreigner in Latin America has to leave mob inside (6) GRINGO {G{RING}O}
24 Been collecting aluminium and whalebone... (6) BALEEN {B{AL}EEN}
26 ... that is to gather intelligence (2,3) TO WIT {TO}{WIT}
Reference List
About = C, Question = QU, Queen = ER, Money = TIN, Wife = W, Husband = H, King = RE, Man = M, Tense = T, Boy = B
A REAL BEAUTY QUEEN
ReplyDeletePersis Mohanti had a busy day ahead of her. She was irritated because, she couldn't find her CAN OPENER & had to give her AIOLI a miss & settle for a breakfast of plain dry toast. She looked out of her window & hoped there would be no RAINFALL in the evening.
Today, Persis was receiving a special award & GRANT of 50 Lakh rupees, for her pioneering work amongst the tribal girls of Orissa. The Prime Minister himself, was flying in from NEW DELHI, to attend this function & present the award to her.
As she opened the news paper, she was pleasantly surprised to see her own PHOTO in the bottom of the first page. Of course, today, the top honours were reserved for Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu, the Indian Beauty Queen, who had been crowned Miss. Universe 2021. She also spotted a BLURB, on the 3rd page with both their PHOTOS - with some BEST SELLING copy about Diverse Women Achievers.
Looking at Harnaaz, Persis couldn't help having a flashback of her own life. Born as Munni (with no surname), she was from the Gond tribe & grew up in an OBSCURE corner of Orissa. Poverty & permanent hunger were her constant companions. She never knew who her father was & when there was a spate of epidemic in their area, merely staying ALIVE was becoming a day today struggle. Her mother's single MOTTO, was to get out of their area & move to Cuttack.
Fortunately for her, her own group of people spoke a smattering of Hindi, apart from their regular Gondi. During one of their worst floods, they were visited by the Collector of their area, who came to supervise the relief workers. It is nothing short of A PRIORI, that seeing the undernourished Munni, who was the same age as his daughter, he asked his secretary to move her mother & her to Cuttack into a State run home for destitute women.
In Cuttack, Munni had her first bath ever. With enough food to satisfy her hunger & a roof over head, she blossomed. As though fresh out of the INCUBATOR, she grew into a tall & lissom beauty. Her alabaster skin glowed free of dirt & her black slanting eyes needed no EYE SHADOW. It became obvious that Munni was endowed with looks that could make heads turn.
Soon men from all walks of life were chasing her & her mother was in a quandary. But when she realised that there wasn't a single man around, willing to become her SON IN LAW, she gave up. She didn't want her daughter to have the same fate as her. No Marriage, No Husband & no Permanent Companion!
Till today, it wasn't clear to Munni, where & how her mother met Ms.Fernandes, editor of a popular Woman's magazine. Munni was dressed up in her meager fineries & marched off to meet Ms. Fernandes. One look at her & Ms. Fernandes knew that this EASTERN beauty was going to be a SMASH hit. With some grooming & knowledge of English LETTERS, she could surpass the world's best mannequins.
Munni was put on a strict regimen of diet, beauty care, grooming lessons & of course English, complete with an accent to boot. It was at this juncture that her mother decided she needed a new name. Alas, she had never heard of the Bard or his quote - A rose by any other name would smell as sweet! (Idea stolen straight from Doc!)
It was thus that Munni was christened Persis Mohanti & her name was enrolled for the Miss India pageant. Without WRESTLING too much, she cleared the INAUGURAL rounds. Wearing a beautiful white gown, complete with a train, she sashayed down the ASTRO TURF garden to be declared Miss India. Poor tribal Munni was the latest marquee, complete with a tiara & the overnight IDOL of many a starry eyed girl.
ReplyDeleteWell, Miss Universe was obviously the next step. Meanwhile, Ms.Fernandes worked with her mother, to create a fictitious past for Munni aka Persis. It was decided that she was born & brought up in NAURU, as nobody had heard of this country & would never dream of investigating her past there.
By now, Persis had acquired a COMMANDEERING persona. Mugging up the well NOTATED answers to the various questions, she easily made it to the final round. Then came the faux pas, that changed her life for the 2nd time.
When asked, what she would do, if she became Miss Universe, she forgot her well rehearsed answer & SPEWED forth - without thinking - 'I will go back to work amongst the tribes where I grew up!' Amidst a stunned silence, one jury member asked her to elaborate. Never a DODGER, she stepped up & admitted the truth - lock, stock & barrel.
No. She did not receive the crown. But they created a new category called Miss Honesty - just for her. She shared the podium with Miss Congeniality, Miss Grace & Miss Popularity.
With this title, came a certain amount of fame & quite a lot of money; enough for her to come back to Orissa & start her work. Along the way, in the last 30 years, she met many like minded people including her husband Jyoti Mohanti! They shared more than their surnames & soon he was working with her full time in their Trust.
At this exact moment, she was SHAKEN UP from her reverie, by the ringing of the phone. It was Jyoti, enquiring about her. He had gone, the previous day, to prepare & bring to town, along with him, the 25 tribal girls, all professionals & graduates, who will be receiving the award along with her, on her behalf.
As she dressed up & got ready, looking into the mirror, she realised, age hadn't dimmed her beauty at all. Only added to it with an inner glow, that comes with leading a full, satisfactory, meaningful life. She remembered her late mother, who wanted to give her a new identity. Alas she didn't live long enough to see this Persis - a far cry from the girl who was almost crowned Miss Universe once, almost 30 years ago!
Lovely and topical too.
DeleteBeautiful narrative on a beauty pageant......
DeleteWonderful story Gowri!
DeleteI remember, many years ago Ms Madhu Sapre also gave an honest answer to the question asked in the Ms Universe final which some say deprived her of the crown :)
Surprising!! No comments as yet.
ReplyDeleteI saw from Suresh, but vanished now.
DeleteDid you? Dream if you will, but not of Suresh when there is a Persis Mohanti around
Delete10A-EXCHEQUER = Treasury, {EX}{CHE}{QU}{ER}
ReplyDelete28A-FREEWHEEL = Operate independently, {FREE}{W}{H}{EEL}
2D-UNCLE SAM = America, {UNCLES}{AM<=}
4D-ERUPTS = Breaks out, {PUREST}
23D-GRINGO =
White foreigner in Latin America, {RING}=mob inside {GO}=leave
Thank you, Dr. RKE and Gowri for your tale pieces that are not only thought provoking but also entertaining. I am a rookie and come to the blog everyday to check the annotations and read your stories.
ReplyDeleteThank you setters and fellow solvers whose comments and quips make the blog a great place:-)
Welcome and nice solving, esp gringo.
Delete10A: EXCHEQUER - treasury
ReplyDelete{ex}{che}{que}{r}
26A: TAIGA - Eurasian forests [T]
2D: UNCLE SAM - America
{uncles + am}
4D: ERUPTS - breaks out
{purest*}
21D: YEARLY - Annual
{y}{early}
y- party finally
early - advanced
Replacements
ReplyDelete24D: BALEEN - whalebone
{b(al)een}
Al - aluminium
29A: CONSTERNATION - shock
{Con(ster)nation}
Con - cheat
Nation - people
ster - {rates -a}*
12A I BEAM I (BE) AM
ReplyDelete13A TIGERMOTH tiger + (-mam)moth
14A MEAGRE ME(AG)RE
16A NOEL (NO + -bE-lL) bell frequently is el
Sathya
Delete25 ac xeroderma (anag) order exam - skin complaint
My 5th
ReplyDelete22D AXIOM A(X)(IO)M
tens = X, IO; kept in (a) and moneybox first (m)
20a- STINGY = mean: T=> money; in Sing; Why => Y
ReplyDelete27a - OUNCE = cat: jumped = P(ounce)d in the middle
18a - ANTI HERO => walter White being one: 'Another' jumbled; smuggling bl(i)ss essentially
15d - READDRESS = discuss a different point of view : Understand = read; prepare = dress
7d - OCELOT = cat: Mouth => O; Lump = clot; E from second t(e)eth.
18d not a... Correction
Delete20Ac i had a different anno as iam not sure money is T and sing might not be right abbreviation for Singapore
Delete+1 to cpc. T is not money.
DeleteYes you're right. Money should be TIN. And SG is Singapore
Delete7D oh nice sole. had that blank unfilled that finishes the grid for me. Valga THCC blog
Delete12 a I-Beam
ReplyDeleteEngineer =BE
Iam
Anagram
No anagram. Check again
Delete26 a Taiga
ReplyDeleteEmbedded
21 a yearly
ReplyDeleteAdvanced =early
(Part)y finally = y
Yet to be solved
ReplyDeleteAcross - 1, 11, 14, 19
Down - 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 17, 26
14A done by KRM at 8:57
ReplyDeleteAbout is "C" (Circa)
ReplyDelete9D ITCHY - BITCHY without B(oy)
ReplyDelete26 D TO WIT - from TOW IT (to gather)
26Dn anno needs correction as intelligence is not accounted for..
Delete26d: wit is intelligence
DeleteThe phrase to wit is equivalent to that is
Good one mam..did you get the anno for 6Dn? Like Sathia asked above, Re seems tricky..I couldn't think of anything except a stretch explanation like King being the opposite of Queen (Er) and hence Re charade with i for current
DeleteI refute CPC, the anno is complete... 'To gather wit' makes for 'to gather intelligence'.
DeleteSathia, nice solves. In 5dn As you already got 'send', I guess you meant is rib=rag. It is to rib someone or rag someone. Guess that clarifies.
ReplyDelete8Dn TEDIUM - {+T(-m)EDIUM}
ReplyDelete8d TEDIUM : monotony
ReplyDeleteMeans: medium
+T-M EDIUM: divorces M(man) gets T(tense)
16a – NO(-b)E(-l)L….NOEL
ReplyDeleteThe season around 25th Dec.
19Ac. (Tax)i = Move slowly. Anno as Tax (load) + I (I-n: the front)
ReplyDeleteBTW, Erode in this clue is not E..can u rethink
ReplyDelete17 dn Air rifle Look-air Search-rifle.
ReplyDeleteI mean in 11Ac.
ReplyDeleteMargazi Rangoli gets special attraction. Happy to express that this Blog shines with versatile skills. Special thanks to col.sir.
ReplyDeletebeautiful rangoli
Delete+1. Looks like multi talented Gowri can publish illustrated story books as graphical novels are all the rage!!
DeleteCPC - seeing your responses today- i thought u r the SETTER. Only now - realised otherwise. 😆
Delete😀 just that today is more free than usual
Delete😀 Gowriji. Setter I cannot be! It's always TGI Fridays for me it's freer than other days..wish for more days like these
Delete1A good solve. Had that and one more blank unsolved. C is from about
ReplyDeleteJust saying E and C are to be accounted for doesn't serve the purpose. You need to account for it and give the answers accordingly
ReplyDeleteGowri and RKE Do keep a record of all the tale pieces. At some time you will be able to publish a compendium of them with minor modifications and you could have a best seller.
ReplyDeleteCapital E might have misled
ReplyDeleteStumped by 6Dn annotation for 'Re'. Is ADji thinking of King as opposite of Queen?
ReplyDeleteRe for rex in Italian!
DeleteThank you Prasad garu! Greek and 'Latin' for me :-)
Delete25a: XERODERMA; definition - Complaint, 'to be conducted' - wordplay indicator, 'order exam' has to be shuffled.
ReplyDeleteComplaint could refer to a disease
DeleteHow just becomes but
ReplyDeleteBoth as adverbs mean "only", nothing more than.
DeleteLovely tale by Gowri and beautiful rangoli. Waiting to see your other dimensions, Gowri.
ReplyDelete