Solution to 12A 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.
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| Rangoli by Gowri |
ACROSS
1 One selling lots? (6,5) ESTATE AGENT [CD]
9 Wild Asian animals seen with medieval catapults (7) ONAGERS [DD]
10 To admire from the east, the outskirts of Vellore may have to shape up (6) EVOLVE {LOVE<=}{Ve...rE}
11 Delight in the return of a stage of life (3,2) LAP UP PUPAL<=
12 Punch and cut out Charlie, the non-conformist (7) ?E?T?I? (Addendum - BEATNIK {BEAT}{NIcK} - See comments)
15 Partly register the basic idea (4) GIST [T]
16 Similarity discovered by father seeing Omicron’s development outside (10) COMPARISON {COM{PA}RISON*}
18 Irish elf to clean up her make-up (10) LEPRECHAUN*
20 Entertained patrons improve cinema’s opening to become tremendous (4) EPIC Acrostic
23 Lawyer leaving flooring material around the driver’s compartment is shocking (7) MACABRE {MA{CAB}RblE}
26 Doctor, rich, invited to the party goes back with a tropical flower (6) ORCHID {RICH}* in {DO<=}
28 Young shellfish dye rose sets differently (4,7) SEED OYSTERS*
DOWN
2 Grassy plain’s development has been reported (6) STEPPE (~step)
4 Cricket team getting attached to a good sign in the British exam (6-4) ELEVEN-PLUS {ELEVEN}{PLUS}
5 Well-behaved shore bird caught in an altruistic act (4,4) GOOD TURN {GOOD}{TURN(~tern)}
6 Menial labourers against replacing soft disposables for babies after Victor gets rid of the page (7) NAVVIES NA(-p+v)V(-p+v)VIES
7 Letdown for a prospector? (5,4) FOOLS GOLD [CD]
14 IRS discarded ambiguous declarations for being based on unscientific observations (9) ANECDOTAL* DECLArATiONs*
17 Out-of-style retreat welcomes revolutionary lacking affection (8) DETACHED {DETA{CHE}D<=}
19 Pastry dish capturing the right character of a grassy plain (7) PRAIRIE {P{R}{AIR}IE}
21 Mournful song in a legal grievance statement (6) PLAINT [DD]
22 Thin fragment from a precious metal making the student climb up (6) SLIVER S(+l)LI(-l)VER
25 Surreptitious signal making some groups stumble (4) PSST [T]
Reference List
Charlie = C, Lawyer = BL, Party = DO, Time = T, Against = V, Soft = P, Victor = V, Page = P, Son = S, Right = R, Student = L
THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS!!
ReplyDeleteSeeing all these non metric units in Today's crossword, automatically transported me to my college days.
As a class of 35 students, studying architecture in NEW DELHI, those were pre computer days. As we stepped across the ENTRANCE gates of our college, none of us realised we were entering a NEW WORLD. Of continuous hard work, manual drafting & endless juggling between Metric & Non metric units.
Our curriculum was extremely strenuous & ACCESSES to entertainments were few. Moreover 80% attendance was compulsory. Hence bunking was not easy. In no time, brand new subjects & back bending work brought forth the ONENESS in us & we became a single entity. Class of 89.
As a shining BEACON, I was the brain behind many of our escapades. Every week, we had Surveying practicals on Tuesday afternoons. Armed with CHAINS & other equipment, we were let loose in the several ACRE Central Park in Connaught Place. Within a MILE from the Park were several Cinema Halls, which could be reached by FOOT. I quickly figured out this was an ideal escape route & we TOOK TO bunking regularly, a few of us at a time.
On Tuesdays, our moods were always UPBEAT. We were accompanied by 3 of our teachers & we quickly LEARNT their routine. As soon as our pegs were in place & CHAINS were opened, our teachers moved towards the West Entrance to the park. There, PERCHED on high stools, in the Open Cafe, they downed cups of Coffee & yapped. Those were days of Prohibition - else PINTS of chilled Beer would have been welcome to beat the heat.
We would quickly decide, who will bunk that week & it was by rotation. As soon as it was ALL CLEAR, the chosen few INCHED towards the Eastern gate & BEAT IT without a BACKWARD glance. It was a 4 hour class. Just enough time to finish a Matinee & rejoin to sign the Attendance sheet.
The remaining people covered the work. All smooth going till that fateful day. Police Story starring the ORIENTAL Jackie Chaan had been released. Under Manish GILL, a group formed quickly. But as luck would have it, Amitabh's latest movie had also been released the same week. AVON Betty, our lone foreign student, firmly clutching her HANDBAG, insisted she & her close friends wanted their turn. Neither group was willing to ADJOURN their plan.
There was so much shouting & gesticulating that the teachers saw us, even if they couldn't hear what was going on. Manish & his group POUNDED towards the gate leaving Avon terribly ANNOYED, as her plan had been prematurely ABORTED.
remembering my collage days. hope most of them were experienced one of these events.
Delete
ReplyDeleteShe & her friends refused to work & sat down on the grass. When Manish & co were barely a YARD, from the exit, Mr.Sharma, our youngest teacher reached us & loudly asked what was going on? I was dumbfounded, caught arbitrating between the 2 groups. I was so ANNOYED, my brains refused to work.
Avon, the consummate actress, clutched her abdomen & started hollering in imaginary pain. When Mr. Sharma called Manish back, I came to & said - ' No Sir! They are going to buy medicines for her!' '6 of them??' he asked. Everyone started offering explanations at once. Realising there was not an OUNCE of truth in what anybody was saying - he said 'ALL RIGHT! All of you get back to work. Avon can go back to the Hostel.'
Virtually jumping up, she said, 'Can I take Jyoti with me?' After giving her a good look, he hustled both of them outside the Eastern gates, hailed an Auto & fixed it for all of 30 bucks to take the girls back. Returning triumphantly, he glared at all of us, before marching westwards.
Manish was fuming. But he had the last laugh, the next day, when Avon said, the auto fellow refused to be dispensed for anything less than 30bucks. After 2 rounds around the park, Jyoti & she realised, after paying him, they didn't have enough money left for the movie tickets! Moreover one hour of the movie would have already finished. So they just went back & slept. To top it, to win back the class trust, Avon had to RETYPE fresh cooked up Survey data for each of our 7 groups.
Today almost 3 decades later our class of 89 is spread across the globe. But thanx to WhatsApp & Facebook, we are still close knit enough to chat frequently & reminisce about the good old days!!!
Lovely throw back to college days!
Delete12A
ReplyDeleteBEATNIK: non-conformist
Punch - best
Cut - Nick
Charlie out: -c
The same SOLUTION clued in a different way in a book on Crosswords by Tim Moorey - Reversal plus Additive:
DeleteBohemian family goes back on strike (7)
Typo sorry
ReplyDeletePunch - beat
Class of '69 and survey class bunk. A good and interesting memoir- no story this.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately our survey class was from 6.30 to 9.30 (not p.m but a.m and hardly awake) and in a remote corner of Guindy. How I wished it to be centre of the city (Connaught Place of all places!!)
Rangoli going great. Appreciate your enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteThank u Vasanth & Paddy. 😊
ReplyDelete@ Suresh Panje - Thanx for ur comments in ydays blog. No. No castles in the air. Only pragmatic buildings on the ground. That too mostly Government & Institutional buildings. 😊
ReplyDeleteCastles in the air- only for us in the blog!!
ReplyDeleteHappy to solve Neyartha's grid. Esp. all anagram parts helped me for solving connecting puzzles.
ReplyDelete@ Gowri Interesting tale. Glad to see your consistency of Rangoli. Regards,
ReplyDelete