Solution to 6D 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
8 Ilium partly destroyed (4) TROY [T]
9 Paper on which one may jot down ideas got when on the throne? (6,4) TOILET-ROLL [CD]
10 Reptile queen, in short, is on American road (6) LIZARD {LIZ}{A}{RD}
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19 Rodents, having one form of arthritis, on island (6) AGOUTI {A}{GOUT}{I}
23 Bit a king (English) consumed in the past (8) PARTAKEN {PART}{A}{K}{EN}
26 Vehicle operator died beside stream (6) DRIVER {D}{RIVER}
27 Roosters walk around old maiden in godowns (10) STOREROOMS {STORERO{O}{M}S*}
28 Famous bishop’s dress (4) TUTU [DD]
DOWN
1 A porridge cooked around one for North American creature (7,3) PRAIRIE DOG {A+PORRIDGE}* over {1}
3 Hunk getting perfect score (or half a score?) in artist’s workplace (6) STUDIO {STUD}{10}
4 Right after food at jetty (4) PIER {R}<=>{PIE}
5 Wine held wrongly in capital (3,5) NEW DELHI*
6 Spanish navy member with awfully damaged anchor for starters (6) ?R?A?A (Addendum - ARMADA {ARM}{Aw...y}{Da...d}{An...r} - See comments)
7 Good boy is happy (4) GLAD {G}{LAD}
13 Bath popular in country (5) SPAIN {SPA}{IN}
17 Perhaps, footballers have new shorts (8) KNICKERS {K{N}ICKERS}
18 Musicians and religious saints possess a nickel symbol (8) PIANISTS {PI}{A}{NI}{STS}
20 Says, “Total before commencement of school” (6) UTTERS {UTTER}{Sc...l}
22 Vegetable used in Andhra dishes (6) RADISH [T]
24 Cast away deeds (4) ACTS*
25 It’s 12 anyway (4) NOON<=>
Reference List
American = A, Sex Appeal = IT, Left = L, Small = S, The in French = LE, Energy = E, Island = I, King = K, English = EN, Died = D,Old = O, Maiden = M, Right = R, Good = G, Popular = IN, New = N, Religious = PI, Saints = STS
Col - i wrote a story after a lo....ng time. Unable to post even in parts.
ReplyDeleteHave mailed u the story.
Kindly post it when u have time.
Thanx.
Like I mentioned earlier your tales are too long to publish in onne comment even by me.
DeleteWhy don't you start a blog of your own and post the link, to the tale in your blog, in the comments here. 5hstvwill me much easier.
6d..ARMADA.. arm a(w..y) d(a..d) a(n..r)
ReplyDeleteTake by Gowri
ReplyDeleteTHE ANNIVERSARY GIFT
Ranjana & Wahab had been married for almost a year by now. Infact their Anniversary was just 2 weeks away.
Fellow students in Art School, Ranjana fell in love with Wahab, the moment she saw him next to his EASEL, carrying a TEMPERA painting, depicting the Hindu God Shiva. The Roudram (Anger) that emanated from the canvass was so palpable, it was like a physical RADIATION. Before long, similar feelings were IGNITED in Wahab too. Marriage, in their minds, was a long way off, as they did not even want to SPECULATE about their families' reactions to such an alliance.
But all that changed when, THROWING caution to the wind, Wahab visited Ranjana's RURAL ancestral home, along with an ENTOURAGE of friends. Her grandparents were traditional Thakurs from Haryana. Though they were gracious hosts, Ranjana knew they were FOSSILS, steeped in tradition & carrying all their caste & religious prejudices. It was decided to keep Wahab's name & religion a SECRET & everybody called him Munna. Their PRIORITY had been to paint the grand old buildings & green fields in all their NATURAL glory & Wahab, with his skilled art soon became her Dadaji's favourite.
It was only on the last day, that one of her IGNORANT friends, blabbered to one of the servants about Wahab's identity & his love for Ranjana. All hell broke loose. A group of armed men, escorted Wahab & put him in the first outgoing train, without any COHERENT explanation. This was only the tip of the ICEBERG. Ranjana was house arrested & her PERMIT to return to college was denied. Her parents were summoned from Chandigarh & her alliance was fixed with a Thakur boy.
Till today, it was a haze to Ranjana, how she escaped. In the midst of a HAIL STORM, when she came to collect her certificates from her college, her friends helped her to elope with Wahab, all the way to this remote village in the outskirts of Shimla. Ranjana's heart had felt like a PENDULUM, oscillating to an alien beat. How she came to be ENTANGLED in this affair, mystified her, till today.
It was their GERMAN professor, who arranged this OPERATION, fixing up a place for them to stay & teach drawing & sculpture at the Residential International School located there.
AT LENGTH, they settled down & their married life had been a bliss, but for the fact that they were really hard up for money. Most of their favourite possessions had been left behind.
Ranjana had come away, wearing just a pair of gold ear rings, given by her father, when she turned 18. They were precious to her - shaped like a peacock with studded feathers. Imagine her dismay, when 3 months ago, on the way back from school, one of the studs became loose & dropped off in the snow. Hours & days of searching yielded no result & she was really heartbroken.
ReplyDeleteShe hid her grief from Wahab, because she did not want him to think, she hankered after such TRIVIAL things. After all he had left everything for her. In their hurry to depart, he had even left behind, his favourite gramophone record player, which was their family heirloom, given to him by his Abba jaan. Now whenever they looked at the pile of records, which had made the journey with them, they laughed, but she could deCIPHER the sadness in his eyes behind the mirth. He missed his player & he missed his music. All these records, lying waste.
Suddenly Ranjana got an idea. She would buy Wahab, a gramophone record player from Shimla, as an anniversary gift. Wondering about money, she decided to sell off her lone ear ring. What is the use of one ear ring without a pair?
Without telling Wahab, she took half a day off from school, boarded a bus to Shimla & HAWKED her ear ring. She was in luck! In an antique shop, she found the perfect player of burnished wood with a gleaming brass speaker. She got it gift wrapped & hauled it home. She hid it in the back of their lone cupboard, making sure that the door is not AJAR.
Two days later came their anniversary. She wrote an elaborate VERSE & pinned it to her gift. Carrying the big package, she woke Wahab with a beaming smile! But to her surprise, he didn't seem so thrilled with her gift. Reading her verse, he said - You beat me to it. But let me get your gift. She quickly plugged the player & then looked for his records. She couldn't find even a single one!
Meanwhile Wahab came from the other room with a small packet & a mysterious smile - wishing her Happy Anniversary. However Ranjana was rendered speechless, when she found inside the packet, an identical twin for her lone ear ring. Unknown to her Wahab had sold his records to buy her this.
Realising their unbound genuine love for each other, their eyes misted. As they spent their day in Shimla, they managed to scrounge enough to buy one record. Ranjana meanwhile, settled for a new hair style, which exposed only one ear with a sparkling peacock shaped ear ring!
Adapted from
GIFT OF MAGI by O.Henry
superb tale Gowri. Well.. anniversary celeberated with exquisite ear ring.
DeleteThank u so so so much!!!
ReplyDeleteNice grid, enjoyed solving it. Liked 9a.
ReplyDeleteWhat a throne to be on,in the morning!!
ReplyDeleteHello Sir
DeleteEffect of heat stroke + nasal bleeding had confined me to the bed as such could not access this blog site for over a week. Anyway, feeling better now. Alongside the scorching heat what bothered me more was the dust since the PWD gang-men have dug-up the road in the front of my house, polluting the entire neighbourhood.
Well, the clue for 9-A by Mr. Kishore Rao (Incognito) reminded me of a passage (limerick to say) from the Rugby Songs.
Trust none deems my comments to be vulgar or in bad taste.... And thus ran those lines of that limerick.
I sat on a gold lavatory
In the home of the Baron of Split,
The seat was encrusted with rubies
But as usual the bowl contained *h*t.
I am sure the song will be a .... hit
Delete:-)
DeleteShall we celebrate Incognito week?!
ReplyDeleteWith some exotic food...
DeletePrairie dogs are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog's bark.Thank you Col. for this clarification found in your link. Cleared a long standing doubt.
ReplyDeleteWith Lizard, Red Panda, Llamas, Agouti and Prairie Dog Incognito takes a tour around the zoo to see some Animals.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed doing incognito crossword ,as said by sathia.o Henry is my favourite storyteller.
ReplyDelete+1
Delete+2
DeleteI would also add Lightning along with Incognito.
ReplyDelete+1
ReplyDelete+2!
ReplyDeleteThank you dear esteemed Incognito for letting me learn a new word today from 19-A. AGOUTI.
ReplyDelete20D troubling me with utter, then the meaning, total struck me. So it was cent p.c
ReplyDeleteThanks folks for solving. Hope you like the remaining puzzles in this run.
ReplyDeleteNice & easy grid. My COD - PIANISTS, TROY. Thanx Kishore
ReplyDeleteIncognito's grid my all time favorite. Delighted solving your puzzles.
ReplyDelete