SINGAPORE – This week’s ST×NLB Crossword was constructed by ST Assistant Life Editor Boon Chan, who is part of a team of 40 volunteers from both organisations.
Words with no single canonical spelling in English always pose a bit of a quandary for your humble crossword setters. Of course, such words abound in Singapore, where many local terms are loanwords derived from various different languages, or even corruptions of such loanwords.
Take, for instance, the local way to order a [Less-sweet kopitiam brew to beat the heat]: TEH PENG SIU DAI (4D).
Now, the “teh” (tea) part is fairly uncontroversial, but what about the rest of it?
According to Google Trends, the “peng” (ice) variant derived from Hokkien is far more popular than “bing”, which follows the standard Mandarin hanyu pinyin spelling and comes in a distant second. An even smaller minority of people spell it “ping”, including one of our playtesters, and a handful of truly avant garde teh aficionados prefer “beng”.
The Health Promotion Board favoured the “siu dai” spelling when it launched a movement to make less-sweet drinks the default option.
PHOTO: HEALTH PROMOTION BOARD
Also per Google Trends, “siew dai” (less sweet) is the far more common rendering of a term widely believed to be derived from Cantonese. However, the Health Promotion Board favoured the spelling “siu dai” when they launched their “siu dai by default” movement in September 2023.
Whichever variants you personally prefer, the P in PENG and the U in SIU DAI are both crossed in this grid, to help solvers get to our intended spelling (with apologies to “teh ping” enjoyers).
9A. EYE DROPS are a kind of liquid solution which helps to soothe irritated eyes. Be sure to aim them at the right kind of pupils. They may not be effective in soothing irritated school children.
16A. A baker’s DOZEN is a set of 13, rather than the standard 12. The commonly accepted theory of how this came to be is that bakers in mediaeval England were subject to strict punishments if they were caught selling a smaller than advertised quantity of bread. To avoid accidentally coming up short, they would give customers a little extra, just to be safe.
19A. Lorong LIMAU, named after the lime fruit, is the [Whampoa street with a citrusy name]. The area was once known for having many lime trees in the late 1800s, a heritage reflected in other nearby place names like Jalan Kebun Limau and a mosque called Masjid Hajjah Rahimabi Kebun Limau.
23A. What comes to mind when you picture [White-coated laboratory residents?] Besides human scientists in their lab coats, lab MICE have also made great contributions (albeit without their consent) to humanity’s scientific advancements by serving as live test subjects.
Book recommendations
Let the week’s clues inspire your next read, courtesy of NLB. Follow the links to borrow.
1D. “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the EDGES of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.” — The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
22D. “She mourned that she would never see Aziza grow up… would not get to paint her hands with HENNA and toss noqul candy at her wedding. She would never play with Aziza’s children. She would have liked that very much, to be old and play with Aziza’s children.” — A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
27D. “Had the myth of Narcissus and ECHO had a happy ending, their child might have grown up to become a writer-translator like me. I can trace aspects of my own creative impulses to both figures. For writing is, among other things, a deep and direct regarding of oneself.” — Translating Myself And Others by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Across
8. Type of coffee with no kick (13): DECAFFEINATED
9. Solution targeted at pupils? (3,5): EYE DROPS
11. Muslim leader (4): IMAM
13. Stay in place (6): REMAIN
16. Thirteen, to a baker (5): DOZEN
19. Lorong _____ (Whampoa street with a citrusy name) (5): LIMAU
20. Satay stick, say (6): SKEWER
23. White-coated laboratory residents? (4): MICE
25. Target centre (8): BULLSEYE
29. 50km foot race, for instance (13): ULTRAMARATHON
Down
1. They may be rough or sharp (5): EDGES
2. Dull discomfort (4): ACHE
3. A long way off (4): AFAR
4. Less-sweet kopitiam brew to beat the heat (3,4,3,3): TEH PENG SIU DAI
5. Squid’s fluid (3): INK
6. Subject grouping often set against the humanities (4): STEM
7. Stubbornly resolute (7): ADAMANT
10. Weakly lit (3): DIM
12. Ineffectual, as a threat (4): IDLE
14. A Nightmare On ___ Street (3): ELM
15. Barbie Girl band who made a splash in 1997 (4): AQUA
17. End of the ABCs, in NYC (3): ZEE
18. Former student (7): ALUMNUS
21. Isle of Dogs director Anderson (3): WES
22. Temporary tattoo dye (5): HENNA
24. Security guard’s video feed, for short (4): CCTV
26. What’s sliced to make sliced bread (4): LOAF
27. Nymph cursed to repeat the words of others (4): ECHO
28. Injection, informally (3): JAB
If you have any feedback, feel free to write to us at stgames@sph.com.sg. See you next week!