沙

sha̅ = sh + a1

granule / hoarse / raspy / sand / powder / CL:粒[li4] / abbr. for Tsar or Tsarist Russia

沙 = 少 + 氵 : Sherlock Holmes (sh) is selling bottles (氵) in front of the ashram (a1). Smiley (少) comes round because thon is very thirsty and buys a bottle, just to find out that it contains only sand (沙).

沙 character breakdown

沙
- 少
  - 丿
  - 小
    - 亅
    - 八
      - 丿
      - ㇏
- 氵
  - ⺀
    - 丶
  - ㇀

少

shǎo = sh + ao3

few / less / to lack / to be missing / to stop (doing sth) / seldom

少 = 丿 + 小 : Mnemonic symbol: 少 looks like a smiley face.

There's a food shortage (少) in the aorta, and Sherlock Holmes (sh) and Smiley (少) are looking for food in the living room (ao3). There's only one banana (丿) left. Soon they'll have to eat the many daisies (小) which are growing there.

少

shào = sh + ao4

young

氵

shuǐ = shu + ei3

"water" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 85), occurring in 沒|没[mei2], 法[fa3], 流[liu2] etc / see also 三點水|三点水[san1 dian3 shui3]

氵 = ⺀ + ㇀ : Mnemonic symbol: a bottle of water. Sheldon Shrimp (shu) enjoys a bottle of water (氵) in the Eiffel Tower's living room (ei3). The got the water by scratching (㇀) a blossom (⺀) and catching the leaking dew in a bottle.