An enjoyable puzzle from Hypnos, just nice for a relaxing Sunday. Thank you to Hypnos. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links with the puzzzle.]]
Across
1 Evidence of sale about to be put by chair reportedly (7)
RECEIPT : RE(about;in reference to) plus(to be put by) homophone of(reportedly) “seat”(chair).
5 Intellectual front anticipated by one in clutch? (7)
EGGHEAD : HEAD(the front) placed before(anticipated by) EGG(the collective noun for which is “clutch”).
10 A person came largely in order to get cheese (10)
MASCARPONE : Anagram of(in order) “a person came” minus its last letter(largely) “e”.
Answer: A soft Italian cream cheese.
11 Sheep with soft fleece? (4)
RAMP : RAM(a male sheep) plus(with) P(symbol for “piano”, the musical instruction to play softly).
Defn. and Answer: Synonyms for “to rob or swindle”.
12 Reproduction in main salon obscuring one new painting (4,4)
MONA LISA : Anagram of(main salon) minus(obscuring) one of the “n”s(abbrev. for new).
Answer: The da Vinci painting of the lady with the mysterious smile.
13 Fixed look by short lad in summerhouse (6)
GAZEBO : GAZE(a fixed, steady look) plus(by) “boy”(a lad) minus its last letter(short).
15 Sale a doc organised – medico’s responsibility? (8)
CASELOAD : Anagram of(organised) SALE A DOC.
16 Signify poor grades obtained with regressive school (6)
DENOTE : D,E(poor grades in the marking system for, say, school or college work, just better than “F”, the failing grade) plus(obtained with) reversal of(regressive) ETON(the well-known English school).
17 Island stay’s beginning in an unfriendly manner (6)
SICILY : The initial letter of(…’s beginning) “stay” + ICILY(in an unfriendly;cold;distant manner).
19 Former pupil facing college surrounded by outworn barrier (8)
OBSTACLE : OB(abbrev. for “old boy”;former pupil) placed before(facing) { C(abbrev. for “college”) contained in(surrounded by) STALE(outworn;no longer usable)}.
21 One not to be seen supplying pop? (6)
SNIPER : Cryptic defn: A concealed marksman whose aim is to take a pop;a shot with a firearm.
23 Feudal superior getting complete praise when mentioned (8)
OVERLORD : OVER(complete;finished) + homophone of(when mentioned) “laud”(praise;honour).
24 Leave foreign capital without ring (4)
QUIT : Quito(capital city of Ecuador) minus(without) “o”(the letter that looks like a ring).
26 Spade, say, endlessly varied type for moving earth (7,3)
PRIVATE EYE : Anagram of(for moving) [“varied” minus its last letter(endlessly) + TYPE] + E(abbrev. for “earth”). Cleverly disguised indicators and fodder.
Answer: An example of which;say, is Sam Spade, writer Dashiell Hammett’s private investigator in “The Maltese Falcon”, famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart.
27 Cruise, perhaps, miles off circling island (7)
MISSILE : Anagram of(off) MILES containing(circling) IS(abbrev. for “island”).
Answer: An example of which;perhaps, is the cruise guided missile designed to deliver a warhead to specified targets with high accuracy.
28 Come to a decision about a coastal city (7)
SEATTLE : SETTLE(come to a decision;resolve) containing(about) A.
Answer: The Pacific coastal city in Washington, USA.
Down
2 Bit of excellent work in NY by top volunteers brought up for refinement (11)
ELABORATION : First letter of(bit of) “excellent” + LABOR(work;”labour” as it would be spelled in New York, USA) plus(by) reversal of(brought up, in a down clue) [NO.I(looks like “Number One”;top of the heap) TA(abbrev. for Territorial Army made up of volunteers)].
Answer: An act of developing something further, adding more detail;a refinement.
3 Catholic lecturer in Eastern part of church in Vatican City? (7)
ENCLAVE : [C(abbrev. for “Catholic”) + L(abbrev. for “lecturer”)] contained in(in) [E(abbrev. for “Eastern”) + NAVE(principal part in a church building)]. Apt surface.
Answer: A territory completely surrounded by another, like the Vatican City is by Italy.
4 Roman is misbehaving in confines of party avoiding excess (9)
PARSIMONY : Anagram of(misbehaving) ROMAN IS contained in(in) the first and last letters of(confines of) “party”. Imaginative surface of someone holding back in a Roman orgy.
Answer: Avoidance of excess;extreme care or reluctance to spend, which stretched to the extreme becomes stinginess.
6 Former England cricket captain go up in grungier garb (5)
GREIG : Reversal of(go up, in a down clue) and hidden in(in) “grungier garb“.
Answer: Tony, captain of the English cricket team from 1975-77, who passed away on 29 Dec 2012 – a tribute by the setter.
7 Sausage, not cold, close to oven? It’s viewed distantly (7)
HORIZON : “Chorizo”(a spicy Spanish sausage) minus(not) “c”(abbrev. for “cold”) + the last letter of(close to) “oven”.
8 Purpose concealed by claimant (3)
AIM : Hidden in(concealed by) “claimant“.
9 Actress with posh outfit certainly taken with old man, one successful in court? (5,8)
NOVAK DJOKOVIC : NOVAK(Kim, American actress) plus(with) DJ(abbrev. for “dinner jacket”;posh outfit;menswear) + OK(certainly;sure;of course) plus(taken with) O(abbrev. for “old”) + VIC(short for the masculine name, Victor).
Answer: Serbian tennis player, who became the 2013 Australian Open champion on the day this crossword appeared.
14 Boat lately at sea carrying Republican in fierce fight (6,5)
BATTLE ROYAL : Anagram of(at sea) BOAT LATELY containing(carrying) R(abbrev. for “Republican”).
16 Extremely bad exercise by miserable specimen following son in river (9)
DESPERATE : { [ PE(abbrev. for “physical education”;physical exercise) plus(by) RAT(a miserable;lowly specimen) ] placed after(following) S(abbrev. for “son”) } contained in(in) DEE(any one of rivers running in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Australia).
Answer: Extremely shocking or intolerable.
18 Momentum and energy introduced by politician in woven suit (7)
IMPETUS : E(abbrev. for “energy” in physics) placed after(introduced by …) MP(Member of Parliament;politician) ci(in) anagram of(woven) SUIT.
20 Sloth by lieutenant keeping people in disorder (7)
AILMENT : AI(the three-toed sloth to be found only in Brazil) plus(by) LT(abbrev. for the rank of lieutenant) containing(keeping) MEN(about half of all people).
Answer: A disorder in physical or mental health, especially if mild.
22 Hold off recall of outcast (5)
REPEL : Reversal of(recall of) LEPER(an outcast, the figurative meaning from the literal meaning of one inflicted with leprosy).
25 Weapon that’s leaking, we hear (3)
UZI : Homophone of(we hear) “oozy”(leaking;with fluid oozing out).
Answer: The family of submachine guns designed by Israeli Uziel Gal and named after him.
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Answers please click
Pic#1 : here
Pic#2 : here
Pic#4 : here
Pic#5 : here
Thanks, scchua. Tiny point: in 27, the abbreviation for island is IS – you need the extra S.
Thanks, NeilW, correction made.
Thanks for the blog and the extras. So far bottom left is Overlord, the code name for the D day operation. Battle royal is a film, but I can’t connect the other pictures to it. The mustachioed gent is Clark Gable isn’t it, but a Wikipedia glance doesn’t turn up any film names relating to the puzzle.
[[Hi pennes. In case you’re still looking into it, the rest of the answers are in the links I’ve added beneath the pics.]]
So, if you can’t be bothered to click on the links, that’s Eva Longoria and Teri Hatcher at #1 and #5 – both Desperate Housewives (15d), then there’s Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt at #2 from Lost Horizon (7d) and Bob Hoskins at #4, star of Mona Lisa (12a). Thanks for the extra fun scchua.