This looked daunting at first, with only scattered solutions on the first pass. But it got better as quadrant by quadrant was completed. After the last Gaff I blogged, where I couldn’t identify the theme, I resolved not to repeat the failure. And this time I did spot the theme, partly because it is more internationally known, and more easily spottable. Thanks to Gaff for the enjoyment. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
8 Ex-Chancellor‘s old car (6)
HEALEY : Double defn: 1st: Denis, former British Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer; and 2nd: Short for any of the British cars formerly manufactured by the Austin-Healey company.
9 “Bubbles”: creation can conceal nothing after a time (8)
AERATION : [ TIN(a can, usually of metal or plastic) containing(conceal) O(the letter that looks like 0;nothing) ] placed after(after) [A + ERA(a long period of time) ].
10 See 2 11 Part of problem bank mentioned is protection against rising liquidity (10)
EMBANKMENT : Hidden in(Part of) “problem bank mentioned “.
Answer: The raised bank of a river to protect against floods;rising liquidity. Eg. the Chelsea Embankment.
12 Listener may be bent (3)
EAR : Cryptic defn: Reference to the phrase “to bend someone’s ear” with boring or lengthy talk. 1
3 Central bankers manage return to growth (4)
KNUR : Middle letter of(Central) “bankers ” + reversal of(return) RUN(to manage, say, a bank).
Answer: A protuberant growth on a tree trunk. Nice surface of a topical, if somewhat optimistic, comment.
14 Verdict on flat bread? (8)
UNPROVEN : Cryptic defn: Reference to bread whose dough has not been proved(caused to rise to a certain lightness, and not flat).
16 Fluff collected by conservative politician (7)
CLINTON : LINT(fluff;fine shreds of fibre, eg. found on clinging to your clothes) contained in(collected by) CON(abbrev. for a politician or member of the Conservative Party).
Answer: The ex-president of the USA, Bill. The thematic connection is of course the other woman in his life – not Monica, but Chelsea, his daughter.
18 Make film star spice-covered food, latterly (7)
ANODISE : ANISE(the star-shaped star anise, a spice originally from China and Vietnam) containing(covered) the last 2 letters of(latterly) “food “.
Answer: To form by electrolysis a coating of oxide to increase resistance to corrosion and wear.
21 Absorb pudding before taking first drink (6,2)
SPONGE UP : SPONGE(a light steamed pudding with various flavourings or fruit) placed before(before) “sup”(to drink, a little at a time) minus its first letter(taking first).
23 Kickstart (4)
BOOT : Double defn: 1st: To kick, eg. a football; and 2nd: To start up, eg. your computer. Another thematic connection.
24 Alternative sound of propellor (3)
OAR : Homophone of(sound of) “or”(the word introducing an alternative).
Answer: Something that propels, or rather something you use to propel.
25 Tyne civics suffered bloody exit from area of Gaul, reportedly (6,4)
CYSTIC VEIN : Anagram of(suffered) TYNE CIVICS.
Defn: Nicely cryptic: That through which blood drains;exits from the gall[homophone of(reportedly) “Gaul“] bladder.
27 Fancy slide-action piece (4)
IDEA : Hidden in(… piece) “slide-action “.
Defn: A fanciful notion.
28 One Nazir company manufactured white pigment (8)
ZIRCONIA : Anagram of(manufactured) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + NAZIR + CO(abbrev. for a company;a business conern) ].
Answer: The white oxide of zirconium, used in pigments, especially for ceramics.
29 Get back in shower, say (6)
REGAIN : RAIN(a shower from the sky) containing(in …, …) EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”;for example;say).
Down
1 Dangerous product of distilling walnut kernels at home (8)
METHANOL : Anagram of(distilling) [the middle 2 letters of(kernels) “walnut ” + AT HOME].
Answer: Aka methyl alcohol; a danger because a) it is flammable, and b) it is poisonous if ingested in large quantities. And of course, distillation is part of its manufacturing process. And some liqueurs are made by re-distilling walnuts with alcohol.
2,10 Whereby following rivers is blooming spectacular! (6,4)
FLOWER SHOW : HOW(whereby in its archaic meaning) placed after(following) FLOW-ERS(rivers that flow).
Answer: Of which the Chelsea one is quite famous. It celebrates its centenary this year, with the Show starting today.
3 Where to buy using keys or by secret arrangement (10)
CYBERSTORE : Anagram of(arrangement) OR BY SECRET.
Answer: Where one purchases by tapping computer keys instead of getting off your duff to go to the shops.
4 Time to keep raising support for Shelter (7)
HARBOUR : HOUR(a period of time) containing(to keep) reversal of(raising) BRA(support for your bosom).
Answer: And Chelsea Harbour is a residential/retail development.
5 Expression that may reach 12s (4)
GRIN : Cryptic defn: Reference to the facial expression found in the phrase “to grin from ear to ear(answer to 12 across)”.
6,23 Ground covering’s raised crossing game (8,6)
STAMFORD BRIDGE : Reversal of(raised) MATS(floor coverings) + FORD(a river crossing) + BRIDGE(a card game).
Answer: The home ground of the Chelsea Football Club.
7 Black cat in spring (6)
BOUNCE : B(abbrev. for “black”) + OUNCE(the snow leopard, a big cat).
15 Retired senior spent no time in surgery (10)
PENSIONERS : Anagram of(in surgery) [SENIOR + “spent” minus(no) “t”(abbrev. for “time”) ].
Defn: The retired.
Answer: And the Chelsea Pensioners live in the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a retirement and nursing home for former members of the British Army.
17 Very little science he cannot decipher (8)
NANOTECH : Anagram of(decipher) HE CANNOT.
Answer: Short for nanotechnology, the science and technology of manipulating matter on the extremely little atomic and molecular scale.
19 Mostly backward and not completely forgivable state (8)
SLOVENIA : “slow”(backward;not showing mental quickness) minus its last letter(Mostly) plus(and) “venial”(easily excused or forgiven, describing eg. an offence or sin) minus its last letter (not completely).
20 Polo team starts in a real mess without wings (7)
APTERAL : First letters respectively of(starts) “Polo “,”team ” contained in(in) anagram of(mess) [ A REAL ].
Answer: Descriptive of insects without wings. 22 Singular science of medicine (6)
PHYSIC : Cryptic defn: The science of “physics” which name may be whimsically considered a plural noun, giving “physic” as a singular.
Answer: A medicine or drug.
23 See 6 26 Children are not expelled – initially this is used (4)
CANE : First letters respectively of(initially) “Children are not expelled “. Answer: The “this” in the definition. What was used (in time past) on children before the next step of expulsion, if caning didn’t work. A nice WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue. ===========================================================================================
For answers to pic1 please click here, for pic3 here, for pic6 here
Thanks for the blog scchua. This was an interesting crossword and my solving experience was similar to yours. Recognition of the theme came too late to be very helpful, but the NINA did speed up the last few answers.
[[Pic 5 shows Zirconium dental implants. Pic 8 Chelsea buns]]
“it is more internationally known, and more easily spottable”
Sorry scchua, I belong to the sub-community here who never see ninas. Am in serious need of enlightenment.
Hi Conrad
Have a look at the bottom row. It can be associated with a number of the entries.
What a lovely topical theme – I had spotted the 2/10 and the bottom line and thought that was it, but then noticed there are a number of other ‘themed’ items too – 8a (tv actress) 11a, 16a 23a, 4, 6/23 and 15d. I may have missed others.
Thanks to Gaff and scchua.
Thanks, sschua.
[[Pic 2 Joni Mitchell sang Chelsea Morning]]
Great blog scchua. crypticsue spotted the lady at 8a (who spells her name Chelsee, but hey…), so there is only one more, rather macabre, thematic solution, which can be found by Googling “Heath Ledger Joker”.
[Liked the picture quiz. Other comments have identified the only pics I knew. Maybe the first lady sang for Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest, and did the young man with the hair and the smug expression found a cyberstore and become a billionaire?….Hmmm, I think I’ll stick to setting! But please tell us the answers eventually]
Thanks to scchua and Gaff , I enjoyed this very much.
And thanks to Gaff @6 for pointing out the macabre one. New to me, and macabre indeed. When solving, I did wonder whether 22d was intended as thematic. The Chelsea PHYSIC Garden is the second oldest botanical garden in the country, and a very lovely spot.
Thanks for the compliment and comment, Gaff, and connecting the last dot – that was a new term for me.
[[It’s quite late here, so I’ll post the answers tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, a hint: the 9 pics have between them only 4 separate links to the puzzle.]]
Thanks for the blog, scchua (and Gaff for an enjoyable challenge). Before I had any of the crossing letters, I thought 8a might be BRANDT, that being a close approximation to “Model T.”
(Along the lines of your comment about missed themes, you might want to take another look at 14312 Phssthpok.)
[[Pic 7 is Buckminster Fuller, for whom buckminsterfullerene, aka buckyball, was named. It is an important molecule in the field of NANOTECH. I’m quite familiar with it, as it was first synthesized by scientists at my alma mater, who were awarded the Nobel Prize while I was a student.]]
[[Pic 4 is the Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis, which once housed a wingless (APTERAL) statue of the goddess. The knives in Pic 9 are made of ZIRCONIA ceramic, as are the teeth in Pic 5 (which I think is what Muffyword intended).]]
Thanks to Gaff for the puzzle and scchua for the blog.
[[picture #3 is a VERY old photo of Neil Diamond. Someone else will have to tie it in to the crossword.]]
Cheers…
Neil Dymond and Barbra Streisand sang “You don’t bring me flower(show)s”?? I’m guessing again, can you tell?
And Wanderer, what a lovely bit of serendipity – just been on the Physic Garden’s website and it looks delightful.
My mate informs me that Chelsea under Benitez was playing without wings.
[[Cubic ZIRCONIA is a synthetic gemstone that resembles (Neil) diamond.]]
Thanks Keeper, re 14312 Phssthpok, yes that was a datapoint on my learning curve.
[[Muffyword, NormanLinFrance, Gaff, Keeper, grandpuzzler, Aztobesed – I’ve posted links under the pics for the remaining answers.
Keeper, you’re right about the picture being the Temple of Athena, but the description “apteral” is architectural, describing a building with columns back and front, but none along the sides (no wings) cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apteral. And Neil Diamond has got 2 links.]]
[[Thanks for the picture challenge, scchua. Vaguely suspecting an architectural term, I actually found Pic 4 by Googling [apteral temple] and scrolling through the images. However, then I saw this on Wikipedia: “The Athena Nike statue’s absence of wings led Athenians in later centuries to call it Nike Apteros (wingless victory), and the story arose that the statue was deprived of wings so that it could never leave the city.” That directly contradicts the link you provided, which states “In the temple Athena Nike known as “Nike Apteros”, the adjective is used, not as applying to the goddess of victory but to the absence of any peristyle on the sides.” I don’t know which is correct, but it serves as a reminder that you get what you pay for when you use The Free Encyclopedia. Caveat lector!]]
[[This might be the authoritative source we’re looking for: http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Apteral .]]