(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) A straightforward puzzle, until left with a couple in the NW quadrant, which took slightly longer, and specifically 2 down, where I had to seek professional help to parse the answer I had. Thanks for that help. And thanks to Jason. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Some can’t get none of this legal payment (12)
SATISFACTION : Double defn: 1st: Cryptic reference to “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones – I think, judging by the double negative usage; and 2nd: In law, what is paid in discharging an obligation, eg. a debt.
8 A place to exhibit high heavenly home (7)
OLYMPIA : Double defn: 1st: The exhibition centre in London; and 2nd: In Greek mythology, the mountain which was the home of the gods.
9 Small ring round front of popular company’s logo (7)
SCALLOP : S(abbrev. for “small”) + CALL(to ring on the phone) + O(the letter representing things round) + 1st letter of(front of) “popular “.
Defn: … of Royal Dutch Shell plc.
11 Women in California natter on runway (7)
CATWALK : W(abbrev. for “women”) contained in(in) [ CA(abbrev. for California State) + TALK(natter;idle chatter or gossip).
Defn: … on which fashion models walk up and down, or stumble even.
12 Call round with a wink (7)
TWINKLE : TINKLE(a telephone call, from the days when telephones made a ringing sound) containing(round) W(abbrev. for “with”).
Defn: … like stars in the sky do.
13 Gets rid of jazzman’s instrument, as listener implies (5)
SACKS : Homophone of(as listener implies) “sax”(short for the saxophone, an instrument for, say, a jazz musician)
14 Solo needs to be tied up . . . . as do these (5,4)
LOOSE ENDS : Anagram of(.. to be tied up) SOLO NEEDS.
Defn: … need to be tied up, figuratively.
16 A box and a grand American vegetable (9)
ASPARAGUS : A + SPAR(in boxing, to fight using light blows) plus(and) A + G(abbrev. for a “grand”, a sum of 1000 dollars or pounds) + US(abbrev. for all things American).
19 Bit of brass to annoy the French (5)
BUGLE : BUG(to annoy;to pester) + LE(French for “the”).
Defn: … fashioned into a wind instrument, as part of, say, the brass section of a military band.
21 Peace song‘s fancy picture (7)
IMAGINE : Triple defn: 1st: … written and performed by John Lennon; 2nd: To fancy;to suppose;to fantasise; and 3: To visualise;picture in one’s mind, usually something that’s real.
23 Send out electronic order? Date’s not specified (7)
EMANATE : E-(prefix signifying things electronic, as in “email”) + “mandate”(an order;an official instruction) minus(…’s not specified) “d”(abbrev. for “date”).
24 Requiring a baker’s job to be expressed (7)
NEEDING : Homophone of(… to be expressed) “kneading”(part of a baker’s work).
25 Loads of castle-builders! (7)
BUCKETS : Cryptic defn: Reference to what you would use to build sandcastles with.
26 Excitedly describe loan of some importance (12)
CONSIDERABLE : Anagram of(Excitedly) DESCRIBE LOAN.
Down
1 Pen with point I coloured – there’s no flow with it (7)
STYPTIC : STY(a pen;an enclosure for pigs) plus(with) PT(abbrev. for “point”, in placenames) + I + C(abbrev. for “coloured” – I could, just about, find “c” for “colour”. As for “coloured”, I had suspected that it was from during the apartheid era, denoting a mixed racial descent, but I couldn’t confirm it with my online references. However, a reliable source tells me that it’s in Chambers.).
Defn: Something to stop bleeding;the flow of blood.
2 Chuck briefly dons excellent headgear (3,4)
TOP HATS : “toss”(to chuck) minus its last letter(briefly) containing(dons – I’m not sure if this indicator works – unless referring to underwear, of course) PHAT(excellent, from African-American slang, a corruption of “fat” in its positive sense of rich and abundant). This is the one I couldn’t parse.
3 Supplier’s first to stop advert for engine component (5,4)
SPARK PLUG : 1st letter of(…’s first) “Supplier” + PARK(to stop and stay in one spot) + PLUG(an advertisement;a recommendation for, say, a product or an event).
4 Girl lifted something worth having (5)
ASSET : Reversal of(lifted, in a down clue) TESSA(a girl’s name).
5 Four o’clock, say, and char issue is raised (7)
TEATIME : TEA(char, an alternative to cha and chai, all originating from Mandarin) plus(and) reversal of(… is raised) EMIT(to issue forth).
6 A part of soil’s kind of waterproof (7)
OILSKIN : Hidden in(A part of) “soil’s kind “.
Defn. and Answer: As nouns, a waterproof outer garment made from cotton treated with oil and pigment to make it waterproof.
7 Stop occasion that gets unruly (5,7)
COACH STATION : Anagram of(… gets unruly) OCCASION THAT.
Defn: … along your coach journey.
10 Crowd catch an official statement (5,7)
PRESS RELEASE : PRESS(to crowd;to push upon) + RELEASE(a device or catch enabling the locking and releasing of a mechanism).
15 Bay resort could be the place for this eatery (6,3)
OYSTER BAR : Anagram of(could be) BAY RESORT. A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
17 Medicine‘s rank stink (7)
PLACEBO : PLACE(one’s rank;standing in society or in a group) + BO(abbrev. for “body odour”, an unpleasant smell).
Defn: … that’s medically inert, but that could benefit the patient by working psychologically.
18 Fruit is evident in storm season primarily (7)
RAISINS : IS contained in(evident in) RAIN(to storm;to precipitate rain) + 1st letter of(primarily) “season “.
19 Put up with copper beginning to berate youngster? (4,3)
BEAR CUB : BEAR(to put up with;to tolerate) plus(with) CU(chemical symbol for the element copper) + 1st letter of(beginning to) “berate “.
20 Opening with the old stare (4,3)
GLAD EYE : GLADE(a piece of open ground, say, in a forest) plus(with) YE(an olden term for “the”).
Defn: … in a seductive or an inviting way.
22 A pair of journos (good at heart) with the ability to cut (5)
EDGED : 2 x(A pair of) ED(abbrev. for an editor;in slang, a journo, from “journalist”) containing(… at heart) G(abbrev. for “good”).
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
I had approached 2D from a slightly different direction.
I took tops to be excellent.
Unfortunately, this means that hat has to mean chuck briefly.
So, nowhere to go?
Thanks Jason for an enjoyable puzzle and scchua for the blog.
I cannot leave 8ac unchallenged. As I understand it, Olympia in southern Greece (Coordinates 37.6°N 21.6°E) is where the Ancient Olympic Games were held. Mount Olympus in northern Greece (40.1°N 22.4°E) is a real mountain which was the mythical home of the Greek gods. As can be seen from the co-ordinates, these are quite different places. Is there any respectable source for the use of the name Olympia to refer to the mountain?
Thanks for 2d parsing, i was similarly stuck with tops for excellent, PB has a good point I’d missed re Olympia.
Whilst solving I had made the same note as Pelham Barton in #2
Olympia was a plain and can hardly be described as a ‘high heavenly home’.