(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) This was done in an unfamiliar environment: no electricity (and that includes the Internet) at home. So fortunately it is Dante’s usual manageable style, though not a usual setter for a Tuesday. Thanks to Dante. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 About to sit and take it easy (6)
REPOSE : RE(abour;with reference to) + POSE(to sit for a painting or a photograph, say).
4 Strangley ill with bug? No, it’s in the blood (8)
GLOBULIN : Anagram of(Strangley)[ ILL plus(with) BUG? NO].
Answer: Any of a group of simple proteins found in blood.
9 Tracks usually leading to the quarry (6)
SPOORS : Cryptic defn: Tracks leading to the quarry in a hunt.
10 Drug used on Arctic trip (8)
NARCOTIC : Anagram of(… trip) ON ARCTIC.
12 Not a closed range, so start shooting (4,4)
OPEN FIRE : Cryptic defn: An open fire as opposed to a cooking range in a kitchen.
13 American church accepts an interest in redemption (6)
USANCE : [ US(abbrev. for things American) + CE(abbrev. for the Church of England) ] containing(accepts) AN.
Answer: The interest paid on borrowed money.
15 Confidence trickster’s aim spells trouble (2-2)
TO-DO : Cryptic defn: A con-man’s aim is to do;swindle you.
16 It looks like the campanologist is late (4,6)
DEAD RINGER : The DEAD(late;passed away) RINGER(of bells;a campanologist).
19 Off Aden, tar moves from bow to stern (4-3-3)
FORE-AND-AFT : Anagram of(moves) OFF ADEN, TAR.
20 It may be well-worn and well-used (4)
PUMP : Double defn: 1st: A type of footwear; and 2nd: A mechanical device used to bring up liquid from a well.
23 Follow an alternative man of the cloth (6)
TAILOR : TAIL(to follow someone, as a detective might) + OR(used to introduce an alternative).
Defn: …, cutting and sewing it, amongst other things.
25 Happen to see bird nesting as resident (8)
OCCUPIER : OCCUR(to happen) containing(to see … nesting) PIE(a bird).
27 An animal looking for his master (5,3)
GUIDE DOG : Cryptic defn: An animal that looks out for and leads its blind master.
28 Abandon land too dry to raise crops (6)
DESERT : Double defn: 1st: As a verb.
29 Technician in control (8)
ENGINEER : Double defn: 2nd: As a verb.
30 Strange noises from Greek/Cypriot union (6)
ENOSIS : Anagram of(Strange) NOISES.
Answer: A movement for securing the political union of Greece and Cyprus.
Down
1 Charge from defence in Rugby with yell (4,3)
RUSH OUT : RU(abbrev. for the sport of Rugby Union) plus(with) SHOUT(yell).
2 Dog under piano consumes remnant of food (9)
PROVENDER : [ ROVER(an archetypal name for a dog) placed below(under, in a down clue) P(abbrev. for “piano”, the musical instruction) ] containing(consumes) END(the remnant;the last bit).
Defn: …, collectively.
3 If in the right after quiet confession, this might be short (6)
SHRIFT : IF contained in(in) RT(abbrev. for “right”, in say, honorific titles) placed below(after, in a down clue) SH(an interjection requesting quiet).
Answer: A confession to a priest, an,d (historically), if you were awaiting execution, it refered to the short period allowed to make a last confession.
5 The best part of play (4)
LEAD : Cryptic defn: The best role;part in a stage play.
6 County relatives supply leather (8)
BUCKSKIN : BUCKS(abbrev. for the English county, Buckinghamshire) + KIN(blood relatives).
7 Roman extract of platinum (5)
LATIN : Hidden in(extract of) “platinum “.
8 United Nations comes up with patent source of energy (7)
NUCLEAR : Reversal of(comes up, in a down clue) UN(abbrev. for the United Nations organisation) plus(with) CLEAR(patent;plain to see).
11 Quaker’s companions? (7)
FRIENDS : Cryptic defn: What Quakers call themselves, members of the Religious Society of Friends.
14 Building uninsured if I cease to provide cover for it (7)
EDIFICE : Hidden in(… to provide cover for it) “uninsured if I cease “.
17 Ostentation of gold in complicated designs (9)
GAUDINESS : AU(chemical symbol for the element, gold) contained in(in) anagram of(complicated) DESIGNS.
18 17th century girl holding a nut (8)
JACOBEAN : JEAN(a girl’s name) contained in(holding) [A + COB(a nut) ].
Defn: … era in England.
19 The weariness of military punishment (7)
FATIGUE : Double defn: 2nd: … in the form of manual or menial labour.
21 Bad sailors getting good pay (7)
PIRATES : PI(short for “pious”;good) + RATES(pay scales).
22 It holds soup for two Orientals in turn (6)
TUREEN : Two x E(abbrev. for “Eastern”;Oriental) contained in(in) TURN.
24 A piece of cake? But not to a pilot’s liking (5)
ICING : Double defn: 1st: A sugar preparation used to, say, decorate a cake) ; and 2nd: A danger if it forms on an aircraft’s wings.
26 Manage an investment (4)
COPE : Double defn: 2nd: A garment.
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The following pictures have unidentified links to the puzzle.
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.)
Well, for a change I recognise all the pictures (except whatever’s meant to be between Jeremy and Jamie — if it’s a picture, I can’t get it to display), but apart from Jeremy Irons, who was in DEAD RINGERs, I’m stumped.
Sorry, Ian SW3, it happens sometimes, though I don’t why, it appears on my PC but not on my iPad. So I have replaced it with another picture, which I’ve tested OK on my iPad. And you’re right about DEAD RINGERs, an early Irons movie.
Thanks — pic 3 seems to be fixed. Comets. Did Bill Haley’s group ever sinf with Pat Boone? I’ve no idea.
White BUCKSKIN shoes were Pat Boone’s trademark (6 down), and early versions of the De Havilland Comet were prone to metal FATIGUE (19 down), but I’m stumped on Grace Kelly and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Ah, now I’ve seen the clip of Jamie Lee Curtis in the film “True Lies”, she’s performing her exotic dance in front of an OPEN FIRE (12 across).
Tom_I, right: the Comets suffered metal FATIGUE. And Pat Boone did wear white buckskin shoes and Jamie Lee Curtis was in True Lies, but that’s not what I was thinking of.
All the last 3 pics are movie-related, with 2 of them linked to the same crossword answer.
Ian SW3 and Tom_I:
Pic4: Jamie Lee Curtis was in the movie version of John LeCarre’s “The TAILOR of Panama”.
Pics5 and 1: Pat Boone sang the title song of the movie “Friendly Persuasion” about a Quaker family, and Grace Kelly played the Quaker wife in the western “High Noon”. And both movies starred Gary Cooper.
Thanks, scchua.