(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) This, I recalled, required more than one sitting to crack. Thanks to Kairos. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Carpet material with border included (9)
REPRIMAND : [ REP(a corded fabric of various materials) + AND(with;together) ] containing(… included) RIM(border;edge).
6 Paper‘s operator (5)
TIMES : Double defn: 1st: The English daily newspaper; and 2nd: The mathematical operator of multiplication.
9 Fancy ring seen by artist (7)
CHIMERA : CHIME(the ring;sound produced, as by a bell or bells) plus(seen by) RA(abbrev. for a member of the Royal Academy of Arts).
Defn: As a noun, a wild and unrealistic dream or idea.
10 Small beer producer’s not a menace (7)
SCOURGE : S(abbrev. for “small”) + COURAGE(the famous English brewery) minus(not) “a “.
11 Quartet composer holds back material for another group (5)
OCTET : Hidden in(holds) reversal of(back material) “Quartet composer “.
12 Rough man in Hamburg reportedly makes upholsterer’s material (9)
HORSEHAIR : Homophone of(… reportedly) “hoarse”(rough-sounding the voice of one with a sore throat) + “Herr”(the form of address for a man in Hamburg, Germany).
13 Hit show loses money – it’s paid to those not acting? (6,3)
STRIKE PAY : STRIKE(to hit) + “play”(a stage show) minus(loses) “l”(£, symbol for the British currency unit).
Defn: …, ie. actors taking part in industrial action.
15 Seeing that old Liverpool player follows Shankly’s tip (5)
SINCE : INCE(Paul, former footballer who played for Liverpool) placed after(follows, in an across clue) the 1st letter of(…’s tip) “Shankly“. Bill Shankly was of course Liverpool’s manager, but he died long before Ince joined.
16 Charm’s beginning to wear off in Berkshire town (5)
ASCOT : “mascot”(a person, animal or thing considered to bring good luck to eg. a sports team) minus its 1st letter(…’s beginning to wear off).
18 Player returns with Romeo in small part for Empress? (5,4)
TAROT CARD : { Reversal of(… returns) ACTOR(a player on stage or in the movies) + R(letter represented by “Romeo” in the phonetic alphabet) } contained in(in) TAD(a small part;a bit).
20 Anne cured drunk with patient suffering (9)
ENDURANCE : Anagram of(… drunk) ANNE CURED.
23 Natural source of water from the east (5)
NAIVE : Reversal of(… from the east, in an across clue) ÉVIAN(Évian-les-Bains in full, the source of the branded mineral water).
25 Square meal in Rome? (7)
RAVIOLI : Cryptic defn: The Italian pasta that is square shaped.
26 One who withdraws from rugby manoeuvre (4,3)
DROP OUT : Double defn: 1st: As one word, one who withdraws from, say, school prematurely, or from conventional society; and 2nd: With a hyphen, in rugby, a drop kick taken by the defending team to restart play.
27 Make mincemeat of Eliot’s argument in review (5)
WORST : Reversal of(… in review) [ T.S.(initials of Eliot, the English poet) + ROW(an argument, especially a noisy one) ].
Defn: To trounce;to thrash in a competition.
28 Veronica went into rocket (9)
SPEEDWELL : Cryptic defn: To go rapidly;to rocket like, well, a rocket, that can cryptically be described as to “speed well”. Edit. note: Thanks to Kairos for the intended parsing: PEED(went, in the rest room) contained in( into ) SWELL(to rocket;to increase a lot and quickly).
Answer: Another name for the flowering plant, Veronica.
Down
1 Head of college dropping bottom side … (5)
RECTO : “rector”(the head;principal of a college) minus its last letter(dropping bottom, in a down clue).
Defn: The page on the right-hand side of a book in a left-to-right language.
2 … a peripheral Provençal team (7)
PRINTER : PR(abbrev. for Provençal) + INTER(short for the Italian football team, Inter-Milan).
Defn: … device for your computer.
3 Woolly tie I’d knit is uninteresting (9)
IDENTIKIT : Anagram of(Woolly) TIE I’D KNIT.
Answer: From the method of using a set of transparencies to put together a composite face, something which is composed of various copied elements, without any true identity, and thus, uninteresting.
4 Humiliate American leader’s party (5)
ABASH : The 1st letter of(… leader) “American ” + BASH(a party).
5 Some French on about welcoming Sergeant on board ship (9)
DESTROYER : [ DES(French for “some”) + reversal of(… about) RE(on the subject of;with reference to) ] containing(welcoming … on board) TROY(Frank, the sergeant in Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd).
6 Struggle to find time for good figure of speech (5)
TROPE : “grope”(to struggle to find;to have difficulty searching, as if in the dark) with “t”(abbrev. for “time”) replacing(for) “g”(abbrev. for “good”).
Defn: Words or expressions used in a figurative sense, such as a metaphor.
7 Endless dark and drizzle brings disease (7)
MURRAIN : “murk”(dark;gloomy) minus its last letter(Endless) plus(and) RAIN(drizzle).
Answer: Any plaguelike disease in cattle, such as anthrax.
8 Lead shape – a red shape (9)
SPEARHEAD : Anagram of(shape) A RED SHAPE.
13 Surrey opener’s boast about anxiety for one out in the field (9)
SCARECROW : [ The 1st letter of(… opener) “Surrey ” + CROW(to boast;to brag) ] containing(about) CARE(anxiety for your or someone’s welfare).
14 What a pretentious Radio 3 presenter would do? (3,2,4)
PUT ON AIRS : Cryptic defn: Reference to BBC Radio 3, a station whose staple is highbrow classical music, and to any of its presenters who would literally put on (broadcast over the air) classical airs. Which, if taken figuratively, would make him/her a pretentious ass.
15 Hard material Sir Henry for one first demonstrated? (9)
SATINWOOD : WOOD(a famous example; for one, was Sir Henry, English conductor, famous for conducting the London Proms) placed below(first …, in a down clue) [ SAT IN(past tense of “sit in”;to participate in a demonstration;an act of civil disobedience, involving sitting).
Answer: The hard wood from the tree of the same name.
17 Rogue state body (7)
CADAVER : CAD(a rogue;a scoundrel) + AVER(to state;to declare as true).
Defn: … of a dead person.
19 Fat Teletubby introduced to crazy aides (7)
ADIPOSE : PO(one of the Teletubbies from the BBC children’s television series) contained in(introduced to) anagram of(crazy) AIDES.
Defn: … stored in animal tissues.
21 Rubbish written about old square in Settle (5)
ROOST : ROT(rubbish) containing(written about) O,S(abbrevs. respectively for “old” and “square”).
Defn: … in for the night, like birds do.
22 Supply opponents with just deserts (5)
ENDUE : E,N(abbrevs. for players in opposing partnerships in bridge) plus(with) DUE(just deserts;what you deserve, good or bad).
Defn: To endow;to provide with.
24 Applaud excursion to Luxembourg (5)
EXTOL : EX(abbrev. for “excursion” – I’m hard-pressed to find an example, “ex. fare”?) + TO + L(International Vehicle Registration code for Luxembourg).
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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.)
6) Shows a beetle afflicted with the HORSEHAIR worm
1) Shows a horse and rider participating in the New South Wales ENDRANCE riding event
4) shows David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing in which Benedick, playeed by Tennant, PUTs ON AIRS?
Freddy, you’re right about HORSEHAIR and ENDURANCE. The rest of the answers:
Pic 2: Ray Bolger and Judy Garland were in film, The Wizard of Oz, with the former playing the SCARECROW and the latter, Dorothy.
Pic 3: The cravat worn by the sailors is also called an ASCOT.
Pic 4: Catherine Tate and David Tennant were in the Dr. Who episode which first featured the ADIPOSE, alien life forms that looked like, well, blobs of fat.
Pic 5: Michael Jackson and Diana Ross were in the film, The Wiz, with the former playing the SCARECROW and the latter, Dorothy.
Thanks scchua