(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) This was a bit of a challenge, especially the upper half, but I did eventually finish it. Thanks to Otterden. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Swift horse you resolved to enter in very hard inaugural National Hunt November meeting (9)
HOUYHNHNM : Anagram of(… resolved) YOU contained in(to enter in) HH(abbrev. for very;doubly hard, as found on lead pencils) + the 1st letters, respectively, of(inaugural) “National Hunt November meeting “.
Defn: Cryptically, one of a breed of intelligent horses in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.
10 Friend finishing up a complete fool (5)
CHUMP : CHUM(a friend) + the last letter of(finishing) “up “.
11 Adversary in military manoeuvre has a tricky problem (7)
OPPOSER : OP(short for “operation”, a military manoeuvre, way) plus(has) POSER(a tricky problem).
12 Nectarine not an unusual tempter (7)
ENTICER : Anagram of(… unusual) [ “Nectarine ” minus(not) “an ” ].
13 Detailed perfect scheme (4)
IDEA : “ideal”(perfect) minus its last letter(Detailed…).
14 Recent maps show this landscape feature (10)
ESCARPMENT : Anagram of(… show) RECENT MAPS.
15 Internal airline reportedly to keep in touch with receiver (7)
TRACHEA : Homophone of(reportedly) [ “track”(to keep in touch with;to follow another’s movements) plus(with) “ear”(the sound receiver on you)] .
Defn: Cryptically, the internal tube;line carrying air from larynx to lungs, your windpipe.
17 Sale with a changed drawing power (7)
SUCTION : “auction”(a sale) with “a” replaced(with … changed).
19 Ring for this appointment? (10)
ENGAGEMENT : Double defn: 1st: … given as a token of betrothal; and 2nd: …, of the social sort, and one that might perhaps;? involve a marriage proposal and a ring.
22 Bird found mostly in the same place (4)
IBIS : 3 out of 4 letters of(mostly) “ibid.”(abbrev. for “ibidem”;in the same place, used to refer to the same book, chapter, etc. cited just before). The wordplay for “s” seems to be missing? I thought of “ib.”(alternative to “ibid.”) + “is”(found in), but then, “mostly” would be incorrect.
23 Reformed paper not the middle state school one (7)
ORIGAMI : The central letter of(… the middle) “not ” + RI(abbrev. for the US state of Rhode Island) + GAM(a school of whales) + I(Roman numeral for “one”).
Defn: Cryptically, a product of the Japanese art of folding paper into representative shapes.
24 Harangues one involved in deals (7)
TIRADES : I(Roman numeral for “one”) contained in(involved in) TRADES(deals;what a trader does, or concludes).
26 Counts as a run outside (5)
EXTRA : Double defn: 1st: … in cricket; and 2nd: A prefix signifying “outside of”, as in eg. “extragalactic”.
27 South African golfer’s clothing reportedly lacking presence (9)
ELSEWHERE : Homophone of(… reportedly) [ “Els”(Ernie, South African golfer)’ “wear”(clothing) ].
Down
1 Concede when worth toilet training (5,2,3,5)
THROW IN THE TOWEL : Anagram of(… training) WHEN WORTH TOILET.
2 Author not available to support small firm over summons (8)
SUBPOENA : [ POE(Edgar Allan, American author) + N.A.(abbrev. for “not available”] placed below(to support, in a down clue) reversal of(… over, in a down clue) BUS(short for;small “business”;a commercial firm).
3 It is so evident in one famously very old (4)
THUS : Contained in(evident in) “Methuselah”(Biblical patriarch supposed to have lived for 969 years, and, since then, famous as an epitome of longevity).
4 Lure fish to island on the fringes of Malaysia (8)
CHARISMA : CHAR(any of several fish related to the trout and salmon) plus(to) IS(abbrev. for “island”) placed above(on, in a down clue) the 1st and last letters of(the fringes of) “Malaysia “.
Answer: Personal magnetism and charm that could lure others into being influenced and inspired.
5 Organism takes a short time first emerging by artifice (6)
AMOEBA : A + MO(short for “moment”;a short time) + the 1st letters, respectively, of(first) “emerging by artifice “.
6 Scoot off with photograph of vision in darkness (8)
SCOTOPIC : Anagram of(… off) SCOOT plus(with) PIC(short for “picture”;a photograph, say).
7 Strength required for first managing cryptic clues (6)
MUSCLE : The 1st letter of(first) “managing ” + anagram of(cryptic) CLUES.
8 Computer essential for hospital activity to get statutory covering support (15 (sic))
OPERATING SYSTEM : OPERATING(a hospital activity;performing surgery) plus(to get) the 1st and last letters of(… covering) “statutory ” + STEM(a support, eg. that of a plant, leaf or flower) (9,6).
16 Pig farmer gets extremely angry at the end of the year (8)
HOGMANAY : [HOG MAN](whimsically, one with hogs;a pig farmer) plus(gets) the 1st and last letters of(extremely) “angry “.
Defn: The last day of the year, as called in Scotland and Northern England.
17 Sterilise hospital shortly before it is stripped clean (8)
SANITISE : SAN(short for;…shortly “sanatorium”;a hospital for the treatment of chronic diseases) placed above(before, in a down clue) IT IS + the central letter of(stripped, of not just one, but two, layers) “clean “.
18 Firmly fixed that setter is to be tucked up for the night (8)
IMBEDDED : I’M(contraction of “I am”;setter is, self-referentially) + BEDDED(tucked up in bed for the night).
20 A verdict on mulligatawny soup, given without lawman being present (6)
GUILTY : Anagram of(… soup) [ “mulligatawny” minus(given without … being present) “lawman” ].
21 Poster writer (6)
MAILER : Double defn: 1st: …;advertisement or form letter sent out in the mail; and 2nd: US writer acclaimed for his war novel, The Naked and the Dead.
25 Argues over part of the make-up of crosswords (4)
ROWS : Double defn: 2nd: …, seen in the grid to be entered … and, also contained in(part of the) reversal of(make-up of) “crosswords “.
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The following pictures have unidentified links to the puzzle. (No, there isn’t a homophone.)
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.)
Pic #1 is the ape from 2001, just about to throw up a bone that turns into a spaceship (several hundred thousand years later). This doesn’t help me link it with the crossword, though!
Is Pic #4 a test of SCOTOPIC vision?
The ape was stimulated by the monolith to have the IDEA of using weapons?
There are two CHUMPs in Pic #5 ………….. no, sorry, that should read CHIMPs.
CHUMP chops from lamb in Pic #2?
Swimming pools are SANITISEd with chlorine or chlorine dioxide? (You can see that I’m clutching at straws here!)
Right, muffin with CHUMP chops. And you got the opening sequence from 2001 correct, but not the link. And look who’s in the pool.
Among the notable music in 2001 is (in English) THUS Spake Zarathustra, though not if I recall correctly at that point, where the music is the Blue Danube waltz.
Good spot, Ian, but as it’s by a German composer, it should be called “Also sprach Zarathustra”!
Ah, if that’s the rule I must never again refer to the Magic Flute, the Barber of Seville, the Marriage of Figaro, etc. I think Also Sprach… is equally well known by its English title.
Fair point, Ian – I expect that it’s the answer that scchua was waiting for.
[I suppose that if an opera is given in English translation, then the title should be translated too – however if it is performed in the original language…………..?]
And on reflection, I think THUS Spake … does occur at this point during the shot of the monolith preceding or intercut with the apes. It then switches to the Blue Danube (or rather, An der schönen blauen Donau) in outer space.
picture 3.. the shells, cochlea = ear related to TRACHEA in the clue
Yes, I think you are correct, Ian – the music would have been appropriate at that point, wouldn’t it?
pic 6 ORIGAMI…. ORang-uatan (I)? GorillA (MI)?
@15 plus PAPER… PongoAPER
Right with pic1, Ian SW3. Hint for pic6: that’s a collection of Great Apes.
Is that the rock band CHARISMA (actually Charizma) in the pool?
pic 4 the two people oppose each other.
Tyke, no it’s Nirvana, who Wikipedia informs me recorded “Oh, the Guilt”, so perhaps it is a reference to GUILTY. If it’s something else, I don’t have the stomach to read the whole article.
So no. 6 is a shrewdness of apes, some of which may be SCOTOPIC. Otherwise, I have no IDEA.
Great apes…opposable thumbs…opposer?
pic 6. heavyweight champions…Norman MAILER
Nirvana…their album “Bleach” – Sanistise?
@22. should have enlarged, Norman Mailer fought for what he characterised as the “heavyweight championship” of American letters.
Yes, John Appleton, opposable thumbs, OPPPOSERs you might say.
Or Nirvana’s Album “With the lights out”…scotopic?
pic 4. ENGAGEMENT, the two peoples’ eyes are locked together…
Pic4 Hint: from the eye examination to an intermediate link to one of the crossword’s answers.
Pic 4……..well……CHARISMA
pic 4…or track in 15a
Is the guy in pic 4 OPERATING a SYSTEM of some kind?
now resorted to checking internal airlines, 15a, on the net.. pic 4 BLINK, how stupid can one get ?
Pic4: That’s an auto-refractor he’s using. It is electronic, but it’s not the operating system in question. What is he looking for, and where?
This is an examination in a “developed” country, so it is ulikely that AMOEBAe would be being searched for in the aqueous humour of the eye, though toxoplasma could be.
Pic 4: is this an examination of the IRIS, which is as close to IBIS as IBID is?
Hi, all. The answers:
Pic3: CHARISMA is a genus of sea snails like the ones in the pic.
Pic4: Long before computers and OPERATING SYSTEMs, OS stood for “occulus sinister”, the left eye (where the specialist in the pic is looking) with the abbreviation to be found written in the eyeglass prescription.
Pic5: Nirvana started off calling themselves Skid ROW.