(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) Tough in a couple of spots, but managed in the end, though there’s one parsing I’m not sure of. Thanks to Crucible. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Crudely satirical opponent of 6 11? (9)
RACIALIST : Anagram of(Crudely) SATIRICAL.
Defn: I presume the “Crudely satirical” and “?” are part of the definition, otherwise it doesn’t make sense, as “race” is quite different from “species”.
10 Organise Ireland’s part in first Japanese issue (5)
NISEI : Hidden in(…’s part) “Organise Ireland“.
Answer: The first generation of children to be born in the US and Canada of Japanese immigrants.
11 Family member that’s wearing glasses (7)
SPECIES : I.E.(abbrev. of “id est”; that is) contained in(wearing) SPECS(short for spectacles; glasses to correct vision).
Answer: In biology, a species is one of a number that make up a genus, a number of which in turn make up a family, in taxonomic classification system.
12 Sea cow’s bottom’s first to come out (7)
EMANATE : “manatee”(the sea cow;the dugong) with its last letter(…’s bottom) going to the front(…’s first;is first).
13 Study English novelist of the Victorian era (5)
READE : READ(to study, as at university, say) + E(abbrev. for “English”).
Answer: Charles, best known for his novel, The Cloister and the Hearth.
14 I wouldn’t bet on these 6 11 (9)
OUTSIDERS : Double defn: 1st: Long shots, eg. in a race, that one might not want to lay a bet on; and 2nd: What the native population might consider (the answers to) 6 down 11 across.
16 Top story gets this clear and the rest get too old (7,8)
BLANKET COVERAGE : BLANK(clear;empty) + ETC(abbrev. for “et cetera”;and the rest of a list of related items) plus(get) [OVER AGE](too old;above the age for whatever it is).
19 What 9s do for soil? (9)
DISCOLOUR : [DIS(slang for “to belittle”) COLOUR(as a racial characteristic) ](what racialists do to other races).
Defn: To dirty;to stain.
21 They rescue 11 and scrap bats (5)
RSPCA : Anagram of(scrap) BATS.
Answer: Abbrev. for the Royal Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, part of whose purpose is to rescue (some) animal species (answer to 11 across).
22 Make balls of hands in lap (5,2)
SCREW UP : CREW(a group of workers;hands) contained in(in) SUP(to lap;to drink).
Defn: To balls up.
23 Its giant 11’s toxic in corner pot (7)
HOGWEED : HOG(to corner;to take more than one’s share of) + WEED(like “pot”, another slang word for marijuana).
Answer: The giant hogweed, a phototoxic plant, is a species (answer to 11 across) of the genus, hogweed.
24 A short distance in, say, round (5)
GIMME : Cryptic defn: In a round of, say, golf, a gimme is a putt of a short distance that is “given” to a player by his/her opponent as it is considered too easy to miss.
25 Slow progress, as indicated by conducting faster? (9)
TEMPORISE : Cryptic defn: The resulting of conducting faster is to raise the tempo.
Answer: To slow down progress in a debate or discussion in order to gain time.
Down
1 Abridged Plain Words copy editor outlawed (10)
PROSCRIBED : “prose”(plain words, as opposed to verse) minus its last letter(Abridged …) + CRIB(to copy as a form of cheating, eg. in tests) + ED(abbrev. for “editor”).
2 After school, swimming team ace models (8)
SCHEMATA : SCH(abbrev. for “school”) placed before(After …) anagram of(swimming) TEAM + A(abbrev. for “ace”, the playing card).
3 Gershwin’s last musical’s about local (6)
NATIVE : The last letter of(…’s last) “Gershwin” + reversal of(…’s about) EVITA(the Rice-Webber musical).
4 Regular doings with spades (4)
DIGS : The 1st, 3rd and 5th letters of(Regular) “doings ” plus(with) S(abbrev. for the playing card suit, spades).
Defn: What are regularly achieved with the use of the implements, spades. A WIWD(wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
5 Badger resorted to exit by road (6,4)
STREET DOOR : Anagram of(Badger) RESORTED TO.
6 Van is out at 4.15, popping up everywhere (8)
INVASIVE : Anagram of(… out) VAN IS plus(at) IV(Roman numeral for 4) + E(I’m guessing here: abbrev. for “east”, the direction to which a clock hand showing the 15 minutes past the hour is pointing).
7 Progenitor of some 6 11 duck (6)
ESCAPE : Double defn: 1st: In botany, a plant that has “escaped” from its original area of cultivation, and start as an invasive species in another environment; and 2nd: To avoid.
8 Reintroduced bird and fox cub close to home (4)
KITE : KIT(the young of a fox) + the last letter of(close to) “home “.
Answer: The red kite was reintroduced in parts of the UK after being almost hunted to extinction.
14 Beat favourite in effect (10)
OUTCOMPETE : PET(a favourite) contained in(in) OUTCOME(the resulting effect of a cause).
15 Put on light after untidy desk’s cleared out (10)
SKEDADDLED : [ ADD(to put on) + LED(abbrev. for “light-emitting diode”) ] placed below(after, in a down clue) anagram of(untidy) DESK.
17 Granny, for instance, got rid of water in plant (8)
KNOTWEED : KNOT(an example of which;for instance, is the granny) + WEED(got rid of your urine).
18 Order pudding (5,3)
APPLE PIE : Double defn: 1st: Adjective applied to “order” to denote perfect order or tidiness.
20 Model who lost weight’s not much of a catch (6)
SHRIMP : “Shrimpton”(Jean, model icon of the 60s) minus(who lost) “ton”(unit measure of weight in the Imperial system).
21 What Japanese 11 of 17 do, perhaps, right in line (6)
REGROW : [ EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”;for example;perhaps) + R(abbrev. for “right”) ] contained in(in) ROW(an arrangement of persons or things in a line).
Answer: The very resilient Japanese knotweed, a species of the knotweed genus, vigorously resprouts from its roots. But what weed does not?
22 Greenhouse gas ultimately built up in plant (4)
SAGE : Reversal of(… built up, in a down clue) the last 4 letters of(… ultimately) “Greenhouse gas “.
23 House doctor’s 6 11 (4)
HOMO : HO(abbrev. for “house”) + MO(abbrev. for “medical officer”, a doctor, especially in the military).
Answer: The genus that includes the various species of homonids, including homo sapiens, the most successful invasive species so far, having spread out from its origins in Africa. There is some debate as to whether it’s invasive or not, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t be considered so.
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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.)
The 100$ bill is sage green a greenback?
The fox to DISCOLOUR the leaves of a book etc with brownish marks
Benjamin Franklin clearly goes with KITE, and perhaps the gold prospector DIGS, though it looks to me more as if he pans. Foxes are surely an INVASIVE SPECIES, at least of chicken coops.
Cookie & Ian SW3,
Right about FOX (to discolour paper) and KITE (Franklin’s supposed experiment on electricity with KITE and key – supposed, as, if he had really done it successfully, he would have been electrocuted).
pic 2 There is the gold emergency blanket, BLANKET COVERAGE
1 could be a SAGE warning of the Ides of March
2 gold was once known as SPECIES when making coinage.
#4, radiotherapy, which is non-INVASIVE
#1 is from ‘The Passion of Christ.’ Not very good on religion, but ‘SPECIES are the forms (bread and wine) of the Eucharist.’ Any connection?
P.S. I’ve just recently visited Matera in Puglia where ‘The Passion of Christ’ crucifixion was filmed. It’s an awesome place, definitely worth a visit.
pic 1. Romans, the INVASIVE army in Judea
pic 1, could it be SCREW UP. Pontius Pilate wanted Jesus to be freed and the violent criminal Barabbas punished. He gave the crowd the choice, but they wanted Barabbas freed and Jesus killed.
pic 1. Jesus was an OUTSIDER being from Nazareth (assume Barabbas was a NATIVE).
pic 1. Pontius Pilate is ‘wearing’ a BLANKET COVER.
The prospector is panning for “native gold”.
The Passion –> Ecce HOMO?
That’s it, people, well done!
Pic1: subsequent to what’s portrayed, Pontius Pilate presented Jesus, prior to his crucifixion, to the crowd with the Latin “Ecce HOMO
Pic2: gold is a NATIVE metal, like some others
Pic4: equipment for radiotherapy, a non-INVASIVE medical procedure.
Thanks for participating.
pic 1) shows Pontius Pilate lobbying against the execution of Christ, so he might be said to be TEMPORISEing (no E of course)
@ scchua: Banjamin Franklin reportedly insulated himself.
I PROMISE you that radiotherapy is not at all non-invasive. It is VERY invasive. Consult a recipient who, ten years later, find they have no bowel walls anymore. Try me, my whole jaw bone decayed by the radio ‘therapy’, a hole in my neck. Many more details I will spare you.
I was just following up the crossword as one of the distractions I attempt to employ, I wasn’t looking for invasive comments.
Celia @18, people probably get the impression from medical news items that all radiotherapy is now non-invasive. Unfortunately this is not yet so. There is still invasive radiotherapy. However, rapid progress is being made all the time. For instance, Cyberknife is non-invasive. It is highly focussed and very precise, and it is now possible to treat liver and pancreatic tumours that are non-operable. Invasive radiotherapy cannot be used on these because of the damage to surrounding tissue.
Please keep on with the crossword, it is such fun. I am new to it, so do not always appreciate the cleverness of some of the clues and I often have to use the check option.
Cookie -thanks for response. Usually I would only have praise and thanks for the NHS but not over this. The dishonest treatment of me over the radio Therapy, no ‘warning’ as to what might happen. Then, no acknowledgment, interest or follow up, their washing their hands of me when the awfulness of how I was left was revealed. The first sign being the hole opening up in my neck. A few week later a sizeable piece of bone came out through this opening (as jaw crumbled).
SORRY! Most unnecessary of me. As I said, I was just trying crossword therapy as a distraction.
Celia, so glad you are keeping on with the crosswords. I don’t live in England, but my eldest son is a radiologist/surgeon and my daughter-in-law a radiologist/physician, both work for the NHS. If ever you have any questions get in touch with me.
Celia, I have just keyed in “radiotherapy and crumbling bones”, and a Daily Mail article of 24 nov 2008 came up, “Why won’t our doctors face up to the dangers of radiotherapy”. Perhaps you saw it in the past.