(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.)
I made more headway with the down clues than the across ones. Par for a Quiptic in terms of difficulty. Thanks to Pan. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
7 Lad taking £2 to join club for film-makers (9)
BOLLYWOOD : BOY(lad) plus(taking) L,L(2 x symbol for £) plus(to join) WOOD(a sort of golf club).
Defn: …, collectively, from India, from a combination of Bombay (as Mumbai was previously) and Hollywood. Known for movies like this.
8 Castrated animal returned with buttocks round, plump and comely (5)
BUXOM : Reversal of(… returned) OX(an adult castrated bull) contained in(with … round) BUM(buttocks;rear end).
9 Purgative for use when badly cooked roast contributes to wind (6,3)
CASTOR OIL : Anagram of(badly cooked) ROAST contained in(contributes to) COIL(to wind in spirals). A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
10 Greek letter written backwards in fat ledger (5)
DELTA : Reversal of(written backwards) and hidden in(in) “fat ledger “.
12 Failing head about to get stick (6)
ADHERE : Anagram of(Failing) HEAD + RE(with reference to;about).
13 Soothing cream prescribed during appointments (8)
OINTMENT : Hidden in(during) “appointments“.
14 Shoulder to shoulder, as sailor takes his last bearing (7)
ABREAST : AB(abbrev. for “able-bodied seaman”;a sailor) + the last letter of(… takes his last) “sailor” + EAST(a compass bearing).
17 Sweet affectionate creature (7)
FONDANT : FOND(affectionate) + ANT(a creature).
Used to make the brain here:
20 Trot about visiting sick with a savoury pancake (8)
TORTILLA : Anagram of(… about) TROT plus(visiting) ILL(sick) plus(with) A.
22 A bit of a fry up is not so wise (6)
RASHER : Double defn: 1st: A thin slice of bacon that you might fry.
24 Examined the rabble orally (5)
HEARD : Homophone of(… orally) “herd”(rabble;a multitude of ordinary people, as a derogatory term).
Defn: …, as in a court of law.
25 Fried potato cooked a lot with a sausage (9)
CHIPOLATA : CHIP(a slice of fried potato) + anagram of(cooked) A LOT plus(with) A.
26 Stocky social worker’s extremely friendly (5)
BEEFY : BEE(one of social insects, one of whose castes is the worker) plus(…’s;contraction of “has”) the 1st and last letters of(extremely) “friendly “.
27 Fines, which are taken on the spot (9)
PENALTIES : Cryptic defn: Reference to penalty kicks in football, say, which are taken from or on the spot.
Down
1 Set up raffle for old cold chicken (6)
COWARD : Reversal of(Set up, in a down clue) [ DRAW(a raffle) plus(for) O,C(abbrev. for “old” and “cold”, respectively) ].
2 A full set of marbles for everyone present (3,5)
ALL THERE : Double defn: 1: A complete set of intact mental faculties; and 2: Everyone attending;present at that event or location.
3 Move to avoid delivery of ball, securing wide (6)
SWERVE : SERVE(the delivery of ball at start of play, in tennis, say) containing(securing) W(abbrev. for “wide”, in cricket scores, say).
4 Police officer gets one chance to be the captain(sic) assistant (2-5)
CO-PILOT : COP(slang for a police officer) plus(gets) I(Roman numeral for “one”) + LOT(the use of lots to make a choice by chance, as in “the order of appearance shall be by lot;chance”).
5 Not divulging information about purpose of cultural institution (6)
MUSEUM : MUM(not divulging information) containing(about) USE(purpose;what something is used for).
6 Get material for the Opposition leader close to election (6,2)
COTTON ON : COTTON(a fabric material) plus(for) the 1st letter of(… leader) “Opposition ” + the last letter of(close to) “election“.
Defn: To grasp the meaning of.
11 Working at Foreign Office intelligence (4)
INFO : IN(working at) FO(abbrev. for the Foreign Office).
15 Traded on behalf of others without money to get wine? (8)
BROKERED : BROKE(without money;penniless) plus(to get) RED(an informal term for red wine).
16 Oils processed in large farm container (4)
SILO : Anagram of(… processed) OILS.
18 Lonely miss stood up during tryst (8)
DESOLATE : Reversal of(… stood up, in a down clue) LOSE(to miss, as in “to lose;miss one’s one and only chance”) contained in(during) DATE(a tryst).
19 Riches spread about to trap a person with access to the till (7)
CASHIER : Anagram of(… spread about) RICHES containing(to trap) A.
21 How to save money for plant? (6)
THRIFT : Double defn: 1st: Wisdom and caution in managing money.
22 Another chance to watch priest taking part in race (6)
REPLAY : P(abbrev. for “priest”) contained in(taking part in) RELAY(a race between teams, each of whose members participates in only a set part of the race before handing over to the next member).
23 Book set in West Herefordshire (6)
ESTHER : Hidden in(set in) “West Herefordshire “.
Defn: … in the Old Testament of the Bible.
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The following pictures have unidentified links to the puzzle.
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Thanks scchua
Pic 3 is from the original “Italian job”, which featured Noel COWARD.
Pic 2, Handel also composed the oratorio Esther
Pic 6, CASTOR fur hats – “beavers” ?
Pic 5
Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion walked th yellow brick road 4 ABREAST?
Pic 5, Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz with Toto (Judy Garland with Terry)…Susan SILO was one of the voice-overs
Did you know that or research it, Cookie? Very impressive, either way!
in fact, was there not a SILO, round house or something in the film?
Unfortunately she was born 3 years after the film was released!
I searched it, muffin
SILO was the Munchkin Mayor in the animated series
#4 – TORTILLA Zapata
P.S. It’s in the Scunthorpe Telegraph, so it must be international.
#5, Toto the dog; In Toto = ALL THERE?
I like that, Robi!
Pic 4, Pancho Villa is sitting on the Presidential Chair, Emiliano Zapata is on his left (he declined to sit on the chair)…can’t be CO-PILOT surely ?
yes, that is really good Robi @13;
pic 5 – Judy was born with the surname Gumm – a connection with ADHERE?
#1 is a montage of classic American writers. Steinbeck wrote a novel called ‘TORTILLA Flat.’
Right, muffin and Cookie, with Pics 2 and 3
Cookie@3, would you like to expand a bit more on your answer?
Pic5 It is The Wizard of Oz, but the connection works without the dog, but still a good one, Robi
Pic4 There’s a more indirect link.
Right Robi with Pic1.
Hint: There are 2 pairs of pics where each member of the pair links to the same crossword answer.
Pic 4, well there are two types of CASTOR OIL, the one from the plant Ricinus communis used as a purgative, the other is a secretion from beavers used in medicine and perfumes. Beaver fur is used for making hats.
I am used to using the word CASTOR for the animal, but that is because I live in France I guess (castor for the animal is from the Greek kastor ‘beaver’).
Pic 5: COWARDly lion?
Cookie @21; from Wiki: ‘The prime beaver fur with which to make felted beaver hats comes from beaver trapped in the winter months. CASTOR gras were pelts that had been trapped in the winter, worn by Native American trappers through the trapping season.’
Thanks Cookie@21, you’ve more than covered it. Pic4 was of various fur hats, some of which are made of the fur of the beaver, CASTOR in Latin. The vegetable CASTOR OIL probably got is name from being a replacement for a perfume base from the animal.
#4, is it just Mexican TORTILLA?
Yes, Shirl, the Cowardly Lion was a character from the Wiz.
pic 4: according to Google, Mexico is a major producer of CASTOR OIL
Robi@25, it’s a more indirect link.
CASTOR = beaver = moustache?
Pic4 it’s via Zapata!
Viva Zapata (film) was written by John Steinbeck, but that just links pic 1 @ 4 together
Not @ I mean &!
Pic 4, there is/was a large company called Zapata OIL, all tied up with George H. W. Bush…
Yes Shirl, the screenplay for Viva Zapata (about Senor Zapata) was written by Steinbeck, who also wrote TORTILLA Flat, per answer to pic1.
Thanks scchua – that seems to wrap it up
Thanks for the extra entertainment, scchua.
Thank you scchua, that was great fun yesterday.