Guardian Cryptic 26948 with Picture Quiz

(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow.  To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.)  This wasn’t too difficult after getting the gateway clue (1,12). Thanks to Crucible. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1, 12 Writer, illustrator, top farceur and snooker player (7,6)

BEATRIX POTTER : BEAT(to top;to surpass) + RIX(Brian, English farceur, actor and campaigner) plus(and) POTTER(a snooker player)

5 Elemental form is uppermost in poet’s heart (7).

ISOTOPE : IS + [TOP(uppermost) contained in(in) the last letter of(…’s heart) “poet “].

10 Brave enormous halves switch sides (4)

GAME : MEGA(enormous) with [its 1st 2 letters and last 2 letters](halves) exchanging places(switch sides).

11 Climbing with difficulty, get lost jewellery (10)

SCRAMBLING : SCRAM!(get lost!;beat it!) + BLING(flashy jewellery, originally from hip-hop slang).

12 See 1

13 It’s for picking fruit et cetera, occasionally netted (8)

PLECTRUM : PLUM(a fruit) containing(… netted) the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th letters of(…, occasionally) “et cetera “.

Defn: … on the strings of a string instrument.

14 Trunk‘s for governor protecting social centre (9)

PROBOSCIS : PRO(for, in contrast to against;con) + [ BOSS(informally called “governor” or “guv”) containing(protecting) the central 2 letters of(… centre) “social“].

16 Dull Black Country character of 1 12 (5)

BLAND : B(abbrev. for “black”) + LAND(country).

Double defn: 2nd: …(Beatrix Potter) in “The Tale of Pigling Bland”.

17 Greens back US city, ousting Liberal (5)

SALAD : Reversal of(back) “Dallas”(US city) minus(ousting) “l”(abbrev. for “Liberal”).

19 Idiot pays criminal for property of 6 23 (9)

ADIPOSITY : Anagram of(pays criminal) IDIOT PAYS.

Defn: …(Samuel Whiskers), an enormous rat.

23 See 6

24 Bane of 26, teacher’s pet ultimately (6)

RABBIT : RABBI(a teacher of Jewish law) + the last letter of(… ultimately) “pet “.

Defn: …(Mr. McGregor) in Beatrix Potter’s stories.

26 Oddly, more mice busily gorge on rare 1 12 character (2,8)

MR MCGREGOR : The 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th letters of(Oddly) “more mice ” + anagram of(busily) GORGE plus(on) R(abbrev. for “rare”).

Defn: … , a vegetable farmer.

27 A country’s seabirds (4)

AUKS : A + UK(abbrev. for for the United Kingdom)‘S.

28 Spots wine, then loses it (4,3)

SEES RED : SEES(spots;eyes) + RED(a category of wine).

Defn: Flies off the handle.

29 Prepare to print 50-peseta curtains (7)

TYPESET : Hidden in(… curtains) “fifty-peseta“.

Down

2 European guy mounts Guardian’s entrance (7)

ENAMOUR : E(abbrev. for “European”) + reversal of(… mounts, in a down clue) MAN(a guy) + OUR(self-referential possessive pronoun for the “Guardian”, presenter of this crossword).

Defn: …, as a verb;to enchant.

3 Daily crime perpetrated by 24s (5)

THEFT : [THE FT](abbrev. for the daily paper, the Financial Times).

Defn: …(rabbits) on Mr. McGregor’s vegetables.

4 Leaflets in series that is withdrawn for a short time (7)

INSERTS : IN + “series” with “ie”(abbrev. for “id est”;that is) replaced by(withdrawn for) “t”(abbrev. for “time”).

Defn: … inserted into newspapers, magazines and books.

6, 23 US male’s crazy about tiny margin for 1 12 character (6,8)

SAMUEL WHISKERS : Anagram of(… crazy) US MALE’S containing(about) WHISKER(a tiny margin, as in “he won the race by a whisker”).

Defn: … in “The Roly-Poly Pudding” or “The Tale of Samuel Whiskers”.

7 Everyone in the Times drinks? They’re incredible (4,5)

TALL TALES : ALL(everyone) contained in(in) T,T(twice the abbrev. for “time”) + ALES(beers).

8 English university invested in secure publisher (7)

PENGUIN : [ENG(abbrev. for “English”) + U(abbrev. for “university”) ] contained in(invested in) PIN(to secure;to fasten).

Defn: … of books.

9 Ginger had pics Photoshopped as part of this work (7,6)

GRAPHIC DESIGN : Anagram of(… Photoshopped) GINGER HAD PICS.

Such work could include pictures that have been photoshopped. A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.

15 They give support thus, when they’re eaten by 24s (9)

BRASSICAS : BRAS(apparel that give support to female chests) + SIC(thus;a word inserted in brackets to indicate it was originally written or printed as such, no matter how odd or wrong it is) + AS(when, as in “as you are doing this”).

Defn: A genus of plants including cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, and mustard, food for rabbits.

18 A short way to get round hardwood supplier (3,4)

ASH TREE : A + “street”(a way;a thoroughfare) minus its last letter(short …) containing(to get round) “h”(abbrev. for “hard”).

20 Picture four rivers, one flowing into another (7)

PORTRAY : PO(a river in Italy) + R(abbrev. for “river”) + [ R(abbrev. for “river”) containing(flowing into) TAY(a river in Scotland) ]. That’s four “rivers” in all.

Defn: …, as a verb.

21 1 12 character ignores Iggy — stars do it (7)

TWINKLE : “Tiggy-Winkle”(character in Beatrix Potter’s “The Tale Of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle”) minus(ignores) “Iggy “.

22 I’m surprised troops nearly block river (4,2)

DEAR ME! : “army”(military troops) minus its last letter(nearly) contained in(block) DEE(any of a number of rivers in the UK, and in Australia).

Answer: … or “Dearie Me!” exclamations of surprise.

25 Poet, painter and illustrator left to cook hogs (5)

BLAKE : L(abbrev. for “left”) contained in(… hogs) BAKE(to cook in the oven).

Answer: William, English poet, painter and printmaker.

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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.)