(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) It wasn’t plain sailing at the start, but I finally finished it. Thanks to Jason. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Item of luggage? Article getting common check out (4,3,5)
CASE THE JOINT : CASE(an item of luggage) + THE(an article in grammar) plus(getting) JOINT(in common with others, as in “joint ownership of…”).
10 One’s on the way out of blind alley (7)
IMPASSE : I’M(contraction of I am;one is;one’s) + PASSE(on the way out;has-been).
Defn: … or a passage having no exit;a cul-de-sac.
11 Comrade‘s newt is in catalogue (7)
LEFTIST : EFT(a juvenile newt) contained in(is in) LIST(a catalogue).
Defn: One who might call his political bedfellow a comrade.
12 Little Napoleon shifting Earl to the front finds wood? (5)
EBONY : BONEY(shortened nickname for Napoleon Bonaparte) with E(abbrev. for “Earl”) placed first(shifting … to the front).
13 Exciting bloke made tiny changes (8)
DYNAMITE : Anagram of(… changes) MADE TINY.
15 Old writer reportedly to snatch feasible time when anything goes (4,6)
OPEN SEASON : O(abbrev. for “old”) + PEN(a writing instrument) + homophone of(reportedly) “seize”(to snatch) + ON(feasible, usually used in the negative sense, as in “your proposal is not on”;not workable).
16 Blister? Cyclist needs a hundred and fifty one less (4)
CYST : “Cyclist” minus(needs … less) “CLI”(Roman numeral for a hundred and fifty one).
Defn: … or, more exactly, a blister-like abnormal growth under the skin.
18 Proof goof in publicity poetry (4)
TYPO : Hidden in(in) “publicity poetry“.
Defn: Short for an error in printed text.
20 This place’s set for promotion (5,5)
SALES PITCH : Anagram of(… set) THIS PLACE’S.
22 Walk all over cold meadow first and get lost (5,3)
CLEAR OUT : ROUT(to defeat totally;to walk all over) placed after(… first) [ C(abbrev. for “cold”) + LEA(a meadow;an area of grassland) ].
Defn: … as an exclamation.
24 Dance is back in drag – no chance! (5)
CONGA : Hidden in(in) reversal of(back) “drag – no chance“.
26 Large pet? Pet belonging to mum? (7)
MASTIFF : MA’S(possessive pronoun of “ma”;belonging to mother) TIFF(a disagreement, especially between friends or lovers, which could, I guess, cause or be caused by a pet;a fit of sulking).
Defn: …, of the canine variety.
The largest of the large?
27 Runner who harasses somebody more like King Henry V!? (7)
HARRIER : Triple defn: 1st: … on a cross-country team; and 2nd: One who harasses; and 3: Cryptic. Somebody more like Harry could be said to be Harrier (the superlative), and King Henry V when he was a lad was called Prince Harry in Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays.
28 Policies about one upsetting a cinch (5,7)
PLAIN SAILING : PLANS(policies;courses of action adopted or proposed by an organization or individual, or as in “an insurance policy”;insurance plan) containing(about) I(Roman numeral for “one”) + AILING(upsetting;troubling someone).
Defn: An easy task.
Down
2 Give the nod to handy program range (7)
APPROVE : APP(a handy computer program for mobile devices) + ROVE(to range;to wander).
3 Art from French, for example, is beginning to thrill author (8)
ESSAYIST : ES(French for “are”, an archaic English word for which is “art”) + SAY(for example, as in, say, “it looked like a big dog, say, a mastiff”) + IS + the 1st letter of(beginning to) “thrill“.
4 Hard going over slippery cove – untrustworthy sort (4)
HEEL : H(abbrev. for “hard”) placed above(going over, in a down clue) EEL(an untrustworthy man;a slippery cove).
Defn: …, like a slippery cove.
I’m hard-pressed to find an example of “h” as an abbrev. for “hard”, except in combination, eg. “hard disc drive”.
5 Flag day out received and understood (5,5)
JOLLY ROGER : JOLLY(a day out;an outing supposedly for business, but really for enjoyment) + ROGER(in radio communications, used to indicate that the message has been received and understood).
6 Somehow fair to accept note in Latin below (5)
INFRA : Anagram of(Somehow) FAIR contained in(to accept) N(abbrev. for “note”).
7 One fool in attempt for term in Oxford or Cambridge college (7)
TRINITY : [I (Roman numeral for “one”) + NIT(a fool) ] contained in(n) TRY(an attempt at something).
8 Survey scrupulously with this, choice also: male in fixing botch (4-5,4)
FINE-TOOTH COMB : FINE(choice;one of the best) + TOO(also;in addition) + [ M(abbrev. for “male”) contained in(in) anagram of(fixing) BOTCH].
Defn: The “this” in the clue.
9 Rate the tester turning out this shopper’s distraction (6,7)
STREET THEATRE : Anagram of(… turning out) RATE THE TESTER.
14 Urchin, kid with a cake (10)
RAGAMUFFIN : RAG(to kid;to tease) plus(with) A + MUFFIN(a small domed sponge cake).
17 Casper, sadly getting tense, left – like a ghost (8)
SPECTRAL : Anagram of(…, sadly) CASPER
containing(getting) T(abbrev. for “tense”, in grammar) + L(abbrev. for “left”).
19 Present drink as exercise (5-2)
PRESS-UP : PRES(abbrev. for “present”) + SUP(to drink).
The only usage I found for “pres” was as a notation that someone was present, say, at a meeting.
21 Blasted tonnes I picked up garnering latent hostility (7)
TENSION : Anagram of(Blasted) TONNES I.
23 Girl’s boosted by a dip (5)
RAITA : RITA(a girl) containing(…’s boosted by) A.
25 Saturn’s fifth with reduced warmth? (4)
RHEA : The 5th letter of(…’s fifth) “Saturn” plus(with) “heat”(warmth) minus its last letter (reduced …).
Defn: Also known as Saturn V, one of Saturn’s moons,which would not have much warmth. A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
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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.)
#1 shows Oregon which in some parts of the world (this one for instance) is used to denote a type of timber (Douglas Fir to everyone else) – EBONY also being a timber.
#5 surely not this easy – Joanna Lumley giving her nose PRESS-UP for self-promotion – er charity.
#2 is Bill Bailey – but another Bill Bailey was politically a LEFTIST and fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War.
#3 is Bob Marley and the Wailers of No Woman No Cry fame. His son Stephen Robert Nesta is also a reggae musician and is nicknamed RAGAMUFFIN.
#2 again – in the song “Won’t you come home Bill Bailey” the words include:
Remember that rainy evening – you threw me out
With nothing but a FINE-TOOTH COMB
#6 is Jamie Vardy – Leicester City striker – but he has played left wing for England, the position he will likely play if his transfer to Arsenal goes ahead – making him a LEFTIST
Where is everybody?
I need to take abreak. Here’s a useful hint for anyone dropping in.
#4 shows four glasses of beer – or fizzy lager at least.
Well done, Jolly Swagman.
Pic2 The Bill Bailey with the FINE-TOOTH COMB was the one I had in mind
Pic3 In addition to your answer, there is another connection with RAGAMUFFIN
Pic6 Vardy has played left-wing, among other striker positions. Furthermore, No. 11 was a long time ago traditionally worn by the left winger, which term you might also use to call a LEFTIST.
Re #3 I think the term has a few reggae connotations – eg there are Raggamuffin Music Festivals (spelt thusly).
Pic 3 makes me nostalgic, I think that photo was taken in Island House on Hope Road in Kingston – in the early 1970s I, and fellow students from the UWI, used to go there in the evenings and meet up in the little room that juts out over the entry…
Just finished Maskarade’s puzzle so have not found time to solve this one, apologies. Perhaps that is what others have been doing.
Picx 4, those appear to be LEFTISTS holding those beer mugs, i.e. left-handers…
Pic3 RAGAMUFFIN is another term for ragga, dance-oriented reggae music. (Cookie, I assume you were into reggae.)
Pic4 You need to have watched a lot of 80s TV to get this.
You bet scchua, but I like the old mento best, Linstead Market, Iron Bar, Mango Time…
Our mento records are 78s and I cannot find any old mento music on Youtube, but cannot resist posting this, “Come let me hold your hand”.
I may have missed the boat with pic3 but TRINITY is a reggae musician
There is a RHEA Creek in Oregon (pic1)
Cancel last submission . RHEA Perlman starred in Cheers as depicted by pic4
Kevin, you’re right about Cheers!
Pic 3, there are “Raggamuffin” Festivals that celebrate Bob Marley and reggae music
Sorry, JollySwagman @8 has mentioned that.
scchua@17 Thanks for that, still struggling with the remaining two
Am I the only one who thinks scchua has raised the bar and made the quizzes more difficult? How many of you would have associated the TV show Cheers with pic 4 without scchua’s hint @11? Not complaining, mind you. I enjoy a good challenge and like to rise to it.
Keep up the good work, scchua.
Pic1 Oregon was merely the destination.
Pic 1, DYNAMITE was used to improve parts of the Oregon Trail so that agons could get through…
Cookie, though I believe most of the way was flat.
I meant “wagons”.
Croseed, scchua, sorry. “…dynamite was used to flatten some of the most difficult hills and widen narrow areas of the trail”, but that was by government officials in the late 1850s.
Jolly Swagman, Kevin, Cookie
Pic1 The pioneers travelled west in what were called prairie schooners. You might say they were PLAIN SAILING in them
Pic5 INFRA dig is used to describe something you looked down on, or turned your nose up at.
Thanks scchua for the fun, and well done Kevin with RHEA and the Cheers!
Thanks scchua – sorry I had to go just when the game was heating up.
I think that was my best result so far – but I agree with Kevin @20 – it’s getting harder.
Any harder and I may compose a letter to the Guardian.
I would of course open: Dear Editoress