Guardian Cryptic 26978 with Picture Quiz

(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow.  To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.)  Not that hard, as it turned out. Thanks to Pasquale. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Wise man rolling in drink to see stars (7)

PEGASUS : Reversal of(… rolling) SAGE(wise man) contained in(in) reversal of(rolling?, if so, then it’s surface at the expense of misleading wordplay) SUP(to drink).

Defn: Constellation of …

5 Inspired Democrat lagging behind popular Italian dictator? (7)

INDUCED : D(abbrev. for for a member of the Democratic Party) placed after(lagging behind) [ IN(popular;fashionable) + DUCE(Italian title originally equivalent to “duke”, and later used to refer to a dictator, especially to Mussolini, Il Duce) ].

9 People on staff matter to boss (9)

HEADCOUNT : COUNT(to matter, as in “size counts…or maybe not”) placed after(to) HEAD(the boss;the chief).

10 A classical man to you and me represents something harmful (5)

VIRUS : VIR(in classical Latin, a man) plus(to) US(pronoun refering to myself and you or others as a group).

11 Archbishop’s envoy reported delay (4)

WAIT : Homophone of(… reported) “Waite”(Terry, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy).

12 Dodgy shiner not ultimately genuine (10)

RHINESTONE : Anagram of(Dodgy) [SHINER NOT + the last letter of(ultimately) “genuine” ].

Defn: Not a genuine diamond. A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.

14 Endure losing a sheep (6)

WETHER : “weather”(to endure, as in “to weather the storm”) minus(losing) “a“.

Defn: …, specifically a castrated ram.

15 Firm‘s contract (7)

COMPACT : Double defn: 1st: Tightly packed, so as to be firm, like a solid; and 2nd: An agreement between parties.

16 North African countries suffering big harm (7)

MAGHRIB : Anagram of(suffering) BIG HARM.

Answer: The NW African region, alternative spelling of “Maghreb”.

18 Row created by the French to fester (6)

RANKLE : RANK(a row of similar things, as in “a taxi rank”) plus(by) LE(French for “the”).

20 Dryden character in a note on work he left (10)

ACHITOPHEL : A + CHIT(an official note giving information or showing an amount of money owed or paid) plus(on) OP(abbrev. for “opus”, a musical work) + HE + L(abbrev. for “left”).

Defn: John … in his poetic political satire “Absalom and Achitophel”

21 Note put about in the morning conveys unwanted message (4)

SPAM : Reversal of(… put about) PS(abbrev. for “postscript”, a note as an afterthought) + AM(abbrev. for “ante meridiem”, the morning period, from midnight to noon).

24 Star inside nebula not entirely detectable (5)

DENEB : Hidden in(… not entirely detectable) “inside nebula“.

Defn: A white supergiant of a star.

25 Home worker engaging nurse and manager (9)

INTENDANT : [ IN(at home) + ANT(a social insect, specifically one who belongs to the worker caste) ] containing(engaging) TEND(to nurse;to care for).

Defn: … or administrator of some public business or an establishment, say, a theatre or opera house.

26 Name of London street hiding a chemical (7)

REAGENT : REGENT(a street in central London) containing(hiding) A.

27 Briefly arrange private office in German city (7)

DRESDEN : “dress”(to arrange or get troops into rows/columns, as for a parade) minus its last letter(Briefly …) + DEN(a private office where one can be undisturbed).

Down

1 Playwright beginning with page that expresses contempt (5)

PSHAW : SHAW(George Bernard, English playwright) placed below(beginning with …, in a down clue) P(abbrev. for “page” in a book, say).

2 Managed to break into holiday home — it’s very hard (7)

GRANITE : RAN(managed, say, a business) contained in(to break into) GITE(a furnished holiday home in France).

3 Little nonentity not in clique (4)

SECT : “insect”(term for an insignificant and contemptible person;a nonentity) minus(not) “in “.

4 Billy Graham type is “OT/NT-basher”, put unfairly (8,7)

SOUTHERN BAPTIST : Anagram of(… unfairly) IS “OT/NT-BASHER”, PUT.

Defn: Yes, put unfairly … more likely to be a -thumper than a -basher.

5 Accident insurer finally sorted out, giving apology for mistake (1,5,9)

I STAND CORRECTED : Anagram of(… out) [ACCIDENT + the last letter of(… finally) “insurer” + SORTED].

6 I mend TV set that’s broken for selling off (10)

DIVESTMENT : Anagram of(… that’s broken) I MEND TV SET.

7 City girl keeping a date that brings new life (7)

CORDOBA : CORA(a girl’s name) containing(keeping) DOB(abbrev. for “date of birth”, the date on which a newborn is brought into the world).

8 Examine and discredit one form of therapy (7)

DISSECT : DISS(a variant of “dis”, slang for “to discredit”;to criticise disrespectfully) + ECT(abbrev. for “electro-convulsive therapy”, for treating certain mental illnesses).

13 Kind to preside over slightly twisted board (10)

CHARITABLE : CHAIR(to preside over, say, a committee or a meeting) with “I” and “R” exchanging positions(slightly twisted) + TABLE(especially one to serve meals on;a board).

16 Put illiterately, Queen and I go walkabout (7)

MEANDER : Reversal of the order of the 1st and 3rd parts of(Put illiterately, or maybe merely impolitely) [ ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, the Queen) + AND + ME(grammatically wrong usage of or Put illiterately? the objective case when it should, maybe, be the subjective case of the first-person pronoun, I) ].

17 Boleyn and husband, say, set up in hellish situation (7)

GEHENNA : Reversal of(…, set up) [ ANNE(Boleyn, one of King Henry VIII’s wives) + H(abbrev. for “husband”, used in genealogy) + EG(abbrev. for “exampli gratia”;for example;say) ].

19 A place bathed in light? Not in the winter (7)

LAPLAND : [ A + PL(abbrev. for “place”) ] contained in()bathed in LAND(to settle on a surface;to light, as in “the bird may or may not light on this branch”).

Defn: A place in the far north with no sun in the winter. Another WIWD clue.

22 Morning — chief time to get stuck in (5)

MATIN : MAIN(chief;principal) containing(… to get stuck in) T(symbol for “time”, used in physics).

23 Inadequacy of computer being set up is concerning (2,2)

IN RE : Reversal of(… being set up) [“Ernie”(the name given to the computer that generates the winning numbers in the Premium Bonds lottery) minus its last letter(Inadequacy of …) ].

Answer: Latin for “in the matter of”;concerning, commonly used in jurisprudence.

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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.)