Guardian Quiptic 687 Hectence

A typical Quiptic puzzle by Hectence, none too taxing.  Thank you Hectence.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.  [[The 4 pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle.]]

Across
1 Messed up patrol car by arresting chap from stag do (8,5)

BACHELOR PARTY : Anagram of(messed up) PATROL CAR BY containing(arresting) HE(pronoun for a male;chap).

10 Brief lament by worker’s in good taste (7)

ELEGANT : “elegy”(a lament;a mournful poem or song especially lamenting the dead) minus its last letter(brief) plus(by) ANT(who could be of the worker caste in an ant colony).

11 A bit hungry, becoming sick and hot after exercise (7)

PECKISH : [Anagram of(becoming) SICK plus(and) H(abbrev. for “hot”)] placed after(after) PE(abbrev. for physical exercise).

12 Girl at teashop has some coffee (5)

LATTE : Hidden in(has some) “girl at teashop“.

Answer: Short for caffe latte, from the Italian caffè e latte, coffee made with (steamed) milk.

13 Flirt makes boy with romantic heart turn red (9)

PHILANDER : PHIL(a boy’s name) plus(with) AN{the 2 innermost letters of(heart) “romantic”} + reversal of(turn) “red”.

Answer: Used of a male. A more critical definition would be to “womanise”.

14 Brave man died for old king (5)

HEROD : HERO(brave man) D(abbrev. for “died”).

Answer: The biblical king of Judea.

16 Treatment of a gland that’s died off’s reportedly easier when feeling no pain (9)

ANALGESIA : Anagram of(treatment of) “a gland” minus(that’s … off) “d”(abbrev. for “died”) plus(‘s,contraction of “… has”, same as the first apostrophe in the clue) ESIA{homophone of(reportedly) “easier”}.

Answer: The state of feeling no pain without loss of consciousness.

18 Animal found in a French outhouse is safe and sound (9)

UNSCATHED : CAT(an animal) contained in(found in) [UN(the French for “a”) SHED(an outhouse;an outbuilding)]

19 Fitted with inner sleeve that’s creased (5)

LINED : Double defn: 1st: With an inner sleeve, usually of soft material; and 2nd: Creased as with wrinkles, especially of the face.

20 Sheltered boy, taking year out before university, about to enter tough environment (9)

HARBOURED : [“boy” minus(taking … out) “y”(abbrev. for “year”) plus(before) U(abbrev. for “university”) + RE(about;with reference to)] contained in(to enter … environment) HARD(tough).

23 Overacting lead in West End review gets catcall (5)

MIAOW : O{initial letter of(lead) “overacting”} contained in(in) [reversal of(review) W(abbrev. for west) + AIM(an end;an objective)].

24 Briefly describe an unfashionable design? (7)

OUTLINE : OUT(unfashionable;not in vogue, especially of clothes) LINE(a series of objects with a distinctive design, eg. clothes by the same fashion designer; or the distinguishing design itself;the cut).

25 Close fastener on lingerie (7)

NIGHTIE : NIGH(close in time, place or relationship) + TIE(a fastener;something that unites/connects/brings together, eg string or rod).

26 Where hands work day and night? (5,3,5)

ROUND THE CLOCK : Cryptic defn: Where the hands of a clock work or go.

Down
2 Openings in Associated Press and, unusually, Reuters (9)

APERTURES : AP(abbrev. for Associated Press, the American news agency) plus(and) anagram of(unusually) REUTERS (another news agency).  Nice surface, putting 2 news agencies in the same clue.

3 Haul up last case hold (5)

HEAVE : Last letter of(last …) “case” contained in(into) HAVE(to hold).

4 Illuminated tulip sculpture (3,2)

LIT UP : Anagram of(sculpture) TULIP.

5 Carpet has nap woven round edge, scarlet (9)

REPRIMAND : [Reversal of(woven) NAP containing(round) RIM(the edge)] contained in(all in) RED(the colour scarlet).

Defn: To scold; the receiver would then be “on the carpet”.

6 Heavenly being in Russian port (9)

ARCHANGEL : Double defn: 2nd: An alternative name for the port, Arkhangelsk in northern European Russia.

7 Attempt to speak to commercial society in China (5)

TRIAD : TRI{homophone of(to speak) “try”(to or an attempt)} plus(to) AD(short for an advertisement;a commercial).

Answer: Nowadays used in reference to a Chinese secret society, often engaged in criminal activities. The term apparently derived from the triangular symbols those societies once adopted.

8 Respected opinion held by liberated fellow (4-7-2)

WELL-THOUGHT-OF : THOUGHT(a line of thinking;an opinion) contained in(held by) anagram of(liberated) FELLOW.

9 Original Westerns had to be agreeably brief (5,3,5)

SHORT AND SWEET : Anagram of(original) WESTERNS HAD TO.

15 Heavyweight paper’s turned on Israeli leader with article that’s really harsh (9)

DRACONIAN : Reversal of(turned) CARD(a piece of heavyweight paper) placed above(on, in a down clue) I(first letter of(… leader) “Isreaeli”) plus(with) AN(the indefinite article).

16 Graduate’s taken up house last owner let get disgusting (9)

ABHORRENT : Reversal of(taken up) BA(post-nominal letters signifying a graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree) + HO(abbrev. for “house”) + R(last letter of “owner”) + RENT(to let;to lease).

17 Told wrong procedure regarding grammatical rules (9)

SYNTACTIC : SYN{homophone of(told) “sin”(a wrongdoing)} + TACTIC(a way of achieving a goal;could be called a procedure).

Defn: and Answer: As adjectives.

21 Artist to get figure in proportion (5)

RATIO : RA(post-nominal letters for a member of the Royal Academy of Arts;an artist) + TO containing(get … in) I(Roman numeral for the number;figure 1).

22 Clobber needs to be packed (5)

DENSE : Anagram of(clobber) NEEDS.

Answer: Tightly packed.

23 Powerful man takes challenge on the ski slopes (5)

MOGUL : Double defn: 1st: A rich and powerful person;a magnate; and 2nd: A mound of hard snow on a ski slope.

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