An easy-going puzzle to accompany your recuperation after the festivities. Thanks to Chifonie. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Artist gets bowl for plant (6)
RADISH : RA(post-nominal letters for a member of the Royal Academy of Arts) plus(gets) DISH(a bowl).
4 Old Bob impresses designs on seats (6)
STOOLS : S(abbrev. for the former UK currency unit, the shilling, nicknamed a “bob”) + TOOLS(impresses designs on a book cover using a bookbinder’s, well, tool).
9 Rules out nastier play in dangerous game (7,8)
RUSSIAN ROULETTE : Anagram of(play) RULES OUT NASTIER.
10 Castigate solicitor after welcome (3,3)
HIT OUT : TOUT(a solicitor, for custom, say) placed after(after, in an across clue) HI!(an expression of welcome).
11 Never house officials (8)
NOTARIES : NOT(never) + ARIES(one of the 12 houses in the zodiac).
12 Support suspension of delivery (3,5)
LEG BREAK : LEG(a support for your torso or a chair, say) + BREAK(a suspension in proceedings).
Answer: In cricket, a ball bowled by the bowler;a delivery, that changes direction from leg to off on hitting the pitch – or something like that.
And here’s some more cricket education:
14 Namibian capital undeveloped? Just about! (6)
NEARLY : 1st letter of(capital) “Namibian ” + EARLY(undeveloped;in the early stages of development).
15 Repair road that’s long (6)
STITCH : ST(abbrev. for street) + ITCH(to long for;can’t wait to have it).
18 Laid out right-winger for time-wasting (8)
DILATORY : Anagram of(out) LAID + TORY(short for a British “Conservative” politician, traditionally considered a right-winger).
21 Old publican and sailor entertaining French writer (8)
TAVERNER : TAR(a nickname for a sailor) containing(entertaining) VERNE(Jules, French writer of “Around the World in Eighty Days” fame).
22 Throw out Northern Ireland leaders found in party (6)
BANISH : 1st letters respectively of(leaders) “Northern Ireland ” contained in(found in) BASH(a party;a do).
24 Do, in private, limit discourtesy (15)
INCONSIDERATION : CON(to “do”;to trick someone) contained in(in) INSIDE(private;not visible from the outside) + RATION(to limit distribution of, as in times of shortage).
25 River without end in Paris? Explain! (6)
DEFINE : DEE(any one of several rivers in the UK, and Australia) containing(without) FIN(“the end”;the finish, in the Parisian language).
26 Guarantee Poland’s border (6)
PLEDGE : PL(international code for Poland) + EDGE(the border).
Down
1 Performance is popular, in a way (7)
ROUTINE : IN(popular, as in the “in-thing”) contained in(in) ROUTE(a way to reach a destination or goal).
Defn: A rehearsed act by a performer, eg. a dance routine.
2 Club in which the password is courage (5)
DISCO : Hidden in(in) “password is courage “.
3 Surprise rattles Dicky (7)
STARTLE : Anagram of(Dicky;shaky) RATTLES.
5 Ridicule working in Somerset (7)
TAUNTON : TAUNT(to ridicule) + ON(working, eg. an electrical appliance).
Answer: The county town of Somerset, England.
6 Respond immoderately and veto racer after crashing (9)
OVERREACT : Anagram of(after crashing) VETO RACER.
7 Meet flourishing poet (7)
SITWELL : SIT(to meet, as applied to a committee or a parliament)+ WELL(flourishing;doing well).
Answer: Edith, British poet.
8 Composer is candid, we hear (6)
FRANCK : Homophone of(we hear) “frank”(candid;outspoken).
Answer: Cesar, Belgian-French composer.
13 Gambler out to become more wealthy (6,3)
BETTER OFF : BETTER(a gambler) + OFF(out;away).
16 Taught delinquent once about bad weather (7)
TRAINED : TED(short for “teddy boy”;a juvenile delinquent from the British youth cult, especially in the 1950s) containing(about) RAIN(bad weather).
17 Help offspring involving active participation (5-2)
HANDS-ON : HAND(help, as in “to lend a hand”) + SON(a male offspring).
18 Scorn of French travel (6)
DERIDE : DE(French for “of”;from, denoting origin, as with some French names) + RIDE(to travel on horseback, say).
19 Braille representation for politician (7)
LIBERAL : Anagram of(representation) BRAILLE.
20 Teacher served up only item on the menu (7)
RISSOLE : Reversal of(served up) SIR(schoolboys’ term of address for their teacher) + SOLE(only;by it or oneself).
23 Letter on top of desk is prominent (5)
NOTED : NOTE(a short letter) placed above(on) 1st letter of(top of) “desk “.
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Thanks for the blog and gentle (but unobjectionable –Rufus, take note) puzzle.
[[Wholly stumped by the pics. 3 might be the Emperor and Empress of Japan, though I’m no sure why I think so nor what their significance might be. There is (or was)an American cleaning product called Lemon PLEDGE, but I’ve no idea if it is known here.]]
I agree, a very gentle post Christmas Day puzzle.
[[picture 3 is a watch, which needs ‘hands on]]
As George says, gentle, but for me just right this morning. Thank you to Chifonie, although perhaps not for LEG BREAK, which invokes memories of cricket. Which is not what England fans want right now. Good job there are not too many Aussies following this blog at the moment.
[[Ian SW3, there is a Lemon PLEDGE product, which for some reason has been discontinued in the UK. A hint: only 1 in pic 4 is Japanese. George Clements, a hint: it’s not just any watch.]]
Is César Franck’s name really a homophone of “frAnk”? I thought it was pronounced more like “frOnk”?
[[ The watch is a Franck Muller Giga Tourbillon Price: $240,000 – so goes with Franck I guess. Personally I prefer a watch I can tell the time by. ]]
Thanks scchua and Chifonie.
Nice and easy. I thought some of the uses of words a bit odd; e.g. undeveloped = early, throw out = banish (not all that close), limit = ration. I was going to add meet = sit, but scchua has explained that one.
[[I’m not seeing the first picture. The 5th is obviously the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs (I have a T-shirt with my name on in hieroglyphs), but the connection with the puzzle escapes me.]]
[[ Last pic is Baby Doc Duvalier and I suppose his wife. He fled Haiti when the people revolted in the 80s – so is the link to BANISH?
Fourth pic is Alberto Fujimori – ex-Pres of Peru – he’s not banished, he might have fled, but he was extradited back and is now is prison. Presume the woman he is with is Peruvian. Can’t see a link to the puzzle …
]]
Did anyone else first try to find a coonection between pledge and Polish, Pledge and polish 🙂
[[muffin, I’ve re-pasted pic 1. beermagnet, you’re right, you don’t wear that Franck Muller watch to tell the time – you might use your mobile for that – perhaps a Vertu to go with your watch 🙂 . Both Fujimori and Papa Doc were thrown out of office.]]
[[Thanks, scchua. That looks like John Cusack, but I don’t recognise the film.]]
[[The film was Must Love Dogs, but that’s not it.]]
Thanks scchua for the explanation of 4a, and being on line in general.Lovely puzzle, and without seasonal theme, thank you Chifonie.
As others have pointed out, a gentle puzzle with some loose definitions here and there. The Wiki page on Franck doesn’t give a pronunciation of his name, although it wouldn’t surprise me if it should be as David Mop@5 has said because that is the normal French pronunciation for that combination of letters. NOTARIES was my LOI after FRANCK and LEG BREAK.
Yes a gentle puzzle that went in quite easily. For Kathryn’s dad I completed this while watching the last session on boxing day and enjoying the irony of leg break. Go the aussies
A puzzle that wouldn’t be out of place on a Monday. But un-Mondayish in its fair cluing. (Take note Rufus AND Hugh!)
I enjoyed this although I was hoping for more of a challenge as the Saturday Christmas Prize was put to bed days ago disappointingly!!!
So it’s a book or David Jason before MOTD!
Thanks to Scchua and Chifonie
Thanks to Chifonie and scchua.
B(nto) @16: So it’s a book or David Jason before MOTD!
Apologies. I’m from out of town. Translation please. Thanks.
Cheers…
Thanks scchua for the elegant dissection of the parsing (and also of course thanks to Chifonie).
Staggered uncertainly over the finishing line thanks to the crossings. Old Bob had me thinking about Abraham Lincoln’s horse.
Can’t get too worked up over correct pronunciation of Franck – too much scope for pedantic quibbles here. For example bark v back for the great JSB.
[[Ian SW3/George Clements/beermagnet/muffin – Pic1 John Cusack was in BETTER OFF Dead; Pic2 That’s a HANDS ON Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) control for the F16; Pic 4 The hieroglyph that translates to the alphabetic consonant P is the STOOL hieroglyph.]]
Thanks all
Suitable for a festive time.
Thanks scchua for the blog and the quiz pictures, which were too tough for me. My suggestion about the analogue watch requiring hands was a bit tongue in cheek, as I knew the answer would be more obscure than that. I appreciate the extra effort you put into your blogs.
Happy New Year.