(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) This was by no means a write-in, requiring a slow and steady teasing out of some of the answers. Thanks to Imogen for the workout. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Punishment limiting one’s feeling (9)
SENTIENCE : SENTENCE(a punishment handed down, usually by a court of law) containing(limiting) I(Roman numeral for “one”).
10 Cut short travel in area of republic (5)
SLIGO : “slit”(cut, say, a throat) minus its last letter(… short) + GO(to travel).
Answer: The county town in the Republic of Ireland.
11 Sum that’s missing a policeman found (7)
MOUNTIE : “amount”(a sum, say, of money) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”, the Latin for “that is”;that’s) minus(missing) “a “.
Defn: … in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
12 Cockney villain that goes into the bag (3,4)
TEA LEAF : Double defn: 1st: Cockney rhyming slang for “thief”; and 2nd: That which goes into a tea bag.
13 Covering for Caesar, army conceals defensive blunder (4)
TOGA : T.A.(abbrev. for the British Territorial Army) containing(conceals) O.G.(abbrev. for “own goal”;a defensive blunder, literally, in some sporting matches).
14 Favour daughter staying at home, giving optimistic view (4-6)
ROSE-TINTED : [ ROSETTE(a rose-like decoration to be worn as a badge of having won a prize or an honour;a favour) + D(abbrev. for “daughter”) ] containing(staying;suppressing) IN(at home).
16 Start foolish, but ____ , upright (7)
ENDWISE : [END + WISE], antonyms, respectively, of(but …) “start” and “foolish”.
Defn: Standing on one end.
17 Pacify small, small number (7)
SWEETEN : S(abbrev. for “small”) + WEE(small) + TEN(the number).
19 In ceremony, noise interrupts speech (10)
ORDINATION : DIN(noise) contained in(interrupts) ORATION(a speech).
Answer: A ceremony conferring holy orders;ordaining an individual. Could “In” be part of the definition, as it’s a ceremony to formally bring one into the order?
22 Singular disease in place of business? (4)
HIVE : Cryptic defn: “hives”(the disease) minus “s” to fancifully make it a singular noun.
Answer: A place of activity, whether by bees or humans conducting business.
24 Large, fleshier all round, but not so curvaceous (7)
FLATTER : L(abbrev. for “large”) contained in(… all round) FATTER(fleshier).
25 Man taking notes on book for poster (7)
BLOGGER : LOGGER(fancifully, one who keeps a log;takes notes) placed after(on, in an across clue) B(abbrev. for “book”).
Answer: One who posts on the Internet.
26 Make people leave net completely open (5)
CLEAR : Triple defn: 1st: As in “to clear the theatre”; 2nd: To clear;net a profit from trading; and 3: As with a clearing in a forest.
27 Starts to shed clothes, looking sexy – and hardened (9)
SCLEROTIC : Initial letters, respectively, of(Starts to) “shed clothes, looking ” + EROTIC(sexy).
Defn: …, as a result of sclerosis, a thickening and hardening of body tissues.
Down
1 Truly clever chap needed in statecraft of a new order (2,1,6,2,4)
AS A MATTER OF FACT : MA(abbrev. for “Master of Arts”, a clever chap who’s got this degree) contained in(needed in) anagram of(…order) STATECRAFT OF A.
2 Doctor eluding detection initially treated himself (8)
INDULGED : Anagram of(Doctor) ELUDING + the 1st letter of(… initially) “detection “.
3 Offering limited view, I’m surprised to receive good degree (5)
MISTY : MY!(an exclamation expressing “I’m surprised”) containing(to receive) IST(letters resembling “1st”;short for First Class Honours, a good academic degree).
4 English city firm employs Pole that turns up again (4,4)
ONCE MORE : Reversal of(… that turns up, in a down clue) [ E(abbrev. for “English”) + ROME(the city) + CO(abbrev. for “company”;a commercial firm) containing(employs) N(abbrev. for one of the geographical poles) ].
5 Not a Jew? I had to go quiet (6)
GENTLE : “Gentile”(a non-Jew) minus(… had to go) “I“.
6 Imogen’s in car, last to leave place of refreshment (9)
ESTAMINET : MINE(possessive pronoun self-referencing the setter;Imogen’s) contained in(in) “estate”(short for an estate car, with a rear door and a large rear carrying space) minus its last letter(…, last to leave).
Answer: A small café or bar.
7 The Promenade des Anglais, perhaps, is most pleasant (6)
NICEST : NICE ST(abbrev. for “street”), as exemplified;perhaps by the Promenade des Anglais, a celebrated promenade in Nice, France.
8 Secret cards to be won? Don’t be fooled by this (10,5)
CONFIDENCE TRICK : CONFIDENCE(something told in confidence;a secret) + TRICK(in card games, a set of cards played in a round, and won the whoever played the highest-value card).
15 Identifying pattern that’s bound to squash one irritant (9)
SIGNATURE : SURE(that is bound to happen, as in “a sure thing”) containing
(to squash) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + GNAT(an irritating insect) ]
17 Coke party that’s thrown by children (8)
SNOWBALL : SNOW(like “coke”, slang for cocaine) + BALL(a party;a social function).
18 Closely follow the scandal of the Three Blind Mice? (8)
TAILGATE : Cryptic defn: In the nursery rhyme, the Three Blind Mice had their tails chopped off, and that episode might be refered to as TAILGATE, with the suffix “-gate” to mean a scandal, originally picked up from the Watergate scandal.
Defn: … another vehicle, say.
20 I write a cheque, one to be put into chest (6)
DRAWER : Double defn: 2nd: … of drawers.
21 Refuse to ride horse, using whip (6)
THRASH : TRASH(refuse;garbage) containing(to ride;to travel around or over) H(slang abbrev. for “heroin”, for which “horse” is also a slang term). I’m not too sure of the containment indicator.
23 There may be one on the bench here in playing area (5)
COURT : Double defn: 1st: A court of law where you’ll find a judge on the bench; and 2nd: Where you would play, say, tennis or squash.
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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.)
Is the pig in picture 1 to represent ‘Snowball’ in Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’?
Clint Eastwood, in Picture 3 starred in and directed ‘Play Misty fir Me’
Picture 2: Henry V urging his followers ‘once more’ unto the breach at the Battle of Agincourt? (Court also appears at 23d)
#3 Condoleezza Rice with President Bush in the Oval Office. She could be the NICEST, GENTLE National Security Advisor, but I don’t think scchua would allow that connection. Of course, the Oval Office was also at the centre of the Watergate scandal.
Apparently, there is such a thing as a SNOWBALL Bush https://www.jparkers.co.uk/plant-0002132/viburnum-opulus-roseum-snowball-bush/
‘Play Misty for Me’ was the first film that Clint Eastwood directed
George Clements and Robi,
Right with SNOWBALL, ONCE MORE, and Play MISTY for me.
Robi@4, you’re warm.
BTW, To explain the conflicting picture numbering: pic#3 was added after the others. While I was making up the quiz, I didn’t add a link to here from the other blog, but I think George got here via the Recent Posts column on the home page.
Mea culpa @3. Henry’s inspiring speech was at Harfleur rather than at Agincourt.
George W Bush wasn’t called Dubya only for his middle intial: he had a penchant for bestowing nicknames to one and all. His nickname for Condoleezza Rice was ‘Guru,’ a connection to WISE of endWISE perhaps?
Hint: the first part of Robi@4’s last sentence is to be taken literally.
OK, another shot: The Watergate scandal involved the theft of secret papers by the president’s men: reference to TEA LEAF for thief?
Pic3: The Oval Office where the Clinton-Lewinsky episodes took place, leading to what has sometimes been called “TAILGATE”, in the same vein as other references to it, Sexgate and Zippergate.