(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) A puzzle with a touch of science from Qaos. Quite some tricky constructions to unravel, notwithstanding that, having read 12across’s book on 17across 1down, the latter went in quickly. Thanks to Qaos. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Cook departs, out! Good line and curve (9)
LONGITUDE : Anagram of(Cook) [ D(abbrev. for “departs”, as in a rail timetable, say) + OUT + G(abbrev. for “good”) + LINE ].
Defn: One of the imaginary curved lines from pole to pole on the earth.
10 Strain to hear pitiful creature (5)
RETCH : Homophone of(to hear) “wretch”(a pitiful creature).
Defn: … to vomit;to dry heave.
11 Catholic reportedly hated getting dressed (7)
CLOTHED : C(abbrev. for “Catholic”) + homophone of(reportedly) “loathed”(hated).
12 Physicist‘s eccentric old relative grasps mass (7)
FEYNMAN : FEY(eccentric;whimsical) + NAN(child’s word for a grandmother, an old relative) containing(grasps) M(symbol for “mass” in physics).
Answer: Richard, US theoretical physicist known for his work in 17across 1down, Nobel Laureate, and interesting character. His technical and non-technical lectures and books by him and about him are highly recommended reading.
13 Fruit peeled or pealed? (4)
RANG : “orange”(a fruit) minus its 2 outermost letters(peeled;skinned).
14 Funny Gene’s headland is uninhabited (10)
WILDERNESS : WILDER(Gene, funnyman in movies including “Blazing Saddles”) + NESS(a headland).
Defn: That, usually land, which is uninhabited.
16 King George enters: I, mad? A foul plot! (7)
DIAGRAM : GR(abbrev. for “George Rex”;Latin for King George) contained in(enters) anagram of(… foul) I, MAD? A.
17,1 3 + 20 = 23? QED! (7,15)
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS : Cryptic defn: Arithmetically, “3 + 20″ indeed = 23” and, on the other hand, the scientific study of the interaction between LIGHT(answer to 3down) and(+) MATTER(answer to 20down) is the FIELD(answer to 23down) of QED. Hence, “quod erat demonstrandum”;that is what had to be demonstrated.
Answer: The scientific field abbreviated to QED.
19 Romantic man in love, into proposal (10)
NOMINATION : Anagram of(Romantic;imaginary) [ MAN IN + O(letter representing 0;love in tennis scores) + INTO].
22 Old retired painter abandons society (4)
AGED : Reversal of(retired) “Degas”(Edgar, French painter) minus(abandons) “s”(abbrev. for “society”).
24 Embarrassed men hate making gas (7)
METHANE : Anagram of(Embarrassed;awkward) MEN HATE.
25 Foolish dictator’s colourful past is erased (7)
IDIOTIC : IDI(Amin, former dictator of Uganda) + “exotic”(colourful like eg. a striptease) minus(… is erased) “ex-“(prefix indicating “past”;former).
26 Monsieur’s upset in the finest French town (5)
CREWE : “crème”(the finest;the cream in French) with “M”(abbrev. for “Monsieur”) turned upside down(upset) to “w”.
Defn: An English railway town.
27 Learn about day of victory in small vessel (5,4)
RENAL VEIN : Anagram of(… about) LEARN VE(abbrev. for “Victory in Europe Day” after WW2) + IN.
Defn: Small blood vessel from the kidneys.
Down
1 See 17 across
2 Debauched, unlimited womanising can keep you up at night (8)
INSOMNIA : Anagram of(Debauched) “womanising” minus its 1st and last letters(unlimited).
Defn: That which keeps you up at night.
3 Short match (5)
LIGHT : Double defn: 1st: Short on;having less; and 2nd: A match for your fag, say.
4 Bishop expresses doubt about theologian and his religion (8)
BUDDHISM : B(abbrev. for “bishop”, in chess, say) + UM(an expression of hesitation;doubt) containing(about) [ DD(abbrev. for a Doctor of Divinity;a theologian) plus(and) HIS].
5 Grumbled as muscle starts to exercise daily (6)
BEEFED : BEEF(metonym for brawn;muscle) + the 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “exercise daily “.
6 They’re unclear signs of aging? (4,5)
GREY AREAS : Cd Reference to the colour of aging, eg. your hair.
7 Snooker – it’s my break with cue tip (6)
STYMIE : Anagram of(… break) plus(with) the last letter of(… tip) “cue “.
Defn: As a verb, to block. A term derived from the game to mean a situation when a player leaves his/her opponent unable to take a direct shot to the ball to be played without hitting another ball out of the required order.
8 Take away illness? Nice! I’d use acupuncture, perhaps (7,8)
CHINESE MEDICINE : CHINESE(reference to a common type of take away food) + ME(abbrev. for the illness “myalgic encephalomyelitis” aka chronic fatigue syndrome) + anagram of(… use) NICE! I’D.
Defn: The medical practices originally developed in China, and an example of which;perhaps, is acupuncture.
15 Prunes can wrinkle with time in constant sun (9)
TRUNCATES : [ Anagram of(… wrinkle) plus(with) T(abbrev. with “time”) ] contained in(in) TRUE(constant;loyal) + S(abbrev. for “sun”).
Defn: Cuts the tips off.
17 Qaos regularly going round the bend: 1/2 to 1/10 ratio? (8)
QUOTIENT : The 1st and 3rd letters of(… regularly) containing(going round) U(a 180 degree turn;bend) + the 1st half of(1/2) “to ” + I(Roman numeral for “one”) + anagram of(/;over) TEN(10). I’m not sure of the latter part of my parsing.
18 Got back the dodgy midfield? The end of Manchester United (8)
TOGETHER : Reversal of(… back) GOT + anagram of(… dodgy) THE + the middle letter of(mid-) “field ” + the last letter of(The end of) “Manchester “.
20 Stuff what’s up? (6)
MATTER : Double defn: 2nd: As in “what’s up with you?(what is the matter with you?)”.
21 In general, people possess nothing – royal speculation? (6)
THEORY : THEY(people, in general, not we) contained in(possess) [ O(letter representing 0;nothing) + R(abbrev. for “royal”) ].
23 Fellow lied about area of expertise (5)
FIELD : F(abbrev. for “fellow”) + anagram of(… about) LIED.
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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.)
#2 is Manhattan – Feynman was involved in the eponymous project.
#7 – the square on the mug is the symbol for QED – ie proven.
#4 – the golfer on the left is stymied, because his opponent’s ball is on the line of his putt
#5 – a VW Beetle like that is a Gelbschwarze Renner – so maybe GR – although it’s normally abbreviated GSR.
Gorra go – thanks for the fun scchua.
3) the five elements of traditinal CHINESE MEDICINE – fire, earth, metal, water and wood.
5) The six evils or pernicious influences of traditional CHINESE MEDICINE – wind, summer heat, damp, dryness, fire (heat) and cold
4) example of a STYMIE, where the golfer on the left cannot play his shot becase there is another golf ball in the way
Is #1 the Bo Tree under which the Buddha was enlightened?
Just calling in to say thank you scchua. I agree with earlier posters about the very nice golf picture and ‘stymie’, and could obviously see that there were diagrams, but otherwise I was, as usual, stymied by your devious and enjoyable puzzle.
Well done all, and thank you. Seems nothing gets past you – except perhaps pic#5?
Does James Bond drive a Beetle in QUANTUM of solace?
Answer to pic5: The North American version of the VW Passat was once marketed as the QUANTUM.
Ah, maybe you should have put a picture of a Passat, not a Beetle.