(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) A fairly easy Quiptic. Thanks to Moley. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Some bird atop a Greek temple? (9)
PARTHENON : PART(some of) + HEN(a female bird) + ON(atop).
10 Direction to flee to Gateshead or be tortured (5)
WRUNG : W(abbrev. for the direction, west) + RUN(to flee) plus(to) the 1st letter of(…’s-head) “Gate “.
Defn: …, as in “put through the wringer”.
11 Stop pal producing computers (7)
LAPTOPS : Anagram of(… producing) STOP PAL.
12 Beginning to fall for America? (7)
OCTOBER : Cryptic defn: Reference to the autumn season, known as the fall in America.
13 Sees sound clutch (5)
SEIZE : Homophone of(… sound) “Sees “.
14 Kind of obsession leads to no ammonia being processed (9)
MONOMANIA : Anagram of(… being processed) NO AMMONIA.
Defn: … about a single thing, idea, etc.
16 Choice location for political propaganda (8,7)
ELECTION ADDRESS : ELECTION(the process of exercising one’s choice) + ADDRESS(a location, usually where you live).
19 Perhaps stare around new site, then read essays (9)
TREATISES : Anagram of(Perhaps) STARE containing(around) anagram of(new) SITE.
21 Beast of burden arrived at first light (5)
CAMEL : CAME(arrived at) + the 1st letter of(first) “light “.
22 Hand over bear (7)
DELIVER : Double defn: 2nd: To give forth or produce.
23 Question heavyweight returning something (7)
WHATNOT : WHAT?(a type of question) + reversal of(… returning) TON(a heavy weight).
Defn: …, the name of which is unknown, temporarily forgotten or deliberately overlooked.
24 Bother before every single enquiry today, initially (5)
BESET : The 1st letters, respectively, of(…, initially) “before every single enquiry today “.
25 Polite Scotsmen, who are not in the services (9)
CIVILIANS : CIVIL(polite;courteous) + IANS(plural of the archetypal Scots male name).
Defn: Those not actively in the military services.
Down
1 Sparkling gemstone Edward sent, reportedly (10)
OPALESCENT : OPAL(a gemstone) + E(abbrev. for “Edward”, as in “King Edward”, I take it) + homophone of(…, reportedly) “sent “.
Defn: …, like, well, an opal.
2 Chart Italian note with point of pencil (8)
GRAPHITE : GRAPH(a chart) + I(abbrev. for “Italian”) + TE(syllable used for the seventh note in the musical scale).
Defn: What pencil lead at the point of a pencil is made of.
3 Select church rings Home Counties (6)
CHOOSE : CH(abbrev. for “church”) + 2 x(…s) O(letter in the shape of a ring) + SE(abbrev. for the southeastern part of England which comprise the Home Counties).
4 Animals make news, they say (4)
GNUS : Homophone of(…, they say) “news “.
5 Watchful folk in manic SOS broadcast (10)
INSOMNIACS : Anagram of(… broadcast) IN MANIC SOS.
Defn: People who can’t help but keep awake (and watch).
6 Cheated, but clocked twice? (3-5)
TWO-TIMED : TWO(twice) -TIMED(clocked;recorded the duration of an event).
7 Model city headgear (6)
TURBAN : T(the famous old-time Ford car model) + URBAN(descriptive of a city).
8 One tabloid newspaper turned up gelling agent (4)
AGAR : A(one) + reversal of(… turned up, in a down clue) RAG(a tabloid newspaper).
14 Satellite impressed romantic lunatic (10)
MOONSTRUCK : MOON(satellite of a planet) + STRUCK(impressed;affected keenly or forcibly).
Double defns: Both as adjectives, as is the answer.
15 Submit Laos, perhaps, to dictatorship (10)
ABSOLUTISM : Anagram of(…, perhaps) SUBMIT LAOS.
17 Bird number four swallowed tart up (8)
TITIVATE : TIT(any of a family of small songbirds) + IV(Roman numeral for the number four) + ATE(swallowed).
Answer: … as with these (car and girls):
18 Cheese for me? On the contrary, it’s all in the mind (8)
EMMENTAL : Reversal of(…? On the contrary) ME + MENTAL(descriptive of what’s occurring only in the mind).
20 Register to volunteer (6)
ENLIST : Double defn: 2nd: … to join the military, say.
21 Car led criminal to nurse (6)
CRADLE : Anagram of(… criminal) CAR LED.
22 Obligation for young society girl, given time (4)
DEBT : DEB(short for “debutante”;a young girl who’s come out in society) plus(given) T(abbrev. for “time”).
23 Ripple of Welsh prayer (4).
WAVE : W(abbrev. for “Welsh”) + AVE(short for “Ave Maria”, the prayer).
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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.)
Nope, sorry. Not a single convincing connection occurs to me.
Hi scchua; as usual the quiz is harder than the crossword. I need to think a bit about most of these……..
#1 is, I think, a DREAMLINER – not sure if you can connect that with MOONSTRUCK or INSOMNIAC
#3 is double ten, in commemoration of the revolution of 1911 in China on OCTOBER 10 [double ten day, geddit?]
#5 is a Muppet WHATNOT
#6 is a Deed of Reconveyance where a borrower is released from a mortgage DEBT
#4 is a drawing by Bill Basso – could be an ITALIAN NOTE??
#2 is the Dead Poet’s Society. The teacher, John Keating’s motto is ‘carpe diem’ or SEIZE the day (?)
Only just seen #8 – red algae seaweed from which AGAR is extracted
Is #7 an aerial CRADLE in a high-wire act?
Ahhhh……. the Dreamliner is made of lightweight composite materials such as GRAPHITE, titanium and carbon fibre………..
OK, scchua, which are correct?
Well done! Robi:
Pic1: The Airbus A350 and the Boeing Dreamliner have carbon-fibre or GRAPHITE-fibre composite materials in their fuselages.
Pic2: A still from Dead Poets Society, “SEIZE the day”, as uttered in the film by the recently deceased talented Robin Williams.
Pic3: A logo made up of a joined pair of the Chinese character for 10, used in the Taiwanese National Day celebrations on OCTOBER 10.
Pic5: Muppet WHATNOTs: muppets whose faces, hair, and clothes you could easily customise.
Pic7: The CRADLE is an aerial act involving a catcher on a frame or a trapeze, releasing and re-catching a flyer.
Pic8: Right.
Which leaves 2 pics.
Thanks for the lead, Robi:
Bill Basso’s pic (4) is titled ‘Evens Odds,’ so CHOOSE one or the other in the playground game.
pic (6) The signing of the reconveyance deed marks the event where the full title is DELIVERed by the mortgage holder to the now fully paid up borrower/owner (?)
and thanks again scchua.
Close enough, Freddy:
Pic4: the game of Odds and Evens is also called CHOOSies or Pick.
Pic6: the term “signed, sealed and DELIVERed” originated from those 3 actions done with legal documents including deesds.