(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) Thanks Hypnos for an enjoyable, the last few bits giving a bit of pause. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Agreement announced for transatlantic transport (8)
CONCORDE : Homophone of(… announced) “concord”(agreement;harmony).
Defn: … capable of a top speed of over Mach 2.
5 Brush that’s about right for untidy figure (6)
SCRUFF : SCUFF(to brush;rub a surface, until it becomes scratched) containing(that’s about) R(abbrev. for “right”).
9 Dine fancily, taken with hot site for cooking in Dutch city (9)
EINDHOVEN : Anagram of(… fancily) DINE plus(taken with) H(abbrev. for “hot”) + OVEN(a site;place for cooking).
11 Number snubbed inventor – and another (5)
NOBEL : NO(abbrev. for “number”) + “Bell”(Alexander Graham, inventor of the telephone) minus its last letter(snubbed …).
Defn: … inventor, this time of dynamite.
12 Minister’s brass? (7)
STIPEND : Cryptic defn: Money;brass as fixed and regular payment to a minister of the clergy. As distinct from the tart;brass of a minister in government?
13 Tasteless stuff shown by, say, retired Catholic (7)
GELATIN : Reversal of(…, retired) EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”;for example;say) + LATIN(describing something that pertains to the Roman Catholic Church).
14 Noticed minor changes in investigators’ facility (8,4)
INCIDENT ROOM : Anagram of(… changes) NOTICED MINOR.
Defn: … in a police station.
18 Indulgence that’s not good getting approval (12)
RATIFICATION : “gratification”(indulgence;statisfying one’s appetites) minus(that’s not) “g”(abbrev. for “good”).
21 Plain promotional work that is following broadcast (7)
PRAIRIE : PR(abbrev. for “public relations”;promotional work) + [ IE(abbrev. for “id est”;that is) placed after(following, in an across clue) AIR(to broadcast over the radio or TV, say) ].
22 Unusually hardy conservationists in main outlet (7)
HYDRANT : Anagram of(Unusually) HARDY + NT(abbrev. for the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, in full, the conservationist organisation in the UK).
Defn: An upright pipe serving as an outlet from the main pipe.
24 Sly feature in game clubs disowned (5)
RAMBO : “crambo”(game where one side must give a rhyme to a word or line provided by another) minus(… disowned) “c”(abbrev. for for “clubs”, the suit in a card game).
Defn: A feature film starring Sylvestor “Sly” Stallone.
25 Large Swedish company’s fashionable instantly (4,1,4)
LIKE A SHOT : L(abbrev. for “large”) + IKEA(the Swedish company famous for its ready-to-assemble furniture)‘S + HOT(fashionable;in).
26 Discussion of unduly solemn chap (6)
ERNEST : Homophone of(Discussion of) “earnest”(unduly solemn;serious, perhaps to the point of being zealous).
27 A boss set in order insulating material (8)
ASBESTOS : Anagram of(… in order) A BOSS SET.
Down
1 Notice left in city for rising comedian (6)
CLEESE : Reversal of(… for rising) [ SEE(to notice) + L(abbrev. for “left”) ] contained in(in) EC(the London postcode that includes almost all of the City of London) } .
Answer: John, of “Monty Python” and “Fawlty Towers” fame.
2 Sister, one kept in business as messenger (6)
NUNCIO : NUN(a sister in convent) + [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) contained in(kept in) CO(abbrev. for “company”, a business organisation)].
Defn: … sent by the Pope to a foreign capital as his diplomatic representative.
3 Shade from loch recorded (5)
OCHRE : Hidden in(from) “loch recorded “.
Defn: Any of the colours ranging from pale yellow to orange and red.
4 Article about college penned by French painter, philosopher and novelist (5,8)
DAVID MITCHELL : [ THE(the article in grammar) containing(about) C(abbrev. for “college”) ] contained in(penned by) [ DAVID(Jacque-Louis, French painter) + MILL(John Stuart, British philosopher) ].
Defn: An English novelist.
6 Artist embroidering tale in poetic form (9)
CANALETTO : Anagram of(embroidering) TALE contained in(in) CANTO(a main division of a long poem).
Answer: … from Venice.
7 Release top diplomat’s identity badge (8)
UNBUTTON : A country’s United Nations representative could be its top diplomat, and his/her identity badge could be called a U.N. button.
8 Line scrawled in note showing e.g. text on a storage device (8)
FILENAME : Anagram of(… scrawled) LINE contained in(in) FAME(note, as in “of note”;with fame).
Defn: What might be written on the outside of a file, a storage device for documents and such.
10 Go astern at sea to attract fish? It’s of scant value (2,5,6)
NO GREAT SHAKES : Anagram of(… at sea) GO ASTERN + HAKES(food fish with elongated bodies and large heads).
15 Criminal fellow restricted by tight pledges for repayment (9)
NEFARIOUS : F(abbrev. for “fellow”) contained in(restricted by) [ NEAR(tight;stingy) + IOUS(written pledges to pay off a debt, from “I owe you”) ].
16 A lot of fish served up in front of lake restaurant (8)
CREPERIE : Reversal of(… served up) “perch”(a freshwater food fish) minus its last letter(A lot of …) placed above(in front of) ERIE(one of the Great Lakes in N. America).
17 Figure on board supporting Labour politician, sham opponent (5,3)
STRAW MAN : MAN(a piece on a chess board) placed below(supporting) STRAW(Jack, British Labour politician).
Defn: A made-up, conveniently weak version of one’s argument or position presented by one’s opponent, so that the latter can easily tear it down.
19 Companion in seat crumpled bag (6)
SACHET : CH(abbrev. for a Companion of Honour, a title conferred by the sovereign of the British Commonwealth) contained in(in) anagram of(… crumpled) SEAT.
20 Rank Epstein’s work, say, not close to Moore (6)
STATUS : “statues”(examples of;say, British sculptor Jacob Epstein’s work) minus(not) the last letter of(close to) “Moore”. Henry Moore was another English sculptor, hence the surface reading.
Epstein and 
Moore – close or not close?
23 Noted bowler getting duck (5)
DRAKE : Double defn: 1st: Francis, Vice Admiral of the English fleet at that time, noted (in what is probably an apocryphal anecdote) to have finished his game of bowls even upon learning of the impending attack by the Spanish Armada; and 2nd: … of the male sex.
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The following pictures have unidentified links to the puzzle. (There is a setter’s device involved.)
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.)
pic 6, CONCORDE class frigates ? The one in the centre looks a bit like the replica of DRAKE’s galleon, the Golden Hinde II.
pic 5, what on earth is it, something to heat and perfume the air? Perhaps OVEN ?
pic 5, a “setters device”, the ‘Hob’ on top of the ‘oven’ ?
Pic 1: the holder of the flat stone is about to play “ducks and DRAKEs”
Pic 2: John CLEESE used to do TV ads for Sony, makers of the Betamax pictured
Pic 4: PRAIRIE dancing?
Whoopie, Shirl to the rescue…
Pic 4, have just been looking up ‘ruff’ to see if it might also be used for those petticoats, no it isn’t, but the skirts are called PRAIRIE skirts.
pic 6, that reminds me of PRAIRIE schooners, the name given to the pioneers’ wagons.
I am at a loss, except that the ship is nothing like a galleon but could well be the Concorde, which seems the most plausible answer.
And on googling Ducks and Drakes and finding it is a name for skipping stones, Shirl is clearly right @4, and prairie skirts also seem plausible though I’ve never heard the term. So with nothing to contribute, I’ll withdraw and check back in a gfew hours for the answers.
Quite right, Shirl and Cookie.
Pic1 Skipping stones is also called Ducks and DRAKEs
Pic6 PRAIRIE schooners “sailed” across the North American prairies.
4 to go, one of which has already been mentioned, but not the link. The setter’s device is not linked to any particular setter.
Pic 6 is nothing like a schooner, and if the link is just via the word “sail,” then this quiz is too loosey goosey for the likes of me. Surely almost anything could be justified as an answer.
Hi Ian SW3. Among the ships shown in Pic6 are some schooners. And I used “sailed” instead of pointing out the obvious that a schooner is a sailing vessel.
Sorry, but the pictures are so small on my phone, I focussed on the enlarged ship in the centre. It still seems a stretch to PRAIRIE schooner. I might just as well say the picture of Osborne in 3 is an oblique reference to recent shadow CHANCELLOR Ed BALLS, a clear reference to PRAIRIE oysters.
Still, Cookie got it somehow. Well done!
Pic 2: The Dutch firm Philips started in EINDHOVEN, and produced a video cassette machine just before the Betamax
You could say that Osborne gives Chancellor gives shadow Chancellor gives Ed Balls gives PRAIRIE oysters. You could say that, but the point is that that wouldn’t be the right answer. I do take care that the linkage is not too obvious nor too oblique. And I don’t think that ships to schooners to PRAIRIE is as oblique as the example you gave.
Yes, Shirl, Philips of EINDHOVEN were pioneers of the video cassette recorder.
Ian, we had PRAIRIE SCHOONER in the Everyman of 15 February.
Pic 5, setter’s device, a reversal, MOORish STOVE ?
I believe that pic 3 refers to a report by the Taxpayers Alliance (the charmers that suggested recently that pensioners’ benefits should be cut now, because there is a good chance that they will either be dead or have forgotten who was responsible by the time of the next election) about government waste.
But I can’t tie it in to the crossword!
Pic3 The idiom “make ducks and DRAKEs of” means “to squander” or “to waste”
Pic4 The sashay (homophone of SACHET) is a movement in square dancing
Pic5 That’s a peep show device and “Peep Show” is the title of the TV series starring DAVID MITCHELL and Robert Webb, the English comedic duo.
Pic 5 … errrr ? So it is, just checked and seen a photo of a gold coloured one in Golestan Palace, Tehran.
Thanks scchua for all the fun.
Thanks scchua. I am still learning (but I will have forgotten everything by the time of the next election – see #19)