(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) An enjoyable one from Raich, to whom thanks. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Function from better area, urban one (8)
CAPACITY : CAP(to better;to top) + A(abbrev. for “area”) + CITY(an urban area).
Defn: …, or the position one fills, as in “in his function as manager”.
5 Bird heads for islands beyond Ionian Sea (4)
IBIS : The 1st letter of(heads for) “islands beyond Ionian Sea“.
10 Odd stone cooker (7)
STRANGE : ST(abbrev. for “stone”, equivalent to 14 lbs in the Imperial system of weights) + RANGE(what you cook on in the kitchen).
11 Refer too often to retired vicar dipping in river? (7)
OVERUSE : Reversal of(retired) REV(short for “Reverend”, title for a vicar) contained in(dipping in) OUSE(a river in England, the most well-known is in Yorkshire).
12 Steal cruelly connoisseur’s classic work (8,6)
ROBINSON CRUSOE : ROB(to steal) + anagram of(cruelly) CONNOISSEUR.
13 Continue after all others (4)
LAST : Double defn.
14 He’s tearful as trader holds back French wine (9)
SNIVELLER : SELLER(a trader) containing(holds) reversal of(back) VIN(French for “wine”).
16 Scent from Faro mat is exquisite (9)
AROMATISE : Hidden in(from) “Faro mat is exquisite “.
Defn: …, as a verb.
18 Wife remains for rinse maybe (4)
WASH : W(abbrev. for “wife”) + ASH(remains after burning).
19 Too great a toll? (7,7)
HIGHWAY ROBBERY : Cryptic defn: Refering to highways with toll charges on one hand, and, on the other hand, overcharging, which term is derived from robbery by highwaymen formerly.
22 Noticed in arena, Mourinho’s charm? (7)
ENAMOUR : Hidden in(Noticed in) “arena, Mourinho“. Nice ironic surface.
Defn: …, as a verb.
23 Perfectly cooked toast, not small, next to pot (2,1,4)
TO A TURN : “toast” minus(not) “s”(abbrev. for “small”) plus(next to) URN(a pot).
24 Orderly Nationalist conserving energy (4)
NEAT : NAT(abbrev. for “Nationalist”) containing(conserving) E(symbol for “energy” in physics).
25 Abandon unfinished dock – one’s no backing (8)
JETTISON : “jetty”(where you dock a boat) minus its last letter(unfinished …) + I(Roman numeral for “one”)‘S + reversal of(… backing) NO.
Down
1 Container – it’s used by grammar expert (4)
CASE : Double defn: 2nd: In grammar, a distinct form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective indicating its relationship to other words in a sentence.
2 One unwelcome rant on parsonage – nasty (7,3,5)
PERSONA NON GRATA : Anagram of(… – nasty) RANT ON PARSONAGE.
3 Inmate hostile to old Queen? Not half (7)
CONVICT : CON(hostile to;against) + “Victoria”(former English Queen) minus its last 4 letters(Not half).
4 Lock star re-uses regularly (5)
TRESS : Every other letter, starting from the 2nd, of(… regularly) “star re-uses “.
Defn: … of hair.
6 Greens at outset backing new surplus stores, first of series (8,7)
BRUSSELS SPROUTS : The 1st letter of(at outset) “backing” + anagram of(new) SURPLUS STORES + the 1st letter of(first of) “series“.
7 Be impressed by hair-remover for mammals (3-5)
SHE-BEARS : BE contained in(impressed by) SHEARS(instrument for cutting;removing hair).
8 Agree inside reportedly to support business (8)
COINCIDE : Homophone of(… reportedly) “inside” placed below(to support, in a down clue) CO(abbrev. for “company”, a business organization).
9 Judgment of French served on native American (6)
DECREE : DE(French for the preposition “of”) placed above(served on, in a down clue) CREE(a member of one of the native American tribes).
14 Shy pair nervous on date at first – this may help float their boat? (8)
SHIPYARD : Anagram of(… nervous) SHY PAIR placed above(on, in a down clue) the 1st letter of(… at first) “date“.
15 Girl eager to claim unusual hat left behind (8)
KATHLEEN : KEEN(eager;gung ho) containing(to claim) [ anagram of(unusual) HAT placed above(… behind) L(abbrev. for “left”) ].
17 Duo love getting involved in publicity for writer (6)
ATWOOD : [ TWO(duo;a pair) + O(letter indicating 0;love in tennis scores) ]contained in(getting involved in) AD(short for “advertisement”;publicity).
Answer: Margaret, Canadian writer.
18 Feature of Internet – our group, British actors (7)
WEBCAST : WE(our group;ourselves) + B(abbrev. for “British”) + CAST(the group of actors in a particular play or film).
20 Unconventional route first to be dropped (5)
OUTRE : ROUTE with its 1st letter(first) moved down 3 positions(to be dropped, in a down clue).
21 Article appearing shortly (4)
ANON : AN(an article in grammar) + ON(appearing, as in, say, “who’s on tonight at the Palladium?”).
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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.)
Pic 4, IBIS is another “hotel chain”.
pic 1: Margaret Atwood wrote a book called “Bodily Harm”
pic 5: I see that TGI Friday’s is there – connection with ROBINSON CRUSOE?
pic 3: I assume this is an illegal distillery in prohibition America. Prohibition is a DECREE. The NEAT whiskey would be JETTISONed and someone would be CONVICTed.
Pic 3, those could be stills invented by Luther ATWOOD, or some other stills at some ATWOOD (no relation) distillery, but more likely PERSONA NON GRATA in the guise of inspectors with a hooch find?
Pic 6, STRANGE is a subatomic particle found under my garden (I live over the LHC).
in case it is relevant, Accor is the parent company of ISIS.
sorry, that should be IBIS of course, not ISIS.
Pic 2, the LongPen is a remote signing device conceived by Margaret ATWOOD…
Cookie/Shirl, off to a flying start!
Pic2 Margaret ATWOOD conceived the Long Pen
Pic3 Stills for making moonshine, which might be drunk NEAT
Pic4 The IBIS is a hotel chain owned by Accor
Pic5 TGI Fridays, the latter related to ROBINSON CRUSOE
Pic6 The STRANGE quark is a sub atomic particle, amongst others.
Pic 1, there are quite a lot of incidences with blood, bleeding as medical treatment etc., in ROBINSON CRUSOE.
Pic 1: Veg like BRUSSELS SPROUTS produce vitamin k, useful for blood clotting
Right, Shirl. All complete. Well done, you and Cookie!
Thanks scchua. Cookie, I make that a 3-3 score draw!
Thanks scchua, that was fun. Well done shirl with the vitamen K, all I could find for the BRUSSELS SPROUTS was that you could make green ink with them!