Another IoS which required more than one sitting to complete. I’m beginning to think that the IoS average difficulty has been raised a notch or two (or I’m losing it?). Thanks to Kairos. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Tenor loses good cloak (6)
DOMINO : “Domingo”(Placido, one of the ‘Three Tenors’) minus(loses) “g”(abbrev. for “good”).
Answer: A large hooded cloak worn with an eye mask at a masquerade.
5 Try to include worker in song (6)
SHANTY : SHY(a try;an attempt) containing(to include … in) ANT(the social insect, one of whose castes is the worker).
Answer: A song originally sung by sailors, especially one as an accompaniment to work.
10 Soldier and airmen following oriental animal (7)
GIRAFFE : GI(term for the American soldier) plus(and) RAF(abbrev. for the Royal Air Force, the airmen in the British military) + F(abbrev. for “following”) + E(abbrev. for “Eastern”;oriental).
11 Decline of London area on city border (7)
ECLIPSE : SE(abbrev. for “southeast”, postal code of the London area, or the area of England where London is) placed after(on, in an across clue) [ EC(the postcode area containing almost all of the City of London) LIP(a border;a rim) ] .
Answer: A fall into obscurity or disuse, as in “many pop groups go into eclipse after a brief period of fame”.
12 Moggies heartlessly butchered in display of selfishness (6)
EGOISM : Anagram of(butchered) “moggies” minus its central letter(heartlessly).
15 Consonant found in handkerchief or tissue (6)
FORTIS : Hidden in(found in) “handkerchief or tissue “.
Answer: A consonant such as the English “p” or “f”, pronounced with considerable muscular force or with a great deal of breath pressure.
16 Transport plan for train (4,3)
TAKE AIM : TAKE(to transport from place to place) + AIM(the specific purpose of a plan).
Defn: To focus on or aim, say, a weapon, at a target.
17 Married president gets letter in code (4)
MIKE : M(abbrev. for “married”) IKE(nickname of former US President Eisenhower).
Answer: Code in the phonetic alphabet for the letter M.
18 Socialist regularly ignored turnout (4)
TROT : “turnout ” minus its 2nd, 4th, and 6th letters(regularly ignored).
Answer: Short for “Trotskyite”, a follower of the socialist Leon Trotsky.
19 Coaching academy lost stewed dumplings (7)
GNOCCHI : Anagram of(stewed) “Coaching ” minus(lost) “a”(abbrev. for “academy”).
Answer: Dumplings in Italian cuisine.
20 One cream egg (4)
UNIT : U(representing the upper class;the cream) + NIT(egg of the louse, or other similar parasitic insects).
22 Succeed with rabble (4)
SCUM : S(abbrev. for “succeed”) + CUM(plus;combined with, as in “kitchen-cum-dining room”).
Defn. and Answer: A group of people regarded with contempt.
25 German way to describe part of a violin (1-6)
G-STRING : G(abbrev. for “German”) + ST(abbrev. for “street”;a way) + RING(to draw an outline of;to describe a line around;to circumscribe).
Answer: The lowest string of a violin.
27 Dispute of French peacemakers (6)
FRACAS : FR(abbrev. for “French”) + ACAS(abbrev. for the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, in Britain).
28 Germany acquires top plane (6)
GLIDER : GER(abbrev. for “Germany”) containing(acquires) LID(the top covering of, say, a pot).
31 Clothing when bad weather’s encountered moving North East (7)
RAIMENT : RAIN MET(bad weather’s encountered) with N(abbrev. for “north”) moved to the right(moving … East, in an across clue).
32 Sighted Capitol Building (7)
OPTICAL : Anagram of(Building) CAPITOL.
Defn. and Answer: Both related to vision.
33 Publisher‘s description of plaintiff! (6)
ISSUER : IS SUER(is one that sues;the description of the plaintiff in a court case).
34 Tailless gazelle has dry fleece (6)
MOHAIR : “mohr”(a species of gazelle) minus its last letter(Tailless) plus(has) AIR(to dry by exposure to air).
Answer: Fabric made from the hair;fleece of the angora goat.
Down
2 Old wizard spilling whiskey in part of boat (7)
OARLOCK : O(abbrev. for “old”) + “warlock”(a wizard;a male witch) minus(spilling) “w”(the letter represented by “whiskey” in the phonetic alphabet).
3 The best fellow falls in plague (6)
INFEST : FINEST(the best) with “F”(abbrev. for “fellow”) moving down(falls, in a down clue).
Defn: As a verb.
4 Lines of storm troopers leaving port (4)
ODES : “SS”(abbrev. for “Sturmabteilung “, storm troopers in Nazi Germany) deleted from(leaving) “Odessa”(the Ukrainian port on the Black Sea).
Answer: Lines of poetry.
5 Stop baseball players returning (4)
STEM : Reversal of(returning) METS(short for the New York Mets baseball team).
Answer: To staunch;to stop.
6 Healthy lecturer is caught in an explosion (6)
ABLOOM : L(abbrev. for “lecturer) contained in(is caught in) A BOOM(an explosion).
Answer: In flower;prospering, and therefore in good health.
7 One who may be caught napping at Aintree? (7)
TIPSTER : Cryptic defn: Reference to one who might give you a nap;a choice for an almost certain winner at a horse racing course like Aintree.
8 Local education authority takes part in a meeting that’s scintillating (6)
AGLEAM : LEA(abbrev. for a Local Education Authority in Britain) contained in(takes part in) AGM(abbrev. for the Annual General Meeting, say, of an incorporated company).
9 County has a thing for property (6)
BEDSIT : BEDS(abbrev. for the English county of Bedfordshire) plus(has) IT(pronoun for a thing).
Answer: A room serving as bedroom and sitting room.
13 Group hysteria? (7)
MADNESS : Double defn: 1st: The English ska band of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
14 Metal shortly to be discovered in the middle of lymph gland (7)
MERCURY : Cryptic defn: The metal element, whose chemical symbol(shortly) is Hg, found in(discovered in) the central letters of(the middle of) “lymph gland “.
15 Banker’s hobby? (7)
FISHING : Cryptic defn: The hobby of one who stands on the river bank, perhaps.
20 Reveal a continental coat cut on both sides (6)
UNFURL : UN(French;continental for “a”) + “fur”(a fur coat) minus its last letter(cut) placed above(on, in a down clue) R,L(abbrev. for both the left and right sides).
21 Material in Iceland used to make chemicals (7)
ISATINS : SATIN(a material of closely woven silk, rayon, etc. with a glossy appearance) contained in(in) IS(the international code for Iceland).
Answer: Plural for the yellowish red chemical used in the preparation of dyes.
23 I must support state leader’s symbols (7)
CADUCEI : I placed below(must support, in a down clue) [CA(abbrev. for the US state of California) + DUCE(a leader, from Italian) ].
Answer: Plural for the symbol, derived from the mythological god, Hermes’ winged staff and two serpents twined round it. It is used to represent trades, occupations and undertakings associated with the god, eg. commerce, negotiation, and printing. It has also come to represent the medical profession, especially in America, probably as a result of confusion, as the god had nothing to do with medicine.
24 Hard man swallows bone I discarded (6)
MARBLE : MALE(a man) containing(swallows) “rib”(a bone) minus(discarded) “i”.
Answer: Description for something hard, or cold, or unresponsive, like, well, marble, but not made of it. Can anyone please give an example of this usage? A marble character?
25 Recall Middle East country name for cake (6)
GATEAU : Reversal of(Recall) [ UAE(abbrev. for the Middle East country, the United Arab Emirates) + TAG(to name or call someone something) ] .
26 Initially Gary Lineker is the chief problem (6)
GLITCH : 1st letters, respectively, of(Initially) “Gary Lineker is the ” + CH(abbrev. for “chief”).
29 Teacher has time in prison (4)
STIR : SIR(the term of address by schoolchildren for the teacher) containing(has) T(abbrev. for “time”).
Answer: Slang for “prison”.
30 Place that was said to be cold (4)
ROOM : Homophone of(said to be) “rheum”(a cold, and also the watery discharge from eyes and nose accompanying it).
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Thanks for that scchua. Some good stuff here but some, like 14d, not so good. The symbol for mercury must have an upper case ‘H’ much as a policeman can be Constable but the artist can never be constable, well, in my rule book anyway.
A very tricky puzzle that tried to be too clever for its own good, IMHO, particularly in the SE. I agree with sidey@1’s quibble about Hg, I needed to check ISATINS before I was happy to enter it, and I needed aids to find the “mohr” gazelle, which then gave me MOHAIR. Once I had the “m” checker I finally saw ROOM, and I also used aids to get my LOI, CADUCEI, which I may have been able to parse if I’d thought about it for long enough but I’d lost interest by then.
Thanks to Kairos and scchua.
[[That’s a lotta pictures, scchua! The only one I know for sure at this point is #7 which is
Claudine Auger who played DOMINO in Thunderball. ]]
Cheers…