(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) About midway in difficulty level for a Paul puzzle, I thought. Thanks to Paul. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Way out in front, was ahead! (6)
BOWLED : BOW(the front of a ship or boat) + LED(was ahead, in a race, say).
Defn: In cricket one of the ways a batsman can be dismissed, or out.
4 Last of plant matter, organic material (6)
TISSUE : The last letter of(Last of) “plant” + ISSUE(the matter or topic at hand).
9 Manager, a stud (4)
BOSS : Double defn.
10 Fuzzy aphid requiring a sense that’s clear (10)
DIAPHANOUS : Anagram of(Fuzzy) APHID plus(requiring) A + NOUS(common sense;intelligence).
11 A second president recalled as brainless life form (6)
AMOEBA : A + MO(short for “moment”;a second, as in “wait a mo”, and “wait a sec”) + reversal of(… recalled) ABE(the nickname for former American president, Abraham Lincoln).
12 Artist’s medium, or impressively large, portrait for starters isn’t common (3,5)
OIL PAINT : The 1st letters, respectively, of(… for starters) “or impressively large, portrait ” + AIN’T(nonstandard term for;in common usage, “isn’t”).
13 Criminal hit copper – that’s ominous! (9)
PROPHETIC : Anagram of(Criminal) HIT COPPER.
15 Flirt offering a kiss after thirty seconds? (4)
MINX : X(letter indicating a kiss) placed after(after) MIN(half of “minute”, ie. 30 seconds).
16 View wimp, ultimately, as drip (4)
SEEP : SEE(to view) + the last letter of(…, ultimately) “wimp “.
17 Reporter putting five points to the nation (9)
NEWSWOMAN : N,E,W,S,W(abrrevs., respectively for five compass points) plus(to) OMAN(the Middle Eastern nation).
21 Half as much fun twirling moustache? (2,6)
FU MANCHU : Anagram of(… twirling) [half of the letters of(Half) “as ” + MUCH FUN].
Defn: …, named after the fictional criminal genius, Dr. Fu Manchu.
22 Far from bloody outstanding article – deservedly so? (6)
UNREAD : UN-RED(not red;far from bloody) containing(outstanding …) A(the grammatical article).
Defn: Perhaps;? descriptive of a written article, in a newspaper, say, that is far from being outstanding.
24 Antique objects found in battered raincoat after the last King George (10)
VICTORIANA : Anagram of(battered) RAINCOAT placed after(after, in an across clue) VI(the Sixth in full, to date the last King of the UK with the name George).
25 Freight’s seagoing, by the sound of it, for legendary ship (4)
ARGO : “cargo”(freight) minus(…going) “c”(pronounced as;by the sound of it “sea”).
Defn: … on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed in search of the Golden Fleece.
26 Anxiety shown by figure returning to collect mother, finally (6)
NERVES : Reversal of(… returning) SEVEN(figure;number) containing(to collect) the last letter of(…, finally) “mother “.
27 Dividing wall takes a month? I’m not sure (6)
SEPTUM : SEPT(short for the 9th month of the year) + UM(an expression of uncertainty;”I’m not sure”).
Defn: …, or membrane between 2 cavities in an organism’s body, eg. that between the left and right nostrils.
Down
1 Flour, say, for bread (7)
BLOOMER : BLOOMER[a flower, in turn, a homophone of(…, say) “Flour “].
2 Rubbish sci-fi film watched after promotion (5)
WASTE : Reversal of(… after promotion) [ ET(the Extra-Terrestrial, the sci-fi film) ] + SAW(watched) ].
3 Final moves by English celebrity to impress BBC chief (7)
ENDGAME : E(abbrev. for “English”) + NAME(a celebrity;a famous person) containing(to impress) D.G.(abbrev. for “Director-General”, the job title of the BBC chief).
5 Popular? Well I never did! (Clinton) (6)
INHALE : IN(popular;in fashion) + HALE(well;healthy and robust, as in “hale and hearty”).
Defn: As in this Bill Clinton quote in full: ““When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and didn’t like it. I didn’t inhale, and I didn’t try it again.”
6 A ninja, might you say, in Chinese republic (3,6)
SAN MARINO : { A N… + MAR[to injure, in turn a homophone of(might you say) “…inja”] } contained in(in) SINO-( a prefix used to refer to China).
Defn: …, smallest in the world, and surrounded by Italy.
7 Horse docked before bovine about 22 September? (7)
EQUINOX : “equine”(a horse) minus its last letter(docked) placed above(before, in a down clue) OX(a bovine).
Defn: About when the autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the southern hemisphere, occurs.
8 Green council’s a real nightmare (8,5)
CAROLINE LUCAS : Anagram of(… nightmare) COUNCIL’S A REAL.
Answer: A Green Party of England and Wales MP.
14 American author, one trying to be a poor writer (9)
POETASTER : POE(Edgar Allan, American author) + TASTER(one trying;having a taste of).
Defn: … of insignificant or shoddy verse.
16 Nonsense of USA and Iran, prehistoric (7)
SAURIAN : Anagram of(Nonsense of) [ USA plus(and) IRAN ].
18 South African application that may be panned? (7)
SAUSAGE : S.A.(abbrev. for “South African”) + USAGE(application;employment).
Defn: What may be put in a pan prior frying.
19 Publication priest set up that’s mercurial? (7)
AMALGAM : Reversal of(… set up, in a down clue) [ MAG(short for “magazine”;a publication) + LAMA(a Tibetan priest) ].
Answer: An alloy of various metals including mercury, used as dental filling.
20 Rare shock, leader in competition getting held (6)
SCARCE : SCARE(a shock) containing(… getting held) the 1st letter of(leader in) “competition “.
23 Slam meat in the oven? (5)
ROAST : Double defn: 1st: To criticise.
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The following pictures have unidentified links to the puzzle (and I’ve taken a couple of liberties).
(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.)
#5 Michael Schumacher won the F1 Grand Prix at SAN MARINO in 2003
#6 They look like home fries but maybe they’re ROAST potatoes
#4 could be a natural AMALGAM – eg Arquerite – silver-mercury but it often has a golden tinge to it.
#1 Minnie The MINX was in The Beano comic
#2 is a game of Ring O’ Roses (a-TISSUE, we all fall down?)
#3 I don’t know the one on the left but Whitney Houston had a damaged SEPTUM
#3 Whitney Houston did INHALE and she also recorded a song called Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ3PEtkIw1k
I think the other person is a film director who was already engaged to do a biopic on her before she died.
I’m hoping that’s one of the liberties, on which basis there’s another in #1 or #2.
.. which is maybe in #2 as per A @ post#3.
#2 a ring game related to the EQUINOX, survivals of sun worship, like ‘Oats, peas, beans and barley grow’ and ‘Here we go ’round the mulberry bush’?
#4, chalcopyrite a copper mineral (13a)?
#6, tofu ROAST?
The woman with Whitney is Angela Bassett, director of “Waiting to Exhale”, a biopic of Ms Houston
@shirl – I think Bassett was an actor in that film – she’s due to direct a biopic but AFAIK it hasn’t been done yet.
#1 AMALGAM Comics publisher
#5, there are Schumacher ‘stud’ tyres (9a), a bit far fetched.
#6 is Greek Gratin, which is ROASTed in the oven.
scchua, anything left?
#6, could the potato variety be Charlotte = Caroline? (a liberty?).
Hi all,
Jolly Swagman is right with Pic5: Schumacher won the most number of the SAN MARINO F1 Grand Prix which was run in Imola Italy, not San Marino and Pic3: That’s Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston both of whom starred in “Waiting to Exhale”, antonym of INHALE(the 2nd liberty)
Aoxomoxoa is right with Pic1 Minnie the MINX and Pic2 a-TISSUE, homophone of A-Tishoo in Ring O’ Roses (the 1st liberty).
So Robi, to answer your question: 2 left.
Gold used to be extracted using MERCURY to make an AMALGAM. ‘The use of mercury in 19th century placer mining in California, now prohibited, has caused extensive pollution problems in riverine and estuarine environments, ongoing to this day.’
……. and gold can also be panned……..
#6 Potato: Solanum tuberosum ‘King George’
scchua, any left now???
Robi, sorry, no change.
If the gold ore isn’t linked to AMALGAM then it’s SCARCE.
As for the potatoes, it’s either a mangling of Dauphinoise into DIAPHANOUS, or we’re back to AMALGAM again, as I am informed one method of gold extraction is “cutting a potato in half, scooping out the middle and filling it with amalgam, wiring the potato together and then placing it in coals of a fire. In a couple of hours the potato could be opened revealing a little nugget of gold.” Or perhaps it’s that BLOOMER is a variety of potato.
QED
Ian SW3, taking Occam’s Razor, it’s the simpler “BLOOMER is a potato variety”.
Robi, it’s 1 now.
I agree with Cookie @ 10 that the ore looks more like chalcopyrite than gold; might it have been used for making OIL PAINT?
Doh – @7. not @10.
muffin and Cookie, I assure you, it is gold, but that’s not an issue.
copper is necessary for NERVE coverings
sorry, crossed you sschua
Gold and amalgam are both used in dentistry?
surely we are not onto the ARGOnauts again and their search for the golden fleece?
Good offer, Cookie. Apparently inhabitants of the Trebizond area pinned sheep fleeces in streams to trap gold particles being washed down.
There is gold in sAUrian, but gold is not an issue
a piece of VICTORIANA?
of course gold is SCARCE, but again gold is not the issue.
gold also in sAUsage.
OK it’s a rock, and SAN MARINO is standing on a rock.
ROAST to heat an ore to produce a concentrate that is easier to smelt
You don’t need to roast gold ore to concentrate it, as it is “native” – i.e. the gold is uncombined, in the “elemental” state (remember yesterday?)
Yes muffin, but sschua says gold is not an issue.
Also, muffin, you cannot have read my post in Arachne’s puzzle @9 about the golden fleece.
Just checked it, Cookie – yes I missed that post. I heard it in a TV programme.
Wiki says gold is sometimes recovered by roasting in refractory ore treatment.
Cookie and muffin, yes, in metallurgy, ROASTing is a step in the processing of some ores, including gold. It consists of, well, roasting the ore.
Yukon Gold and Southern Gold are potato varieties – very good for #6 type cooking – those ones being well browned it’s hard to tell whether they’re yellow or white-fleshed spuds – the former would normally best for that.
Gold -> ARGO – bit of a stretch.
pic 1) Set of commemorative stamps issued by the post office show the first editions of these comics which now are extremely SCARCE? or are the stamps themselves SCARCE?