(Please post comments on ONLY the picture quiz hereinbelow. To post comments on the crossword puzzle, please click here.) A slow start, but it turned out all right. Thank you to Commoner. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 The editor sent back excellent piece of writing about sex (8,7)
DEFINITE ARTICLE : Reversal of(… sent back) ED(abbrev. for “editor”) + FINE(excellent) ARTICLE(a piece of writing, in the newspaper, say) containing(about) IT(a euphemistic term for sexual intercourse).
Answer: An example of which is “the”.
9 Ringleader possibly tidied party mess (9)
SPYMASTER : Anagram of(tidied) PARTY MESS.
Defn: Reference to a spy ring.
10 A form of rock surrounding northern point (5)
PRONG : PROG(short for “progressive rock”, a subgenre of rock music originating in the UK) containing(surrounding) N(abbrev. for “northern”).
Defn: … like one on a pitchfork.
11 Writer‘s sudden appearance I ignored (7)
EMERSON : “emersion”(an emergence;a sudden appearance) minus(… ignored) “I “.
Answer: Ralph Waldo, American essayist, lecturer and poet.
12 Hit man‘s stomach initially, then nose (7)
SHOOTER : The 1st letter of(… initially) “stomach ” plus(then) HOOTER(slang for the body part, the nose, … or some other body part if in the plural).
13 Wisdom shown in story by London, say (8)
SAGACITY : SAGA(a story, stretching over a long period or family generations) plus(by) CITY(an example of which;say, is London).
15 Boy and girl getting tense, resulting in curses (6)
BLASTS : B(abbrev. for “boy”) plus(and) LASS(a young girl) containing(getting) T(abbrev. for “tense” in grammar).
19 Receptacle husband dropped the wrong way (6)
ASTRAY : “ashtray”(a receptacle for tobacco ash) minus(… dropped) “h”(abbrev. for “husband”).
Defn. and Answer: Could be used interchangeably, as in “… went astray/the wrong way”.
20 Contract law protects a society (8)
DECREASE : DECREE(a law) containing(protects) [A + S(abbrev. for “society”)].
22 Collapse having consumed a fine eastern food item (7)
FALAFEL : FALL(a collapse) containing(having consumed) [A + F(abbrev. for “fine”) + E(abbrev. for “eastern”) ].
… Middle Eastern, actually.
24 Become entangled, attached to twig (5,2)
CATCH ON : CATCH(to become entangled;hooked, as in “my sleeve caught the door handle”) + ON(attached to).
Defn: To understand;to perceive something.
26 Air retains gases, primarily Oxygen, Nitrogen and ___? (5)
ARGON : The 1st letters of, respectively,(…, primarily) “Air retains gases ” + O(the chemical symbol for the element, oxygen) + N(likewise for nitrogen).
Defn: Fill in the blank with a naturally occurring component of the air around us, together with oxygen, nitrogen and some other gases.
27 Kitchen appliance made of wood by sink failing to start (9)
TEA KETTLE : TEAK(a type of hardwood) plus(by) “settle”(to sink to and rest on the bottom) minus its 1st letter (failing to start).
28 Momentous, or alternatively heart-breaking? (5-10)
EARTH-SHATTERING : Anagram of(alternatively) HEART + SHATTERING(breaking into little pieces).
Down
1 Pepys is troubled by day with a digestive complaint (9)
DYSPEPSIA : [ Anagram of(… troubled) PEPYS IS placed below(by, in a down clue) D(abbrev. for “day”) ] plus(with) A.
2 Move swiftly, and perhaps pound boxer (9)
FLYWEIGHT : FLY(to move swiftly) plus(and) WEIGHT(a unit of which could be;is perhaps, the pound, equal to 16 ounces, in the avoirdupois system).
Defn: … who does not weigh more than 112 pounds.
3 Bears down south, south of Nebraska and Arkansas (5)
NEARS : S(abbrev. for “south”) placed below(south of, in a down clue) [NE(abbrev. for for the US state of Nebraska) plus(and) AR(abbrev. for for the US state of Arkansas) ].
4 Bird one consumed with salt (8)
TITANATE : TIT(any of various small songbirds of the titmouse family) + AN(like “a”, one in number) + ATE(consumed).
Defn: … of titanic acid, containing the element, titanium.
5 Catch a break, say (6)
ARREST : A + homophone of(…, say) “rest”(a break;a breather).
6 The highest sum paid for toll road constructed around capital of Poland (3,6)
TOP DOLLAR : Anagram of(… constructed) TOLL ROAD containing(around) the 1st letter of(capital of) “Poland “.
7 Appropriate time to follow chicken home (5)
COOPT : T(abbrev. for “time”) placed below(to follow) COOP(a shed housing chickens).
Defn: To commandeer, eg. to serve on a committee, or to adopt someone else’s idea for one’s own use.
8 Showing keen interest in Stone Age relics (5)
EAGER : Hidden in(in) “Stone Age relics “.
14 Refuse to move slowly to see bird (9)
CHAFFINCH : CHAFF(refuse;rubbish, from the mass separated from grain during threshing) + INCH(to move slowly towards, perhaps inch by little inch).
16 Pasta‘s prepared past eight (9)
SPAGHETTI : Anagram of(prepared) PAST EIGHT.
17 Conductor‘s rest being disturbed (9)
STEINBERG : Anagram of(… disturbed) REST BEING.
Answer: William, German-American conductor.
18 Willingness to write song (8)
PENCHANT : PEN(to write) + CHANT(a song).
21 Handbag collection (6)
CLUTCH : Double defn: 1st: … type without handles; and 2nd: … commonly, of eggs.
… or a murse in male hands.
22 Batter put in iron mould (5)
FRAME : RAM(to batter;to pound) contained in(put in) FE(the chemical symbol for the element, iron).
23 Drag queen’s 12 (5)
LUGER : LUG(to drag along, especially something heavy) + ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, the Queen).
Answer: A German-designed and manufactured pistol or shooter;answer to 12 across.
25 That woman’s appearing in upcoming film, that’s the point (5)
THERE : HER(pronoun for “that woman” there) contained in( …’s appearing in) reversal of(upcoming, in a down clue) ET(the Steven Spielberg movie featuring an extra-terrestrial being).
Defn: At that moment or at that place or in that respect or at/on that point, as in “stop there”, “I disagree with you there”, and so on.
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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 1) Example of an archaeological planning FRAME in use?
pic 2) SHOOTER: the drink in the small glass in the middle (tequila?)
pic 3) Synthetic diamonds starting to CATCH ON?
pic 4) Soldiers in no-man’s land ??
pic 5) Winter Olympic logos used at Sochi ??
pic 6) CLUTCH of squash: the larger one center rear is a SPAGHETTI squash
pic 7) Shows gastrulation of a sea urchin, also a style of TEA KETTLE ?
pic 8) Signing the Magna Carta was considered EARTH SHATTERING by some (and gave King John DYSPEPSIA?)
Hi, Freddy,
Pic2: The ingredients for a Tequila Slammer, a SHOOTER
Pic6: The SPAGHETTI squash is a variety of squash.
Brilliant Freddy again!
pic 7 sea urchin gastrulation, BLASTS, e.g. E. BLAST early blastula, M. BLAST mid blastula…
Right, Cookie. Blast cells, or just BLASTS, form the blastula, the stage just befoe gastrulation in embryo development.
pic 4, French soldiers wearing the Adrian helmet with PRONG RF
pic 3, the ‘diamonds’ made from Strontium TITANATE
Right again, Cookie on pic3. Pic4 is of French WW1 soldiers with helmets.
pic 5, a biathlon competitor SHOOTING
pic 5, as well as the SHOOTER, there is a LUGER, in fact several, on a sledge.
pic 4, ‘Shot Heard Round the World’, Ralph Waldo EMERSON’s Concord Hymn referring to the first shot of the War of Independence, but now associated with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
pic 8, Magna Carta, being latin, has no DEFINITE ARTICLE, ‘the’.
pic 1, potassium-ARGON dating is used in archaeology.
You’re on a roll Cookie
Just waiting for the Everyman blog which has been delayed, and it is raining, so am stuck inside.
Yes, Cookie, that is a LUGER (face up, feet first), third row second from the left in the pic, and potassium-ARGON radiometric dating is used in archaeology.
pic 8, Magna Carta, the most important part is considered to be chapter 39, ‘No free man shall be ARRESTed……except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.’
Thanks scchua for the fun.
Hi Cookie and Freddy:
Pic4: The French Adrian helmet is a KETTLE hat.
Pic6: That’s King John and his nobles, and ARGON is a noble gas.