It’s a Quiptic, Jim, but not as we know it …
At least that’s what I thought, but you will no doubt put me right. It’s a generally sound puzzle throughout from Nutmeg, but there are some constructions that seemed a bit out of place in a Quiptic. The grid didn’t help either: two puzzles for the price of one with the north and south bits being barely connected. And a comparative paucity of anagrams, which are the improving solver’s usual way into getting a foothold on a cryptic crossword.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Return of work caused application to head
POMADE
A charade of PO for a reversal of OP for opus or ‘work’ and MADE for ’caused’ gives you the scented ointment that I rub into my scalp every morning.
4 Time added to syllabus — you’re not likely to take it well
TABLET
A charade of TABLE and T. TABLE for ‘syllabus’? And if you were well, then you wouldn’t be taking TABLETS, would you?
9 Monumental square crossed by tank
VAST
S for square? It ain’t in any of my dictionaries, though it will no doubt be listed somewhere. Anyway, it’s S in VAT for ‘tank’.
10 Heard gunshots and became inspired
CAUGHT FIRE
A charade of CAUGHT for ‘heard’ (‘I didn’t quite catch/hear what you said’) and FIRE.
11 Poser taken in hand by forty-niner?
RIDDLE
In a cavern, in a canyon
Excavating for a mine
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner
And his daughter Clementine
And those involved in the Californian gold rush of 1849 would no doubt have used a RIDDLE when panning for the yellow stuff.
12 Colonists‘ site developed after limited period
TERMITES
A charade of TERM and (SITE)* with ‘developed’ as the anagrind.
13 Porches traditionally providing shelter for band
ORCHESTRA
This is an excellent clue, which had me puzzled for ages. It’s just hidden, in pORCHES TRAditionally. And not a CARTHORSE in sight.
15 Clear about kiss succeeding
NEXT
‘Succeeding’ in the sense of ‘subsequent’. An insertion of X for a ‘kiss’ in NET in its NET PROFIT sense.
16 Put on alert by the sound of it …
WORN
A homophone of WARN.
17 … by a seemingly slow team
ALONGSIDE
The ellipses, as usual, have naff all to do with anything. This is tough for what’s meant to be an entry-level puzzle. The definition is ‘by’; then it’s A, LONG and SIDE.
21 Burton’s beast originally kicked like a mule
STUBBORN
(BURTONS B)* with ‘kicked’ as the anagrind.
22 Second protest abruptly closed temple
MOSQUE
A charade of MO for ‘second’ (‘just a mo/second’) and SQUE[AL] for ‘protest abruptly closed’. Again, imho, this is bit tricky for a Quiptic. How abruptly do you want me to close ‘protest’? Just the last letter, or the last two?
24 Explorer‘s rough hut revealed
SHACKLETON
A charade of SHACK for ‘rough hut’ and LET ON for ‘reveal’. He of polar fame.
25 Bank just ignores me
RELY
[ME]RELY
26 Refuse to acknowledge one’s wearing blue
DISOWN
Nutmeg is asking you to insert (‘wearing’) I’S for ‘one’s’ in DOWN for ‘blue’.
27 Before deplorable delay Penny was in the game
PLAYED
P for the abbreviation of ‘penny’ before (DELAY)* with ‘deplorable’ as the anagrind.
Down
1 Summit that is run less well
PEAKIER
Once I’d convinced myself that it wasn’t spelt PEEKY, then it was obvious: a charade of PEAK, IE for id est, and R for ‘run’ in cricket.
2 United finished the game
MATED
A dd. ‘United’ in its sexual sense and ‘finished the game’ as in chess. Good surface.
3 First half of dull game, involving king and queen and noblewoman
DUCHESS
A charade of the first half of DUll and CHESS making its second appearance in two clues.
5 Stick poster in this location
ADHERE
Okay, this is Quiptic: AD plus HERE.
6 Arrogance frequently displayed in rows with son
LOFTINESS
An insertion of OFT for the archaic or poetical word for ‘often’ in LINES followed by S for ‘son’.
7 Sharpest assessment for sailor?
TARTEST
A cd cum dd. If a sailor took an exam, it could be a TAR TEST.
8 Flibbertigibbet sent wrong kit for naturalists
BUTTERFLY NETS
BUTTERFLY for a loose synonym of ‘flibbertigibbet’ and (SENT)* And how do you solve a problem like Maria?
14 Types of publication firm endorses
HARDBACKS
Back in Quiptic territory: a charade of HARD and BACKS.
16 Marry nurses at church under close scrutiny
WATCHED
An insertion (‘nurses’) of AT and CH in WED.
18 Man lion mauled of little worth
NOMINAL
Finally, another full anagram. (MAN LION)*
19 Ladder’s central components substituted
DOUBLED
Well, ‘substituted’ could be replaced by DOUBLED in the sense of a STUNT DOUBLE. And the central components of ‘ladder’ are DD. Which would of course be DOUBLE D. Hmm.
20 Look into predator’s northbound trail
FOLLOW
You need to put LO! for ‘look’ into WOLF for ‘predator’ and then reverse it. ‘Northbound’ is the reversal indicator, since it’s a down clue.
23 Aerosol, eg with extremely poor contents
SPRAY
SAY is ‘eg’ or ‘for example’; PR are the outside letters of PooR; put one inside the other and you’ve got a synonym for ‘aerosol’.
Many thanks to Nutmeg for today’s Quiptic. We’ve said a squillion times that setting an ‘easy’ puzzle is the hardest gig in town, but this one for me was just a bit too much on the tricky side.
Thanks Nutmeg and Pierre. I agree with your comments in the Intro to this blog.
I particularly liked 6d, 7d, 20d, 12a, 2d.
I could not parse 19d (hmm, very difficult!) & 11a (I think this is also a difficult clue for a Quiptic – I solved it but had no idea how to parse it).
I really enjoyed this one, but a typical Quiptic it wasn’t. If I was trying to get a foothold on the cryptic ladder this one may have made we wonder if it was going to be worth the effort if this is what is meant by “an easy one”, as it says on the tin.
I saw the DD trick in DOUBLED but I’m not sure I would have done a few years ago, and I fortunately had the requisite GK that made RIDDLE a write-in. I think the cryptic definition for TABLET deserves a wider audience.
Definitely on the tricky side for a Quiptic.
Nice puzzle from Nutmeg, which, as someone said before, would not be out of place for a Monday regular slot.
Thanks Pierre; Chambers has ‘s’=square. I couldn’t parse RIDDLE – I thought it was something to do with IL. 🙁
I particularly liked TERMITES, FOLLOW and MATED.
Thanks Pierre, tricky for quiptic although it seems to be morphing into a telegraph back page crossword in style. Perhaps the G will be like the telegraph and have two crosswords one easy and a stinker. Tablet and riddle and doubled for me seemed out of scope here.
Thanks for the blog, Pierre. I agree that this puzzle was way beyond Quiptic level. I hoped for a quick solve and spent longer than I sometimes do on daily puzzles!
“Put on alert by the sound of it …” I entered WARE (alert) at 16a, as a homophone for WEAR (put on). It’s the usual problem of which homophone should be entered in the grid.
If it’s any consolation, Jan, I did exactly the same thing before realising that the crossing clues wouldn’t work with that. Not helped by the fact that the present and the perfect tenses of PUT are the same.
Did eight and gave up!