Guardian Quiptic 737 – Moley

Parts of this were certainly very easy but on the whole I thought it was rather hard for a Quiptic – partly because some clues were a bit woolly.

Across

1 Tell cockney chap to take role (6)
IMPART
Tell = IMPART. Cockneys drop their H’s, so a Cockney chap is ‘IM (‘him’), and a role is a PART.

5 Drainage sorted out for plant (8)
GARDENIA
If you ‘sort out’ (anagram) DRAINAGE you will get this plant.

9 Not in play, when performance is at a different venue (4,4)
AWAY GAME
If you’re ‘not in’ you’re AWAY – although to be fair you could just be out – and a ‘play’ could mean a GAME. And an AWAY GAME is when (your team’s) performance is at a different venue, I suppose – different from the one where the home games are, anyway.

10 Household of males era produced (6)
MENAGE
A MENAGE is a household, which is composed of MEN (males) and AGE (era).

11 Armenian mail about sea creature (6,6)
MARINE ANIMAL
The letters of ARMENIAN MAIL are all ‘about’ the place – it’s an anagram.

13 A hit? I’m going off this deal (4)
PACT
A hit is an IMPACT, but with I’M going off, you’re left with this deal or PACT.

14 Get ahead but not in this part of Sunset Boulevard (8)
OUTSTRIP
To OUTSTRIP is to get ahead. If you’re not in you’re OUT, and ‘this part of Sunset Boulevard’ gives us STRIP by somehow referring to Sunset Strip.

17 Maybe buys buzzers for live wires (4,4)
BUSY BEES
‘Maybe’ is a rather weak anagram indicator, so ‘Maybe buys’ (anagram of BUYS) = BUSY, buzzers are BEES and live wires are BUSY BEES.

18 US city Lawrence discovered recently (4)
LATE
The US city is LA, and Lawrence is T.E. Here they are ‘discovered’ together giving LATE meaning ‘recently’, as in Sonnet 73:

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

20 Boxer’s trophy comes with unusual freight (12)
PRIZEFIGHTER
A boxer is a PRIZEFIGHTER – and trophy or PRIZE comes with the letters of FREIGHT in an ‘unusual’ order, FIGHTER.

23 Artisan becoming a member? (6)
JOINER
A JOINER is an artisan. Becoming a member (of some organisation) is JOINING rather than JOINER, so the clue is a little dodgy, but at least we have the ? to warn us.

24 Slaughterhouse found in a terrible mess (8)
SHAMBLES
This clue is a double definition – simple enough if you happen to know that a SHAMBLES is an old word for a slaughterhouse as well as a modern word for a terrible mess.

25 Afterthought changes books of sacred songs (8)
PSALTERS
An afterthought, when writing a letter (when did you last do that?) is a PS, and changes = ALTERS. A PSALTER is a book of psalms, of course.

26 Flower writer might grow (6)
DEEPEN
If you are going to do crosswords at all you had better know that a ‘flower’, in this world, as often as not means ‘something which flows’, which is to say a river – here it is the DEE. A PEN is a writer, and to DEEPEN is to grow (no ‘might’ about it!).

Down

2 Catcalls coming from the stables? (4)
MEWS
Another double definition – MEWS are mewing sounds made by cats, and a MEWS is (originally) a row of stables.

3 Lack of balance in short American mystery novel (9)
ASYMMETRY
‘Novel’ is another anagram indicator, telling you to take the letters in a new or ‘novel’ order. The letters in question are those of AM MYSTERY, where ‘Am.’ is an abbreviation for ‘American’ (hence ‘short American’). The device is a little unfair since the anagram is indirect: the word ‘Am.’ doesn’t appear in the clue but must be deduced before being added to the anagram.

4 Initially, each apprentice in turn gets catering equipment (3,3)
TEA URN
‘Initially’ tells us to take the ‘initials’ of ‘Each Apprentice’: EA. Put them in TURN: T EA URN.

5 Inexperienced at home, fumes about cause of global warming (10,5)
GREENHOUSE GASES
Inexperienced = GREEN, home = HOUSE, and fumes = GASES.

6 Fortifications: force down hard and strap up (8)
RAMPARTS
To force something down (or in any other direction) hard is to RAM it, and STRAP, if read upwards (remember this is a down clue), gives PARTS.

7 Tedium when nun travels between Spain and Italy (5)
ENNUI
If you see E or I on the back of a car they represent Espana = Spain and Italia = Italy. Between them, the letters of NUN ‘travel’ around in a different order: E NNU I.

8 Retaliating after a fashion, student leaves to gain favour (10)
INGRATIATE
Sticking with signs on cars, L means ‘learner’ or student. This letter is removed from RETA(L)IATING, which after being given a ‘fashion’ – you fashion the letters into a new order – leaves INGRATIATE.

12 Usual Boris nonsense, but good for you! (10)
SALUBRIOUS
The letters of ‘USUAL BORIS’ are in a nonsense order.

15 Board accepting revised role that is satisfactory … (9)
TOLERABLE
The board is TABLE which is accepting OLER, the letters of ROLE in revised order. The result is TOLERABLE, is it not?

16 … of necessity for each law-keeping organisation (8)
PERFORCE
PER (for each) FORCE (law-keeping organisation). Note that the dots joining clues 15 and 16 don’t affect the reading of the clues.

19 Thread a way through London (6)
STRAND
Double definition – a STRAND is a thread and (The) STRAND is a street in London. Let’s all go down it!

21 Last character’s new loan applies to the region (5)
ZONAL
Z is undeniably the last character (in the alphabet), and LOAN, if the letters are taken in a ‘new’ order, gives ONAL: Z ONAL.

22 Insignificant body of water (4)
MERE
Another double definition to finish off. ‘It’s not a lake – it’s a mere mere!’