Nutmeg has as ever provided a nice crossword at a reasonably simple level, though the smooth surfaces may lead solvers up a few blind alleys. Anagrams are comparatively thin on the ground, but there are so many container-and-contents clues it is practically a handbook of different ways of indicating containment in a clue.
Across
1 Hurt, still lying about America (6)
ABUSED
ABED (still lying) is ‘about’ US (America) – our first containment clue.
5 Office lays claim to letters received (8)
POSTBAGS
POST (office, as in ‘the office of prime minister’) BAGS (lays claim to).
9 Community site hosting university after work (8)
POPULACE
PLACE (site) contains, or ‘hosts’, U (university) after OP (work): P {OP U} LACE or ‘community’.
10 Posh fur fit for purpose (6)
USABLE
U (posh, in the linguistic distinctions popularised in the 1950s by Nancy Mitford and still very familiar to crossword solvers) SABLE (fur). Something USABLE is fit for purpose.
11 Leading renegades in the wrong direction (4)
STAR
A STAR performer is a leading one; and RATS, or renegades, is read in the wrong direction, i.e. backwards.
12 Courier reinforces instructions (10)
GUIDELINES
GUIDE (courier) LINES (reinforces, by putting a lining in).
13 Former follower of fashion admits ambition to become cultivated (6)
TENDED
As in 10a we are back in the 1950s: a TED, or Teddy Boy, was a follower of fashion. Here he ‘admits’ (contains) END or ambition. To TEND a garden is to cultivate it.
14 Old knight needs cunning in my kingdom (8)
MONARCHY
O (old) N (knight, in chess) needs ARCH (cunning), inside MY: M O N ARCH Y (kingdom).
16 Mother’s always going on, losing head after morning’s over (8)
MATERNAL
Always is ETERNAL, losing head: TERNAL, after morning (AM) is ‘over’ (backwards): MA TERNAL. The definition is “mother’s”.
19 Flourishing faction taking bible to heart (6)
WAVING
A WING or faction (of e.g. a political party) is containing (taking to heart) AV (Authorised Version), the justly-celebrated 17th century English translation of the bible.
21 Holder used by schoolboy’s pal: science freak (6,4)
PENCIL CASE
This ‘holder used by schoolboy’ is an anagram (‘freak’) of PAL: SCIENCE.
23 Press losing initial feeling of euphoria (4)
RUSH
The initial is lost from CRUSH (press), giving this feeling of euphoria.
24 Ex-boxer showing lean leg (6)
LISTON
A LIST is a tilt or lean, and the ON side in cricket is also called the ‘leg’. We have moved on from the 1950s: Sonny LISTON was a heavyweight champion in the 1960s. I needed the crossing letters for this as I had to look him up – I googled for TILTON first.
25 Where pilot has received treatment? (8)
HOSPITAL
The clue leads to the answer in two ways (‘&lit’): a ‘treatment’ or anagram of PILOT HAS; and, of course, a pilot or anyone else might well have received treatment in a HOSPITAL.
26 Try to secure badly aged tiles (8)
HEADGEAR
To HEAR a case (if you are a judge) is to ‘try’ it. The word ‘secures’, or contains, an anagram (‘badly’) of AGED: H EADG EAR. A ’tile’, of course, is a hat.
27 Old farmers longing to purchase ’ouse (6)
YEOMEN
These old farmers are given by yet another containment: YEN is a longing, containing (by ‘purchasing’ or holding on to, I suppose) ‘OME, or ‘ouse, as our H-dropper might say.
Down
2 Insect reported crawling up strongbox — take precautions! (2,2,3,4,4)
BE ON THE SAFE SIDE
If someone ‘reported’ this, you might think they were telling you about a bee on the side of the safe.
3 Old-fashioned duke raised to power (7)
SQUARED
SQUARE (old-fashioned) D (Duke). SQUARED = raised to (the second) power.
4 Clothing in tatters, academic kept going for ages (7,2)
DRAGGED ON
RAGGED (‘in tatters’) is contained (clothed) by a DON or academic.
5 Bonus — rep’s sick mum receives one (7)
PREMIUM
REP’s sick: PRE, and MUM receives or contains I (one): PRE M I UM.
6 Eg gravy dish with bottom missing (5)
SAUCE
Gravy is an example of a SAUCE, and a SAUCER has the bottom letter missing (remember this is a down clue).
7 Country’s short queen gets portable heater (7)
BRAZIER
BRAZIL is cut short: BRAZI, and ER is the current as well as a former queen.
8 Very successful crew given fish as parting gift (6,9)
GOLDEN HANDSHAKE
GOLDEN (very successful) HANDS (ship hands or crew) HAKE (fish).
15 State what pregnant cow might produce (3,6)
NEW JERSEY
A US state. And the pregnant cow might be a Jersey, in which case it may well produce a new one.
17 Eager Conservative restrained by Left (7)
EXCITED
C(onservative) is contained or ‘restrained’ by EXITED (left).
18 Article penned by tragic king of Morocco, possibly (7)
LEATHER
The tragic king is LEAR, and he is ‘penning’, or containing, THE (the definite article). MOROCCO is a type of leather. The construction of the clue is simplicity itself, yet the surface reading, about an unfortunate Moroccan king writing a newspaper column, contains plenty of misdirection.
20 Primarily, reason I’ve got dizzy? (7)
VERTIGO
Another ‘&lit’ (like 25a): ‘Primarily, reason’ is the primary letter R, so we an anagram (‘dizzy’) of R I’VE GOT. And if you are dizzy, VERTIGO may well be the reason.
22 Weapon carried by martial ancestors (5)
LANCE
Nutmeg saved the easiest clue till last: this weapon is hidden (‘carried’) in ‘martiaL ANCEstors’.
Thanks writinghawk.
For a crossword series designed to help people get started, the repetition of a technique could be a good thing. Perhaps this we should see this as a series of teaching aids rather than complete and well rounded crosswords in their own right?
The book The Daily Telegraph: How to do Crosswords Better by May Abbot (Collins, 1975) in each chapter had a test crossword that had all the clues of the same category that was discussed in that.
Another excellent puzzle from Nutmeg. I didn’t find it particularly easy, but agree that it would be a good choice for an experienced solver to use to explain the parsing of clues to a beginner.
Once again, it took me at least as long to solve as the Rufus offering.
I very enjoyable puzzle that I found to be towards the more difficult end of the Quiptic spectrum, although maybe I was slow to get going because I did it straight after the Rufus puzzle and the setting styles are so different. I found it hardest to get into the NE quadrant and POSTBAGS was my LOI after BRAZIER.
Some very nice clues here, but I can’t help feeling the “Quiptic” concept has slightly lost its way. The difference in standard between these and the real thing is fairly slight it seems to me. Clues like HEADGEAR, where you have to think of HEAR as a synonym for TRY, and be able to connect TILES with hats are just going to be baffling to newcomers. Likewise in the clue next to it (YEOMEN), we might find the use of the word ‘purchase’ as a container indicator amusing because it is stretching the convention to the limit, but someone new to cryptics will just be bemused and give up.
Quiptics are a great idea. But in my experience, what puts new solvers off are obscure synonyms and clues which depend on (too many) crossword conventions which they have not yet absorbed.
Every now and then I do a Quiptic.
But only when I have a click with the setter.
Since Nutmeg joined the daily team I have become a great admirer of her style.
And this puzzle was certainly not a let-down.
It is surely a crossword at the easier end of this setter’s spectrum, yet there are some clues that might be a bridge too far for beginners, like eg 13ac, 19ac or 26ac.
I immensely enjoyed solving this puzzle.
It has just the right feel, the feel of Nutmeg.
So elegant and so many fine surfaces.
I particularly liked 17d and the &Lit at 20d.
But when Limeni says that the Quiptic has lost its way, I can see what (s)he means.
That said, I have never understood what a Quiptic actually is.
An easy Cryptic? A Cryptic with also elements of Quick clues (as Quiptic suggests)?
As a more experienced (though far from fast or perfect) solver I enjoy puzzles like this or an Everyman just as much as ones by the likes of Nimrod or Anax, to name two of the hardest (and cleverest) setters around.
But it wasn’t a write-in today.
So I guess, for a beginner it wasn’t that either.
But should it be?
Don’t know.
I liked it.
Many thanks to Turbolegs and Nutmeg.
Hi all,
“A web-only, cryptic puzzle for beginners and those in a hurry. It is published on theguardian.com every Monday”
So the mission is clear, but it is sometimes rather too cryptic for a beginner (whatever one of those is; after 49 years I’m still no expert).
Cheers
Beginner here !
Yes, this is much much too hard. Much harder then the non quiptic Rufus you get on Mondays!
Love this blog by the way. Thanks for full your efforts
Started doing cryptics 5 years ago; do I consider myself a ‘beginner’? Last week I got 3/4 of Orlando’s quiptic out in about an hour; quite pleased with myself, maybe I’m improving beyond the beginner level I think to myself.
Then, this week, after 5 days on+off, I find I’ve only managed to solve a meagre quarter of this Nutmeg. Oh dear. Back to school for me.
Btw. this web-site is an absolute god-send for beginners. Thank you to all those who contribute; I can’t imagine learning cryptics pre-internet era.