A quick look at the archive suggests that this is only Provis’s second appearance, and my first chance to blog him or her. I thought this was a fine Quiptic. Nothing to frighten the horses – as should be the case – and a pleasing variety of clue types with some good choices of anagram. He or she has an eye for a good surface too.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Sense a cry could be required
NECESSARY
(SENSE A CRY)* with ‘could be’ asking you to make an anagram.
10 Outlaw plunder at home
ROBIN
A charade of ROB and IN for ‘at home’ to give you Sherwood Forest’s most famous.
11 Famous European tunnel to the centre of Nantes
EMINENT
A charade of E, MINE and NT for the central letters of the French city.
12 Get hold of a group of singers, so we hear
ACQUIRE
A homophone (‘so we hear’) of A CHOIR.
13 Trotsky could be back for Christmas
NOËL
The left-winger’s first name was LEON. Reverse that and you’ve got the French word for ‘Christmas’, which we also use in English, mainly in Christmas Carols.
14 Arrange the French people time before and after payment
SETTLEMENT
SET for ‘arrange’ followed by an insertion of LE for one of the French words for ‘the’, MEN for ‘people’ in two Ts for ‘time before and after’.
16 Exposes beams behind half a gibbet
BETRAYS
‘Half a gibbet’ is BET; ‘beams’ are RAYS. There you go.
17 Type of holiday to fill years
PACKAGE
A charade of PACK and AGE.
19 Deeply involved but with head still above water
UP TO MY NECK
A dd cum cd.
22 Without a name, unable to crack down
BLUE
I’m down, I’m blue … the anagrind is ‘to crack’ and it’s (U[NA]BLE)*
24 Spoke quietly to relative, terminally ill in bed
MUMBLED
Bit of a macabre surface, but it’s a charade of MUM and an insertion of L for the last letter of ‘ill’ in BED.
25 Sad tale about odds of fallen flyer
LEAFLET
Provis is asking you to make an anagram (‘sad’) of (TALE)* around FLE, which are the odd letters of FaLlEn.
26 Admitted that nothing points to first of defendants
OWNED
Bit complicated, but the crossers were generous. A charade of O for ‘nothing’, WNE for three of the ‘points’ of the compass, and D for the first letter of ‘defendants’.
27 Doctors are able to add more information
ELABORATE
(ARE ABLE TO)* with ‘doctors’ as the anagrind. Nice surface.
Down
1 A Tory gets in no income irregularly, working very occasionally
ONCE IN A BLUE MOON
An insertion of A BLUE in (NO INCOME)* followed by ON for ‘working’.
2 Stress over one dead in car crash, possibly
ACCIDENT
An insertion of I and D in ACCENT.
3 Begged with face covered but bareheaded
ASKED
[M]ASKED. ‘Bareheaded’ is asking you to remove the first letter.
4 Insensitive time building castles
TACTLESS
A charade of T and (CASTLES)* with ‘building’ as the anagrind.
5 Dictator implicated in atrocity ran trials
TYRANT
Hidden in atrociTY RAN Trials.
6 How often might it be modulated?
FREQUENCY
A dd cum cd, referring to the fact that FM – as in your radio – is frequency modulation.
7 Compel to help
OBLIGE
A dd.
8 Pull through, after he turned terribly sick
UNDER THE WEATHER
‘Terribly’ is the anagrind for (HE TURNED)* which gives you UNDER THE. And if you ‘pull through’ something, then you WEATHER it.
15 Preserve a boy after gun is captured by me
MARMALADE
An insertion of ARM and A LAD in ME.
17 Odd clue I more than half parse wrongly
PECULIAR
It’s unequivocally clued: (CLUE I PAR)* and PAR is most certainly more than half of PARse.
18 Unmistakable support for everyone telling us to come out
ALL CLEAR
A dd.
20 Breaking in starts telling authorities I’m up to no good
TAMING
Since it’s a down clue, it’s the first letters of Telling Authorities, followed by an inversion of I’M and NG.
21 Pokes the naked figures displayed round the gallery entrance
NUDGES
An insertion of G for the first letter of ‘gallery’ in NUDES.
23 Main area of study for an American army officer
MAJOR
Another dd. The ‘American’ bit is there because this usage is more common in American English than British English. ‘I majored in math.’
Very good Quiptic from Provis. Bravo.
A fair challenge I thought. Some of the definition are a little borderline, but nothing unacceptable, and should provide a good workout for beginners and improvers.
An enjoyable Quiptic. Much more fun than today’s main puzzle. BLUE was my LOI.
Good puzzle although not as easy as it first looked.
Thanks Provis & Pierre.
Thanks Pierre,
I really enjoyed this and obviously it’s meant to be on the easy side but that doesn’t detract
from the many excellent surfaces that deserve a bit of praise. Particular praise for EMINENT,
BLUE (also LOI), MUMBLED and ELABORATE. This is my first PROVIS puzzle and he/she’s definitely
up there with Hectence etal. Many thanks to Provis which sounds like a Latin word. I’m sure
somebody will correct me. Now who might that be !.
Rather liked this, OBLIGE took me a few seconds of pondering, I’ll admit that being aimed at the easier end I make things harder for myself than they need to be, looking for deviousness where none exists.
Thanks again Pierre and Provis for the entertainment.
As someone who is very much a beginner. I am extremely grateful to Provis for creating my first entirely solvable Quiptic; (I’ve lost count of the number with one or two words missing).
‘Blue’ was the last in, as I couldn’t parse it, and I’m now familiar with another meaning of ‘weather’.
Three of us worked together to fill the grid, myself and two complete beginners to Quiptic/Cryptic thinking. There was some excellent cluing to show them the basic rules/types of clue, which they were quick to grasp; and our different approaches to reading/solving the clues quickly filled the crossword.
I think this is your first comment, Nic; if so, welcome. The first time you finally get to the end of a cryptic crossword is always worth celebrating. And doing it with colleagues or friends is the best way to get going. Keep commenting!
Nice quiptic for a beginner like me. Thx Provis and thx Pierre.
The way I parsed 18d was not as a DD, but rather: Clear (Unmistakable) underneath (‘support for’ – being a down clue) all (everyone).
You are quite right, Hawko. That’s the way it’s meant to work, for sure.
Pierre,
Yes. First post, but I’ve been reading a while to parse the more ‘nonsensical’ clues.
This blog, and the Guardian’s crossword blog have been an invaluable source of Quiptic information.
Having been so successful with Provis’ Quiptic 752, four of us tried to tackle his debut grid, 745. It still contains 4 missing answers, predominantly top left, but we’ll get there.
Nic