I thought this was a super Quiptic from Pan. Clear and witty cluing; no obscurities; friendly grid. What more do you want on a Monday morning?
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Account given by cold, mistreated pet bear
ACCEPT
A charade of AC, C and (PET)*
4 Mother has fifty small offspring that suckle
MAMMALS
A charade of MAMMA, L for ‘fifty’ and S. MAMMALS are warm-blooded, give birth to live young and suckle them.
9 Abstaining from booze with Dr Young? It’s incredible
DRYING OUT
(DR YOUNG IT)*
10 Heads of research and development inveighing against old means of spreading the word
RADIO
The first letters of ‘research and development inveighing’, and O for ‘old’.
11 Time woman accepted reality?
TRUTH
A charade of T and RUTH.
12 Plant wine plant
HOLLYHOCK
A charade of HOLLY and HOCK.
13 Stage for Roy Orbison’s openers to play guitar
ROSTRUM
A charade of RO for the initials of ‘Roy Orbison’ and STRUM.
15 So-called diplomacy changed course
TACKED
A homophone of ‘tact’, with ‘so-called’ as the imaginative homophone indicator. Sailing reference.
17 Put in amount of phlegm
SPUTUM
I can’t really be doing with bodily fluids of a Monday morning, but it’s PUT in SUM. And I will forgive Pan, because it’s a really simple, but clever, clue.
19 Look closely at date of Debrett’s book?
PEERAGE
A charade of PEER and AGE gives you the inbred upper-classes’ guide to themselves.
22 After fish, go into chippy
CARPENTER
A charade of CARP and ENTER.
24 Previous rip-off associated with gold
PRIOR
A charade of (RIP)* and OR for the heraldic ‘gold’.
26 First of amorous lovers only now experiencing being single
ALONE
The first letters of ‘amorous lovers only now experiencing’.
27 I also tire when playing patience
SOLITAIRE
(I ALSO TIRE)* with ‘when playing’ as the anagrind. ‘Patience’ is another name for the card game SOLITAIRE.
28 Wild fellow claiming a number of discarded things for collection
SALVAGE
L for ‘fifty’ makes its second appearance this morning. This time it’s L for ‘fifty’ in SAVAGE.
29 A revolutionary appearing in court gains prestige
CACHET
An insertion of A CHE in CT.
Down
1 One hearing riot breaking out after Audrey’s cut in half
AUDITOR
A charade of AUD (half of ‘Audrey’) and (RIOT)*
2 Turn up in pursuit of shy animal
COYPU
A charade of COY and a reversal of ‘up’ for the mammal known in Dutch as a beverrat, ‘beaver rat’. Which is apt, because it’s a cousin of the true beaver. And a pest in many parts.
3 Suffragette traps hunk dancing
PANKHURST
There were lots of suffragettes, but Emily PANKHURST was the most famous. (TRAPS HUNK)*
4 Sailor‘s companion’s fate
MATELOT
A charade of MATE and LOT. You have to read the first apostrophe s as ‘is’ and the second as ‘has’. From the French.
5 Virgin maintaining resistance to wed
MARRY
An insertion of R in MARY, the most famous virgin to have walked the planet. Allegedly.
6 Radon made newly formed galaxy
ANDROMEDA
(RADON MADE)* It’s got a trillion stars in it, which is a lot.
7 Supplies with plants
STOCKS
A dd.
8 Obtained meat in Batman’s New York?
GOTHAM
Pan is suggesting that if you ‘obtained meat’ you would have GOT HAM. Also a village near Nottingham. I think the New York name came from the Nottinghamshire village. To do with madness, apparently.
14 Gorgeous bird seen at championship game in America
SUPER BOWL
I loved this. SUPERB OWL.
16 Pale actor playing old queen
CLEOPATRA
(PALE ACTOR)*
18 Rug is used by Home Counties painter
MATISSE
A charade of MAT IS SE. SE, for ‘South East’ is setter-speak for the ‘Home Counties’.
19 Where sailors are extremely likely to find stout
PORTLY
Well, sailors could be in PORT as well as at sea. A charade of PORT and LY for the outside letters of ‘likely’.
20 Serious attention given to home for brood
EARNEST
A charade of EAR and NEST. ‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears.’ And of course ‘Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song.’ And I’ll get by with a little help from my friends. Which Caesar clearly failed to do.
21 Fights for discarded bits of food
SCRAPS
A dd.
23 Irene manages to hold injected fluid
ENEMA
SPUTUM in the acrosses; ENEMA in the downs. Pan has got both ends of the alimentary canal covered this morning. Hidden in IrENE MAnages.
25 Flower given to husband from Dublin, perhaps
IRISH
A charade of IRIS and H.
A fine Quiptic from Pan. Thanks to him/her.
Your introduction says it all. Perfect for newcomers to cryptics and Monday morning sleepy old hands too!
Thanks to Pan and Pierre
Thanks Pan and Pierre
Great warm-up for the week. I loved SUPERB OWL and CARP ENTER
What crypticsue said.
Pierre, your remark about Gotham reminded me of the nursery rhyme, ‘Three wise men of Gotham’, which I looked up and found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_Men_of_Gotham, which is Quite Interesting.
Thanks Pan for a Quiptic that hits the intended mark.
Thanks Pierre for a SUPERB OWL. I also enjoyed the ‘pale actor playing old queen.’ 😉
I agree that this was a perfect Quiptic, and count me as another who smiled at the “superb owl”. The MAMMALS/STOCKS crossers were my last ones in.
Tiny complaint about 19d, echoing your comment, otherwise a very good Quiptic.
This also struck me as an excellent Quiptic, so thanks to Pan, and to Pierre for his blog, witty as usual. I do not think that 19D PORTLY merits even a quibble: if you want to find a sailor, you would do better to head for a port than setting out to sea (whether in a bowl or not).
Thanks Pierre,
I can only echo what other commenters have said and say that this was a perfect Quiptic.
I was greatly amused by superb owl and there were some lovely surfaces here, my favourite
being ‘After fish, go into chippy’. Great stuff. Ten out of ten to Pan.
Thanks to Pan and Pierre
Every year I have a chuckle at the Superb Owl/Superbowl puns that come out just before the big game. Lovely to see it clued.
All fine for me except 28a which played very hard to get.
Re: 19d, I chalked up an extra half-point for Pan since the sailor, when at sea, can also sometimes be found on the port side of the ship. 🙂
Just a pernickety schoolmaster’s comment concerning your comment on 20 d:
Caesar was already dead when Mark Antony invited the Romans to lend him their ears.
As a foreigner I am very pleased there are Quiptic and Everyman puzzles. The regular ones have too many internal cross references for my liking these days. Thanking all the fifteen-squared band –
from Germany