(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) This was a nicely Quiptic-level puzzle. Thanks to Hectence. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Cut-price outlet ignores rent (8,5)
DISCOUNT STORE : DISCOUNTS(ignores;disregards as being, say, irrelevant or untrustworthy) + TORE(rent;having made a split;a tear).
10 A French aircraft bearing north to Germany’s not scheduled (9)
UNPLANNED : UN(French for “a”) + PLANE(an aircraft) containing(bearing) N(abbrev. for “north”) plus(to) D(International Vehicle Registration code for Germany).
11 Oxford college principal’s male, reportedly (5)
KEBLE : Homophone of(…, reportedly) “key”(principal;of great importance) + “Burl”(a masculine first name).
12 Soldiers having bad time when retreating (5)
TROOP : Reversal of(… when retreating) [POOR(bad;not up to scratch) + T(abbrev. for “tie”)].
13 Endlessly regret island people’s downfall (9)
RUINATION : “rue”(to regret)minus its last letter(Endlessly …) + I(abbrev. for “island”) + NATION(a people under a single government).
14 The first student caught with weed? (7)
THISTLE : THE containing(… caught) [ IST(1st, with a Roman numeral substitution) + L(plate displayed by a student driver) ].
16 Holby City, for one, is disappointing after media hype (4-3)
SPIN-OFF : OFF(disappointing;below a satisfactory or expected level) placed after(after) SPIN(media hype;news or information presented in a way that creates a favourable information).
Answer: An example of which;for one, is “Holby City”, the series after “Casualty”, a medical drama TV series.
18 Study book added line on forehead! (7)
EYEBROW : EYE(to study;to look at or watch closely) + B(abbrev. for “book”) plus(added) ROW(a line of items).
20 Soldiers, with ten redeployed, about turn and go in again (2-5)
RE-ENTER : RE(abbrev. for “Royal Engineers”, the engineering branch of the British military) plus(with) anagram of(… redeployed) + reversal of(… turn) RE(about;with reference to).
21 Husband with fourth cigar burning is so afflicted by bad breath (9)
HALITOSIS : H(abbrev. for “husband”) plus(with) the 4th letter of(fourth …) “cigar ” + LIT(burning;aflame) + anagram of(… afflicted) IS SO.
23 20%, if cutting foot, go to hospital (5)
FIFTH : IF contained in(cutting) FT(abbrev. for “foot”) plus(go to) H(abbrev. for “hospital”).
Defn: … as a fraction.
24 When retiring, doctor has a dance (5)
SAMBA : Reversal of(… retiring) AS(when;at the same time as, as in “close the door as you go”) + MB(abbrev. for a Bachelor of Medicine) plus(has) A.
25 Generally found at sea? (2,3,4)
IN THE MAIN : Double defn: 2nd: …, poetically.
26 Bet rider error injured hunting dog (6,7)
BORDER TERRIER : Anagram of(… injured) BET RIDER ERROR.
Down
2 Terribly impoverished, he’d leave and perform without a script (9)
IMPROVISE : Anagram of(Terribly) “impoverished ” minus(… leave) “he’d “.
3 Vice president supports large number on strike (5)
CLAMP : P(abbrev. for “president”) placed below(supports, in a down clue) [ C(Roman numeral for 100, a large number) placed above(on, in a down clue) LAM(to strike;to beat) ].
4 Worry peacekeeping organisation never works (7)
UNNERVE : UN(abbrev. for the United Nations Organistaion;peacekeepers) + anagram of(… works) NEVER.
5 Boy gets killed by bears (7)
TEDDIES : TED(a boy’s name) + DIES(gets killed).
Defn: …, of the stuffed toy kind.
6 Go for a walk and get lost? (4,1,4)
TAKE A HIKE! : Cryptic defn: The literal meaning of the imperative to “Get lost!”
7 Short chat with religious leader (5)
RABBI : “rabbit”(to chat, or even, chatter;to talk inconsequentially) minus its last letter(Short …).
8 Copper gets shot in the pursuit, having skipped the preliminaries (3,2,3,5)
CUT TO THE CHASE : CU(chemical symbol for the element, copper) plus(gets) TOT(a shot;a small amount of liquor) contained in(in) [THE CHASE(pursuit) ].
9 Old transport gets girl a long way with meagre gallon (5-8)
PENNY-FARTHING : PENNY(a girl’s name) + FAR(a long way away) plus(with) THIN(meagre;lean) + G(abbrev. for “gallon”).
15 Rising actor at RADA oddly used to tell fortunes (5,4)
TAROT CARD : Reversal of(Rising, in a down clue) ACTOR AT + the 1st and 3rd letters of(… oddly) “RADA “.
17 Having no partner for the evening’s uncool (3-2-4)
OUT-OF-DATE : OUT OF(having none) DATE(a partner for a social event).
19 Lighter from Western Isles approaching jetty (7)
WISPIER : WIS(abbrev. for the Western Isles Scotland, the Outer Hebrides), alternatively, W(abbrev. for “Western”) + IS(plural I, abbrev. for “isle”) plus(approaching) PIER(a jetty into the sea).
Defn: More insubstantial, say, of smoke or clouds.
20 Run out to watch gripping motor race with a prize for the winner (7)
ROSETTE : RO(abbrev. for “run out”, in cricket scores) + SEE(to watch) containing(gripping) TT(abbrev. for the Tourist Trophy motorcycle cases held annually in the Isle of Man).
22 Branch office opening in state of uncertainty (5)
LIMBO : LIMB(a main branch of a tree, something you might find yourself out on, figuratively) + the 1st letter of(… opening) “office “.
23 Fellow, putting energies into car, becomes more relaxed (5)
FREER : F(abbrev. for “felloe”) + [ EE(twice the abbrev. in physics for “energy”;energies) contained in(putting … into) RR(abbrev. for the luxury car, the Rolls Royce) ].
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Thanks Hectence and scchua
“Holby city” didn’t mean anything to me, so I failed on “SPIN OFF”.
I don’t believe that your parsing of KEBLE can be right, scchua – a very loose homophone of an obscure name to mean “male”? Surely not! (I can’t think of anything better, though.)
How about “bull” for “male” (cow)?
Very nice Quiptic – many thanks both.
As per muffin above I read KEBLE as a pun on key-bull.
muffin/JollySwagman, KEBLE was the last one I could (or not) parse. My initial thought was indeed “bull”, but I felt that that was a looser homophone than “Burl” was an obscure name (perhaps not so obscure, cf. Burl Ives). And there was no indication, such as, say, a question mark to indicate a loose homophone. But I won’t be surprised if I’m wrong about it.
I thought of “Burl Ives”, but couldn’t think of anyone else at all called “Burl”, so I think that does count as “obscure”!
As JS says KEY BULL is how I have heard “Keble” pronounced.
http://www.burljones.com/
That’s the only other “Burl” name on two Google pages!
KEY BILL perhaps?
Thanks all
I enjoyed this although Spin Off beat me and I couldn’t parse Keble.
A decent level Quiptic, IMHO, although I didn’t bother trying to parse KEBLE. No problem with SPIN-OFF even though I never watch Holby City. I knew it was a spin-off from another BBC series I never watch, although to be fair the wordplay was also a bit of a giveaway. The RUINATION/TEDDIES crossers were my last ones in.
… well a hundred years ago today ‘Burl’ peaked – it crashed to the ground in 1970. See chart at http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Burl.
Thanks Hectence and scchua
Enjoyed the crossword and the picture quiz. Liked CUT TO THE CHASE and ROSETTE
It would be interesting to hear some views from the target audience, but this seemed much closer to the right sort of level. There were still one or two fairly tricky things in there though for a beginner. But definitely closer.
Oh…and definitely “Key bull”.
Limeni, I don’t think last week’s Pan had more difficult constructions than Hectence’s puzzle.
For example, in 2d Hectence does the same thing as Pan was more or less, um, panned for.
Perhaps (but I am not sure) Hectence had the edge over her colleague in the transparency of the surfaces and in using more straightforward definitions.
Pan’s puzzle felt a bit more heavyweight despite not really being heavyweight for a Quiptic (in my opinion).
Yes, it’s not so easy to write the perfect Quiptic.
And, I repeat, whatever that is.
As a beginner, I found this more achievable than last week’s. But then I’m learning from each week’s difficulties.
I thought “bull” because it can be used for males other than just cattle e.g. elephants or moose. Admittedly I’ve never heard of the name (and got it from the definition anyway).
Hello
This crossword was my first ever from a British newspaper. I’m proud to say I completed it all except for 19 Down. Couldn’t for the life of me work that one out, still can’t! As for 11 Across (Keble), I simply looked up Oxford Colleges, or is that considered as cheating (I am Australian after all)? I’m still learning, so any suggestions on proper cryptic conduct will be welcomed!
Cheers and thanks for such a wonderful site.