A fine Quiptic from Moley. Just right for engaging brain 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 Comfort old king holding disabled son
CONSOLE
Old King COLE is holding (SON)*
5 One vehicle journalist cursed
ABUSED
A charade of A BUS and ED. Not sure that ABUSED and ‘cursed’ are synonyms.
9 Time-saver for curt host, perhaps
SHORT CUT
(CURT HOST)*
10 Untidy person’s neck
SCRUFF
A dd.
12 Fresh talcum powder for top sportspeople
WORLD CUP TEAM
(TALCUM POWDER)*
15 Great model’s about to get well, ring America!
TREMENDOUS
A multi-part charade: T for ‘model’ Ford; RE for ‘about’; MEND for ‘get well’; O for ‘ring’; and US for ‘America’.
17 Wobbly, fat rear
AFT
(FAT)* with ‘wobbly’ as the anagrind. ‘An arse like a bag of brussel sprouts’, as they say in these parts.
19 Worker wanting a bit
ANT
Hidden in wANTing.
20 Bell steers suspect to popular book
BEST SELLER
(BELL STEERS)*
22 More than enough effort is a strain
OVEREXERTION
A charade of OVER and EXERTION.
26 Good English car for one born in May or June
GEMINI
A charade of G, E and MINI for late spring/early summer babies.
27 Last month’s publicity for hospital department in a state of decline
DECADENT
A charade of DEC, AD and ENT for Ear Nose and Throat, the setters’ fave ‘hospital department’.
28 Sibling’s boy’s relationship
NEPHEW
A kind of cd, I guess. If your sibling has a boy, it’s your NEPHEW.
29 See and hear agreement to dance
EYEBALL
A homophone of AYE for ‘agreement’ and BALL for ‘dance’.
Down
1 Bread dough
CASH
A dd.
2 On return, approve of cubbyhole
NOOK
A reversal of ON and OK. Best friends with CRANNY.
3 Surpassed with cunning design of tuxedo
OUTFOXED
(OF TUXEDO)*
4 Equably, by going out, remaining level
EQUAL
EQUA[B]L[Y]
6 British spice ground with muscles
BICEPS
A charade of B and (SPICE)* It’s both the singular and plural, confusingly.
7 Compressible object inviting a hug?
SQUEEZABLE
A cd cum dd.
8 Insulting famed, reformed, single politician
DEFAMATORY
A charade of (FAMED)* and A TORY.
11 Nothing about religious sect is mysterious
OCCULT
A charade of O, C for circa or ‘about’ and CULT.
13 Fresh tea’s served to Mr Freeman, an old music producer
STEAM ORGAN
A charade of (TEAS)* and MORGAN for the actor MORGAN FREEMAN. He’s done lots of good stuff, but I particularly like The Shawshank Redemption.
14 Elements’ chart made Martha weep, sadly
WEATHER MAP
(MARTHA WEEP)*
16 Maybe, see inside lid lifted for fuel
DIESEL
An insertion of (SEE)* inside LID reversed.
18 A dud notice on energy drink
LEMONADE
A charade of LEMON, AD and E.
21 Group, hoping to raise their spirits, look around one new club, initially
SEANCE
An insertion of A, N and C in SEE. I was at a seance the other night. We were all holding hands round the table when the medium started laughing hysterically, so I punched her. I always like to strike a happy medium.
23 An article on Home Counties for the ones here
THESE
A charade of THE and SE for setterspeak for the ‘Home Counties’.
24 Gamble on one that comes second
BETA
A charade of BET and A for the second letter of the Greek alphabet.
25 The others in a funny tale
ET AL
(TALE)*
Many thanks to Moley. I was going to say that it was a pangram, but there’s no J. Oh, and it’s my 300th blog, which is
quite scary. Some colleagues have done many more, but it only seems like five minutes ago that I put my hand up to say that I would have a crack at this blogging malarkey.
Thanks, Pierre – and congratulations! 🙂
I really liked the anagrams of WORLD CUP TEAM and WEATHER MAP – great spots – but I’m not really convinced by 7dn.
Apart from that, just right for a Quiptic. Thanks, Moley.
Thanks Moley and Pierre
Pretty good – I agree with Eileen about the nice anagrams.
A couple of odd ones, though – 1d isn’t a double definition; it’s the same slang definition twice; and OUTFOXED doesn’t really mean “surpassed”. There seems to be some duplication of meaning in 22a (OVEREXERTION) too.
Thanks Pierre and Moley. I agree with all the positive comments above.
Bu I was momentarily wrong footed by 15a. Seeing ‘model’s about’ I first thought ‘stup’ was going to lead to stupendous, but there was no justification for the ‘end’.
Probably nobody else went down this path though, so I’ll just find a darkened room for a lie down.
Thanks Moley, and thanks and congratulations Pierre for your 300th blog!
This was just right for the Quiptic slot and most enjoyable. STEAM ORGAN confused me, I first went looking for something like Boosey & Hawkes, and I was another like Conrad @3 who first considered STUPENDOUS for 15a.
Thanks Moley, and well done Pierre! I enjoy the rubbish jokes as much as I do the crossword, and where would we be without our regular supply of bird pictures?
muffin @2, the definition for 3d should be “surpassed with cunning”, which I quite like. I agree with you about the other two though.
Cyborg @5
Yes – “surpassed with cunning” is much better.
Thank you, Cyborg. Unlimited supply of rubbish jokes, but it’s ages since I have had the chance to give you a bird picture. Setters take note, please.
Congratulations, Pierre!
An enjoyable puzzle, with just some minor quibbles as mentioned above. However, I think “abused” and cursed” are close enough, if you think of “abused” as “verbally abused”.
Thanks to Moley and Pierre.
“Outfoxed” reminded me of this exchange from “Blackadder goes forth”:
Private Baldrick: I have a plan, sir.
Captain Blackadder: Really, Baldrick? A cunning and subtle one?
Private Baldrick: Yes, sir.
Captain Blackadder: As cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?
Private Baldrick: Yes, sir.
Captain Blackadder: Well, I’m afraid it’ll have to wait. Whatever it was, I’m sure it was better than my plan to get out of this by pretending to be mad. I mean, who would have noticed another madman round here?
Captain Blackadder: [whistle blows] Good luck, everyone.
My best friend Peter (who knows nothing about crosswords) was actually at the York S&B last month together with his new partner Karen (who did Telegraph puzzles in her previous life).
Although being low profile that day, they enjoyed the event very much.
As a result, they would like to take up solving crosswords (in Karen’s case, again).
I promised to help them on the way ‘up’.
This Moley crossword was, I think, ideal for the most part.
7d’s SQUEEZABLE was my last entry and would be one of their failures, I fear.
In my opinion, Orlando’s Quiptics are the best around.
Therefore, I would suggest P&K to start there but Moley did a really good job too!!
(Almost) a Quiptic as a Quiptic should be.