Anto’s turn in the Quiptic slot this week.
I found this difficult, and ended up cheating on four of the clues: 15a REBUILD, 22a SALTED, 5d NO JUNK MAIL and 16d LISTENER.
That may be down to my deficiencies as a solver, but I think you can put several of the clues I did solve into the ‘quite difficult’ category. My feeling is that this was too hard a puzzle for a quiptic.
Anto treads quite a fine line between using some more unusual clue types and making his/her puzzles accessible to beginning solvers. Here he/she seems to be on the wrong side of that line.
There was still a lot to enjoy here, however, as I have come to expect from the Anto brand. I thought 6d GENOME was great.
| Across | ||
| 7 | LIFETIME | Type of guarantee you can’t pass on (8) |
| A cryptic definition | ||
| 9 | SMOKER | One curing lungs? Yes and (definitely) no (6) |
| A kind of double cum cryptic definition. A smoker cures things (possibly even lungs, although that’s a delicacy I haven’t yet encountered). But smokers aren’t curing their lungs; they’re damaging them | ||
| 10 | BLAH | Dull talk starts by lecturing about heraldry (4) |
| The first letters (starts) of by lecturing about heraldry | ||
| 11 | GIFT COUPON | Fit up goon caught forging voucher (4,6) |
| An anagram (forging) of FIT UP GOON C (caught) | ||
| 12 | LOW CUT | It’s revealing, as hooligan takes over facility (3,3) |
| LOUT (hooligan) containing (takes over) WC (facility) | ||
| 14 | STOCKIER | Squatter in store that is rented initially (8) |
| STOCK (store) IE (that is) R (rented initially) | ||
| 15 | REBUILD | Put back up and charged again at hearing (7) |
| I had to cheat on this. It’s a homophone (at hearing) of REBILLED (charged again) | ||
| 17 | AT LARGE | Mate tips off significant fugitive (2,5) |
| AT (MATE with the first and last letters deleted ‘tips off’) LARGE (significant) | ||
| 20 | IRISH SEA | A shire is unusual location for Douglas (5,3) |
| An anagram (unusual) of A SHIRE IS. I assume the Douglas here is the one on the Isle of Man | ||
| 22 | SALTED | It provides a seasonally crisp description when ready (6) |
| I cheated on this one too. It’s a cryptic definition referring to ready salted crisps, I think | ||
| 23 | OPEN SECRET | Respect one broadcasting what’s already well known (4,6) |
| An anagram (broadcasting) of RESPECT ONE | ||
| 24 | WELL | Spring double can be said to surprise (4) |
| I think this is a reference to the expression ‘Well well’. Two wells = spring double. You might say ‘well well’ if you were surprised by something | ||
| 25 | CRUSOE | Conservative philosopher sounds like he was isolated (6) |
| C (conservative) and a homophone (sounds like) of ROUSSSEAU (philosopher) | ||
| 26 | TRAINING | Lagging behind, learner turns to north for instruction (8) |
| TRAILING (lagging behind) with the L (learner) changing (turns to) N (north) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DIAL TONE | Flexible on detail needed to make calls … (4,4) |
| An anagram (flexible) of ON DETAIL | ||
| 2 | MESH | … essential to game show for network (4) |
| An answer hidden in (essential to) gaME SHow | ||
| 3 | WIDGET | Device providing broad with good time (6) |
| An insertion (providing … with) of G (good) into WIDE (broad) plus T (time) | ||
| 4 | PSYCH OUT | Intimidate dodgy spy with subtle touch (5,3) |
| An anagram (dodgy) of SPY followed by (with) another anagram (subtle) of TOUCH | ||
| 5 | NO JUNK MAIL | Notices unwelcome sign (2,4,4) |
| Another cheat. A cryptic definition which seems to rely on junk mail being considered to be notices. That’s my excuse for not getting it anyway 🙂 | ||
| 6 | GENOME | It makes you an ugly little man when injecting drug (6) |
| An insertion (when injecting) of E (drug) into GNOME (an ugly little man) | ||
| 8 | ELFISH | Fantasy language may support second word for greedy (6) |
| I always thought the language was Elvish but Collins has both. If you put ELFISH below S (second) so that it is ‘supporting’ it (holding it up) you get a word for greedy | ||
| 13 | CLUMSINESS | Ineptitude shown since slums demolished (10) |
| An anagram (demolished) of SINCE SLUMS | ||
| 16 | LISTENER | Singular audience for an extra difficult crossword (8) |
| Another cheat. For those who may not know, the Listener is a famously difficult crossword, nowadays published in the Times on Saturday. Just one listener would constitute a singular audience | ||
| 18 | GREMLINS | Men and girls make up the cause of mechanical problems (8) |
| An anagram (make up) of MEN and GIRLS | ||
| 19 | LAB RAT | Fat fool starts failing test subject (3,3) |
| It took me a while to see the parsing here. It’s FLAB (fat) and PRAT (fool), both with their first letters deleted (starts failing). LAB RAT is not in Collins, Oxford or Chambers as far as I can see | ||
| 21 | REPORT | Losing oxygen, soldier returns to tell the tale (6) |
| A reversal (returns) of TROOPER (soldier) minus (losing) O (oxygen) | ||
| 22 | SATNAV | Santa set off before five; it keeps him on track (6) |
| An anagram (set off) of SANTA followed by (before) V (five in Roman numerals) | ||
| 24 | WONK | One obsessed by subject that captured king (4) |
| WON (captured) K (king). I’m not sure how we are intended to read the ‘that’ here | ||
Thanks nms. Anto back to his/her worst. I got LISTENER but thought it far to obscure for a Quiptic. Like you, I had to cheat on a few. 5d particularly nasty.
Thanks Anto and nms
Definitely not a Quiptic; this came at the hard end of the scale for a daily puzzle. I got a bit fed up with it and cheated a few too – SMOKER, SALTED and DIAL TONE as I recall. The clue for LAB RAT was particualarly inappropriate for a Quiptic, I thought. GENOME was my favourite.
It seems a little silly to quibble over an invented language, but………..although ELFISH can mean “like an elf”, the language is surely always ELVISH?
The language Tolkien invented (among others) was certainly Elvish not elfish.
Quite good in parts and definitely not fit for a Quiptic slot.22a is very esoteric even though it sort of works.Never heard of 24d although the wordplay was OK.
I think he was aiming to chalk a couple up-something that is not really intended by the top setters who want you to get there but the runaround some of the clues involve make the punch line even funnier
I echo the other commenters – far too tricky. Maybe the editor could give Anto a go on the cryptics because some of these clues are actually quite interestingly constructed – but just at too advanced a level for quiptic.
In my case I had the added disadvantage of not being British (IRISH SEA, LISTENER).
As a beginner/improver I found this hard. Only managed 4 on the first couple of passes (I can get around 20 on a good day). Persevered to get 17, then decided to refer to this blog.
minty, as a (slightly advanced) improver, let me tell you that I found this hard as well. Like the blogger and other commenters I had to give up and cheat, which is not really what the Quiptic is about. ELFISH? What Conrad said. LISTENER? Too much inside knowledge required. SMOKER? Very clever and all that, but not here. NO JUNK MAIL? Beyond me. I’ll stop there.
There have been so many negative comments about Anto’s Quiptics since he/she started last year that it’s perhaps time that the editor took a decision about this setter’s future. And I really don’t mean that in a malicious way. I love the Quiptic and think it’s a great invention but for Anto to come here and read so much negative stuff month after month can’t be fun.
Thank you to S&B.
A lot of new clueisms rubbishy. Was that 13d?
Thanks for explaining CRUSOE, LAB RAT and REPORT- I can only echo what others have said: too tricky for the Quiptic slot, and I’d like to see Anto have a go at a proper Cryptic (although if this is what Anto thinks is an easy one for beginners, maybe I wouldn’t like a full-strength one AT ALL). I could see that 5d had to be something like Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted, but still ended up having to cheat it.
Laughed aloud at several, especially 6d and 25a. A few tricky clues — I got 19d but couldn’t parse it (which is why I came here — thanks, newmarketsausage!) — but overall a great wee crossword. I like Anto’s style and cluing inventiveness, and see nothing wrong with the Quiptic being a bit stiffer when the Cryptic is a Rufus.
realthog @10
……but it’s supposed to be a “Quiptic” (and Rufus sets at least 3/4 of Monday Cryptics). What you are suggesting (not necessarily a bad idea) is that the Rufus should be the Quiptic.
(If you look back at Quiptic blogs, you will find “harder than the Rufus” mentioned in quite a lot of them.)
muffin @11
What you are suggesting (not necessarily a bad idea) is that the Rufus should be the Quiptic.
That’s generally the way I regard them when Rufus is doing the Cryptic. And it’s why I usually let out a little yip of joy when I see that it’s Anto who’s done the Quiptic, because his Quiptics tend to be tougher than most. (Although this one, despite 19d, was I thought easier than yer average Anto.)
This is totally selfish of me, I know. On the other hand, as you imply, the “beginners” specified in the Quiptic’s definition can always turn to the Rufus instead.
And that’s the argument against having a Quiptic at all.
Rufus was always the easy one for the week, and we’ve heard all about his ‘brief’ enough times, whilst TWThF have always been harder, generally speaking. You cut your teeth, the story goes, on Rufuses, and tackle the tougher stuff when you feel ready.
Right now, Quiptics are regularly harder than their Cryptic counterparts, if only through impenetrability of style (for which read ‘appalling technique’). Some Quipticians would do well to study Rufus for a while, and learn how to write clues properly.
Paul B @13
impenetrability of style
Obviously not impenetrable to some. I think it’s a matter of different solvers relishing different compiling styles.
I’d have to point out the obvious here, which is that over a span of several crosswords now, solvers (at least the ones that post here) don’t seem to be relishing Anto’s compiling style all that much.
The ‘impenetrable style’ thing (for which read something else) was secondary to my general point about the Quiptic, as you might have seen.
@15 Paul B
over a span of several crosswords now, solvers (at least the ones that post here) don’t seem to be relishing Anto’s compiling style all that much
Absolutely — I’m very aware of that. But others — and I’m not the only one — seem to enjoy them. I can remember, back in the late 1960s, having friends who disliked the newfangled stuff this guy called Araucaria was doing. They were in the minority, but it wasn’t an insignificant minority.
What I’m trying to point out is that, while it’s obviously your freedom not to enjoy Anto’s crosswords, you’re perhaps going a bit too far when you say that this means they’re bad.
I like very few operas. Does this mean opera is rubbish? Well, no. Similarly, even though I don’t get much fun out of a Rufus or an Everyman, that doesn’t mean the crosswords are bad: they’re just not for me.
Late to the party as I didn’t get around to looking at this until very late last night, hoping for a relaxing few minutes before going to bed, and quickly realised that wasn’t going to happen. I struggled to finish it this morning, though I did still enjoy it, but I agree with the majority view here that it was far too difficult for a Quiptic.
I can see realthog’s argument @12 that with the main Monday Cryptic apparently being intentionally easier, there are advantages to having a tougher crossword to balance it, but that’s not fair to people who come to it from a web page which claims it is suitable “for beginners and those in a hurry”. Perhaps instead the web page should point them to the Monday Cryptic and say that the web-only Monday offer is a tough one for those who want something more challenging.
Unless that change is made, the Guardian should choose setters capable of adjusting to the brief. By all means give new ones a reasonable trial (the new-ish Everyman took a while to find the right level), but if they keep producing puzzles which the consensus says are quite good but far too hard for the slot, move them to the regular Cryptics.
Well realthog, you are, I think you’ll probably have to admit, indeed in a minority in enjoyng this compiler’s output. But no-one is saying you shouldn’t. Go on there, fill your little booties. And if Anto becomes the new Araucaria I’ll eat my hat.
Because in Araucaria puzzles we found a more or less visionary understanding of cryptic grammar. Whilst on rare occasions it could be shown that he had perhaps dropped a clanger, and on contentious points more generally we were left unsure as to exactly what sin had been committed, his work unfailingly brought joy I am sure we can say.
This is not so far been the case with Anto, and although you castigate me for saying that his puzzles are bad that’s not what I actually said. I remarked on his poor technique, and how it leads to solving becoming much harder than it ought to be, especially in a Quiptic (this is also a problem with daily Guardian cryptic compilers, especially the self-consciously flash ones, so at least Anto isn’t alone).
In closing, I note that we hear from another contributor all about an alternative appreciation of crosswording grammar by a person of whom no-one here had previously heard anything, a Mr Barnard. His work, it is claimed, can absolve, vindicate, exonerate etc these ostensibly ham-fisted fellows. But, unfortunately, the claims have been backed on each occasion by zero analysis. I must admit I do look forward to the day when such analysis is provided, in addition to the sound and fury (which is always funny) normally profferred.
I shall have to join realthog in declaring my appreciation of Anto’s style, and my enjoyment of his puzzles. He has a very engaging talent.
The problem with this puzzle, as with some of his previous ones, is that it is too difficult for the Quiptic slot. The challenge for Anto, and it’s quite a difficult one, I think, is to somehow maintain the essential elements of his style while at the same time creating puzzles that are accessible to beginning solvers.
If he can do this a little more consistently, he will be a great addition to the Quiptic team. I for one look forward to his puzzles, and to seeing how he approaches things.
I wonder if English is Anto’s first language?
It’s great that The Guardian’s crossword should be so inclusive, but, but, but. The way things are put together in the Anto puzzles, as others have said, makes for an extremely difficult solve.
Thanks
Alex.