A lovely surprise to find Orlando waiting for me this morning.
A Quiptic pitched at just the right level for beginners and those in a hurry, and featuring Orlando’s trademark elegance and style. A fair few anagrams, but in a Quiptic that may be no bad thing.
A delight the whole way through and a great start to the crossword week.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CRATERS | Features of the moon rock at first put in boxes (7) |
| An insertion (put in) of R (rock at first) in CRATES (boxes) | ||
| 5 | LEAVERS | Several changes for those who are departing (7) |
| An anagram (changes) of SEVERAL | ||
| 9 | EN ROUTE | On the way from France? (2,5) |
| EN ROUTE being French for ‘on the way’ | ||
| 10 | ON PAPER | In theory, propane explodes (2,5) |
| An anagram (explodes) of PROPANE | ||
| 11 | ROYAL BLUE | The colour of princely blood? (5,4) |
| A reference to ‘blue blood’ indicating noble birth | ||
| 12 | AGAIN | Once more making a profit (5) |
| A (a) GAIN (profit) | ||
| 13 | DODGE | Avoid this Kansas city (5) |
| A double definition. DODGE = avoid. DODGE = a city in Kansas | ||
| 15 | ROAD SENSE | Funny red nose, as required by motorist? (4,5) |
| An anagram (funny) of RED NOSE AS | ||
| 17 | SPECTATOR | One who watches actor step out (9) |
| An anagram (out) of ACTOR STEP | ||
| 19 | DIANA | Princess sheltered by guardian angel (5) |
| An answer hidden in (sheltered by) guarDIAN Angel | ||
| 22 | NOT ON | No weight is unacceptable (3,2) |
| NO (no) TON (weight) | ||
| 23 | JUST RIGHT | Lawful entitlement? Exactly! (4,5) |
| JUST (lawful) RIGHT (entitlement) | ||
| 25 | THERAPY | They must accept hip hop treatment (7) |
| An insertion (must accept) of RAP (hip hop) in THEY (they) | ||
| 26 | IMPRESS | One million papers cause admiration (7) |
| I (one) M (million) PRESS (papers) | ||
| 27 | MATISSE | Swirling sea mist depicted by French painter (7) |
| An anagram (swirling) of SEA MIST | ||
| 28 | GENESIS | First book for rock band (7) |
| Double definition. GENESIS = first book (of the Bible). GENESIS = rock band | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | CLEARED | King captured in December revolution is shown to be innocent (7) |
| An insertion (captured) of LEAR (king) in a reversal (revolution) of DEC (December) | ||
| 2 | ARRAYED | Dressed for a military operation, we hear (7) |
| A homophone (we hear) of A RAID (a military operation) | ||
| 3 | EQUAL | Peer must have some noble qualities (5) |
| An answer hidden in (some) noblE QUALities | ||
| 4 | SMELL A RAT | Suspect trickery as real malt’s blended (5,1,3) |
| An anagram (blended) of REAL MALTS | ||
| 5 | LOOSE | Wobbly toilet seat with half missing (5) |
| LOO (toilet) plus (with) SE (seat with half missing) | ||
| 6 | APPRAISED | Phone feature put up and sized up (9) |
| APP (phone feature) RAISED (put up) | ||
| 7 | EXPLAIN | Say why former partner’s not attractive (7) |
| EX (former partner) plus (‘s = has) PLAIN (not attractive) | ||
| 8 | STRANGE | Odd saint given scope (7) |
| ST (saint) plus (given) RANGE (scope) | ||
| 14 | ESTONIANS | Pupils at a public school, including small Europeans (9) |
| An insertion (including) of S (small) in ETONIANS (pupils at a public school) | ||
| 16 | ARRESTING | Remarkable policeman’s activity? (9) |
| A double definition. ARRESTING = remarkable. ARRESTING = policeman’s activity | ||
| 17 | SANCTUM | A holy place can and must reform (7) |
| An anagram (reform) of CAN and MUST | ||
| 18 | ENTREAT | Plead with English knight to get something nice (7) |
| E (English) N (knight) plus (to get) TREAT (something nice) | ||
| 20 | ALGIERS | Capone is scornful, we hear, in African port (7) |
| AL (Capone) plus a homophone (we hear) of JEERS (is scornful) | ||
| 21 | ARTISTS | Painters in dire straits? (7) |
| An anagram (dire) of STRAITS | ||
| 23 | JOYCE | Irish author finding happiness, having Catholic education, initially (5) |
| JOY (happiness) plus (having) C (Catholic) E (education initially) | ||
| 24 | RIPON | Grave letters about Yorkshire city (5) |
| RIP (grave letters) ON (about) | ||
Thanks, nms.
Agree, another excellent Quiptic from Orlando. Yes, plenty of anagrams, but the usual advice for those beginning with cryptics is to seek out the anagrams and start the grid fill with those to get some crossing letters. Some chestnuts, but as I keep saying, there will be somebody out there in the real world who’ll be seeing them for the first time.
Well done, Orlando – a perfect start to my cryptic week too.
Breezy without being a total write-in. Lovely to see such smooth surfaces such as 3d. Thanks nms and Orlando.
apologies for the double-such
Thanks both. This puzzle would be perfect for teaching new solvers.
I was thinking that DIANA as “princess” is getting a bit long in the tooth these days ( I don’t read the Daily Express) but then along comes Al Capone!
Great quiptic, perfect level for beginners (like me). Happy to see Orlando this morning!
Thank you Orlando and newmarketsausage.
A perfect Quiptic, great for beginners, and fun – JUST RIGHT.
Great to see you blogging nms-missing you on the Graun thread.
Orlando once again shows how a Quiptic should go.
I can only concur with the sentiments above. An excellent quiptic!
Thanks Orlando and nms
Perfect Quiptic. Do I get any extra credit for not being able to parse THERAPY?
Another little echo here – a beautifully judged Quiptic.
Thanks, Orlando and nms.
I think this was a perfect Quiptic
Thank you Orlando and nms