Pan has been setting Quiptic crosswords on Mondays ever since their introduction, six and a half years ago and this is his / her [after all this time, Pan’s identity still seems to be a mystery] fifth appearance in the Cryptic slot.
There is nothing at all wrong with this puzzle – we have sound cluing, in a variety of styles, along with elegant and witty surfaces [my favourites were 13ac and 3 and 8dn] – but I would have preferred something a bit more challenging to round off the week.
Thanks to Pan for the puzzle.
[Definitions are underlined in the clues.]
Across
5 Pluck wings of excellent chicken (6)
PULLET
PULL [pluck] + E[xcelle]T
6 Enjoy eating silver plant (6)
LOVAGE
LOVE [enjoy] round AG [silver]
9 Priest tucking into old important part of diet (6)
STAPLE
P [priest] in STALE [old]
10 Single about American with brightly coloured old bomber (5,3)
ENOLA GAY
Reversal [about] of LONE [single] + A [American] + GAY [brightly coloured]
11 Rocket with special propeller? (4)
SOAR
S [special] + OAR [propeller]
12 Side with niece, furious about resistance to part of divorce proceedings (6,4)
DECREE NISI
Anagram [furious] of SIDE + NIECE round R [resistance]
13 Saw leader of Keystone Cops coming back for dessert (7,4)
SPOTTED DICK
SPOTTED [SAW] + a reversal [coming back] of K[eystone] CID [cops]
18 Manual worker translated Mao sonnets (10)
STONEMASON
Anagram [translated] of MAO SONNETS]
21 Rabbit found in hospital kitchens (4)
TALK
Contained in hospiTAL Kitchens
22 Line edited in letter by politician cut short (8)
PEDIGREE
ED [edited] in PI [letter] + GREE[n] [politician cut short]
23 Drink claiming Australian with large belly (6)
PAUNCH
PUNCH [drink] round [claiming] A [Australian – unusual: we’ve already had A = American]
24 Colour of medicinal plant containing iodine (6)
SIENNA
SENNA [medicinal plant] round I [iodine]
25 Loud insect drowning a request for silence (6)
FLASHY
FLY [insect] round A SH [a request for silence]
Down
1 Upset apple cart, ignoring European rubbish (8)
CLAPTRAP
Anagram [upset] of APPL[e] CART, ignoring e [European]
2 Turned up to get on with last part of mythical story (6)
LEGEND
Reversal [turned up] of GEL [to get on] + END [last part]
3 Bolt in trouble, turned up nursing broken toes at end of race (2,2,4)
GO TO SEED
Reversal [turned up] of DOG [trouble] round an anagram [broken] of TOES + [rac]E
4 Round Table member finds cart carrying the heads of Guinevere and Arthur (6)
GAWAIN
G[uinevere] + A[rthur] + WAIN [cart] – ‘carrying’ to me suggests containment but I suppose it’s similar to the familiar ‘supporting’ meaning ‘after’ in a down clue
5 Beat Irishman to get short part in play (6)
PATROL
PAT [Irishman] + ROL[e] [short part in play]
7 Pass gargoyle’s bottom left on part of church (6)
ELAPSE
[gargoyl]E + L [left] + APSE [part of church]
8 Naughty Peter cheats to become classroom’s blue-eyed boy (8,3)
TEACHER’S PET
Anagram [naughty] of PETER CHEATS
14 Soldier briefly sheltering in shade of tree (8)
TAMARIND
MARIN[e] [soldier briefly[ in TAD [shade]
15 Put out to be taken in by damn pickpocket (8)
CUTPURSE
Anagram [out] of PUT in CURSE [damn]
16 Highlight small lock (6)
STRESS
S [small[ TRESS [lock]
17 Brave pull by youth leader (6)
PLUCKY
PLUCK [pull] + Y[outh] – I can’t decide whether this repetition of pluck / pull [see 5ac] is an unfortunate oversight or a deliberate device
19 Secured lead in new organisation (6)
NAILED
Anagram [new organisation] of LEAD IN
20 Mate captured by crew coming back for incendiary fuel (6)
NAPALM
PAL [mate] in a reversal [coming back] of MAN [crew]
Hey, I’m first (maybe)! Fairly easy compared to most recent puzzles. Favourites were PEDIGREE, FLASHY and SPOTTED DICK. But was surprised by double mention of pluck = pull in 1a and 17d. Many thanks to Pan and Eileen.
Er . . . see I’ve repeated what Eileen said about pluck and pull. I also wondered whether it was intentional.
An ok puzzle but too many similar clue styles i thought. Then one impossible answer at 10a. Had to give up on that one.
In the silver-hearted herb-garden of the crossworder, is LOVAGE the opposite of BORAGE?
A fairly clued and enjoyable puzzle. My only quibble was Pedigree, which I couldn’t parse. Thank you, Eileen, for the break down but I’m not a fan of clues where the solution can only be parsed after the answer has been found from the def/crossers – I like to be able to build up from the wordplay.
Didn’t spoil my fun though, so thank you Pan!
Thank you, Eileen.
I confess not enjoying (and saying so) this setters first few efforts, but I have to say this is an improvement.
Still some way to go IMHO to find more interesting tricks to obscure his/her defs, but definitely a move in the right direction.
(Ye Gods, I sound like a schoolteacher, heaven forbid.)
Failed to parse the gel = ‘get on with’ part of the LEGEND clue but otherwise all a bit straightforward.
Thank you, Pan, nice weekend, all.
Grant Baynham @4 Ha-ha! Nice one.
Also above should have been setter’s, apologies.
10 across: Enola Gay was the name of the plane which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Re 10a; Enola Gay was also a top ten UK ‘single’ for a group called Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) in 1980, (lyrics told of the eponymous bomber and it’s crew on their flight to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945) thus providing an excellent alternative surface to the clue.
Thanks, Elipse @9 – I missed that, although I remember the single.
A surprising end to the week, though in the end fairly straightforward. I did though enjoy being so mis-directed at 21a that I actually googled tal-k to see if it was a type of rabbit.
Thank you Pan and Eileen
I failed to solve 11a SOAR and I could not parse 3d GO TO SEED – I did not know that usage of BOLT.
CUTPURSE was a new word for me.
I liked TAMARIND.
Thanks Eileen and Pan
Nothing wrong with this puzzle, but definitely quiptic level which is disappointing on a Friday, particularly following Picaroon’s masterpiece. As I have said before, I would like to see more consistency in which days the easier puzzles appear, otherwise the less experienced solvers will probably never find the puzzles that suit them. Rather too many insert single letter in synonym clues for my liking.
Thanks to Pan and Eileen
22 across beat me. Thanks Pan
Thank you to Pan and Eileen.
I recalled ENOLA GAY 10a as the plane that bombed Hiroshima but had also forgotten the single by OMD, so thanks to Elipse@9 for that extra layer of meaning.
I also enjoyed “spotting” SPOTTED DICK at 13a, Eileen. That British dessert always makes me laugh when I recall seeing it advertised on a sign outside a cafe on Corfu as “Spoted Dik”.
Think I have seen TEACHER’S PET 8d clued similarly in another cryptic not so long ago?
Shall I take exception to the “A” for Australian (with large belly) in PAUNCH 23a? No that would be petty… My only objection is as you have remarked, Eileen, that “A” for both American and Australian in the one puzzle was weak clueing, IMHO.
Feel a bit sorry for Pan coming in the day after such an interesting grid by Picaroon yesterday.
Thank you Pan and Eileen.
‘NAM’ in the NAPALM clue was evocative, just chance I suppose, as was ENOLA GAY (the clue for this was terrific, I did not know about the ‘single’).
CUTPURSE was a new word for me, but I remember a friend arriving at Victoria Station finding only the handle of her bag on her arm after passing in the crush through the exit to the platform.
Thanks Pan and Eileen.
Fairly straightforward but I didn’t much like politician = GREEN. It could have been just about anything and I thought of GREE(r) at first.
I did like the clue for TAMARIND, with the different ‘shade’ of meaning.
A relatively easy solve for a Friday but enjoyable nonetheless. I’m way too young to have heard of the ENOLA GAY and I needed Mr Google’s assistance to lay my hands on it. CUTPURSE was also new to me but at least I was able to solve that one one on my own. Like michelle @12 I have never come across “bolt” used to mean GO TO SEED but maybe I’ve been reading the wrong books! Thanks to Pan and also Eileen, especially for her parsing of PEDIGREE.
lancsolver and Michelle, I think ‘bolt’ and GO TO SEED describe what lettuces, for example, often do if left too long in the ground, they suddenly shoot up from the centre with a stalk bearing flower buds.
thanks for that, Cookie @19. Maybe I need to start to grow a few lettuces if I want to become an expert solver!
The acts of cutting a purse and picking a pocket are both crimes and possibly practised by the same people, but they are not the same action. That one person may do two related activities doesn’t make them synonymous. Both poker and bridge are card games. Many people play both of them. But that does not make their names interchangeable.
Easy finish to a tough week. We look forward to a challenge tomorrow. Sorry to be a cross patch but all this nitpicking and carping at the inexactitudes of some of the clueing is spoiling this blog. Just enjoy the puzzles for what they are. Fun!
10 ac. ENOLA GAY:- The bomber’s commanding pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets, named the aircraft after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets (1893–1983), who was named after the title character of Ridenbaugh’s book – “Enola,or her fatal mistake”.
It’s worth reading this Wiki article, which includes some eerily prophetic passages ( I assume they actually appear in the book!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enola;_or,_Her_fatal_mistake
Thanks Pan and Eileen
But Derek Lazenby @21 one of definitions of cutpurse in Chambers is pickpocket.
Thanks to Pan and Eileen. I enjoyed an easy ride on Friday though I was slowed down by gel=get on in LEGEND and the parsing of PEDIGREE (my LOI). Re cutpurse, apparently the term originally did refer to the cutting away of a purse (when purses were worn, not carried – Hamlet refers to Claudius as “a cutpurse of the empire) but, perhaps as fashions changed, it came to be synonymous with pickpocket. Moll Cutpurse aka Mary Frith (1584-1659) was a notorious cross-dresser. An early Jacobean city comedy, The Roaring Girl, a fictional account of her exploits, has made its way into recent student anthologies.
Tenerife Miller @ 22 – Exactly my opinion as I simply like to appreciate the puzzles. I am continually impressed by the skill of the setters (some more than others, it’s true to say).
On the other hand, cruciverbalists are entitled to expect accuracy in cluing, and I suppose also accuracy in definitions.
Quite easy but I slipped up on LEGEND- couldn’t see the GEL bit! I liked SPOTTED DICK.
Thanks Pan.
Tenerife Miller @22 Not sure it’s fair to say “nitpicking and carping”. As a setter myself I often use these observations to hone the art and improve, while discarding anything unhelpful or unnecessarily picky. There have been plenty of recent examples of superb puzzles which attract virtually no criticisms except positive ones. Keep in mind that the folk who come here are crossword aficionados and are just keen to have it right.
Having said that, I totally agree with you that we should never forget that crosswords should be fun…and long may it continue.
Thanks both,
I enjoyed this. Some straightforward clues but also a few difficult ones. Pedigree, sienna and tamarind gave me trouble.
The ta of tamarind made me think of the territorial army and then I couldn’t parse the rest.
The Royal Marines are part of the navy. Does that mean they are not soldiers even tho they are ‘amphibious light infantry’?
Are beat and patrol synonyms? The former is a noun and the latter a verb when they have a related sense, ISTM.
Tyngewick @29
Beat and patrol can both be nouns: a policeman can be on patrol or on [his] beat.
Mike, but Chambers is notorious for getting it wrong. Do you actually know what the two types of criminal action are? They are physically very different.
Consider…..
Fred only plays bridge. Fred is a bridge player.
James only plays poker. James is a poker player.
Sid plays bridge and poker. Sid is both a poker player and bridge player.
Bert plays bridge. Is he therefore to be called a poker player?
so…..
Fred only steals purses by cutting their attachment(s). Fred is a cutpurse.
James only steals objects by dipping his fingers into pockets. James is a pickpocket.
Sid steals purses by cutting their attachment(s) and steals objects by dipping his fingers into pockets. Sid is both a cutpurse and a pickpocket.
Bert steals purses by cutting their attachment(s). Is he therefore to be called a pickpocket?
Of course, if you can find any justification of the definition from Chambers that is compatible with calling Fred and Sid by that which they clearly do not do, then the whole concept of meaningful descriptive names breaks down. Hence, I was a programmer, and by the Chambers logic I am also sheep shearer, even though I have never done the latter, just because some other bloke did both.
Derek
If Chambers is wrong then so are Collins and Oxford:
Collins: an archaic word for pickpocket
Oxford: archaic A pickpocket or thief
To be fair to Chambers, it does give two definitions, unlike Collins and Oxford:
Chambers: (historical)
1. A person who stole by slitting purses worn at the belt
2. A pickpocket
Derek
For further confirmation I decided to consult Brewer which has the following under cutpurse:
“An old word for a pickpocket. When purses were worn suspended from a girdle, thieves cut the strings by which the purse was attached. When purses came to be kept in pockets the cutpurse became a pickpocket”.
If you’re upset by A doing double duty for American and Australian then you could parse ENOLA GAY AS ONE + LA. I’m sure I’ve seen LA used for American in the recent past. Gentle stuff for a Friday but most welcome after a big night out!
The clue for CUTPURSE is fine since it is given as a synonym for pickpocket in the dictionaries, but, to me, Brewer’s entry cited by Gaufrid @33 supports Derek Lazenby’s argument, there still are cutpurses, see my entry @16.
Monday standard.
“3 Bolt in trouble, turned up nursing broken toes at end of race (2,2,4)
GO TO SEED
Reversal [turned up] of DOG [trouble] round an anagram [broken] of TOES + [rac]E”
I’ve read some bad clues in my time but this one is “High tennis shot over canal gates (8).”
Enola Gay was first in for me, as by one of those eerie coincidences the crossword gods come up with there was some old panel show on 4 extra as I sat down to do this; the answer to a question on the show was Enola Gay. I looked at 10 across and thought well then, there’s a thing.
Amalthaea@37. Reference to Usain Bolt in 3d?
Thanks all
Is Feb 10th. St.Pedants day?