Now this is a coincidence: I blogged Arachne’s last (then) Quiptic (691), before she retired … from the Quiptic at least. Over four years later, I’m delighted to blog her first comeback Quiptic. Enjoyable crossword with good surfaces, as usual. Thanks Arachne; nice to have you back. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 City’s first game is rubbish (6)
CRUMMY : The 1st letter of(…’s first) “City” + RUMMY(a card game).
4 Am I allowed to kick stuffing out of nice dog? (6)
CANINE : [CAN I?](Am I allowed to?] + “nice” minus its inner letters(kick stuffing out of …).
9 Nicholas I advanced across land mass (4)
ASIA : Hidden in(… across) “Nicholas I advanced“.
10 Indifferent sappers have no desire to go first (10)
LACKLUSTRE : RE(abbrev. for the Royal Engineers in the British military, soldiers who are nicknamed “sappers”) placed after(… to go first) [ LACK(have no) LUST(a desire;a hunger for) ].
11 Company holding ace function in a better place (6)
CASINO : CO(abbrev. for “Company”, a commercial concern) containing(holding) [ A(abbrev. for “ace” in card games) + SIN(abbrev. for “sine”, the mathematical function;ratio) ].
Defn: A place for betters;gamblers.
12 Former lover of model dancing round unfinished apartment (3,5)
OLD FLAME : Anagram of(… dancing) MODEL containing(round) “flat”(a residential apartment) minus its last letter(unfinished …).
13 Arachne conforms after 31 days in wedlock (9)
MARITALLY : [ I TALLY](I;self-referential pronoun for Arachne, the setter + conforms to;agrees with) placed after(after) MAR(abbrev. for March, a 31-day month).
15 Hamsters, perhaps, pace about (4)
PETS : Reversal of(… about) STEP(a pace;a single movement of the legs when walking or running).
Defn: Hamsters are an example;perhaps.
16 Slug, one of a pair (4)
SOCK : Double defn: 1st: A hard blow; and 2nd: Footwear that come in pairs.
17 Act like an idiot, due to crack and ecstasy (9)
BEATITUDE : [BE AT IT](engaged in some activity, especially a reprehensible;idiotic? one – surely not when the “it” is sex? – like rabbits perhaps, but not like an idiot) + anagram of(… to crack) DUE. But do agree that crack and ecstasy can make you act like an idiot.
Edit: Not quite above. See minty@1: BE A TIT(act like an idiot).
21 Charming me, acting badly (8)
MAGNETIC : Anagram of(… badly) ME, ACTING.
22 Wings of iconic aviator, American legendary flyer (6)
ICARUS : The 1st and the last letters, respectively, of(Wings of i) “iconic aviator” + US(abbrev. for things American).
Defn: … in Greek mythology who fell to earth.
24 Muscular contractors in pub stopping cisterns juddering (10)
SPHINCTERS : PH(abbrev. for “public house”, a pub) contained in(stopping) anagram of(… juddering) CISTERNS.
25 “Wealth” is Googled on a regular basis (4)
GOLD : The 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th letters of(… on a regular basis) “Googled“.
26 Modest tsar removing clothes in Black Sea port (6)
ODESSA : “Modest tsar” minus the 1st and last letters, respectively(removing clothes;stripping off the external covering).
27 Catching seal in small pen? (6)
CYGNET : Homophone of(Catching, aurally) “signet”(a seal;an embossed emblem used as evidence of authenticity).
Answer: A young;small swan that could;? grow into a pen;a female swan.
Down
1 Staple food of Africa’s savanna (7)
CASSAVA : Hidden in(of) “Africa’s savanna“.
to this:
2 Savoury taste starts to upset me and my intestines (5)
UMAMI : The 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “upset me and my intestines“.
Answer: A strong meaty taste as of glutamates and salts of other amino acids, especially monosodium glutamate, MSG, first manufactured by the Japanese, and subsequently responsible for Chinese restaurant syndrome.
3 State of bantam’s bottom, incubating elderly eggs (7)
MOLDOVA : The last letter of(…’s bottom, in a down clue) “bantam” placed above(in a down clue, incubating;like a bantam sitting over its eggs) OLD(elderly) OVA(eggs;female reproductive cells).
5 Reference article on retired English pedestrian (6)
ALLUDE : A(an article in grammar) placed above(on) reversal of(retired) [E(abbrev. for “English”) + DULL(pedestrian;unexciting) ].
Defn: …, as a verb.
6 What you do in pub, close to despondent bankrupt (9)
INSOLVENT : SOLVE(what you;2nd person pronoun used by setter to refer to her puzzle’s solvers, do) contained in(in) INN(a pub) + the last letter of(close to) “despondent“.
7 Farage et al take legal action, upset over caper (4-3)
EURO-MPS : Reversal of(…, upset) SUE(to take legal action against someone) containing(over) ROMP(a spell of lively activity, or sex, if you like;a caper).
Defn: …, Nigel and others, but not for long.
8 Mistress perhaps toying with her chocolates (13)
SCHOOLTEACHER : Anagram of(toying with) HER CHOCOLATES.
Defn: Mistress, and master, are examples;perhaps.
14 Van Gogh heading off, given peeled carrot (9)
INCENTIVE : “Vincent”(van Gogh) minus its 1st letter(heading off) + “given” minus its 1st and last letters(peeled).
Defn: …, a positive inducement, as opposed to the stick.
16 Quiet morning with dirt and clean mop (7)
SHAMPOO : SH!(quiet!;an imperative to be silent) + AM(abbrev. for “ante meridiem”, denoting the hours before noontime) plus(with) POO(excrement;dirt, as in “dog dirt”, euphemisms for “shit”).
Defn: To clean;wash a thick mass of untidy har;mop.
18 Damien enters outskirts of Torquay in need of a drink (7)
THIRSTY : HIRST(Damien, British artist) contained in(enters) the1st and last letters(outskirts of) “Torquay“.
19 Suspicion over the French pair (7)
DOUBLET : DOUBT(suspicion;cautious distrust) containing(over) LE(“the” in French).
Defn: … of similar things.
20 Piles of small nails (6)
STACKS : S(abbrev. for “small”) + TACKS(small broad-headed nails, eg. thumbtacks aka drawing pins)
23 Gas in technical language, ignored at first (5)
ARGON : “jargon”(technical, specialised language) minus its 1st letter(ignored at first).
17A is “Act like an idiot” = BE A TIT
Unfortunately for me that was the only one I didn’t get
Thanks scchua and Arachne
tit poo sphincters? Blimey
Thanks both. Quite tricky but very fair.
Interested to read your experience of using crack and ecstasy, Scchua!
Immaculate construction.
Thanks minty. That settles any doubts I had. Doh!
Thanks Arachne and scchua
Lovely crossword, with lots of smiles – 10, 11, 24, 27 A; 1, 6, 8, and 14 D, for instance. Not quite so happy with “wealth” = GOLD, though.
It’s not a Quiptic, of course!
Thanks scchua, I found this to be a tough Quiptic, quite a bit harder in fact than Rufus. INCENTIVE and MOLDOVA both caused me to nibble the end of my pen longer than usual. CYGNET was my last in and my only one unparsed. I’d never before seen signet, and don’t know how either word is pronounced – is the i/y vowel sound short or long?
matrixmania @7
CYGNET and SIGNET are pronounced exactly the same, with a short “i”
I also was unsure about 17a and thought it might be BE AT IT + DUE* but BE A TIT is much better!
I could not parse 27a as I did not pick up that it was a homophone.
My favourites were INCENTIVE, INSOLVENT, THIRSTY, ALLUDE, SHAMPOO.
New word for me was UMAMI.
Thanks Arachne and scchua.
Lots of fun, as usual from Arachne.
Loved BEATITUDE.
I suspect that matrixmania @7 and I are not the only ones who found this tougher than today’s Rufus cryptic; however, I doubt whether the crossword editor would have noticed any difference.
Anyway, many thanks to Arachne for another marvellous puzzle, and to scchua for an excellent blog.
Very enjoyable!
On my first pass I entered ‘CUFF’ at 16a so that threw me off for a while. BEATITUDE was laugh-out-loud funny and I loved SCHOOLTEACHER’s wonderfully evocative surface reading.
Overall I felt this puzzle was quite tough for a Quiptic, but only because there were too few ‘easy’ clues to provide useful crossers, but with the possible exception of INCENTIVE I wouldn’t say any individual clue was too advanced for the remit.
Thanks Arachne and scchua.
The Boys are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy). The Girl is Back in Town (Arachne). Both excellent offerings.
Needed a tiny bit of e-search to finish this one, but as usual with this setter, some smiles along the way.
MISTRESS was my favourite for the image that it put in my head. I know …
Thanks to scchua for the as always impeccable blog, and to the Spiderwoman for the Quiptic.
I am re-entering this because it disappeared the first time. Apologies if it appears twice.
I thought this was an excellent Quiptic, I finished both Rufus and this before coffee arrived in my brief lunchtime, but this was more enjoyable with Arachne’s signature inventiveness and impish humour. However I think both she and scchua have misunderstood UMAMI. The word merely means “deliciousness” in Japanese and is firmly established there as the fifth taste alongside sweet, sour, bitter and salty. But unlike those it is not dominant, more like a rich “hum” in the background of warm, soothing comfort foods. It was originally identified from and still strongly associated with dashi, the stock made from kelp and or dried seafood at the heart of many Japanese dishes. So the reference to “meatiness” surprises me. MSG was formulated as a shortcut to producing one of the elements of umami but is far from synonymous with it. And science has since debunked the MSG/Chinese restaurant syndrome connection.
But that did not detract from a very enjoyable solve. Many thanks to Arachne and scchua.
HKrunner @14
Sorry your original comment didn’t appear. For some reason I cannot determine, the spam filter intervened and diverted it to the appropriate folder.
Although this was perhaps on the tougher side for a Quiptic, it really was a proper one. Surely the function of a Quiptic puzzle is to provide a lesson in the sort of devices the solver of cryptics is likely to meet? As such, this one struck me as pitch perfect.
Add to that the grace and wit of the clues (both characteristics of this setter) and you have exactly the sort of thing which will encourage people to widen their horizons.
I thought that perhaps BEAT IT was British slang for “act like an idiot”.
Thanks to Archne and sschua.
As usual with Arachne, it’s worth sitting back afterwards and enjoying the surfaces for the pictures they conjure: 4a, 24a, 26a, 2d, 8d and 18d all paint amusing images, some bordering on the surreal (e.g. the modest tsar).
But a bit too difficult for the beginner in my estimation. I enjoyed it thoroughly and will remember the mistress and her chocolates for a while.
I am not a beginner but also not the very best solver in the world yet I found this very easy.
Therefore, I am rather surprised by the many commenters who thought this was somewhat tricky for a Quiptic.
The only thing I had to check was 24ac’s SPHINCTERS.
Of course, I cannot and will not take these feelings away, we all experience puzzles differently (as it should be).
But if this is not the perfect Quiptic, what is?
(perhaps, Provis?)
Just like Nutmeg and Orlando (and Pasquale, too!) Arachne can ‘downgrade’ without losing finesse.
Only the best can *).
Meanwhile, I think it is not really fair to compare this puzzle to today’s Rufus.
The two setters’ styles are completely different (and Rufus has certainly his own merits).
A big thank you to Arachne and scchua.
*) Pan, Moley, Hectence et al – I like your crosswords too.