Some tricky ones in here, I found.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 About to attend a function before retrospective show in restaurant
CAFETERIA
A charade of C for circa or ‘about’, A, FETE and AIR reversed. The reversal indicator is ‘retrospective’.
6 Soundly anchored in stream
TIDE
A homophone of TIED.
8 Lead vase is the main attraction
STAR TURN
A charade of START and URN.
9 Scope for the French to take on English habit
LEEWAY
A charade of LE for one of the French words for ‘the’, E and WAY.
10 Blossom fished out of Bath river
THRIVE
Hidden in baTH RIVEr.
11 Processed giant eel to make a food additive
GELATINE
(GIANT EEL)*
12 Emergency credit is given to island
CRISIS
A charade of CR, IS and another IS.
15 Get smaller press?
DECREASE
This has been around the houses a few times, but it’s a Quiptic, so fair play. It’s a dd. If you ‘press’ or iron something, you’d DE-CREASE it.
16 Son with broken foot tucking into fancy takeaway
FAST FOOD
An insertion of S and (FOOD)* in FAD for ‘fancy’.
19 Fruit and vegetable drink
SQUASH
A dd.
21 Cancel my order for plant
CYCLAMEN
(CANCEL MY)*
22 Stripe modelled for a clergyman
PRIEST
(STRIPE)*
24 Farmer in Ontario providing shelter for sheep
MERINO
A hidden answer in farMER IN Ontario.
25 Broke up a riot led by worshipper of false gods
IDOLATER
(A RIOT LED)*
26 Sources of glacial lava entering a narrow valley
GLEN
I think that this clue is faulty – surely the ‘a’ should have been left out? Then it would be the first letters of ‘glacial’, ‘lava’, ‘entering’ and ‘narrow’.
27 Unpleasant type, crazy about Dutch city
ROTTERDAM
A charade of ROTTER and a reversal of MAD gives you the Dutch city and port.
Down
1 Contract made by animal visiting church
CATCH
‘I’m about to CATCH/’contract’ a cold’, for example. CAT followed by CH.
2 At last, landlubber is free to be let loose in boats
FERRIES
(R IS FREE)* The R comes from the last letter of ‘landlubber’.
3 Agreement to stop fighting about cute Romeo
TRUCE
(CUTE R)* The R comes from the phonetic alphabet ‘Romeo’.
4 Flipping degenerate dined out and went back on his word
RENEGED
Goodness, this is hard for a Quiptic (I know, I keep saying that). You need to take ATE, as in ‘dined’, out of DEGENER[ATE] and then use ‘flipping’ as the
anagrind to make the answer.
5 Rugby team want to be involved in redesign of balls
ALL BLACKS
An insertion of LACK for ‘want’ in (BALLS)*
6 Dine close to actor in the Old Vic, maybe
THEATRE
Pan is inviting you to put EAT and R for the last letter of ‘actor’ in THE.
7 Physicians make these medicines to conceal ill-gotten gain
DIAGNOSES
An insertion of (GAIN)* in DOSES for a fairly remote synonym for ‘medicines’.
13 Leader may order something quick to prepare in the kitchen
READY MEAL
(LEADER MAY)*
14 Doctors briefly with room to develop something for those prone to wind
STORM DOOR
I can’t quite get this, perhaps because I’d never heard of the term. It’s an anagram of (D[OC]TORS ROOM)* I think.
17 Writer in Old Testament coming up with dodgy translation of line about king
TOLKIEN
A reversal of OT followed by (LINE)* surrounding K for the chess ‘king’.
18 Cavity is treated initially by a health professional
DENTIST
A charade of DENT, IS and T.
20 You reportedly replaced dart in costume for dancer
UNITARD
A charade of U for ‘you reportedly’ followed by (DART IN)* for a costume that I, for one, had never heard of.
22 Quiet job for a member of the working class?
PROLE
A charade of P for the musical ‘quiet’ and ROLE.
23 Pent-up anger shown by Second Eleven
STEAM
A charade of S and TEAM.
Many thanks to Pan for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks both. A bit tricky, as you say. I agree about GLEN having an extra A. Thanks for parsing CATCH, which evaded me.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
Odd one – some lovely clues (DECREASE, though I’ve seen it before, MERINO, ALL BLACKS, DIAGNOSES and DENTISTS), but also some dodgy ones. “Tied” is a bit loose for “anchored; “way” for “habit” also; two words I hadn’t heard of in a Quiptic! (STORM DOOR and UNITARD).
I took GLEN as Glacial Lava ENtering, but I didn’t like it.
I think 14 is (drs room to)*
Mike
I meant to say that the clue for RENEGED is unnecessarily complicated – it’s hidden backwards in DEGENERate, so no anagram indicator is needed.
Thank you Pan and Pierre.
An Enjoyable Quiptic, the only quibble being the clue for GLEN. MERINO was well hidden.
‘Flipping’ is indicating that DEGENER must be turned.
I think STORM DOOR is (DRS ROOM TO)* the anagrind being ‘develop’.
Apologies to minty @3, I took an age trying to make GLEN work, so did not see your comment before posting.
I think this was a near-perfect Quiptic – very good for beginners – apart from GLEN
My favourites were RENEGED & TOLKIEN
Thanks Pan and Pierre
I looked at GLEN and thought of how it would be written, to quote Pierre “Then it would be the first letters of ‘glacial’, ‘lava’, ‘entering’ and ‘narrow’. there is the ‘a’ but I expect that is not how you cryptic chaps think, I am new to these mysteries !
The problem with GLEN is that it is a ‘narrow valley’.
I’m with Pierre: that was hard for a Quiptic. Certainly not for beginners or those in a hurry!
I wonder if it isn’t time for the Guardian to ditch the Quiptic and just publish an extra Cryptic online on Mondays?
Thursdaycat, I’m a big fan of the Quiptic: it was one of the puzzles that got me back into solving cryptics and then eventually putting my hand up to blog it. I’d like to see it carrying on in its current format, but I know it’s a hard crossword to set. Today there were a few ‘tough’ ones, but where is ‘tough’ these days? I don’t rightly know. Is this your first comment? If so, welcome.
Pan is a very good Quiptic setter, though, and I always have a smile when I discover that it’s my turn to blog one of his/her puzzles.
I am new to quiptics over the past fortnight and am really enjoying the format and blog.