A fine puzzle to start the cruciverbal week from our favourite spice girl. Meaningful surfaces, clear cluing, good variety of clue types and subject matter, all packaged in a Quiptic framework. Brava, Nutmeg.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Advice to addict? Don’t be absurd!
COME OFF IT
A dd cum cd to start us off.
6 Overcook fish daily
CHAR
Now a td – a triple definition.
10 Exclusive end for Pre-Raphaelite
ELITE
Nutmeg is inviting you to take the last five letters of the clue to get your answer.
11 Motion of Saturn to a space traveller
ASTRONAUT
(SATURN TO A)*
12 Cunning plan headed by daddy’s boy
PATRICK
A charade of PA and TRICK.
13 Name on item of underwear providing a firm hold
NON-SLIP
A charade of N, ON and SLIP.
14 Saucy adornment for Caesar, perhaps
SALAD DRESSING
A cd, referring to Caesar Salad, which was created by someone called Caesar (but not Julius).
17 Reputable watering place called to mind
WELL THOUGHT OF
A charade of WELL and THOUGHT OF.
21 Is one stopped by tragic king returning, coming from Jerusalem?
ISRAELI
A charade of IS and I with an insertion of LEAR reversed.
22 Source of berries on country walk?
BRAMBLE
A charade of B and RAMBLE. I’ll stick my head above the parapet and say that this is &lit.
24 Take first place in Lord’s poll
HEADCOUNT
A charade of HEAD and COUNT.
25 Harass Afghan, say
HOUND
A doggy clue and a dd.
26 European doesn’t have good smell
REEK
[G]REEK
27 Naughtily bend a rule that can be withstood
ENDURABLE
(BEND A RULE)*
Down
1 Shoddiest mirror in trunk
CHEAPEST
An insertion of APE in CHEST.
2 Drizzly stretch of demo is tiresome
MOIST
Hidden in deMO IS Tiresome.
3 Genuine CD lover condemned excess
OVERINDULGENCE
(GENUINE CD LOVER)* with ‘condemned’ as the anagrind.
4 Person giving official mark‘s more outspoken
FRANKER
A dd.
5 Regularly treat an American disease
TETANUS
The odd letters of ‘treat’ followed by AN and US.
7 Indication of approaching driver feeling a bit woozy?
HEADLIGHT
A cd cum dd.
8 Religious Education class gets record again
RETYPE
A charade of RE and TYPE.
9 Patriarch discovered during harvest embracing female
FOUNDING FATHER
A charade of FOUND IN GATHER with F inserted.
15 Bring down holder containing only small letters
LOWER CASE
A charade of LOWER and CASE.
16 Define flying insect verbally, as required
IF NEED BE
A charade of (DEFINE)* and BE, which is a homophone (‘verbally’) of BEE.
18 Tax from workers’ group raised within clan
TRIBUTE
An insertion of TU for Trade Union reversed in TRIBE. Collins has: ‘A payment by one ruler or state to another; any tax levied for such a payment.’
19 Frantic editor clutching book went round and round
ORBITED
An insertion of B in (EDITOR)* with ‘frantic’ as the anagrind.
20 Become parched accompanying the Queen
WITHER
A charade of WITH and ER for our current Queen. Setters shouldn’t worry when Her Maj goes to the great palace in the sky: CR will be just as useful.
23 Cry over author’s last words on dustjacket
BLURB
An insertion of R for the last letter of ‘author’ in BLUB.
Many thanks to Nutmeg for this Monday’s Quiptic.
Quite possibly the perfect quiptic. Quick but fun.
Thanks Nutmeg and Pierre.
Thanks both. Agree with swatty@1.
As to 20d, I suppose we shall see a lot more “hesitation” on the end of words when Betty has departed. Or maybe “the old Queen”?
Thanks Nutmeg and Pierre
Lovely, a perfect Quiptic. FOUNDING FATHER was great!
I tried RETAPE for 7d (without understanding the TAPE), but thought I had better check it.
I don’t understand the “Lord’s” in 24. Is it referring to the rank of Count? Where does the S go?
muffin @3
I took 24ac as HEAD for ‘take first place in’ and COUNT as a (rather loose) synonym for ‘Lord’ with the apostrophe ‘s’ as an abbreviation for ‘is’.
Textbook
Very nice! Count me among those who had RETAPE in 7d. Thanks Nutmeg and Pierre.
I allowed myself to thwarted for a while by solving 17 as “well brought up”. Very enjoyable once I had cracked that.
Thanks to Nutmeg and Pierre.
Thanks to Nutmeg for another perfect Quiptic and to Pierre for the blog – I was hoping there might be another name for the brambling and that we would get a bird link…
Very nice! I agree with the consensus that this is a very satisfying quiptic.
I assumed that “Lord’s” was pointing the way to some sort of cricket-related parsing of 24a. Since my ignorance of cricket is virtually total, I gave up on trying to parse it. I’m a bit embarrassed not to have realized that it’s just LORD = COUNT.
I was all set to quibble about “verbal” as a homophone indicator, as I was taught that “verbal” meant “composed of words”, whether spoken or written, and that one should use “oral” to mean “spoken”. But the dictionaries list “spoken” as a meaning for “verbal”, so I guess I’m wrong to object to this usage.
Thanks to Nuteg and Pierre.
Nutmeg, that is.
Pure pleasure. Brava indeed Nutmeg.