Pan is long-term setter of the Quiptic, and he/she has produced here a well-constructed Quiptic with clear cluing that would perfectly suit improving solvers.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Suitor is married, unfortunately
ADMIRER
(MARRIED)*
5 Egg producer keeping a record of iodine, say
HALOGEN
An insertion of A LOG in HEN gives you the set of elements to which iodine belongs. In Group 7 of the periodic table, it’s best mates with fluorine, chlorine, bromine and astatine, the other naturally occurring HALOGENS.
9 Landlubber threatening to hide somewhere to sleep on board
BERTH
Hidden in landlubBER THreatening.
10 Poet Laureate with a tremor initially in favour of writing in stages
PLATFORMS
Bit of a multi-parter, this one: a charade of PL, A, T, FOR and MS.
11 Lived in British India with the cook
INHABITED
(B INDIA THE)*
12 Very substantial award given to disheartened schoolmate
OBESE
A charade of OBE for ‘award’ and SE for the outside letters of ‘schoolmate’.
13 Money found by government — excellent!
GRAND
A charade of G and RAND for the South African currency.
15 Using repeated persuasion to get big garden redesigned
BADGERING
(BIG GARDEN)*
18 Therapy given for troubling matter by hospital department
TREATMENT
A charade of (MATTER)* and ENT for Ear, Nose and Throat.
19 Posed wearing shiny fabric
SATIN
A charade of SAT and IN. ‘He sat in fine clothing to have his portrait painted.’
21 Shadow cast by letter from Athens about garment
UMBRA
A reversal of MU for the Greek letter and BRA. A word perhaps most commonly encountered when there’s a solar eclipse (PENUMBRA as well, of course); the root word is the same for UMBRELLA, although that shades you from the rain.
23 Duchess’s last cleaner in drive to get an additional payment
SURCHARGE
A charade of S for the last letter of ‘duchess’ and CHAR inserted into URGE.
25 Be first to suffer from effect of extreme cold
FROSTBITE
(BE FIRST TO)*
26 Fish with a large spot on
IDEAL
A charade of IDE for the ubiquitous (in crosswords at least) fish, A and L.
27 Back and butt dreadfully sore
ENDORSE
A charade of END and (SORE)*
28 Animal living in hollow trees moves unsteadily
TOTTERS
Pan is asking you to ‘hollow’ out ‘trees’ to give you TS and then insert the aquatic mammal in that. I like otters because they are cool.
Down
1 Mother upset by flashy jewellery found wandering about
AMBLING
A reversal of MA followed by BLING.
2 Charm her with a mad tea party guest!
MARCH HARE
(CHARM HER A)* gives you the tea guest in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
3 About to take drug at a second rate 18 centre
REHAB
A charade of RE for ‘about’, H for heroin or ‘drug’, A and B for ‘second-rate’. The 18 is referring to the answer to that clue (TREATMENT), although I might have fancied 18a to make things clear, since TRUFFLES also have hallucenogenic properties. Or perhaps Pan meant both.
4 Trustworthy salesman sitting on university board
REPUTABLE
A charade of REP, U and TABLE.
5 Got news of chief crossing river
HEARD
An insertion of R in HEAD.
6 Split bowler’s deliveries as “extras“
LEFTOVERS
I was considering CLEFT somehow for ‘split’, but that was the wrong garden path. It’s simply LEFT for ‘split’ and OVERS. By the time you read this Rooty and the lads may well be on their way to going 2-1 up versus the country whose currency featured earlier.
7 Plant gardener’s first hybrid rose
GORSE
A charade of G and (ROSE)* with ‘hybrid’ as the anagrind.
8 Rejected information about gains in savings for a rainy day
NEST EGG
A reversal (‘rejected’) of GETS in GEN.
14 Critic and editor standing on farm machinery
DETRACTOR
A reversal of ED and TRACTOR. ‘Standing on’ because it’s a down clue.
16 Discourage fellow delivering soap
DETERGENT
A charade of DETER and GENT for a clue that’s been round the block about a million times. Listen, it’s a Quiptic.
17 Act as advocate for drunken teen with cider
INTERCEDE
(TEEN CIDER)*
18 Start to treat disorder with fungus
TRUFFLE
A charade of T and RUFFLE.
20 Want the French to make parts for compasses
NEEDLES
A charade of NEED and LES for one of the French words for ‘the’.
22 Bishop opening up to children
BROOD
A charade of B and DOOR reversed.
23 Bargain on English bird
SNIPE
First otters, now a bird. I am happy, because here’s the obligatory Pierre bird link. One of our most common waders. Oh, it’s SNIP and E.
24 Lift one into crowd
HOIST
An insertion of I into HOST.
Well done to Pan for a puzzle just right for this slot.
In 16D it is soap that has to be underlined. Am I right?
You are right, VDS Prasad. More haste, less speed … Blog corrected, thank you.
7d – is “hybrid” generally considered ok as an anagrind? In everyday English it means a cross between two different things, rather then a single thing rearranged.
A and B for ‘second-rate’. might be a case for the Oxford/Harvard comma as A is part of the clue: A, and B for ‘second-rate’.
Thank you Pan and Pierre.
An IDEAL Quiptic, most enjoyable. I liked the clue for HALOGEN, eggs are an important source of iodine if the hens are fed correctly, and the Duchess’s last cleaner, 23a, along with the cook, 11a, and the MARCH HARE reminded me of Alice and made me smile.
Re 10a – MS = writing as in manuscript? Still learning the common ones…
Try as I may, I fail to see how ‘left’ is derived from ‘split’.
Otherwise, a fine Quiptic, I thought.
Thanks to Pan & Pierre.
Ben, MS is indeed an abbreviation for ‘manuscript’, and hence ‘writing’. Quite a common one, so worth remembering.
Thursdaycat, ‘split’ is slang for ‘leave’, and is the same in the past as the present tense. ‘We split the scene/we left the scene’. I should have explained that more clearly.
Like beaulieu @3, I’m not a fan of “hybrid” as an anagrind, but in all other ways I agree that this was a well-constructed and enjoyable Quiptic.
I didn’t know that “snip” could mean “bargain”, so I learned something today.
Thanks to Pan and Pierre.
Thanks Pan and Pierre; good Quiptic.
I guess in 19 it’s ‘shiny fabric’ that should be underlined. ‘Hybrid’ is in the Chambers’ list of anagrinds.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
Lovely, with particular favourites FROSTBITE, IDEAL and ENDORSE. I hadn’t come across PL as standing for Poet Laureate.
The “with” in 18d seems a bit awkward. 16d might be a chestnut, but it’s still wrong; “soap” could arguably be called a “detergent” (though I wouldn’t so so), but a detergent isn’t “soap”; the latter is a substance derived from the action of sodium hydroxide on fats.
[btw I wouldn’t describe SNIPE as “One of our most common waders.” It’s a treat when I see one (or more commonly two). Lots of others are much more common, even inland – oystercatchers and curlew for instance – and coastally there are lots, generally small ones, more common, I think.]