A debut puzzle from Carpathian, and a good one for the Quiptic spot, I thought. You?
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Label promises unreliable
DUBIOUS
A charade of DUB for ‘label’ and IOUS for promissory notes.
5 Loses first of many independent butchers
MISLAYS
A charade of M, I and SLAYS.
9 Pain of male in very poor surroundings
CRAMP
An insertion of M in CRAP.
10 Schedule final without daughter hearing
LISTENING
A charade of LIST and EN[D]ING.
11 Places sand around pictures
LANDSCAPES
(PLACES SAND)*
12 Complain of vehicle parking
CARP
A charade of CAR and P.
14 Allowing head of treasury a smaller amount is inconsiderate
THOUGHTLESS
A charade of THOUGH, T for the first letter of ‘treasury’ and LESS.
18 Military Intelligence’s prisoners right to grasp wrong end of stick
MISCONSTRUE
A charade of MIS, CONS and TRUE.
21 Difficult to remove top from UK’s tallest building
HARD
[S]HARD. For overseas solvers, it’s this building.
22 Treat with contempt hospital attendant that’s unruly
DISORDERLY
A charade of DIS and ORDERLY. DIS is youth-speak for DISRESPECT or ‘treat with contempt’; it’s originally from US Black American English, but – like many things Stateside – is now well-established here.
25 Iced nasty criminal group
SYNDICATE
(ICED NASTY)*
26 Nick is not going to Switzerland
NOTCH
A charade of NOT and CH for Confoederatio Helvetica or ‘Switzerland’.
27 Respect lively spirit
SPECTRE
(RESPECT)*
28 Time to debate disloyalty
TREASON
A charade of T and REASON.
Down
1 Easily managed party on Channel Islands with the French
DOCILE
A charade of DO, CI and LE for one of the words for ‘the’ in French.
2 Athletic support with navy borders
BRAWNY
A charade of BRA, W and NY for the outside letters of ‘navy’.
3 Hostility in work place
OPPOSITION
A charade of OP and POSITION.
4 Series of notes left in Chesterfield, perhaps
SOL-FA
An insertion of L in SOFA, of which a ‘Chesterfield’ is an example.
5 Mix-up by green cycling courier
MESSENGER
A charade of MESS and (GREEN)* with ‘cycling’ as the anagrind.
6 Cats and dogs up for walk?
STEP
A reversal of PETS. Works because it’s a down clue.
7 Disturbed American fool polished off by Democratic leader
AGITATED
A charade of A, GIT, ATE and D.
8 Add name to letters as way of giving direction
SIGNPOST
A dd cum cd.
13 Appearance exactly two hours before Cinderella left ball
ATTENDANCE
A charade of AT TEN and DANCE. The pumpkin turned into the carriage exactly two hours later …
15 Stubborn botanist repositioned bottom of vine
OBSTINATE
A charade of (BOTANIST)* and E for the last letter of ‘vine’.
16 Stress caused by ecstasy and speed unaltered
EMPHASIS
A charade of E, MPH, and AS IS.
17 Alienate English eccentric
ESTRANGE
A charade of E and STRANGE.
19 German traitor lives free
GRATIS
A charade of G, RAT and IS.
20 A little-known connection?
HYPHEN
My LOI. Cleverly clued: it’s referring to the fact that there’s a HYPHEN in the middle of ‘little-known’.
23 Part of cricket game broadcast finally to public
OVERT
A charade of OVER and T for the last letter of ‘broadcast’.
24 Food plan doesn’t include eating tofu initially
DIET
The first letters of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth letters of the clue.
Well done to Carpathian on his/her debut, and welcome to the Quiptic and to Fifteensquared.
Thanks both. Excellent stuff, just needs a bird answer to keep Pierre happy
Thanks Carpathian and Pierre
Yes, very good indeed, with favourites DISORDERLY, SPECTRE, OPPOSITION, ATTENDANCE and the great HYPHEN!
I didn’t parse THOUGHTLESS as I was convinced “a smaller amount” was OUGHT LESS. The T came from TREASURY, but I couldn’t account for the H.
Excellent debut puzzle from Carpathian who appears in a different guise in the Indy.
Thanks Pierre; just the right level I thought for a Quiptic with characteristic smooth cluing. My LOI was also HYPHEN, which I failed to parse.
Lots to admire but my favourite is ATTENDANCE.
I very much enjoyed that too. However, I think the first part of the clue in 8d is not a cd but a charade of “sign” (=”add name”) and “post” (=”letters”). And does “though” really mean “allowing” (14a)?
Thank you Carpathian and Pierre.
An ideal Quiptic, favourite clue was that for HYPHEN, which, like Robi @3, I failed to parse!
Anyone know more about this new setter? The hyperlink behind the name on the Grauniad site is, of course, broken…
excellent puzzle; absolutely perfect for the spot IMO
Not much that’s annoying in this one, which means it’s very good. Too easy for me these days, but I always pop into the cryptic page to see what’s up. Good to see a nice puzzle in there.
Very enjoyable and pitched well for a quiptic (or just for someone like me below par due to a nasty cold). Great stuff.
I agree — very well positioned.
Very good stuff. Very elegant and neat clueing, 3D and 6D being great examples. The Quiptic seems to come in for occasional criticism, but this is exactly how it should be.
Cheers to Pierre for the blog and hearty congrats to the setter on his/her debut. Like others, I’d be interested to know which Indy setter it is!
I also enjoyed this so thanks to Carpathian and Pierre.
Is it too carping to differentiate between LISTENING and “hearing”. Perhaps so.
Alphalpha @12
Paul Simon would agree!
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
I think it’s OK, though…
I would like to echo all the praise.
Robi’s disclosure that this is a setter we might know from the Indy, made me have a think.
If it is the one I am pretty sure it is, then I can say that I liked this puzzle even more than ‘its’ Indy ones.
Despite what the editor said not so long ago in one of his blogs, there is apparently room for a new addition to the Guardian stable.
Pan has been promoted to the First Division and will therefore be less frequent here, while Provis seems to have completely disappeared.
From this place and also from the FT (Magwitch) – hope she’s well, though!
This was an excellent puzzle.
The only thing that didn’t work for me was the anagram indicator in 5d (‘cycling’).
Because it isn’t one – ‘green cycling’ would give you, for example, ‘engre’ but not ‘enger’.
So what!
Thanks to Carpathian & Pierre.
Thanks to Carpathian and Pierre and to Muffin for the link from today’s Rufus Cryptic. This the first quiptic that I’ve tried and I may come here again sometimes after completing the Rufus. It’ll make a change from the Codewords.
By the way Muffin you were as usual right about the origin of Martini in last week’s Qaos.Dry Martini must be derived from the vermouth of the same name. It’s just that I always associate it with the red variety.
Big Dave introduced me to the very lovely Carpathian at the Times Finals after-party at the George on Saturday, (I think she may well be a graduate of the Rookie school of crossword setting), so I am able to reveal that her name is Victoria and, if memory serves correctly, sets as Vigo in the Indy. I don’t recall her surname, although I should perhaps, as her dad is a well-known (apparently, but not to me) businessman. Congratulations, Vicky, on a pitch-perfect Quiptic debut.
@Sil: you may recall from the editor’s blog post in question that he suggested that any addition to the Guardian stable was likely to be younger than the current average and female. Carpathian is much younger than me, for instance, and 100% more female. Personally, I’d be prepared to become younger to get on the team, but not to become a female. You?
You?, is that referring to my alter ego?
I’m not sure he(!) will do any form of lobbying ‘to get on the team’.
Age was never an issue in life so far.
Also, my alter ego wishes to be judged by his puzzles, not by who he is.
That said, there are many people in crosswordland (including some editors) who know who he is.
They have given advice, encouragement and, on a few occasions, praise.
Unfortunately (1), for some reason he’s not that interested in the Rookie Corner.
Unfortunately (2), his real ambition is still unclear.
And finally, that alter ego of mine is incapable of writing a Quiptic – and that’s what it’s all about here.
Victoria is very good at it and fully deserves, say, a monthly spot.
In the Independent, her puzzles are liked by more or less all solvers (including today’s blogger!!).
I like them too but if I’m honest, I sometimes do not find them challenging enough.
But that’s just me, no criticism.
BTW, my gut feeling about who Carpathian might be was right!
A great addition to, for now, the Quiptic stable!
Sil, I was referring to your identity as Sylan, a setter of crossword puzzles, who might have an interest in the Guardian as an outlet for his own work. I don’t know about your alter ego unless that’s what you mean. I was being facetious about the editor’s declared policy in respect of taking on new setters, as set out in the blogpost I think you referred to and didn’t mean to be rude by my interrogative (and I apologise if that’s how it came across), simply to invite your comment on that. I expressed my opinion in a comment to the blog in question at the time and it’s still open for comments.
None of this should be taken in any way to impugn Carpathian or detract from her obvious talent and suitability for the role: her work speaks for itself and I commend her and strongly doubt I would be capable of creating a puzzle like this, certainly for the moment. The fact is, the Quiptics are aimed at less experienced solvers than us, so perhaps so you might not find them challenging enough.
Tony, Sylan is not me.
[Sil,
“Sylan is not me”
Ah, thought you were. (Actually, I meant to write Sylvan). Not sure why I thought that now; maybe I just jumped to a conclusion from the homophony? Sorry bout that, Sil. I assume you’re not being disingenuous and simply denying the typo.]