A puzzle who’s cds and dds give it a Rufus-like flavour. Thanks Anto. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Walks twice as fast with more room between the lines (6,7)
DOUBLE SPACING : [DOUBLES PACING](doubles;increases to twice the rate of pacing;walking).
Defn: … in a text passage.
10 Abandoned area of expertise that’s not conventional (4-5)
LEFT-FIELD : LEFT(abandoned) + FIELD(one’s particular area;branch of expertise).
11 Dread finishing ultra marathon going less fast (5)
ANGST : The last letters, respectively, of(finishing) “ultra marathon going less fast“.
12 Sentimental agent acquires old piano (5)
SOPPY : SPY(a secret agent) containing(acquires) [ O(abbrev. for “old”) + P(abbrev. for “piano”, the musical direction) ].
13 Duke is still a duke when gaining weight, initially (9)
ELLINGTON : Surname of the jazz bandleader and pianist nicknamed “Duke”, which, when “w”(abbrev. for “weight”) is added in front(gaining …, initially) is still a duke, the Duke of Wellington of Waterloo fame.
14 Bob, for example, gets write-down of loan (7)
HAIRCUT : Double defn: 1st: An example of which is the bob; and 2nd: The financial term defined as the difference between a loan given and the value of the collateral pledged against it, ie. the write-down;decrease in value to determine the loan amount.
16 A very desirable feature for coastal digs (3,4)
SEA VIEW : Cryptic defn: What one presumably wants from seaside accommodation;coastal digs, rather than facing the landward side.
18 Pull country girl back for being a slowcoach (7)
LAGGARD : Reversal of(… back) [ DRAG(to pull along) + GAL(slang for “girl” – I presume “country” refers to America, from where the slang seems to have originated – or does it refer to “rural”) ].
20 Lassie follows sailor! (3,4)
DOG STAR : DOGS(follows;tails) + TAR(a term for a sailor).
Cryptic defn: What one might call Lassie the collie, the star canine character in various books, films and TV series.
21 It may be held when something breaks suddenly (5,4)
FRONT PAGE : Cryptic defn: In newspaper jargon, that which is held;delayed from being printed, in order for it to be revised to include something, specifically, news that has broken;suddenly became public.
23 Timid type can think about nothing (5)
MOUSE : MUSE(to think;to reflect upon) containing(about) O(letter indicating 0;nothing).
24 Fake news planted by gruesome extremists in Belgian city (5)
LIEGE : LIE(fake news) plus(planted by) the 1st and last letters of(… extremists) “gruesome“.
25 Condemn writer who works for money (9)
PROSCRIBE : PRO(short for “professional”;one who does something for money) + SCRIBE(a writer, historically, one who copies out documents)
26 Standard fare Mike gave to wanted criminal (4,3,3,3)
MEAT AND TWO VEG : M(letter represented by “Mike” in the phonetic alphabet) + anagram of(… criminal) GAVE TO WANTED.
Defn: The basic traditional British meal of a portion of meat and two different types of vegetable.
Down
2 Litter produced in high season (9)
OFFSPRING : OFF(high;rotten) + SPRING(one of the four seasons in a year).
3 She removes bloodsuckers by putting polish on your head (5)
BUFFY : BUFF(to rub and polish) placed above(on, in a down clue) the 1st letter of(… head) “your“.
Defn: The character in the TV series who slays;removes vampires;bloodsuckers.
4 Lead, perhaps, in which you show your best (7)
ELEMENT : Double defn: 1st: One of which;perhaps is lead; and 2nd: Reference to the phrase “in one’s element”, ie. in an environment that is naturally suited to or associated with one, and therefore in which one performs best.
5 Eliminates waste by storing diamonds in stacks (7)
PIDDLES : D,D(plural of abbrev. for “diamond”, the suit in a deck of playing cards) contained in(storing … in) PILES(stacks of things).
Defn: …, that is, passes out liquid bodily waste.
6 Labour party linked up to work together (5,4)
CHAIN GANG : Cryptic defn: Reference to a group of convicts chained together, and doing forced hard labour.
7 Battle force turns to north when it’s dark (5)
NIGHT : “fight”(a battle) with “f”(symbol for “force” in physics) replaced by(turns to) “n”(abbrev. for “north”).
8 Optimistic view taken in the middle of drink (5,4,4)
GLASS HALF FULL : Cryptic defn: Metaphorically, the optimistic view of a situation, in contrast to the view that the “glass is half empty”.
9 Eccentric inventor swore: “This is our last chance!” (3,3,2,5)
ITS NOW OR NEVER : Anagram of(Eccentric) INVENTOR SWORE.
15 They talk most when the static is sorted (9)
CHATTIEST : Anagram of(… is sorted) THE STATIC.
Defn: … as in “the chattiest occupied that corner of the room”.
17 At home, constant strain sounds disturbing (9)
INTRUSIVE : IN(at home;not outside) + homophone of(… sounds) [ “true”(constant;loyal) + “sieve”(to strain through, well, a sieve) ].
19 Boring rubbish showing no emotion (7)
DEADPAN : DEAD(boring;dull, as in “this is a dead party!”) + PAN(to rubbish;to criticise severely).
20 Without moisture, river dropped and disappeared (4,3)
DIED OUT : [“dried out”](without;containing no moisture) minus(… dropped) “r”(abbrev. for “river”).
22 These body parts turn to fat (5)
OBESE : Hidden in(… parts) reversal of(… turn) “These body“.
23 Butch eastern dictator takes in church (5)
MACHO : MAO(Chairman, former Chinese dictator) containing(takes in) CH(abbrev. for “church”, the building).
Thanks Anto and scchua
I enjoyed this, with favourites FRONT PAGE, PROSCRIBE, MEAT AND TWO VEG, INTRUSIVE and OBESE. I didn’t know the second meaning of HAIRCUT, and didn’t see the need for “country” in 14a.
Thanks both. Anto has Improved his Quiptics recently. Only HAIRCUT had me reaching for Google
Thanks, Scchua and Anto. I’m having trouble seeing 16 as a cryptic definition – it just looks like a straightforward definition to me. Am I missing something?
I too enjoyed this and I agree with Shirl@2 that Anto’s Quiptics have improved (I found some of the early ones he composed rather weak in places). I can only assume that “country” in 18a refers to America (as scchua suggests). Like Muffin@1 I didn’t know the second meaning of HAIRCUT (but was glad to increase my vocabulary). My only slight quibble was that this might be a little on the hard side overall for a Quiptic (although it may just be that my rain is still half asleep!).
So many thanks to Anto for the puzzle (and to scchua for the, as always, excellent blog).
As further proof that my “brain is still half asleep”, I couldn’t even type that correctly! )-: Back to the coffee . . .
PS The website clearly sensed my confusion as the sum changed to “? x 1 = 1” after my previous comment; just about managed to sort that one! (-;
Shirl@2 – I agree. Congrats to Anto for surviving a sticky beginning as a setter.
Alison@3 – For 16a my first thought was WET SAND, since “digs” misled me into bucket-and-spade mode. So it is at least a bit cryptic!
Thanks also to scchua.
Thanks Anto and scchua.
Yes, much improved I thought from some of the earlier Quiptics by Anto.
I did consider SEA SAND, although I’m not sure that is a kosher phrase [it’s in Merriam-Webster,] so it must be mildly cryptic.
I liked the Labour Party.
After yonks of being a silent spectator to this blog, I’m finally moved to make a comment. Dear Anto, thank you for 3 down! How wonderful to see that the Slayer has become an indelible part of the cultural fabric of our times…
I found this much more difficult than today’s Rufus; therefore unsuitable for tyros.
I wondered the same thing as Alison @3 — in what sense is this cryptic? I sometimes think the same about other CDs (e.g., Rufus’s): the intended misleading meaning passes me by entirely, and I can only see the supposedly-hidden meaning. But usually I can work out after the fact how I was supposed to be misled. In this case, I can’t see it.
Other than that, this seemed to me to be a pretty good Quiptic, free of the problems of some of the setter’s earlier efforts.
Agreed Wellbeck@8 – it made me happy too.
I think the cryptic element of 16 is the “digs”, suggesting, at first sight, excavations – beach or otherwise – rather than rooms to stay.
Thanks, muffin @12! I suspect you’re right.
As others said, this crossword was surely one of the better offerings from Anto.
It didn’t take me too long to finish but I don’t know whether this was right for the Quiptic spot or not.
With some setters I say ‘yes’ straightaway (like last week when Carpathian gave us a superb puzzle), with others I have my doubts.
As I am not really a ‘tyro’ (the word gasmanjack @9 uses) I am not the one to ask.
My last one in was 21 (FRONT PAGE), a cryptic definition.
On an earlier occasion I have expressed my view that a Quiptic is not the place to use too many cryptic definitions.
In a previous puzzle had no less than 7 (!) and today I counted 4 (half of which were certainly not in the Rufus category).
My other ‘gripe’ is the clue at 23ac (MOUSE).
A setter who apparently thinks it’s acceptable to write ‘can’ here, doesn’t really get it, in my opinion.
For me, as someone who finds clean basic setting essential, it spoils the party.
Not completely, though, there was a lot right today (for which thanks to Anto).
Thanks also to the inimitable scchua for the blog.