One of the longest-standing Quiptic setters, Hectence, is on the oche this morning, with a puzzle I much enjoyed. Since it’s promoted as being for ‘beginners and those in a hurry’, for the former category I have tried to give full explanations. If there is anything where you need more clarification, just ask.
For beginners (and for those who missed it) I will explain that this puzzle is a pangram. In other words, each of the 26 letters of the alphabet is included somewhere. Why do setters do this? Because it’s a bit of fun for them, and they can. Does it help the solver? Only sometimes, in that if you suspect a pangram and you’re short of, say, an X, W or Z with only a few left to solve, then it might point you in the right direction.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
7 Poet describing girl unknown in tempest
BLIZZARD
An insertion of LIZ and Z for the mathematical ‘unknown’ in BARD.
9 Part of graffiti ban is to be reviewed soon
IN A BIT
Hidden reversed in graffiTI BAN Is.
10 Bird dropped from flower branch
SPUR
[LARK]SPUR. I was getting excited for a moment.
11 A mare falls awkwardly, causing unnecessary anxiety
FALSE ALARM
(A MARE FALLS)*
12 Rabbit to live and run after injection
JABBER
A charade of JAB, BE for ‘live’ and R. ‘Rabbit’ is from ‘rabbit and pork’, cockney rhyming slang for talk or JABBER.
14 Hypocritical few do act artfully
TWO-FACED
(FEW DO ACT)* with ‘artfully’ as the anagrind.
15 Maybe dreads hard song performance
HAIRDO
A charade of H, AIR and DO gives you the hairstyle favoured by Rastafarians.
17 Smear last of butter inside expensive cut of meat
STREAK
The last letter of ‘butter’ is inserted into STEAK.
20 Worker in charge has a power restriction
HANDICAP
A charade of HAND, IC, A and P.
22 Rat is a river animal
ROTTER
A charade of R and OTTER. A holt has just been spotted on the River Am. I can barely contain myself.
23 Rave over broadcast of hits — racy pop enthralled me in the ’50s
WAX LYRICAL
My last one in. The parsing is a bit complicated, but the crossers and the enumeration should have got you there, so fair play. A homophone of ‘wacks’ followed by I for ‘me’ in (RACY)* all enclosed in LL for the Roman numeral for ‘fifty’ repeated. The homophone indicator is ‘broadcast of’; the anagrind is ‘pop’; the inclusion indicators are ‘enthralled’ and ‘in’.
24 Question a youth heading for pier
QUAY
A charade of QU, A and Y for the first letter of ‘youth’.
25 Rule by force ended by noon
GOVERN
A charade of G for gravity or ‘force’, OVER and N.
26 Make gloomy detectives reviewing drug experience swallow one
DISPIRIT
Hectence is asking you to insert I in DIS for Detective Inspectors or ‘detectives’ and PIRT, which is TRIP for ‘drug experience’ reversed.
Down
1 Careless vivacity follows second drink
SLAPDASH
A charade of S, LAP and DASH.
2 Vehicle contains ultimate glitz for Russian leader
CZAR
The last letter of ‘glitz’ in CAR gives you an alternative spelling of TSAR.
3 Sparky foreman?
GAFFER
A cd. ‘Sparky’ is a slang word for ‘electrician’ and a GAFFER is the chief electrician on a film set as well as a slang word for ‘boss’, ‘supervisor’ or ‘foreman’. Or someone like Hectence’s poster boy, Pep Guardiola.
4 If able to swim, it can save you at sea
LIFEBOAT
My favourite clue this morning, for its clever allusion in the surface. (IF ABLE TO)* with ‘swim’ as the anagrind.
5 Standard moan about Independent at Westminster?
PARLIAMENT
Another good’un. A charade of PAR and I inserted into LAMENT.
6 Wild reef and endless ice spell disaster
FIERCE
(REEF IC[E])* with ‘spell disaster’ as the anagrind and ‘endless’ the last-letter removal indicator.
8 Concentrate less with endless cacophony on instrument
DILUTE
‘Concentrate less’ is a slightly quirky way of defining ‘dilute’, but is fair enough. A charade of DI[N] and LUTE.
13 Note short queue and loiter, swallowing drug in cul-de-sac
BLIND ALLEY
A charade of B for a musical ‘note’, LIN[E] and E for the setters’ favourite ‘drug’ in DALLY for ‘loiter’.
16 Correct discretion is missing in religious teaching
DOCTRINE
The setter is asking you to remove ‘is’ from ‘discretion’ and make an anagram (‘correct’). So it’s (D[IS]CRETION)*
18 Continue to look up article on bird
KEEP AT IT
A charade of PEEK for ‘look’ reversed, A and TIT. Since it’s a down clue, the reversal indicator is ‘up’.
19 Jazzed up society photo with editor
SPICED
A charade of S, PIC and ED.
21 In Vietnam, a zonking great river
AMAZON
Hidden in VietnAM A ZONking.
22 Enjoy chutney
RELISH
A dd.
24 Brief pique ruined joke
QUIP
(PIQU[E])*
Many thanks to Hectence for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks Hectence and Pierre
This took me far longer than the Rufus. Several clues too hard for a Quiptic – 23 and 26 for example. PARLIAMENT was my favourite.
BLIZZARD isn’t the same as “tempest” for me – different states of matter. I’ve not heard “dreadlocks” abbreviated as “dreads”, but it made a great surface.
Having taken ‘wild’ as anagrind at 6dn, was going to query definition, so thanks Pierre for putting me straight !
Lovely Quiptic and great blog.Thanks.
[I was at a pub quiz years ago when the question master asked “What sort of animal lives in a ‘olt?” The answer he gave was “A hotter lives in a ‘olt”!]
Thanks both.
For 10ac I had it parsed as (COCK)SPUR.
That works as well, Bracoman.
I found this a bit too difficult if it is promoted as being for ‘beginners and those in a hurry’. I failed to solve 23a and was not sure of the parsing of the sparky foreman, but guessed that GAFFER must be correct.
Thanks Hectence and Pierre
Ah, so a pangram is where all of the letters of the alphabet are in the grid once you’ve completed it? I had a google after seeing the comment below and thought it would all be in one clue, which I was failing to spot so I appreciate your explanation!
4d and 5d were great, struggled with 23a. Thanks both.
Thanks, Pierre! Much harder than the Rufus today, and I’d say quite a bit harder than usual for a quiptic. 23 was my last one in, too, and probably the only time I’ve ever spotted a pangram and found it useful. I needed an X somewhere, and there it was!
I saw a Q and Z early on and thought, “I wonder if it’s a pangram”. Then I managed to forget all about the possibility by the end.
Thanks to Hectence and Pierre.
Yes, a little tricky for a Quiptic, with the somewhat impenetrable WAX LYRICAL serving as an introduction to a range of setter devices.
Can’t help noting that “reviewed” is twice used as a reversal indicator – to me it’s weak in that role as it could also be an anagram indicator.
I enjoyed the many nice surfaces.
Thanks Hectence and Pierre.
Largely fine as a Quiptic, with the exception of 23a which was pretty convoluted, and I failed to parse.
My Chambers Thesaurus has BLIZZARD = storm, but I have some reservations like muffin @1.
Agreed that LIFEBOAT and PARLIAMENT were good.
muffin @1 sitting where I live in Grenada, you will hear ‘dreads’ more than dreadlocks. I do agree this was way tougher than the Rufus on Monday and not far short of the Don, although with fewer obscure words. Oh what fun the setters have when they practise to deceive!!