Guardian Quiptic 953 Carpathian

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A very nicely judged quiptic, ideal for those learning the cryptic ropes and those in a hurry.

Across
5 ICONIC One coin tossed and caught as a symbol (6)
I (one), an anagram (tossed) of COIN, C (caught)
6 COTTON Bed time with touching yarn (6)
COT (bed), T (time) and (with) ON (touching)
9 OFFEND Bad goal is outrage (6)
OFF (bad) END (goal)
10 EVENTFUL Momentous exhibition’s first opening, almost filled to capacity (8)
E (exhibition’s first), VENT (opening), FUL (almost filled to capacity = FULL with the last letter deleted)
11 QUIT Stop heads of quarrying under international treaty (4)
The first letters (heads) of Quarrying Under International Treaty
12 RESEARCHER Investigator is more cunning following short break and drug (10)
ARCHER (more cunning) after (following) RES (short break = REST with the last letter deleted) and E (drug)
13 SYMPATHETIC Supportive, when suffering patchy times (11)
An anagram (suffering) of PATCHY TIMES
18 VOLUMINOUS Very old, bright and roomy (10)
V (very), O (old), LUMINOUS (bright)
21 PEAK Top vegetable with tip of knife (4)
PEA (vegetable) and (with) K (first letter = tip of knife)
22 BACTERIA Bugs I found in seedy cabaret (8)
An insertion (found in) of I (I) into an anagram (seedy) of CABARET
23 RASHER Hush and hesitation after artist represents Bacon (6)
SH (hush) and (and) ER (hesitation) following (after) RA (artist)
24 STRUTS Supports peacocks? (6)
Two definitions. Supports = STRUTS. Peacocks = STRUTS
25 JAUNTY Cheerful relative in July (6)
An insertion (in) of AUNT (relative) into JY (July). Not sure I’ve seen JY for July before, but it’s in Chambers
Down
1 FORESTRY Warnings test woodland management (8)
FORES (warnings) TRY (test)
2 HINDER That woman hiding Independent in hamper (6)
HER (that woman) containing (hiding) IND (Independent)
3 MODERATE Reasonable cost of fashion? (8)
It took me a while to see this. But the cost of fashion might be the mode rate
4 STATIC Jazz fans keeping it up still (6)
A reversal (up) of CATS (jazz fans) containing (keeping) IT (it)
5 INFLUX Arrival of unknown number following home sickness (6)
X (unknown number) after (following) IN (home) FLU (sickness)
7 NAUSEA Noisily chews kebab regularly causing feelings of revulsion (6)
A homophone (noisily) of GNAWS (chews) and the even (regulary) letters of kEbAb
8 SENSATIONAL Scandalous sonata lines rewritten (11)
An anagram (rewritten) of SONATA LINES
14 PRIORITY Sex in monastic quarters is important issue (8)
 An insertion (in) of IT (sex) into PRIORY (monastic quarters)
15 IMPOSING Impressive model’s declaration (8)
A model might say, ‘I’m posing’
16 MORASS Confusion in forum (or assembly) (6)
An answer hidden in (in) FORUM OR ASSEMBLY
17 WATERY Passage about head of Tudor queen is tasteless (6)
WAY (passage) containing (about) T (first letter = head of Tudor) ER (queen)
19 UTTERS Declaims truest composition (6)
An anagram (composition) of TRUEST
20 SCREAM Yell and run off, suppressing echo (6)
SCRAM (run off) containing (suppressing) E (echo)

 

16 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 953 Carpathian”

  3. For some reason NE corner gave me problems after a quick fill in for the rest.

    Thanks to Carpathian and nms. BTW 14d explanation was missed.

  5. This is only Carpathian’s second Guardian puzzle and, like its predecessor, a very good one.

    Such fine clueing, far away from any iffiness, is just perfect for those trying to learn the game. No fancy things to distract as it should be in this corner of Crosswordland.

    And enough to give more experienced solvers some value for money too.

    Carpathian’s alter ego has quickly become a favourite for many Indy solvers, and today she showed again that her style really suits the Quiptic spot – she’s not far off the top of the list, in my opinion.

    Many thanks to S & B (or V & D).

  8. Very enjoyable. Many thanks to Carpathian and NMS. Although I’m finishing them all now without the cheat buttons that I relied on in the early days, there’s often one or two I just can’t parse properly, usually as a result of geographically specific references or things I’ve just never heard of (may be an age barrier for cultural references?). Not so today – such a good feeling to come here and see confirmation that my brain does work!!

  9. Thanks for the comment, AussieNovice. Good to hear you’re enjoying the quiptics and that the blogs help you work out what’s what.

    You’ll be polishing off Enigmatist’s puzzles in under five minutes next 🙂

  10. AussieNovice @8 : lovely post … and that’s why Carpathian is such a good setter for the Quiptic spot!

    [unfortunately, the overall level of the Quiptic is not as consistent as it ideally should (or could) be, like e.g. The Times Quick Cryptic which is a much better starting point]

     

  12. @1 & @7 (muffin): If ZORROS is a word (was there only one?) it could well have gone into 16dn to provide the missing Z.

    Any other possibilities?

  13. Just found out that the ZORRO is a S. American fox-like critter.

    A bit obscure for a Quiptic.

    And then 22c would have to become CRITERIA or PRETORIA!!

  14. I was wondering if someone could help with a couple of points that I didn’t understand in this crossword?

    In 5 across, 6 across and 18 across various words are used that I need to to abbreviate to their initial letter to use in the solution. For example in 5 AC. caught has to abbreviated to “C”. In 6 AC  Time has to be abbreviated to “T” and 18 AC has Very and Old abbreviated to “V” and “O” respectively. I understand to use the leading letter when it’s indicated, as in 17 down 21 across. My question is, what in the clue indicates to me to use the leading letter as in 5, 6 and 18 across?

    My second point is about 7 down. Here I was looking for a homophone for “Chews” I didn’t realise that I had to find a synonym for Chews, i.e. “Gnaws” then find a homophone for that word. Again does anything indicate this situation, or do I have to think a bit deeper?

    Very much appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.

     

  15. Hello Martin

    Generally, the fact that you have to use an abbreviation isn’t indicated in the clue. So when you see ‘time’, ‘old’ or ‘caught’ in a clue there’s a good chance that you’re being asked to provide T, O and C. (But not always, of course.)

    You will occasionally see exceptions: ‘brief time’ for T, or ‘caught short’ for C, for example.

    Not all abbreviations are the first letter of the word abbreviated. For example, ‘king’ could indicate R (rex) as well as K. ‘About’ could indicate C (circa) or RE.

    There are two- and three-letter abbreviations as well. CO for company, DR for doctor, ST for street and so on.

    Sometimes abbreviations bear only an indirect relation to the word abbreviated: AB for sailor (able seaman), or GP for doctor, for example. Sailors might be RN (Royal Navy), students NUS (National Union of Students) or environmentalists FOE (Friends of the Earth).

    There are a huge number of abbreviations in use. Some are used very commonly, others not so often. Over time you gradually become familiar with them.

    On homophones, you generally have to find a synonym and then a homophone of the synonym. In 7d if the clue had read ‘noisily gnaws’ there wouldn’t have been much thinking to do 🙂

    I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Best for Puzzles site. It’s excellent for those learning the cryptic ropes:

    http://bestforpuzzles.com/index.html

    A site that has an excellent solving guide is Hoskins Crosswords:

    http://www.hoskinscrosswords.com/

    Good luck!

  16. Thank you very much for your reply. Really appreciate the explanations, they all are  very clear and will help me no end with my crossword solving.

    Regards

    Martin Stephenson.

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