Quiptic 963 by Moley

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Moley’s turn in the Quiptic slot this week.

Across
1 WAISTS Son goes in, waits in narrower parts (6)
An insertion (goes in) of S (son) into WAITS (waits)
4 SWOOPING GPO is now rationalised but it’s taking a nosedive (8)
An anagram (rationalised) of GPO IS NOW
9 LOUSY Dirty look at you and me one year after (5)
LO (look) next to (at) US (you and me) followed by (after) Y (one year)
10 OURSELVES Santa’s little helpers belong to us first — us personally! (9)
ELVES (Santa’s little helpers) preceded by (first) OURS (belong to us). But is ‘ours’ really equivalent to ‘belong to us’?
11 WRITTEN UP Summons a number at university recorded (7,2)
WRIT (summons) TEN (a number) UP (at university)
12 WORSE Sew around or it gets more difficult (5)
I think this is intended to be an anagram of SEW containing (around) OR (or). But if so, we’re missing an anagram indicator
13 STORM TROOPER Furore over weird report on nameless member of the Brownshirts (5,7)
I think this is intended to be STORM (furore) and an anagram (weird) of REPORT O (on less N = name, or on nameless). But if so, what is the ‘over’ doing?
17 ICE-CREAM SODA America’s code translated as ‘cold drink‘ (3-5,4)
An anagram (translated) of AMERICAS CODE
20 LONER Londoner (academic) left to become a hermit (5)
LONDONER minus DON (academic left)
21 UNSIGHTLY Ugly view unsettling us nightly (9)
I thinkthis is intended to be an anagram (unsettling) of US NIGHTLY. But what is the ‘view’ doing?
23 BEASTLIER It’s more unpleasant having tails wagging, as drink circulates (9)
BEER (drink) containing (circulates) an anagram (wagging) of TAILS
24 FOLIO Manuscript from old library in Oxford initially (5)
The first letters (initially) of From Old Library In Oxford
25 SPENDERS Shoppers pay out with hesitation? Sure, just to start with! (8)
SPEND (pay out) plus (with) ER (hesitation) S (first letter = just to start with of sure)
26 ORNATE Otherwise neat, fancy decoration (6)
I think this is intended to be OR (otherwise) and an anagram (fancy) of NEAT. But that leaves us with a noun (decoration) defining an adjective (ornate)
Down
1 WILD WEST Rugged region of old-time American movies (4,4)
I think this is intended to be a cryptic definition
2 IN UNISON Altogether in agreement (2,6)
Two definitions
3 TRYST Lovers’ meeting in country style (5)
An answer hidden in (in) counTRY STyle
5 WORD PROCESSOR PC Wood’s errors knocked over writing and editing system (4,9)
An anagram (knocked over) of PC WOODS ERRORS
6 OVERWHELM Done with steering gear in swamp (9)
OVER (done) W (with) HELM (steering gear)
7 INVERT Sort out introverts and turn back (6)
INTROVERTS (minus the letters of sort = sort out)
8 GASPED Great ape at first moved quickly, then panted heavily (6)
GA (the first letters = at first of great and ape) SPED (moved quickly)
10 OWNER-OCCUPIER Person with property who lives at home (5-8)
A cryptic definition
14 MACERATED Steeped valued spice first (9)
RATED (valued) preceded by (first) MACE (spice)
15 TORTILLA Lot involved in new trial of pancake (8)
An anagram (involved) of LOT contained in (in) an anagram (new) of TRIAL
16 LADY-LOVE Woman with devotion for sweetheart (4-4)
LADY (woman) plus (with) LOVE (devotion)
18 ALIBIS One bails out, having excuses for not being there (6)
An anagram (out) of I (one) and BAILS
19 INNATE Fashionable and neat, perhaps: it’s natural (6)
IN (fashionable) and (and) an anagram (perhaps) of NEAT. A second clue using an anagram of neat
22 GOFER One running errands for Chinese game umpire who’s retired (5)
GO (Chinese game) plus a reversal (who’s retired) of REF (umpire)

 

10 comments on “Quiptic 963 by Moley”

  1. Thanks Moley and nms

    Quite hard for a Quiptic, I thought. I agree about ORNATE, and I didn’t like TORTILLA either, as it isn’t an anagram of LOT inside an anagram of TRIAL.

    I had “over” giving the O in STORM TROOPER – but that leaves “nameless” unaccounted for!

  3. 12A. I took ‘around’ as anagram indicator.  I found today’s Quiptic unusuallyeasy, taking just 15-20 minutes.

  5. Thanks both. Some clues a little weak (e.g. WILD WEST) but it’s a free crossword and nobody forces me to solve it!

  6. An enjoyable puzzle. I must be getting the hang of these as I wouldn’t have minded a little more challenge.  I liked WRITTEN UP and LONER for the wordplay. Thanks Moley and newmarketsausage.

  7. I found this extremely easy, in fact some clues – such as Wild West, Owner Occupier, and Lady Love – were so obvious that I presumed there had to be some trick and these weren’t actually the correct solutions. Lady Love is very weak – and Owner Occupier strikes me as just a straight definition. Maybe there’s some extra wordplay in both that I’m missing. I do hope so, for I rather like Moley’s work….

  8. I think this was one of those occasions that Moley had an off-day.

    That said, most clues are well-suited to Quiptic spot, although some were – confirmed by some above – a tad too easy [see 1ac, 21ac or the ones Wellbeck mentioned].  But if solvers – and especially beginning solvers – enjoyed it, that’s a clear plus.

    So why did I talk about an off-day?  For the same reasons that NMS gave in his excellent blog (10ac, 12ac, 13ac, the real mistake in 26ac, the double use of NEAT* – really too many) but also the dubious anagram indicator in 4ac or the fact that perhaps 7d needs a second anagram indicator [some might disagree, though – hence ‘perhaps’].  I also think that clueing Y with ‘one year’ isn’t great, even if defendable. On balance, I think these things wouldn’t have passed the test in the Indy but, then, this is The Guardian [actually the paper that suits me best] – rules? what rules?

    This puzzle fits the bill for its apt level of difficulty, and for its solvability. Whether it’s my cup of tea, that’s another matter. Who cares, though.

     

  9. For 12A, is maybe “around” the anagram indicator, and “it gets” the insertion indicator?

    It’s a little Yoda-y, but: “SEW” around, “OR” it gets.

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