Quiptic 965 by Matilda

by

Matilda’s turn in the Quiptic slot this week.

Across
1 REDUCE Reproduce without professional cut (6)
A deletion (without) of PRO (professional) from REPRODUCE
4 COMMUTER Starting crossword on my morning uptown train, everyday routine for me (8)
The first letters (starting) of Crossword On My Morning Uptown Train Everyday Routine. The whole clue provides the definition
9 LICKED Tasted some garlic kedgeree (6)
An answer hidden in (some) garLIC KEDeree
10 AGENCIES A number of years since breakdown of businesses (8)
AGE (a number of years) plus an anagram (breakdown) of SINCE
11 EARNED Educated, dropped, left and got paid (6)
LEARNED (educated) minus the letter L (dropped left)
12 ONCE MORE Encore! (“encore” pieces take a little time) (4,4)
An anagram (pieces) of ENCORE containing (take) MO (a little time)
14 ENTHUSIASM Passion unexpectedly unseats him (10)
An anagram (unexpectedly) of UNSEATS HIM
18 TRANSLATED Put another way, I left train hammered (10)
TRAIN minus the letter I (I left) SLATED (hammered)
22 PEASANTS Game not hot for country folk (8)
PHEASANTS (game) minus the letter H (not hot)
23 PICNIC Eating out is an easy thing to do (6)
Two definitions. Eating out = PICNIC. An easy thing to do = PICNIC
24 AMBITION Without opening gambit leading in one’s new goal (8)
GAMBIT minus its first letter (without opening) plus the first letters (leading) of In One’s New
25 VACANT Empty small container into larger one (6)
CAN (small container) inside (into) VAT (larger one)
26 GOODNESS My dog’s nose twitched (8)
An anagram (twitched) of DOGS NOSE. Lovely
27 HEADER Shot to the top of the page (6)
Two definitions. Shot = HEADER. The top of the page = HEADER
Down
1 RELIEVED Happy to become ever idle (8)
An anagram (to become) of EVER IDLE
2 DECORATE Consider following art movement and paint (8)
RATE (consider) after (following) DECO (art movement)
3 CHEWED UP Nervous when bitten (6,2)
Two definitions. Nervous = CHEWED UP. Bitten = CHEWED UP
5 ORGANISING Arranging or singing a composition (10)
An anagram (compostion) of OR SINGING A
6 MANNER Sounds like a big house in a way (6)
A homophone (sounds like) of MANOR (a big house)
7 TAILOR Morality stripped and thrown in sewer (6)
An anagram (thrown) of MORALITY minus its first and last letters (stripped)
8 RESTED In here, St Edward slept (6)
An answer hidden in (in) heRE ST EDward
13 VIBRATIONS Shaking is repeatedly good for the Beach Boys! (10)
A reference to the lyrics of ‘Good Vibrations’ by the Beach Boys
15 ULTIMATE Perversely mutilate the greatest (8)
An anagram (perversely) of MUTILATE
16 STANDARD Measure flag (8)
Two definitions. Measure = STANDARD. Flag = STANDARD
17 EDUCATOR Teacher finding old coin in excavation outside Rome originally (8)
DUCAT (old coin) contained in (in) the first letters (originally) of Excavation Outside Rome
19 SPRANG Jumped after small crash (6)
S (small) PRANG (crash)
20 BAMBOO Type of grass that makes boob wobble about in the morning (6)
An anagram (wobble about) of BOOB contained in (in) AM (the morning)

Edit Thanks to beaulieu @ 1 for pointing out the correct parsing of this. It’s an anagram (wobble) of BOOB containing (about) AM in the morning. Must have still been half asleep when I wrote the original
21 CARTON Box of revolutionary Fats Domino tracks (6)
An answer hidden (of) in reverse (revolutionary) in DomiNO TRACks. What’s the ‘Fats’ doing here? You tell me

 

16 comments on “Quiptic 965 by Matilda”

  1. Thanks both.

    I think parsing of 20d isn’t quite right – I see it as an anagram (wobble) of BOOB, containing (about) AM.

  2. Thanks Matilda and nms

    Very nice – I agree GOODNESS is a lovely clue! I was thrown by Fats in 21 too, and failed to see the reverse hidden. I also initially took “hammered” in 18 as an anagram indicator, and managed to produce INFILTRATE – without, of course, seeing what it had to do with the rest of the clue…

    Not sure about VIBRATIONS. It’s a bit GK-y, and “repeatedly” seems unnecessary.

  3. Thanks both. Excellent Quiptic, good surfaces (I forgive FATS as it makes a nice clue). Maybe time for Matilda to have a trot in the “proper” slot

  4. I agree with beaulieu @ 1 re 20d.

    I was fine with Fats in the clue – it would have sounded weird without it (“Domino tracks”).

    My favourites were ONCE MORE and TAILOR.

    Thanks blogger and setter.

     

    * Muffin @2, what does “a bit GK-y” mean? Also, perhaps the “repeatedly” indicates plural?

  6. I agree that 26 was lovely. I really liked 11 and 7 as well.

    Thanks, Matilda and mms.

    Muffin and Michelle, perhaps repeatedly is from “Good, good, good, good vibrations”?

  7. beaulieu @ 1
    Thanks for pointing out the mis-pasing of BAMBOO. Blog now corrected.

    Bear of little brain @ 6
    That was how I understood the ‘repeatedly’ too.

     

  8. Thanks Matilda and nms.

    It’s generally regarded as a no-no to stuff an extra word (Fats) into a hidden answer.

    My! favourite was also GOODNESS.

  10. I think that Bear of little brain @6 is right about the meaning of “repeatedly” in 13d. Although the “good” is repeated at some points in the song, the title is just “Good Vibrations”, and it appears in the song with a single “good” sometimes, so the “repeatedly” seems to me to be a minor weakness with the clue, but certainly not a fatal flaw.

    I found this puzzle to be very entertaining, and pitched at the right level for a Quiptic. Like others, I found 26a to be a gem. I also liked the simple but elegant construction of 25a.

    Thanks to Matilda and newmarketsausage.

     

  11. As to 13d, I took ‘shaking’ as VIBRATION (singular). When it is repeatedly used, one gets VIBRATIONS and they were ‘good’ according to The Beach Boys, weren’t they?  I am a child of the Sixties but even in those days I thought that song was/is really overrated.

    Nice Quiptic.

    Thanks NMS & The Waltzing One.

  12. I wasn’t able to parse CARTON because the “Fats” threw me but there was a lot to like about this puzzle. I’ll echo Shirl @3’s hope that we’ll a Matilda cryptic soon.

    Sil vd Hoek @11:  Ik ook hou niet van de Beach Boys (bleh)!

  13. A delightful quiptic – thanks very much Matilda! Goodness, Vacant and Tailor were very smooth and elegant. Like Muffin, I thought at first that 18a was Infiltrate, but the crosses put paid to that – and Vibrations raised a smile. Even though the inclusion of “Fats” led to my spending far too long trying to parse “Fasten“ for 21d, I wasn’t annoyed at its inclusion; as has already been said, it makes the clue neater. Am I correct in thinking that setters are supposed to try and misdirect solvers??

  14. Glad someone else had gone with Fasten as a FATS anagram then tried to shoehorn the ending! Particularly liked commuter too, which will hopefully have rung true for many solvers.

  15. Lovely Quiptic and blog, thanks. My Minor Moan is “nervous” for “chewed up” in 3D. I know that “well i would never say that” is hardly academic argument of the highest calibre … maybe I just have the wrong vocabulary? Two thesauruses seem to agree with me but, hey, what do they know? I must add that among many lovely clues I thought 7D was fabulous – classic misdirection and impeccable logic!

  16. I agree that 7D was a great piece of clueing. Will I ever learn to consider unexpected meanings of words? (lower = cow, flower = river etc…). At least I got the reversed hidden clue in 21D this time! Did anyone else have ‘leader’ for 27A? I was convinced that shot was lead (in the firearms sense) but of course that left the -er unexplained…

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