A fun Quiptic from Matilda this morning, with a number of Easy Annies to get you going and clear cluing thereafter. One or two niggles, but as we keep discussing, one person’s niggle is another person’s what’s-your-problem.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Examining reading, ’riting or ’rithmetic sometimes leads to mistakes
ERRORS
The intitial letters (‘leads’) of the first six words of the clue.
4 What to wear — after dark that is!
NIGHTIE
A charade of NIGHT and IE for id est or ‘that is’. A cad.
9 Subtly act out “I am unconscious“
AUTOMATIC
(ACT OUT I AM)* with ‘subtly’ as the anagrind.
11 Prick not big in Brighton — unusual!
THORN
([B]R[IG]HTON)* with ‘unusual’ as the anagrind and ‘not in’ as the removal indicator. I’m not sure that THORN and ‘prick’ are synonyms. A THORN might give you a prick, but they aren’t the same thing. The surface conjures up a number of interesting possibilities, which I will leave to your collective imaginations.
12 Setter tip-off for the best looking
PRETTIEST
(SETTER TIP)*
13 Wept about Alpha Romeo being transported
CARRIED
An insertion of AR for ‘Alpha Romeo’ in CRIED. ‘Alpha Romeo isn’t abbreviated to AR,’ I hear you cry. The car indeed isn’t; but Matilda is referencing the phonetic alphabet, not the Italian automobile.
15 Ignore troubled area
REGION
(IGNORE)*
17 What solver does with soft seats
PARSES
A charade of P for the musically ‘soft’ and ARSES. Well, we sometimes do; if not, we come to Fifteensquared where some kind soul will usually do it for us.
19 Lay a friend you are texting!
AMATEUR
One would hope that, if you were, modern etiquette would advise that you put down your phone during coitus; but anything goes these days, I hear. A charade of A MATE and UR.
22 Converted pantheist once
IN THE PAST
(PANTHEIST)*
24 Surrounded by some roving nomads heading west
AMONG
Hidden reversed (‘going west’) in rovinG NOMAds.
26 Small drink
SHORT
A dd.
27 Los Angeles city cut fish back — that’s handy!
PRACTICAL
A reversal of LA, CIT[Y] CARP.
28 Lusted after teacher indeed
DESIRED
A ‘lift and separate’ clue: you need to separate IN and DEED, then it’s SIR in DEED.
29 Members of commune are really not so far away
NEARER
Hidden in commuNE ARE Really.
Down
1 Bouncy castle I burst
ELASTIC
(CASTLE I)*
2 Nelson losing house that is small in proportion
RATIO
[HO]RATIO. You need to read HO as ‘house that is small’.
3 Italian jerks are dreamy types
ROMANTICS
A charade of ROMAN and TICS.
4 Dodgy uncle with a right sort of family
NUCLEAR
A charade of (UNCLE)* A and R.
5 Enormous soldiers
GIANT
A charade of two types of ‘soldier’: GI and ANT.
6 So, free other suspect
THEREFORE
(FREE OTHER)* with ‘suspect’ as the anagrind.
7, 10 Kind of car with a man who says it’s deceptively spacious?
ESTATE AGENT
An extended definition, and a charade of ESTATE for ‘kind of car’ and A GENT, and referencing the fact that the classic ESTATE AGENT jargon is to describe a property as ‘deceptively spacious’, which often translates as ‘pokey’. Other examples are ‘must be viewed internally to be appreciated’ (‘looks shit from the outside’) and ‘huge scope for improvement’ (‘derelict’). And if someone could tell estate agents that you cannot say that a property ‘comprises of three bedrooms’ then I would be eternally grateful.
8 Dopey puts up papers
STUPID
A reversal of PUTS followed by ID.
14 Responses in reference to lawsuits
REACTIONS
A charade of RE and ACTIONS.
16 Protection from age developed with nature
GUARANTEE
(AGE NATURE)*
18 Impressed by brief herd movement
STAMPED
STAMPED[E]
19 Opera music: latest Rameau aria will finally be real
ACTUAL
A charade of ACT and the last letters of ‘Rameau aria will‘. Edit: in fact it’s the last letters of the first six words of the clue. Thanks to Blaise and Michelle for putting me right.
20 Soldier‘s uniform
REGULAR
A dd.
21 Avoided fog by the sound of it
MISSED
A homophone of ‘mist’.
23 Go in with key
ENTER
A dd, referencing the ENTER key on your keyboard.
25 Wilde‘s award
OSCAR
Another dd, referencing the Irish playwright and the Academy Awards.
Many thanks to Matilda for this morning’s Quiptic. Anything I haven’t explained properly, just ask: I or someone else will fill in the gaps.
Loved your incidental comments, Pierre.
I read ACTUAL as just the final letters of “operA musiC: latesT rameaU ariA wilL”
This was fabulous fun. My favourites were 19a, 5d and a gasp at 7d.
I laughed out loud at Pierre’s comments @ 19 and 7/10.
I agree with Blaise @1 re 19d.
Thanks Matilda and Pierre.
Thanks, both. Corrected now.
Thanks Matilda and Pierre
Blessed relief compared with the stinker in the paper. I liked IN THE PAST!
“prick” for “thorn” is acceptable metonymy, not so sure about “house that is small”; “scale” (model railroad) might have made a better surface.
Thanks Matilda and Pierre. Sadly I missed 17a. I’ve watched enough British television I should have got ARSES but used ASSES although I didn’t think it really made sense. A good Monday morning puzzle.
I have to confess, I didn’t see a connection with sex in 19A: I simply thought it was “lay” as in “lay preacher”.
Mind you, since I bow to the mental supremacy of FS’s cruciverbalists, I will happily accept that you all possess equally impressive physical skills – but even so, surely one would need both hands for texting (one to hold the phone, t’other to type) which might make it a tad tricky during sex…?
Wellbeck @7 — surely most habitual texters do it single-handed (fingers to hold the phone, thumb to press the keys)?
Texting using voice recognition works for me, Wellbeck.
Wellbeck and John E
Apparently there is a generational difference in how people ring doorbells – most of us use the forefinger, but texters (generally younger) use their thumbs.
I’m a bit surprised at the comments on BOLSHY. For me it precisely describes an awkward attitude – i.e. mental rather than physical awkwardness. I don’t think I’ve heard it used to mean anything else.
“Look out – here’s that bolshy poster again!”
Sorry – somehow managed to post that on the wrong thread!
Dear Pierre, Muffin & John E
I’ve just had a quick practice and what d’ye know, I find I can indeed text perfectly easily one-handed – fingers holding the phone, thumb doing the typing. What’s more, it’s equally feasible with left or right hand. Yay, what a brilliant blog this is: not only am I learning ever more about crossword solving, I’m also upping my texting technique!!
My copy of Collins includes “that which pricks” among the definitions of “prick”.
[Ted @14
A bit recursive? I’m just reading – OK, I admit, just given up on – I am a strange loop by Douglas Hofstader, (of Godel, Escher and Bach fame) in which he seems to be working towards explaining consciousness as a form of recursiveness.]
Wellbeck @13
Be careful not to overdo it — you could find yourself in need of a cock-up wrist splint!
http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2094077
Lovely puzzle. The responses/lawsuits in 14d took me a while because my brain got stuck on RETORTS as a 2-letters-too-short-answer and I couldn’t see anything else.
And I couldn’t parse GI ANT, and missed the keyboard meaning of ENTER so thanks for the help on those.
A week late but just had to add my appreciation of Pierre’s comments and the texting debate.