Another fine Quiptic offering from Matilda, I thought. One or two little niggles, and no birds, but overall nothing to frighten the horses – just as this puzzle should be. What did you make of it?
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Mostly saves for a long time then tears to pieces
SAVAGES
A charade of SAV[ES] and AGES. You have to read ‘mostly’ as ‘the majority of’ – in other words, three letters out of five. Some folk don’t like this, but it’s clear enough for me.
5 Smallest skirt for mother
MINIMUM
A charade of MINI and MUM.
9 In brochure: literature about someone who works with walls and floors
TILER
Hidden reversed in brochuRE LITerature. The hidden indicator is ‘in’; the reversal indicator is ‘about’.
10 Control coach interfering with others
RESTRAINT
An insertion of TRAIN in REST.
11 Gently unravel line, gently cutting top
LENIENTLY
A charade of (LINE)* and [G]ENTLY.
12 Don’t drop this letter!
AITCH
A whimsical way of reminding you not to drop your AITCHES, as many English dialects – notably Cockney, if indeed that really exists any more – do.
13 Fear of father taking note
DREAD
An insertion of RE in DAD. Doh, a deer, a female deer, ray …
15 Clumsy, chaotic — I’m shafted!
HAM-FISTED
(IM SHAFTED)*
18 Pro offer Ned rejected is not allowed
FORBIDDEN
A charade of PRO, BID and NED reversed.
19 Some snake danced — not 20!
NAKED
Hidden in sNAKE Danced. The solution to 20 is DRESSED.
21 Turn back to secure victory that is due
OWING
It’s my turn/go to blog the Quiptic today. Reverse GO and insert WIN and you’ve got your answer.
23 Remove a timeline accidentally
ELIMINATE
(A TIMELINE)*
25 Surprisingly, Noel or Sid keep at it
SOLDIER ON
(NOEL OR SID)*
26 Aches starting? Probably analgesia is needed soon
PAINS
The starting letters of the last five words of the clue.
27 Proficiency of PM snatching disturbed rest
MASTERY
An insertion of (REST)* in [Teresa] MAY, who is walking in Italy while the rest of her cabinet continue to plot against her. On which note, since puzzles are set weeks in advance, setters might be advised not to clue PM as MAY in the near future.
28 Mixed luddite cocktail
DILUTED
(LUDDITE)*
Down
1 Agreed ladettes removed a drunk
SETTLED
(L[A]DETTES)*
2 Offer to work for no money
VOLUNTEER
A bit of a weak dd, since the whole clue also works as a non-cryptic definition.
3 Overeat Cheddar?
GORGE
A dd.
4 Saint gagged and put on the rack
STRETCHED
A charade of ST and RETCHED.
5 Sentimental about peas?
MUSHY
Another dd, or you could see it as a cd, I suppose. Just think: when we’ve Brexited, the bloody EU won’t be able to threaten to ban mushy peas. Or straight bananas. And the entire population of Turkey won’t be able to enter Blighty and take all our jobs. Bliss.
6 Story turned into rant on air
NARRATION
This is (RANT ON AIR)*
7 Majority accept Matilda is slightly wet
MOIST
An insertion of I in MOST.
8 Game editor suited
MATCHED
A charade of MATCH and ED.
14 Carrying out schedule inside
DOING TIME
A charade of DOING and TIME, and referring to spending time in prison (‘inside’).
16 It was said guys rejected broadcast
MENTIONED
A homophone of MEN SHUNNED. You have to take the homophone indicator as ‘it was said’ and the definition as ‘broadcast’, rather than the other way round.
17 Understand the subtlety of kit Athena’s thrown out
TAKE A HINT
(KIT ATHENA)*
18 Refuse female almost deliriously
FLOTSAM
A charade of F and (ALMOST)* Not to be confused with JETSAM. FLOTSAM is the part of a shipwreck that has floated off of its own accord; JETSAM is that which has been deliberately thrown overboard. To float and to jettison are the root verbs in the unlikely event that you want to remember the difference. It used to be important, because first dibs on claiming it when it washed ashore used to be dependent on whether it was one or t’other.
20 Covered crab or salad?
DRESSED
Another (weakish) dd.
22 In Calais lessons could be British?
ISLES
Hidden in CalaIS LESsons.
23 Probably am there ahead of schedule
EARLY
Another dd: you have to read ‘am’ as ante meridiem or ‘in the morning’.
24 Time spell without any border force
IMPEL
Matilda is asking you to remove the ‘borders’ of the first two words of the clue: so [T]IM[E] [S]PEL[L].
Many thanks to her for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks Matilda and Pierre
Yes, a good one. I liked PAINS and MENTIONED. Thanks for parsing EARLY – I missed the “a.m.”.
I wasn’t too keen on AITCH,
Thanks Matilda and Pierre. As you say, no equines disturbed here.
[re 12a:Pet Hate no 5923. At our local cinema, we often sit in row H. This is invariably pronounced “Haitch” by whichever teenager is checking tickets. And we don’t live in Ireland]
This was good fun. I agree with you Pierre about the weakness of Volunteer, and I groaned at the weak-pun aspect of Mushy, but on the other hand, Naked and Dressed were neat, and Doing Time was splendid – Masterly, in fact!
Speaking of that last one, I really enjoy your added snippets of info and opinion, Pierre. For example, I’d long known the difference between flotsam and jetsam – but had no idea there was a reason why it mattered.
So thanks to Matilda for a pleasant start to the week, and to Pierre for gently increasing my general knowledge…
I agree – an enjoyable bit of fun, though I also felt that VOLUNTEER was a bit weak.
Many thanks to Matilda and Pierre.
[Wellbeck: I also knew which is which, but also knew why it mattered. However, I didn’t know the root verbs, so extra thanks to Pierre for this information. I also enjoyed the asides at 27a and 5d.]
Thanks Matilda and Pierre for another enjoyable Monday morning. For some reason my solutions went in clockwise from bottom right and ended at top right. Nothing jumps out at me as being a problem clue but, as must be, some resulted in a wry smile and others with a slightly raised eyebrow.
Almost my first complete unaided solve, but alas I was unfamiliar with the spelling of “H”. Seems so obvious now! I slowed myself down a fair bit by entering “sweet” instead of “mushy” for 5D, but my 1 and 3 year old let me drink coffee AND do a crossword this morning, so it’s a lovely start to the week! Thanks Matilda and Pierre.
Great to see so many people liking this crossword. It was one fitting the bill, surely. What more could you want?
Well, on the Guardian website someone said that this was a masterclass in Quiptic setting. My first two entries were 5ac and the crossing 7d. Unfortunately, both immediately raised my eyebrows. No so very long ago Pasquale said at this place “I would never use ‘for’ as an indication to add something“. I couldn’t agree more, apparently Matilda doesn’t. In 7d ‘accept’ is just plain wrong. This is, unlike perhaps the aforementioned use of ‘for’, not a matter of taste. ‘Majority’ is singular and needs a singular form of the verb.
Meanwhile, Matilda using the past tense in 1d and 6d is also dubious. Yes, I know, most solvers cannot be bothered but there is actuallly something like ‘cryptic grammar’.
I think the clues for ‘aitch’, ‘volunteer’ and ‘dressed’ were awful but the editor apparently doesn’t agree.
However, I liked Matilda using ‘without any border’ in 24d.
80% good, 20% not good (in my opinion).
But, true, nicely pitched for the Quiptic spot.
Many thanks to Pierre & Matilda.
Fun and easy puzzle.
Thanks Matilda and Pierre