Anto has the Quiptic for us this morning.
As you will have probably gathered by now, I find this setter on the whole unimaginative and stodgy, but I’m only the blogger and you’re all adults with your own opinions. But please don’t tell me that he/she deserves a go in the main Cryptic slot: unimaginative and stodgy is the same wherever it’s pitched.
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 Smart surgeon’s initial priority …
CLEAN CUT
A cd cum dd.
2 … it follows getting shot in bar
CHASER
Things may have changed since I were a lad, but a CHASER for me is a strong drink, like a whisky, taken after a less strong one, like a beer. Since a ‘shot’ is by definition a very strong drink, then I don’t think that this really works.
9 Excited at a rusty example of art
STATUARY
(AT A RUSTY)*
10 Detective finds headless writer in vessel
POIROT
An insertion of [B]IRO in POT.
12 Clouds naturally impair most bright images at first
NIMBI
The initial letters of the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth words of the clue.
13 Break down energy cable protecting fodder
GO HAYWIRE
The surface isn’t painting me a picture, but it’s an insertion of HAY in GO and WIRE.
14 Blast the city into pieces; it ensures fidelity
CHASTITY BELT
(BLAST THE CITY)*
18 Relocate series for available players
TRANSFER LIST
A charade of TRANSFER and LIST, and a football reference.
21 According to staff, medical department is secure
PERMANENT
A charade of PER, MAN and ENT for the setters’ favourite hospital department.
23 Badly crafted section stretches to cover inflated figures
LYCRA
Hidden in badLY CRAfted. Your figure doesn’t have to be ‘inflated’ to cover it in LYCRA: we’re not all MAMILs. Or I hope Anto isn’t defining cyclists as ‘inflated figures’.
24 Failure to attend meal — that hurts
NO SHOW
A charade of NOSH and OW!
25 Final trial reportedly overwhelmed witness
BETA TEST
A homophone of BEAT ATTEST.
26 One can cure skin — or damage it, perhaps?
TANNER
A dd, referencing a person who works with leather and one who spends too much time in the sun.
27 Person agreeing to put together dope record
ASSENTER
A charade of ASS and ENTER.
Down
1 Risky location for company hiding a transgression
CASINO
An insertion of A SIN in CO.
2 Old military type deserting Essex after mutiny
EX-ARMY
The setter is asking you to remove the middle letters of the last three words of the clue. Whether ‘deserting’ is a grammatically accurate way to do so is your call.
3 After resolving our sins he provides support
NOURISHES
(OUR SINS HE)*
4 Off the record, international body had an impact
UNREGISTERED
A charade of UN and REGISTERED.
6 Sweetheart changing name to Oscar? That’s rubbish!
HOOEY
You need to take the N out of HONEY and replace it with O, from the phonetic alphabet.
7 Ridiculous, as diners get packed in like this
SARDINES
(AS DINERS)* with and extended definition.
8 Shelters damaged tree covered in grasses
RETREATS
An insertion of (TREE)* in RATS.
11 Restrain characters promising rewards, if sent on
CHAIN LETTERS
A charade of CHAIN and LETTERS.
15 You get no thanks opposing such willing consent!
YES PLEASE
A cd cum dd, I guess.
16 Quick way to eliminate cockroach perhaps
STEP ON IT
Another cd cum dd.
17 Engineers rig sonar to show location of soldiers
GARRISON
(RIG SONAR)*
19 In France, here is the most remote
ICIEST
A charade of two French words, for ‘here’ and ‘is’: ICI and EST.
20 Raleigh, for one, makes change after wife …
WALTER
A charade of W and ALTER
22 … came to approve in great admiration
AWOKE
An insertion of OK in AWE.
Many thanks to Anto for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks Anto and Pierre
I must disagree – I really enjoyed this. The only duff one for me was YES PLEASE, which I don’t really understand.
My interpretation of CHASER ws always the same as yours, Pierre, but apparently it’s not the standard one, particularly in America, where the “chaser” is a (what they call) beer after the short.
Isn’t 2a a double definition: “it follows” and “shot in bar”?
Thanks for blog but as Muffin says, CHASER seems fine.With Anto, the percentage of annoying clues has shrunk to almost zero so hope he keeps it up.Best puzzle of the day for me.
Collins helpfully gives it as either way round! Google mostly seems to give the less alcoholic follow-on, though.
Like Pierre, I found this to be dull and almost gave up halfway through – but hey it’s free so who am I to complain?
I parsed CHASER the same as Andrew. BETA TEST didn’t work for me as I pronounce it “bay-ta” but maybe I’ve been mispronouncing all these years. No idea what’s going on with YES PLEASE.
Yes please is just the opposite response. Fancy a chaser? Yes please. Or no thanks if not. Nice start to the week. Thanks Anto and Pierre
I first heard the word used by my father at a do where the beer offered was particularly poor, so he ordered a “whisky and CHASER”. As he was a connoisseur, I think Anto’s use is fine.
I agree whith both blogger and setters, in that I tend to be a little apprehensive on seeing Anto’s name as the setter, but he/she does seem to be becoming more accessible.
Thanks Anto and Pierre
Just out of interest, in Greek the letter beta is pronounced VEET-a.
Found this accessible and enjoyable. Can’t agree with pierre’s put-down.
This puzzle took me more time than Armonie and Chifonie together and so I think this is, once more, not a Quiptic.
As copmus @3 says ‘the percentage of annoying clues has shrunk’. Yes, but not ‘to zero’.
The first clue I tackled was 17d and I thought ‘here we go again’. The anagram indicator ‘Engineers’ is really wrong and the first that sprang to mind was that ‘some setters never learn’.
Fortunately, it was in fact my only real objection today – a rarity when it comes to Anto’s crosswords.
Well, TRANSFER LIST defined as ‘available players’? I wouldn’t tell Mo Salah. And the ellipsis 1,5ac doesn’t make sense (at all).
On the other hand, I particularly liked 14ac (CHASTITY BELT) with its brilliant anagram.
Many thanks to Pierre (cheer up!) & Anto.
Enjoyed this as usual from this setter. 6D and 24D had me chuckling, and 14A was splendid too. Needed help parsing 2D: the clue might have been better as “Old army-centre type deserting Essex after mutiny.” Or something. And 25A held me up a bit because I’d pronounce the first word as “bait a” (like what I was taught at school!) rather than “beat a”.
It does seem Anto is having a terrible struggle creating smooth clues, so I’m with Pierre.
But this compiler is not to be denied easily: he keeps coming back, which is to be admired.
From the department of faint praise: Early on, many of Anto’s clues were simply unsound, so “unimaginative and stodgy” is quite an improvement.
Chaser: As a German I always found the idea of drinking hard stuff after a beer a tad strange. Where I live, people have their Schnaps (the shot) and then soften it up with beer.
If I can focus on the positive – which is really playing against type for me – this puzzle seemed to fit the quiptic category much more than past offerings. Also, to me a chaser is something softer that you drink after a shot of something hard.
With that out of the way, I find myself in agreement with most, if not all, of the criticisms. I was completely unable to parse EX-ARMY and BETA TEST. I now understand YES PLEASE thanks to Dutchman @ 6.
I also enjoyed this – as I generally do with this setter. No Show and Tanner raised a smile, and i stared at Go Haywire for an embarrassingly long time before the answer occurred to me. My biggest problem was with Beta Test. I’d never encountered this term before – and my partner had to explain that it’s the second phase of preparing a computer program for release. I wasn’t troubled by Yes Please though – it seemed obvious to me… Thanks to Anto and Pierre
Yes, thanks to both. Just a note that Anto’s puzzles have always been a pleasure – with many solvers I get to know how their mind works, but s/he always surprises and delights. OTOH, that’s just me I know.
I’ve got friends in low places, where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases my blues away
Garth Brooks.
I enjoyed this – thought it was a good mix of easy and difficult clues with some good penny drop moments.
My wife and I are not new to crosswords but are not so familiar with all of the crossword lore that it helps to know to solve a puzzle. On that front, could someone enlighten us as to just what the ellipses in clues mean (e.g. 1A, 5A)? We had assumed it meant that two clues were linked in some way but if that’s the case then we can’t see it. [Also I thought 2D was pants but each to his own].
Hi Mark, I’m a beginner too (so happy to be corrected) but I believe the ellipses are just used to link the surfaces of two clues together so they can be read as one (very tenuously in this case). Ellipses do sometimes suggest a connection between the answers but that seems dependent on the setter; the ones in the Quiptic slot seem to just be there because it makes writing surfaces easier.
Thanks Deebster, sometimes it seems clear … that the usage of ellipsis is unnecessary. In the case of 1a neither the answer nor the clues flow because of it. I may have to agree with Pierre (on Anto) that he/she doesn’t do it for me.
Seems to be a mistake in 14a, 14 Blast the city into pieces; it ensures fidelity -> CHASTITY BELT as there’s no letter H for the anagram. Or am I missing something?
And just as I hit the Return key I spotted it.