A delightful Quiptic from Pan this morning which will have given many less experienced solvers the ‘yes, finished it!’ experience. If there is anything that I haven’t explained well enough, just ask.
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 One skilled in drawing game given to king (or queen)
DRAUGHTSMAN
A charade of DRAUGHTS and MAN, with a nod to the fact that even the ‘queen’ in chess is referred to as a ‘man’. Perhaps gender fluidity isn’t such a recent concept after all.
9 Woman catching the French disease
MALARIA
An insertion of LA for one of the French words for ‘the’ in MARIA. The ‘French disease’ is in fact syphilis, but that’s by-the-by.
10 A muse associated with actor’s last “breathing” system
AERATOR
Usually ERATO is the solution (because not much else fits E?A?O), but here she follows A and precedes R for the last letter of ‘actor’.
11 Criminal playing second clarinet
LARCENIST
(S CLARINET)*
12 Polish commentary on text
GLOSS
A dd. The second one is a technical usage, but it’s exactly that: to provide an explanation or commentary on a written text.
13 Very little money taken by Khartoum’s first open-air market
SOUK
A charade of SOU for the old French low denomination coin and K for the first letter of ‘Khartoum’. There is a French expression je n’ai pas un sou for when you’re really broke. In English you might say that you didn’t have two pennies to rub together.
14 Backward reader got confused about the end of chapter
RETROGRADE
(READER GOT)* around R for the last letter of ‘chapter’.
16 A bent tuber spoilt vegetable
BUTTER BEAN
(A BENT TUBER)*
19 Sailor carrying second Russian emperor
TSAR
An insertion of S in TAR.
21 Article about a particular place
THERE
A simple charade of THE and RE.
22 Shocked to find animal beginning to graze next to wounded deer
STAGGERED
A charade of STAG, G for the first letter of ‘graze’ and (DEER)*
24 Sextet are portrayed coming back to accept work
OPERATE
Hidden reversed (‘coming back to accept’) in sextET ARE POrtrayed.
25 Female touring Republic of Ireland initially gaining the heart of Connemara idol
HEROINE
An insertion of ROI for the abbreviation for the country in HEN, followed by E for the middle letter (‘heart’) of ‘Connemara’.
26 Don’t alter this prediction for the future, or cut out a listening device
STETHOSCOPE
A charade of STET for the printer’s instruction to ignore an amendment to text and H[OR]OSCOPE.
Down
1 Doctor reunited with slimmer getting the shakes
DELIRIUM TREMENS
(REUNITED SLIMMER)* gives you the condition most often experienced by people undertaking sudden withdrawal from over-consumption of alcohol.
2 Consent obtained by a European, almost
AGREE
A charade of A and GREE[K]
3 German train derailed by bottom of loose rock
GRANITE
A charade of G, (TRAIN)* AND E for the last letter (‘bottom’) of ‘loose’.
4 Area of land getting alternative vehicle
TRACTOR
A charade of TRACT and OR.
5 Aggro met arranging a loan
MORTGAGE
(AGGRO MET)* The word is derived from the old French for ‘dead pledge’, which is what it’s like when you’ve got one and it feels like you’ll never pay it off.
6 Ancestor in a live re-enactment of compulsory time in the military
NATIONAL SERVICE
(ANCESTOR IN A LIVE)*
7 Special places to buy pants?
SMALLS
A charade of S and MALLS.
8 Fish wars breaking out with some excitement to begin with
WRASSE
A charade of (WARS)* and S and E for the first letters of ‘some’ and ‘excitement’.
15 Bishop always has time for a drink!
BEVERAGE
A charade of B, EVER and AGE.
16 Spa city’s huge feeling of anticlimax
BATHOS
A charade of the city of BATH and OS for ‘outsize’ or ‘large’.
17 Petition involving empty syringe found in tree
BESEECH
An insertion of the outside letters of ‘syringe’ in BEECH.
18 A priest longs to see Native Americans
APACHES
A charade of A, P and ACHES.
20 More embarrassed, one way or another
REDDER
It’s ‘one way or another’ because REDDER is a palindrome.
23 Dress put on old film star
GARBO
A charade of GARB and O.
Many thanks to Pan for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks Pan and PeterO
Perfect. I particularly liked STEHOSCOPE.
Thanks Pan and PeterO
Lovely quiptic to warm up the brain on a Monday morning, stethoscope was particularly good although I didn’t fully parse it at first – “stet” and crossers got me there. Staggered was also a very pleasing one.
Thanks to Pierre rather – took muffin’s lead. I plead not enough coffee…
Yes, sorry Pierre! PeterO did the Cryptic.
Also steThoscope!
….including a bird picture!
Merci Pierre et Pan! A quick delight – good combination of clue types, some misleading surfaces (the spa held me up for a bit) and delightful clues. The long ‘uns went in a bit too easily without having to solve anagrams so I pieced together the parsing afterwards but I suspect this whole crossword was a lot harder to set than it looks so a round of applause for it I’d say.
Thanks Pan, for an excellent quiptic. I especially enjoyed 8d and 9a. Thanks also to Pierre for decoding the otherwise puzzling gender allusion in 1a.
The first one I’ve finished, though not without a bit of setting straight on two or three clues from an excellent and expert friend. Liked STAGGERED and deployed tea tray when I got GARBO. I was convinced there was a way to make it FROCK (Hudson).
Thanks to both and a good start to the week when taken with a dose of Chifonie.
I particularly liked STAGGERED because, what other animal would you find by a wounded deer than a stag?
This was nice–and as so often happens, a stiffer challenge for me than the regular Monday offering. I was unfamiliar with the fish (as I so often am), but the clue was clear enough that it could hardly have been anything else.
I toyed briefly with MALAISE instead of MALARIA, but quickly decided that Maria was a woman’s name, while Maise is at best a misspelling of one. With apologies to all the Maisies out there whose moms can’t spell.
My first crossword for a year and I finished it. Rufus was my usual fare, so this was rather appropriate for me. Enjoyed 7D. Many thanks to Pierre for the explanations.