Quiptic 1,005 by Hectence

26 comments on “Quiptic 1,005 by Hectence”

1. Thanks Hectence and nms

   An odd one for me. I entered APPOINT and CHEETAH with the vague feeling that there might be other solutions that worked. I had no idea of the parsing of INTRODUCE or DESERVE (and, having seen the explanations, I’m not surprised! – not Quiptic clues).

   I’m not sure whether to praise or criticise “second-class” for L, but I didn’t see that either.

   GIRAFFE was favourite.

2. Thanks for the blog. 21 is thru (American “in and out”) + Sts, Def is “drives”.

   I read 18 as a double def although ratlines was I thought the term used for escape route support in WW2.

3. Thanks both. As so often, the Quiptic is tougher than the Cryptic. Maybe they should swap?
   Clues like the ones that muffin @1 has specified and also 22a (which I liked) don’t really belong in this level of puzzle

4. I’ve done the main puzzle now. This was much harder.

5. 14D: Got the answer from the crossings and part of the wordplay but still unsure how ME = condition?

6. Ram @5

   See here. It’s also known as Chronic Fatigyue Syndrome.

7. Muffin @6: Thanks, didn’t know this!

8. I read 21D as Thru, in and out of (American for through), sts = streets. Thanks to Hectence and nms.

9. Thanks newmarketsausage and Hectence.

   Sorry, could someone please explain why “condition” is “me” in 14d?

10. crosser

    See comments 5 & 6 above.

11. I also thought that this was a bit difficult for a Quiptic.

    I don’t quite see how UPHOLSTER can be defined by the phrase “cushion chair”, and I’m still not convinced I know how RAT-RUNS works.

    I saw the Q and the J early on and was on the lookout for a pangram, but no Z ever appeared.

     

     

12. Ted @11

    I think you have to take “cushion” as a verb. A bit odd, still, but it just about works.

13. In 12a, how does “game” give RU?

14. dbmag9 @13

    RU is an abbreviation for the game of Rugby Union.

15. Sorry if I’m being slow on the uptake here, but why is it “priest’s to run” in 11A, and not “priest runs”? I assumed the apostrophe had some relevance, and that there was a clever reason why it wasn’t simply priests – but the answer is in the singular…

16. Hello Wellbeck. Don’t think you’re being slow on the uptake at all 🙂

    I think the setter intended the apostrophe s (‘s) to be read as ‘is’, acting as a link word between definition and wordplay: [definition] is [wordplay].

    That makes the ‘to’ redundant. It has no cryptic purpose and has just been included to make the surface read more smoothly.

    However, the abbreviation R can stand for ‘run’ or ‘runs’. As you point out ‘Priest runs …’ would make perfect sense in both the cryptic and the surface readings, and would mean that no link word is needed.

17. Thanks newmarketsausage! Sometimes one can overthink these clues…
    Then again, sometimes, try as I may, underthinking them is the best I can manage – so the patient explanations by you and your FS colleagues are really appreciated! x

18. Is “join” really a correct definition for Unity?

19. Hello Bob C. The answer is ‘unify’ not ‘unity’ 🙂

20. I rather enjoyed it but some clues drove me nuts. Success, then?? 🙂

21. I was pleased to see that it wasn’t just me who found this difficult. Thank you for the explanation of “ME” = “condition”, could not see that. I have two other requests for an explanation if someone can help I’d be very grateful. Firstly for the life of, me, In 2D I cannot see how “Obstruction” = “Let”? Probably very obvious however I cannot see it. Also in 16D how does “inserted” translate to “Blocking”.

    I’ll probably have a go at Monday’s cryptic for a bit of light relief after this one:)

    Many thanks to all the contributors for their questions and answers, much appreciated.

22. Don’t understand how second class is ‘L’, space is ‘EN’, how obstruction is ‘LET’, or any of the definition for 18D. Parsing for 16D or 21D is awkward. Frustrating as we usually have fun with Hectence but this one was really Cryp and not very Quip… Some nice anagrams though.

23. IMO, deserve isn’t at all the same as “be entitled to”. And I’m not convinced that replete and “charged” mean the same thing either.

24. Martin @ 21
    From Collins online
    Let
    1. an impediment or obstruction (esp in the phrase without let or hindrance)
    In 16d the E blocks/obstructs the RUT, i.e. is inserted in it

    Slim @ 22
    The blog explains how ‘second-class’ = L. It’s the second letter of the word class.
    An en is a printer’s measure.
    A rat run is a short cut used by cars. A spy might possibly be described as a rat.

    rogerb @ 23
    Both Collins and Oxford give ‘be entitled to’ as a synonym for ‘deserve’. And both give ‘charged’ as a synonym for ‘replete’.

25. Re newmarketsausage @24, many thanks for the explanation, very much appreciated. I had forgotten that “let” is used when a tennis ball hits the net, i.e is obstructed by the net as well as the example you point out of “let and hindrance”. I’m getting my mind around “blocking” = “obstruct”, in fact, it’s very obvious when I step back and look:)

26. ME is a medical condition ME = myalgic encephalomyelitis also called chronic fatigue syndrome….

    Let is a contronym..it means both allow or obstruct….6d and 16d are too tough to be quiptic…

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