Matilda has, as usual, given us a fine Quiptic this morning. Just right for its target audience, I think.
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 Broken toe? A Band-Aid? It could work!
NOT A BAD IDEA
(TOE A BAND AID)*
9 Administer religious rite to defraud business
CONFIRM
A charade of CON and FIRM. CONFIRMATION is a sacrament in the Christian tradition.
10 Rural gripe after bureau cleared out
BUCOLIC
A charade of BU for the outside letters of ‘bureau’ and COLIC.
11 What a big bird has following dinner at the Ritz?
LARGE BILL
A cd cum dd. Well, the Ritz is a bit pricey, isn’t it?
12 Two embrace five found on a bed …
DUVET
An insertion of V for the Roman numeral ‘five’ in DUET.
13 … therefore organ’s flaccid
SOFT
A charade of SO for ‘therefore’ and FT for the Financial Times, an example of an ‘organ’. The ellipses joining the two clues can – as almost always – be ignored. They just make a bit more sense of the two surface readings.
14 Poet‘s value of expressions
WORDSWORTH
A cd, splitting the sense down into WORDS’ WORTH.
16 Party animals composed texts about dog
EXTROVERTS
An insertion of ROVER, the archetypal dog, in (TEXTS)* The anagrind is ‘composed’.
19 French fry a little bit
CHIP
A dd.
21 Squirm from naval war commander (retd)
CRAWL
Hidden reversed (‘retired’) in navaL WAR Commander.
22 Leading law report
PRINCIPAL
A homophone of PRINCIPLE. The homophone indicator is ‘report’ and I wish writers would be more careful with the difference between these two spellings.
24 Silly nan leaving indication out
IDIOTIC
Matilda is inviting you to remove ‘nan’ from ‘indication’ and make an anagram. So it’s (I[N]DIC[A]TIO[N])* with ‘out’ as the anagrind.
25 To rig a microphone involves special paperwork
ORIGAMI
Hidden in tO RIG A MIcrophone.
26 Reckon visitor introduced second couple after one
GUESSTIMATE
An insertion of T into GUEST, then I and MATE. Mating, seven in a bed, flaccid organs … and we haven’t got to the downs yet.
Down
1 Informant poking dubious charity
NON-PROFIT-MAKING
(INFORMANT POKING)*
2 Rubbish learner abandoned three times
TRIPE
TRIP[L]E
3 Disney’s classic tear-jerker switched on for little one
BAMBINO
A charade of BAMBI and ON reversed. Always gets me when Bambi learns his Dad has died. Every time.
4 Experimented, got bad back and haemorrhaged!
DABBLED
A charade of BAD reversed and BLED.
5 Mind your head in 12?
DUCK DOWN
A dd: a DUVET (solution to 12ac) might well be filled with DUCK DOWN.
6 Everywhere is very disorganised
ALL OVER THE PLACE
Another dd.
7 Working class pocketing drug balances
SCALES
An insertion of E for the setters’ favourite drug in (CLASS)* The anagrind is ‘working’.
8 Put an end to hard liquor
SCOTCH
And another dd.
15 OTT elite outlandishly attending to appearance
TOILETTE
(OTT ELITE)*
16 Setter clued puzzle for mathematician
EUCLID
A bit naughty, since this is an indirect anagram. You need to transform ‘setter’ into ‘I’ and then you have (I CLUED)* with ‘puzzle’ as the anagrind.
17 Waits for sexy specs etc (use without frames)
EXPECTS
The central letters (‘without frames’) of sEXy, sPECs, eTc and uSe.
18 City‘s stumble over refined oil
TRIPOLI
A charade of TRIP and (OIL)* gives you the Libyan city that’s in the news right now for the wrong reasons.
20 Bottom of pop singer’s hips
PELVIS
A charade of P for the last letter of ‘pop’ and ELVIS. I am not convinced that ‘hips’ and PELVIS are entirely the same thing, even in crosswordland.
23 Country club hotel is not allowing starters
CHINA
The first letters of the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth words of the clue.
Many thanks to Matilda for the start the crosswording week.
Oh Matilda this was exactly what I needed this morning – thanks so much for making me giggle several times! So many deliciously silly clues – too numerous to list them all, but PELVIS was a treat, as were SCOTCH, LARGE BILL, and the fine DUVET & DUCK DOWN combo.
Thanks also to Pierre for the ever-lucid blog, especially the parsing of IDIOTIC, which had eluded me. I’m now in a much better frame of mind to face the week…
Thanks Matilda and Pierre
Very good. Favourite was SOFT.
“ExtrAvert” is a lost cause, I suppose!
I’m struggling to match the parts of speech of “charity” (noun) and NON-PROFIT-MAKING (adjective?)
This was a lot of fun to solve. My favourites were DABBLED, LARGE BILL, EXPECTS, EXTROVERTS.
Thanks Pierre and Matilda.
Thank you Matilda – a lovely example of how a crossword can be simple (for more experienced solvers), inviting for newer solvers and still a lot of fun for both. Plenty of smiles and thanks Pierre for the blog.
Muffin – alas your hopes for “extravert” will only be heard by the Jung ones…
Just what thezed said – a delightful puzzle.
muffin – charity can be used as a noun: e.g. a charity dinner.
Thanks Eileen
Agreed, this was enjoyable. The anagrams in 24a and 16d may have been a bit tough for a Quiptic (I recall a recent discussion on 15^2 about the former type), but certainly fair. Thanks to Matilda and Pierre.
I too enjoyed this thoroughly. Thanks to Matilda and Pierre!
I wondered about whether 16d violated the edict against indirect anagrams. I think that we don’t generally object when we have to substitute an abbreviation into anagram fodder (say the clue contains “old” but we have to switch it to O before anagramming). This is one step more indirect than that, but the substitution is a relatively simple one. Strictly speaking, I’d say that Matilda has broken “the rules” here, but I’m not too exercised about it.
My only other question was whether “large bill” is a set phrase, in the sense that we usually expect crossword lights to be, but again this is a minor concern.
I actually didn’t notice that 16dn was an indirect anagram – ‘setter = I’ is so automatic – and EUCLID was one of my favourite clues [lovely surface]. As Pierre says, a bit naughty – but rather nice. 😉
As for 24ac and the recent discussion mentioned by Dave @7: not only do I not mind subtractive anagrams – I really quite like them.
Very enjoyable puzzle. Maybe Pierre is baiting us but I thought it was Bambi’s mother that died!
Of course it is his mother, Scottie. I was so overcome by the emotional memories that I misspoke. Apologies to all Bambi aficionados.
Great crossword and great summary from Pierre. I managed it in a day, very good for me. Hopefully, this is not too picky, however, should 26ac be an insertion of “S” in Guest? or did all that talk of “Mating, seven in a bed, flaccid organs” distract us all from the correct explanation?
Pierre, I notice your details/history etc is missing from the “Setters” listing, are you hiding your light under a bushel, or are you just shy? You ssound interesting enough to warrant a few lines.
It should indeed have been an S and not a T inserted to give us GUESSTIMATE, Martin. I think you mean the ‘bloggers’ listing, but frankly I’m not that interesting. I will be at the Leicester S&B get-together on 4th May if your really want to find out why, but thank you for your comment.
Thank you for your reply Pierre, appreciate your response. Unfortunately, I live outside the UK and can not make the S&B get together in May. However, if there is some sort of gathering of bloggers and solvers in August somewhere in the UK I’d love to come along. Again many thanks for your blogs and encouraging words for beginners, like what I am (to quote the noted playwright Ernie Wise).
There are regular blogger/setter/solver meetings, Martin, in London and elsewhere. Usually they are promoted on Fifteensquared, so keep your eyes peeled. Hope to see you later in the year.
Pierre