Pan always gives us a thoughtfully crafted, sound as a pound puzzle, and today’s Bank Holiday offering is no exception. As always, if there is something that you’d like explaining in more detail, 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 Old man cracked nut
ALMOND
A gentle anagram to get us going. (OLD MAN)* with ‘cracked’ as the anagrind.
5 Capital is managing to retain charm
TALISMAN
Cleverly hidden in capiTAL IS MANaging.
9 Chap bled badly around opening of incision in jaw
MANDIBLE
A charade of MAN and I for the first letter of ‘incision’ in (BLED)* The insertion indicator is ‘around’ and the anagrind is ‘badly’.
10 Invalidate points given to paying supporters
NEGATE
A charade of N and E, for two ‘points’ of the compass and GATE.
11 Group of companies, not large, come for training
CONGLOMERATE
(NOT LARGE COME)* with ‘for training’ as the anagrind.
13 Medic facing old ban
VETO
A charade of VET and O.
14 Lacking in education, soldier returned to woman with books
IGNORANT
A charade of GI reversed, NORA and NT. ‘Books’ in crosswords will usually be NT for New Testament, OT for Old Testament, or double B, BB.
17 Everyone cutting shrub finds a place to dance
BALLROOM
An insertion (‘cutting’) of ALL in BROOM, the (often yellow) shrub.
18 A group of musicians plus …
ALSO
A charade of A and LSO for the London Symphony Orchestra …
20 … where they may be found with choir part set out
ORCHESTRA PIT
… who would indeed be found here. It’s (CHOIR PART SET)* Less experienced solvers often get bemused by ellipses between clues. The general advice is to ignore them and solve the two clues separately: they are usually there only to allow the setter to link two surfaces to make sense of them, although here Pan is referencing the first clue to point you towards the solution for the second.
23 Plant tree close to stream
BALSAM
The gardening world would definitely not be my specialist subject in the black chair, so a clue with a plant as the answer and a tree in the wordplay is always going to be my LOI. A charade of BALSA and M for the last letter of ‘stream’.
24 Hang on to wife’s regular underwear
LINGERIE
A charade of LINGER and IE for the even, or ‘regular’ letters of wIfE.
25 Tools used by seamstress finally unnecessary
NEEDLESS
A charade of NEEDLES for ‘tools’ and S for the last letter of ‘seamstress’. Needles are of course tools used by a seamstress, but that’s got nothing to do with getting to the answer. The -ess ending to characterise a female profession or position is looking increasingly archaic these days: you hardly ever see poetess, murderess or adulteress these days, and stewardess has also been relegated to history, I think. The male (or gender-neutral) word ‘seamster’ is still in dictionaries, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard it myself.
26 Drug runner carrying females’ wrap
MUFFLE
An insertion (‘carrying’) of FF in MULE.
Down
2 Charge boy in possession of source of opiate
LOAD
An insertion (‘in possession of’) O for the first letter of ‘opiate’ in LAD.
3 Conservative‘s alma mater?
OLD SCHOOL
A dd.
4 Editor standing on bed with puncture
DEBUNK
A reversal (‘standing’) of ED and BUNK.
5 Blames lightener for destroying collection of classical sculptures
THE ELGIN MARBLES
(BLAMES LIGHTENER)* The Marbles are a rarity these days: something foreign that we don’t want to send back to where it came from.
6 Bring down aircraft with setter’s explosive device
LANDMINE
A charade of LAND and MINE. ‘Setter’ in a clue, depending on its context, should generally prompt you towards ME, I, MY or MINE. Or, occasionally, the setter’s name, if it’s simple, like Pan or Dac. Carpathian tends not to trouble us in this way.
7 Tease American about cause of obesity?
SUGAR
A reversal (‘about’) of RAG US.
8 Doctor uses a test involving new insight
ASTUTENESS
An insertion of N for ‘new’ in (USES A TEST)*
12 Send home Irishman entering Eritrea for revolution
REPATRIATE
An insertion of PAT for the stereotypical ‘Irishman’ in (ERITREA)*
15 Cook beast for English Sunday lunch?
ROAST BEEF
(BEAST FOR E)* with ‘cook’ as the anagrind.
16 Soup provided by conservative visiting scene of heavy fighting
CONSOMME
A charade of CON and (the battle of the) SOMME.
19 Label derived from name of space occupied by horse
EPONYM
An insertion of PONY in EM, the printers’ ‘space’. EN and EM as elements clued by ‘space’ are useful to store for future reference.
21 Washed down edges of spade in brickie’s trough
HOSED
An insertion (‘in’) of S and E for the outside letters of ‘spade’ in HOD.
22 Daughter getting sick on herb
DILL
A charade of D and ILL.
Many thanks to Pan for the Bank Holiday entertainment.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
Nice Quiptic. REPATRIATE was favourite. I didn’t see the anagram for ROAST BEEF, and took ages to see the hidden TALISMAN.
I wondered about “seamstresses” doing double duty, but, as you say, it’s not needed for the definition.
A fun Quiptic. I also didn’t see the anagram for ROAST BEEF.
Thanks Pierre and Pan.
Good fun. Thank you to Pan and Pierre. And a special thanks to Pierre for the commentary on 5d.
Thanks to Pan for an enjoyable puzzle and Pierre for his usual thorough explanations. Nothing too taxing today. I’m used to seeing LANDMINE as two words, but that didn’t cause any trouble, and my Collins confirms that it can be a single word. THE ELGIN MARBLES were unknown to me, so I had to wait for several crossers to figure that one out, but it’s been interesting to learn of their history.
Thank you Pan and Pierre. A gentle little solve as the rain continued and no real uneasy feelings about any of the clues.
The secondary school I attended, on the other side of the world, had a copy of the Elgin Marbles round the top of the library so learning of them was a requirement but I am still unable to find any connection between that school and them.
I struggled with this because my brain appears to be on leave – I hope it comes back soon, I miss it. Thanks for the very helpful explanations Pierre, and thanks to Pan for the puzzle.
I enjoyed the puzzle and many thanks for the blog Pierre. For 15 down I simply read it as a charade of Cook =Roast and Beast = Beef. I didn’t see the anagram, thinking the reference was to the typical English Sunday lunch. As they say every day’s a school day. Again many thanks.
6 and 23 defeated me. Good puzzle.thanks to all
Second half of 10 still baffles me – lack of football knowledge perhaps?
Thank you Pan, and Pierre for this and your many other blog entries which are beginning to make quiptics a bit less intimidating… still a very long way to go though. For example, re 23 ac, how do you know to take the last letter of ‘stream’ ? Can one always just take a first or last letter?
Ann @ 10 – “close to” would be the last (closing) letter of… (I didn’t get that either)