Matilda waltzing into town again with another well-constructed Quiptic puzzle, which I enjoyed solving and blogging. If you were in the ‘beginners’ rather than ‘those in a hurry’ category, you might have found one or two devices that you hadn’t come across before, so I have tried to explain them fully.
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 Fox first to feature in rewritten fable
BAFFLE
An insertion of F for the first letter of ‘feature’ in (FABLE)* The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the anagrind is ‘rewritten’.
4 Love remnant creating 8?
ORNAMENT
The answer to 8 is TASSEL, which gives you your definition. Then it’s a charade of O and (REMNANT)* with ‘creating’ as the anagrind. Slightly naughty that this light crosses with the one that it’s referencing (it’s not a hanging offence, but it can make solving harder, which is not the objective of a Quiptic).
9 Here a coin’s wasted
CASINO
(A COINS)* with ‘wasted’ as the anagram. A cad: the whole clue is the definition.
10 A call for help about leading carcinogen
ASBESTOS
An insertion of BEST in A SOS.
11 Thirsty, leaderless, terribly annoyed
SHIRTY
A subtractive anagram: Matilda is inviting you to remove the first letter of ‘thirsty’ and make an anagram. ([T]HIRSTY)* with ‘leaderless’ as the removal indicator and ‘terribly’ as the anagrind.
12 Current minister is right
ACCURATE
A charade of AC for the [alternating] ‘current’ and CURATE.
14 Exhausted campanologist’s double?
DEAD RINGER
A charade of DEAD for ‘exhausted’ and RINGER for ‘campanologist’.
18 Approve, yet somehow disapprove, okay?
TICKETY-BOO
A charade of TICK, (YET)* and BOO. It’s an odd expression, don’t you think? The best stab at its origin seems to be that it’s originally from the military, and derived from the Hindu expression theak hai, babu, which means ‘Okay, Sir’.
22 Torn anorak? Go get a jumper!
KANGAROO
(ANORAK GO)*
23 Indian city dismissing ban in profusion
GALORE
[BAN]GALORE
24 Polite and good with money by the sound of it
WELL-BRED
A charade of WELL for ‘good’ (I know, I know, it drives me crazy too when people say ‘I’m good’ in response to ‘How are you?’) and BRED for a homophone of BREAD, which is a slang word for ‘money’. The homophone indicator is ‘by the sound of it’.
25 Starts to pull hair out, being in abject fear
PHOBIA
The first letters of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth words of the clue.
26 Outlining key outdoor activity
DRAFTING
A charade of D for the key with two sharps in it and RAFTING, which is indubitably an outdoor activity.
27 Dull food supplied by member, shortly after the end of business
STODGE
A charade of S for the last letter of ‘business’ and TODGE[R]. The removal indicator is ‘shortly’. TODGER is slang (of recent, but unknown, origin) for the penis, or membrum virile.
Down
1 Endorses fish or rump
BACKSIDE
A charade of BACKS and IDE for the setters’ fave fish.
2 Loud and summery event
FESTIVAL
A charade (and caddish, if you will) of F for the musical ‘loud’ and ESTIVAL for ‘summery’. ESTIVAL is an American English spelling; British English has AESTIVAL. An animal who spends the summer in a dormant condition is said to ESTIVATE; we’re probably more familiar with the winter option, HIBERNATE (and HIBERNAL is the adjectival equivalent). French is helpful: l’été and l’hiver are derived from the same (ultimately Latin) roots.
3 Desire end of pregnancy — it’s chronic!
LONG-TERM
A charade of LONG for ‘desire’ and TERM for ‘the end of pregnancy’.
5 Blooming buttocks said to be a sign of health
ROSY CHEEKS
A simple charade of ROSY and CHEEKS.
6 This street‘s a location for gigs
AVENUE
Gigs take place in A VENUE, don’t they?
7 Catch partner? Coming up right away
ENTRAP
You need to take the second R for ‘right’ out of PARTNE[R] and reverse it. The removal indicator is ‘away’ and the reversal indicator (since it’s a down clue) is ‘coming up’.
8 Tops of taffeta and backless decoration
TASSEL
A charade of T and A for the first letters of ‘taffeta’ and ‘and’ followed by SSEL. For the latter element you need to ‘lift and separate’ ‘backless’ into BACK and LESS. LESS backwards is SSEL.
13 22 against potty principal
ANTIPODEAN
A charade of ANTI, PO and DEAN. Clueing ANTIPODEAN as just ‘kangaroo’ (the solution to 22ac) is a bit loose, I think, even for a setter called Matilda.
15 Thwarts a revolution in Panama?
STRAW HAT
(THWARTS A)*
16 Soaked up six-pack, then got bored somehow
ABSORBED
A charade of ABS and (BORED)*
17 Fashion judge’s temper
MODERATE
A charade of MODE and RATE.
19 After turbulent weeks, start to drift out of line
SKEWED
A charade of (WEEKS)* and D for the first letter of ‘drift’. The anagrind is ‘turbulent’.
20 Old England left again in turmoil
ANGLIA
(L AGAIN)* with ‘in turmoil’ as the anagrind.
21 Over half of games sample plan
GAMBIT
A charade of GAM[ES] and BIT.
Many thanks to Matilda for an enjoyable Quiptic to start our cruciverbal week.
Thanks Matilda nad Pierre
A nice puzzle. Favourite was KANGAROO. A bit surprised to see TODGE(r) in a puzzle not set by Paul!
“Outdoor acticivty” was a bit loose for RAFTING, and I think there shuld have been an indication of US spelling for ESTIVAL (as you point out, Pierre).
Actually nice to see use of todger by a lady setter
This was very enjoyable. My favourites were KANGAROO, DEAD RINGER, TICKETY-BOO, ANTIPODEAN.
Todger was a new word for me today.
Thank you Pierre and Matilda.
I did think that there was a bit of a naughty theme with BACKSIDE, TASSEL, ROSY CHEEKS, use of TODGEr and PO in the clues. Kangaroo for Antipodean was loose and LOI
You’ve led an interesting life, Shanne.
A delightful puzzle even though I couldn’t see 13d beyond “anti.” Otherwise all solved and parsed smoothly. I liked CASINO, TICKETY-BOO, and AVENUE among others.
Thanks to Matilda and Pierre.
Thanks to Matilda and Pierre for some late entertainment (as in late for me but not for DaveinNCarolina). Very enjoyable and a challenging Quiptic in mho. But STODGE was a bit of an ask – no? (But I loved it).
Liked it a lot too. Always happy to see Matilda in quiptic slot. She produces spot on quiptics, both in level and entertainment. They are always well constructed and fun. Thank you Matilda and Pierre. I had never heard of todger either
Great Quiptic and blog: thanks, both.
Great puzzle to do in a hurry. Only came here to check our suspicion on the parsing of ‘STODGE’
Thought also the same as Shanne
Thanks Matilda
How does one get PO in antiPOdean in 13d?
There were a number of clues I found rather hard to parse. And two servings of recursive clueing (4, 8 and 13, 22) which is not kosher for a Quiptic in my book. The two components of an anagram separated by punctuation (anorak? Go) threw me — I had to reveal 22. Never heard of the fish IDE. So somewhat challenging for me, but eventually definitions, crossers and partial parsings came to the rescue for the harder clues.
I liked SHIRTY, DEAD RINGER, STRAW HAT and STODGE.
Thanks to Matilda, and to Pierre for the explications.