A pitch-perfect puzzle from Pan this morning, with shedloads of stunning surfaces.
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 Retired FBI agent sued criminal and cooled down
DEFUSED
A charade of FED reversed and (SUED)*
5 Distance covered by very large fruit
ORANGES
An insertion of RANGE in OS for oversize or ‘large’.
9 New husband wearing diamonds in a corner
NICHE
A charade of N and H inserted into ICE. The insertion indicator is ‘wearing’.
10 Suspect here to exploit a leafy hideaway
TREE HOUSE
A charade of (HERE TO)* and USE.
11 Laboratory turning to American business an ornamental railing
BALUSTRADE
A charade of LAB reversed, US and TRADE.
12 Bachelor drowning in drink rejected help
ABET
An insertion of B in TEA reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘drowning in’; the reversal indicator is ‘rejected’.
14 South American twice ate mega-chopped minced product
SAUSAGE MEAT
(SA SA ATE MEGA)*
Edit: this parsing is pants. As Shirl and Colin point out, it’s S, then A and US for ‘American twice’ followed by (ATE MEGA)*
18 Peace offering from old boy in possession of working farm
OLIVE BRANCH
An insertion of LIVE in OB followed by RANCH.
21 Son beginning to worry about part exchange
SWAP
A charade of S and the first letters of ‘worry’, ‘about’ and ‘part’.
22 Exhausted by too much applause?
CLAPPED OUT
A dd cum cd.
25 Go in to welcome Conservative hosting union meeting
ENCOUNTER
An insertion of U in CON, all inserted into ENTER. The two insertion indicators are ‘to welcome’ and ‘hosting’.
26 Plant found in bedpan is edible!
ANISE
We hope not. Hidden in bedpAN IS Edible.
27 Abandon police officer’s vehicle close to field
DISCARD
A charade of DIS for District Detective Inspector’s, CAR and D for the last letter of ‘field’.
28 Wished to get rid of priest and have a country dance
HOEDOWN
A charade of HO[P]ED and OWN.
Down
1 U-boat’s leader found floating in European river
DANUBE
An insertion of U and B in DANE. The insertion indicator is ‘found floating’; you get to the U and B bit by using the famous ‘lift and separate’ technique (although it doesn’t take much separation, since the hyphen’s doing most of the work for you already). Separate U-BOAT into U and BOAT: you’ve got your U and B is the first letter (‘leader’) of ‘boat’. Impeccable surface reading (as is the case for practically all the clues in this Quiptic).
2 Glib line about a Catholic
FACILE
An insertion of A and C in FILE.
3 Naughty priestess capturing the heart of brother’s relative
STEPSISTER
An insertion of T for the central letter (‘heart’) of ‘brother’ in (PRIESTESS)* The anagrind is ‘naughty’; the insertion indicator is ‘capturing’.
4 Discourage 50% of firm
DETER
DETER[MINED]
5 In trouble with the bank, somehow Dave won right to cross river
OVERDRAWN
An insertion of R in (DAVE WON R)* The anagrind is ‘somehow’; the insertion indicator is ‘to cross’.
6 A cold leads to horrible ear pain
ACHE
A charade of A, C, then H and E for the first letters of ‘horrible’ and ‘ear’.
7 Complained after German found out
GRUMBLED
A charade of G and RUMBLED.
8 Watch flood outside European court
SPECTATE
An insertion of E and CT in SPATE.
13 He gets badly treated hair in the garden by the Mount of Olives
GETHSEMANE
A charade of (GETS HE)* and MANE. The garden where Jesus prayed on the night before his arrest and subsequent crucifixion.
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. (Matthew 26:36, King James Bible)
15 Run off, very happy not to be linked to the family
UNRELATED
A charade of (RUN)* and ELATED.
16 Monopolise hut containing a beer barrel
HOGSHEAD
A charade of HOG and an insertion of A in SHED.
17 Pays for female setter to visit Cannes for a change
FINANCES
A charade of F, I for the ‘setter’ and (CANNES)*
19 Academic receiving note on old playing piece
DOMINO
An insertion of MI for the third note of the sol-fa in DON, followed by O.
20 Wrens managed to eat the last bit of hazelnut spread
STREWN
An insertion of T for the last letter of ‘hazelnut’ in (WRENS)* The anagrind is ‘managed’; the insertion indicator is ‘to eat’.
23 Resting place for fish
PERCH
A dd.
24 Where to wash a member of the orchestra?
TUBA
A charade of TUB and A.
Many thanks to Pan for this morning’s puzzle.
Thanks both. I don’t think you have got 14a right, Pierre, as it needs a U
I think it is S= south A=America US= America plus the anagram
I couldn’t parse 14ac and your (Pierre’s) parsing is faulty. There is no U in (SA SA ATE MEGA). Anyone any ideas?
Otherwise a perfect quiptic for a drizzly Monday. Thanks Pan and Pierre.
Shirl’s post giving the correct solution crossed mine in the post! It’s S (south) + A US (American twice) + ATE MEGA. Thanks Shirl.
Good fun – easier than previous weeks but such smooth surfaces (apart from the ornamental railing). Many thanks Orlando and Pierre.
Sorry – thanks should be to Pan! Orlando was the cryptic setter this morning. Oops.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
Lovely Quiptic. It took me far longer than it should have done to get my LOI HOGSHEAD as I thought “Monopolise” was the definition.
Absolutely lovely – many thanks to Pan and Pierre.
[If you enjoyed this, Orlando’s Cryptic is highly recommended. Orlando used to be an excellent Quiptic setter.]
My parsing of 14ac is, as you say, complete bollocks. I’ll amend the blog.
Over too quickly but otherwise lots of fun. I didn’t know that meaning of RUMBLED, but that’s what it had to be. Thanks to Pan and Pierre.
Just what a Quiptic should be and very enjoyable.
Thanks Pan and Pierre.
I agree with DaveInC: over far too quickly!
My faves were GRUMBLED and CLAPPED OUT – simply for the daftness of them, and I also enjoyed the neat surfaces of HOEDOWN, ABET, DETER and HOGSHEAD.
Thanks to Pan for distracting me from the miserably damp and cold November weather, and to Pierre for the reliably erudite explanations.
Thanks to Pierre and Pan
I don’t see how “beginning to” in 21a can apply to beyond “worry”. I suspect “a” and “p” can be found somewhere as abbreviations for “about” and “part”.
I parsed 14a the same way Pierre did, without bothering to check whether it worked. Thanks to Shirl for straightening this out.
I agree that this was a gem of a Quiptic.
Thanks both,
A very pleasant solve.
In 27, should it be ‘detective inspector’?
A perfect quiptic. It was going to lose a mark for using “rejected help” as a very dodgy definition of “able” (12A) until I saw my mistake!
It should, Tynegewick. That’s just a typo – I did mean Detective Inspector.
To Dansar @13:
I don’t see how “beginning to” in 21a can apply to beyond “worry”.
I suspect “a” and “p” can be found somewhere as abbreviations for “about” and “part”.
As a principle, I agree with your point that “beginning to A B C” (with a ‘singular’ indicator) is strictly speaking different from “beginnings to (or of) A B C”.
However, the former happens quite a lot (certainly in Guardian territory) and is – at least by most solvers – accepted as something that’s OK.
You are a frequent commenter on this site and therefore it does surprise me that it looks that you are completely puzzled.
It took me virtually years to understand that solvers can really enjoy a crossword that contains clues that from a technical point of view are perhaps ‘unsound’.
And that there’s not much wrong with that.
In one of the introductions to the excellent Chambers Crossword Dictionary (still available in the shops) respected setter Tim Moorey writes and I cite (not sure whether I’m allowed to do that, though):
“Technical soundness is taken for granted, albeit that crossword professionals sometimes heatedly debate exactly what is technically sound. Solvers, I think, are unconcerned with this aspect; if a warm glow of recognition on uncovering the answer is obtained, they will value a clue that some professionals (including this one) rate as ‘unsound’.”
There is a lot of truth in that.
Today, the brilliant Orlando had: “my word is annoying you at first” for I SAY.
Is this really very different from what Pan did?
And are you OK with “U-boat’s leader” being UB?
ps, it is quite amusing to see that in the original clue which started this comment, ‘about’ can indeed be A [in Chambers] and P for ‘part’ is in Collins (but not in Chambers) ……
Sil @ 18
If Pan, a more than competent setter, had intended to indicate first letters then ” Son starts to worry about part exchange” was readily available.
That he/she chose not to suggested to me the alternative parsing was likely. It appears I may well be right.
Do we have to acknowledge the existence of unpleasant neologisms, such as ‘spectate’?