Always a pleasure to see Hectence’s name come up when it’s my turn to blog the Quiptic. Another delightful puzzle that fulfils its brief, with some elegant surfaces to enjoy.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Scaled down car’s a true representation
MINIATURE
A charade of MINI, A and (TRUE)* You have to read ‘car’s’ as ‘car has’. The anagrind is ‘representation’.
10 Dunce misread addition and subtracted
IDIOT
([AD]DITIO[N])* The anagrind is ‘misread’ and the removal indicator is ‘subtracted’.
11 Cloth used to dry when pulled briefly on line
TOWEL
A charade of TOWE[D] and L.
12 Deputy‘s key and locks found, following corruption
VICE-CHAIR
A charade of VICE, C for the musical ‘key’ and HAIR for ‘locks’.
13 One checks German car’s put to one side
AUDITOR
A charade of AUDI, TO and R.
14 Suggested mischievous child told fibs
IMPLIED
A charade of IMP and LIED.
17 Material for tank top has little diamonds on
TWEED
A charade of T for the first letter of ‘tank’, WEE and D.
19 Maybe sack reserve
BAG
A dd.
20 Brave little boat capsized at point unknown
GUTSY
A charade of GUT for TUG reversed, S for the ‘point’ of the compass and Y for the mathematical ‘unknown’. The reversal indicator is ‘capsized’.
21 Continue to play away
CARRY ON
Another dd, with the second one in its extra-marital rumpy-pumpy sense.
22 Break from driving with small puncture in Minehead
PIT STOP
An insertion (‘puncture’) of S in PIT TOP for ‘mine head’.
24 Want for nothing, without a care in the world
FANCY-FREE
A charade of FANCY for ‘want’ and FREE for ‘for nothing’.
26 Party in back bar
REVEL
A reversal of LEVER.
28 Take a selfie, partly as support for artist’s work
EASEL
Hidden in takE A SELfie.
29 Liked better umpire after last chap made a mistake
PREFERRED
A charade of P for the last letter of ‘chap’, REF and ERRED.
Down
1 Obscene stuff turned stomachs
SMUT
Some folk (me, for example) don’t like this type of clue, where the reversal indicator (‘turned’) comes in the middle of the two elements. This could equally be TUMS: you don’t know which it is until you’ve got some crossing letters.
2 Initially, Great Dane’s upset when wife coming in gets bitten
GNAWED
A charade of G and an insertion of W in (DANE)* The insertion indicator is ‘coming in’ and the anagrind is ‘upset’.
3 Stop working for 24 hours after phone conversation on IT
CALL IT A DAY
A charade of CALL IT and A DAY.
4 Tremble when one’s supporting one queen against another
QUIVER
A charade of QU for ‘one queen’, I, V for versus or ‘against’ and ER for ‘another queen’ (ours, currently).
5 Settling each child at home’s good
PERCHING
A charade of PER for ‘each’, CH, IN and G.
6 Element of glitz in car
ZINC
Hidden in glitZ IN Car.
7 Criminal unionist, being more important, avoided broadcast
BIGAMIST
A homophone (‘broadcast’) of BIGGER and MISSED.
8 Awaken in prison
STIR
A dd.
13 Spies set up models, filling top floor room
ATTIC
An insertion of TT in CIA reversed. The ‘models’ are the original Ford Ts. The reversal indicator is ‘set up’ and the insertion indicator is ‘filling’.
15 Urge parent to order thrilling book
PAGE-TURNER
(URGE PARENT)*
16 Can’t think what to say when Irish party holds line
DRY UP
An insertion of RY for railway or ‘line’ in DUP for the Northern Irish political party that is currently rediscovering how irrelevant they are now that the Tories don’t need them any more. Life’s a bitch sometimes.
18 Weird feeling taking English couple around Ireland by ship
EERINESS
Ireland’s getting a good look-in this morning. An insertion of ERIN in two Es, followed by SS for ‘ship’.
19 Forbid taking krone raised by head of trust that’s insolvent
BANKRUPT
A charade of BAN, KR, UP and T for the first letter of ‘trust’. The word’s etymology is interesting: it comes ultimately from the Italian for ‘broken bench’. Look it up if you’re interested.
22 Had a quick look at water on deck, not cold but rising
PEEKED
A charade of PEE for ‘water’ and KED, which is DECK reversed but excluding C.
23 Bar man leaving The Raven drunk
TAVERN
A charade of T[HE] and (RAVEN)*
24 Insect by herself at last over meadow
FLEA
A charade of F for the last letter of ‘herself’ and LEA.
25 Shout rebounds within valley
YELL
Hidden reversed in vaLLEY.
27 Beach where nothing’s under cover!
LIDO
A charade of LID and O. ‘Under’ works because it’s a down clue.
Many thanks to Hectence for this week’s Quiptic. My 600th blog for Fifteensquared, which I’m going to celebrate by watching England wrap up a 3-1 series win against the Proteas.
Very nice Quiptic puzzle.
My favourites were PEEKED, BIGAMIST (loi).
Thank you Hectence and Pierre.
Thanks Hectence and Pierre
Yes, I like to start with clues that give first letters, so the ambiguity of SMUT/TUMS was a little irritating. I’ll forgive it, though, for the lovely definition for BIGAMIST!
Thanks, Pierre and Hectence.
I thought PIT STOP was a little gem.
Thanks for the spoiler: it’s not even 11:00 and you’ve already published the solution.
Could you not wait at least a day before publishing?
Thanks for the blog.
Nightshift@4 – this site ALWAYS publishes solutions ASAP except for prize puzzzles – read the Guardian comments if you don’t want to see the answers. I always do the puzzle, then come here to check on expert parsing for some clues that elude me. Very helpful site, long may it continue doing what it does so well.
Nightshift@4
I suggest that you do the puzzle first, or at least attempt it, then come here to read about solutions that you could not parse.
Do not come here first!
A good Quiptic puzzle; I particularly liked BIGAMIST and PIT STOP.
I don’t think it is especially good practice in a beginner’s puzzle to indicate first and last letters by eg ‘tank top’ and ‘last chap.’ Certainly, the Ximeneans will be frothing at the mouth.
Thanks Hectence and Pierre.
Could 4d also be QUAVER? The one could be an A or an I.
Never mind beginners – no “tank top” and “last chap” are wrong, I agree. But this was a puzzle full of elegant surfaces – 10a and 1d, for instance.
Robi @7, I think ‘tank top’ passes the Ximenean test, as it can mean ‘top of the tank.’ I agree with you about ‘last chap,’ which didn’t bother me but struck me as uncharacteristically loose for Hectence. Regarding 1d, the clue would have been better if it were unambiguous based on the wordplay alone, but imo the grid is there to sort such things out.
There was a recent debate on this site over the use of ‘capsized’ as a reversal indicator in an across clue, and here it is again this morning. I’m just pointing that out, not to rekindle any arguments.
Thanks to Hectence, especially for the gems mentioned above, and to Pierre for the parsing of a few.
A nice, if brief, outing; an ideal quiptic. I liked BIGAMIST, my LOI. I kept seeing FINALIST, which made no sense, until the penny dropped.
Thanks to Hectence and Pierre.
DaveinNCarolina @10 I wondered if CAPSIZE would rear its head again. Chambers defines it as “to overturn (esp a boat)” so you could infer that it doesn’t exclusively apply to boats and is therefore okay in an across clue? Pierre, I was a bit worried you’d tempted the cricketing fates but the proteas are now crumbling like last year’s Christmas cake so all will hopefully be well. Great crossword and a great blog. Cheers
Did anyone else get into a mess at the bottom right with NUDE for 27d (a LIDO is a swimming pool NOT a beach!) and RAVEN for 26a (RAVE = party, N = in back) which left me searching for bar references to RAVEN (eg the clue for 23d) and raven meaning man in black (as often seen at the bar)? Also in 5d PER means “for each” NOT “each”. But otherwise a sensible quiptic. Thanks all.
I’ve never heard of ERIN for Ireland before.
I presumed ‘taking English couple’ was – EN, meaning Ireland was the more traditional EIRE.
18 Weird feeling taking English couple around Ireland by ship.
I should have made reference to this hymn, AC:
Hail, glorious Saint Patrick, dear saint of our Isle,
On us thy poor children bestow a sweet smile;
And now thou art high in the mansions above,
On Erin’s green valleys look down in thy love.
ColinR @13
The original Lido – the island separating the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea – is a beach holiday resort.
ColinR @13: Yes, I wasn’t going to mention it as the fault was entirely mine, but I fell into the same trap. Good to know I wasn’t alone.
Like AC @14, I tried to make EERINESS work via EIRE, but it doesn’t. Maybe “around” could be a reversal indicator, but there’s no indication of how to place the E and N. Alternatively, “around” could be an anagrind, but that would be the forbidden indirect anagram, which Hectence would never stoop to. I had to come here to find out the correct parsing, but it makes perfect sense now that I see it.
A small complaint: LLEY is surely not “within” VALLEY, as it’s right on the edge.
There was certainly a lot to like in this puzzle. I particularly enjoyed 10a (IDIOT).
Thanks to Hectence and Pierre!
How does “last chap” = “p”?
Thank you Hectence for a beautifully classy puzzle! Amongst a host of smooth surfaces and delightful clues my faves were BIGAMIST, PEEKED and EERINESS, but the two best were IDIOT and PIT STOP. And thanks too to Pierre for the reliably entertaining blog: I was midway through swallowing when I got to your comment on 16D, and my giggles gave me hiccups. I hope the cricket is a satisfying end to your day!
I’ve never had a problem with instructions like ‘last chap’ to clue the letter P. What else can it be? It’s crossword shorthand. Like ‘Gateshead’ or ‘midnight’ to clue G. Just because some bloke from many decades ago called Ximenes, who is still worshipped slavishly by some today, didn’t approve doesn’t mean that it’s not an appropriate, fair and well-established device today. Life’s a bitch, but it moves on.
What’s Ximenes got to do with it?
My question remains : “how does “last chap” = “p”?
Sorry, Dansar, I’m really not seeing your problem there. The last of “chaP” is “P”, surely? I’m not noted as being relaxed about rule-breaking, but I don’t see what’s wrong with that – it would be very restrictive if it were not to be allowed.
Thank you for your response muffin but if the clue had been phrased “last of”, as you suggest, then I wouldn’t have a problem with it.
I see what you mean; I’m reconsidering – but I think I’m still OK with it (just!)
While we’re at it can anyone tell me how “s” gets in the middle of “pit top” “minehead”?
S for small inserted (“punctured”?) in PIT TOP (mine head). Despite Eileen’s enthusiasm, it wasn’t my favourite.
It seems to be just us here muffin, but again, if “punctured” or “puncturing” were in the clue, I wouldn’t have a problem with it!
I suppose a “puncture” could be an insertion – as I said, not my favourite!
Pierre@15
As a boy in Leeds I remember singing “on Harehills green tramways” but not where the Jesuits could hear me.
Thanks Hectence and Pierre for a great Quiptic and blog.
Dave @10; I think I agree with you about ‘tank top,’ as ‘mountain top’ surely means the same as top of the mountain.
Pierre @21; I don’t think it is just about Ximeneans. The wordplay in my opinion should be grammatical to make sense so, as Dansar @24 said, last of chap or chap’s last is unambiguous. However, ‘last chap’ doesn’t easily lead to ‘p.’ It could mean put chap last or something else.
Here is an excerpt from Alberich’s excellent treatise on Ximenean cluing on his site:
To finish, I would say that for anyone who intends to become a serious crossword writer, it is best to study and follow the Ximenean way of clueing. Only depart from it if you are confident that the clue is still reasonably fair and solvable, and is good enough to justify bending the rules of grammar. In any case, if you are writing fair clues, you are most likely following Ximenean practice anyway!
I actually stopped complaining about ‘last chap’ = P.
Some think it’s OK, some think it’s terrible.
For me, it spoilt a party that overall was quite a good one.
By the way, nobody mentioned what happened in 13ac (AUDITOR).
Can anyone explain to me what “apostrophe s + put” indicates or what it wants to indicate?
Hi Sil; if you’re still looking. I think you know that [‘s put] would conventionally be interpreted as ‘has put’ in the grammatical sense, although I accept that doesn’t make the surface very pretty.
Yes, I’m still there.
My actual question is: how does “A has put B” mean “A + B”? Or should I see it as “A + “put B””?
Probably but I can’t say I like it because ideally “put” needs “to” (which is used here as part of the fodder).
Is it not more likely that ‘bankrupt’ comes form the French: banc and pp of rompre, many English legal words being derived form French?
The articles I looked at suggest it comes originally from the Italian, Jeremy – but the French words will be cognate (except the modern French pp of rompre is rompu …)
It goes back to Renaissance (or should I say rinascimento?) Florence, when banking familes – the Medici being the most well-known – began trading. They used benches in one of the squares. If they ran out of funds, their benches were literally broken.