Thanks to Matilda. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Shed first tear in court over writing (6)
SCRIPT : 1st letter of(… first) “Shed” + [RIP(to tear away forcibly) contained in(in) CT(abbrev. for “court”)].
4 Find record finished (8)
DISCOVER : DISC(a disc-like device for storing and replaying analogue audio recording/a record) + OVER(finished/done with).
9 In green, a melamine coating (6)
ENAMEL : Hidden in(In) “green, a melamine“.
10 Views the second of four gears (8)
OPINIONS : 2nd letter of(second of) “four” + PINIONS(small wheels engaging with larger wheels/gears).
Defn: … on various issues.
11 One faces illness seldom (2,4)
IF EVER : I(Roman numeral for “one”) plus(faces) FEVER(an, or a symptom of, illness).
Defn: …, or perhaps never.
12 No-cost energy when very cold (8)
FREEZING : FREE(at no cost/complimentary) + ZING(energy/liveliness).
14 Home dividend halved, double becomes single (10)
INDIVIDUAL : IN(at home/in lockdown) + 1st 4 letters of(… halved) “dividend” + DUAL(double/consisting of 2 parts).
18 Call our cat daft? At least it can multiply! (10)
CALCULATOR : Anagram of(… daft) CALL OUR CAT.
22 Judge’s ultimate trait is fairness (8)
EQUALITY : Last letter of(…’s ultimate) “Judge” + QUALITY(a trait/a characteristic).
23 Scrap over a joint (6)
SHARED : SHRED(a scrap/a small piece that’s left over) containing(over) A.
24 Swap old coins (8)
EXCHANGE : EX-(prefix signifying “old”/former) + CHANGE(coins/loose currency).
25 Back up writer embracing student out in the open (6)
PUBLIC : Reversal of(Back) “up” + BIC(a writer/an implement for writing, specifically a disposable ballpoint pen made by French company, Societe Bic S.A.) containing(embracing) L(for “learner” on a plate displayed by a student driver).
26 Uncertainty of distinguishing feature in meaning (8)
SUSPENSE : USP(abbrev. for “unique selling point”/a feature that distinguishes a product from competing products) contained in(in) SENSE(meaning as in “many words have more than one sense”).
27 In the dark, quiet and possibly dead (6)
SHADED : SH!(used to tell someone to be quiet) plus(and) anagram of(possibly) DEAD.
Down
1 Particular rampant mushroom in sci-fi production (8)
SPECIFIC : Anagram of(rampant) CEP(an edible European mushroom) contained in(in) anagram of(… production) SCI-FI.
2 Backs raise before send-off (4,4)
REAR ENDS : REAR(to raise/to breed, as with farm animals) placed above(before, in a down clue) anagram of(…-off) SEND.
Some rear ends are better looking than others!:
3 Keep quiet over book (8)
PRESERVE : P(abbrev. for “piano”/in music, an instruction to play quietly) placed above(over, in a down clue) RESERVE(to book/to make a reservation, as with theatre tickets).
5 Bring in acne treatment of significance (10)
IMPORTANCE : IMPORT(to bring in into, say, the country you live in) + anagram of(… treatment) ACNE.
6 Timid to admit, initially, not very easy to communicate (6)
CONVEY : COY(making a pretence of being timid/shy) containing(to admit) 1st letters, respectively, of(initially) “not very easy“.
7 Instrument uncovered evil gold ring (6)
VIOLIN : 1st and last letters, respectively, deleted from(uncovered) “evil gold ring“.
8 Give up job as lousy singer (6)
RESIGN : Anagram of(lousy) SINGER.
13 Broken TV and a long time for benefits (10)
ADVANTAGES : Anagram of(Broken) TV AND A + AGES(a long period of time).
15 Yet all thought must be curtailed (8)
ALTHOUGH : “all thought” minus their respective last letters(must be curtailed).
16 Surprised to see pastry in transport (8)
STARTLED : TART(a pastry) contained in(in) SLED(a form of transport on runners/a sledge).
17 Made for Mussolini on 1st of December (8)
PRODUCED : PRO(for/in favour of, as against “con”) + DUCE(in full, “Il Duce”, as Mussolini, the leader of the former Italian Nationalist Fascist Party, was called) placed above(on, in a down clue) 1st letter of(1st of) “December“.
19 Just like shepherd to start gathering sheep as treasure? (6)
JEWELS : 1st letters, respectively, of(… to start) “Just like shepherd” containing(gathering) EWE(a female sheep).
Defn: … in the form of precious stones.
20 Sounds like dabblers and charlatans (6)
QUACKS : Double defn: 1st: Sounds made by ducks, such as/like dabblers, a group that feeds at the surface rather than by diving.
21 Kindly drop last rent (6)
PLEASE : Last letter of(… last) “drop” + LEASE(to rent/to make payment, and in return have use of, say, a property).
Thanks Matilda and scchua
Very nice, and mostly Quiptic standard, though I found the SW more tricky. Favourites were QUACKS and REAR ENDS.
Nice puzzle – neither too easy nor too difficult.
My favourites were PRODUCED, DISCOVER, REAR ENDS, IF EVER (loi).
New for me was USP.
Thanks Matilda and scchua
I found this tougher than the cryptic today, struggling with the SW which was last (and slow) to go in. A pangram, no less, and all well clued so thank you Matilda and sc chua for the wonderfully blog. After my walk yesterday I could provide a rear end of a swan for the photo set!
Lovely, though I did not know CEP, or USP. Thanks to Matilda for this pleasant start to the week and to sschua for the explanations.
Pangrams in both the cryptic and the quiptic today.
I thought ‘pangram’ halfway through but gave up on the idea. My LOI was JEWELS, which quickly revived it!
Not a bad grid at all, although some of the surface readings were a bit bland.
George Clements: I wish you hadn’t told me that. I haven’t done the cryptic yet.
Oops, was about to the same as George, though I hadn’t noticed either of them during the solves, both taking about the same time. Remembered the mushroom, but not the sales jargon acronym. Great nether region pics scchua and thanks for the waltz Matilda.
Very enjoyable straightforward fun. Lots to like, favs were IF EVER and SPECIFIC, the latter for the image of a monstous mushroom. Thanks to Matilda and to scchua for the colourful blog.
Silky smooth as usual from Matilda, and impressive that she was able to work a pangram into a Quiptic. Loved the multiplying cat. Didn’t know USP, so thanks for that, scchua.
This Matilda crossword took me less time than Carpathian’s.
Funny because I thought this one was generally trickier.
I do too many crosswords to be able to say whether it was right for the Quiptic spot or not.
When Matilda made her debut in the daily paper, it felt like Matilda was at her friendliest, the ideal Quiptic actually.
Perhaps, nowadays, we should treat the Quiptic as a ‘normal’ (additional) puzzle.
Well, I do but at The Guardian they will probably not agree.
Back to the actual puzzle.
Another well written (although I don’t know what a ‘rampant mushroom’ is) and enjoyable offering from Matilda.
However, there were a few things that caught the eye.
There were four (!) what I call ‘multiple fodder clues’ (6d, 7d, 15d, 19d), a device that is trademark-another-Guardian-setter.
I am not very keen on ‘…. first’ and ‘…. last’ as indicators but I am used to them now.
In 1ac, what is ‘over’ doing there? A link word? Probably but not really an appropriate one, in my opinion.
Talking about link words, ‘of’ is surely one in 5d, a well-accepted one, yes.
However, I think that purist setters wouldn’t have used it here because after the wordplay is over, you’re left with ‘of significance’.
Which is something on its own and could lead to IMPORTANT.
[I know it doesn’t fit the enumeration but that’s not my point]
All in all, though, a nice crossword in which 25ac (PUBLIC) was my favourite.
Many thanks to scchua (for the blog) and Matilda (for today’s entertainment).
Meant to add that ‘rampant’ in 1d surely indicates a reversal (Collins gives the heraldry definition as ‘rearing up on the hind legs’), as Matilda would never venture into indirect anagram territory.
A fun a satisfying solve – and a pangram, to boot! Fortunately, cep is one of the few mushroom-types I know, and I liked the image of it running amok, triffid-like. I enjoyed the daft cat, the deceptively-simple STARTLED, EXCHANGE and FREEZING and I thought PRODUCED and IF EVER were delightful. As was JEWELS: like Boffo, this was the last one I solved – just at the point when I was abandoning the idea of a pangram…
Thanks to Matilda and Scchua.
Another one who found the SW the hardest. I think FREEZING was my favourite – getting energy at no cost sounds great to me! Missed the pandan, but then I never really look for that. Thanks to Matilda and scchua.
Apologies to Bear of little brain @7
I too thought ‘over’ in 1ac redundant since the rip was already ‘in court’; and that ‘of significance’ in 5d called for an adjective, and that ‘rampant’ in 1d meant ‘rearing up’.
Sil van den Hoek @11
‘Rampant mushroom’? How about Phallus impudicus?
Thanks, Peter! 🙂
Lovely! Thanks, both.
What do they mean by “Pangram” ?
Gosh. I feel so dunce. Only got 9a.