I haven’t blogged a Quiptic before – I’m a stand-in today – and I was particularly pleased to see Matilda’s name, because I always enjoy her puzzles, Quiptic or Cryptic.
As required for this slot, the clues are fair and straightforward, with a couple of slightly chewier ones thrown in, to delight newer solvers and challenge them to take the next step.
Oh, I’ve just noticed – I don’t usually – it’s a pangram.
Many thanks to Matilda.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Rigid haircut not showing a calm state of mind (6)
FROZEN
[a]FRO (haircut not showing a) + ZEN (calm frame of mind)
4 Loud summer gala (8)
FESTIVAL
F (loud, in music) + ESTIVAL (pertaining to summer – perhaps not quite so well known as the corresponding ‘hibernal’, for ‘winter’ – also spelt ‘aestival’
9 Make amendments to socialist legislation (6)
REDACT
A charade of RED (socialist) + ACT (legislation)
10 Small stand with light showed brilliance (8)
SPARKLED
S (small) + PARK (stand) + LED (Light Emitting Diode – light)
11 Mostly survey something to paint on (6)
CANVAS
CANVAS[s] (survey)
12 Language of father in tattered jeans? English (8)
JAPANESE
PA (father) in an anagram (tattered) of JEANS + E (English)
14 Hurrying to take off jewellery (10)
SCRAMBLING
SCRAM (go away – take off) + BLING jewellery) – and scramble, as I know from watching war films, is the military order to take off immediately, so ‘to take off’ could be part of the definition
18 Like jerks, heartless grey men lead in this sport (10)
GYMNASTICS
G[re]Y M[e[N minus inner letters (‘heartless’) + AS (like) + TICS ( jerks)
22 The first to twitch curtain is weirdly antisocial (8)
TACITURN
T – the first letter of T[witch] + an anagram (weirdly) of CURTAIN – I wondered about the definition here: I have one or two friends who don’t reckon to speak unless they have something useful to say – but I wouldn’t call them anti-social; I liked the picture conjured up by the surface, though
23 Rabbit for breakfast? (6)
WAFFLE
Double definition
24 Sign at first and quibble, usually afterwards, when hybrid car doesn’t start (8)
AQUARIUS
Initial letters (at first) of And Quibble Usually Afterwards + [p]RIUS (a hybrid car
that I’d never heard of) minus its initial letter (doesn’t start)
25 Well or poorly, it’s ridiculously brave to go round Land’s End (6)
ADVERB
An anagram (ridiculously) of BRAVE round the last letter (end) of lanD
26 Headshot promoting fiery agitators (8)
HOTHEADS
HEADSHOT with HOT (fiery) moved to the front – ‘promoted’
27 Mark mused wretchedly embracing godhead (6)
SMUDGE
An anagram (wretchedly) of MUSED round G (first letter – ‘head’) of God
Down
1 Predict report of four cats going wild (8)
FORECAST
FORE (sounds like – report of – four) + an anagram (going wild) of CATS
2 Regular case from October and November in journal (8)
ORDINARY
Outside letters (case) of O[ctobe]R + N (November in phonetic alphabet) in DIARY (journal)
3 Calls out for past demands (8)
EXCLAIMS
EX past) + CLAIMS (demands)
5 Justifying previous intention to drink one gin cocktail (10)
EXPLAINING
EX (previous) + PLAN (intention) round (to drink) an anagram (cocktail) of I (one) GIN Edit; or, rather, EX (previous) + PLAN (intention) round (to drink) I (one) + an anagram (cocktail) of GIN – thanks, Valentine
6 Mad Hatter’s a menace (6)
THREAT
A neat anagram (mad) of HATTER
7 Victor Lane’s depression (6)
VALLEY
V (Victor – phonetic alphabet again) + ALLEY (lane)
8 Places to go when laundries run out? (6)
LADIES
An anagram (out) of LAUNDRIES, minus RUN – ‘out’ doing double duty, hence the question mark, I think (Edit, thanks to Shirl @5: it’s LA[un]D[r]IES minus the letters of ‘run’, so no double duty – my apologies, Matilda)
13 Drop an ugly misbehaving group of children here (10)
PLAYGROUND
Neat anagram (misbehaving) of DROP AN UGLY
15 First bloke to carry bird across the Nile? (5,3)
ASWAN DAM
ADAM (first bloke in the bible) round (to carry) SWAN (bird)
16 Runway model failed having initially ignored rules (8)
AIRFIELD
An anagram (model) of FAILED + first letters (initially) of I[gnored] R[ules]
17 Set up and clued up about mess up (8)
ASSEMBLE
ABLE (clued up) round a reversal (up, in a down clue) of MESS
19 Cat returns in funny hat and tie (6)
ATTACH
A reversal (returns) of CAT in an anagram (funny) of HAT
20 Secret lock uncovered by sect (6)
OCCULT
Inner leters (uncovered) of [l]OC[k] + CULT (sect)
21 Some superstar vegans have nothing to eat (6)
STARVE
Hidden in superSTAR VEgans
Nice to see you blogging the Quiptic, Eileen.
Satisfying puzzle and excellent blog as ever.
Thanks to Matilda.
Fun and easy puzzle with some witty clues.
Favourites: ADVERB, EXCLAIMS, THREAT, SCRAMBLING.
Thanks, Matilda and Eileen.
Thanks for the blog.
I like Matilda and her surfaces too. This was marginally harder than the Vulcan cryptic.
I winced slightly at the use of “EX” for old twice in the same puzzle; also I thought “REDACT” was a rather loose synonym for amend – it means to censor/obscure although I suppose that is also a form of amendment..
Matilda – master of quiptics! Thought this was a perfect example. As you say Eileen, Playground was a great anagram. Rabbit for breakfast! Such fun.
Thanks both. Maybe “reticent” would be better than “antisocial” in 22a? Little quibblet: in 8d LADIES isn’t actually an anagram, it’s LAunDrIES with the (admittedly scrambled) letters of “run” taken out.
Some French towns have a Festival Estival, which Is rather pleasingly poetic.
Oh, and a slight query from me for ‘runway’ = ‘airfield’. I suppose it’s possible for an airfield to consist exclusively of a runway, but I think of the latter as being an essential part of, but not synonymous with, the former.
Thanks Matilda and Eileen
Generally very good, though I found it quite difficult. No idea on the parsing of FROZEN. AIRFIELD LOI as I kept reading runway as runaway!
I thought “take off ” for SCRAM and “clued up ” for ABLE were rather loose, and doesn’t 25a need a DBE indicator?
Thanks, Shirl @5 – that’s much better: I’ll amend the blog.
I made somewhat heavy weather of this, though in retrospect, I am not sure why. Perhaps due to the after effects of my big birthday party on Saturday (we are allowed to have such things in Tassie, given no Covid here). Thanks Eileen and Matilda.
I’m always pleased to find Matilda has the Quiptic slot, and this didn’t disappoint. Liked PLAYGROUND, ADVERB, ASSEMBLE, ORDINARY, and some amusing surfaces too. “Take off” seems to be doing double duty in SCRAMBLING.
Suspecting a pangram helped to get FROZEN which was my last in.
Lovely quiptic and cryptic today.
I worked out FESTIVAL and assumed estival must have something to do with summer – thanks for the explanation. Didn’t manage to parse AQUARIUS
Another double definition that made me smile (along with those in the Cryptic) was RABBIT and I also liked FORECAST, LADIES, ASSEMBLE, HOTHEADS
Thanks to Matilda and Eileen
Matilda never fails to please and this was a perfect example. The realisation that this might be a pangram actually helped me get FROZEN, my LOI. Favourites were SCRAMBLING, TACITURN, PLAYGROUND and ASWAN DAM. (F)ESTIVAL was new.
Ta Matilda and yes a pleasant surprise to see you blogging here Eileen. Hopefully it will give the Quiptic a bit more gravitas now 🙂
Thanks Matilda and Eileen.
Excellent Quiptic – my only minor quibbles are the definitions for TACITURN and AIRFIELD, as others have noted.
Interesting that 17 out of 52 of the crossers are letters scoring >1 at Scrabble (cf the regular Monday puzzle, which has only 6/52).
Matilda is always a good value. I note she’s partial to a gimmick so I was on the lookout for a pangram as soon as a Q and J went in. I wasn’t disappointed. 🙂
I’m OK with TACITURN, but have the same quibble with AIRFIELD as the others, I’m afraid. But I thought HOTHEADS and ASSEMBLE were fine pieces of invention.
Andy+Smith @3 – Matilda quite often uses the same device twice in a single Quiptic – I’ve always assumed (without evidence) that it’s for the benefit of newer solvers: “here’s a trick you’ve already seen, do you spot it this time?”
Aestival here; estival in USA. I think Americanisms should be signalled.
22A. By ‘weirdly’ with antisocial, I feel Matilda meant to say ‘not exactly’, ‘strangely’ i.e. somewhat against mingling in society but not antisocial in the strict sense. My explanation may be a little clumsy but there i am.
Glad you enjoyed it Eileen as we are down in the girl department to the tune of one (I refer to the Russian web weaver)
I thought FROZEN was a terrific clue
thanks girls!
A good entertaining Quiptic with nice surfaces.
Having got to the end of the sentence in 12 I didn’t notice the English underneath, doh! In the clue for LADIES, it’s a bit Morecambe in that all the right letters are there, but in the wrong order. I think it needs something like …. ‘possibly run out’. The QM after Nile in 13D is a nod to the wrong part of speech, I suppose.
Despite the quibbles, I thought this was a fine crossword with ticks from me for ADVERB, ORDINARY and ASSEMBLE.
Thanks Matilda and Eileen.
So nice to see your name this morning, Eileen! Thanks for parsing FROZEN, it was beyond me. My unbroken record of never spotting a pangram is in no danger.
In Paris in the 80s when I lived near there there was a Festival Estival of music, so I learned the word then.
Thank you for the definition of SCRAMBLE. During the aftermath to 9/11 they used the word all the time on newscasts without ever explaining it, and I couldn’t find out what it meant (Google was still in the future).
Is the Prius not common in the UK? I know quite a few people who drive one.
I think in EXPLAINING it’s PLAN around I + an anagram of GIN.
I loved the Mad Hatter.
Thanks to Matilda and Eileen. Although we’ve had three female setters (Matilda, Nutmeg and Arachne, may she return), we’ve had only one female blogger. Then again, there are more setters than bloggers …
Hi Valentine @21 – you’re right about EXPLAINING, of course: that was careless. I’ll amend the blog.
I think that’s the only pangram I’ve ever spotted – but then I never go looking for them.
The Prius may well be well-known over here – I only said that I, a non-driver, had never heard of it. 😉
I believe setter Pan is female and bloggers Joyce (of BertandJoyce}, Quirister and Kitty certainly are. (I hope I haven’t missed anyone. )
Funnily enough I was watching this only last week, which helped me guess the Prius part of the clue. You gotta love Larry…
https://youtu.be/GK005tH6b0c
Valentine @21 (and Eileen @22): yes, you may find we have more lady setters, bloggers and commenters than you think. We may not use obviously-female names, but that’s not a reason to assume that we’re men!
Valentine @21; Prius is pretty common in the UK, often used by taxi drivers, but I’ve got one as well.
Just what I needed for a quiptic–smooth going and a lot of clever wordplay and wonderful surfaces. Thanks Matilda and Eileen for the blog!
The parsing of 1ac gave me a moment’s pause because I was thinking “Well haircut is ‘fro but what’s missing an a?” Then I realized that ‘fro is short for something.
I did remember bertandjoyce, but don’t think I’ve ever seen one of their blogs, so I was referring (without being clear) to “in recent times.” Didn’t know about Pan and Quirister, glad to hear it. There’s also (I’ve just discovered) Megan, half of Teacow. Good going, girls.
Great fun.Spent too long looking for more film references (FROZEN, torn curtain,VALLEY of the Dolls) to notice the pangram, though I like the way Torn Curtain leads in a way to The Quiet Man.
Valentine – Bert and Joyce blog the Indy puzzle every week (as recently as last Wednesday and Saturday!)
I knew I’d forget someone – sorry Megan.
If we’re going to count former bloggers, there was Jed, who sadly died, as did setter Audreus, Shed’s mother. And JetDoc, (Mrs Enigmatist) was a blogger when I first discovered 15².
As a fan of the Indy, I am used to seeing both Joyceandbert and Kitty and I’m glad Quirister popped in as I was fairly sure I’d seen a comment somewhere suggesting she is a she. And rather fitting, on International Women’s Day, that we should be applauding our own. And that ‘places to go’ should be LADIES today. All very timely. And I spotted the pangram so all is well with this little corner of the world.
Thanks Matilda and Eileen
Well, I was on safe ground with Quirister, because I met her almost two years ago, at the 15² Sloggers and Betters gathering which the East Midlands Consortium (‘Bert and Joyce’, Kathryn’s Dad , Conrad and Ali and I) arranged here in Leicester.
I’m struck (again) by the thought of how many new commenters we’ve gained since then, particularly through lockdowns, who’ve never been to such a gathering – or even heard of them. I’m hoping against hope that it won’t be too long before we can meet up again with old friends -and a whole lot of new ones..
Really Excellent Matilda! 8d 1a( LOI ) 23a, 25a, 2d.
Late to the show today to express appreciation of both setter and blogger.
But how annoying to arrive and discover that I had a dnf because I had parked FROZEN until I might get back to it and then forgot. A great clue but overshadowed by LADIES which – for invention – takes the rosette.
Very pleased to have gotten frozen after noticing the pangram, also the first time I even noticed the pangram before visiting the blog.
Thanks Eileen for speaking up for female bloggers. We blogged the Indy today so solved the Quiptic over lunch today.
We completely missed that it was a pangram.
Thanks to Matilda and Eileen.
Hi ‘Joyce’ – I’ve just dug this up from the Centenary Celebration in 2013
!
Helen Ougham (Times Crossword Champion), crypticsue, myself, yourself and JetDoc.
Hoping to see you all before too long!
I’m another who’s so used to ‘fro by itself that I didn’t recognize what ‘not showing a’ was doing in 1A. I mean, ‘afro’ is already short for ‘African’ or ‘African-American’, so it struck me as a bit silly to need an indicator for another common shortening! I’m also an American and familiar with Prius (there was a while back when ‘i bet you drive a Prius’ was a dismissive comeback of a certain political bent, but I’d rather not go into detail), so there’s another data point there – though I was stuck trying to make TESLA fit in the answer for a while.
I raised a brow at TACITURN for ‘antisocial’, but then reasoned that if conversation is social behavior, someone who doesn’t indulge in it as much could be technically considered ‘antisocial’, in a sense.
I liked 8D and 19D.
Thanks Eileen and Matilda both. Great stuff.
I found this one quite hard but I think it’s just sometimes you have to get in tune with the setter’s approach – and I did this only slowly.
I loved AQUARIUS. It caused me great pain then indignant laughter!