A sound Quiptic from Hectence, with one or two trickier clues that less experienced solvers might have needed some crossers for. But isn’t that how most crosswords work – get a foothold and then continue climbing until you can plant your flag on the summit?
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 Fellow, with help, managed to come in and settle up honestly
FAIR AND SQUARE
A charade of F, RAN for ‘managed’ inserted into AID for ‘help’, and SQUARE for ‘settle up’. The insertion indicator is ‘to come in’.
10 Now and again wants post that’s up for grabs
AT STAKE
A charade of the even letters of ‘wants’ and STAKE.
11 Another chance to play soldiers with mate
REMATCH
A charade of RE for Royal Engineers or ‘soldiers’ and MATCH.
12 Shared trifle around at home
JOINT
An insertion of IN in JOT.
13 Try to stop listener describing victory over United
ENDEAVOUR
A charade of END and V,O,U inserted into EAR. The insertion indicator is ‘describing’.
14 English king back on throne’s beginning to make an effort
EXERT
A charade of E, REX reversed and T for the initial letter of ‘throne’.
16 Showing husband’s classic Pingu broadcast
HOLDING UP
A charade of H, OLD and (PINGU)* with ‘broadcast’ as the anagrind. Pingu is a classic: the adventures of an animated, slightly naughty young penguin who had a sister called Pinga and spoke a penguin language that was understood by children of all nationalities.
18 Activities advisor centrally books online holidays
INTERESTS
A charade of I for the central letter of ‘advisor’, NT for New Testament or ‘books’, E for ‘online’ and RESTS.
19 Gardner pursuing good high-class fruit
GUAVA
A charade of G, U for ‘high-class’ (it’s essentially crosswordspeak these days) and AVA for the actress whose surname is Gardner.
20 Too old for leapfrog, we retreated away inside
GREW OUT OF
A chance perhaps for newer solvers to learn about ‘lift and separate’ clues. Here you have to carry out this procedure on ‘leapfrog’ to get ‘leap’ and ‘frog’. Then it’s an insertion of WE reversed and OUT in (FROG)* The anagrind is ‘leap’, the reversal indicator is ‘retreated’ and the insertion indicator is ‘inside’.
23 Put up with short barrel round island and lake
BUILT
An insertion of I and L in BUT[T]. The insertion indicator is ’round’.
24 One’s taken in by fancy titles, interested only in top people
ELITIST
An insertion of I in (TITLES)* The anagrind is ‘fancy’ and the insertion indicator is ‘taken in by’.
25 Left off radical treatment caught affecting the heart
CARDIAC
A charade of (RADICA[L])* and C.
26 A special forces unit, late coming in, has trouble accepting party is finally over!
AS DEAD AS A DODO
A charade of A, DEAD inserted into SAS and another insertion of DO for ‘party’ in ADO for ‘trouble’. The two insertion indicators are ‘coming in’ and ‘accepting’.
Down
2 Sober sailors can repair net
ABSTINENT
A charade of ABS, TIN and (NET)* The ‘sailors’ are of the able-bodied variety and the anagrind is ‘repair’.
3 Sampled in bistro — a stonking Sunday dinner
ROAST
Hidden in bistRO A STonking.
4 Relative takes final revenge in kind
NIECE
An insertion of E for the last letter of ‘revenge’ in NICE.
5 Sits astride skylight casing over wobbly ladders
STRADDLES
A charade of ST for the outside letters (‘casing’) of ‘skylight’ and (LADDERS)* ‘Over’ works because it’s a down clue.
6 Tight-fisted international body going ahead with firing 50% makes no sense
UNMEANING
A charade of UN for the New York headquartered body, MEAN and [FIR]ING.
7 Some reporters reverted to an earlier style
RETRO
Hidden reversed in repORTERs.
8 Love coming round to scoff short meal and drink
DARJEELING TEA
An insertion of JEE[R] in DARLING followed by TEA. The insertion indicator is ‘coming round’
9 Sneaky behaviour from clever jerk engaged in dodgy caper
SHARP PRACTICE
A charade of SHARP and TIC inserted into (CAPER)* The insertion indicator is ‘engaged in’ and the anagrind is ‘dodgy’.
15 Mistake concealed by building site bully
TERRORISE
An insertion of ERROR in (SITE)* The insertion indicator is ‘concealed by’ and the anagrind is ‘building’.
16 Paused to get warmed up with rest inside
HESITATED
An insertion of SIT in HEATED. The insertion indicator is ‘inside’.
17 Pleased when government confirmed agreement
GRATIFIED
A charade of G and RATIFIED.
21 Surprising spice in heroic poems
EPICS
(SPICE)*
22 Sides with female experts
FACES
A charade of F and ACES.
23 Fed up with committee, by the sound of it
BORED
A homophone (‘by the sound of it’) of BOARD.
Many thanks to Hectence for this week’s Quiptic.
Fun, and so nearly a pangram. (I think no y or z?)
Wot no bird link for Dodo?
You know the rules, Shirl. The bird has to be the answer, the whole answer and nothing but the answer.
Nice puzzle.
A bit harder than today’s Cryptic?
Thanks Hectence and Pierre
I had exactly the experience you described with 8d, Pierre. I looked at it 2nd (as it gave lots of first letters) and had no idea, but as soon as I had the second and second last letters, the solution jumped out at me.
Isn’t there a mismatch of sorts in 20a? “Too old for” would be “grown out of”; “grew out of” would be “got too old”?
Yep muffin @5, that was my only quibble… ‘grew out of’ needs a verb, ‘got to old for’, as you said. Otherwise, sweet enough, tho unmeaning was a bit of a clunker. Ta both.
Yes grantinfreo @6: I thought UNMEANING was clunky but the rest was very good. Faves were FAIR AND SQUARE, SHARP PRACTICE and TERRORISE and thanks for parsing INTERESTS. Definitely more difficult than the Cryptic Michelle @4.
Ta Hectence & Pierre
SHARP PRACTICE was a bit disappointing because SMART PRACTICE could do easily fit as well. UNMEANING is such a grotty word, as Alan@7 points out, and I’m afraid this corner overshadowed some of the rest of the puzzle for me.
ABSTINENT and DARJEELING TEA were my favourites today.
Boffo @8
“Smart practice” doesn’t mean “sneaky behaviour”.
Thanks for parsing GREW OUT OF, and thanks Hectence for an enjoyable crossword, with some nice surfaces too. I particularly like the silent-comedy situation of 5d.
I agree with Pierre’s overall assessment, the clunkiness of UNMEANING and the tense in GREW OUT OF. I tried to make ON OFFER work for AT STAKE with now and again being on-off and ER just being a post for us republicans, but better counsel prevailed.
I’m with AlanC and Michelle, definitely harder than the cryptic. And with everyone on the clunkiness of UNMEANING, which I didn’t even know was a word. But overall a nice puzzle.
Very nice-my pick of the day
Thanks Pierre, I share the overall praise and minor grumbles above and will add one of my own: “leap” as an anagrind, especially when “hidden” like this – maybe it’s just a groan as it took me ages to spot but i don’t think I have seen “leap” used this way before and not entirely sure it works without Around or About.
Ava was third in my list of famous Gardners and was very happy that it worked as there isn’t a fourth.
Lots of other good stuff to puzzle through (a long way from a write-in for me, some of the constructions are quite complicated esp with elements like “firing 50%”, but all clear after the fact, and many good surfaces) so thanks Hectence with STRADDLES my favourite.
Once more considerably harder than today’s cryptic. Nice puzzle but it doesn’t do what it says on the tin.
What does it say on the thin?
[if there is a tin anyway]
Sil @15
Fingal is referring to a TV advert. As usual, I can’t remember what it was for, but the catchline was “does what it says on the tin”. I’ve a feeling it was for some weatherproofing treatment.
muffin, Fingal thinks the Quiptic is a crossword that is there for a reason.
Easy perhaps? Encouraging newer solvers? Anyway, if that is what it says on the tin.
Personally, I think the Quiptic is nowadays just an extra Guardian weekly cryptic crossword – nothing more to it than that.
On the Guardian website, the Quiptic is described as ‘for beginners and those in a hurry’. I think it generally meets that description and am still a fan of it for encouraging newer solvers to have a go. It’s not an exam: you don’t have to get 28/28 every week.
Yes, Pierre, it does say there indeed but are these puzzles much different from, say, the ones on a Monday or a Tuesday?
For me, the real place to go for ‘new’ solvers is The Times Quick Cryptic.
However, it’s not for free – unfortunately.
I mean, Hectence = Hectence, Anto = Anto, Nutmeg = Nutmeg and Pan = Pan.
In today’s Times there was a ‘quick cryptic’ by Mara.
Mara is who we here know as Paul but his Times crossword was really ‘easy’.
Perhaps, it’s that what we miss in the Quiptic.
If Pasquale turns up here, his puzzles are really fit for purpose.
Similar thoughts about Orlando (who we haven’t seen for a long long time).
They can tone down and do it because they know they should.
In The Times, puzzles by Teazel are even more accessible than the ones by his alter ego Vulcan.
As a newspaper The Guardian is closer to my heart but when it comes to crosswords The Times has it right.
Sil @21
When I last did Times puzzles (in the Staff Common Room, at lunchtime, so before I retired 10 years ago), the setter was never identified. When did this change?
muffin, that hasn’t changed.
I am talking here about The Times Quick Cryptic (Mon-Fri) in which setters do have pseudonyms.
Personally, I think these crosswords are ideal for those wanting to learn the game.
With a lot of familiar ‘faces’ like the ones I already mentioned but also Breadman (Scorpion (Indy), Aardvark (FT)), Izetti (Pasquale etc) , Pedro (Phi (Indy), Hurley (Raich (Indy), Gurney (FT)), Tracy (Falcon (FT), ‘the old Everyman’) and more.
However, as I said before, they are behind a paywall – as part of a full newspaper subscription (currently £26 per month, in digital form).
And so for most people not really an option.
Thanks Sil
muffin, if you happen to read this: you can buy books of the Times Quick Cryptics, which at £6.99 for 100 puzzles work out a lot cheaper than the £26 per month mentioned by Sil. I’ve had a couple of them and find them a pleasant way to pass a bit of time when you don’t want too much of a challenge.
Leap as an anagrind? I’m not happy about that. Otherwise good quiptic.
Very enjoyable Quiptic from this excellent, reliable setter. Thanks to Pierre for the insightful blog.
One can find the Times Quick Cryptic freely available online, not on the Times website.