Guardian Quiptic 1,124/Pasquale

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We don’t see Pasquale very often in the Quiptic slot, but when we do, you can be assured of a thoughtfully constructed, tractable beginners’ puzzle. 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

5 Journey east accompanied by the German writer
GOETHE
Plenty of writers end in -DER, but this wasn’t one of them, was it? A charade of GO, E and THE.

6 Pater’s cooked a meal
REPAST
(PATERS)* with ‘cooked’ as the anagrind.

9 Club chauffeur?
DRIVER
A dd.

10 Those wanting ideal life wandering out, coming to Spain possibly
UTOPIANS
A charade of (OUT)* and (SPAIN)* The anagrinds are ‘wandering’ and ‘possibly’.

11 Thus old city becomes bitter
SOUR
A charade of SO and UR for the setters’ favourite ‘old city’. The two definitions are separate when it comes to taste on the tongue, but synonymous when describing an emotional state. ‘She was sour/bitter about the break-up.’

12 Organised groups making inordinate din with ecstasy
SYNDICATES
(DIN ECSTASY)* with ‘inordinate’ as the anagrind.

13 Having the top flat? That’s sensible
LEVEL-HEADED
A cd, whimsically suggesting that if you had the highest apartment you’d be the head in terms of levels.

Edit: gladys @3 has another suggestion for the parsing.

18 See corrupt criminal as one who troubles others
PERSECUTOR
(SEE CORRUPT)* with ‘criminal’ as the anagrind.

21 Thoroughfare is wide, with one side closed off
ROAD
[B]ROAD

22 Left during performance, being kicked out
DEPORTED
An insertion of PORT in DEED.

23 City tribe rioting outside university
BEIRUT
An insertion of U in (TRIBE)*

24 Support runner-up getting a tick
SECOND
Not a dd, but a td – a triple definition.

25 Argue about a family member
REASON
A charade of RE, A and SON.

Down

1 Obstinate agent turning up with lines presented in book?
PERVERSE
A charade of REP reversed and VERSE. ‘Turning up’ works as the reversal indicator because it’s a down clue.

2 Drinks in holiday attire?
SHORTS
A dd.

3 European lady one’s upset — she’s being educated
SEÑORITA
A charade of (ONES)* and RITA, the second particle referring to the Willy Russell two-hander Educating Rita. The film version with Michael Caine and Julie Walters is one of my favourite movies.

4 Wild animal in capital city
MANILA
(ANIMAL)* with ‘wild’ as the anagrind.

5 Monster in building or gone?
GORGON
(OR GONE)* with ‘building’ as the anagrind.

Edit: in fact, it’s hidden in buildinG OR GONe.  Thanks to DuncM.

7 One behind the other in metropolitan demonstration
TANDEM
Hidden in metropoliTAN DEMonstration.

8 Cause a complete reversal? Canute was unable to
TURN THE TIDE
A cd cum dd.

14 Referring to going after old lover as ‘thrilling‘
EXCITING
A charade of EX and CITING.

15 Most primitive ateliers badly built
EARLIEST
(ATELIERS)*

16 Numbers still to be brought aboard ship
SEVENS
An insertion of EVEN in SS. If you’re new to all this, ‘aboard ship’ or ‘on board’ is setter-speak for inserting something into SS (for ‘steamship’), the logic being that if you put something between the two letters it’s ‘on board’.

17 Planet finally completes a revolution
SATURN
A charade of S for the final letter of ‘completes’, A and TURN.

19 Sit badly, like hooligan wasting time in school
SLOUCH
An insertion of LOU[T] in SCH.

20 Masseur or masseuse needed for a series of games
RUBBER
A carefully gender-neutral dd.

Many thanks to the Don for the bank holiday crossword. Time to put your 2dn on in the UK today, if that’s your bag.

26 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,124/Pasquale”

  1. I’m puzzled by your Quixote reference, Pierre – my printout has Pasquale as compiler.
    I didn’t think 3d was a fair clue. I knew the film reference, but it is nearly 40 years old!
    A DNF for me, as I had carelessly put PROSECUTOR at 18a, so SEVENS was blank.

  2. A lovely way to start the day – the fact I can post early says a lot about the way this puzzle has been put together; a real joy.
    I had 5D as a hidden though rather than an anagram.
    Thanks to Pasquale and Pierre.

  3. I saw “having the top flat” as being one of those flat-on-top hairstyles, thus “level headed”.

  5. Whoops. Sorry for the misnomer – corrected now. It’s the Don’s fault – he has too many avatars …

  6. muffin @1, I don’t think ‘Rita’ in that ‘educational’ connection is going to go anywhere soon – she was in this vicinity only 10 days ago in Puck’s Guardian Cryptic on 21st May (22 Across). Spielberg’s ‘ET’ will be 40 next year, but I think is likely to remain setters’ favourite, go-to alien. Whether it is fair that such relics of cinematic mid-antiquity should be hanging around to baffle setters too young to remember them, I really cannot say; but I suppose that ‘one person’s obscurity is another person’s write-in,’ as one contributor remarked concerning PUTLOG in last Friday’s Enigmatist.

  7. A Pasquale Quiptic, a Brendan Cryptic, and an Alan Connor blog posted nice and early in the morning. What’s not to love about today?

  8. Great Quiptic
    Muffin @1 & sc@6 – add 70 plus years dead Al Capone and the roughly 100 year-old Model T Ford to the list.

  9. Good Quiptic that did what it said on the tin (for non-UK solvers, please see here.

    I liked UTOPIANS, SATURN and SLOUCH.

    Thanks Pasquale and Pierre.

  10. muffin @1; ‘Educating Rita’ is still being shown at regular intervals on TV (I watched it again, not long ago), so I think it’s fair game.

  12. [Indeed, Shirl @9; and, thinking about it further, we have, within recent times, had ABBA repeatedly, (disbanded 1982), including as a couple of themed puzzles, quite apart from featuring in clues, ‘Doris’s musical’, i.e. ‘Calamity Jane’ (1953), and a themed puzzle around ‘Top Cat’ and ‘Top Hat’. And Paul’s Woodstock (1969) Prize. We are not, perhaps alas, a very (ahem) millennial community here, and I remember some harrumphs of indignation when, some time in the last year, a puzzle was themed around ‘Friends’, which itself is to all intents and purposes pre-millennial. I shall have to cover my ears and hide behind the sofa if a setter themes or even clues a puzzle using Beyonce or ‘Fleabag’.]

  13. I finished today’s cryptic and printed out last week’s Matilda quiptic by mistake, and had done about five clues before I started thinking “I’ve seen this before.” Went back to the quiptics page and chose the right one second time around. Then suddenly got hit by another stroke of déjà vu: same grid, same answer in 15 down!

  14. [ blaise@ 13, Paul and Araucaria once did it deliberately on consecutive days. Same answer with the same position in the grid. The answer was……. DEJA VU . ]

  15. Pierre, it’s not time to put your shorts on in Connecticut. Even though it is also a holiday weekend here, it’s cold and damp. Ugh.

    Thanks, Pasquale and Pierre.

  17. I’m glad I’m in good company in carelessly writing in PROSECUTOR for 18ac. That made all the difference in the world: This puzzle probably would have been my fastest finish ever, but instead I ran aground on 16dn and failed to finish at all without a bit of cheating (plugging in a wrong answer for 16dn, hitting “check”, and thus finding out about my mistake).

  18. Educating Rita may be an old film, but the play only stopped being a set text for GCSE English in 2013 and was still being set for Drama more recently (Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers is currently being set for English as an option of a post 1914 play.)

    I was so on the wavelength for this one – don’t think I’ve solved anything else quite so fast – 15 minutes according to the app.

  19. Just popping in to say how very much I agree with Adriana @16 and Robi @9: a perfect Quiptic that does exactly what it says on the tin. The description on the Guardian site says it’s supposed to be a ‘cryptic puzzle for beginners and those in a hurry’. Many Quiptics over recent weeks/months/years have been fine puzzles in their own right, but they haven’t fulfilled the brief. This one did.

    I see the reaction on the Graun site today has been overwhelmingly positive too; hopefully the editor will take that as an encouragement.

    Thanks Pasquale and Pierre.

  20. Agreed: a lovely puzzle. Favourites were GOETHE and the wonderful pun yielding SYNDICATES. Thanks to both.

  21. Essexboy @19, I agree that the Guardian Quiptic often strays on the side of difficulty.
    I think the daily Times Quick Cryptic is a model of what a beginner’s cryptic should be (Pasquale sets as ‘Izetti’ there, and Paul as ‘Mara’, among others).
    An experienced setter is a better judge of what is best for a novice solver.

  22. Bit late to this (solving at work whilst a report runs!) but wanted to add my appreciation – this is what the Quiptic is meant to be!

    As a Millennial, albeit towards the older end of the range, Educating Rita doesn’t seem unfair as a reference (an entire puzzle based on it might be a bit much, mind).

  23. Well done Don, even the Marsh Street mob wouldn’t have needed your help for this one.

  24. Struggled with Rita and came here to understand 2D: short used to be Starbucks’ 8oz size here, but has long since dropped off the menu, and I’m sure I’ve never heard of that play/movie. Solving cross-Atlantic crosswords is a language and culture education every time!

  25. Thanks Pasquale and Pierre for a great Quiptic and a wonderful blog.

    Mercy @24, please make it your mission to see Educating Rita as soon as possible – it really is a classic! I’m sure you would enjoy it.

    I also read level-headed as a reference to flat-topped haircuts …

  26. I confindently wrote in PINDER for 1A – a reversal of NIP (as in ‘nip to the shops’) and DER (the German), but soon realised my error

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