Pasquale has been setting quite a few Quiptics lately – he’s always good value.
Mostly straightforward, as a Quiptic should be, with lots of familiar tricks – I hope I’ve explained all of these for beginners, but please ask if anything isn’t clear. I laughed at the mental images of 16a, 6d, 15d and 22d – the last of these suggesting recent experiences of self-isolation perhaps? Thanks Pasquale for a fun solve.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | MONUMENT |
Greek character features in second statue maybe (8)
|
| NU (the Greek letter N) in MOMENT (second). | ||
| 9 | AERIES |
Nests, as seen across one of the Great Lakes (6)
|
| AS containing (across) ERIE (one of the Great Lakes in North America).
Aerie, also spelled eyrie = the nest of a bird of prey. |
||
| 10 | PRIEST |
Minister is nosy — start of trouble (6)
|
| PRIES (is nosy) + starting letter of T[rouble]. | ||
| 12 | LAUNCHED |
Awkward uncle had to be got going (8)
|
| Anagram (awkward) of UNCLE HAD. | ||
| 13 | ODE |
Some modest piece of poetry (3)
|
| Hidden answer (some . . .) in [m]ODE[st]. | ||
| 14 | ELEVEN |
Prime team? (6)
|
| Double definition. An example of a prime (a prime number); or a team consisting of 11 players, for example in cricket or football. | ||
| 16 | MALADIES |
Illnesses sending mum to the loo (8)
|
| MA (mum = mother) + LADIES (short for ladies’ toilets = loo). | ||
| 17 | FINNISH |
European conclusion being reported (7)
|
| Homophone (being reported) of FINISH (conclusion). | ||
| 20 | EYELASH |
Something hairy not far from the viewer (7)
|
| Cryptic definition: a hair near the eye. | ||
| 23 | DEBARRED |
Society girl, a right leftie getting banned (8)
|
| DEB (short for debutante = a young woman entering society) + A + R (right) + RED (communist = leftie). | ||
| 24 | TUSCAN |
Italian union facing examination (6)
|
| TU (short for trade union) + SCAN (examination).
From the Italian region of Tuscany. |
||
| 26 | HER |
That girl‘s father is half cut (3)
|
| [fat]HER, with the first half cut (removed). | ||
| 27 | ALLIANCE |
Joining up of everyone that is kept outside African party (8)
|
| ALL (everyone) + IE (i.e. = id est = that is), outside ANC (African National Congress = political party in South Africa). | ||
| 28 | UNREST |
University exceptionally stern as the result of disturbance (6)
|
| U (university) + anagram (exceptionally = unusually) of STERN.
You might want to include “the result of” as part of the definition, if you don’t like it as a link between wordplay and definition. I’m not sure which is intended. |
||
| 31 | ASSENT |
Agreement was sentimental to some extent (6)
|
| Hidden answer (to some extent) in [w]AS SENT[imental]. | ||
| 32 | EASTERLY |
Wind — trees lay broken (8)
|
| Anagram (broken) of TREES LAY.
A wind blowing from the east. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | FOUR |
Number in favour of being heard (4)
|
| Homophone (being heard) of FOR (in favour of). | ||
| 2 | FUSE |
Safety device from America with iron casing (4)
|
| US (America, or as an adjective “from America”) with FE (Fe = chemical symbol for iron, from the Latin ferrum) around it (casing). | ||
| 3 | MERTON |
Mentor working in Oxford college (6)
|
| Anagram (working) of MENTOR.
One of the oldest colleges in Oxford University. |
||
| 4 | PTOLEMY |
Astronomer has front of telescope crushed by rod — gosh! (7)
|
| First letter (front) of T[elescope], inserted into (crushed by) POLE (rod), then MY (my! = gosh! = an expression of surprise).
Greek mathematician and astronomer from the 2nd century AD. |
||
| 5 | MANUALLY |
Chap, superior friend using hands (8)
|
| MAN (chap) + U (superior = upper-class, as in “U and non-U”, though the term probably isn’t used much outside crosswords these days) + ALLY (friend). | ||
| 6 | CROCODILES |
Dangerous animals close? Cor, I’d get excited! (10)
|
| Anagram (excited) of CLOSE COR I’D. | ||
| 7 | LEVERETS |
Young creatures always invading rented properties (8)
|
| EVER (always) inserted into (invading) LETS (rented properties, as in “holiday lets”).
Leveret = a baby hare. |
||
| 11 | ICE |
One church that is very cold (3)
|
| I (one in Roman numerals) + CE (Church of England). | ||
| 14 | ELF |
The Spanish female is a little troublemaker (3)
|
| EL (a form of “the” in Spanish) + F (female).
Creature in folklore, sometimes (though not always) depicted as small and mischievous. |
||
| 15 | VANDALISED |
Vehicle naughty laddies wrecked (10)
|
| VAN (vehicle) + anagram (naughty) of LADDIES. | ||
| 18 | IDEALIST |
Agreement is sealed by Italian, one wanting perfection (8)
|
| DEAL (agreement) + IS, all contained in (sealed by) IT (short for Italian). | ||
| 19 | SERENITY |
Siren yet to disturb peace (8)
|
| Anagram (to disturb) of SIREN YET. | ||
| 21 | HEN |
The fellow with name for a bird (3)
|
| HE (the fellow) + N (name). | ||
| 22 | ADHERED |
Stuck in this place with tot running around (7)
|
| HERE (in this place), with ADD (tot, as a verb = add = sum) around it. | ||
| 24 | TRUEST |
Most reliable mate finally breaking confidence (6)
|
| Last letter (finally) of [mat]E, inserted into (breaking) TRUST (confidence). | ||
| 25 | CUE |
Signal given by letter audibly (3)
|
| Homophone (audibly) of the letter Q. | ||
| 29 | REED |
Grass when you have hunger? Not good! (4)
|
| [g]REED (hunger) without the G (good). In the most literal sense, hunger (needing food) and greed (wanting more food than one needs, or more of something generally) aren’t quite the same thing. But metaphorically they can both mean a strong desire for something. | ||
| 30 | SALT |
Sailor perched when traversing lake (4)
|
| SAT (perched), around (traversing) L (lake).
Slang for a sailor, especially an old or experienced one. |
Exemplary quiptic-level clueing from Pasquale, and an exemplary blog from Quirister. Thanks both.
Thanks Pasquale and Quirister
Very nice. Favourites PRIEST and MALADIES.
EYEBROW seems a better fit for the definition at 20a; I saw the two possibilities and waited for the crossers.
[Did you hear about the bald man who balanced leverets on his head. When asked why, he replied “because from a distance they look like rabbits”.]
Very Good! Could not see 20a (maybe my lashes were blocking the view) for ages 9a didn’t know alternative spelling so took a while. 29d agree with setter not quite sure greed works but no complaints.
Very enjoyable, an excellent Quiptic.
New: AERIES.
Liked TUSCAN, PTOLEMY, MONUMENT.
Thanks Pasquale and Quirister
23A. I took Deb as short for Deborah.
Nice. Ta both
“Deb”, like “U”, is another one of those old-fashioned terms that you rarely see outside crosswords these days – although perhaps that depends what circles you move in… a quick bit of Googling reveals that debutante balls are still a thing, which I suppose shouldn’t surprise me, although debs have not been presented at court for over 60 years, since Brenda put a stop to it.
Perfect quiptic
As others have said, this was spot on for a quiptic – generally straightforward with a good variety of enjoyable clues but with a few more demanding ones thrown in.
Thanks, P and Q.
Yes, lovely Quiptic: one or two less usual words (PTOLEMY, AERIES, MERTON) but offset by straightforward clues. Is a fuse a safety device? I suppose so.
gladys @10
An electrical fuse is a safety device. It prevents excess current going through the electrical equipment.
Wohderful! From time to time I introduce newbies to cryptics. I’ve even given talks on the subject. I’m going to bookmark this puzzle for the next such time.
PTOLEMY my LOI – could not for the life of me think of a word starting with S or one of the vowels to fit the crossers – teach me to be aware of unusual letter combos. I wanted to put DEBUTANT as the answer for 23a, but couldn’t parse it – then didn’t think to try DEB! A nice mix of clue types – as has been said, a great Quiptic. Thanks, Pasquale and Quirister.
Spot on Quiptic. Never come across the bird nest spelt that way (eyrie surely more common) though ought to have twigged the wordplay. 4d a super clue.
Thanks all
Yes lovely quiptic – last section completed was the SW corner where nearly every one made me smile
Thanks Pasquale and Quirister
Muffin@11: yes, of course, how daft of me. I was thinking of the fizzy bit of string on the stick of Acme Dynamite.
I thought that was it, gladys – mind you, you could argue that that sort of fuse is a safe way of setting off the dynamite!
[btw admire the perfectly grammatical sentence that has two juxtaposed repeated words!]
Lovely, thanks Pasquale and Quirister both for your fine fine efforts. If I have to moan about anything then I suppose it would be Aeries but, as I don’t have to, I shan’t. 🙂
PTOLEMY threw me for a bit, as I could only remember the general. Otherwise a tough struggle but one ultimately vanquished.