Thanks to Anto. Apologies for the late blog mainly due to the late posting of the puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Fast food outlet initially lacking music (3,3)
HIP HOP : “chip shop”(fast food outlet) minus their 1st letters, respectively(initially lacking).
4. Scientist went on rambling (6)
NEWTON : Anagram of(… rambling) WENT ON.
9. Workers say nothing in opposition to such corporate guff (10,5)
MANAGEMENT SPEAK : A phrase that one could say is in contrast to(… in opposition to such) “workers say nothing”.
10. Sailor absorbed by issue — one can’t sink lower than that! (6)
SEABED : AB(abbrev. for “able-bodied seaman”/a sailor) contained in(absorbed by) SEED(issue/one’s offspring).
11. Soldier follows passion for Spanish folk music (8)
FLAMENCO : NCO(abbrev. for “non-commissioned officer”, a solder of that rank) placed after(follows) FLAME(passion/heat).
12. Twin raised to share (6,2)
DOUBLE UP : DOUBLE(a twin/a look-alike) + UP(raised/lifted to a higher level).
Defn: … a room or work desk, say, as in “John can double up with Jack for the night”.
14. Performed a ritual that holds back abuse (6)
TIRADE : Hidden in reversal of(… that holds back) “Performed a ritual“.
15. Patsy drops over for date — it’s pretty dull fare (6)
STODGE : “stooge”(a patsy/a scapegoat) with “o”(abbrev. for “over” in cricket scores) replacing(drops … for) “d”(abbrev. for “date”).
18. Mother dear hiding deserter from battle (8)
MARATHON : [MA(familiar term for one’s mother) + HON(short for “honey”, like “dear” a term of endearment)] containing(hiding) RAT(a deserter/an illegal leaver).
Defn: … in Ancient Greece.
21. I perched awkwardly to find crack (8)
DECIPHER : Anagram of(… awkwardly) I perched.
Defn: … a code/a cipher, naturally.
22. Gain from impetus when energy is injected (6)
DERIVE : DRIVE(impetus/determination to achieve) containing(when … is injected) E(symbol for “energy” in physics).
24. Tenant was wont to muddle advice on economy (5,3,4,3)
WASTE NOT WANT NOT : Anagram of(… muddle) TENANT WAS WONT TO.
Defn: …/how to make full use of.
25. Contemplate making Yankee start over there (6)
YONDER : “ponder”(to contemplate/to think about deeply) with Y(letter represented by “Yankee” in the phonetic alphabet) replacing its 1st letter(making … start).
26. Leave daughter in positive surroundings? I’m astonished! (2,4)
YE GODS! : [GO(to leave/depart) + D(abbrev. for “daughter”)] contained in(in … surroundings) YES(positive, in opposition to “no”/negative).
Defn: …/an expression of surprise.
Down
1. Pitch high one initially, resulting in dismissal (5-2)
HEAVE-HO : HEAVE(to pitch/to throw a heavy object) + 1st letters, respectively, of(… initially) “high one“.
Defn: …/the sack, as in “the poor performer was given the heave-ho”.
2. Back up for short drama, that’s important … (4,1)
PLAN B : “play”(drama/a dramatic work played out on the stage) minus its last letter(short …) + NB(abbrev. for “note bene”/take special note of the following as it is important).
3. … because of fitting getting delayed (7)
OVERDUE : OVER(fitting/about, as in “a coat fitting you”) DUE(because of/as a result of …).
5. Pull out more on court (7)
EXTRACT : EXTRA(more/in addition to) placed above(on, in a down clue) CT(abbrev. for “court”, as used in residential addresses).
6. Very sensitive child fed a variety of crepes (3,6)
TOP SECRET : TOT(a very young child) containing(fed) anagram of(a variety of) CREPES.
7. Can nude dancing be subtle? (7)
NUANCED : Anagram of(.. dancing) CAN NUDE.
8. Boost as local accepts charge being raised (4,2)
BEEF UP : Reversal of(… being raised, in a down clue) [PUB(a local/a pub near to one’s home or place of work) containing(accepts) FEE(a charge/a cost for a service)].
13. Make money in poorly performing sport (9)
BADMINTON : MINT(to make money/to produce the official coins of a country) contained in(in) [BAD(poorly/of inferior quality) + ON(performing/acting on stage or on set, as in “You’re on in five minutes, Mr. Olivier”) ].
16. Blame your head for needing this, perhaps (7)
THERAPY : [THE RAP](the blame for an offence or mistake, as in “he was forced to take the rap for others’ mistakes”) + 1st letter of(… head) “your“.
Defn: Perhaps what’s in your head is to blame for what you need.
17. Better reinforce lift (7)
ENHANCE : Triple defn.
18. Tinker with remit society values (6)
MERITS : Anagram of(Tinker with) REMIT + S(abbrev. for “society”).
Defn: …/good or valuable points.
19. Socialist record, which retards enterprise (3,4)
RED TAPE : RED(a socialist/a leftist) + TAPE(to record, on tape, naturaly).
Defn: That …/bureaucracy.
20. Former pupil against debts being beyond dispute (7)
OBVIOUS : OB(abbrev. for “old boy”/a former pupil of a school) + V(abbrev. for “versus”/against) + IOUS(debts, as in plural of “I-owe-you”).
23. Proportion great tailor regularly achieves (5)
RATIO : 2nd and subsequent alternate letters of(… regularly achieves) “great tailor“.
That was fun!
I wasted a few minutes trying to sort out wordplay for 9A, men for workers, speak for say etc… but it clearly wasn’t there so I left it and came back at the end to parse.
Particularly enjoyed HIP HOP (only the clue not the genre).
Thanks scchua and Anto.
Couldn’t parse 16D and 18A took me a little while, but otherwise fairly straightforward. 1A got a grin, and 6D was fun.
Thanks Anto & scchua.
Took me a long time to spot MANAGEMENT SPEAK, and I never did see the triple def in ENHANCE.
re OVERDUE: because of = OVER (he was fired over the expenses scandal) and fitting =DUE (a fitting reward for his actions).
A nice Quiptic from ANTO: I liked TOP SECRET and HIP HOP.
[STODGE at my school was the name for any flavour of sponge pudding with custard, which we got nearly every day.]
Liked the rap y, reminded me of the sign writer putting Psycho the Rapist on the shrink’s door. [Mrs ginf had a postcard of therapist operating trapdoor saying “Sorry, you’re too f….d. Next!” She was, ntl, a revered therapist]
Worth waiting for! Pitched just right for a Quiptic, I reckon – good variety of clues, lovely wordplay, neat surfaces. I’m sure I’ve seen the device used in 1ac before but it still made me smile. Ticks also for 14, 15, 18, 21, 24 on the across, and 6, 7, 16 going down. Thanks, Anto.
And thanks for the blog, scchua, though I think you’ve got 3dn the wrong way round – I read it the same way as gladys @3.
Slightly hampered my progress by putting in RED STAR for 19d – parsed as an anagram (enterprise???) of “retards”, with “Socialist record” as the definition, as in the newspaper… except that’s the Morning Star I’m thinking of, isn’t it… Doh! Fortunately, cracking 26ac soon put me straight.
A nice puzzle towards the harder end of the Quiptic range, I thought. I’m with Gladys on OVERDUE, too. I had the same experience as Blah with 9ac. Thanks, both.
I thing Gladys and Petert must be right on 3dn. I was having trouble seeing how “because of” = “over”, but Gladys’s example solved that for me.
I wondered a bit about “blame” indicating “the rap” instead of just “rap”, although I can’t say it bothered me all that much. In general, it seems to me, “the rap” and “the blame” are interchangeable, but “the rap” and “blame” usually aren’t.
I thought this was a very enjoyable Quiptic. Thanks to Anto and scchua!
Like gladys @3 and others, I also thought OVER = “because of” and DUE = “fitting” in 3d.
I hadn’t parsed THE RAP Y (so thanks to scchua for the enlightenment!), and in 25a I had parsed contemplate as “wonder” instead of “ponder”, which also seemed to work (but I agree that “ponder” is better).
In the explanation for 2d, I think NB is short for “nota bene” and not “note bene”.
Came on to say ‘nota bene’ but see that majortom has already done that. Thank you for the parsing of 16D. Couldn’t see ‘the rap’.
Quiptic was a lot of fun. Thanks go to Anto and Scchua.
An enjoyable Quiptic.
Favourites: HIP HOP, MARATHON (by chance, I listenend to a podcast about Thermopylae and Marathon today).
Thanks, both.
* I parsed 3d in the same way as Gladys@3
Is there a reason why this quiptic has not appeared on my app yet? It’s now Wednesday
I really liked HIP HOP and, once the penny dropped, MANAGEMENT SPEAK. Couldn’t parse THERAPY, so I was left wondering if the “perhaps” could be a nod to the band (who spell it Therapy?) — but decided that was too obscure.