As usual Hectence gives us a slightly tricky Quiptic, but an enjoyable one.
Nice concise clues with some great surfaces; I laughed at the reminder of an old car in 11a, the mum on a girls’ holiday in 27a, and various sporting references. But surely Hectence can’t be suggesting in 13d that our Government representatives might accept unauthorised donations?
A couple of quibbles noted below, but I’ll have to accept that in both cases it’s clear enough what the intention is – I’m just exercising my right to be a pedant. Thanks Hectence as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | MILKSHAKE |
Take advantage of jerk to get drink (9)
|
| MILK (take advantage of) + SHAKE (jerk). | ||
| 6 | SWARM |
Army sergeant major’s containing hostilities (5)
|
| SM (short for sergeant major) containing WAR (hostilities).
Swarm = army = a very large number of people or animals moving together. |
||
| 9 | LILAC |
Recollected Yell Island in bloom (5)
|
| CALL (yell), reversed (recollected?), with I (island) in it. I’m not convinced by the reversal indicator though – “recollected” means remembered, or possibly an anagram indicator as “re-collected” but that would be an indirect anagram. Using it for “reversed” is a bit of a stretch. Am I missing something? | ||
| 10 | ST PANCRAS |
Trains here when Spartans FC fellow is out injured (2,7)
|
| Anagram (injured) of SPARTANS [f]C, without the F (abbreviation for fellow).
London railway station, next to Kings Cross. |
||
| 11 | IMP |
Old Hillman‘s parking on back road (3)
|
| P (sign for parking areas) added to MI (M1 = major north-south motorway in England = road) reversed (back).
The Hillman Imp was a popular small British car made in the 1960s and 1970s. |
||
| 12 | ANNUAL LEAVE |
Time off once a year with permission (6,5)
|
| ANNUAL (once a year) + LEAVE (permission).
Annual leave = an employee’s allocation of holiday days to be taken in a single year. |
||
| 14 | ENDEMIC |
Stop mutated mice becoming widespread (7)
|
| END (stop) + anagram (mutated) of MICE. | ||
| 15 | NIMBLER |
In retirement, doctor has regular sleep and runs to get fitter (7)
|
| IN reversed (retirement) + MB (abbreviation for doctor, from the Latin for a “Bachelor of Medicine” degree) + alternate letters (regular) of [s]L[e]E[p] + R (runs in cricket scoring). | ||
| 16 | COULD BE |
Perhaps double fault takes Djokovic finally ahead (5,2)
|
| Anagram (fault) of DOUBLE, with the final letter of [djokovi]C before it (ahead). The surface suggests the tennis player Novak Djokovic, though he’s normally good enough to be ahead even without double faults from his opponent. | ||
| 19 | AVOIDED |
Helped to nurse very old being ignored (7)
|
| AIDED (helped), containing (to nurse) V (very) + O (old). | ||
| 22 | OUIJA BOARDS |
Yes, in France and Germany managers used to call people who were late (5,6)
|
| OUI + JA, the words for “yes” in French and German respectively, then BOARDS (as in board of directors = managers).
Device supposedly used to obtain messages from the dead (late). It was patented in the late 19th century as a parlour game rather than a serious device, though the concept is older. |
||
| 23 | SPA |
Endless junk mail for health resort (3)
|
| SPA[m] (junk mail), missing the last letter (endless). | ||
| 24 | UNOPPOSED |
Unanimously agreed pound/peso exchange (9)
|
| Anagram (exchange) of POUND PESO.
Sorry, Hectence – this usage may be common parlance, but I’ve read and written too many sets of committee minutes to accept it. Unanimous means that everyone said yes. Unopposed means that nobody said no, but some voters abstained, or that someone was elected by default because there was no other candidate; the term is specifically used to distinguish this from unanimous agreement. |
||
| 26 | GAUZE |
Bend to look around for dressing (5)
|
| U (as in U-bend = a sharp curve in a plumbing pipe, used as a trap to block unwanted gases), with GAZE (to look) around it.
Gauze = loosely-woven fabric, which can be used as a medical dressing. |
||
| 27 | TUMMY |
Belly-dancing mum’s in Turkey on vacation (5)
|
| Anagram (dancing) of MUM, in T[urke]Y (on vacation = after emptying = middle letters removed). | ||
| 28 | SPEARHEAD |
Lead engineer shaped era (9)
|
| Anagram (engineer, as a verb = build) of SHAPED ERA.
Spearhead, as a verb = lead = be responsible for getting something started. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MALAISE |
Analgesia lamentably concealed mounting depression (7)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . concealed), reversed (mounting = upwards in a down clue), in [analg]ESIA LAM[entably]. | ||
| 2 | LILY PAD |
Old man’s in rustic idyll, a place to see frogs (4,3)
|
| PA (old man = slang for father) in an anagram (rustic = rough) of IDYLL.
Lily pad = the floating leaves of a water lily plant; frogs are often depicted sitting on them. |
||
| 3 | SOCIAL MEDIA |
Facebook and Twitter etc do end up hampering journalist (6,5)
|
| SOCIAL (do = a party or informal meeting), then AIM (end = goal) reversed (up, in a down clue) containing (hampering) ED (short for editor = journalist). | ||
| 4 | ARSENIC |
As is, crane’s insecure (7)
|
| Anagram (insecure) of IS CRANE.
Arsenic = metallic element with the chemical symbol As, probably best known as a poison. |
||
| 5 | EXPLAIN |
Describe old aircraft in talk (7)
|
| EX (prefix meaning “no longer” = old) + homophone (in talk) of PLANE (aircraft). | ||
| 6 | SIN |
Small lions occasionally misbehave (3)
|
| S (small) + alternate letters (occasionally) of [l]I[o]N[s]. | ||
| 7 | AIRMAIL |
Strain with money trouble in post overseas (7)
|
| AIR (strain = melody) + M (abbreviation for money, in economics) + AIL (trouble).
Letters sent overseas by air. |
||
| 8 | MISHEAR |
Fail to pick up email, even with son having try! (7)
|
| Even-numbered letters from [e]M[a]I[l] + S (son) + HEAR (try, in a law court). | ||
| 13 | LUMP OF SUGAR |
Sweetener left upper-class politician with new rug and sofa (4,2,5)
|
| L (left) + U (upper-class, as in “U and non-U”) + MP (Member of Parliament = politician), then an anagram (new) of RUG + SOFA. | ||
| 16 | CROQUET |
Caught and run out? Gutted silence after game (7)
|
| C (caught, in cricket scoring) + RO (run out, ditto), then QU[i]ET (silence) with the middle letter removed (gutted).
Lawn game involving hitting balls through hoops with a mallet. |
||
| 17 | UNIFORM |
College fashion is military clothing (7)
|
| UNI (short for university = college) + FORM (fashion, as a verb = shape). | ||
| 18 | EGOISTS |
Selfish people in English society progress first (7)
|
| GO (progress) + IST (1st = first), in E (English) + S (society). | ||
| 19 | ABRIDGE |
Cut down boy’s free time outside (7)
|
| B (boy) + RID (as a verb = free), with AGE (time) outside. | ||
| 20 | DISPUTE |
Controversy surrounding second place finish (7)
|
| S (second) + PUT (place, as a verb), with DIE (finish) surrounding. | ||
| 21 | DEAD END |
Very close to stalemate (4,3)
|
| DEAD (slang for very, as in “dead set” = very determined) + END (close).
Stalemate = dead end = a situation from which there can be no satisfactory outcome. |
||
| 25 | PRY |
Snoop quietly online (3)
|
| P (p = piano = musical notation meaning “quietly”), then we have to split “on-line”: RY (abbreviation for railway = line), with “on” indicating that the P goes above it (reading downwards in a down clue). |
Thanks Hectence and Quirister
Thanks for parsing COULD BE, ABRIDGE, and DISPUTE. I liked TUMMY.
I solved the lower half first. I spent the same amount of time on this as today’s Cryptic and found some clues in this one harder to parse.
Plenty of well-written clues to enjoy here. My favourites (so many!): SIN, LUMP OF SUGAR, EGOISTS, GAUZE, OUIJA BOARDS, PRY, DISPUTE, ARSENIC, ST PANCRAS.
New for: LILAC; Hillman Imp = a small economy car that was made by the Rootes Group and its successor Chrysler Europe from 1963 until 1976.
Thanks, both.
Interesting to see Djokovic make an appearance in both Guardian puzzles today.
A trademark Hectence pangram. Very solid, as usual. I thought SPEARHEAD was nicely disguised and ABRIDGE was very clever. SOCIAL MEDIA perhaps a tad clunky – surely that’s a good candidate for a cd?
A pangram, to boot… Loved the belly-dancing mum, with an earworm for trekkies and colombians.
Thanks both.
[I had a Hillman IMP – what bad memories it brings back! A truly awful car.]
TUMMY was superb and SWARM neat. My experience the opposite of michelle @2 – I had all the top with little in the bottom at one stage. Not sure why – nothing too nasty one the pennies started to fall. The last time a crossie had the answer CROQUET, I kicked myself for how long it took me – the secretary of a croquet club – to see it. And it happened again today. Thanks, Hectence and Quirister.
Shirl@5-it brought back equally bad memories for ,me-like the sketch with Palin and Chapman where the latter brings in his wreck of a car
“Bring it in, we’ll have a look at it”
“I just have brought it in!”
Nice puzzle-thanks all.
I thought the origin of the name of the OUIJA BOARD was as in the clue, but some people think it was the name of a boarding house in Baltimore. Thanks for parsing DISPUTE which eluded me. It took ages for the ball to go through the hoop for CROQUET.
So do definitions have to work in both directions? If something was unanimously agreed then it would clearly be UNOPPOSED but as , Quirister says, not the other way around
Shirl@5 and Compus@7; I have a very vivid memory of driving my mother in a Hillman Imp on Easter Monday 1964, when one of the wheels came off!
Bodycheetah @9 — This seems to me very closely related to the question of “definition by example”. If the definition is a mere subset of the thing defined, we have a definition by example, which strictly speaking should be indicated as such. I would never have thought to insist on it in this case myself, but since I can be overly picky on other things, I’m in no position to quibble when others are picky about things that don’t bother me.
One area in which I”m overly picky is anagrinds. I definitely don’t like “rustic”.
This was my first unfinished Quiptic in quite a while. I just couldn’t see GAUZE for some reason, although it’s a perfectly reasonable Quiptic clue.
I didn’t notice that this was a pangram, but I often don’t.
Thanks Hectence and Quirister. Some very tricksy clueing here (eg ABRIDGE) – made it quite tough for a Quiptic, I thought. All good though. The belly-dancing mum is a real gem of a clue. Also very much enjoyed ENDEMIC, ARSENIC, COULD BE and SPEARHEAD.
This was my first Guardian (and Quiptic). Disheartening at first but managed to mangle through. Ended with some reveals for stumpers and compiled a list for ones I got but couldn’t parse. A challenging but pleasing experience, thank you Hectence.
Just as much, if not more, appreciation for Quirister for laying each out thus. Not only did I learn a great deal but it made me appreciate Hectence’s clues all the more.
A very enjoyable quiptic, so thanks to Hectence, and to Quirister for a clear and interesting blog.
Yorkshire Lass and I do the crosswords too late in the UK day to have much useful to add after the serious aficionados have had their say here, but today I must to raise a glass to the redoubtable muffin: first in on both quiptic and cryptic – wow!
[I can’t claim credit, Irishman – the blogs are often earlier than today!]
sarashinai @13, welcome to Fifteensquared. If this is your first Quiptic and you managed to get through most of it, you’re doing well! Hope you continue to enjoy the challenge.
Didn’t finish because I overlooked the middle letter of 11 across, which I would have got. Went through it quite rapidly, but couldn’t see the drink in 1 across. Have just come back to it and spotted it immediately. How weird is that?
A good friend of ours had a Hillman Imp. On a trip down to Devon it wouldn’t go up a hill with a full load, so the passengers had to get out and walk up it!
Oh dear, I had GLAZE for 26a, thinking “bend” was cryptic parlance for the letter L (cos it’s a bend), and a glaze is a salad dressing. I couldn’t find DISPUTE as a result
Got through it fairly easily, for a change, even if I didn’t parse a couple. I wasn’t aware of MB for a doctor (MO, MD, DR yes) so NIMBLER had to be sledgehammered in. I liked TUMMY and LUMP OF SUGAR.
Most enjoyable, thanks both. Quirister, there’s an N missing from English in your 18D blog entity.
I loved ouija boards – not hard, just clever/funny.
vogel421 @20: thanks, now corrected.
Finally got round to this as a substitute for the Everyman, which took very little time today. This took a little longer, so thanks Hectence for filling my Sunday mornng!
I thought a few liberties were taken with English word order, notably 20d and 18d, where “x in y” turns out to mean “y in x” As English is not an inflected language, I this a bit iffy find, but it is merely a quiblet.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. And Quirister thanks the also blog for.