Guardian Quiptic 1,160/Carpathian

by

Always a pleasure to solve and blog a Carpathian puzzle.

A Quiptic that hits the mark for the target audience, with the bonus of being a pangram. There will be someone out there this morning asking the question, so I will repeat my usual explanation. What is a pangram? A puzzle that includes all 26 letters of the alphabet at least once. Why do setters do pangrams? Because they can.

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 Relationship with fifty-one first-class offspring
LIAISON
A charade of LI for the Roman numerals, AI for ‘first-class’ and SON.

5 One discussing animal holding stick
DEBATER
An insertion of BAT in DEER. The insertion indicator is ‘holding’.

9 Ace, perhaps, losing head and gaining new courage
NERVE
Carpathian is inviting you to remove the S from SERVE (an example of which would be an ‘ace’) and replace it with N.

10 Rogue closed run illegally
SCOUNDREL
(CLOSED RUN)* with ‘illegally’ as the anagrind.

11 Inferior part Charlie gets girl
THIRD CLASS
A charade of THIRD, C for the phonetic alphabet ‘Charlie’ and LASS.

12 Juliet in kiss curse
JINX
Charlie’s close friend in said alphabet, Juliet, gives you the J; then you need IN and X for the universal symbol for ‘kiss’. Strictly, it’s Juliett; but nobody (in crosswords at least) ever uses that.

14 Change of state as floor revolts before speech
EVAPORATION
A charade of PAVE reversed and ORATION. The reversal indicator is ‘revolts’.  EVAPORATION is the ‘change of state’ between liquid and gas.

18 Make certain drink by bar
DOUBLE-CHECK
A charade of DOUBLE and CHECK.

21 Test quirky uniform in zoo, initially
QUIZ
The initial letters of the second, third, fourth and fifth letters of the clue.

22 Manipulate PIN for digital protection
FINGERNAIL
A charade of FINGER and NAIL.

25 Drinks a Spitfire becoming squiffy
APERITIFS
(A SPITFIRE)* with ‘becoming squiffy’ as the anagrind.

26 Edge into church for sin
CRIME
An insertion of RIM in CE. The insertion indicator is ‘into’.

27 Acquire drug on street, getting intense
EARNEST
A charade of EARN, E for the setters’ favourite ‘drug’ and ST.

28 Seafood and soy mixed by the Irish regularly
OYSTERS
A charade of (SOY)* and TERS for the regular letters of ThE IRiSh.  The anagrind is ‘mixed’.

Down

1 Good to go in fast and hard for the full distance
LENGTH
An insertion of G in LENT followed by H. The insertion indicator is ‘to go in’.  The ‘fast’ is the forty-day affair after Shrove Tuesday, for those of the Christian persuasion at least.

2 Notice French king, with time, becomes skilful
ADROIT
A charade of AD, ROI for the French word for ‘king’ and T.

3 Flowers went among balloons
SPEEDWELLS
An insertion of PEED in SWELLS with ‘among’ as the insertion indicator.

4 Astronauts left through the nose
NASAL
A charade of NASA and L.

5 Sinks part of Cornetto into pancake
DROP SCONE
A charade of DROPS and CONE. The only controversial part of this Quiptic. Is a DROP SCONE a pancake? Perhaps if it’s a scotch pancake. Unless it’s a pikelet (which it is where I live, any road up). Whatever you decide, just don’t rhyme SCONE with a Cornetto CONE. Just don’t. You’ll embarrass yourself.

6 Riverside pool
BANK
A dd.

7 Fantastic fire trick almost failing
TERRIFIC
(FIRE TRIC[K])* The anagrind is ‘failing’.

8 King drinking the French gin cocktail is at rest
RELAXING
Plenty of foreign kings this morning. An insertion of LA for one of the words for ‘the’ in French in REX (Latin for ‘king’) followed by (GIN)* The insertion indicator is ‘drinking’ and the anagrind is ‘cocktail’.

13 Climbs down support rails
BACKTRACKS
A charade of BACK and TRACKS.

15 Foxy four first to find record keeper
ARCHIVIST
A charade of ARCH, IV for more Roman numerals, and IST for a representation of ‘first’. ‘Foxy’ and ARCH can both mean ‘cunning’.

16 Enough to correspond after a date
ADEQUATE
A charade of A, D and EQUATE.

17 Revolting person‘s endless unmerited broadcast
MUTINEER
(UNMERITE[D])* with ‘broadcast’ as the anagrind.

19 Spite of male character associated with the Queen of Hearts
MALICE
A charade of M and ALICE, who certainly made the acquaintance of the Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Off with her head!

20 Shifts and stumbles, starting late
ALTERS
[F]ALTERS

23 Wind bit of orange zest
GUSTO
A charade of GUST and O for the first letter of ‘orange’.

24 Part of cow I fed partner
WIFE
Hidden in coW I FEd.

Many thanks to Carpathian for this week’s Quiptic.

31 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,160/Carpathian”

  2. Well, I thought this was superb.
    I’d completely missed the fact that it was a pangram; I just enjoyed some immaculate cluing which was challenging enough to be interesting.
    Particular favourites for no particular reason FINGERNAIL, SPEEDWELLS, ADEQUATE, ALTERS, but really all of it was good.
    Compiling a puzzle where everything is reasonably straightforward but nothing is trivial requires real skill and I take my hat off to Carpathian. This was the best Quiptic I have seen.
    And thanks to Pierre for the prompt blog, too.

  3. Exemplary Quiptic and amusing blog.

    It was a little embarrassing how long it took me to get from liai to liaison.

    I saw it was likely to be a pangram before the halfway point, with just Y to find.

  5. Thanks Pierre and Carpathian. Exemplary Quiptic and blog.

    For those who don’t know, Spitfire is a beer brewed by Shepherd Neame in Faversham, Kent (just a few miles down the road from me) – and it’s quite strong, so one is certainly liable to become squiffy after a few.

  6. Yes, what NeilH said. I especially liked FINGERNAIL. By thecway, I too would call them pikelets.Thanks to Carpathian and Pierre.

  9. I agree with NeilH at 2: deffo the finest Quiptic for a goodly long age.
    Some deliciously appropriate anagrinds too: “becoming squiffy” for an alcoholic solution, “illegally” for a rogue….
    SPEEDWELLS made me giggle.
    Further to widdebel’s comment about that fine beer, Spitfire: they serve it at the RAF Club in Piccadilly, where its slogan is: “The Bottle of Britain”!
    Many thanks to Carpathian for the entertainment, and Pierre for a classy blog

  10. Agree with everyone about the skill required to produce such an interesting yet entry level cryptic. I too said pikelet, but husband who actually makes them (the kids used to love them) calls them drop scones, to rhyme with ‘on’.
    Thanks both!

  11. Well I never knew that it’s officially Juliett in the Nato alphabett! Thanks for thatt knowledge, Pierre. Good, straightforward Quiptic. Now to spend the rest of the day wondering if it’s worth submitting a clue for Azed …

  12. Pikelet, definitely. Not much to add to the previous comments – a very good Quiptic. Thanks, Carpathian and Pierre.

  14. Like others, I’m in total agreement with NeilH – very well put. It’s certainly the best Quiptic I remember seeing.

    Many thanks to Carpathian and Pierre.

  15. Lovely Quiptic

    In Scotland when I was growing up we made pancakes most Sunday evenings – when I came down south I discovered they were called drop scones – I still call them pancakes – lovely straight from the pan with lots of butter for me and golden syrup for the kids.

    Thanks Carpathian and Pierre.

  16. Actually, there is one thing to add. There is a conversation in Another Place about a word appearing in clue and answer. I did note here that ‘a date’ appears in both the 16d clue, and in the answer AD(EQU)ATE – indeed, it misled me in the parsing for a while.

  17. DROP SCONES, Scotch pancakes, pikelets, crumpets, crepes, galettes, blinis, Staffordshire oatcakes etc etc… they’re all “pancakes” to me, broadly speaking – the defining characteristic being that you cook them on a griddle. I think the key difference between Scotch pancakes/drop scones and pikelets is that the former use bicarb as the main raising agent, the latter are yeasted.

    I have a feeling this is something that has been discussed here before.

  18. Well set quiptic. I too think found it within my limited abilities. Thanks.

    Now days I am spending lots of time in London Times Quick Cryptic. Just 13×13 grid, Much simpler constructions, most veterans here would find it child’s play. But for beginners, non-UK natives it serves as a nice entry point. Wondering why London Times crosswords are not being discussed in 225. May be copyright or something not sure.

  19. Ravilyn @18 – There is a blog which looks as though it serves much the same purpose for those who like paying money to Mr Murdoch, at https://times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/.
    The Telegraph, which has cryptic crosswords which basically are for those who find the Guardian too taxing, is well discussed on Bug Dave’s Crossword Blog.

  21. Ravilyn @18: just to clarify NeilH’s comment @19, the site he refers to, Times for the Times, is available for free (although the Times crosswords themselves are not). The reason that 15² doesn’t cover the Times is that Times for the Times was already doing so when 15² was founded.

    As others have said, this was an excellent Quiptic. My only slight doubt was about “illegally” as an anagram indicator (in 10a). But I suppose the idea is that it suggests being against the rules of spelling, so ok.

    Many thanks Carpathian and Pierre.

  22. I loved this. Perfectly targeted for the Quiptic spot – a range of clue types, some that needed a bit more thought but nothing too challenging, a helpful grid with lots of first letters, and no obscure knowledge needed. And all done with some lovely surfaces and giving us a pangram too.

    Five stars from me. And ten points. And even three cheers.

    Thanks Carpathian and Pierre.

  23. Ta for the blog, enjoyed the quiptic, spent more time than I should on ALTERS, LOI.

    My better half makes fantastic drop scones using her sourdough (known as Mabel), which has survived happily for at least 5 years, from a donation from my daughter, Mabel is probably 500 years old …

  24. Concur with the general opinion that this was a classic Quiptic. A good breadth of clue types, precise definitions, no weird words and very enjoyable too. A pangram to boot, not that I needed to use the knowledge once QUIZ lit that fire as it was smooth all the way.
    I noted the cone/gone scone business in the blog and it hit a nerve. Then I found the delightful Scone Map of the UK, just to add more smiles to proceedings. Cone for me.

    Effusive thanks to Carpathian and well done Pierre.

  26. Thanks for the scone/gone/cone map and the blog Pierre. Great Quiptic, Carpathian.

    I went to the Quiptic first today, as the Monday cryptic has sometimes been disappointing. I was well rewarded.

    Yes, widdersbel@5. I remember the ‘drop scone’ etc debate. Maybe some clever clogs can come up with a map of the regional/worldwide variations. It would most likely follow a pattern of migration. ‘pikelet’ here, from a mix of Irish and English and (Danish and German) ancestry.

  27. A note from the colonies:
    The Ottawa valley was settled/colonized predominately by Scottish and Irish labourers, so we are a mix of goners and coners, with the majority (I think) being the former.
    Much to my delight, we can get Spitfire Ale in our liquor stores.

    COD for me was 3d SPEEDWELL for its excellent surface.

    Thanks, Pierre, for the insightful blog, and for the link to the Scone Map of the UK and Ireland. And thanks, Carpathian, for the impeccable and entertaining Quiptic.

  28. @Lord Jim #21

    Thanks for the tip. Before the Pandemic when we were going to office, three of us would do London Times Cryptic. With three, we can usually finish the cryptic in the lunch hour and then verify using times for the times. So familiar with the site.

  29. Mutineer for ‘revolting person’ I found a particularly enjoyable definiton. Not entirely sure ‘cow I fed’ is quite how one should describe their wife, but also an entertaining clue.

    Definitely think dropscones fall under the general “pancake” umbrella, even if they aren’t the crepes the English are usually talking about when they say pancake.
    Completely missed the pangram even after solving it, I really should look out for those …

  30. Lovely Quiptic and blog, thanks Carpathian and Pierre. Minor typo: Pierre, in the blog entry for 21A, the second time you say “letters” I think you may have meant “words”? Hope this helps.

Comments are closed.