Guardian Quiptic 1,164/Chandler

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A debut Quiptic puzzle from Chandler, and a fine one it was too.

I can only find one Chandler puzzle in the archive, and that was a Genius back from 2019. This was a delightful Quiptic, I thought: fine surface readings, no obscurities, friendly grid, clearly clued, and a bird. The editor should order some more from him. What did you think?

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 Limit set by a developed place for what a ground can hold
CAPACITY
A charade of CAP, A and CITY.

5 Mind latter part of a sentence
OBJECT
A dd. The second element is referring to English sentence structure and grammar. English is a subject-verb-object (SVO) language, where the subject is usually the first element and is separated from the object by the verb. The meaning is dependent on that. The man bites the dog and The dog bites the man should put two different pictures in your head. Not all languages follow this pattern: in fact, SOV is more common among the world’s languages than SVO. But English is out there for the same word having different meanings depending on where the stress is, as here.

9 A book kept by unusual dealer, having merit as literature?
READABLE
An insertion of A and B in (DEALER)* The insertion indicator is ‘kept by’ and the anagrind is ‘unusual’.

10 Councillor is given a large container for neckwear
CRAVAT
A charade of CR, A and VAT.

12 Politician amid vote I cite when agitated is vying with others?
COMPETITIVE
An insertion of MP in (VOTE I CITE)* The insertion indicator is ‘amid’ and the anagrind is ‘when agitated’.

15 First person engaged by tense part of play left unspoken
TACIT
Plenty of grammar this morning. An insertion of I for the grammatical ‘first person’ in T and ACT. The insertion indicator is ‘engaged by’.

17 Older relative before day devised most of route for educational trip
GRAND TOUR
A charade of GRAN, D and (ROUT[E])* The anagrind is ‘devised’ and the removal indicator comes from ‘most of’.

18 Artificial body of water and river rose differently
RESERVOIR
(RIVER ROSE)*

19 Expression of frustration about European taxes
RATES
An insertion of E in RATS! I can’t see this expression of frustration without thinking of this character.

20 Concoct a new tipple to contain first of rare seasonal fruit
WINTER APPLES
An insertion of R for the initial letter of ‘rare’ in (A NEW TIPPLE)* The insertion indicator is ‘to contain’ and the anagrind is ‘concoct’.

24 International artist gets unknown place for forthcoming work?
IN TRAY
A charade of INT, RA and Y for the mathematical ‘unknown’. In the days before computers and when we all went into those things called offices, the often overflowing IN TRAY was what greeted you most mornings.

25 Bishop with recurrent anger repeated complaint
BERIBERI
A charade of B and IRE reversed, twice. Dictionaries give ‘recurrent’ as meaning ‘reversing direction’ in an anatomical context.

26 Eccentric has row in Cyprus
CRANKY
An insertion of RANK in CY.

27 Deviate from course turning inside to obtain plan of action
STRATEGY
An insertion of GET reversed in STRAY. The reversal indicator is ‘turning’ and the insertion indicator is ‘inside’.

Down

1 Ridicule about religious instruction upset curate
CARICATURE
A charade of CA, RI and (CURATE)* The anagrind is ‘upset’.

2 Smart chap I fancy is one running prescription-based outlet?
PHARMACIST
(SMART CHAP I)*

3 Flyer‘s machine for raising weights
CRANE
A dd, referencing the bird and the lifting device. Plenty of options for the obligatory Pierre bird link, but I have chosen the Demoiselle Crane, for no reason other than the French name took my fancy. It’s to be found nowhere near France, though: it’s a resident of an area stretching from the Black Sea to Mongolia and North Eastern China.

4 Crime first off with purpose creates basis for discussion
TALKING POINT
A charade of [S]TALKING and POINT.

6 Pub employee showing skill when interrupting binge
BARTENDER
An insertion of ART in BENDER.

7 One sent on a mission devoid of ordinary jealousy
ENVY
ENV[O]Y

8 Carry small child close to slide
TOTE
A charade of TOT and E for the final letter of ‘slide’.

11 Trouble is generated about money — producing this?
DISAGREEMENT
An insertion of M in (IS GENERATED)* The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the anagrind is ‘trouble’.

13 Trumpeter might need this spokesperson
MOUTHPIECE
A dd.

14 Old Bob in established yard pockets it as riches?
PROSPERITY
A double insertion: of S in PROPER and then IT in that and Y for ‘yard’. The S for ‘old bob’ is an abbreviation for shilling. The two insertion indicators are ‘in’ and ‘pockets’.

16 Perplex rugby player, reversion to an older type
THROWBACK
A charade of THROW and BACK.

21 Lean Italian nurses a woman
ANITA
Hidden in leAN ITAlian.

22 Last character elected with Conservative element
ZINC
A charade of Z, IN and C gives you the element with atomic number 30.

23 Volcano starts to erupt terribly near Africa
ETNA
The initial letters of the last four words of the clue.

Many thanks to Chandler for this morning’s Quiptic. More like this, please.

25 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,164/Chandler”

  2. Thanks Chandler and Pierre
    Yes, very nice. Favourite BARTENDER. I’ve never heard of a WINTER APPLE.
    25 reminded me of an apparently true wartime story. An advance group radioed for help:
    “We have a case of beriberi here – what should we do with it?”
    “Give it to the marines – they’ll drink anything”

  4. I really liked this, especially for the number of times I was able to follow the instructions in the clue and construct the answer. Even when (like muffin @2) I had never heard of the answer. Confession time: I mistakenly started on this taking it to be the Cryptic (which I do first on Mondays) and got to the end thinking “Now that would have been a really fine Quiptic” – which, of course, it was. Ideal for a beginner. There are too many great ones to list – going through them again, I couldn’t even find one I didn’t like. More Chandler, please, as Pierre says – many thanks to you both.

  7. Nice Quiptic debut from Chandler. Yes, more of these please.

    I found most of this straightforward until I got to the SE corner, where MOUTHPIECE, BERIBERI and PROSPERITY gave me trouble (proper=established?). I also forgot that circa (about) can be abbreviated to CA as well as C, so I had problems with CARICATURE.

  8. I did not parse 14d (forgot about old British shillings and pence) or 27ac – how does COURSE = GET?

    Thanks, both.

  10. michelle – “deviate from course” = STRAY, then “to obtain” = GET, and that is “turning inside”

  12. Far too many times the Quiptic has not been of an easier level than the ordinary Cryptic, but this one is perfect. It has been devised at the required standard of skill and will thus encourage solvers who are just starting. And each solution produces that satisfying mental “penny drop” moment which some more difficult crosswords don’t. Congratulations and thanks to Chandler!

  14. widdersbel: I don’t know if they’re related, but they’re not the same person, if that’s what you mean.

    Pierre: Chandler has actually set three Genius puzzles, including that for February 2022 (which I have just blogged).

  15. Yes, a good Quiptic that I enjoyed.

    I liked CARICATURE for the surface and DISAGREEMENT for the anagram and surface.

    Thanks Chandler and Pierre.

  16. I agree — a very nice Quiptic.

    I was slowed down by putting in PLANE instead of CRANE for 3dn. The inclined plane is one of the classic “simple machines” that provide mechanical advantage to lift weights. I did think that using “machine to lift weights” to clue just PLANE rather than INCLINED PLANE seemed a bit unfair, but I wrongly convicted Chandler of this sin and went on until CAPACITY made my error clear.

  17. Thanks to Chandler and Pierre.

    What everyone is saying – a fine crossword with a bit of chew. I don’t quite ‘get’ DISAGREEMENT since the definition is very vague indeed, but it didn’t stop my gimlet brain 😀 from skewering it. (But it might have…)

  18. Thanks Chandler and Pierre. Nice enjoyable solve. My only quibble was 27a, where the wording suggests a reversal of STRAY in GET rather than the other way round.

  24. Thank you Chandler and Pierre. I found PROSPERITY very difficult having somehow forgotten that a bob was indeed an S – even though I was there in them t’days! As a trumpet player I was quite delighted by MOUTHPIECE and indeed I think there should probably be a brass-instrument-related clue every week …

  25. Could this crossword *be* any trickier? (First Friends reference of the blog!)

    Like some others, I got stuck in the SE – I needed help with DISAGREEMENT and while I got the rest I didn’t parse PROSPERITY or CRANKY.

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