Thank you to Paasquale. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
8. Coastal road — gosh, a suitable place! (8)
CORNICHE : COR!(like “gosh!”, an expression of surprise) + NICHE(a suitable place, one where something or somebody fits in/with well).
9. Seaman conceals grim smells (6)
ODOURS : OS(abbrev. for “ordinary seaman”) containing(conceals) DOUR(grim/humourless).
10. City serving beer and fancy pop (6)
ALEPPO : ALE(beer) plus(and) anagram of(fancy) POP.
Defn: … in Syria.
12. Remaining socialist, a maiden maybe (4,4)
LEFT OVER : LEFT(describing one on the left side of the political spectrum , as in “a socialist agenda”) + OVER(in cricket, a series of balls bowled, of which, a maiden is one where no runs are scored).
13. Meal with starters for the English academy (3)
TEA : 1st letters, respectively, of(starters for) “the English academy“.
14. Reasons chartered accountant employs (6)
CAUSES : CA(abbrev. for “chartered accountant”) + USES(employs).
16. Returned to stock to be brought back to tip-top condition? (8)
RESTORED : Double defn: 1st: RE-(prefix signifying a repeat of a previous action, as in “re-assess”) + STORED(put to where items are stored/stocked, the items themselves being the “stock”).
17. Dad — sort to get involved with decrepit oldies (7)
DOTARDS : Anagram of(… to get involved) DAD — SORT.
20. Did acts misguidedly for fans (7)
ADDICTS : Anagram of(… misguidedly) DID ACTS.
23. Serve as a piece of furniture, somehow not the best? (8)
BEATABLE : BE(to serve as/in effect, to become, as in “don’t be a surrogate”) + A + TABLE(a piece of furniture).
Defn: …, ie. vulnerable to being bested by someone or something.
24. Fellow needing time to run (6)
MANAGE : MAN(a fellow/chap) plus() AGE(a long period of time).
Defn: …, an organisation, say.
26. Port in endless disorder (3)
RIO : Last letter deleted from(endless) “riot”(disorder/disturbance).
27. Scottish island to the west with rocky hill — one offers an account (8)
NARRATOR : Reversal of(… to the west, in an across clue) ARRAN(a island off the west coast of Scotland) plus(with) TOR(a rocky hill).
Defn: …, of events, say.
28. Female endlessly angry about problem with tights? (6)
LADDER : “lady”(a female person) minus its last letter(endlessly) + reversal of(… about) RED(angry/filled with rage).
Defn: …, specifically, a strip of unravelled fabric in such wear.
31. Minister in speech — one firing off? (6)
CANNON : Homophone of(… in speech) “canon”(a minister in the clergy).
32. Titaness turning out to be most unpleasant (8)
NASTIEST : Anagram of(… turning out) TITANESS.
Down
1. Unenthusiastic old learner joining company (4)
COOL : [O(abbrev. for “old”) + L(letter displayed by a learner driver)] placed after(joining) CO(abbrev. for “company”, a commercial organisation).
2. Break in children’s game (4)
SNAP : Double defn: 1st: Clean … into two parts ; and 2nd: … played with cards.
3. Empty shores in which you’ll see bird moves quickly (6)
SCOOTS : Internal letters deleted from(Empty) “shores” containing(in which you’ll see) COOT(an aquatic bird).
4. Cleared off, say (7)
DECLARE : Anagram of(… off) CLEARED.
Defn: …/to make known.
5. Bewildered prisoner must be integrated (8)
CONFUSED : CON(short for “convict”, a prisoner) + FUSED(must be integrated/joined individual parts into one piece).
6. Movement offering stupid proposal at meeting? (10)
LOCOMOTION : LOCO(stupid/crazy) + MOTION(a proposal put forward for discussion and adoption in a meeting).
7. Good engineers finally made home most eco-friendly (8)
GREENEST : G(abbrev. for “good”) + RE(abbrev. for the Royal Engineers, the engineering arm of the British military) + last letter of(finally) “made” + NEST(a home, a cosy and comfortable one).
11. Bird seen in the museum (3)
EMU : Hidden in(seen in) “the museum“.
14. Bad person about to be given notice (3)
CAD : C(abbrev. for “circa”, about in reference to years/dates) plus(to be given) AD(short for “advertisement”, a promotional notice).
15. Smashing fellow deemed mad is lying in grass (10)
SHATTERING : HATTER(in full, the Mad Hatter, the fellow deemed mad in the tale, “Alice in Wonderland”) contained in(is lying in) SING(to grass/to rat on/to inform on one’s accomplice, say, especially to the authorities).
18. A hero apt to look silly in special headgear (5,3)
OPERA HAT : Anagram of(… to look silly) A HERO APT.
Defn: …, special because it can be collapsed.
19. Bad gent and I get into trouble arguing? (8)
DEBATING : Anagram of(… get into trouble) [BAD GENT plus(and) I].
21. Understand sound of the waves? (3)
SEE : Homophone of(sound of) “sea”(as represented by the waves on it).
Defn: …/to realise the meaning of.
22. Fish dish ultimately going wrong (7)
HERRING : Last letter of(… ultimately) “dish” + ERRING(going wrong/committing offences).
24. Spy on street is Harry (6)
MOLEST : MOLE(a spy who operates from within the enemy) placed above(on, in a down clue) ST(abbrev. for “street”).
Defn: ../to harass/to pester.
25. Cockney worker is a joiner (3)
AND : The Cockney pronunciation of “hand”.
Defn: …/a conjunction in grammar linking clauses.
29. Doctor getting minimal amount of money as ineffectual person (4)
DRIP : DR(abbrev. for “doctor”) plus(getting) 1P(in British money, the minimal amount of “one penny”, with the Roman numeral substitution).
30. Language of poetry beginning to wither away (4)
ERSE : “verse”(poetry/poems or verses, collectively) minus its 1st letter(beginning to wither away).
Defn: A Scottish or Irish Gaelic …
Thanks Pasquale. I thought this was about as good as it gets for a Quiptic – pretty much flawless in every respect. LOCOMOTION, BEATABLE and LADDER were my particular favourites.
And thanks scchua, especially for the explanation of what’s special about an OPERA HAT – not sure I’ve ever heard of such a thing before (though the solution was eminently gettable).
For those who like to compare the difficulty of the Quiptic vs the Monday Cryptic, according to the puzzles app, it took me 17 seconds longer to complete the Cryptic today, so I can say with some authority that was definitely more difficult.
Excellent Quiptic & blog Thanks to both of you.
Excellent Quiptic, I thought. The cryptic’s pretty good too today. Good start to the week.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua.
Pasquale does do excellent Quiptics: the mark of a good setter. I liked HERRING and the stupid proposal in LOCOMOTION; took ages to find the right island for the NARRATOR and failed to parse LADDER.
Just right for a Quiptic, I thought.
I particularly liked BEATABLE, LADDER, LOCOMOTION and SHATTERING (nice ‘fellow deemed mad’).
Thanks Pasquale and scchua.
Very enjoyable puzzle.
Many favourites: DECLARE, GREENEST, MOLEST, DRIP, RESTORED, BEATABLE, LOCOMOTION, SHATTERING (loi).
New for me: CORNICHE = coastal road.
Thanks, both.
Pretty straightforward, although CORNICHE was new to me – I’d only come across the Rolls-Royce before. SHATTERING was my LOI and my favourite.
Thanks scchua pasquale.
Corniche and dotards were kind of iffy unknown words. Otherwise nice and moderately complex, but gettable, for me
I knew cornice as an architectural feature. Now I learnt both cornice and corniche have the same root, ledge = cornice in french.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua
The most famous (and the original?) corniche roads are the three, at different levels, between Nice and Menton, above the French Riviera.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua! I am still a beginner so I do appreciate Quiptics that use a lot of common devices in a fun and well-designed way. The Cryptic was fun today too, for me at least!
Thanks schua, but possible slip of the fingers in 30a. I read ERSE as “verse” minus its first letter.
Great puzzle and blog. Thanks both.
I agree with Bhoyo re ERSE. IT is the beginning that withers away.
Thanks Bhoyo. Blog amended for the slip.
A fun puzzle.
CORNICHE was new to me as well — I only got it after putting in COR and then thinking of the Cornish coast.
A little surprised that SNAP was correct — so many old games have different names between here and the UK.
Loved SCOOTS. Also BEATABLE (I’ve seen it before, but it’s so funny). And MOLEST, after finally seeing “harry” as the definition!
We agree with the consensus here – excellent Quiptic. BEATABLE was lovely, once the penny dropped. We knew CORNICHE from driving around Lac Leman in Switzerland. Thanks, Pasquale and scchua.
Nice Quiptic. 14D could also be Ca – more usual for circa I think, plus D as in D-Notice (Government censorship). Thanks Pasquale and Scchua.