Quiptic 1,169 by Chandler

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A good Quiptic with the occasional tricky moment.

Thanks to Chandler, a Guardian Genius setter who’s recently ventured towards the more straightforward end of the spectrum with Quiptic puzzles. I enjoyed this one, particularly 18a (the definition may divide opinion but it’s a neat anagram) and 25a for its nicely misleading definition.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
5 SNAPPY
Smart agent grabbing short sleep (6)
SPY (agent) containing NAP (short sleep).

As in “a snappy dresser” = a smartly-dressed person.
6 ANCHOR
A new tiresome task cut short for news presenter (6)
A + N (new) + CHOR[e] (tiresome task, cut short).
9 STODGE
Heavy food? Eccentric gets to eat an excessive amount (6)
Anagram (eccentric) of GETS, containing (to eat) OD (short for overdose = an excessive amount).
10 ROOF RACK
It might feature cases on an estate? (4,4)
Cryptic definition: a rack fitted to the roof of a car (for example an estate car) to hold suitcases or other bulky items.
11 URGE
Drive from university rector, for example, after retirement (4)
U (university) + R (short for rector), then EG (e.g. = for example) reversed (after retirement)..
12 PASS MUSTER
Free ticket for all to see amid revised terms gets to appear adequate (4,6)
PASS (free ticket), then U (film classification indicating no age restrictions = “for all to see”) amid an anagram (revised) of TERMS.
13 LOCAL COLOUR
Pub found by green, say, showing distinctive features of a place (5,6)
LOCAL (slang for a regularly-visited pub close to one’s home) + COLOUR (green, say).
18 BY AND LARGE
On the whole, danger ably diverted (2,3,5)
Anagram (diverted) of DANGER ABLY.

Sailors may be annoyed by this definition: the phrase originally means sailing in a zigzag path in order to make progress despite an unfavourable wind direction. But outside that context it’s generally used to mean “on the whole” or “mostly”.
21 TEAM
Some hate amateurish group of players (4)
Hidden answer (some) in [ha]TE AM[ateurish].
22 SNOWBALL
Cocktail currently taken by graduate and learner in confines of school (8)
NOW (currently) + BA (a university graduate) + L (learner), inside the outer letters (confines) of S[choo]L.

A drink containing Advocaat and lemonade. The original clue text said “cocktal” but I think that’s just a typo.
23 POWWOW
One detained by expression of admiration in meeting for discussion (6)
POW (PoW = Prisoner of War = one detained) + WOW (an expression of admiration).

Originally a Native American social gathering, but now often used as a general term for a discussion meeting.
24 TRANCE
Hypnotic state affected Cretan (6)
Anagram (affected) of CRETAN.
25 SCURVY
Son far from straight in making complaint in the main? (6)
S (short for son) + CURVY (far from straight).

Disease (complaint) caused by Vitamin C deficiency; once a major problem among sailors at sea (in the main) for long periods without access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
DOWN
1 SAN DIEGO
US city is unusually grandiose overlooking river (3,5)
Anagram (unusually) of G[r]ANDIOSE, ignoring (overlooking) the R (river).
2 UPKEEP
Rising section of fortified site needs regular repairs (6)
UP (rising) + KEEP (central part of a castle = section of fortified site).
3 INFORMAL
Relaxed group of students entering fashionable area on lake (8)
FORM (group of students, as in sixth form) inserted into IN (fashionable) + A (area) + L (lake).
4 CHORUS
Band of singers or such at work (6)
Anagram (at work) of OR SUCH.
5 SATIRE
French composer keeps finale to another work of parody (6)
SATIE (Erik Satie, French composer) containing the last letter (finale) of [anothe]R.
7 RACKET
Demarcated group rejecting leader in criminal enterprise (6)
[b]RACKET (demarcated group, as in “age bracket”) without its first letter (leader).
8 DRESS CIRCLE
Prepare round figure in part of a theatre (5,6)
DRESS (prepare) + CIRCLE (round figure).

The first level of seating above the stalls.
14 ALLIANCE
Everybody in church retains a friendly relationship (8)
ALL (everybody) + IN + CE (short for Church of England), containing A.
15 UNTOWARD
Word aunt misused proves inappropriate (8)
Anagram (misused) of WORD AUNT.
16 CYGNET
Sound of small seal or young swan (6)
Homophone (sound) of SIGNET (a small seal = mould for imprinting a mark in molten wax, set into a finger ring).
17 CANOPY
Ape skirts middle of land in covering of a forest (6)
COPY (ape = imitate) around the middle letters of [l]AN[d].
19 NEWHAM
Lately discovered radio operator in London borough (6)
NEW (lately discovered) + HAM (amateur radio operator).

East London borough, combining the areas previously known as East Ham and West Ham.
20 EXPECT
Anticipate times taken over exercise in English court (6)
X (times = multiplication symbol) + PE (Physical Education = exercise), in E (English) + CT (abbreviation for court, especially on streetmaps). “Over” indicates that X is before PE reading downwards.

Strictly “anticipate” means to take action in preparation for something that you expect, but it’s often used to mean just “expect” or “foresee”.

25 comments on “Quiptic 1,169 by Chandler”

  3. Thanks, Quirister. I trust no one will be complaining about this being harder than the Cryptic today. A very well judged Quiptic, I thought, with nicely varied and sound clueing.

  4. That felt like a Quiptic, taking me significantly less time than the Cryptic, with some fun clues and techniques.

  5. Very good and enjoyable, not quite too straightforward. SCURVY took some thought but was obviously correct.

  7. Your description in 18a sounds more like tacking. My understanding is that BY refers to “by the wind” i.e. against the wind and LARGE refers to sailing mainly with the wind, thus covering all points of the compass that the wind could be coming from, hence also meaning “mostly”.

  9. Thanks Chandler and Quirister. As a beginner I enjoyed this. Partly it’s about learning the language – I’d love to know how ‘after retirement’ came to indicate a reversal. (And I hope I can remember this for next time!)

  11. Very good cryptic. My level of difficulty so I liked it.

    Looks like that is how people here judge a puzzle. If it is within their skill level, they solve and then appreciate some piece or the other. If not they get frustrated and say “this is not a quiptic. violates the charter of a quiptic” etc.

    For people who routinely finish quiptics fast, even the ones novices, non-English speakers and foreigners poor in UK-GK find very hard to tackle, please pause for a moment to think. “Would you applaud and appreciate Sachin Tendulkar showing up in a high school cricket match and belt every ball for six?” You are likely to say, “Go find someone your size, leave the beginners alone”. Encourage setters and editors to play at our level.

    Thanks.

  12. Agreed – very good (and easier than…). I picked out the same two, Quirister, as my favorites. Thanks, Chandler and Quirister.

  13. NE corner was hard for me.

    Liked SCURVY.

    New: NEWHAM – never heard of it although I flew into London City Airport recently.

    Thanks, both.

  15. I enjoyed that and it was a relief to know that I was not bereft of all my solving capacities, after unsuccessful attempts elsewhere. In particular PASS MUSTER was a treat – such an archaic phrase still surviving. And the alternative meaning of BY AND LARGE was a tilt.

    WhiteDevil@14: ‘Signet’ turned up in last Wednesday’s Guardian Cryptic 28,724 by Picaroon. The blog is here.

    Ginny@9: To ‘retire’, as in ‘retire to a safe place’, may mean to go back hence its use as a reversal indicator.

  16. Ravilyn Sanders @11 – I often find myself defending a Quiptic when other say it is too hard though my solving ability is more “minor counties slogger” than Sachin Tendulkar…

    On reflection (based on my solving times across the week as recorded by the Guardian Puzzles app), I would concede that Hectence last week was a touch on the chewy side. This one from Chandler clearly seems to be the just right level to keep everyone happy. Well done, Chandler.

  19. Came to this a day late, but, having been one of the complainers last week, I wanted to add my appreciation to the many positive remarks here.

    Lots of friendly anagrams – when I was a beginner I always relied on them to give me a foothold, and to give me the confidence that I was ‘doing it right’.

    Many thanks Chandler & Quirister.

    Ravilyn @11 – I like your Sachin analogy. I’ve always visualised the setter more as a particularly devious bowler, perhaps a Bedi or a Warne, with me as the nervous batsman wondering what’s coming next 🙂

  20. After a few weeks of tough solves for me (definitely in the beginner camp), I loved this one. It felt like I tuned into Chandler’s wavelength straight away and the first few clues seemed to solve themselves. A true pleasure and even more appreciated amidst the weeks I have found trickier. Thanks Chandler and Quirister!

  21. I think this was great for beginners. This was my first ever solve – it wasn’t quick but I got there. That I was actually able to finish a cryptic crossword (however easy) has made me think this is a viable hobby.

    I’ve downloaded the app and am going to tackle the back catalogue…

  22. LiterallyOnFire @21: welcome to Fifteensquared, and well done for completing the puzzle. Here’s to many more years of cryptics – they’re sometimes frustrating but more often very rewarding!

  24. @LiterallyOnFire welcome. This is the job of Quiptic setter. To nurture the next generation of aficionados. Best of luck, soon you will become very good in it and graduate to tougher puzzles.

    But I will stay at this level for ever. I am not a beginner, but English is not my first language and I lack UK-GK. Not all of us can play Test cricket, but thats ok. All of us can enjoy cricket or cryptics at our own levels.

  25. Lovely Quiptic and blog, thanks both!

    I hope I’m not the only person who puzzled for a while trying to make sense of SKIPPY to fit in where it should have been SNAPPY …

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