Thank you to Pasquale. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Cab door being slammed in the city (7)
CORDOBA : Anagram of(… being slammed) CAB DOOR.
Defn: … in Spain.
5. Cold girl in charge of major sporting event (7)
CLASSIC : C(abbrev. for “cold”) + LASS(a girl/young woman) + IC(abbrev. for “in charge”).
9. Small picture shows day when teachers get more training (5)
INSET : Double defn: 1st: … inserted within the border of a larger one; and 2nd: Acronym for “in-service training” carried out in a period of 5 days in most schools in the UK when teachers do not train but are themselves trained.
10. Editor turning stingy leads to our sort of attitude (9)
DEMEANOUR : Reversal of(… turning) ED(abbrev. for “editor”) + MEAN(stingy/tight-fisted) plus(leads to) OUR.
11. Happy at home about nothing? There’s argument (10)
CONTENTION : CONTENT(happy/satisfied) + IN(at home/not out of the house) containing(about) O(letter representing 0/nothing).
12. Some modest poetry (4)
ODES : Hidden in(Some) “modest“.
14. Unusual demand that you let me through? (3-2-3-3)
OUT-OF-THE-WAY : “OUT OF THE WAY!”(“out of my way!”/a demand for whoever to move aside and let me through).
18. Given pictures — dullest art, I fancy (11)
ILLUSTRATED : Anagram of(… fancy) DULLEST ART, I.
21. Fiddles — prime requirements for the orchestra, you suspect (4)
TOYS : 1st letters, respectively, of(prime requirements for) “the orchestra, you suspect“.
Defn: …/touches nervously.
22. Older sibling who keeps an unwelcome eye on you? (3,7)
BIG BROTHER : Double defn: 1st: What you might call your older brother; and 2nd: Term for a person or organisation that you think has complete control and keeps watch on you.
25. One may be missed in an instant (9)
HEARTBEAT : Double defn: 1st: Literally, what your heart might skip/miss; and 2nd: A very short period/instant of time.
26. Greek punishment backed by one Conservative (5)
DORIC : Reversal of(… backed) ROD(the …/punishment, as exemplified by the instrument used, as in “spare the rod …”) plus(backed by) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + C(abbrev. for a member of the Conservative Party) ].
Defn: An ancient … dialect.
27. 24 April, so stormy (7)
POLARIS : Anagram of(… stormy) APRIL, SO.
Defn: …(solution to 24 down), specifically the North Star.
28. Majestic gallery with cunning exterior (7)
STATELY : TATE(one of a family of art galleries, in the UK) contained in(with … exterior) SLY(cunning/crafty).
Down
1. Easy task that keeps learner secure (6)
CLINCH : CINCH(an easy task, requiring minimal effort to perform) containing(that keeps) L(letter displayed by a learner driver).
Defn: …/to win or to achieve an objective, say).
2. Irish turning up to celebrate their 1916 event? (6)
RISING : Reversal of(… turning up, in a down clue) IR(abbrev. for “Irish”) + SING(to celebrate/to honour publicly).
Defn: …, viz. the Easter Rising or Easter Rebellion in Ireland, starting 24 April 1916.
Cross-references: Clue 27 across, and yesterday’s date.
3. Roofer may be working here as an act of generosity (2,3,5)
ON THE HOUSE : Double defn: 1st: …, literally; and 2nd: Figuratively, …
4. Check car before start of travel (5)
AUDIT : AUDI(car manufactured by the German company, Audi AG) plus(before) 1st letter of(start of) “travel“.
Defn: A systematic …, of an organisation’s financials, say.
5. Abandon vermouth? Don’t be silly! (4,3,2)
COME OFF IT : [COME OFF](to abandon/to be off/to stop taking or accepting, as in “I’ve come off my heart medication”) + IT(an informal term for Italian vermouth).
Defn: …/an expression telling one to stop talking or behaving foolishly.
6. A container slightly open (4)
AJAR : A + JAR(a container).
7. Don’t go so fast providing son with information (4,4)
SLOW DOWN : S(abbrev. for “son”) plus(providing … with) LOWDOWN(information/the facts about something).
8. Gestures of respect German observes in the auditorium? (8)
CURTSEYS : Homophone of(… in the auditorium) [ “Kurt”(a German man’s name) + “sees”(observes/watches) ].
13. This writer lacked a single bit of inspiration? You surprise me! (1,3,2,4)
I HAD NO IDEA : Double defn: 1st: This writer/I had no/lacked a single bit of inspiration/idea; and 2nd: …/what you’re telling me is totally new to me.
15. Not keeping up to date with rent’s said to be bad (9)
TARDINESS : Anagram of(… to be bad) RENT’S SAID.
16. Present opportunities are in store here (4,4)
GIFT SHOP : Cryptic defn: “Present opportunities” as in “things that can be bought to be given to someone”.
17. Co-operate in drama and dance (4,4)
PLAY BALL : PLAY(drama acted out on the stage) plus(and) BALL(a dance/a social function involving dancing).
19. Payment demanded for stored electricity? (6)
CHARGE : Double defn: 1st: … for goods and services; and 2nd: … in a battery or a battery-operated device.
20. Difficult feature of card game ending in controversy (6)
TRICKY : TRICK(in card games such as bridge, a round of cards played and won by a player or a partnership) + last letter of(ending in) “controversy“.
23. Victims of ridicule making objections audible (5)
BUTTS : Homophone of(… audible) “buts”(objections, as in “I want no ifs and buts about it”).
24. Celebrity in tabloid? (4)
STAR : Double defn: 2nd: …, an example of which/? is the Daily Star newspaper in the UK or the Star magazine in the US.
Enjoyable puzzle, and the right degree of difficulty for a Quiptic, I thought. The cryptic today is quite accessible too.
HEARTBEAT provides today’s earworm.
Many thanks Pasquale and scchua.
[ Or even better the Buddy Holly version of it, me@1 ]
Thank you scchua.
COME OFF IT. I have learned about IT/vermouth from cryptic crosswords.
Liked the 1984 reference to BIG BROTHER. Enjoyed the cryptic def in GIFT SHOP. HEARTBEAT was good.
Favourite was 27 POLARIS.
Still don’t get inservice training in INSET. UKGK acronym-challenged. Down here we call it a ‘pupil-free day’. : -)
So the Brits get 5 days! Lucky them.
[paddymelon@3 INSET days used to be known as Baker days in the UK when they were first introduced. Kenneth Baker was the minister in charge at the time. There’s some GK for you 😉 ]
Thanks scchua. A thoroughly excellent Quiptic, as we expect from Pasquale. 27a POLARIS stood out for me as a superb clue, but it’s all good.
Thank you Crossbar@4. What is the acronym or initialism? Inservice education and training?
Nice Quiptic.
Did not parse 9ac – ‘day when teachers get more training’.
Thanks, both.
This is a real quiptic! Of course seasoned cruciverbalists might baulk and say that it’s too easy, but there’s something rather pleasant in “writing in” easy solutions, I find. There’s a different kind of pleasure in wracking one’s brains and finally (five or six days later!) solving the Maskarade challenges and their ilk, but its nice to gently jog through a well-constructed quiptic. Many thanks to Pasquale and scchua.
Just right for this spot, I thought.
I particularly liked POLARIS for the 24 April, CURTSEYS for the homophones, and TARDINESS as a good anagram.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua.
paddymelon @6. I have no idea. I’ve never thought of it as an acronym, just as an extra day off for pupils “set in”to the normal school term. Perhaps someone can enlighten us.
@6 and @10. INSET is “IN SErvice Training”.
You have to admire Pasquale’s ability to set at different levels. I nearly had ON THE SLATE for ON THE HOUSE but that is only generous in the short term.
Thanks COYB@11
Spot on for a Quiptic!
Coincidentally, today is an INSET day (around here at least).
I agree with everyone. Great Quiptic. POLARIS superb. Thanks P & s.
Sped through this this morning (13 mins) – with a number of clues going in on first reading and others when I had some crossers. But that really fits the description of a puzzle for beginners and people in a hurry, so a great puzzle for the Quiptic spot. There were also some lovely clues including the anagrams for POLARIS and TARDINESS.
I have been offered and drunk Gin and It – which dates the person offering it – and learned that Gin and It is a lot stronger than G&T, which I much prefer.
Actually did it in 35 minutes rather than over 3 days. This was an excellent Quiptic with a good variety of clues that was just at my level. I liked them all, but did not get the IT for vermouth parsing.
Many thanks Pasquale and scchua.
Hits the right note. Something like a highly qualified top level professor taking freshman lectures to instill and inspire students…
I always like Pasquale in Quiptic mode. The Don’s cluing is invariably precise and often quite clever. So when he’s not trying to throw curveballs with obscure words and whatnot like he does in regular Cryptic offerings, you can admire his craft.
We don’t have an acronym for INSET days here–they’re called professional development days in most school districts here. I knew the term from previous crosswords though.
[P.S.: do non-baseball-playing nations like the UK have the expression “throw a curveball” to mean “try a bit of unexpected trickery”? If not, sorry for the Ameicanism. And would you say something like “bowl a spinner” instead?]
mrpenny@21 – “bowl a googly” is more likely. A googly is a spinner’s ball that its delivered with an action that make the (RH) batsman think it will spin to the right, while it actually spins left.
[mrpenney/TassieTim – I have very little idea of the rules of baseball, but thanks to US cultural influence I’m familiar with a lot of baseball idioms. You hear them increasingly in the UK – perhaps also down under? Stepping up to the plate, curveball, striking out, ballpark figure, left field, covering all the bases… I think many Brits use these terms without even thinking about where they come from.]
Nice and straightforward. I hadn’t heard of INSET for Baker days, but it couldn’t be anything else. I enjoyed CURTSEYS.
Enjoyed this. Not convinced that ‘in the auditorium’ is a particularly effective/elegant homophone indicator!
@essexboy @mrpenny
Explaining baseball to the Brits … always reminds of PGWodehouse. The baseball fan, stuck in UK, explained the rules to his butler using a butter dish, a piece of toast, and other handy items on the breakfast spread.. After that the real rules look like Calvinball.
Essexboy @23: baseball is a bit less foreign in Australia than it is in Britain: their national team regularly appears in the baseball equivalent of the World Cup, there’s an Australian professional league (with a whopping eight teams, but hey it’s something), and there are usually two or three Australians in the U.S. major leagues at any given time (including, at the moment, the closer for my beloved White Sox, Liam Hendriks). So I imagine baseball idioms are also a bit more common there.
And I’ve always said that baseball is just like cricket…except for all the parts that are nothing like cricket at all, which is actually most of the parts. (But seriously–there IS a family resemblance, and I think most cricket fans would understand baseball pretty quickly, sort of like picking up Dutch if you already know German.)
http : / / http://www.online-literature.com/pg-wodehouse/piccadilly-jim/2/
If you have not read an Exiled Fan describing baseball to his butler Bayliss, check it out. I found it hilarious. (Link is broken on purpose to get past moderation)
Thanks Pasquale and scchua for an excellent Quiptic and blog, and commenters for a ton of interesting stuff.
Extra thanks to Ravilyn Sanders @28 for the fabulous cricket/baseball thing! My understanding of cricket isn’t that much better than Mr Crocker’s but I found the piece brilliant anyway.