Apologies for the late appearance of the blog. Bloody Grauniad.
A fine Quiptic from Hectence, with a pangram to boot. I think beginners and less experienced solvers would have enjoyed this one.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
7 Clever move in dance
QUICKSTEP
A charade of QUICK and STEP for a dance that will be familiar to enthusiasts and Strictly fans.
8 Rush on hot curry when cold out
HURRY
Hectence is inviting you to remove the C from CURRY and place with H for ‘hot’ in front of it.
9 Poem about Spanish gentleman abroad is unlike any other
ODD ONE OUT
An insertion of DON in ODE followed by OUT. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
10 Jane’s going out in trousers
JEANS
(JANES)* with ‘going out’ as the anagrind.
12 Kneel awkwardly, installing new pet shelter
KENNEL
An insertion of N in (KNEEL)* The anagrind is ‘awkwardly’; the insertion indicator is ‘installing’.
13 Student given help and support relaxed
LAID-BACK
A charade of L, AID and BACK.
16 Adamant about key American right to have a gun
FIREARM
An insertion of E for the musical ‘key’, A and R in FIRM.
19 Backdrop ready at last, screen adaptation is going ahead
SCENERY
A charade of (SCREEN)* and Y for the last letter of ‘ready’. The anagrind is ‘adaptation’.
22 Official look at investing money after downward trend
DIPLOMAT
A charade of DIP and M inserted into LO and AT. The insertion indicator is ‘investing’.
25 Daughter stopping one bad habit gets counselling
ADVICE
An insertion of D in A VICE. The insertion indicator is ‘stopping’.
27 Splash out getting odds and ends with 25% off
SPEND
A charade of SP for Starting Price or ‘odds’ and END[S].
28 Appropriate to house creative types in flat?
APARTMENT
An insertion of ART MEN in APT. The insertion indicator is ‘to house’.
29 Suffered when a revolutionary leader died
ACHED
A charade of A, CHE for the crossword-friendy Señor Guevara, and D.
30 I’m eager to change outside space for animal collection
MENAGERIE
(IM EAGER)* with an insertion of EN for the printers’ ‘space’. The anagrind is ‘to change’ and the insertion indicator is ‘outside’.
Down
1 Confusion when letter from Greece gets delivered late with contents missing
MUDDLE
A charade of the Greek letter MU and DD plus LE for the outside letters of ‘delivered’ and ‘late’.
2 Surgeon’s worried, squeezing opening of cut with sponge
SCROUNGE
An insertion of C for the initial letter of ‘cut’ in (SURGEON)* The anagrind is ‘[i]s worried’ and the insertion indicator is ‘squeezing’.
3 Take heart from Beano and Dandy, too
AS WELL
A charade of A for the central letter, or ‘heart’ of ‘Beano’ and SWELL.
4 Belie crudely overshadowing good university’s charm
BEGUILE
An insertion of G and U in (BELIE)* The anagrind is ‘crudely’ and the insertion indicator is ‘overshadowing’.
5 Great pub’s diversified, importing beers regularly
SUPERB
An insertion of E and R for the even letters of ‘beers’ in (PUBS)* The anagrind is ‘diversified’ and the insertion indicator is ‘importing’.
6 Mocking extract from memoir on icon
IRONIC
Hidden in memoIR ON ICon.
11 Last letter home has finally tragic element
ZINC
A charade of Z, IN and C for the final letter of ‘tragic’.
14 Former head of agency’s upset getting sack
AXE
A reversal (‘upset’) of EX and A for the initial letter of ‘agency’.
15 Fundamental shift?
KEY
A dd, the second element referring to the key on your keyboard.
16 Craze to wane shortly
FAD
FAD[E]
17 Serve up standard punishment
RAP
A reversal of PAR. ‘Up’ works as a reversal indicator because it’s a down clue.
18 Walk wearily heading away for slope
RAMP
[T]RAMP
20 Without doctor filling shift for a month
NOVEMBER
A charade of NO and MB for ‘doctor’ in VEER. The insertion indicator is ‘filling’.
21 Backsliding agent pockets bung
STOPPER
A reversal (‘backsliding’) of REP and POTS. Think snooker.
23 Clash with politician blocking international law
IMPACT
An insertion of MP in I and ACT. The insertion indicator is ‘blocking’.
24 Yearned to sit around, getting rid of uniform with daft cap
LONGED
The setter is asking you to remove U for the phonetic alphabet ‘uniform’ from LOUNGE, then add D for the initial letter of ‘daft’.
25 Sailor’s on way out of the country
ABROAD
A charade of AB for Able Seaman and ROAD.
26 Frank‘s in prison, having cheated
CANDID
A charade of CAN and DID. ‘She did me out of £500.’
Many thanks to Hectence for this week’s Quiptic.
First comment and little to say except that I found it enjoyable. Particularly liked Zinc.
Don’t be too hard on the Guardian. Theirs are the easiest crosswords to access.
Thanks to both
That felt like a good Quiptic, when it appeared. It’s turned up on the app too., I found, after solving it online.
Thanks to Pierre and Hectence
I see a different clue for 18 down – Drive quietly on sloping surface
Hectence was worth the wait, Pierre, and thank you for turning your day/night upside down to provide your excellent blog.
QUICKSTEP was one of my last ones in, despite being in the Strictly zone. I was much more into slow waltzes and barn dances in my day. Wasn’t going for a charade, and missed the pangram. Was looking for an embed of a chess move which I had Buckley’s chance of getting.
Lots to like in this one. CANDID, KEY, FAD and ZINC appealed for the brevity and surface.
Particularly liked the indicators ‘backsliding’ in STOPPER, ‘blocking’ in IMPACT, ‘serve up’ in RAP, ‘diversified’ for the partial anagram in SUPERB, and ‘extract’ in IRONIC.
Yes, Crispy, @3. Clue for RAMP must be different in online and dead tree version. That’s happened a bit lately.
Er, there is no dead tree version of the Quiptic, paddymelon …
Oh, yes, Pierre @6. So where did ‘Walk wearily heading away for slope’ come from? Did you get an early release?
Thanks Hectence and Pierre
Very odd. I printed this off soon after it appeared, and I have the same clue at 18d as Pierre gives, but Crispy is right – it has now been changed, with no explanation why.
AS WELL was my favourite.
paddymelon @7 – first iteration on the website – 18D “Walk wearily heading away for slope” is what I solved when I completed the crossword, but the app is showing “Drive quietly down slope”.
Ah – the clue you see when you click “Print” is Pierre’s version, but the online version isn’t!
How strange with two versions, neither of which seems unfair for a Quiptic! Agree with Pierre and others that this hit the spot for the slot, with some nice surfaces to boot.
Very enjoyable at just the right level. I’ve often wondered what characterises a QUICKSTEP (or a foxtrot for that matter) but never sufficiently to look it up. (Of course at the time of wondering there was no Google and I have survived many years in ignorance.)
Like most Mondays for me this was marginally trickier than the cryptic, which I never quite get my head round.
I found it a mix of oddly easy write-ins (JEANS, KENNEL, NOVEMBER, APARTMENT, ADVICE, ABROAD), decent chewy-but-doables and a couple of stinkers that I stared at for ages before the penny dropped. BEGUILE was my LOI as I didn’t recognise ‘overshadowing’ as an insertion indicator. Another one to add to the mental list.
I got AS WELL from the definition but the wordplay eluded me until I got here, and now it’s my favourite clue in the grid.
My favourite was AS WELL as well. I thought this was well worth the wait.
Thanks Pierre and Hectence. Better late than never! AS WELL was also my favourite.
I prefer the “Walk wearily…” version of 18d. I’ve got “Drive quietly on sloping surface” on the app, which got a raised eyebrow from me for the redundant “on”. I wonder if that’s why it was changed?
Anyway, never mind – this was a quick and fun solve for me, ie exactly what a Quiptic should be.
That’s very weird Widdersbel@15. I’ve got “Walk wearily” on the app on my (Android) phone.
I think Widdersbel may be right – the clue confusion at 18d could be because somebody didn’t like AB = ‘B on A’ in a down clue. We’ve had this discussion before, though perhaps not on the Quiptic blog. P ‘on’ RAM for RAMP works fine for me, by analogy with spiders on ceilings, coats on hooks, tassels on curtains etc.
Anyway, I thought I’d drop in although it’s late in the day to say I thought this was a very good Quiptic – it would be interesting to hear some more reactions from beginners. And thanks Pierre for a characteristically helpful blog.
Sorry, scrub my first para – it’s nonsense!
Widdersbel’s analysis was right – ‘on’ is either redundant, or a rather odd linking word.
eb @19 – I don’t like to quibble about these minor details, but it did confuse me slightly, albeit not for very long. I do prefer the “walk wearily” version, which appears to be the final version that was intended for publication, so all good.
Crossbar @16 – I’m on iOS… Maybe it’s only the iOS version of the app that’s affected?
Liked ABROAD, MUDDLE.
I did not parse 27ac.
Thanks, both.
19: ‘is going ahead’? I don’t see that these words do anything other than make the clue work grammatically, and so I think it’s not a great clue (also because adding extra words just to confuse the solver isn’t cricket).
Just my opinion, otherwise a nice puzzle and reasonably easy solve.
JohnB @22 – “is going ahead” is necessary to indicate that the second part of the clue (anagram of SCREEN) goes before the first part (readY) in the solution.
I need to start looking out for pangrams – QUICKSTEP was my LOI and would have been a lot easier with a Q to find!
Nice and straightforward, I groaned when I saw four three-letter clues, as I usually suck at shorter clues, but they were nice and straightforward. I enjoyed APARTMENT.
Surprise, surprise! I actually spotted the pangram, but only after I’d made my last entry, QUICKSTEP. Ideal quiptic IMHO, so thanks to setter and blogger.
16 across confused me. I chose the other “R” for FIRM and RE for “about”. I thought “key American” was A, i.e. first letter and then had no idea how the “right” fitted in. I see how it works now. Thanks to all.
Lovely stuff! Thanks Hectence, Pierre and commenters.