Guardian Quiptic 1,192/Pasquale

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As always, a carefully-constructed and educative Quiptic from Pasquale this morning.

Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed

definitions are underlined

Across

9 Crime — so it could turn into sexual excitement?
EROTICISM
(CRIME SO IT)* with ‘could turn into’ as the anagrind.

10 Applaud honoured companion, always
CHEER
A charade of CH for Companion of Honour and EER for the – often poetic – version of EVER or ‘always’.

11 Audacious British party of the wild variety
BRAVE
A charade of B and RAVE.

12 Finish in Queer Street, becoming most sore
TENDEREST
An insertion of END in (STREET)* The anagrind is ‘Queer’ and the insertion indicator is ‘in’.

13 Camp bed put down by North American lake
COTERIE
A charade of COT and ERIE. My Chambers has as its final definition:

camp (n) a part or group supporting a certain set of beliefs or doctrine

14 Support vehicle returning to get top man
BACKING
A charade of CAB reversed and KING. The reversal indicator is ‘returning’. KING is the top man on a chess board at least.

17 Bewildered? Worse things happen here, allegedly!
AT SEA
A dd. The second element is referring to the expression ‘Worse things happen at sea’.

19 Snoop quietly by railway
PRY
A charade of P for the musical ‘quietly’ and RY.

20 Solemn poem with glee somehow unknown?
ELEGY
A charade of (GLEE)* and Y for the mathematical ‘unknown’. The anagrind is ‘somehow’.

21 Tactile therapist offering service with back-directed 1 down
MASSEUR
A charade of MASS and RUE reversed. RUE is an ornamental herb, hence the reference to 1 down.

22 American composer and officer arrive at Heathrow, maybe
COPLAND
A charade of COP and LAND.

24 Dodgy leader, sanctimonious and English, getting ripped apart
PIED PIPER
A charade of PI, E and (RIPPED)* with ‘apart’ as the anagrind.

26 identity needed by Man in a manner of speaking
IDIOM
A charade of ID and IOM for the abbreviation for Isle of Man. The lack of an initial capital letter is, I can only imagine, another careless Grauniad error reflecting a lack of editing oversight.

28 Plant cutter of great power?
LASER
A dd. The plant silphium is also known as laserwort, or laser.

29 Thrill produced by bird, one by lake after dusk?
TITILLATE
A charade of TIT, I, L and LATE.

Down

1 Plant housed in another building
HERB
Hidden in anotHER Building.

2 Firm beginning to build key metallic element
COBALT
A charade of CO, B for the initial letter of ‘build’ and ALT for the ‘key’ on your keyboard.

3 Near enough to be involved in one of two charitable actions?
GIVE OR TAKE
I think this is just a whimsical cd, indicating that to GIVE would be charitable, whereas to TAKE wouldn’t. Some kind soul may have a more convincing explanation.

4 Tribe’s unusual colour
BISTRE
(TRIBES)* with ‘unusual’ as the anagrind.

5 Compliantly offering a word of prayer — competently, too
AMENABLY
A charade of AMEN and ABLY.

6 A revolutionary can be a pain
ACHE
A charade of A and CHE for the ever faithful Señor Guevara.

7 Living has been difficult with fun primarily put on ice
BENEFICE
A charade of (BEEN)*, F for the initial letter of ‘fun’ and ICE. Wouldn’t be a Pasquale puzzle without a church-related clue. My Chambers again:

benefice (n) a church living, an area from which an income is obtained, esp in return for the spiritual care of its inhabitants

8 Endlessly slow, turning up? Blast!
DRAT
TARD[Y] reversed. Since it’s a down clue, the reversal indicator is ‘turning up’.

13 Member coming to church entrance
CHARM
A charade of CH and ARM.

15 Worry female horse audibly in Welsh town
CAERPHILLY
A homophone (‘audibly’) of CARE FILLY. This works for the English pronunciation of the town.

16 Tour leader being listened to and laughed at
GUYED
A homophone (‘being listened to’) of GUIDE.

18 Feature of thrillers from American writers in the Florida area?
SUSPENSE
An insertion of US PENS in SE, which is the region of the USA where Florida is found.

19 Soldiers protecting domestic fortifications
PARAPETS
An insertion of PET in PARAS. The insertion indicator is ‘protecting’.

22 Minister and dog had sustenance?
CURATE
A charade of CUR and ATE.

23 Brute of a fellow mostly seen round the province
ANIMAL
An insertion of NI for Northern Ireland in A MAL[E].

24 Chums making hit, going up
PALS
A reversal of SLAP. Again, because it’s a down clue, the reversal indicator is ‘going up’.

25 What’s expected with energy cut?
PARE
A charade of PAR and E.

27 It was appropriate at one time to assemble
MEET
A dd. Pasquale has inserted ‘at one time’ because the adjectival use of MEET is archaic. Here’s my Christian reference this morning (Luke 15:32) from the parable of the prodigal son in the King James version of the Bible:

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad:
for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again;
and was lost, and is found.

Many thanks to Pasquale for this week’s puzzle.

 

21 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,192/Pasquale”

  1. Thanks Pasquale and Pierre
    I don’t expect to have two words I never heard of in a Quiptic, but I have never come across BISTRE, or LASER as a plant.All round it was a good puzzle, but again on the hard side for a Quiptic.

  2. I agree with muffin @1 re obscure words in a quiptic. I don’t think one should need to consult Chambers for a quiptic! Apart from that I thought it was generally the right level. I enjoyed it, but have to say I particularly enjoyed the Soup cryptic today so this comes in second place relative to that lovely experience.

    Re 3d, I understood the two charitable actions to be the two sides of a donation – one GIVEs, the other TAKEs. This interpretation works if you consider ‘charitable action’ as a whole phrase (so, ‘action related charity’), rather than applying the adjective ‘charitable’ to the noun ‘action’. If that makes any sense at all…

    Thanks Pasquale and Piere.

  3. I had TAKE as maybe taking someone to hospital or taking someone in, but maybe Rob T’s explanation works best. Normally Pasquale is good at dialling down the difficulty for a Quiptic but perhaps not today.

  4. I was thinking “it is very meet and right and our bounden duty”, which is from the Book of Common Prayer, for MEET. Also that taking can be charitable – when being offered gifts that one’s uncertain about receiving, graceful acceptance is often the most charitable gesture.

    This fell in the sort of time I usually solve Quiptics in, so I didn’t think it was that challenging for a Quiptic, but I did know BISTRE and RUE as a herb.

    Thank you to Pasquale and Pierre.

  5. Never heard of BISTRE, nor LASER the plant; I parsed that as a laser might be in a factory/plant… Whatever the day, I assume Pasquale’s going to give me some new vocabulary; they were, at least, fairly clued.

    This was certainly easier than the Cryptic today, although any hope of the Quiptic being reliably more straightforward is, I think, sadly lost.

    Thanks to Pasquale and Pierre.

  6. BISTRE can be spelt BISTER, which it was in the source I consulted, and that held me up for my LOI COTERIE. An anagram of an obscure word that has alternative spellings is perhaps a bit problematic, particularly in a Quiptic. Nevertheless, the rest was fine. Thanks, Pasquale and Pierre.

  7. Laser as a plant is more obscure than I thought. The extant Silphiums all seem to be called rosinworts (and are exclusively North American).
    Wiki has this on the laser reference:
    Silphium (also known as silphion, laserwort, or laser) is an unidentified plant that was used in classical antiquity as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, and medicine

  8. I took charitable to mean merciful in the sense of –
    The quality of mercy is not strained.
    It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
    Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
    It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

  9. Thanks to the always reliable Pasquale. Enjoyed this.

    No problem with BISTRE here, though I’m not sure I’ve seen it used outside crosswords – I think it was in a Maskarade not so long ago, clued as a homophone for a town in Oxfordshire.

    Nho that meaning of LASER, but it was guessable from the crossers.

    Thanks for the blog, Pierre.

  10. Two too many obscurities for a Quiptic, but of those BISTRE held me up but LASER didn’t – I just couldn’t parse it fully. Mostly very enjoyable, though I was held up by GUYED where I completely missed the homophone, but got the definition in the end.

  11. Quite a tough puzzle.

    Failed 25d PARE.

    I did not parse 26ac, 23d.

    New: BISTRE; LASER plant (Silphium (also known as silphion, laserwort, or laser) – thanks Google.

    Thanks, both.

  12. Pasquale produces, as ever, the perfect quiptic. Every clue clear with a good variety of devices. As to the unusual words – quiptics claim to be for inexperienced solvers, who may well have these words in their vocabulary – it’s the clueing style that matters, surely? Anyway, thanks to Pasquale and Pierre.

  13. Good overall, but plenty of less obscure words that could have gone in 4 eg little, tiptoe, virtue etc.

    Thanks Pasquale and Pierre.

  15. Oof, this was a toughie for me. I managed to get through most of it on my own but had to cheat to get CAERPHILLY (never heard of it) to finish. I learned that GUY can mean to ridicule, BISTRE is a color, and PI is slang for sanctimonious. Thanks Pasquale for the challenge and Pierre for the always lucid explication.

  16. A straightforward solve, even though there were plenty of DNKs for me: RUE, PI (sanctimonious), LASER (plant), BISTRE, BENEFICE.

    I always forget about GUY in that sense, which I’ve never come across other than in a crossword!

  19. Chambers has PI as (informal) obtrusively religious, sanctimonious.

    Like others we felt there were too many rather obscure words for a Quiptic.

    Thanks to S&B.

  21. Hey, thank you for the explanations, they do make the clues a little more, I don’t know, alive…maybe?
    They certainly do help with my understanding of cryptic clues and I’m learning all the time. But, to my point.
    Regarding 3 down I took it as NEAR ENOUGH being the main Concise clue, and then TO BE INVOLVED IN ONE OF TWO, as the second Concise clue, OR. As in – to be one of two you have to be, at some point, an OR. One “or” t’other. The final piece, to my loaf is CHARITABLE ACTIONS meaning how charity works, someone gives and someone takes.
    Thanks again for the posts and comments, they really do help.

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