Guardian Quiptic 1,194/Anto

48 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,194/Anto”

1. Fully agree with you, Pierre. I now realise why I couldn’t parse declined. Is there still a crossword editor at The Grauniad?

2. Ce que Pierre a dit

   But it could have been put in the wrong pile
   And do you get less dosh for a quiptic?

3. A shame because there are one or two nice clues, such as FREEZE and STAVE. I wish I could say BITE ME to this, but I never would and it still annoys me when I can’t finish a Quiptic unaided, even though I know in advance that an Anto Quiptic is never straightforward.

4. Agree with the blogger. Amazing or appalling that something like this should pass muster. It does not inspire confidence as to The Guardian’s crosswording infrastructure. The clues are too hard in any case in my view, and the poor technique and bizarre inclusions don’t really help.

5. Thanks Anto and Pierre
   Never heard of BITE ME.

6. 14d OPINIONED is also American, isn’t it? I’m only familiar with opinionated in UK. Can’t see it in Chambers as a verb.

7. It’s been a recurring theme that the editor’s been failing to get the difficulty level right for the Quiptic, and quite alarming that this seems to be extended to waving through dodgy clues and unindicated Americanisms. I have some sympathy with Anto, who has the right to have an editor who actually checks his(?) work.

   Perhaps a few of us regular complainants could write to the letters page and see if that prompts any improvements.

   There were some nice clues in here, however. PAEDIATRICIAN was rather good, as were ORPHEUS and STAVE. Had it included an Americanism indicator, I would add DIAPER to that.

8. In New Zealand we do not call a trotter a ‘racehorse’ , as trotting (which is huge) is distinct from racing, so I feel that is a false clue too.

9. There is a commercial document called a ded. Forget what it stands for now, but looked it up earlier.

10. Thank you Pierre. I found this quite chewy. Apart from the error in DECLINED (glad it wasn’t mine), is the def for PLATITUDE adequate? I didn’t pick up the Americanism in GROOMSMAN, maybe because we have influences of both UK and US terminology here. Also while, as you say, DIAPER may require an Americanism indicator, it’s also familiar. Is REP for theatre a Britishism? A bit of both ways.

    I liked PAEDIATRICIAN for the wordplay and the misdirection with junior doctor. Ticks and chuckles for OPINIONED, ORPHEUS, and PINKO.

11. A real curate’s egg. Some great clues in there (STAVE, OPRHEUS, PAEDIATRICIAN) but as others have pointed out a lot of AmEng, which may offend some (not me) and overall dashed difficult for a Q. I fell down on DIAPER – I had ‘tipper’ – and needed help on PINKO.

12. Deliverable Expectation Document … does it helps help ‘de[c][line]d… ? Only Anto can say….

13. … delete “helps”….

14. I also agree – several good Quiptic clues (PEAR-SHAPED, UPSIDE, PLATITUDE, PAEDIATRICIAN, INDULGE) but spoiled by horrors like BITE ME, and too many subtractions (which tend to be tricky for some of us). This actually took me longer than the Nutmeg!

15. … though I did work out BITE ME. Without the check button I wouldn’t have believed it …

16. I hope UK crosswords don’t reach out across the pond too far. In fact I hope they don’t pander to anyone anywhere ever, as their Britishness is what endears people to them, it seems to me. Anyway, in this age of virulent nationalism, er … crosswords are as British shurely as the Queen. Or King.

17. Given that in Anto’s last Cryptic submission he used one clue that read in part ‘dad and mom’ I’m not surprised but a little saddened at what I’ve seen today, and seeing this sort of thing as our ever-increasing future. Are there any more cringeworthy terms than ‘staycation’, ‘Team GB’ or ‘to medal’ for example? The latter even sounds pervy.
    But in saying all of that, one mitigation for Anto is ‘diaper’ which was the common usage in this country back in the day. Apparently the more modern disposable version is what brought the word ‘nappy’ in.

18. I took longer on this than the Cryptic and almost three times as long as I took on Saturday’s Prize, which feels a little topsy-turvy.

    I did know BITE ME, though it feels dated. It was a phrase picked up by the yoof maybe 20 years ago, and I have a mental image of Bart Simpson saying it. But I also used the check button to confirm it. As others have said, some nice clues and some real stinkers.

    Thanks for the blog Pierre, and to Anto for the crossword, with the hope that he doesn’t remain placed in the Quiptic slot, whicb feels a mismatch.

19. Most of it’s been said, but one thing is particularly unforgivable.

    How on earth can a professional crossword setter submit a grid where they spell TRACEY EMIN wrong?!

    I can’t remember the source but I read a pro setter’s advice not long ago: “Check everything — especially when you are sure!”

20. Steve @17
    Reusable nappies (“napkins”) made from terry towelling long predated disposable nappies.

21. Muffin@20
    I thought I’d got that one from Susie Dent. In my mind I can hear her saying the term came in with the paper napkin-style throwaways but either way I remember the gist of her point was a defence of ‘diaper’ as not being an Americansism

22. Crossword compiler (software that Anto uses) allows you to use many different word lists to fill grids. In a sticky corner, the wikipedia list can offer many options not found in the dictionary. That list has TRACY EMIN as well as TRACEY EMIN. There are many such errors in crossword compiler’s lists, many more obvious than that one. So an easy mistake to make but also easy to check. If only there was someone who could check the puzzles.

23. More like a Priptic (Prize Cryptic) than a Quiptic (cryptic puzzle for beginners and those in a hurry.) I’m starting to suspect that the the Guardian does not have a crossword editor. I solved about half (mainly on RHS) and gave up because I was in a hurry and this was not a Quiptic. I do not blame Anto for this. I think that the editor is at fault here but perhaps there is no editor anymore or the error about Tracey Emin would also have been picked up.

    I did not parse the O in 14d.

    Thanks, both.

24. I liked most of this but was frustrated at not being able to get DIAPER, PLATITUDE or the shockingly misspelled TRAC[E]Y EMIN, who I’d never heard of before this puzzle. Add me to the list of those confused by the clue trying to add an extra E to DECLINED. I also had to convince myself that OPINIONED was a real word, as I’ve always heard OPINIONATED. The editor must have been asleep at the keyboard for this one.

    On the Americanisms, BITE ME was easy for me, but BRAINIAC was tough (didn’t know I meant current) and DIAPER escaped me entirely. As an American I go into a British crossword expecting to run into at least one thing I couldn’t possibly be expected to know, which is only fair since I’m the outsider, but why would a British solver be expected to know multiple American expressions in the same puzzle?

25. I’m afraid I have to agree with other comments. This took me far longer than Nutmeg’s, and I found it quite frustrating.

26. I had ‘tipper’ instead of ‘diaper’, which sort of parses, but I don’t really care because I thought that this puzzle was a stinker. I did not appreciate the Americanisms or the clue errors and regret to say that, despite trying very hard, I just do not like Anto’s style. Other opinions are available.

27. CC lists are a bit of a pain.

    I always use the British English one when looking for prospective single word fills (I never use grid fill, as I’d only have to change everything anyway), but even then I can be lumbered with something really bloody obscure if I’m not careful.

    As for the default list — avoid!

    Latest real grid resetting pain in the arse: OZZY OSBORNE.

28. … for which crossword compiler has: OZZY + OSBORN, OSBORNE, OSBOURN, OSBOURNE, OZBORNE, OZBOURN, OZBOURNE AND OZZBOURNE

29. We came here expecting some explanation for the words we couldn’t parse correctly. Turns out that the setter and the editor were to blame – not us.

    Must admit that when we saw Anto’s name for this Quiptic we groaned. Groaned even more when we read the blog and the comments.

    If any beginners tackled this puzzle and are reading these comments – do not despair!

    Thanks for the excellent blog Pierre.

30. Like many couples of a certain age, Yorkshire Lass and I solve crosswords together for fun – but also keeping beady eyes on each other for signs of possible deterioration. So this one was worrying – both I and she obviously not up to the mark. So great to come here and learn it’s ‘not just us’. Thanks to Pierre for an excellent blog, and Anto for a decent cryptic – except for the totally not on BITE ME. As for the Crossword Editor (if existing) least said . . .

31. I commented on today’s Nutmeg blog (@49), arguing that it is not necessary for the Quiptic to be easier than the Monday Cryptic, as long as they are both relatively easy. I think the descriptor “for beginners and solvers in a hurry” applies to both.

    Shanne, I made that comment in reference to previous Mondays, as I had not yet tried this Quiptic. Now that I have done it, I agree that this was not a proper Quiptic, and both puzzles today were unsuitable for beginners. Nevertheless, unlike this one, Nutmeg’s Cryptic was a very good and enjoyable puzzle.

    8d PAEDIATRICIAN was an excellent clue, but for me the overall effect was marred by the egregious errors as noted by Pierre.

32. I’ll pile on a bit. Two clues that haven’t been mentioned (I think) seem flawed to me.

    In 13ac (GROOMSMAN), “Prepares chap” makes sense as the wordplay, but “one … at a wedding in America” doesn’t have any role in the wordplay, so the clue makes no sense as a cad, and I can’t find any other way to make the parsing work.

    1dn (TROTTER) also doesn’t work grammatically. The indication for TOTTER must surely be “be unstable”, but in that case “will” doesn’t make sense in the cryptic reading.

    I also can’t see a sense in which “indulge” means “allow”, but I’m open to the possibility that I’m missing something.

33. Good job I wasn’t in a hurry.

34. What essexboy@33 said

35. Hi EB (just behind you on the comments) and others.
    In true American Attorney style, I was traumatised by the egregious Americanisms, suffered undue trauma caused by the Saintly Trace being misspelled etc…
    Overall it was a bit imprecise, or in Brit..Naff in places.
    Most importantly….it was not a Monday puzzle, nor really was the other.
    The Gruan should not preface these with a “nice friendly intro to crosswords, showing the various devices used” etc…. if they are rather unfriendly in clue construct or have left field (overseas even) obscurities as the answer.
    Everything in its place and a place for everything.

36. I’ve been American all my life, and I’ve never heard or even heard of “BITE ME” either. Or a groomsman, for that matter.

    If “opinioned” sounds odd it must be American, yes? Not to me, I say “opinionated” like the rest of you.

    Thanks, Anto and Pierre (no birds!)

37. Ted@32, I can imagine a judge saying “I’ll indulge that question”.

38. By the way, why is groomsman an Americanism? You’ve got a groom, a best man, and often an extra bloke or two in the wedding party. What are they called in the UK. And who do all those bridesmaids dance with?

39. I am actually in agreement with Richard111 on this.

40. Perhaps the parsing of 12 uses the obscure business acronym DED for Deliverable Expectation Document. Hardly fair if it does.

    As an American, I, too, have never seen or heard anyone use opinioned instead of opinionated.

    I do recall Bite Me be used often enough in my 1970’s high school. As Irishman@30 said, it is not on. The meaning is quite clear and distinctly rude. That Bart Simpson used it on national TV in the 90’s is testament to Matt Groening and Co’s cheekiness and the naïveté of the producers and audience.

41. Edit: I do recall “Bite me” being used…

42. Further to muffin’s comment @ 20, I used “nappies” (terry towelling) back in the 1980’s, as did my mother in the ‘50s, and we didn’t use “diapers” until my grandson was born (in the USA – cue for a song link!) in 2010, so I would definitely consider it an Americanism.

43. [GrannyJ, your wish is my command.]

    There’s some interesting background about ‘bite me’ here.

44. Thank you so much, essexboy 🙂

45. GreginSid@38 Groomsmen are known as Ushers here as one of their main roles is to ensure that guests are directed to the correct side of the aisle for the ceremony.

46. Late to comment, because I’m very new at these and they usually take me about a week, but this one didn’t cause me any more problems than normal to be honest. The fact that others struggled means I’m either more okay with modern language than some here, or I’m getting better at these. Find out next week

    Diapers and groomsman, though americanisms, are pretty common words to anyone in the UK. And ‘bite me’ and brainiac were okay due to watching a mixture of the Simpson’s and the Sky TV show of the latter’s name when I was a kid in the mid 00s.

    Emin and Declined were bad but I got them via getting all the other bits.

    It was actually the parsing of daiper I couldn’t get (is “rep” a normal term for theatre?!?) And platitude (that I still don’t get) that made for a very slow last 48 hours in finishing this off.

47. I very much appreciate you pointing out the issues with this puzzle because I found it unaccountably difficult for a quiptic and now I have the relief of saying to myself It’s not just me.

48. @ArchipelagoMind “Rep” refers to repertory theatre and yeah it is a standard term. You’ll hear an actor say “I did four seasons of rep at Playhouse X.”

    “Latitude” is a synonym of “play” as in freedom of movement, room to maneuver, etc. Example sentence could be “The rope is too tight, we need more play in it.”

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