Guardian Quiptic 1,205 / Carpathian

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This is the time of year where holidays come into play and bloggers turn up in unexpected places.

 

 

 

This is the first Quiptic I have blogged and I enjoyed doing it.  The cluing seemed very fair and understandable with few esoteric references.  RINGLETED struck me as the only  word I am unlikely to use very often.

There seemed to a number of references to cuts and plants in the clues, but that may just be coincidence rather than a theme of CUT PLANTS.

Carapthian gave us some excellent long anagrams with INSEPARABLE, INCONSEQUENTIAL and DEADLY SIN standing out for me.

I went through a number of ‘CRACY‘s, DEMO…. AUTO…, , MERITO…, BUREAU…, [which doesn’t even have an O] before I hit on PLUTO.

I struggled with DOME as a definition for head in the clue for DOMESTIC for a while, but there is a specific reference in Chambers dictionary.  When I was at school many many years ago our HEADteacher was referred to as DOME, since he was completely bald, but I don’t think it was a term applied to HEADs in general.

No Detail
Across  
1

Doctor enables pair to get inextricably linked (11) 

INSEPARABLE (incapable of being prised apart; inextricably linked)

Anagram of (doctor) ENABLES PAIR

INSEPARABLE*
9

Plant, initially from Umbria, cultivated here shows impressive adaptability (7) 

FUCHSIA (any plant of a South American genus of the evening primrose family)

FUCHSIA (first letters [initially] of each of FROM, UMBRIA, CULTIVATED, HERE, SHOWS, IMPRESSIVE and ADAPTABILITY)

F U C H S I A
10

Knight to look fashionable with cut (7) 

SIRLOIN (cut of beef)

SIR (knight) + LO (look) + IN (fashionable)

SIR LO IN
11

Glen tried restyling with corkscrews (9) 

RINGLETED (with curls [corkscrews] of hair)

Anagram of (restyled) GLEN TRIED

RINGLETED*
12

Tolerate assistant stealing book (5) 

ABIDE (tolerate)

AIDE (assistant) containing (stealing) B (books)

A (B) IDE
13

You and I imprisoned by queen in jug (4) 

EWER (large water jug with a wide spout)

WE (you and I) contained in (imprisoned by) ER (Elizabeth Regina; queen)

E (WE) R
14

Rat plants meadows (10) 

GRASSLANDS (pastures; meadows)

GRASS (informer; rat) + LANDS (deposits, drops or plants)

GRASS LANDS
16

Animated dog caught by spirited government (10) 

PLUTOCRACY (government by the wealthy)

PLUTO (cartoon [animated] dog) + C (caught) + RACY (spirited)

PLUTO C RACY
19

Plant pot leaked (4) 

WEED (any plant growing where it is not wanted)

WEED (marijuana; cannabis; pot)

WEED (urinated; leaked)  triple definition

WEED
21

Cut delicate fabric covering bottom of cushion (5) 

LANCE (pierce; cut [open])

LACE (delicate fabric) containing (covering) N (last letter of [bottom of] CUSHION)

LA (N) CE
22

Sadly dine out, showing greed? (6,3) 

DEADLY SIN (greed is one of the seven DEADLY SINs)

Anagram of (out) SADLY DINE

DEADLY SIN*
24

Plant taking top off pipe after time (7) 

THISTLE (prickly composite plant)

T (time) + WHISTLE (simple wind instrument consisting of a wooden or metal pipe with finger holes) excluding the first letter (taking top of) W

T HISTLE
25

Cutting bit of wordplay by posh bloke (7) 

PUNGENT (sharp; cutting)

PUN (play on words) + GENT (GENTleman [posh bloke])

PUN GENT
26

Cuts doctor’s food (11)

LACERATIONS (cuts)

LACE (doctor, as in ‘to doctor a drink with an additional substance’) + RATIONS (food)

LACE RATIONS
Down  
1

Cooked quince alone isn’t valueless (15) 

INCONSEQUENTIAL (of no value)

Anagram of (cooked) QUINCE ALONE ISN’T

INCONSEQUENTIAL*
2

Upstanding girl holding one fibre (5) 

SISAL (agave fibre, used for making rope etc)

LASS reversed (upstanding; down entry) containing (holding) I (Roman numeral for one)

S (I) SAL<
3

Agent upset about most recent smear (7) 

PLASTER (smear)

REP (REPresentative ; agent) reversed (upset; down entry_ containing (about) LAST (most recent)

P (LAST) ER<
4

Lives on borders (7) 

RESIDES (lives)

RE (with reference to; about; on) + SIDES (borders)

RE SIDES
5

Prepared lean crab and another crustacean (8) 

BARNACLE (crustacean that adheres to rocks and ship bottoms)

Anagram of (prepared) LEAN CRAB

BARNACLE*
6

Still, in strange sense, showing indifference (15)

EMOTIONLESSNESS (indifference)

MOTIONLESS (not moving; still) contained in (in) an anagram of (strange) SENSE

E (MOTIONLESS) NESS*
7

Note in favour of church is what keeps one down to earth (1-5) 

G-FORCE (FORCE of gravity [the FORCE attracting a body towards the centre of the earth; what keeps one down to earth)

G (note of the musical scale) + FOR (in favour of) + CE (Church [of England])

G FOR CE
8

Infuriates leaderless forest officials (6) 

ANGERS (infuriates)

RANGERS (forest officials) excluding the first letter (leaderless) R

ANGERS
15

Jerk supports heads in private (8) 

DOMESTIC (private)

DOMES (covers or heads of furnaces) + TIC (jerk) – as this is a down entry the letters TIC in the grid support the letters DOMES

DOMES TIC
16

Taste a boring dish (6) 

PALATE (sense of taste)

A contained in (boring) PLATE (dish)

P (A) LATE
17

More embarrassed about English game (3,4) 

RED DEER (animals hunted for sport; game)

REDDER (more embarrassed) containing (about) E (English)

RED D (E) ER – either E in DEER could be the one contained
18

Firm peak, it is mine (7) 

COALPIT (mine)

CO (company; firm) + ALP (mountain; peak) + IT

CO ALP IT
20

Professor consumed gift (6) 

DONATE (gift, as a verb)

DON (any member of the teaching staff of a college or university such as a professor) + ATE (consumed)

DON ATE
23

Fish love jargon (5) 

LINGO (jargon of a profession or class)

LING (fish of the cod family) + O (character representing zero; a score of zero is referred to as love in tennis)

LING O

 

30 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,205 / Carpathian”

  1. Love the colourful and very clear blog, duncanshiell. We enjoyed this, though with the same raised eyebrows at RINGLETED. INCONSEQUENTIAL was a great clue. Thanks, Carpathian and Duncan.

  2. Always happy to see Carpathian’s name as you know it well be well clued. We also had a bald teacher, whose nickname was Chrome Dome, due to the light reflecting off it. Thanks C and D

  6. I liked PLUTOCRACY (though would “spirited form of government” have been slightly fairer? A nice Quiptic all round.

  7. I think if you include the “with” in the definition of RINGLETED it works a bit better: someone with corkscrews is ringleted.
    Lovely puzzle and blog. Thanks

  8. Thanks Carpathian, and DuncanShiell for the blog (though I confess that I was a bit confused by some – not all – of your colour-coding!)
    Good as ever from Carpathian, one of my 2 or 3 current favoruite setters. PLUTOCRACY was favourite.
    A few jarring points, though. Your chain from LANDS to PLANTS isn’t missing a link, but I don’t see how the words at either end could be used interchangeably. “Bottom of cushion” doesn’t give N when it is written horizontally. There has been lots of previous discussion on what “apostrophe s” can mean, but I really can’t see how it fits in 26a.

  10. Agree muffin and Petert about the ‘s in LACERATIONS. That struck me too, and as this is meant to be an entry level crossword it doesn’t seem fair. It’s not a link between the wordplay and def and has no other purpose that I can see.

  11. I thought this was excellent and very solidly clued. I agree with James G@7 about ‘with’ as otherwise the parts of speech don’t match.

    Muffin@8,

    I wasn’t keen on plants for lands either but it’s directly in Chambers ‘3. To deposit drop or plant’ as in Duncan’s blog so fair enough.

    I see your point about bottom in an across clue but think it’s also fair. Top and bottom of say a high street are either end horizontally rather than vertically.

    The ‘s in lacerations is just ‘has’ and is often used as + for building a charade. I’m not keen on that either but it’s perfectly valid.

    Thanks Carpathian and Duncan.

  12. Any physicists here? I think Carpathian may be confusing g-force with gravity. The latter is “what keeps one down to earth”; the former is any acceleration of a body expressed in multiples of g, i.e. relative to the acceleration produced by gravity.

    As I understand it (corrections welcome!), if you’re standing on the earth’s surface, then the g-force you experience (1g) is caused by the upward contact force from the ground – it’s what keeps you up, not what keeps you down. If you were in a lift falling freely towards the centre of the earth, you would experience zero g-force. (See wiki)

    Most references to g-force aren’t directly to do with gravity – they refer to the forces experienced by fighter pilots, passengers on rollercoasters etc.

  13. Where are my manners? I forgot to thank Carpathian and Duncan. I found this on the tricky side for a Carpathian, who normally produces very well-judged quiptics – I hope it’s a blip, not a trend.

    I really liked EMOTIONLESSNESS. Didn’t someone once clue SENSELESSNESS as ‘E’? (sense less ness)

  14. If I did ever need to use RINGLETED, I’d (perhaps wrongly) spell it with a double T, and I wasn’t sure about plant=land, but those are minor quibbles in a very nice Quiptic. Favourites the anagrams for INSEPARABLE and INCONSEQUENTIAL and the neat triple def for WEED.

    Took me a while to see the dome, too: it’s in the lyrics to Right Said Fred:
    Was he in trouble
    Half a ton of rubble
    Landed on the top of his dome…

  16. It’s interesting that the first Quiptic I have blogged has generated more detailed discussion about physics and grammar than happens with most of my blogs of other puzzles.

    As Blah @ 11 says, “to deposit, drop or plant” for ‘lands’ was taken straight out of Chambers.

    Turning to other comments, I’m not a physicist either, but Collins defines ‘G-force’ as ‘the force of gravity’ but I do recognise that ‘G-force’ is usally written in terms of the forces that are experienced by jet pilots, racing drivers and similar individuals.

    The discussion of the use of an apostrophe in clues is something I try to avoid!

    I think ‘bottom of’ to identify the last letter of a word is a standard crossword device. I feel sure that ‘ocean bottom’ is used fairly frequently to clue an N in wordplay in both across and down clues.

    Word searches offer both RINGLETED and RINGLETTED. I think there are plenty of words where you could argue for a single or a double letter. When I was working, ‘focused’ and ‘focussed’ were often the subject of debate.

    Finaly I’m not sure you could clue ‘E’ as ‘senselessness’ as it would be an anagram of ‘ness’ that is being removed so there would have to some indication of the anagram as well as a definiiton for ‘E’.

  17. Maybe it’s just that I’m in a pre-xmas cheerful mood, but I found this – and today’s Cryptic – fun and agreeably untaxing. And the sun’s out too, in a gin-clear blue sky, the frost sparkling on the trees and bushes round here.
    Too many good ‘uns to list them all, but WEED & LINGO made me grin. I didn’t have a problem with LANDS and assumed RINGLETED with one T was simply an alternative spelling (akin to the American way of spelling traveller with one L).
    I enjoyed essexboy’s clarification of g-force and gravity – but then I’m no Physicist either!
    Thanks to Carpathian for the entertainment and to duncanshiell for a lucid and pleasingly-colourful blog

  18. Very enjoyable, and it’s nice to have done a few crosswords in recent days with no obscurities that have found my general knowledge wanting. I took a while to see DOMES/HEADS, and the apostrophe S in 26a I thought was a bit iffy. My favourite was the concise triple definition for WEED.

  19. Somewhat trickier than today’s Vulcan.

    Good long anagrams, but I share most of the quibbles that others have pointed out (apostrophe S for the contraction of ‘has’ as a linker is one of my betes noirs). However I can’t agree with muffin @8 about ‘bottom of cushion’, which seems entirely reasonable to me – it doesn’t indicate the orientation of the solution. Clues are always written horizontally, so by his logic ‘bottom’ could never be used to indicate the last latter of a word.

    Thanks to S&B

  20. I’m with muffin @8 on Carpathian being one of my favourite setters – she reliably produces fun, accessible and well constructed puzzles, and this was no exception. Agree with others that INCONSEQUENTIAL was the standout, but much to enjoy throughout. RED DEER was another favourite.

    And I’m with Blah on the use of the apostrophe-S – not a huge fan but it is perfectly valid.

    I’m too ignorant to have been troubled by the accuracy or otherwise of G-FORCE. No problem with LANDS or DOME – they seem perfectly good synonyms to me.

    Thanks, Carpathian, and thanks for the detailed blog, Duncan.

  21. Enjoyed this – kept me occupied until the rain stopped.

    Thanks Carpathian and Duncan (liked the colour coding)

  22. Very enjoyable with PLUTOCRACY, WEED, INCONSEQUENTIAL and DEADLY SIN being favourites. Agree with eb @13 that this was trickier than normal.

    Ta Carpathian and Duncan for the colourful blog.

  23. Enjoyable puzzle. The only potential reservation I have is that I have always considered the think-of-a-word-then-do-something-to-it type of operation, as found in WHISTLE->HISTLE->THISTLE, to be on the harder side since the thought-of word is not part of the answer, and hence unexpected in Quiptics. However, this is just a guess, as I’m not the primary target audience.

    Thanks C&D

  25. Physicist here. essexboy @12’s explication of the meaing of “G-force” is exactly right. It didn’t bother me, but it’s true that the definition in the clue is therefore not accurate.

  26. Essexboy I think it was the late great Araucaria that had as a clue ‘e’.

    It came up in conversation many years ago as an example of his amazingness

  27. Despite the popularity above of weed, I have never heard to leak used as a verb to wee. Someone.will take or have a leak.

  28. Oldmucker@27, try this: I had a wee = I weed, I had a leak = I leaked.
    Thanks Carpathian for the excellent puzzle, and duncanshiell for the colourful blog.

  29. Thank you for the very clear explanations in this blog. There were a few clues I hadn’t got, and a couple where I had the answer but didn’t understand why it was. Once they are explained, they seem obvious, of course!

  30. Very late correction, a barnacle is most definitely a mollusc, not a crustacean.

    Apart from that, my fastest ever solve, and no cheats.

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