Bartland is a comparatively new setter of the Quiptic. I found this a neatly constructed puzzle which hit the spot in terms of accessibility. I have two small nits to pick, but neither got in the way of my enjoyment of 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
9 Signature diagram of vehicle?
AUTOGRAPH
A charade of AUTO and GRAPH, and a whimsical description of what a diagram of a vehicle might be.
10 Scrub part of tennis court
SCOUR
Nicely hidden in tenniS COURt.
11 Wild otter grabbed the man in that place
THERETO
An insertion of HE in (OTTER)* The anagrind is ‘wild’ and the insertion indicator is ‘grabbed’. The definition is wrong: THERETO means ‘to that place’. ‘In that place’ is THEREIN.
12 Artisan working for empress
TSARINA
(ARTISAN)* with ‘working’ as the anagrind.
13 Mention reported location
SITE
A homophone (‘reported’) of CITE.
14 Big gun welcomes the Spanish student with starter of Italian pasta
CANNELLONI
An insertion of EL and L in CANNON followed by I. The insertion indicator is ‘welcomes’.
16 A corrupt builder neglecting finish can be picked up
AUDIBLE
A charade of A and (BUILDE[R])* The anagrind is ‘corrupt’.
17 Gather wild lion is excluded from non-violence organisation
CONVENE
Two anagrams: (LION)* and (NON VIOLENCE)* Take the first from the second and you’ve got (N[O][N] V[I]O[L]ENCE)* which gives you CONVENE. The two anagrinds are ‘wild’ and ‘organisation’.
19 Desert wanderer blew Te Deum badly
TUMBLEWEED
(BLEW TE DEUM)* with ‘badly’ as the anagrind.
22 Make Scottish banks money
DOSH
A charade of DO and SH for the outside letters of ‘Scottish’.
24 Break from ceremony involving paranormal activity
RESPITE
An insertion of ESP for Extra Sensory Perception in RITE. The insertion indicator is ‘involving’.
25 Gain new skills concerning the Orient Express, say
RETRAIN
A charade of RE and TRAIN.
26 Fibre intake of zany loner
NYLON
Hidden in zaNY LONer. The fibre that is assuredly not so called because it was jointly invented in New York and London. That is an urban myth of the highest order.
27 Orange granite construction associated with Tyneside
TANGERINE
A charade of (GRANITE)* and NE, which loosely is ‘Tyneside’. The anagrind is ‘construction’.
Down
1 Hearts broken by proverbial madman in middle age? It’s very traumatic!
EARTH-SHATTERING
A charade of (HEARTS)*, HATTER (think Alice), IN and G for the central letter of ‘age’. The anagrind is ‘broken’.
2 Swore at match to journalist below
ATTESTED
A charade of AT, TEST (think cricket) and ED.
3 OK going back inside beer garden
AGREE
Hidden reversed in bEER GArden.
4 A fly larva burrowing into herb causes destruction
SABOTAGE
An insertion of A BOT in SAGE. The insertion indicator is ‘burrowing into’.
5 Bleach it inside at what time?
WHITEN
An insertion of IT in WHEN. The insertion indicator is ‘inside’.
6 Attacker of Satan cunningly framing canvas
ASSAILANT
An insertion of SAIL in (SATAN)* The anagrind is ‘cunningly’ and the insertion indicator is ‘framing’. It wasn’t TENT, was it?
7 Mood shifts around in one of 28 pieces
DOMINO
An insertion of IN in (MOOD)* The insertion indicator is ‘around’ and the anagrind is ‘shifts’.
8 Ideas man broadcast tackier TV in here
CREATIVE THINKER
(TACKIER TV IN HERE)* with ‘broadcast’ as the anagrind.
15 In high spirits and nubile? Let loose!
EBULLIENT
(NUBILE LET)* with ‘loose’ as the anagrind.
17 Giving the green light to stick listener somewhere in the middle
CLEARING
An insertion of EAR in CLING. The insertion indicator is ‘somewhere in the middle’.
18 Narcissism, for example, is linked to leaderless state of the EU
EGOMANIA
A charade of EG and [R]OMANIA.
20 May heartless son dwarf me
MYSELF
A charade of M[A]Y, S and ELF. Is an ELF a ‘dwarf’? Discuss (but not for too long, please).
21 Rage about the extremity of Japanese flower arrangement
WREATH
An insertion of E for the final letter of ‘Japanese’ in WRATH. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
23 Sharp marinade
STEEP
A dd, except it isn’t really, since the second element needs the verb, which is ‘marinate’. ‘Marinade’ is a noun and refers to the liquid in which you steep the meat, or whatever. I know, I know … some dictionaries give this as an alternative spelling. They’ll be telling me that ‘disinterested’ means the same as ‘uninterested’ next.
Many thanks to Bartland for this week’s Quiptic offering.
Anybody else enter cite for 13 to start with?
Yes to Crispy @ 1.
My (cheap online) dictionary gives MARINADE as a verb as well as a noun, and also STEEP in the “soak” sense as a verb and a noun (“the liquid used for steeping”). Sorry, Pierre, looks like that ship has sailed!
I didn’t, Crispy, but only because I had already solved EARTH-SHATTERING. It is one of those clues that without crossers could lead to two answers, and as such is mildly annoying.
No, because I wondered if the homophone indicated was HERE/HEAR, and left it until I got EARTH SHATTERING, as I read through and wrote in quite a few answers.
I wondered about the elf – dwarf equivalence in MYSELF too, but I know too many people who play RPGs, LARPS and love Lord of the Rings, where elves are really not dwarves.
Thank you to Pierre and Bartland for a nucely pitched Quiptic.
Thanks Bartland and Pierre
Very good Quiptic. My question mark was “make” for DO in 22a.
I’m going to do shepherd’s pie for tea this evening, muffin.
EARTH SHATTERING was LOI for me because I had entered CITE. Grr…
Otherwise a nice Quiptic. Thanks Pierre and Bartland.
Pierre @6
Not an expression I would ever use! I would say “make”, prepare” or “cook”.
So Tyneside is northeast? OK. Nothing else to scratch one’s head over, and quite a pleasant experience, thank you Bartland.
EARTH-SHATTERING was my favourite. As Pierre says the quibbles didn’t interfere with the enjoyment.
I suspect most of us are influenced by Lord Of The Rings when it comes to imagining the various kinds of mythical beings. Crossword setters tend to use any one of them to clue any one of the others, so I wince at elf=goblin or whatever. But elves are not dwarves (or dwarfs: let’s not get started on that argument) in any literature or mythology I know. Same quibble as Pierre about THERETO, but no problem with marinade as a verb.
Anyway, a very enjoyable Quiptic from Bartland. Favourites EARTH SHATTERING, CONVENE, WHITEN, TUMBLEWEED.
Fun puzzle.
Liked EARTH-SHATTERING, CREATIVE THINKER, CANNELLONI, WHITEN.
New for me: the fact that there are 28 dominoes in the game; BOT = fly larva.
My online dictionary shows the same as Shirl@2.
I agree with gladys@11 that dwarves and elves are different. I am influenced by LotR.
Thanks to the setter and also to Pierre for pointing out the error in 11ac which I had not noticed.
Thanks, Bartland & Pierre. Very tidy Quiptic.
I did wonder briefly whether the definition was accurate for THERETO but it was obviously the word we were looking for so I just bunged it in anyway.
Not bothered by the elf/dwarf thing. Chambers offers the setter a get-out here – among the words it offers as synonyms for elf are dwarf, fairy, gnome, pixie, goblin, sprite, urchin, banshee, brownie, hobgoblin, leprechaun. You could quibble with several of those if you felt so inclined. I have more important things to worry about.
I had a great many nitpicks with this, so I won’t list them, but goodness me.
I was interested slightly by 17 across, which for some people doesn’t really need two anagrinds.
It’s obvious that you need to take the lion out of the non-violence, whatever order its letters appear in, but for absolute (if unnecessary) correctness you are supposed to indicate that they don’t appear in the order L I O N.
Anyone know what’s happening with the Guardian blog?
Crispy @16
Perhaps the blogger found it too difficult. I certainly did!
Muffin @17. Likewise, hence my question.
A very good Quiptic, I thought, ‘does what it says on the tin’.
Chambers, Collins and the ODE all have marinade as an alternative spelling for marinate, so I don’t think we can fault the setter. I liked the two long ‘uns and CONVENE. Technically, one could make the anagram as CONVENE(lion) and just take away the lion, but I know some editors insist on double anagrinds if the letters do not appear in the right order [I know this is a bit of a chestnut] in the compound word.
Thanks Bartland and Pierre.
I was wondering what’s happening with the Guardian blog.
Meanwhile, for some RESPITE, I have SCOURed the web and “CONVENEd this extremely old earworm. It’s AUDIBLE.
https://youtu.be/_UiSMyyj-Ac
Thank you Bartland and Pierre.
Nice puzzle, thanks Bartland and Pierre. The quibbles didn’t spoil my enjoyment either, but for the record I agree about THERETO. I did wonder if “in that place” could be justified because “in” sometimes means “into”. Come in the warm/The ball went in the hole/Let’s go in the next parking space we see. Collins online has as one of its examples: “But (Claus Bødker) received permission to preach outside the town in a green meadow in which there lay an old chapel. Thereto nearly the whole population of the town went to hear the new and unfamiliar preaching.” Conceivably, the “thereto” could be replaced by “In that chapel/In that place”, with the ‘motion towards’ sense of ‘in’ made clear by the verb ‘went’.
But it’s a big stretch, especially for a Quiptic, where I think the validity of a definition shouldn’t really be hanging by its fingernails.
muffin @5/8, I was all set to question do = make, but then I remembered U-turns, so I did/made one 😉
Very satisfactory standard for a Quiptic puzzle and a most enjoyable solve.
I had the same quibbles as Pierre, plus a temporary grumble over the cite/SITE ambiguity (excused by the definitive crossing letter). I don’t have an issue with make/do – in the Romance languages the reflexes of the Latin verb ‘facere’ serve both functions, of course.
Thanks to S&B
I thought this hit the quiptic sweet spot. Here’s an explanation of the dwarf / elf thing
Cheers P&B
Bot new to me but otherwise fairly straightforward & spot on for a Quiptic. As a matter of interest does the clueing make it obvious it’s SITE rather than cite ? Couldn’t decide between the 2 until the checker settled it.
Thanks all
No, it doesn’t make it clear, Huntsman. See my comment @3.
Just to add my $0.02 to the elf/dwarf schism, I’ve known plenty of dwarf PCs (and NPCs) who’d nut you in the chest if you called them an elf.
Enjoyable nonetheless, harder than the Everyman and I didn’t parse RESPITE. EARTH-SHATTERING was my LOI too.
Gladys @ 15 I think the idea is that as one anagram of nonviolence is lionconvene, the first anagrind (in this case) is redundant. Not the first time we have had this discussion, ‘we’ meaning all here.
Nice one, Bartland, and thanks Pierre for the excellent blog.
Pierre@3 et al, I find the annoyance, mild or otherwise, at clues like 13a SITE, puzzling. Lots of clues require that you think of a synonym, and there are multiple possible synonyms, and you keep them in mind until the right one becomes clear (sometimes from crossers). In this case there are two possible answers, depending on the crosser for the first letter. So, if you haven’t yet solved 1d to get the crosser, your first letter is S or C. That eliminates 24/26ths of the possible letters for that light, which is pretty helpful. (If you solve with a pencil, you write in both letters, and then look at 1d.) I don’t see how this is unfair or otherwise faulty.
I agree with Ui Imair @27’s argument that the second anagrind of 17ac isn’t necessary. But that doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to include it — in my opinion clues like this work either with or without the second anagrind.
I found this to be a pretty easy puzzle, even by Quiptic standards, but quite enjoyable. I wondered about “marinade”, but the dictionaries say it’s OK, so it’s OK. The definition of “thereto” does seem to me to be a (minor) error. I’d also quibble about the definition in 16ac (“audible”), which is the wrong part of speech (defining a verb rather than an adjective as required).
And although I’m a huge Tolkien fan, and definitely think of elves and dwarves as completely different, I assumed that in some other contexts they were equivalent and didn’t let it bother me too much.
Geoff@9, for years I took Tyneside as tyNE , ie one side of Tyne. Still works for me.
Many thanks to Pierre, and to everyone who shared feedback. Glad the puzzle went down well 🙂
Thank you, Bartland, for informing us that creative thinkers are men.
essexboy@21 How ever did you know that ancient Danish text whose English translation would have “thereto” in it?
Gervase@22 What you say about Romance languages is true, and even in German “machen” and “tun” can both mean “do,” but in English they’re distinctly different.
bodycheetah@23 That was hilarious!
Thanks, Bartland and Pierre (no birds!)
I would think that TYNESIDE = NE not just as it is part of the north east of England, but also as NE is one “side” of “tyNE” .
So TYNESIDE also conceivably clue TY.
Probably not great in a Quiptic but I think it’s valid?
Valentine @32: Much as I’d like to claim intimate acquaintance with 16th century Danish ecclesiastical literature, I’m afraid I must confess that I got it from an online dictionary – Collins to be precise, which helpfully lists a number of example sentences if you look up ‘thereto’ (see here). You can then click on the link underneath to see where it came from.
It was the only example which I thought I could stretch into a semi-justification of the definition in the clue.
Incidentally, looking at it again now, I see it’s also the only example which fits with the ‘to that place’ definition. All the others mean ‘to it’ or ‘to that’ (“privileges thereto attached”/”by way of opposition thereto”/”subsequent thereto”) – just as ‘thereby’ means ‘by it’ or ‘by that’, rather than ‘by that place’. ‘To that place’ in archaic English would normally be ‘thither’, or in modern English, plain old ‘there’, as in “Let’s not go there!”.
Probably all fair but probably the hardest « quiptic » in the last 100 or so? Gave up after 6-7 clues and I’m usually ok to get 80-90% of a grid finished. Not sure what happened! Could have happily swapped this for any of the proper cryptics.