It’s Hectence’s turn to provide a Quiptic this week.
Not the easiest of Quiptics, with a few awkward constructions, but most of it fits the brief for “beginners and those in a hurry” and I’ve attempted to explain where it might not. And it’s a pangram, which I think is something Hectence makes a point of. I liked the images of the archaeologists in the sun (24a) and the pub-quiz argument (20d), as well as the very neat 16a, but my favourite was the “hideous orange car” of 7d. Thanks Hectence for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CHERRY PIE |
Woman’s tucked into ridiculously pricey dessert (6,3)
|
| HER (woman’s) inserted into an anagram (ridiculously) of PRICEY, | ||
| 6 | PEAK |
Exercise with walks occasionally on top of a mountain (4)
|
| PE (physical exercise) + alternate letters (occasionally) of [w]A[l]K[s]. | ||
| 8 | LIBRETTO |
Lyrics discovered in jotter Bill returned (8)
|
| [j]OTTER BIL[l] reversed (returned) and without the outer letters (dis-covered). Or “discovered in” could indicate a hidden answer, if you prefer.
The sung text of an opera or musical; from the Italian for “little book”. |
||
| 9 | FIGURE |
Think about body shape (6)
|
| Double definition. Mainly American usage for “think”, as in “I figure that’s what Hectence meant”; or as in a figure-flattering outfit. | ||
| 10 | LEGACY |
Liberal leader’s cagey about inheritance (6)
|
| First letter (leader) of L[iberal] + anagram (about = scattered) of CAGEY. | ||
| 11 | EXCHANGE |
Market put up inside old church (8)
|
| HANG (put up, as in to hang a picture on a wall), inside EX (prefix indicating “old” in the sense of “no longer”) + CE (Church of England). | ||
| 12 | SPIKES |
Harpoons fish, filling ship (6)
|
| PIKE (a fish) inside SS (abbreviation for a steamship). | ||
| 15 | TWISTING |
Understand flipping idiots caught cheating (8)
|
| TWIG (to understand something for the first time), with NITS (idiots) reversed (flipping) caught in it. | ||
| 16 | ASPIRING |
Hoping painkiller’s good (8)
|
| ASPIRIN (painkiller) + G (abbreviation for good). | ||
| 19 | EASIER |
Realise student dropped out to get less stressed (6)
|
| Anagram (out) of REA[l]ISE with the L (learner, as in L-plate = student) dropped out. | ||
| 21 | APRES-SKI |
A family briefly squeeze in post-winter sports activity (5-3)
|
| A + KI[n] (family) without the last letter (briefly), with PRESS (squeeze) in it.
Evening entertainment at a ski resort. |
||
| 22 | VAULTS |
Barrels with untaxed liquor initially hidden inside cellars (6)
|
| VATS (barrels), with the initial letters of U[ntaxed] L[iquor] hidden inside. | ||
| 24 | INDIGO |
Popular archaeological site has nothing in the shade (6)
|
| IN (popular = fashionable) + DIG (archaeological site) + O (zero = nothing).
Shade = colour, in this case deep blue. |
||
| 25 | MANIFEST |
Customs document chap provided is in French (8)
|
| MAN (chap) + IF (provided) + EST (“is” in French).
A document listing cargo and/or passengers and crew of a ship, aeroplane etc. |
||
| 26 | EDGE |
Jam’s without sharpness (4)
|
| I think the idea here is to split “without” into “with” and “out”: [w]EDGE (as a verb = jam = force into a tight space), after W (abbreviation for with) has been taken out.
Edge, as on a knife blade = sharpness. Or metaphorically, edge = a sharp taste. |
||
| 27 | LORD MAYOR |
Reportedly praise soldiers protecting former PM and civic dignitary (4,5)
|
| Homophone (reportedly) of LAUD (praise) + OR (abbreviation for other ranks = ordinary soldiers as opposed to officers), containing (protecting) MAY (former PM Theresa May). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CHIDE |
Scold child with proof of age he’s defaced (5)
|
| CH (abbreviation for child) + ID (identity documents, for example when used to prove that the holder is over 18 = proof of age) + [h]E with the front letter removed (de-faced). | ||
| 2 | EARMARK |
Allocate English vessel to take on board a Royal Marine (7)
|
| E (abbreviation for English) + ARK (as in Noah’s Ark = vessel), containing (to take on board) A + RM (Royal Marine). | ||
| 3 | RITZY |
It’s unknowns supporting Radiohead — splendid! (5)
|
| IT, then Z + Y (mathematical symbols for “unknowns” = unknown quantities), all after (below, in a down clue = supporting) the first letter (head) of R[adio]. | ||
| 4 | PROJECT |
Design for college is set in stone (7)
|
| PRO (for = in favour of), then C (abbreviation for college) set into JET (a black gemstone). | ||
| 5 | EFFECTIVE |
Iron both ways, beginning with crease and ribbon round top of vest, working well (9)
|
| FE (Fe = chemical symbol for iron, from Latin ferrum) reversed EF and then forwards FE (both ways), then the first letter (beginning) of C[rease], then TIE (as a noun = ribbon) around the first letter (top) of V[est]. That was tricky – especially as I don’t think “beginning with” is quite the same as “beginning of”. | ||
| 6 | PAGEANT |
Summon soldier for parade (7)
|
| PAGE (as a verb = summon, perhaps using a “pager” in the days before mobile phones) + ANT (which may be a soldier ant). | ||
| 7 | ARROGANCE |
Excessive pride in hideous orange car (9)
|
| Anagram (hideous) of ORANGE CAR. | ||
| 13 | POSTPONED |
Put off by pressure working in new depots (9)
|
| P (scientific symbol for pressure) + ON (working, as in “the heating isn’t on”), in an anagram (new) of DEPOTS. | ||
| 14 | SWISS ROLL |
Small women’s group with case of supplies, bread and cake (5,4)
|
| S (abbreviation for small) + WI (Women’s Institute) + outer letters (case) of S[upplie]S + ROLL (bread roll).
Sponge cake rolled up around jam, cream or other sweet filling. |
||
| 17 | ITEMISE |
List articles about Italy and Spain (7)
|
| ITEMS (articles) around I (abbreviation for Italy), then E (abbreviation for Spain = España). | ||
| 18 | GLIMMER |
Suggestion Emma endlessly upset girl running around (7)
|
| EMM[a] (endlessly = all but the last letter), reversed (upset = upwards in a down clue), with an anagram (running) of GIRL around it.
Glimmer = suggestion = a small amount, just enough to be detectable. |
||
| 20 | SQUIFFY |
Question doubtful point before getting drunk (7)
|
| QU (abbreviation for question) + IFFY (doubtful = unreliable), with S (abbreviation for South = compass point) before it. | ||
| 22 | VENOM |
Bitterness against reduced cashback (5)
|
| V (abbreviation for versus = against), then we have to split “cashback” into two words: MONE[y] (cash) without the last letter (reduced), reversed (back). | ||
| 23 | TASER |
Stun with outrageous rates (5)
|
| Anagram (outrageous) of RATES. |
Thanks Hectence and Quirister
I agree with your parsing of EDGE, but wonder if this construction is appropriate in a Quiptic.
Wouldn’t “That woman’s” be better in 1a?
JET in 4d is actually fossilised wood rather than stone, but I suppose it is stone-like.
I was unsure how to parse 26ac but guessed it might be something to do with W+EDGE.
Thanks, both.
Is this the first time that both the quiptic and the cryptic have been pangrams?
Thank you Quirister. Agree about the beginning of crease in EFFECTIVE. TWISTING for cheating was new to me. SQUIFFY is something I’ve only recently learnt from Guardian cryptics. Don’t know why, but to me it sounds more like smelly, but maybe that’s ‘whiffy’. Thought that ITEMISE and ‘items’ were a little too close. Don’t think EDGE quite works.
Liked PAGEANT, CHIDE, and LEGACY mainly for the surface, and also VAULTS, because it took a while to work out which end was the def.
I spotted the double pangram too. Fun puzzle, but I had the same quibbles although I parsed EDGE in the same way.
Thank you to Hectence and Quirister.
paddymelon @6 SQUIFFY I think of as a slurred skew-whiff/skewhiff or off-centre, which describes a drunk.
A nice puzzle but the EDGE was too sharp for me. I kept thinking it must be something U2 related.
Lovely puzzle – thanks Hectence and Quirister.
“Jammed cylinder (5,4)” has for some reason become a bit of a joke with friends so needed a double take on 14D 😆 :thumbup:
Haven’t heard of “squiffy” in this neck of the woods. Couldn’t parse EDGE, and after coming here I’m not surprised. I’m proud of the way the Ukrainians are fighting, but I don’t think I’m arrogant. The Britishisms held me up a little (Women’s Institute, soldiers) but I’m getting a bit quicker with them, so there is hope.
Thanks Hectence & Quirister.
Isn’t FIGURE a triple definition? Both a body and a shape may be a FIGURE, as well as the calculate/think meaning.
EDGE was my LOI and had to come here for the parsing. I’m never sure whether an apostrophe ‘s’ is to be taken as part of the clue or just the surface, and would have thought ‘jam without sharpness’ would have been both fairer and more accurate. But other than this, a satisfying solve, with INDIGO my favourite.
WhiteDevil @10: yes, that’s possible – I think it works either way.
Delightful pangram with a hint of baking; CHERRY PIE, PEAK, SWISS ROLL and ‘Jam’s without’. Also noticed both pangrams today like some others.
Ta Hectence & Quirister.
I didn’t get EDGE without help, but my disappointment is gone after coming here. I also don’t think it is fair. I’m a beginner and got the rest, so it was fun overall. My favourites were SWISS ROLL and EFFECTIVE. Some I didn’t understand until I read the blog. So, thanks everyone.
More tenuous moments here than in other quiptics.
Can anyone give a sentence in which twisting/cheating or easier/less-stressed are interchangeable?
… But a lovely puzzle. Thanks to both Hectence and Quirister.
Bathfood @15: perhaps “I had an easier / less stressed day than I expected”?
This was a fun one as a newbie!
I’ve got to give you some credit quirister, the way you lay out and explain the answers is supremely helpful. I wish everyone else did it like this! Thank you! ??