A well-crafted Quiptic from Pasquale as usual.
The Quiptic is intended as a puzzle for beginners (or those who don’t have a lot of time to spend), and this one fits the bill nicely, with plenty of straightforward anagrams and double definitions among other clearly-indicated constructions. I thought 19d was a bit weak, but perhaps that’s just me. I liked the bony individual with mobility issues in 12a and the extended definition of 7d, 30d seems vaguely familiar but still neat, and 32a is amusingly self-referential. Thanks Pasquale for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | EVILDOER |
Bad person reviled, troubled about nothing (8)
|
| Anagram (troubled) of REVILED around (about) O (zero = nothing). | ||
| 9 | NOISES |
Is among those voting against, making nasty sounds (6)
|
| IS inserted into NOES (those voting against a motion, as opposed to “ayes” voting for it). | ||
| 10 | INFANT |
Child at home with female worker (6)
|
| IN (at home) + F (abbreviation for female) + ANT (worker). | ||
| 12 | SKELETON |
To kneel’s awkward — I’m bony! (8)
|
| Anagram (awkward) of TO KNEEL’S. | ||
| 13 | ELI |
Priest in some religion (3)
|
| Hidden answer (some . . .) in [r]ELI[gion].
Priest in the Old Testament book of Samuel. |
||
| 14 | DITHER |
Little girl with the right to be indecisive (6)
|
| DI (short form of the girl’s name Diana = little girl) + THE + R (right). | ||
| 16 | DAINTIES |
In seat I’d munched little cakes, maybe (8)
|
| Anagram (munched) of IN SEAT I’D. | ||
| 17 | HARMONY |
Peace or suffering round New York? (7)
|
| HARM (suffering) + O (round) + NY (New York). | ||
| 20 | BARONET |
Man with title in London borough, full of love (7)
|
| BARNET (borough in North London) containing (full of) O (zero = love, in tennis scoring). | ||
| 23 | STREAMER |
Banner seen when ship crosses river (8)
|
| STEAMER (steam-powered ship) around (crossing) R (abbreviation for river). | ||
| 24 | TASTER |
Botanist ultimately needing plant sample (6)
|
| Last letter (ultimately) of [botanis]T + ASTER (flowering plant). | ||
| 26 | ONE |
Individual departed, leader deposed (3)
|
| [g]ONE (departed) without its first letter (leader). | ||
| 27 | GUSHIEST |
His guest can become most effusive (8)
|
| Anagram (. . . can become) of HIS GUEST.
Gushy = showing a bit too much admiration or sentimentality. |
||
| 28 | MOHAWK |
A Native American, second person seen as warlike? (6)
|
| MO (abbreviation for moment = second = brief time, as in “just a mo”) + HAWK (person who tends to use force and aggression rather than diplomacy). | ||
| 31 | ESTATE |
Belongings in back of cottage, say (6)
|
| Last letter (back) of [cottag]E + STATE (as a verb = say).
Legal term for property or possessions, though more commonly used to describe the property left by someone after their death. |
||
| 32 | SOLUTION |
Something watery is what you want here! (8)
|
| Double definition. A substance dissolved in liquid (perhaps water, but not necessarily); or the answer to a clue such as this one. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | EVEN |
Regular time when it gets dark? (4)
|
| Double definition. Smooth or steady; or an archaic / poetic variant of “evening”. | ||
| 2 | FLEA |
Insect destroying leaf (4)
|
| Anagram (destroying) of LEAF. | ||
| 3 | POTTER |
Quiet animal to meander (6)
|
| P (p = abbreviation for Italian piano, in musical notation = quiet) + OTTER (aquatic mammal).
Potter = meander = move slowly without much purpose or direction. |
||
| 4 | PRESIDE |
Take prominent position and live below front of palace (7)
|
| RESIDE (to live) after (below, in a down clue) the first letter (front) of P[alace]. | ||
| 5 | ANGELICA |
A new girl in charge of a plant (8)
|
| A + N (abbreviation for new) + GEL (an imitation of upper-class pronunciation of “girl”) + IC (abbreviation for “in charge”) + A.
A genus of flowering plants. |
||
| 6 | DIRECTIONS |
Ways to show instructions (10)
|
| Double definition. As in “look both ways before crossing the road”; or as in stage directions = instructions to actors. | ||
| 7 | KEROSENE |
Fuel reeks with one getting ill (8)
|
| Anagram (getting ill) of REEKS + ONE.
Extended definition: a liquid fuel (also called paraffin), which has a strong smell and carries various health risks. |
||
| 11 | FIT |
In good condition for match (3)
|
| Double definition. Physically healthy; or as in a good match = a good fit = someone or something well suited for a particular role. | ||
| 14 | DOH |
Note exclamation of annoyance (3)
|
| Double definition. The first note of the tonic sol-fa musical scale (also called do, as in do-re-mi); or a mild expression of annoyance (generally spelled d’oh!, and popularised by the US cartoon series The Simpsons). | ||
| 15 | HAMMERHEAD |
Attack the boss — a shark! (10)
|
| HAMMER (metaphorically, to carry out a sustained attack) + HEAD (the boss of an organisation, as in head teacher). | ||
| 18 | ALTRUIST |
It’s ultra unusual to be a totally selfless person (8)
|
| Anagram (unusual) of IT’S ULTRA. | ||
| 19 | NUMBERED |
Like clues characteristically identified (8)
|
| I’m not sure if this is intended to be a double definition (with two closely related meanings) or one not-very-cryptic one. I suppose “characteristically identified” could mean “identified by characters”, which could be numbers or letters; it doesn’t sound very convincing. | ||
| 21 | TOR |
Rubbish piled up — or rocks piled up (3)
|
| ROT (rubbish) reversed (piled up = upwards in a down clue).
A rocky outcrop on a ridge or hill. |
||
| 22 | PROTEST |
Demonstration in favour of experiment (7)
|
| PRO (prefix meaning “in favour of”) + TEST (experiment). | ||
| 24 | TEMPLE |
Archbishop once in place of worship (6)
|
| Double definition. William Temple, archbishop of York and then Canterbury in the 1920s – 1940s; or a building for religious worship. | ||
| 25 | TEA |
The hotel left out a drink (3)
|
| T[h]E with H (Hotel, in the radio alphabet) left out, then A. | ||
| 29 | HATE |
Loathe that enemy? Not entirely (4)
|
| Hidden answer (not entirely) in [t]HAT E[nemy]. | ||
| 30 | WOOD |
It could be ash — before or after burning (4)
|
| Double definition / cryptic definition. Ash is a type of tree (hence also a type of wood); or it’s what’s left after you burn wood. |
Thanks Pasquale and Quirister
Very good Quiptic. ALTRUIST favourite.
A bit of a stretch from “suffering” to HARM – I didn’t enter this until all the crossers were yjere.
[You’ve missed the ICA from your explanation of ANGELICA; Quisling.]
I am always impressed by Pasquale’s ability to change his style for a Quiptic. I liked WOOD. For some reason Barnet took a while to come to mind as a London borough.
Perfect Quiptic with SKELETON being my pick of the bunch. Agree with your quibble about NUMBERED, although I thought it dovetailed nicely with SOLUTION.
Ta Pasquale & Quirister.
I thought that 30d was slightly unfair for a quiptic. TREE is a perfectly plausible, and perhaps more obvious, answer, which potentially makes 28a and 32a quite difficult to see. I wouldn’t have a problem with this in a ‘normal’ cryptic. Having said that, the remainder of the puzzle appealed to me. Thanks to Pasquale and Quirister.
Muffin @1: sorry about that, I’ve updated the blog.
Didn’t think much of the clue for NUMBERED, nor “gel” for girl, my only quibbles. Hadn’t heard of Archbishop Temple nor the London borough of Barnet, but otherwise plain sailing and quite enjoyable. Thanks Pasquale & Quirister.
Good Quiptic. I managed it without getting too misled, although ‘second person’ in the clue for MOHAWK did trick me into trying to fit ‘you’ into the solution.
TEMPLE is the only clue requiring more specialised GK, though ‘place of worship’ is obvious enough. The Don frequently inserts churchy references. (The father of William Temple, Frederick Temple, was also Archbishop of Canterbury, at the turn of the 20th century).
Norbrewer @4: I spotted that WOOD and ‘tree’ would both fit the clue, but here the crossing letters firmly disambiguate, so I don’t think it is unfair.
Petert @2: I did briefly wonder what sort of titled person was a ‘camoden’ 🙂
Thanks to S&B
Good Quiptic. NHO Archbishop Temple but it couldn’t be anything else. I also tried TREE for WOOD first of all. But overall, plain sailing and a gentle start to the week.
Cheers both.
Very enjoyable puzzle – not quite a write-in.
I could not parse 25d, 31ac apart from the definitions.
New for me: Archbishop William TEMPLE for 24d – this seems to be very niche GK or perhaps younger Brits know of this person?
Thanks, both.
Loved this one. I thought WOOD was really clever. NUMBERED is puzzling and it was the last one in. Thanks everyone.
Thanks to Pasquale and Quirister. Dainties took me back to the 70s and tea with my auntie. Happy days.
Easy and very ?
Pasquale sets for the Church Times under one of his other hats, and sometimes it shows, as with Archbishop TEMPLE (d.1944) who will be more familiar to Anglicans than to the population at large. As usual, he sets a well-judged Quiptic – SKELETON made me laugh. My only quibble is GUSHIEST: for a beginners crossword, why choose such an unusual word when more familiar ones are available?
Yes, I wondered about TREE for 30d, but it doesn’t quite fit.
Easy and very good cryptic.
Good Quiptic, more straightforward than the Cryptic, as it should be.
I liked the EVILDOER with a great surface and MOHAWK with the nicely misleading ‘second person’. NHO Archbishop TEMPLE, but the place of worship was an obvious definition.
Thanks Pasquale and Quirister.
Barnet seems to make a disproportionate number of appearances as London borough, but can’t complain as I grew up there. Like others was a bit puzzled by NUMBERED, and like our blogger didn’t think that SOLUTION had to involve water.
The 3-letter entries in the grid seemed to give a higher proportion of crossers than normal, a little bit of extra help perfect for a quiptic.
Thanks P&Q
Dr. Whatson @16
You are probably aware of “Barnet Fair” as rhyming slang for “hair” – this often is an excuse for Barnet appearing in puzzles.
As a beginner, I can say that this was absolutely in the right ballpark for me – it’s the first cryptic I’ve finished in under an hour, and elicited numerous smiles. I particularly liked SKELETON, INFANT and DITHER – the latter two because the clueing led me to the answers immediately.
Off to try the cryptic now, I suspect it will keep me busy for a few days!
17a is also a place in New York state.