One of the comparatively new setters of the Quiptic, Bartland, has the ‘for beginners and those in a hurry’ puzzle for us today. This one hit the spot for me this morning.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 When American heads of urban areas legislate in the typical manner
AS USUAL
A charade of AS, US and UAL for the initial letters of ‘urban’, ‘areas’ and ‘legislate’.
5 Blessed one and Bartland are seized by crack militant
HOSTILE
An insertion of ST for saint and I for ‘Bartland’ in HOLE.
10 Prize found in overturned storage compartment
REWARD
A reversal of DRAWER.
11 Break-dancer on arms
ORDNANCE
(DANCER ON)* with ‘break’ as the anagrind.
12 How do cows vocalise depression?
LOW
A dd.
13 Finally gains pyrrhic victory with the reaper’s tool
SCYTHE
The final letters of the second, third and fourth words of the clue, followed by THE.
14 Northern Ireland meets Netherlands’ openers with awkward spin — they’re bowled over!
NINEPINS
A charade of NI, NE for the first two letters of ‘Netherland’ and (SPIN)* The anagrind is ‘awkward’.
15 More mature tree
ELDER
A dd.
16 The woman will search for oysters, maybe
SHELLFISH
A charade of SHE’LL and FISH.
19 Poke in the bottom leads to smack — that’s a cold response!
GOOSEBUMP
A charade of GOOSE and BUMP. My Collins has:
goose vt (sl) to prod someone between the buttocks from behind; to grab or poke a male in the genitals from behind
I’ve never really thought about it before, but this slang sense must come from what geese do if provoked. They can be aggressive sods, it’s true. A bit like Vinnie Jones.
21 It detects its echo on substrata or foundations
SONAR
The final letters (‘foundations’) of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh words of the clue, and a cad.
24 It floats: but if it can’t be dumped, it might have to be carried
DEAD WOOD
A dd cum cd.
26 In French, it is consumed by my hatred
ENMITY
A charade of EN for one of the French words for ‘in’ and IT inserted into MY. The insertion indicator is ‘consumed by’.
27 Couple act united within
DUO
An insertion of U in DO. The insertion indicator is ‘within’.
28 Unruffled Sumatran quilt stuffing
TRANQUIL
Hidden in SumaTRAN QUILt.
29 Ten mice scurrying around old land of the Aztecs
MEXICO
A charade of (X MICE)* and O. The anagrind is ‘scurrying around’.
30 Wild elk’s holding neither breathing device
SNORKEL
An insertion of NOR in (ELKS)* The anagrind is ‘wild’ and the insertion indicator is ‘holding’.
31 Increasingly annoyed about earring
ANGRIER
(EARRING)* with ‘about’ as the anagrind.
Down
2 Catches rising carbon with the Italian template
STENCIL
A charade of NETS reversed (‘rising’, since it’s a down clue), C and IL for one of the words for ‘the’ in Italian.
3 Man suffering with amazing stress to achieve style
SMARTNESS
(MAN STRESS)* with ‘suffering’ and ‘amazing’ as the anagrinds.
4 Confused a vacant drunkard and went in front
ADDLED
A charade of A, D[RUNKAR]D and LED.
6 Numbers racket discovered in spoken exams
ORDINALS
An insertion of DIN in ORALS. The insertion indicator is ‘discovered in’.
7 Plod quietly alongside streetcar
TRAMP
A charade of TRAM and P for the musical ‘quietly’.
8 Another US canal breaks
LACUNAS
(US CANAL)* with ‘another’ as the anagrind.
9 Average, as this solution is?
DOWN THE MIDDLE
Well, this solution is exactly that in the grid, isn’t it?
17 Butcher fixed room for kitchen equipment
FOOD MIXER
(FIXED ROOM)* with ‘butcher’ as the anagrind.
18 Perfect beau lost game
ABSOLUTE
(BEAU LOST)* with ‘game’ as the anagrind.
20 Six balls bound to go too far
OVERRUN
A charade of OVER and RUN.
22 Possibly a disastrous recital
ARTICLE
(RECITAL)* with ‘disastrous’ as the anagrind.
23 Freeholder of the old Arabian sultanate
YEOMAN
A charade of YE and OMAN. As has been outlined many times before on this site, YE is just an alternative for ‘the’, spelled ‘þe’; the first letter was the old character ‘thorn’, which represented the ‘th’ sound. Blame Flemish printers who didn’t have the right character, and don’t tell all owners of Ye Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe that it’s not pronounced with a Y sound.
25 Put on alternative for patron
DONOR
A charade of DON and OR.
Most pleasurable with nothing to strain the grey matter to excess. I learnt a new meaning for goose and also learnt lacunas. I thought they were a type of animal I’d seen on a recent trip to South America, but turns out they were vicuñas.
This would be a good puzzle to use if ever anyone asks me to introduce them to cryptics. Not likely to happen, though. 🙂
Thanks Bartland & Pierre.
Exemplary Quiptic and blog. Thanks, Bartland and Pierre. Lots of good clues here. FOOD MIXER was very neat.
I’ve always thought goosebumps simply describes the resemblance to the skin of a plucked goose. But I may be wrong – I haven’t looked it up.
Delightful and a perfectly pitched Quiptic. Like Widdersbel, my favourite was FOOD MIXER along with GOOSEBUMP.
Ta Bartland & Pierre.
(grantinfreo, please see comments from @44 on Picaroon prize blog last Sat. Let us know if we’ve done you’re ancestry justice)
Nice and straightforward, just like a Quiptic should be. When TRANQUIL and MEXICO went in fairly early, I was looking for the Z, but it never came.
I could not parse 19ac, 21ac.
Thanks, both.
WhiteDevil @5 I did the same, although the J is also missing
Well constructed puzzle with some good anagrams. I found it a bit less straightforward than today’s cryptic. There are some misdirections which are familiar to experienced solvers but might mystify beginners – but we all have to learn somewhere.
I thought the usual plural of lacuna was lacunae – indeed, the Chambers app doesn’t even give LACUNAS as an alternative – but never mind.
GOOSEBUMPS was fun. The contraction of the tiny erector pili muscles around hair follicles, a relic from our furry ancestors.
Thanks to S&B
A very nice Quiptic. Really enjoyed the surface of 14A, great misdirection there.
Thanks to Pierre for the blog, and to Bartland for a Quiptic that was Just Right.
Thank you, Pierre.
In 21a, why are the last letters “foundations”?)
Lovely grid. Absolutely kicking myself for giving up and having to look up 28a as I just couldn’t crack – prevented me from a samosa for this. What a silly sausage. Much obliged to Bart land and Pierre
How does “game” work as an anagram indicator?
Aha, apparently “game” can mean injured or lame.
This should please some of the grumblers! Finally a clue that expects you to know a bit of Italian, rather than the French seen everywhere else. Including in this puzzle, but can’t win ’em all.
Perfect Quiptic fare (made slightly confusing by the fact that today’s cryptic was also perfect Quiptic fare, but that makes a change from them both being too tough…!)
Thanks both
Bees @12-13, without resorting to that meaning of “game,” you can also think of it as a verb, as in “game [manipulate] the system.”
Gervase @8, I had the same quibble about lacunae.
Yet again, this puzzle took me longer than the Cryptic, but at least they were both easy today!
I noticed the ARSE hanging out in the leftmost column right as I was entering GOOSEBUMP, which made me giggle. Unfortunately, the Nina does not continue from there.
Ideal quiptic. Not convinced by “breaks” as a definition for “lacunas”. Thanks both!
Nice quiptic.
I was going to quibble that neither does not mean the same as nor (cf SNORKEL), but I did my due diligence and checked online Chambers. It gave the example “If you won’t, neither will I”. So I stand corrected.
LOI was HOSTILE. Couldn’t parse GOOSEBUMP. Had P from poke and BUM for bottom and thought that maybe to goose meant to smack?
So thanks for the explanation.
I had the same quibble as Dr. WhatsOn @18, but unlike him, I hadn’t bothered to look it up. That example is convincing.
An embarrassing DNF for me: for some reason I couldn’t spot the anagram in 31ac, even though it’s quite obvious in hindsight, and it seems like I must have seen it before.
Most appropriate Quiptic in a while imo, well done Bartland. 9D was my favourite.
Many thanks to all for the encouraging feedback, and especially to Pierre for an entertaining and thoughtful blog, as always.