Quiptic 1,233 by Hectence – Fifteensquared

The ever-reliable Hectence provides our entertainment today.

A good Quiptic-level puzzle, with mostly straightforward constructions and nothing too obscure. There are some lovely surfaces: I liked the baddie having a moment of self-doubt in 13a, the rather exciting international match in 17a, the self-referential 1d, the dubious “work events” of 16d, and a rather apposite description for the German automotive engineering pioneer in 19d. And it’s a pangram too. Thanks Hectence for the fun.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
7	GESTURE	Sign on after trouble with guest (7)
		RE (on = on the subject of), after an anagram (trouble) of GUEST.
8	JERKILY	Kylie play about Romeo and Juliet going ahead in fits and starts (7)
		Anagram (play) of KYLIE around R (Romeo in the radio alphabet), with J (Juliet in the radio alphabet) going ahead of it. Officially the radio alphabet letter is spelled Juliett, to make it clear that the final T is pronounced (not silent as it would be in French, for example), but English speakers often stick with the traditional spelling.
9	VETO	Forbid check on leader of Opposition (4)
		VET (check, as a verb = inspect or validate) + leading letter of O[pposition].
10	VIRTUALLY	Mostly benefit having friend in all but name (9)
		VIRTU[e] (benefit) without the last letter (mostly), then ALLY (friend).
12	CHILL	Child’s poorly with cold (5)
		CH (abbreviation for child) + ILL (poorly).
13	GANGSTER	Existential dread’s stopping German hoodlum (8)
		ANGST (existential dread) inserted into (stopping) GER (abbreviation for German).
15	TRUE	Some amateur theatre in retrospect is perfect (4)
		Hidden answer (some . . .), reversed (in retrospect), in [amat]EUR T[heatre].
16	MITRE	Set timer for joint (5)
		Anagram (set, as a verb = put into place) of TIMER. Two pieces of wood or other material cut at 45-degree angles and joined to form a right angle.
17	FIVE	France 4, Spain 5 (4)
		F (abbreviation for France) + IV (4 in Roman numerals) + E (abbreviation for Spain, from España).
18	SOMBRERO	Doctor lancing boil’s ultimately rather old hat (8)
		MB (abbreviation for a bachelor’s degree in medicine = doctor) inserted into (lancing) SORE (boil = an infected swelling in the skin) + last letter (ultimately) of [rathe]R + O (abbreviation for old).
20	CHOIR	Husband’s in company with Irish singers (5)
		H (abbreviation for husband) in CO (abbreviation for company) + IR (abbreviation for Irish).
21	IN A PICKLE	Stuck at home, Dad turned capricious without feminine presence (2,1,6)
		IN (at home), then PA (Dad = father) reversed (turned), then [f]ICKLE (capricious) without the F (abbreviation for feminine). In a pickle = stuck = in a difficult situation.
22	BLOW	Give in, hiding large disappointment (4)
		BOW (give in, as in “bow to pressure”) containing L (large). As in “the rejection came as a huge blow”.
24	FOREIGN	Overthrowing of rule by monarch from another country (7)
		OF reversed (overthrowing . . .) + REIGN (rule by monarch).
25	MISLAYS	Loses girl over bet (7)
		MISS (slightly old-fashioned term for a girl) around (over) LAY (bet = put down a stake in gambling).
DOWN
1	MERE	I’m not sure penetrating this setter is simple (4)
		ER (a sound expressing hesitation = I’m not sure) inserted into ME (the setter of this puzzle).
2	AT NO TIME	Never shaking temptation to drop physical training (2,2,4)
		Anagram (shaking) of TEM[pt]ATION without PT (abbreviation for physical training).
3	GRAVEL	Classical composer comes after the end of Rolling Stones (6)
		RAVEL (French classical composer) after the end letter of [rollin]G.
4	SEQUENCE	Series has moving scene with French that’s inspired (8)
		Anagram (moving) of SCENE, with QUE (French for “that”) inserted (inspired = breathed in).
5	SKULKS	King is in a bad mood receiving creeps (6)
		K (abbreviation for king), with SULKS (is in a bad mood) containing (receiving) it.
6	PLOY	Ruse to use when short of space (4)
		[em]PLOY (to use), without EM (typographical term for a wide space between characters).
11	RIGHT HOOK	Review knockout that’s a surprise after fair punch (5,4)
		KO (abbreviation for knockout, in boxing) + OH (oh! = that’s a surprise!), all reversed (review . . .), after RIGHT (fair, as in “it’s only right to . . .”). A right-handed punch in boxing.
12	CARGO	Freight vehicle set off (5)
		CAR (vehicle) + GO (set off = begin travelling).
14	ELVER	Spinning reel’s catching very young fish (5)
		Anagram (spinning) of REEL, containing (catching) V (very). A young eel.
16	MEETINGS	Conferences appear set up to include time getting gin-sozzled (8)
		SEEM (appear) reversed (set up = upwards in a down clue), including T (time) + anagram (sozzled) of GIN.
17	FOOTBALL	Trip over loose boot in game (8)
		FALL (trip), containing (over) an anagram (loose) of BOOT.
19	BRAZEN	Endlessly Karl Benz invented, unrestrained by convention (6)
		Anagram (invented) of [k]AR[l] (endlessly = without the outer letters) + BENZ. Brazen = shameless, not caring what anyone else thinks.
20	CREDIT	Praise short quote describing wine (6)
		CIT[e] (quote) without the last letter (short), around (describing) RED (short for red wine). As in “credit where credit’s due” = approval.
21	IDOL	Look up papers first for sacred object (4)
		LO (lo! = look! = a command to pay attention to something) reversed (up = upwards in a down clue), with ID (abbreviation for identity documents = papers) first.
23	ONYX	Working cemetery’s last cross in stone (4)
		ON (working, as in “is the heating on?”) + last letter of [cemeter]Y + X (cross).

21 comments on “Quiptic 1,233 by Hectence”

Perhaps the site being back up has put me in a particularly good mood, but this was an absolute delight. Undoubtedly a Quiptic, but without sacrificing elegance – especially impressive given it’s a pangram.

Too many highlights to mention them all, but in summer festival season I enjoyed the image conjured up by GRAVEL.

Thanks Hectence and Quirister.

Thanks Hectence and Quirister
Good to be back!
I’m struggling to equate “benefit” with “virtue”, and I though “boil” for SORE was a bit loose.
Favoruite PLOY.

muffin @2:
I think you can say virtue = benefit = a feature in favour of something, as in “It has the virtue of brevity”.
Collins Dictionary has “sore” (noun) as a synonym for “boil” meaning a skin infection; it’s perhaps more common as a “cold sore” = a sore near the mouth as a side-effect of having a bad cold.

Good fun, plenty of smiles. I don’t even have a “Huh?” list. Thanks Hectence & Quirister.

Good quiptic — I liked FIVE, JERKILY and AT NO TIME. My LOI was FOREIGN which took me an embarrassingly long time but was blindingly obvious in hindsight.

Thanks both (and great to have the site back!)

Tough puzzle. I was pleased to be able to finish this puzzle, having been tempted to give up with a few left unsolved.

Favourite: FIVE.

New for me: MITRE joint.

Thanks, both.

Thanks Quirister
Not convinced about “virtue”!
I didn’t say that boil=sore was wrong, just loose.

A bit tough for a Quiptic, but I got there in the end, and it was a delight. Too many to mention, but FIVE and IN A PICKLE were my favourites.

I didn’t know a doctor was an MB. I’ll add this to DR, MO and MD to look out for!

Not to mention GP.

I loved FIVE, SOMBRERO and IN A PICKLE, and appreciated the explanations of PLOY and MITRE. Thanks both!

A really good mix of clues, summed up perfectly in the blog. Thanks and good to be back

Nice to see ONYX clued without any math involved for a change. Otherwise, it’s all been said–clear, fair, fun, and Quiptic-ish.

Pretty tough for a Quiptic.I’m sure beginners will be disheartened and coffee breaks will turn into weekends solving this.

I guess I was being too obscure by thinking the solution of 6d was via PL[o]Y (as in “PLY (use) a needle”).

Harder than today’s cryptic, with some lovely stuff included. GRAVEL, RIGHT HOOK and BRAZEN my favourites.

Thanks, Hectence, for an enjoyable puzzle, and thanks, Quirister, for explaining PLOY, which I bunged in because of the crossers, but didn’t get the parsing.

FIVE was a cheeky one. I thought this ideal Quiptic level. Maybe some beginners will comment. It took me about an hour, which is quick forme.
Thanks and welcome back