Guardian Quiptic 1,236/Bartland

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Many delightful surface readings in this morning’s Quiptic from Bartland, with only the slightly solver-unfriendly grid ratcheting up the difficulty level. I enjoyed 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

8 Explosive news items led mob into acts of torture
DISEMBOWELMENTS
(NEWS ITEMS LED MOB)* with ‘explosive’ as the anagrind.

9 It may signal a cold snap beginning to affect the audience’s leg joints
SNEEZE
A charade of S for the initial letter of ‘snap’ and NEEZE, an aural wordplay (‘to affect the audience’s’) for KNEES.

10 American quietly infiltrates splinter groups and has a sense of foreboding
SUSPECTS
An insertion of US and P for the musically ‘quietly’ in SECTS. The insertion indicator is ‘infiltrates’.

11 Something tasty is revealed in some letters
OMELETTE
Hidden in sOME LETTErs.

12 Insensitive to be unruly around us
OBTUSE
An insertion of US in (TO BE)* The anagrind is ‘unruly’ and the insertion indicator is ‘around’.

13 Fifth day of the week comes to a close with a sitcom
FRIENDS
A charade of FRI and ENDS. Ten years, ten seasons, 236 episodes.

16 Fitting handle takes expert
USEABLE
A charade of USE and ABLE.

19 Log off and switch over broadcast of Ms Swanson, perhaps
GLORIA
A charade of (LOG)* and AIR reversed. The anagrind is ‘off’. The star of the silent movie era, initially.

21 Tragic heroine skedaddled after protester
ANTIGONE
A charade of ANTI and GONE. A character in several Greek tragedies.

24 I came back and consumed waste
EMACIATE
A charade of I CAME reversed and ATE.

25 Models of perfection unsettled ladies …
IDEALS
(LADIES)* with ‘unsettled’ as the anagrind.

26 … who, for example, ate liver casserole for sister eating nothing
RELATIVE PRONOUN
A charade of (ATE LIVER)*, PRO and O inserted into NUN. The anagrind is ‘casserole’ and the insertion indicator is ‘eating’. The ellipses between the two clues can, as almost always, be ignored.

Down

1 Wrong name for anarchic modernism that hasn’t died
MISNOMER
(MO[D]ERNISM)* with ‘anarchic’ as the anagrind.

2 Something for breakfast is made of rice? Really!
CEREAL
Hidden in riCE REALly.

3 Sailor gets posted away
ABSENT
A charade of AB and SENT.

4 Whirlwind caused by a Musk company having a change of heart
TWISTER
Bartland is inviting you to replace the first T in TWITTER with an S.

5 Stupendous borders edged with flowers and yet more flowers
BLOSSOMS
An insertion of SS for the ‘borders’ of ‘stupendous’ in BLOOMS. The insertion indicator is ‘edged with’.

6 Ten made to run around without information, forgetting disorder
DEMENTIA
An insertion of I in (TEN MADE)* The anagrind is ‘to run around’ and the insertion indicator is ‘without’.

7 Position sculpture, replacing the pedestal
STATUS
Another suggested replacement: this time of the E in STATUE with an S. ‘The pedestal’ suggests the last letter because it’s a down clue.

14 Throw out curate or penpusher in Brussels?
EUROCRAT
(CURATE OR)* with ‘throw out’ as the anagrind.

15 Admit car must be redesigned to be striking
DRAMATIC
(ADMIT CAR)*

17 Lion injured poor mule on the floor, maybe?
LINOLEUM
A charade of (LION)* and (MULE)* The two anagrinds are ‘injured’ and ‘poor’.

18 Provided food and showed concern about evacuated tribe
CATERED
An insertion of T[RIB]E in CARED. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.

20 Allow entertaining rogue to serve up shellfish
LIMPET
An insertion of IMP in LET. The insertion indicator is ‘entertaining’.

22 Do they have a go at hearing?
TRIERS
A cd, with ‘hearing’ having to be read as what takes place in court, where the accused would be ‘tried’.

23 Health food found on the golf course?
GREENS
A dd.

Many thanks to Bartland for this morning’s Quiptic.

38 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,236/Bartland”

  1. Quite enjoyable, thank you Bartland. Clues such as 4d & 7d would be better if some indication was given as to what the letter is replaced by, but that’s probably my only (minor) beef.

    Thanks Pierre for the blog.

  3. GDU@1,2

    Bartland has indicated which letter should be changed with heart for the central T and pedestal for the bottom of the word in a down clue.

    I did raise an eyebrow at the linking ‘to serve up’ in 20D as that seemed a little off for a quiptic perhaps. It’s too easily misread as a reversal indicator. Possibly that was deliberately so of course.

    However a very enjoyable quiptic as usual from the reliable Bartland.

    Thanks Both.

  9. Although this was a slow start, mostly because I looked at that first long anagram and thought I’d wait until I had some crossers before tackling it, the bottom half and down clues went in much quicker, and it then felt far more like a Quiptic.

    Thank you Pierre and Bartland.

  10. … and I wondered very – very – briefly about TWIZLER but never got as a far as looking it up. With the clear indication of the letters to be changed, I guess we had a maximum of 25 alternatives to work through but, as paddymelon points out, not too many of those would have fitted the gaps.

    FRIENDS, ANTIGONE, CEREAL and DRAMATIC were my top ticks. Very slight raised eyebrow with 23d; I initially took it as a DD as per the blog but that does leave an adjectival phrase ‘found on golf course’ defining a noun. I concluded maybe it was intended as a CD?

    Thanks Bartland and Pierre

  11. Like Shanne @9 I had a worryingly fruitless start but then filled in the bottom half swiftly before returning to the top — overall a nicely balanced quiptic, some clues slightly trickier than others but nothing to frighten the horses. A lot of anagrams though — 10 I think, including partials, including three on the run.

    Cheers both

  12. What fun Bartland was today. A gift that keeps on giving. GDU thank you.

    From onelook there are only 3 alternatives to the answer for TWI?TER, and three TILTS for me.

    twixter: A young adult who has yet to adopt typical adult behaviours. Wiktionary
    A Twifter is another name for a weed-cigarette or Joint. Urban Dictionary
    twinter : Scottish, an animal that is two years old Collins

    And only two other possibilities for STATU?

    statua Merriam Webster obsolete : STATUE
    here I will set up her statua
    —Christopher Marlowe

    statua : Webster’s 1913 Stat´u`a Pronunciation: st?t´?`å
    n. 1. A statue.
    They spake not a word;
    But, like dumb statuas or breathing stones,
    Gazed each on other.
    – Shak.

    And statum is Latin. Too many references to mention. 🙂 Eh, you gotta laugh, it’s Monday.

  13. We had a real mishmash today, OMELETTE and CEREAL
    I like Bartland’s indicators, although others mightn’t and they might not be considered Mondayish, eg the anagrinds explosive and anarchic. Also liked the double anagram in LINOLEUM.
    Some of the surfaces were hilarious. Bartland is so refreshing.

  16. This felt slightly tricky, but with a little concentration I got there in a very standard Quiptic time, so probably just perception. Definitely some innovation with indicators (e.g. pedestal), but as long as you’re applying thought rather than relying on a list, it seems very understandable.

    DISEMBOWELMENT was a beauty, and particularly big ticks for DEMENTIA and FRIENDS.

    Thanks Bartland and Pierre

  17. Fun puzzle, a good Quiptic.

    Favourites: SNEEZE, RELATIVE PRONOUN.

    8ac was quite timely as I am watching Becoming Elizabeth and rewatching Wolf Hall at the moment. And 11ac too as that is what I had for breakfast!

    Thanks, both.

  18. Thanks Bartland and Pierre
    Harder than the cryptic (has anyone else said that yet?) LOI USEABLE, and I still don’t understand it – where’ the “handle”? “Expert” also seems very loose for ABLE.

  19. muffin@18. Agree about USEABLE. Handle and expert are both a bit of a stretch.
    My first guess was APROPOS for ‘fitting’. Same letter count with PRO in the middle for expert, but I couldn’t justify the rest.

  20. Agree with both above. I wouldn’t have got USEABLE as first one in. Does anyone else sometimes encounter a word as a solution and think it could cause distress to some solvers, depending on their circumstsnces? Something you’d rather not think about or be reminded of. I mean FRIENDS of course, not DISEMBOWELMENT.

  24. PeteHA3 LOL. That happens and often leads to opposing views as to what’s acceptable or not. I’m with you on FRIENDS, based on a very brief acquaintance.

  25. 1d – I really hope this isn’t a daft question…how do you know to remove “D” from the information given in the clue?

  27. Fairly straightforward, although as Pierre said, the grid wasn’t helpful. Some of the clues were barely cryptic (Ms Swanson, anyone?) but I loved RELATIVE PRONOUN.

  28. Ta once again for erudite etymology, pdm @12. Twifter’s new, to add to scoob, spliff and etc. Fun, thanks all.

  29. Fun Quiptic. I had a couple of minor quibbles, not enough to spoil the enjoyment, but I’ll mention them anyway.

    Concurring with GDU@1, I just don’t particularly like (for quiptics) clues that tell you a letter has to be replaced, but don’t tell you with what – regardless of whether there’s one possible substitution or 25. It’s not that it’s difficult to do the mental substitution, but it should be remembered there are other potential ways to parse the clues.

    In SNEEZE’s wordplay, “affect” seemed a little awkward, since “the audience’s leg joints” alone is sufficient for NEEZE. But I suppose it works.

    Thanks

  32. Really enjoyed this one. I’m still new to cryptics so why is this style of grid considered less friendly?

  34. Many thanks to all for the positive and 16A feedback! It will help me with planning and delivering my future puzzles. (I’d never thought about the difficulty of different grids before from the solver’s perspective, so that’s particularly enlightening. When solving myself, I just take them as they come, I guess!)

    Special thanks to Pierre for the excellent blog, as always.

  35. This beginner did ok on this one, around 3/4 done without (at all much) cheating.

    But, 6D. I get that information is abbreviated to “i”, but Pierre says that the insertion indicator is ‘without’. Is Bartland saying that the other 7 letters are outside the letter “i”, using “without” to state that they are outside?
    This probably explains why I struggle with anything other than Everyman and the Monday offerings…

  36. Delboy @35
    I was always puzzled by “There is a green hill far away, without a city wall”.
    Why, I thought, would a green hill have a city wall in the first place?

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