Well I’ll go to the foot of our stairs. The Grauniad has finally managed to publish this week’s Quiptic.
A fine offering from Hectence, but we’ve waited long enough, so I’ll say no more and offer you the blog.
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 Well-built animal accommodation is over middle of docks
STOCKY
An insertion of [D]OCK[S] in STY. The insertion indicator is ‘is over’.
4 Greys out bare behind in hot spring
GEYSER
An insertion of E for the last letter of ‘bare’ in (GREYS)* The anagrind is ‘out’ and the insertion indicator is ‘in’.
9 Try backing strikes
STAB
A reversal of BATS. Since ‘backing’, the reversal indicator, is in the centre of the two words, you can’t know whether the answer is STAB or BATS till you have crossers. Some folk find this annoying.
10 Feeling there’s no reason for sexist being horrible about hens raving
SIXTH SENSE
An insertion of (HENS)* in (SEXIST)* The two anagrinds are ‘being horrible’ and ‘raving’ and the insertion indicator is ‘about’.
11 Author‘s more genuine in conversation
WRITER
Aural wordplay for RIGHTER, which is an ugly word in its own right.
12 With lots going on day before, books mostly packed
EVENTFUL
A charade of EVE, NT for the ‘books’ of the New Testament, and FUL[L].
13 Severe crime’s punished not so much
MERCILESS
A charade of (CRIME)* and LESS. The anagrind is ‘[i]s punished’.
15 Heavy cart reversed in area next to house
YARD
A reversal of DRAY.
16 Support neutral replacing Conservative in financial institution
BANK
Hectence is inviting you to replace the C in BACK with N.
17 Fizzy drink stand with 20% off is splendid
FANTASTIC
A charade of FANTA and STIC[K]. ‘I can’t stand/stick Hectence’s puzzles.’ Joking, obviously.
21 Fish swallows superb white insect
LACEWING
An insertion of ACE and W in LING. The insertion indicator is ‘swallows’.
22 Not ready for eating and travelling in Peru
UNRIPE
(IN PERU)* with ‘travelling’ as the anagrind.
24 Considered getting married to receive students’ rate
WELL-JUDGED
An insertion of LL for two ‘students’ and JUDGE in WED. The insertion indicator is ‘to receive’.
25 Lad picked up danger sign at sea
BUOY
Aural wordplay for BOY.
26 Until now you’d regularly popped into art gallery
TO DATE
An insertion of OD for the even letters of ‘you’d’ in TATE. The insertion indicator is ‘popped into’.
27 British taking on French eleven for third place
BRONZE
A charade of BR and ONZE, the French word for ‘eleven’.
Down
1 Deliver fixed charge crossing river…
SET FREE
An insertion of R in SET FEE. The insertion indicator is ‘crossing’.
2 …alternatively taking a little while to go round
ORBIT
A charade of OR and BIT. As mostly always, the ellipses betweent the two clues can be ignored.
3 Kuala Lumpur’s protecting special trees for bird of prey
KESTREL
An insertion of (TREES)* in KL. The insertion indicator is ‘protecting’ and the anagrind is ‘special’. An opportunity for the obligatory Pierre bird link. A fine sight when you see them hovering over a main road, checking out prey in the verges, or resting on a telegraph pole or wire.
5 Rang City journalist blocked by Home Office
ECHOED
An insertion of HO in EC and ED. EC is the postcode for the City of London. The insertion indicator is ‘blocked by’.
6 Cry to drop rents
SHED TEARS
A charade of SHED and TEARS. You have to change the pronunciation of the second element to make sense of the meaning.
7 Saved special copper trapped by rampant animal
RESCUED
An insertion of S and CU in DEER reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘trapped by’ and the reversal indicator is ‘rampant’ in its heraldic sense, which works because it’s a down clue.
8 Too many cases of overindulgence and back chat start to grate over time
EXCESS BAGGAGE
A charade of EXCESS, GAB reversed, G for the initial letter of ‘grate’ and AGE.
14 Hushed up scam and dodgy deal involving church
CONCEALED
An insertion of CE in CON and (DEAL)* The anagrind is ‘dodgy’ and the insertion indicator is ‘involving’.
16 Most daring items of underwear
BRAVEST
A charade of BRA and VEST.
18 Crack shot hunter’s framing head of deer
THUNDER
An insertion of D for the initial letter of ‘deer’ in (HUNTER)* The insertion indicator is ‘framing’ and the anagrind is ‘shot’. Bambi’s been busy this morning.
19 Enhance evidence supporting motorway going north
IMPROVE
A charade of MI reversed and PROVE. You have to read ‘evidence’ in its verbal sense.
20 Prepared quite quietly before card game
PIQUET
A charade of P for the musically ‘quiet’ and (QUITE)* The anagrind is ‘prepared’.
23 Caught thievin’ bird
ROBIN
Aural wordplay for ROBBIN’ and the second obligatory Pierre bird link of the puzzle. Most often seen on Christmas Cards on the top of a snowy shovel, but in fact an all year round resident of these shores. The males are very territorial, and when they fight they are a lot less sweet than the image provided by the Christmas card.
Many thanks to Hectence for this week’s Quiptic.
Today’s cryptic in the Sydney Morning Herald was doing my head in, so I high-tailed it over to here and found a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t a difficult puzzle, but it was good fun. I particularly liked THUNDER, SHED TEARS & BRAVEST.
I had to look up the French for eleven. In 19d I thought evidence would lead to a noun, and I was puzzled by stand/stick, but Pierre has provided satisfactory explanations for both. I initially had CONSPIRED for 14d, thinking a spire was part of a church.
Thanks, Hectence.
Thanks Hectence and Pierre
I found this unusually hard, even for a cryptic rather than Quiptic. I looked long and hard at 16a, then wrote in BACK, which held me up.
Pinged this in pretty quickly, obviously the wait was good for me! I enjoyed WELL JUDGED.
Customary pangram was some help with lower part needing J Q & Z
Lovely puzzle, shame it’s so late – and still not on the paid-for app.
Thanks both.
Quite tough – I did not solve a clue until 16ac. I don’t think this puzzle can be classed as a Quiptic but perhaps I am especially stupid today as I totally failed on the Cryptic. I was thankful to be able to finish this Quiptic!
Favourite: EXCESS BAGGAGE.
Thanks, both.
It’s on my app, appeared yesterday in Thursday.
I was taken back to a fellow schoolmate who had been saddled with the name Debra Vest, poor kid, with BRAVEST, so that was a write in, bit I agree with those who found it on the tough side for a Quiptic.
Thank you to Pierre and Hectence.
[Shanne @7
My mother claimed to have taught a girl called Ria Lydiate…]
I thought I’d successfully finished and just hadn’t been able to parse a clue, but was disappointed to arrive here and find out that “hushed up” was CONCEALED and not CANCELLED.
I thought it was quite a topical clue/answer, what with the ongoing culture wars and whatnot.
Ah well.
I thought this ell worth qaiting for. Most enjoyable. It was on the harder side for a Quiptic, but it came together well. MERCILESS was FANTASTICbut this WRITER’s SIXTH SENSE wasworking today and he could see round those WELL JUDGED misdirections With a feeling of shame I offer thanks to Pierre and Hectense.
[I knew a woman of Dutch extraction called Marietta Grubb.] Yes, a bit tough (not to mention late) for a Quiptic. I also feel into the BACK trap. Thanks, Hectence and Pierre.
I too found this a bit tough for a Quiptic. And this is the first time I haven’t gotten to the Quiptic until Saturday, thanks to its late appearance.
For Pierre, our birder/blogger: of course, ROBIN is a different bird in North America. Here’s ours. He’s quite possibly America’s most common bird, and they don’t mind people, so the American robin is the first bird most kids here learn.
[Adding: Wikipedia confirms that the robin is North America’s most abundant bird, at an estimated 370 million. That’s almost as many robins as people! (And that sentence only gets the “almost” because robins range as far south as central Mexico–the combined population of Canada and the US is about 365 million.)]
Re 16a BANK / BACK, if you put N/C in the third light (in pencil) it won’t hold you up, and it should help you with 14d. The same goes for the T/A and B/S at 9a STAB / BATS. I like this type of clue.
Re 19d IMPROVE, I only ever see the verb “evidence” in the passive voice (something was evidenced by something else), so I could only construe it as a noun in the clue. That didn’t hold up the solution, so it was the tiniest of quibbletinos.
Pierre and mrpenny @12, I much prefer our North American 23d – prettier and better behaved than the European bird.
Thanks Hectence for the excellent and well-pitched Quiptic, and Pierre for the colourful and witty blog.
Re unfortunate names, the father of a girl I taught was Foo Kiu Jim. I hope he was never asked his name by a Glasgow policeman!
I’m really pretty hopeless, but this crossword was great for me. It was funny and clever. 24- Well judged was beyond me, but otherwise I could plod on through, with a doh moment at Excess Baggage. Thank you Hetence and Pierre