The new Sunday slot for the Guardian Quiptic means a change of blogger as one of the regulars has had to step down. The puzzle can be found here www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quiptic/1276
First attempt at blogging a Quiptic, although I’ve been blogging the Quick Cryptics for a month, so I’m not sure I’ve managed to pitch this at the right level, apologies if I haven’t. (And I looked at this and realised I’d missed out various bits, mostly formatting, when playing with the new-to-me program for setting up blogs in the wee small hours, so have come back and added those in after I’ve had some sleep)
I really like seeing Chandler in the Quiptic spot as I feel he pitches the puzzles to fit the brief.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PREEMPT |
Forestall prince getting into awful temper (3-4)
|
| Anagram of P (prince) + (TEMPER)*, anagrind awful | ||
| 5 | STICK BY |
Remain loyal to boy gutted after criticism (5,2)
|
| Charade of BY (BoY gutted) after (gives the word order) STICK (criticism) | ||
| 10 | RAGU |
Meat sauce and bread (grub at intervals) (4)
|
| Alternate letters from bReAd GrUb (at intervals) | ||
| 11 | PILGRIMAGE |
Load skirting bleak area and heading for grand holy expedition (10)
|
| Insertion (skirting) of GRIM (bleak) + A (area) + G (heading for Grand) in PILE (load) to give PIL (GRIM A G) E | ||
| 12 | BISTRO |
Street covered by writer has small restaurant (6)
|
| Insertion of (covered by) ST (street) in BIRO (writer) = BI (ST) RO | ||
| 13 | SCENARIO |
Outline leaders of cast engaging numbers in dress circle (8)
|
| Insertion (engaging) of C E N (leaders of Cast Engaging Numbers) in SARI (dress) + O (circle) to give S (CEN) ARI O
That split of a phrase dress circle to use both words separately is often called a lift and separate, and is one of the tricks to mislead. |
||
| 14 | MENAGERIE |
Cultivated green aim close to diverse collection of animals (9)
|
| Anagram (GREEN AIM + E)* where E is close to diversE, anagrind (cultivated) | ||
| 16 | RINSE |
Lightly wash some leisurewear in sets (5)
|
| Hidden (some) in leisureweaR IN SEts | ||
| 17 | LEAPS |
Energy when amid circuits to make abrupt transitions? (5)
|
| Insertion (when amid) of E (energy) into LAPS (circuits) = L (E) APS | ||
| 19 | STAGGERED |
Eggs rated defective making one very surprised (9)
|
| Anagram of (EGGS RATED)* anagrind (defective) | ||
| 23 | SCHEDULE |
Timetable in school education and university followed by the French (8)
|
| Charade of SCH (school) + ED (education) + U (university) + (followed by) LE (the French) to give SCH ED U LE | ||
| 24 | IN TURN |
By the sound of it, trainee or one after the other (2,4)
|
| Soundalike (to use the terminology given in the Quick Cryptics – indicated by by the sound of it) of “intern” (trainee) and IN TURN | ||
| 26 | IRRELEVANT |
Irish relative linked to leading group in film? That’s unconnected (10)
|
| Charade of IR (Irish) + REL (relative) + VAN (leading group) in Crosswordland’s favourite film ET so IR REL E(VAN)T | ||
| 27 | PODS |
Extra note about ordinary day for groups of swimmers (4)
|
| Insertion of OD from Ordinary Day in PS (extra note) to give P (OD) S. O for ordinary is in Chambers and comes from the old O-Level exams, d for day is also in. |
||
| 28 | STUDENT |
Undergraduate, say, in escapade acquiring two poor grades (7)
|
| Insertion (acquiring) of D and E (two poor grades) in STUNT (escapade) to give STU (DE) NT. Say here as it’s a definition by example, a STUDENT could be an undergraduate. |
||
| 29 | WELCOME |
Agreeable liberal firm in Western Europe initially and Middle East (7)
|
| Charade of WE (Western Europe initially) L (liberal) CO (firm) and ME (Middle East) gives WE L CO ME | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | REALISE |
Grasp genuine source of investment with the Home Counties (7)
|
| Charade REAL (genuine) + I (source of Investment) with SE (Home Counties) to give REAL I SE.The south-east (SE) of Great Britain is where the Home Counties are found. Source gives the instruction to use the first letter of a word. |
||
| 3 | ERUPT |
Suddenly start making point in support of English contact sport (5)
|
| Charade of E (English) RU (contact sport – abbreviation for Rugby Union) with PT (point) at the end (in support of) to give E (RU) PT | ||
| 4 | PAPOOSE |
Father present to carry round pouch for a baby (7)
|
| Charade of PA (father) with POSE (present as in ask a question) with O inserted (to carry round, where round = O) PA PO (O) SE |
||
| 6 | TURRET |
Largely rotate Royal Engineers over time in part of a tank? (6)
|
| Charade of TUR(n) (largely rotate) RE (Royal Engineers) T (over Time) giving TUR RE T TUR(n) for rotate, with the largely indicating that not all the word is used |
||
| 7 | COMBATIVE |
Police evict a mob spoiling for a fight? (9)
|
| Anagram of (EVICT A MOB)* with what looks like police as the anagram indicator, which isn’t one I’ve seen before. Because COMBATIVE has to be defined by spoiling for a fight, not police. I wonder if that’s what the question mark is doing. | ||
| 8 | BUGGIES |
Small motor vehicles bother gliders on a regular basis (7)
|
| Charade of BUG (bother) and G l I d E r S (alternate letters – on a regular basis – of gliders) to give BUG G I E S | ||
| 9 | FLASHINTHEPAN |
Fellow working in health spa with name is brief success? (5,2,3,3)
|
| Anagram of (IN HEALTH SPA), anagrind (working) to give LASH IN THE PA, with F for fellow to start and N for name to end – giving F LASH IN THE PA N. | ||
| 15 | APPREHEND |
Seize crumpled paper associated with hard objective (9)
|
| Initial anagram of (PAPER)* anagrind crumpled to give APPRE
followed by (associated with) a charade of H (hard) and END (objective) |
||
| 18 | EXCERPT |
Section of text appearing right inside bar (7)
|
| Insertion of R (right) appearing .. inside EXCEPT (bar) to give EXCE (R) PT
All people except / bar smokers are welcome |
||
| 20 | GRISTLE |
Girl set to cook tough piece of meat (7)
|
| Anagram of (GIRL SET)* with anagrind to cook | ||
| 21 | EARLDOM |
A role devised to accommodate duke over month in peer’s territory (7)
|
| Anagram of (A ROLE)* anagrind (devised) to give EARL O, followed by
insertion (to accommodate) D (duke) over (in a down clue) M (month) |
||
| 22 | TUNE IN |
Enthusiast upset one in Germany getting to adjust a radio? (4,2)
|
| Charade of NUT< (enthusiast upset) to give TUN plus EIN (one in Germany) gives TUN E IN |
||
| 25 | TOPIC |
Leading institute beginning to consider subject (5)
|
| Charade of TOP (leading) + I (institute) + C (beginning to Consider) to give TOP I C |
Welcome to the regular fold. Hope to meet you at a s&b some day.
Congratulations Shanne! It’s an excellently written blog. Full of clear explanations. Thanks Shanne! Looking forward to many many more!
I’m not sure I’ve managed to pitch this at the right level
I am quite sure you have.
COMBATIVE
Agree with the observations in the blog. Normally, ‘disorderly/out of order’ works as an anagrind. Here ‘restore order’ works as an anagrind. Interesting.
IRRELEVANT
Def: unconnected, I think.
I have some very minor observations on PREEMPT, WELCOME, ERUPT and F I T PAN.
Thanks Chandler for the lovely Quiptic puzzle.
Thankyou Shanne. I think the blog is pitched well.
I really liked the surfaces and anagrams for STAGGERED (defective eggs rated) and GRISTLE (girl set to cook).
TBH I’m not fond of Chandler’s style in many of the other clues, heavily dependent on abbreviations. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one crossword. Perhaps that was intentional?
Excellent blog Shanne. Very clear. I shared your slight surprise at ‘police’ as an anagrind. But, it makes sense I think in for putting something (letters in this case) in some kind of order. Over-liberal use of first letters to denote words for my taste, not counting the ones where there is an indicator for the trick. But otherwise a lovely Quiptic with PAPOOSE, BUGGIES and GRISTLE (neat surface) my favourites. Thanks Shanne and Chandler.
Looks as if paddymelon and I had much the same thoughts at the same time. 🙂
“The bouncers policed the festival” has a sense of wandering around. Bit of a stretch but works for me. A lot of guess then parse but a quick enjoyable solve nonetheless. I did like bistro, very neat. Thanks Shanne, scenario is excellent now you’ve explained it!
Excellent blog Shanne, and a good quiptic from Chandler. I parsed 8d – BUGGIES as BUG(GIE)S.
A enjoyable way to pass part of a rainy sunday morning – thank you Chandler and Shanne.
EXCERPT was my fave.
chargehand@7. I don’t understand your parsing. My quibble with BUGGIES is that they’re not necessarily motorised vehicles.
Very enjoyable Quiptic which I think is excellent for beginners.
New for me: TURRET = a low armoured tower, typically one that revolves, for a gun and gunners in a ship, aircraft, fort, or tank.
Shanne, you have written an excellent blog.
Thanks, both.
I found the explanations really well-pitched, thank you, they’re clear, thorough and unambiguous. I enjoyed the puzzle but did have a few unparsed (11a, 13a in particular) so appreciate the detail here.
paddymelon@3 – agreed on abbreviations in general. Didn’t mind them so much today as the overall level did feel appropriately quiptic, but there are times when for me they’re one of the factors that can turn a crossword into more of a slog than a fun workout.
Thank you for the welcome, flashling @1 – maybe, some day I’ll get to a Setters and Bloggers meet.
And thank you for the support from everyone else – I’ve had access to the standard program for setting up blogs for a few weeks, but this is the first time I’ve used it, so I’m still fiddling trying to make things clear. I’m not planning to use this format for the Quick Cryptics as they are different and I’m trying to make sure they look as different as possible. I’m not back blogging the Quiptic until the end of June.
@9 paddymelon – BUGGIES…I read it as ‘bother’ being BUGS around GIE from glider. But I’m probably wrong, I usually am. Enjoy the day.
I enjoyed this puzzle, although several answers were guess first and parse later. LOI was irrelevant as I didn’t know the film was ET. Thanks Shane for the excellent explanations and I’ll look forward to more Chandler Quiptics
Very pleasant quiptic, ran through it quickly, much to like in terms of surfaces and anagrams. Thank you to Chandler for what I thought was a suitably quiptic “Quiptic” and to Shanne for a very methodical blog. I appreciate the meticulous detail.
Just right for a beginner, I could guess a few then look at the word play.
A pleasant Sunday afternoon solve. Thanks, Chandler and Shanne.
PS We’re fairly certain we’ve encountered ‘police’ as an anagrind before.
When I was a Boy Scout, the last thing we did before leaving a campground was referred to as “policing the campsite,” which involved us dividing up to cover the entire ground to ensure no litter, equipment, or anything else non-natural was left behind. And indeed, the fourth verb definition of “police” in Merriam-Webster is “to make clean and put in order.” Works pretty well for me.
Lovely and clear explanations thanks Shanne! Enjoyable Quiptic, thanks Chandler, I enjoy your setting!
Nice blog, Shanne.
It’s curious that police can mean get in order, the sense required here, and keep in order, quite the opposite (when it comes to letter sequences). Not quite in the category of words like cleave, sanction and ravel, but close. .
I can see why the Guardian cryptic crossword is considered THE hardest.Even the supposed ‘easier’ quiptic isn’t exactly a walk in the park,not to me at least.
Thanks Shanne. I appreciate the efforts of all the bloggers.
A well pitched Quiptic and a perfectly pitch blog – thanks Chandler and Shanne.
Like others I was able to guess a lot of the clues and then work out the wordplay afterwards.
Took me a while to spot that VAN was an abbreviation of vanguard meaning “leading group” in IRRELEVANT – hopefully I’ll spot that sooner next time.
The first time I have ever completed a Quiptic unaided. Whoopee!
Shanne, thank you so much! The explanations were so clear and thorough. They really helped. I also wondered about police as an anagram indicator. Love Chandler’s quiptics!
This felt like a game of “guess what word I’m thinking of”, but I did finish it, so perhaps I’m just being cranky.
Anyway I mostly came to say that, had this appeared in the New Yorker, 1 across could be clued as “forestall prince getting into awful tëmper (7)”
I like Shanne’s explanations, they’re very thorough, which I’m afraid I sometimes need! For example last week (Quiptic #1275 ) I still couldn’t understand the JACK bit of the parsing of “Beast sailor found by a lake” = JACKAL. A wee Google search prompted me to add Jack to AB, tar and RN for my list of sailor crosswordese synonyms.
Sorry to be so late posting. Shanne you did a brilliant job, pitch perfect as sw239@24 very aptly said. Police was a new one for me, but works well. Chandler, many thanks for a great Quiptic. JH @24, well done. It won’t be the last time you do. 🎆
I liked the anagrams, for example MENAGERIE, GRISTLE and STAGGERED. I stared and stared at MENAGERIE until I realised “close to” = “end”, not “near”.
IN TURN was a “tea tray moment” to use the parlance I’ve seen on this website (that I hadn’t come across before).
Bit late to the party this time, but thoroughly enjoyed this one. Thank you Chandler for a fun challenge and Shanne for the in depth parsing. No new words for me this time, but completely missed sari in 13A. I actually thought the numbers was referring to the ONES read in reverse in the answer, but the parsing doesn’t work like that, so it’s obviously just a coincidence. IN TURN made me chuckle. Actually quite pleased that I could solve a lot of these through the parsing rather than just guessing. Still, didn’t see RISOTTO hiding in the clue so still long way to go along my learning curve…. All in all, I thought the difficulty level was just about right this week.
I’m also late to the party (I normally attempt this at work on a Monday, but I’ve been off this week). I found this very approachable as a beginner, and I was able to get all bar (except?) 5 solutions, 3 of which I should’ve got and am kicking myself over. I got 24a unusually quickly, I’m normally awful at homophones. New for me – VAN being a shortening of vanguard.
Cheers Chandler & Shanne.