Guardian Quiptic 1,277/Pasquale

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Since Alan Connor took over as editor of the Guardian stable crosswords – the daily cryptic, the Quiptic and the Everyman – I’ve noticed a real consistency to the Quiptic puzzles. That’s mainly down to him selecting setters for this slot who are really focused on providing a specifically compiled Quiptic that is at the right level: harder than the new 11×11 Quick Cryptic, but not as challenging as the Everyman can now sometimes be. Pasquale has been featuring regularly, and he always – in my opinion – hits the spot. One to encourage the improving solver here, I think.

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 Elevated uncertainty reported in thieves’ den?
HIDEOUT
Aural wordplay (‘reported’) for HIGH DOUBT.

5 Little-known old boy’s meeting French priest
OBSCURE
A charade of OBS and CURE. The French word – curé – has an accent, but you can generally ignore those, and punctuation, when deciphering cryptic clues.

9 Humiliation in a flat below stairs?
ABASEMENT
A charade of A and BASEMENT.

10 Tipsy getting round, I showed the way
OILED
A charade of O, I and LED.

11 What’s owed girl? Respect ultimately
DEBT
A charade of DEB and T for the final letter of ‘respect’.

12 Company male, blunter grumbler
COMPLAINER
A charade of CO, M and PLAINER.

14 At least fourteen in cathedral’s evensong?
SEVENS
Hidden in cathedralS EVENsong. SEVENS would, as a minimum mathematically, be ‘fourteen’.

15 Female needs items mislaid – dental aids
FLOSSES
A charade of F and LOSSES.

16 Fellow at lunchtime possibly gets some bread
CHAPATI
A charade of CHAP, AT and I for ‘one’ – which is when some folk have lunch.

18 Henry VIII’s eminence
HEIGHT
A charade of H and EIGHT. H is the abbreviation for ‘Henry’, the scientific unit of electrical inductance.

20 They are highly revered, any one of them being lower?
SACRED COWS
A cd cum dd. The second, whimsical, definition reminds you that cows, presumably even sacred ones, low.

The cattle are lowing
The baby awakes …

21 Bridge in Harrogate, say, given name
SPAN
A charade of SPA and N. Harrogate is a famous spa town. And very pleasant it is too.

24 Children the item for discussion
ISSUE
A dd.

25 New theatre is becoming most crude
EARTHIEST
(THEATRE IS)* with ‘new’ as the anagrind.

26 One getting on, sort led astray
OLDSTER
(SORT LED)* with ‘astray’ as the anagrind.

27 Corrupt activity involving arts graduates
DEBASED
An insertion of BAS in DEED. The insertion indicator is ‘involving’.

Down

1 Difficult to hide old collection
HOARD
An insertion of O in HARD. The insertion indicator is ‘to hide’.

2 Author Margaret to become wet maybe
DRABBLE
A dd. Margaret DRABBLE, now Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, DBE, FRSL, is an English novelist and short story teller. The Millstone, Jerusalem the Golden, A Summer Bird-Cage and much more. My Chambers has:

drabble (vt) to besmear, bedraggle

I didn’t know that meaning.

3 Kitchen item found in Coventry
OVEN
Hidden in COVENtry.

4 There is no seaside fog? This may suggest you can come out now
THE COAST IS CLEAR
A cd cum dd.

5 Very happy to be looking down on everyone?
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
And another.

6 Silly Soho chap about 51 who can’t stop buying stuff
SHOPAHOLIC
A charade of (SOHO CHAP)* and CI, the Roman numerals for ’51’ reversed. The anagrind is ‘silly’.

Edit: thanks to MC@1, who points out it’s actually an insertion of LI for ’51’ in (SOHO CHAP)*, with ‘about’ as the insertion indicator.

7 Lad spun around in elevated territory
UPLANDS
(LADS SPUN)* with ‘around’ as the anagrind.

8 Keeps going and stops when impeded by river
ENDURES
An insertion of (the River) URE in ENDS. The insertion indicator is ‘when impeded by’ and the river flows mainly through Wensleydale before becoming the River Ouse, another flower much beloved of setters.

13 Damage made fence wobbly over time
DEFACEMENT
A charade of (MADE FENCE)* and T. The anagrind is ‘wobbly’ and ‘over’ works because it’s a down clue.

16 Commanding Officer detaining fool in Italian town
CASSINO
An insertion of ASS IN in CO. The insertion indicator is ‘detaining’. Population 36,460, since you ask.

17 A cricket club used to be under suspicion
ACCUSED
A charade of A, CC and USED.

19 Pathetic pal she’s ditched
HAPLESS
(PAL SHES)* with ‘ditched’ as the anagrind.

22 No 50s-style youth would be famous
NOTED
A charade of NO and TED.

23 Fish hard for young mammal to swallow
CHUB
And a final insertion: of H in CUB. The insertion indicator is ‘to swallow’.

Many thanks to Pasquale for this week’s Quiptic. This is my 900th blog for Fifteensquared, btw. I’m retiring at 1,000. You heard it here first.

40 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,277/Pasquale”

  1. Thanks for the blog – as a learner I’m finding this incredibly helpful!

    Just a comment on 6d – would 51 be LI (rather than CI as blogged), hence giving the end of shopahlic?

  3. Swift and sweet: a fun activity whilst having a mid-morning cuppa.
    I also hadn’t come across that meaning of “drabble”, nor had I heard of Cassino – so I learned something too.
    Thank you Pasquale and Pierre – and congrats on the anniversary.
    But what’s this about your stepping away after 100 more?? Please don’t retire:
    your blogs are always so enjoyable – informative about the clues and also full of interesting snippets of fact.
    We’d be bereft without you…

  4. Excellent puzzle, great one for beginners. I really enjoyed this.

    Favourite: SACRED COWS, HIDEOUT, SEVENS.

    New for me: CASSINO (and wow, the abbey looks beautiful).

    Thanks, both.

  5. Steffen@2. I don’t have the Chambers dictionary but I often find the words I’m not sure of on the online site Onelook. It links to several dictionaries. If you look up “issue” and look down the right hand side I think it’s the 6th entry.

  6. As I continue to learn from these Quiptics, I’m having more success. As you say Pierre, this level was spot on for me. Thanks Pasquale.
    Maybe not too hard, but 4 and 5 down made me laugh.

  7. A delightful puzzle which manages to provide faultless, clean, parseable clues that are perfect for the improving solver whilst also giving more experienced solvers plenty to enjoy. I really appreciate Pasquale’s ability to do this so well. It would be easy to slip to one side or the other but this really hit the mark.

    Thanks both

  8. Perfect quiptic I thought

    Also not heard of “drabble” but did know the author

    SACRED COWS made me laugh

    Thanks Pasquale and Pierre

  9. I thought this was a great crossword for the slot too and a good follow on from the Quick Cryptic.

    Count me with those not knowing the meaning of DRABBLE, but I had enough crossers to use my familiarity with the author to fill that in. I knew CASSINO from the Battle of Monte Cassino – one of the bloodiest battles of WW2 – and most controversial.

    Thank you Pasquale and Pierre.

  11. Agreed that there’s been more consistency to the Quiptics, this was another which fit the bill very nicely. I knew Cassino thanks to Spike Milligan’s war memoirs.

  12. I haven’t done the stats to work out how long it will take you to blog another 100 puzzles, but I hope you reconsider before then! Your explanations are always so clear, as they are here. Thanks to Pasquale and to you.

  13. steffen@2
    ISSUE
    Adding to what pdm@5 said, interestingly, all lineal descendants (grandchildren and their children too) come under the definition of issue. ISSUE is often clued as children in crossword puzzles. It’s worth noting down for future reference.

  14. This is my 900th blog for Fifteensquared
    Congratulations Pierre! That’s a phenomenal achievement and service to
    the crossword puzzle solvers’ community. Thanks for what you have done.
    (I didn’t notice this earlier. Sorry).

  15. One more vote here for this being perfectly pitched. Very impressive that Pasquale can create something at this level and also Friday’s Cryptic which was beyond my ability (but which also used the HEIGHT / Henry VIII device).

    Thanks Pasquale and Pierre (with further congrats on 900 blogs!)

  16. I’m not sure I fully get the LOSSES bit in FLOSSES could someone help? Thanks Pierre for the explanations!

  17. FLOSSES
    items mislaid=LOSSES (like misplaced items/lost property)
    This is my understanding. If wrong, someone will correct me.

  18. Items mislaid = LOSSES the needs is an instruction to add it to F for female (crossed with KVa)

    Also I meant to say, wow and congratulations on 900 blogs to Pierre.

  19. How do we know this is Pierre’s 900th blog?

    Lots of fun. Thanks Pasquale and Pierre. Keep ’em coming.

  20. Valentine @19: because he said so, right in the last paragraph. I’m surprised he’s keeping count, though.

    Steffen: you normally see “issue” to mean “children” in statements like “Because Queen Anne died without issue, the throne passed to her second cousin George I under the terms of the Act of Setttlement.” In other words, it’s a royal-lineage type thing, usually.

  23. [mrpenney @20 – because you can see how many blogs you have to your name on the fifteensquared page if you’re logged in to blog (I’ve got 8, having just started. It’s going to take me 8 years to reach 500 blogs at a Quick Cryptic a week plus a Quiptic a month, assuming all things remain equal.)]

  24. I’m new here having started a few weeks ago with the Quick Cryptics. I really enjoyed this Quiptic but can anyone help with 22d?

    Thank you!

  25. @24 Lucy … Teddy boys were the fashion of the 50s. Comes up from time to time with some setters.

  26. Always disappointing to be left guessing at a clue like 2D where I’ve never heard of Margaret Drabble and even the blogger doesn’t know the wet meaning. It seems her most vaunted works were written before I was born in the early 70s.

    Only Margaret authors I know off the top of my head are Mitchell (Gone with the Wind) and Atwood (Handmaid’s Tale). Actress Margaret Rutherford kept popping into my head and she died around the time I was born – so it’s not that I don’t know some old culture.

    Otherwise a decent Quiptic

  27. Pinged this in without too much strife, although I thought briefly there might be some way that Margaret DRABBLE might become ‘dribble’ (to make wet)?

  29. Congratulations and thanks for all the blogs Pierre.
    These days I only comment when I think I can add something as I usually read them after breakfast with my coffee, but I do read all of them.
    Enjoyed this with the coffee this morning and, like many others, learned this meaning of DRABBLE.

  31. Thank you, paddymelon – that is really thoughtful and I loved the clip. Age has some benefits …

  32. Really can’t get used to the quiptic being on a Sunday so as usual day I’m a day late to it.

    Unusually (for a Pasquale that is) I did eyebrow the construction in OILED – definition getting word-play. Seems the wrong direction to me.

    I have to agree with others about how Pasquale pitches a quiptic perfectly. Nothing to really trouble a veteran solver but still entertaining.

    Congratulations on the 900 Pierre and thanks to both blogger and setter of course.

  33. Ideal Quiptic. Many thanks Pierre – may you enjoy good health to reach your 1000th blog.

  34. I’d just like to add that ISSUE is also used in the Bible, in the same sense which mrpenney@27 has explained. Some familiarity with the Bible is often helpful to solvers, along with knowledge of other ecclesiastical terms, such as SEE, as well as the parts of a church, such as NAVE and APSE.
    Have a good day, all, and a 900 gun salute for Pierre. Thank you.

  35. Very easy today, but I choose to take that as a personal victory of improvement rather than an overall simplification of the Quiptic! Mind you, helps a great deal when the setter chooses words I’ve actually heard of.

    Guessed at DRABBLE and CASSINO, but couldn’t parse DRABBLE because a quick Google told me this is a story of exactly 100 words, and I didn’t dig deeper. Also guessed there was a river URE somewhere.

    All very fairly clued, I think, and an excellent lunchtime solve. Thanks both!

  36. Got all bar 6. Two of them I don’t feel too bad about as I’d never heard of Margaret Drabble (and if I had I doubt I’d have made the connection to the wordplay) or Cassino. Though I did get it, I must say I really hate clues like 5a – I don’t mind being asked about foreign words for “the” and “a” etc but surely it’s not common knowledge to know the French word for priest? Especially because if you put it into Google Translate you don’t get curé, you get prêtre/prêtresse.

    I spent ages on 17d, as I thought that “under suspicion” would means SUSS, and “used to be” would mean EX but SUSSEX doesn’t fit and my stupid brain wouldn’t let me think of anything else. Got it in the end though.

    Thank you both, and a very happy blogversary to Pierre!

  37. I reckon the difficulty was about right, but I needed to cross reference a list of Italian towns with synonyms for fool to get the answer to 16D. Never heard of CASSINO, but sounds like an interesting place. I wonder if they are into gambling there…….? Also never heard of the phrase SACRED COWS, but that’s a useful one to know. But there weren’t any clues where I couldn’t really work out what the setter wanted me to do, which I think is about the right level for a Quiptic. My favourite clue was 4D.

    Thanks Pasquale and Pierre.

  38. Very enjoyable, a nice afternoon’s activity on a day off. Thanks and congratulations Pierre, and to Pasquale, such a great setter!

  39. Hi Steffen,

    The word ISSUE to mean children is mainly used (from my observation) for members of any royal family. I think if you check out say, Queen Elizabeth II, in Wikipedia, you’ll see “ISSUE” instead of “CHILDREN”.

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