This is the twenty-fourth Guardian Quick Cryptic, a series of 11 x 11 crosswords designed to support beginners learning cryptic crosswords. The whole point of these crosswords is support and encouragement of new solvers, so special rules for these crosswords apply – see here. The puzzle can be found here.
This week we have a new setter, Chandler, who is a regular in the Quiptic slot. We continue consolidating clue types learned earlier in the series, and with anagrams and acrostics which provide all the required letters, the by now familiar charades, plus the reversal clues that we have met before. There are a number of new anagram indicators.
Fifteen Squared uses several abbreviations and jargon tricks, there’s a full list here, of which I’ve used the following in this blog:
- underlining the definition in the clue – this is either at the beginning or end of the clue
- CAPITALS to indicate which bits are part of the answer, e.g. PASS (qualify) to get PORT (drink) or Get A Good (joke), see below
- anagram *(SENATOR) shows letters in clue being used, see clue below.
- anagrind the anagram indicator (arranged)
- < symbol to indicate a reversal – so DOG< (pet – comes back) to give GOD (see below)
- surface – the meaning from reading the clue – so often cryptic clues use an English that could only be found in a cryptic crossword, but a smooth surface is a clue that has a meaning in English, which can be pointed or misleading.
TODAY’S TRICKS – from the crossword site – which can be found at www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick-cryptic/24
Clues begin or end with a definition of the answer. The rest is one of these:
- Anagram An anagram of the answer and a hint that there’s an anagram
‘Senator arranged crime (7)’ gives TREASON - Charade A combination of synonyms
‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port) - Reversal The answer backwards, and a hint that we’re reversing
‘Deity’s pet comes back (3)’ gives GOD - Acrostic The first letters of the answer
‘Initially get a good joke (3)’ gives GAG
| ACROSS |
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| 1 | Bend top so after manipulation (5) | STOOP |
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anagram of (TOP SO)* with anagrind of “after manipulation”
after manipulation is one the new anagrinds in this puzzle
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| 4 |
Drank on way back in store (5)
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DEPOT |
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reversal (on way back) of TOPED< (drank) to give DEPOT
The grammar of this reversal is ambiguous – and I had to wait for the crossers to know which way round to enter TOPED/DEPOT
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| 7 |
Journey permitted for one of three children (7)
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TRIPLET
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charade of TRIP (journey) + LET (permitted) to give TRIP LET
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| 8 |
Exploit these people close to office (3)
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USE
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charade of US (these people) + E (close to officE)
I parsed this as I wrote this puzzle up – we’ve come across using the final letter of a word to add to a charade, but have not used US like this before.
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| 9 |
Close den surprisingly (3)
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END |
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anagram of (DEN)* with anagrind of “surprisingly”
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| 10 |
Parched region deters moving (6)
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DESERT
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| anagram of (DETERS)* with anagrind of “moving” | ||
| 13 |
Consume starters of eggs and truffles (3)
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EAT
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acrostic (starters of) of Eggs And Truffles
This acrostic seems familiar – I’m sure we’ve had this or something similar for EAT before.
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| 15 |
Those foremost among youth easily tempted still (3)
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YET |
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acrostic (those foremost among) Youth Easily Tempted
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| 17 |
Leaders in sailing emerge across body of water (3)
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SEA
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acrostic (leaders in) Sailing Emerge Across
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| 19 |
A cedar swaying in place for amusements (6)
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ARCADE |
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anagram of (A CEDAR)* with anagrind of “swaying”
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| 22 |
Part of body set for revolution (3)
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LEG |
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reversal of (for revolution) of GEL< (set)
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| 24 |
Recall Glastonbury’s hill? Nonsense (3)
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ROT |
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reversal of (recall) TOR< (Glastonbury’s hill)
Referring to this hill of myth and legend, which features in the stories of Arthur and the Round Table, and that of Joseph of Arimathea’s visit to Britain.
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| 25 |
Revolutionary boat made of timber in updated document (7)
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REDRAFT |
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charade of RED (revolutionary) + RAFT (boat made of timber)
Revolutionary here suggests that this is a reversal, not cluing RED
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| 26 |
Exclude in operation titled figure (5)
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BARON |
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charade of BAR (exclude) + ON (in operation)
ON gets clued in all ways – in operation, leg as in cricket.
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| 27 |
Reddish faces of residents under display disfiguring yard (5)
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RUDDY |
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acrostic (faces of) Residents Under Display Disfiguring Yard
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DOWN
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| 1 | Varied diets put in place (5) | SITED |
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anagram of (DIETS)* with anagrind of “varied”
varied is another new anagrind
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| 2 |
Leaves out moist nuts (5)
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OMITS |
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anagram of (MOIST)* with anagrind of “nuts”
nuts is another new anagrind -but a regular one in Cryptic Crosswords
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| 3 |
Very small friend with endeavour (6)
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PALTRY |
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charade of PAL (friend) + (with) TRY (endeavour)
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| 4 |
Daughter devoured fruit (4)
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DATE |
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charade of D (daughter – from genealogy) + ATE (devoured) to get D ATE
.
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| 5 |
Stuffy type at the outset presuming raunchiness usually damages ethics (5)
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PRUDE |
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acrostic of (at the outset) Presuming Raunchiness Usually Damages Ethics
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| 6 |
An act of stealing article with pink newspaper (5)
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THEFT |
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charade of THE (article) + (with) FT (pink newspaper)
The Financial Times (FT) is a newspaper famously printed on pink paper, so it’s called the pink one, and advertises on that basis.
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| 11 |
Observe openers for England yesterday excelling (3)
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EYE |
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acrostic of (openers for) England Yesterday Excelling
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| 12 |
Haphazardly ate afternoon refreshment (3)
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TEA |
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anagram of (ATE)* with anagrind of “haphazardly”
haphazardly is another new anagrind
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| 14 |
Support a thing required to prove age? (3)
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AID |
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charade of A (from the clue) + ID (thing required to prove age)
This is a trick to watch out for – using A from the clue. ID for identity documents or the one of the expressions of self, per Freud (id, ego and superego) comes up regularly
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| 16 |
One dealing in market recreated red art (6)
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TRADER |
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anagram of (RED ART)* with anagrind of “recreated”
recreated is another new anagrind
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| 17 |
Get rid of misguided curbs (5)
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SCRUB |
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anagram of (CURBS)* using an anagrind of misguided, which is another new anagrind
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| 18 |
Change later at work (5)
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ALTER |
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anagram of (LATER)* with an anagram indicator of “at work”
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| 20 |
A section of hospital gets prize (5)
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AWARD |
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charade of A (from the clue) + WARD (section of hospital)
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| 21 |
First signs of event neatly timetabled recording your admission (5)
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ENTRY |
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acrostic (first signs of) Event Neatly Timetabled Recording Your
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| 23 |
Evidence of happiness in ring possibly (4)
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GRIN |
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anagram of (RING)* with an anagrind of “possibly”
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I thought this was a very pleasing QC but I agree about needing the crossers to determine which way round for 4A. Also thought that 8A didn’t maybe meet the QC brief.
I thought this was much more approachable than the last one or two Quick Cryptics.
I must admit I did not have a problem with DEPOT, thinking “in” indicated the straight part of the clue (“in store”). But I defer to Shane’s deeper experience.
Thanks for explaining ROT. I know TOR from other crosswords, so it was not too difficult to get the answer with the crossers. It was the Glastonbury reference that eluded me.
Thanks Chandler and Shanne
I don’t like 8. “These people” are still others, just the same as “those people” are, so the clue points to “them” not “us”. Perhaps it could be “my people”.
Also I think tricks within a trick are a little unfair in a Quick Cryptic, but here I might be being a little picky. “Close to office” is clearly enough clued, at any rate.
Fun puzzle, excellent for beginners.
This was a confidence giving solve for me. Helpful to be building up a repertoire of anagrinds, I often fail to spot these. I didn’t immediately identify ‘these people’ as us either. Your blog is always so well set out and explained, thank you Shanne. And thanks for the puzzle Chandler.
Thought that was a good puzzle from Chandler and hopefully everybody will solve it and get a warm glow of satisfaction.
As usual, my live solve is available at https://youtu.be/pGG-T-o7Cyo … hopefully giving tacit information about how to approach the solve.
I agree with the comments about “these people=us” and whether using “close to officE” fits the brief. That said, exploit=use comes up a lot and should be gettable from the PRUDE and THEFT clues.
Likewise agree about DEPOT/TOPED ambiguity. I wonder if clueing it as “Drank on way back getting to store” would have been better? Or just added too much to confuse. I’d say neither word is obvious to people just taking up cryptics.
Aside from a stumble when I was convinced 3D should be PETITE, a good beginner level QC.
@Shanne 9A is an anagram, not a charade
Toped is a new word for me – I think – I tope so much perhaps I’ve forgotten it.
I love doing this crossword on a Saturday morning. I wish it was 15×15
Marc @9 – you’re right – 9A corrected (9A or the clue in the same position was probably a charade last week and I missed changing it), and corrected the thing I realised I missed, highlighting reddish as the definition of RUDDY.
TOPED – I know more as the noun – the old toper / drinker sat in the corner of the pub, drinking his sixth pint with whisky chaser, his face and nose rosy with broken veins, glowing in the fire light.
Thoroughly enjoyed 25 Across. Many thanks to Chandler, and of course Shanne again.
Thank you, Shanne. I enjoyed Chandler’s puzzle.
@6 HG. I look forward to watching the live solve later.
I was left cold and frustrated!
Failed on 4a, 8a, 15a, 25a. It is now abundantly clear to me I am hopeless with charade clues.
I’m either improving or this was almost to easy, [time deleted – Shanne] solved over a cup of coffee. I’d like to believe the former but suspect the last to be true. Enjoying the series emenssly. Thanks to all for making it fun.
Hi Steffen @14 – that’s a reversal, 4a, an acrostic – 15a and then two actually quite tough charades – 8a and 25a.
4a – DEPOT / TOPED is one of those reversals you learn as it does come up – I’ve just checked to see if I could find it in the Quick Cryptic crosswords, but I didn’t spot it on a quick run through. I’ve also seen REPOT/TOPER.
8a – USE – that was a full-fat Cryptic charade – I solved it but didn’t parse the clue until I was writing up the blog. US for these people and close telling us to use the final letter – weren’t easy.
15a – YET – that’s an interesting acrostic – I know yet can be defined as still, but HG couldn’t think of an equivalent in a sentence on his YouTube solve:
– Yet/still the spider tried to climb the wall, even as the wind buffeted against it, hurling it away from the surface.
25a – REDRAFT – I got that from the definition and crossers and worked back to the parsing – it’s a deliberate misdirection using revolutionary for red – but think reds under the bed, trots and all the other phrases about Russian revolutionaries (all of which vocabulary goes back 50 years and more).
Ty Shanne. It always seems so straightforward and obvious when. It’s documented and explained.
Thanks Shanne for explanations. And Chandler for the puzzle. I thought it was nicely pitched and I managed to spot all the new anagrinds. On TOPED and DEPOT I think I’ve seen this the other way around (I.e. the solution being TOPED from a reverse of DEPOT) in either a QC or probably more likely a Quiptic, it seemed familiar somehow.
thecronester @18 – we did both remember correctly, and I blogged it – Quiptic 1288 by Pasquale had DEPOT clued from toped.
The one I thought was familiar isn’t exactly the same, but we had:
6D Starters of eggs and roasted bit of corn (3) in Quick Cryptic 10 by Picaroon
compared to today’s13A Consume starters of eggs and truffles (3) – close but no cigar!
A very enjoyable quick cryptic – I’m loving them! Thank you Shanne for your excellent explanations – lots of nice new anagrinds to remember!! : )
@14 Steffen – I hope the live solves are helping you. The clues you found difficult today, particularly DEPOT and REDRAFT were harder. For me, the journey has been in learning the vocab which is used frequently in Crosswordland – much of it wasn’t new; it’s just knowing what setters are likely to use
@16 Shanne – couldn’t think of one on the fly … I’d probably go with “I don’t want to go to the doctors yet/still I must.” As always, you’ve done a good job on the blog.
@20 Katyotter – when your list of anagrinds reaches 1,000 it may be time to stop trying to remember them! But certainly some of the more popular ones were on display here today – nuts, surprisingly, possibly, varied
This one was the first that my daughter, who is learning, but has finished a couple of “grown-up” cryptics, failed to finish. She said, with some justification, that she had never heard of “toped” (or even “toper”, less convincingly), or that the Financial Times was pink. I’m not sure that she had even heard of the paper!
Thanks Shanne, your explanation is very helpful 👍
Thanks Shanne, I found your explanation very helpful 👍
I thought this was really easy until I got to the North East and then I got slowed down somewhat. 4a was my LOI, though not because of the reason stated here, I just forgot that TOPE can mean drink, which is strange as I’ve seen TOPER in a few crosswords now, including some recent ones. 25a also took some thinking.
Thanks Chandler and Shanne.
I think there was TOPER = DIPSO in part of the cluing for one of the cryptics in the last few weeks which got me as I didn’t know either of the words for a drunk, always nice to learn new words from the crossword. Can’t remember which crossword it was though. This is always my fun crossword to start the week, really nice addition have been enjoying it a lot.
I agree about 8A. ‘Exploit America close to office’ might be better while still remaining reasonably cryptic.
Couldn’t parse: USE
Some good anagrams in the top left corner to get me started. The Guardian’s Anagram helper was much in use!
New to me: “faces” as a primary letter indicator. Learned a couple of new anagrinds (as we seasoned (!) crossword solvers call them) today as well.
18d: anagrind and defn could be interchangeable? Need to rely on crossers?
Enjoyed that.
I was an absolute beginner and am enjoying these enormously. I definitely feel I’m getting the hang. A lot seems to be down to learning the tricks especially all the different things that can indicate an anagram. I didn’t understand why TOR was ROT which left me unable to finish. Had to put DEPOT in without really getting why and the suggestions to do with offices and being at work?! Totally over my head!
Thank you, setter, explainer and all the commentators!