Thank you to Anto. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Screens drug for something not readily noticed (5,4)
BLIND SPOT : BLINDS(screens/shades for windows) + POT(drug, specifically cannabis).
6. Party demands silence getting money … (4)
DOSH : DO(a party/social function) + SH!(exclamation demanding silence from whoever it’s directed to).
Defn: Slang for ….
8. … money that one makes a quick turn on (8)
SIXPENCE : Cryptic defn: From the phrase “turn on a sixpence”/to make a turn quickly and within a short space.
9. Performing well – do tell (6)
INFORM : [IN FORM](performing well/in top form).
10. Desperate customers dispatch SOS – it’s close to the bottom (6)
RECTUM : Anagram of(Desperate) “customers” minus(dispatch) “SOS”.
Defn: …, specifically, the final section of the large intestine that is closest to the anus/bottom on one’s body.
11. Heretic giving consent to marry in the future (8)
IDOLATER : [I DO](at a wedding, phrase expressing consent to marry the other person) LATER(in the future).
12. Arranged in advance to remove name from gift (6)
PRESET : “n”(abbrev. for “name”) deleted from(to remove … from) “present”(a gift).
15. Minced, it’s chewy once bitten – so reluctant to try again (5,3)
TWICE SHY : Anagram of(Minced) IT’S CHEWY.
Defn: From the proverb “Once bitten, twice shy”.
16. Fight resulting from insult by inexperienced learner (3,5)
BAR BRAWL : BARB(an insult/deliberately hurtful remark) plus(by) RAW(inexperienced/green) + L(letter displayed by a learner driver).
19. Unforthcoming about slip in drink (6)
SHERRY : SHY(unforthcoming/reserved) containing(about) ERR(to slip/make a mistake).
21. Regularly admits golf competition is a scandal (8)
DISGRACE : 2nd, 4th and 6th letters of(Regularly) “admits” + G(letter represented by “golf” in the phonetic alphabet) + RACE(a competition between runners).
22. Resolve dispute over seating? (6)
SETTLE : Double defn.
2nd:
24. Cross section of lengthy bridge (6)
HYBRID : Hidden in(section of) “lengthy bridge”.
Defn: Product of cross-breeding two plants or animals of different species or varieties.
25. Pleasant scent for one finishing on loo? (8)
LAVENDER : ENDER(one finishing/one that terminates) placed after(on) LAV(short for lavatory/loo).
Defn: … from lavender flowers.
26. Flat occasion is not quite finished (4)
EVEN : “event”(an occasion/a happening) minus its last letter(is not quite finished).
27. One saw Joy dancing? Impossible! (2,3,4)
NO WAY JOSE : Anagram of(… dancing) ONE SAW JOY.
Defn: A slang expression of disbelief – that whatever it is, it is impossible; or that something being asked will be absolutely impossible/not going to happen.
Down
1. Salt water is new ingredient of cheese (5)
BRINE : N(abbrev. for “new”) contained in(ingredient of) BRIE(a soft cheese).
2. Buckle up items for drive (7)
IMPETUS : Anagram of(Buckle) UP ITEMS.
3. Material study I’m following (5)
DENIM : DEN(a study/a quiet and private room) plus(… following) I’M.
4. Anticipate marketing demand (7)
PREDICT : PR(abbrev. for “public relations”/dissemination of information to project a positive image/to market someone or something) + EDICT(a demand/an official order).
5. Series of books attempts to capture current register (9)
TRILOGIES : TRIES(attempts/gives it a go) containing(to capture) [ I(symbol for electric current, in physics) + LOG(a register/a listing of names or items) ].
Defn: …, each series consisting of 3 related novels.
6. Let down as river swamps home (7)
DEFLATE : DEE(any of the rivers with the same name in the UK and Australia) containing(swamps) FLAT(a home/residence, in this case, an apartment that consists of a set of rooms in a larger building).
7. Small animal: it sounds like it’s a howler (9)
SCREECHER : S(abbrev. for “small”) + homophone of(…: it sounds like) “creature”(an animal).
13. Broadcast vile ratty shows without actors (7,2)
REALITY TV : Anagram of(Broadcast) VILE RATTY.
Defn: … /without professional players.
14. Pull up to a youngster outside eatery (3,6)
TEA GARDEN : Reversal of(… up, in a down clue) [ DRAG(to pull/to haul) plus(to) A ] contained in(… outside) TEEN(short for “teenager”, a youngster).
17. Material used to make toilet press (3-4)
BOG-IRON : BOG(informal term for a “toilet”) + IRON(to press/to smoothen, say, clothes using an iron).
Defn: … of iron compounds deposited in low wet areas/bogs.
18. Hides fake news that’s mean (4,3)
LIES LOW : LIES(fake news/false or misleading information presented as news) + LOW(mean/despicable).
20. Gradually dispose of essentially dreary red from Spain (3,4)
EAT INTO : 2 middle letters of(essentially) “dreary” + TINTO(a Spanish red wine).
22. Shrewd influence secures double victory (5)
SAVVY : SAY(influence/control over) containing(secures) V,V(double the abbrev. for “victory”).
Defn: …/having common sense and good judgement.
23. One loyal to Belgian city (5)
LIEGE : Double defn: 1st: A subject/one who is loyal to, say, a king.
What a fun puzzle! I really enjoyed the humour and lovely constructions.
Many favourites today: TWICE SHY, DISGRACE, NO WAY JOSE, DEFLATE, SCREECHER, REALITY TV, SAVVY, IDOLATER, LAVENDER.
I could not parse 14d.
I parsed 22d as VV in SAY (influence).
Pretty much what michelle says plus RECTUM, TEA GARDEN and BAR BRAWL. On the harder side for a Q but all very fair. Funny to see HYBRID clued very similarly to a recent Cryptic a few days ago.
Ta Anto & scchua
‘Outside’ doing double duty in TEA GARDEN maybe?
Not really for beginners.
Sorry, but I couldn’t parse SAVVY and I still don’t understand the explanation. Shouldn’t the “influence” be SAY rather than SWAY?
As usual with Anto, at the harder end of the Quiptic range. I enjoyed NO WAY JOSE and IDOLATER. BOG IRON was new to me.
Good one, only two I couldn’t parse (but still solved), namely 14D and 20D. Would never have got 20D (not familiar with Spanish Reds) and 14D I thought “outside eatery” was the definition (which with the crossers made it easy to guess) and couldn’t figure out how to fit youngsters in there!
Yeah I think “sway” is just a mistake, should be “say”
gladys, as Dylan N pointed out, it’s my mistake. Blog corrected.
I do like Anto’s humour and use of words, still not convinced he’s a Quiptic setter.
BOG-IRON was fairly clued but pretty obscure – I looked it up to make sure it was a real thing. IDOLATER made me laugh when I saw it.
Thank you to scchua and Anto.
Nice puzzle, I enjoyed the humour. Some clues needed a bit of thought, but all seemed fair.
I didn’t parse EAT INTO, not knowing the Spanish wine.
I laughed at IDOLATER and NO WAY JOSE and liked the constructions of TRILOGIES and TEA GARDEN and extended definition for TWICE SHY.
Thanks scchua for the explanations and pics. I hadn’t known what a settle looked like.
And thanks for the puzzle, Anto.
I’m not convinced about the Quipticness (Quipticity?) of this puzzle, but I see appreciation of it from a fair number of commenters. I suspect it was a wavelength thing for me on this occasion: I completed it, but the humour that people have picked up on completely passed me by.
Thanks to both Anto and Scchua for their work on today’s Quiptic. I thought it was an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. As someone who has been doing quiptics for a few months now, today’s offering made me very happy as I found a good enough foothold to start with and then found only enjoyment as the penny dropped on a number of clues which were excellent (Lavender, Rectum, and Blindspot to name a few).
! had no context for Sixpence so my knowledge continues to grow throughout this journey and it is largely thanks to the fine folks at fifteensquared, so thank you all for my continued education 🙂
Up to now, I’ve only ever interpreted ‘TEA GARDEN’ as a plantation. But there it is.. look forward to my first visit.
I’m very much a beginner, and I found this difficult. I wonder where my mind is at, but got RECTUM and NO WAY JOSE most easily.
Every day is a learning day 😀
Today I travelled to Bangkok from Vietnam on a visa run. In Vietnam, everything went like clockwork, but as soon as I arrived in Thailand Murphy’s law came into play, mostly my fault, and I eventually arrived in my hotel after the tik-tuk driver took me round the houses, probably to justify his exorbitant fee, 100 baht, roughly £2. I had to take another when I left the hotel because somehow the first one had managed to approach from the wrong direction. I am now orientated.
Anyway, the point of all this is that having arrived, I collapsed onto my bed and did the Quiptic. My brain was not working very well, but I completed it with many a chuckle.. There has only been one slight query about suitability so far, but I’m getting my tuppence worth in now.
Thanks both.
I liked IMPETUS. I like it when typical word play indicators (“up”) are not being used in the normal way.
Spent ages trying to figure out how to fit “rojo” into 20D.
Thanks S&B
Agree grumpybear@12
Tiny footholds (rectum, twice shy, reality TV) and then an enjoyable struggle. The teaching in the setting and blogging is much appreciated. I don’t expect to experience a write in for a long time yet. I feel very proud if I ever manage not to check the words as i go along.
Thanks anto and scchua
This was a fun one, I may stop avoiding Anto quiptics now. Confused at how “Pull up to a” can give AGARD for TEA GARDEN.
Pull up can give GARD but then surely it’s GARDA, as up is the reversal indicator so it can’t be a reversal of ADRAG. So is it really saying GARD to A to mean AGARD? This is probably just something I’ll have to get used to but it seems so imprecise.
After much sighing, checking and making some what seemed to be wild guesses that turned out to be right, I completed this and felt pleased with my progress. I could parse most of them (sometimes retrospectively) but wouldn’t have figured out 6a, 10a, 4d, 5d, 14d and 20d without this very helpful blog.
Eddie@18 Pull up = a reversal of DRAG, to a = add the letter A. ‘Youngster outside (no reversal indicator here) gives TEEN. So the parsing is TE ( A + <DRAG) EN. Hope this helps.
Enjoyed, what for me, was a challenging puzzle in parts.
Struggled with 14d and 20d but eventuall got to the answers using the crossers.
Thanks both for a fun ending to my sunday afternoon.
Thanks Anto and scchua
I found this a fairly hard standard cryptic – definitely not a Quiptic. Several clues were quite challenging. I wouldn’t have got NO WAY JOSE without using an anagram solver – never heard it. Several other stretches too.
I did like IMPETUS, though again I didn’t think it was Quiptic level.
This was a lovely lovely one.
Found this tricky with lots of ‘duh’ and ‘doh’ moments along the way. Guessed quite a few and then back parsed from the answer so happy with the clever structuring from Anto. I’m narked with myself with 10a as I’d decided early on that removing SOS from customers was the way to go but didn’t get the anagram until near the end due to crossers. Detected a slight scatalogical aspect in this grid so a few chuckles along the way. Thanks Anto and Schua.
The best Anto I’ve done, I think. Definitely not too easy for me, but not a long drawn out slog either!
Really enjoyed this one. It may be on the harder end, but this is the first I’ve done where I got to the end without needing outside references (been doing this maybe a couple of months tops).
What I really liked about this was that the crossers really helped – enough entry points to get in, but then clues that seemed hard became much easier and really allowed you to appreciate the wordplay. I appreciated the misdirection of BRINE and SHERRY, both of which took me a bit too long looking at the wrong end of the clue.
Quibbles: BOG IRON a bit crude and a bit obscure, though very fairly clued. TRILOGIES both on the tough end for wordplay and ‘series of books’ suggests ‘trilogy’ on the most natural reading. But neither of these prevented a solve.
Clues I loved: TWICE SHY was delightful, as was BAR BRAWL.
I enjoyed this! Mostly. Though after a flying start, continued progress relied on some lucky guesses rather than insight. An interesting variety in the clues that people found difficult: I felt 5D and 20D were off-limits here. Quiptic? Mostly.
Found this a perfect puzzle for a Monday morning, lots of fun and some new knowledge. Thanks Anto and scchua
A proper BAR BRAWL, if you ask me! I thought Anto had me beaten a couple of times, but EAT INTO finally emerged from the fog and TRILOGIES – my LOI – took a bit of reparsing with the crossers. So a win on points, just! Marvellous fun, thanks Anto and scchua!
I agree that this was on the hard end for a Quiptic, but very enjoyable. I failed to parse a couple, but once I see the explanations I think they all make sense.
A couple of TILTs for me: I’d never heard of BOG-IRON, and as an American I’m familiar with turning on a dime rather than on a SIXPENCE.
Very nice! Many lovely constructions. Like Ted@30 I figured out “oh, it’s turn on a dime” and then had to use the check button for the UK denomination (I tried tuppence first). Also unable to parse PREDICT but that is just me being tired. That was my LOI as I spent more or less the whole puzzle trying to make it AD something.
Thanks Anto and scchua!
I approached the Quiptic with trepidation this week, as I’ve generally found Anto to be too difficult. Happily, I found this week approachable and, imo, a good fit for the Quiptic slot. I thought more obscure terms were fairly clued and had enough crossers to help.
LOI for me was INFORM, as I needed the I in TRILOGIES to get there.
Favourites this week were RECTUM and LAVENDER – clearly potty humour appeals to me today.
Thanks to scchua and Anto
I solved it but these Quiptics are now harder than the daily cryptic IMHO.
I’m glad I’m not a beginner and wasn’t in a hurry. This was a very good cryptic,
I really liked this. Unfortunately it’s above my skill level so I only managed about half, but most of the ones I ended up revealing made perfect sense, and I only had to come here for explanations for a couple.
Really glad I got RECTUM as it gave me a good chuckle.
Thanks Anto & scchua.
For me, this is probably one of the most enjoyable Anto puzzles to date. As others have commented before, half of the battle of solving a cryptic is getting into the mindset of the setter and to be honest, for whatever reason, I have been really struggling to get into Anto’s mind—Sorry that sounded weirder than I intended. But perhaps this puzzle marks a turning point. Things got off to a flying start filling in the left hand of the grid in a very short time. I did slow down a bit once I got to the right half, but I was still parsing on the fly and really appreciating the sophisticated and clever wordplay which Anto really seems to love. I think I will enjoy solving puzzles from this setter a bit more in future too. Still challenging but I do feel it was about right for a Quiptic. The words in particular were not that unusual, although I had never heard of BOG IRON before. My favourites were IDOLATER, NO WAY JOSE, and LAVENDER, all which made my chuckle. I thought it was interesting that there is actually such a thing as a HYBRID BRIDGE, which is either a dental implant or a very long bridge… is that a coincidence or part of the wordplay? Thank you Anto and scchua