Guardian Quiptic 1,307/Picaroon

by

A thoughtfully constructed Quiptic from one of the slot’s most reliable and enjoyable setters. Bravo.

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 Look round, touring bishop’s summerhouse
GAZEBO
An insertion of B for ‘Bishop’ in GAZE and O for ’round’.  The insertion indicator is ‘touring’.

4 Friends perhaps arrive without energy after model
SITCOM
A charade of SIT and COM[E] gives you the ever-popular US series.  I’ll be there for you.

9 Sparkling wine, like vermouth, knocked back
ASTI
A charade of AS and IT reversed.  Not sure whether Shanne has covered this in the Quick Cryptic slot yet: IT is clued as ‘vermouth’ from the drink ‘Gin and It’.  Here you need to reverse it.

10 Playing up, thespian is most distressed
UNHAPPIEST
(THESPIAN UP)* with ‘playing’ as the anagrind.

11 Gather nuts for Thomas’s predecessor
GARETH
(GATHER)* with ‘nuts’ as the anagrind.  I think this is referring to Gareth Thomas, the Welsh rugby players, unless someone has a better idea.

12 Commotion about queen and her partner carousing
DRINKING
An insertion of R for Regina in DIN, followed by KING.  The insertion indicator is ‘about’.

13 Northern Irish region ignoring unknown Channel 4 programme
COUNTDOWN
COUNT[Y] DOWN.

15 Sojourn, for example, absorbing time
STAY
An insertion of T in SAY.  The insertion indicator is ‘absorbing’.

16 Man on board privateer also with navy, primarily
PAWN
The initial letters of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh words of the clue.

17 Two pubs with regularly filthy and inhumane behaviour
BARBARITY
A charade of BAR, BAR and the even letters of fIlThY.

21 German tennis player, in good shape, initially ignores the writing on the wall
GRAFFITI
A charade of [Steffi] GRAF, FIT and I for the first letter of ‘ignores’.

22 Greek who flew from India, and American taking vehicle
ICARUS
An insertion of CAR in I and US.  I for India is from the phonetic alphabet.  The insertion indicator is ‘taking’.

24 Hire soldiers before tense battle
ENGAGEMENT
A charade of ENGAGE, MEN and T.

25 Some current American representatives
AMPS
A charade of A and MPS.

26 Are the stews warm again?
REHEAT
(ARE THE)* with ‘stews’ as the anagrind.  Great surface; concise clue.

27 Cue for performer in concert with piano – Beethoven’s Fourth
PROMPT
A charade of PROM, P and T for the fourth letter of ‘Beethoven’.

 

Down

1 Postage reforms terrifying police officers
GESTAPO
(POSTAGE)* with ‘reforms’ as the anagrind, which you have to read as ‘re-forms’.

2 Somewhere in Africa, extremists in Zambia rage
ZAIRE
A charade of ZA for the outside letters of ‘Zambia’ and IRE.

3 Alcoholic, in resting place, looked embarrassed
BLUSHED
An insertion of LUSH in BED. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.

5 The setter’s appearance, eating starter from picnic hamper
IMPAIR
An insertion of P for the initial letter of ‘picnic’ in I’M for ‘the setter [is]’ and AIR.

6 Insect Escoffier’s covering in batter, perhaps
CRICKETER
A charade of CRICKET and ER for the outside letters of ‘Escoffier’.

7 Mother and child vacated rickety building
MASONRY
A charade of MA, SON and RY for R[ICKET]Y.

8 Badenoch waits nervously to form opposition group
SHADOW CABINET
Brilliant clue and great spot for the anagram: it’s of (BADENOCH WAITS)* with ‘nervously’ as the anagrind.

14 The latest update – Welsh fans going wild
NEWSFLASH
(WELSH FANS)* with ‘going wild’ as the anagram.

16 Rising cost of accommodation – blame associate
PARTNER
A reversal of RENT and RAP. ‘Uprising’ works as the reversal indicator since it’s a down clue.

18 Second-tier celebrity’s bit of damaged skin
BLISTER
A dd. The first definition is B-LISTER.

19 Widely proclaim president heartless egoist
TRUMPET
A charade of TRUMP and ET for E[GOIS]T.

20 Where to see picture frames of Carracci, Nolde and Mantegna
CINEMA
More outside letters: of the three artists, giving us CI, NE and MA.

23 The French invested in weapon, creating panic
ALARM
An insertion of LA for one of the French words for ‘the’ in ARM. The insertion indicator is ‘invested in’.

Many thanks to Picaroon for this week’s Quiptic.

43 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,307/Picaroon”

  1. Hi Pierre. I think UNHAPPIEST is an anagram of UP THESPIAN, otherwise it doesn’t work.

    Thanks for the blog, and to Picaroon for the puzzle. Loved the two political clues.

  2. Great fun! Tickled pink that ‘postage’ can be anagrammatized to ‘gestapo’, bravo Picaroon! Thanks to you and Pierre

  3. Favourite: BARBARITY.

    I could not parse 11ac – I didn’t know who Gareth and Thomas / Gareth Thomas are – unless the actor or politician or rugby players – I found several men named Gareth Thomas via google. Had never heard of any of them so it made no difference to me 😉

  7. Beat me to it, pavement. Fortunately I refreshed before pressing Post. Although as Scotsman-in-Chief on yesterday’s Prize blog, I appreciate that I have no business knowing about such things.

  8. I really enjoyed this and was impressed by the SHADOW CABINET and NEWSFLASH anagrams.

    We haven’t covered it as vermouth in the Quick Cryptics, yet, sex, but not alcohol. Last time Picaroon set the Quiptic, there were various tricks from the day before’s Quick Cryptic carried forward, but not today. I do admire the way Picaroon pitches the different levels of crosswords, last week’s cryptic was definitely dialled up.

    Gareth Thomas is a rugby player, now more involved in HIV awareness campaigning. But well done for spotting Gareth Bale to Thomas Tuchel.

    [Balfour @8, I would have got there with St Andrew’s Day. I got it at the time (only half Scot, though) just wasn’t posting as the blog was published (too busy blogging).]

    Thank you Pierre and Picaroon.

  9. Apart from also missing the Southgate to Tuchel progression I loved this crossword

    Thanks Picaroon and Pierre

    Some great and unexpected anagrams. For me at least, exactly right level for Quiptic – fun and not too taxing and slightly humorous

  10. Another impressive masterclass in setting from Picaroon.

    I had ticks for practically every clue, with top marks going to the two great anagrams (and surfaces) in SHADOW CABINET and NEWSFLASH. I enjoyed GRAFFITI, too.

    Many thanks to Picaroon and Pierre.

  11. Lots of satisfyingly succinct and witty clues – and some really pleasing surfaces too. SHADOW CABINET was clever and TRUMPET was beautifully apt.
    Thank you Pierre.
    Nice one, Picaroon!

  12. I couldn’t parse ASTI (so “it” is vermouth?) nor GARETH (not into rugby players). And unfamiliar with lush/alcoholic. But a great puzzle.

  13. Geoff@13
    I learnt It=[Italian] vermouth via crosswords, not in real life!

    noun [mass noun] British informal, dated
    Italian vermouth: he poured a gin and it.

  14. Delightful quiptic, clever and witty. I’m so impressed by the way Picaroon can set his puzzles at different levels of difficulty.
    I didn’t know who Gareth and Thomas were, otherwise all good.
    I thought SHADOW CABINET was a brilliant anagram, very current. NEWS FLASH was also a great anagram and surface. Laughed at TRUMPET.
    Thanks Picaroon and Pierre.

  18. Now I have drunk gin and it – and found it an excellent way of getting drunk very fast. I prefer my gin with lots of tonic.

  19. Thank you Pierre for putting the finishing touches of explanation for one of the most enjoyable quiptics I can remember. A great range of clues with enough anagrams this week for beginners to get a toehold on the grid but also some chewier ones that took a little longer.

  20. Just right for me today. Thanks Picaroon and Pierre. Didn’t get why 11a was Gareth but did realise it was an anagram . So slowly learning how to parse. And as Jaytee@20 says there were enough anagrams to help me get into the grid.

  21. Nicely pitched for a Quiptic this week, lots to smile about. Took me just over 20 mins to do, which must be a record for me (mind you, the Everyman this week took me just under 30 mins, so must have woken up in the right frame of mind!)
    Thanks Pierre for the blog.

  22. I forgot about Steffi Graf, and tried to parse 21A as G for German plus Raf (short for Rafa Nadal) + FIT and I. Aside from that blip, a satisfying solve!

  23. Sparkly as a glass of ASTI (the only sparkling wine that Crosswordland ever drinks). Favourites NEWSFLASH and BARBARITY.

  24. I guess it’s my turn to be the cranky pedant who points out that ASTI is a place, that Asti spumante is a sparkling wine, and that not all wines from Asti are spumante.

  25. … in which case, Gladys and Mr Penny, it’s obviously Cava that’s the sparkling wine of Crosswordland, as in ‘Spanish wine going well in France (4)’.

  27. Enjoyed this weeks offering, for me perfectly pitched. Went the rugby route and also learnt a new meaning for IT,
    An excellent mix of clues, thanks for making a wet Sunday more enloyable.

  28. A superb puzzle, just what I needed while dealing with Storm Darragh. SHADOW CABINET I’m sure will make a reappearance in the next few years. GARETH predating Thomas was also a touch of genius.

  29. A lovely solve. Eileen has identified most of my favourites, to which I’d add BARBARITY. allen_c@26, lovely 😎. I know Gareth Thomas as Blake in the eponymous Blake’s 7, but I doubt that’s who the setter had in mind…
    Big thanks to Picaroon and Pierre.

  30. Wow, just pure joy from start (BLUSHED) to finish (ENGAGEMENT). Brilliantly composed; concise, natural, seemingly effortless surfaces throughout, all fair [with quite a few misleading touches], a delight. Bravo.

    Favourites: MASONRY, SHADOW CABINET, NEWSFLASH, PARTNER, TRUMPET. Other notable surfaces: too many 😮

    Thank you, Picaroon and Pierre

  31. Link to live solve: https://youtu.be/k1JlIPxv6Wk

    Lots of interesting wordplay in this one, the bulk of the crossword came quite quickly but the last few clues certainly felt tricky – and one clue I still am definitely not sure how to parse. Great start to the week. If anyone knows how 11a works please do share!

    Thanks Picaroon. Thanks Pierre.

    Link to crossword: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quiptic/1307
    Link to Fifteen Squared: https://www.fifteensquared.net/2024/12/08/guardian-quiptic-1307-picaroon/

  33. Double plus good puzzle. Thanks Picaroon.
    Really enjoyed this, perfect pitch. Just a few things that puzzled me in the parsing like IT for vermouth, and I missed the PARTNER reversals but had the crossers to make it an easy guess, and didn’t understand the IRE bit in ZAIRE until reading here but that counts as my Doh! moment for this grid. I did think rugby player for GARETH although I did feel ‘predecessor’ didn’t really work for an indicator for forename so good spot Pavement @ 6. Overall favourite was SHADOW CABINET but such a lot to like.
    Thanks Pierre for the explanations.

  34. I agree with previous observations, but wanted to add that I also really enjoyed the two TV clues: SITCOM and COUNTDOWN. Took a bit of work taking down the wordplay, and then a smile when I got there — a perfect crossword experience.

    Thanks S&B

  35. Many thanks to both Picaroon and Pierre for this one – a nice antidote to an otherwise tedious Monday morning! Favourites included 17 and 26 across.

    Pierre, thanks specifically for highlighting some of the impossible-to-know-unless-you’ve-seen-it answers (IT is a perfect example there). More of that is really helpful.

    This has been one of the best levelled Quiptics that I can remember for a long while, but if I were to nitpic I would point at:
    – sit as model (does this really hold up any more?)
    – zaire (doesn’t exist)

  36. What a fun puzzle!

    Might just be that I was tired, but I found a lot here more challenging than some previous Quiptics – but the clues were so well done that there was a real sense of enjoyment and delight on solving them.

    Shadow Cabinet was a delight; I also really enjoyed Prompt and Barbarity.

    What I thought was instructive here, as someone looking to improve, was the way of getting into an answer when only getting a little bit of the wordplay.

  37. Never heard of Thomas Tuchel, but Gareth Thomas was the first International rugby player to come out as gay.

  39. So close to finishing this! I managed it all except for 5d, parsed it correctly but could not for the life of me think of a 3 letter synonym for “appearance” so I ended up googling it. I think my mind was stuck on the word IMPEDE which didn’t help.

    The only two I didn’t understand were GARETH and ASTI. Being from Gloucester I’m more a rugby fan than football so I too thought first of Gareth Thomas. Never seen the abbreviation for vermouth before, will have to remember it 😉

    Thanks Pierre and Picaroon.

  40. The fist Quiptic I could complete in 24 hours. A new personal best but also I feel this Quiptic was just right difficulty wise. SITCOM had me stumped until I moved away from trying to think of synonyms for friend and then there it was, the eponymous TV sitcom. Like Oh no Computer, I also got stuck on the word IMPEDE. Was there such a word as IMPODE? and then it could be the Setter’s mode… sometimes the brain is so stubborn. Not really a fan of the trivia clues and GARETH was the one that would have normally blocked off that entire top left section, but thankfully I managed to solve the ones around it and then the only thing that would fit with the letters already filled in was that name. Is Gareth Thomas even that well known? Hmm. Got ASTI but couldn’t parse it. Well anyway, a really fun Quiptic and just the right kind of workout for the ol’ greymatter. Thanks Pierre and Picaroon.

  41. I thought that a Picaroon crossword would be too difficult for me to complete, but this was not the case as Picaroon designed it to be a perfect quiptic.

    And you have to admire the clueing.

    Thanks Picaroon and Pierre

  42. Really good quiptic honestly. I could solve all the clues without needing to have very specific knowledge (other than that crossword setters all love a glass of Asti with their pet erne while listening to an aria).

    @40 i was desperately trying to remember the word impede and could only think of impair which i thought must be wrong

  43. I’m certain that 11 is referring to Gareth Southgate as the predecessor to Thomas Tuchel as England manager. I don’t think Gareth Thomas is famous enough to be clued just from his surname, and Tuchel was only very recently appointed. Nice grid!

Comments are closed.