Chandler is a regular but not particularly frequent setter of the Quiptic, and also produces crosswords for the Quick Cryptic slot in the Guardian.
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 Intellect touring a hot Arab state
BAHRAIN
An insertion of A and H in BRAIN. The insertion indicator is ‘touring’.
5 Describing route of football fans, say, in co-ordinated fashion?
TO MATCH
A dd.
10 Part of a process shown in past episodes
STEP
Hidden in paST EPisodes.
11 Monitor open basket in need of repair
KEEP TABS ON
(OPEN BASKET)* with ‘in need of repair’ as the anagrind.
12 French article with time among a number in shed by building
LEAN-TO
A charade of LE for the French definite ‘article’ and T inserted into A NO. The insertion indicator is ‘among’.
13 Restrictive jargon almost covering this person’s relations
LIMITING
An insertion of IM and IT in LING[O]. The insertion indicator is ‘covering’. ‘This person’s’ needs to be read as ‘this person is’, giving you I AM or I’M; IT for [sexual] ‘relations’ is a crossword staple.
14 Firm with toffee supply around soft drink container
COFFEE POT
A charade of CO and an insertion of P for the musically ‘soft’ in (TOFFEE)*. The anagrind is ‘supply’, which needs to be read as ‘in a supple way’.
16 Instant old Danny when gutted gets temperamental
MOODY
A charade of MO, O and D[ANN]Y.
17 Criticism has to remain
STICK
A dd.
19 Possession when pro is playing
OWNERSHIP
(WHEN PRO IS)* with ‘playing’ as the anagrind.
23 Brother with Henry enthralled by remedy in pamphlet
BROCHURE
A charade of BRO and an insertion of H in CURE. The insertion indicator is ‘enthralled by’. H is for ‘Henry’ the SI unit of electrical coinductance.
24 Take offence regarding description of a suite, it’s said
BRIDLE
Aural wordplay (‘it’s said’) of BRIDAL.
26 Miles fined for disturbing sites with unseen hazards
MINEFIELDS
(MILES FINED)* with ‘for disturbing’ as the anagrind.
27 Small jumper obtained in raffle, amazingly
FLEA
Hidden in rafFLE Amazingly.
28 Companion with a winner of award, right, in large room
CHAMBER
A charade of CH for Companion of Honour, MBE and R.
29 James, reportedly, upset Stan, one familiar with bars?
GYMNAST
A charade of GYM, aural wordplay (‘reportedly’) of JIM and (STAN)* with ‘upset’ as the anagrind.
Down
2 Redcoat improvised style emphasising sleekness?
ART DECO
(REDCOAT)* with ‘improvised’ as the anagrind.
3 Mature writer following religious instruction
RIPEN
A charade of RI and PEN.
4 Annoying smirk one fashioned after leaving note
IRKSOME
(SMIRK O[N]E)* with ‘fashioned’ as the anagrind.
6 Prompt operating link interrupted by Mike
ON TIME
A charade of ON and an insertion of M for the phonetic alphabet ‘Mike’ in TIE. The insertion indicator is ‘interrupted by’.
7 Aspiring range having financial debts
AMBITIOUS
A charade of AMBIT and IOUS.
8 Boast before end possibly typical of a new monarch?
CROWNED
A charade of CROW and (END)* with ‘possibly’ as the anagrind.
9 First person slows Helena at work providing social service
MEALS ON WHEELS
A charade of ME for the grammatical ‘first person’ singular object pronoun and (SLOWS HELENA)* with ‘at work’ as the anagrind.
15 Female expert has the best cosmetic
FACE CREAM
A charade of F, ACE and CREAM.
18 Dim person on board is housed in northern hotel
TARNISH
A charade of TAR for sailor or ‘person on board’ and an insertion of IS in N and H for the phonetic alphabet ‘hotel’. The insertion indicator is ‘housed in’.
20 Fancy beams, say, lacking in a diplomatic residence
EMBASSY
A charade of (BEAMS)* and S[A]Y. The anagrind is ‘fancy’.
21 Calm street no longer evident, producing complaint
ILLNESS
[ST]ILLNESS
22 Pointless dossier about posh agent, ultimately
FUTILE
An insertion of U for ‘posh’ and T for the final letter of ‘agent’ in FILE. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
25 Uniform kept by funny Finn as a joke?
IN FUN
The phonetic alphabet is getting a bit of a workout this morning: this is an insertion of U in (FINN)* with ‘funny’ as the anagrind.
Many thanks to Chandler for this week’s Quiptic.
Another one that was about right for a Quiptic and enjoyable overall I think, but there was enough crosswordese that I would have struggled as a complete beginner a few months ago. Still not sure if I’m improving or there was a run of more difficult Quiptics lately.
I think you’re being hard on yourself, Stuart – if you would have struggled a while ago but managed this one today then you are definitely improving, so bravo. It’s like learning a new language – once you start to get a decent grasp of the grammar, syntax and vocabulary then you’ll improve with every puzzle you solve. Doesn’t mean you’ll solve every one you start – but that’s part of the fun.
Thank you for the blog.
I also thought that this was about right for a quiptic. I didn’t fully parse 13a, but having some hard (for me) parses is probably no bad thing. Thanks Pierre and Chandler.
I never thought of art deco as emphasising sleekness. A source on the web gives: “Art Moderne is a horizontal design, emphasizing movement and sleekness; Art Deco emphasizes verticality and stylized, geometric ornamentation.” Many thanks to Chandler for an enjoyable quiptic and Pierre for the clear blog.
Thanks, Pierre, and thanks for the blog. Pretty sure I am improving, but also coming to realise just how much it’s about being on the right wavelength with the setter and accepting that sometimes it’s just not your day. As you say, that’s part of the fun…
SueB@5 Fair comment, I think. I would describe Art Deco as geometric bold shapes and colours. However, art deco furniture, ( specifically), is often sleek, in its design, materials, and finishes – polished wood, metal etc. The setter is reasonably justified.
Thanks Pierre and Chandler. ILLNESS had me wondering for a while, but I think is quite a nice clue now the penny has dropped.
I concur with Stuart @1; for a quiptic, it seemed like a bit of a test for the beginner to see how many quirks of cryptic have you picked up? Do you know Henry can just be ‘H’? Or posh can be ‘U’ for some reason? Or any euphemism for sex might be ‘IT’? Do you know your NATO alphabet? Do you know your honours? Do you know an expert is invariably an ‘ace’?
Overall, I found it less rewarding a solve for having so many of these slightly niche ingredients, but by the same token if you’re new and you’re managing to get through clues like these, it’s a sign you can move up to full-blooded cryptics; so probably a good use of the quiptic slot.
Thanks Chandler and Pierre – enjoyed it; it seemed to me reasonably accessible for a beginner. LOI was BRIDLE, which I had to google to double-check as I didn’t know this meaning of the word. Liked ILLNESS, which was rather difficult to see.
For 25d, I thought it strange that “fun” was both in the answer and in the clue. In 14a, “toffee” points at the answer too directly, but maybe it’s a good thing for a quiptic
Excellent Quiptic – very fair, possible to read the setter’s wavelength – and blog. Thanks Chandler and Pierre.
Nice puzzle. Some opaque, just enough to tantalize!
Thanks both
In what decade of the 20th century did we coyly refer to sex as ‘it’? Certainly not a 21st century reference! I dislike finding out that I’ve not guessed (or parsed) a clue because it contains something I think of as 1950s school slang. Do setters not update their references from time to time? I’d like to think the class prejudice of ‘U and non-U’ has had its day and those unfortunate abbreviations should be left in the era in which they originated. However, having had that grumble, I too thought this was a good Quiptic although I couldn’t parse 13 or 21. Thank you for the explanations.
Thanks Chandler and Pierre
I confidently wrote in IN TRAIN (football special, anyone?) for 5a, which held me up.
Great Quiptic with lots to like. I parsed nearly all of this. [ST]ILLNESS was my last one in and only because I had the crossers. I thought there was a removal going on for the wordplay but just couldn’t see the word needed. Thanks Pierre for the clear explanations and Chandler for the puzzle.
I thought 18D was more of a cryptic clue than a quiptic one. If it said “sailor” instead of person on board, it would probably have been a step easier.
That said, I guess you have to judge quipticness at the level of the crossword rather than the individual clue. On the whole, I do think it was a good example of a quiptic crossword.
I spent a while on 22A trying to take compass points out of something. Then I realised it was easier than that!
Quite liked that probably pitched about right. A little heavy on the crosswordese for a beginners puzzle but I guess, if you’re using these as a stepping stone, you’ve got to learn it sometime. Including myself who learnt CH for companion in this.
Liked BAHRAIN
Thanks Chandler and Pierre
Henry is a unit of Inductance, Conductance is measured in siemens
Blog corrected.
I agree, just right for a quiptic, so thanks, Chandler. I too failed to parse 13a properly, overlooking “it” for “relations”. So thanks too to the blogger for explaining that.
I only managed about a third of this before revealing, but that was very much on me. All but one of the revealed answers made perfect sense, I only had to come here for the explanation to 28a (NHO companion of honour before).
Cheers Pierre and Chandler.
I finished this (albeit with a little help from ‘check word’) and am very chuffed. Definitely getting somewhere – having found the last couple of Quiptics very difficult indeed it was a delight to be able to put a dozen clues in on the first read through of this. Thanks for the explanations for the odd bits I was baffled by.
Not quite sure I understand ‘it’ at all. Is it just a complete euphemism? Let’s do it? Let’s fall in love?
@17 Companion of Honour is why it’s CH btw, an order – membership of which is granted by the monarch.
Evening James. I think ‘it’ is just a euphemism, although I see when I look in my Chambers that it defines it as ‘sexual attraction’ rather than sexual relations. Perhaps someone else can elucidate.
Pierre @23, James @22 – having it off, having it away, they were at it like rabbits? I could probably dredge up a few more examples.
I thought this was great for the Quiptic spot.
By far and away my best attempt at the Quiptic in quite a while – ended up having to resort to the Crossword dictionary for 23A, 28A, 18D and wasn’t anywhere close to getting 24A or 21D which I revealed but overall I am pretty pleased with this weeks effort (first time in a long time).
Conversely I am getting a righteous beating on the Everyman this week which I usually find OK.
Also The Beatles, The White Album (1968), “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” Thanks for the puzzle and the blog.
I don’t understand why U is posh, but from a quick scan of these comments, perhaps that’s a good thing?
@27 It’s a term from the 50s and stands for “upper class” (vs “non-U” for working class). I’m only aware of it from crosswords. It comes up every now and then and I always forget about it.
People complaining about old fashioned references remind me of when was setting pub quizzes, youngsters would complain, ‘that was before I was born’ to which I might reply, yes it was in the sixteenth century how old do you think I am? Read books!
Mintteabag asks “In what decade of the 20th century did we coyly refer to sex as ‘it’? Certainly not a 21st century reference!”
I’m not so sure. I can imagine 21st century people saying “I went round to their house. The door was locked but the whole street could hear they were upstairs doing it!”