Quick Cryptic 66 by Carpathian

July 13, 2025 at 8:04 pmJuly 5, 2025 at 2:28 am by Shanne

This week’s 11 x 11 crossword from the Guardian, intended to teach cryptic crosswords, found here

This week we have the 17th Quick Cryptic by Carpathian, who was setting these puzzles on alternate weeks at the start, but hasn’t set a puzzle since puzzle 49. She is a regular setter at the Guardian and elsewhere. Today we only have anagrams and hidden clues with all the letters given, plus reversals and charades, all of which have met before. Still in the app and I suspect in the published paper, but now corrected on the website, there are a couple of mistakes, noted below.

The whole point of these crosswords is support and encouragement of new solvers, so special rules for these crosswords apply – see here – those rules include not posting solving times.

This blog continues to develop in response to suggestions. We hide the answers and the wordplay descriptions (parsing) too. To find the solution click on “Answer” and to find how the word play works, click on “Parsing” which will reveal the hidden information. You can choose to reveal everything using the “Expand All” button. If you have partially revealed the page, refreshing it will clear that, and allow you to expand all. The definition is in bold and underlined, the indicator is in red.

For additional help click here

There is a summary of the tricks used in the first six months here and a Guardian Crossword blog called the ultimate beginner’s guide has tips which may be useful for some solvers

For abbreviations and clue tips click here

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
indicators are in red.
CAPITALS to indicate which bits are part of the answer, e.g. RApID for the lose the middle example, Give A Good joke for the acrostic example.
anagram – letters being used shown in brackets (SENATOR)* for the clue below to give TREASON.
anagrind – anagram indicator – in the case below it is “arranged”
reversals – shown by the symbol < so from the example, the pet is a DOG <.
charades – the description below only gives the example of words being added together, but charades can be more complicated, adding abbreviations or single letters to another word. Examples previously used in this series are: Son ridicules loose overgarments (6) S (son) + MOCKS (ridicules), Get rid of dead pine (5) D(dead) + ITCH (pine) – D ITCH, and early on DR (doctor) + IVE (I have) to give DRIVE.
CAD or clue as definition– where the whole clue gives the definition, sometimes called an &lit. These are rare.
DBE or defintion by example – e.g. where a dog might be clued as a setter – often using a question mark, maybe, possibly or e.g. to show that this is an example rather than a definition.
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 – because the clues have moved on from the clue descriptions below, I am now adding more to the descriptions hidden above. 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
Hidden word Answer is hidden in the clue’s words
‘Some haVE ALtered meat (4)’ gives VEAL
Charade Combination of synonyms/abbrevs
‘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 coming back (3)’ gives GOD from DOG (pet) <

	ACROSS	Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1	Paddy harbours boomerangs (5)	Answer STROP
	Parsing reversal (boomerangs) of PORTS (harbours) < where paddy is being used as a synonym of a rage or pet.
4	Neat electric vehicles reversing (5)	Answer SMART
	Parsing reversal (reversing) of TRAMS (electric vehicles) <
7	Person eagerly holding individual (3)	Answer ONE
	Parsing hidden (holding) in persON Eagerly
8	At not time name first lady Queen (5)	Answer NEVER
	Parsing charade of N (name) + EVE (first lady) + R (queen) and I think there’s a typo in the definition and it should read “At no time” as it does now on the website. N for name we haven’t met in this series before, nor Eve as the first lady (as in the Bible), but R (regina) has been used in this series.
9	Outcast people person embraces (5)	Answer LEPER
	Parsing hidden (embraces) in peopLE PERson
10	Aggressive dog: small number wanting restriction on time outside (6)	Answer CURFEW
	Parsing charade of CUR (aggressive dog) and FEW (small number)
12	Prohibit bold, spiteful remark (4)	Answer BARB
	Parsing charade of BAR (prohibit) + B (bold – from wordprocessing software) – another new abbreviation in B for bold. The answer when revealing on the app and originally on the website was GARB, which makes no sense. It’s been corrected on the website, but these errors aren’t then corrected on the app or printed paper.
14	Hit part of car apparently (3)	Answer RAP
	Parsing hidden (part of) in caR APparently
16	God going back to city in Egypt (4)	Answer SUEZ
	Parsing reversal (going back) of ZEUS (god) <. The grammar of the clue is: parsing ZEUS (god) + action (going back) gives answer (SUEZ) to tell which way around this should be (not that it mattered to me as it was my last one in, I’d forgotten this reversal).
17	Flipping student’s error (4-2)	Answer SLIP-UP
	Parsing reversal (flipping) of PUPILS < (students) – and I think there’s another typo here – for this to work it should be plural for students to match pupils, so the apostrophe should indicate that – so students’ – and in this case it is not the possessive, but an apostrophe of omission, saying “flipping students is error”
20	Art Al reconstructed somewhere in church (5)	Answer ALTAR
	Parsing anagram of (ART AL)* with anagrind of “reconstructed”.
22	Plant in sea waving (5)	Answer ANISE
	Parsing anagram of (IN SEA)* with anagrind of “waving” to give this plant.
23	Article by new woman (3)	Answer ANN
	Parsing charade of AN (article – indefinite article) + N (new – abbreviation – as in New York/NY) – woman cluing a woman’s name is a regular in British crosswords – I know that this is not allowed in American crosswords, but it is standard in the UK.
24	Dug revolting material (5)	Answer DENIM
	Parsing reversal (revolting) of MINED < (dug) – this is another clue we’ve seen before – and when I was doing the puzzle, I only entered the middle N as I wasn’t sure of which was the answer MINED or DENIM until I had more crossers to confirm.

25	At that point ether exploded (5)	Answer THERE
	Parsing anagram of (ETHER)* with anagrind of “exploded”

	DOWN
1	Travelling around the speed of sound, coins melted (5)	Answer SONIC
	Parsing anagram of (COINS)* with anagrind of “melted”
2	Setback concerning poetry (7)	Answer REVERSE
	Parsing charade of RE (concerning) + VERSE (poetry) – RE gets used a lot in cryptic puzzles, as concerning / on / about / referring to – and it comes from business jargon.
3	Hotel employee in stop or terminus (6)	Answer PORTER
	Parsing hidden (in) stoP OR TERminus
4	Ego of small magical being (4)	Answer SELF
	Parsing charade of S (small – from clothing sizes) + ELF (magical being).
5	Victoria’s python consumed another snake (3)	Answer ASP
	Parsing hidden (consumed) in victoriA’S Python.
6	Beat broth wildly (5)	Answer THROB
	Parsing anagram of (BROTH)* with anagrind of “wildly”
11	Lived with a son (3)	Answer WAS
	Parsing charade of W (with) + A (from the clue) + S (son – from genealogy) and we’ve had this use of the verb to be before – used to mean lived / existed.
13	Brief application increase (7)	Answer APPRISE
	Parsing charade of APP (application – as in phones or computers) + RISE (increase)
15	Flexible plan – it changed (6)	Answer PLIANT
	Parsing anagram of (PLAN IT)* with anagrind of “changed” – and this clue has two options that could both be anagrinds: flexible and changed.
16	Saint with bear (5)	Answer STAND
	Parsing charade of ST (saint) + AND (with) – St for saint is often seen, but we also see S for Saint, and SS for the plural.
18	Groupie celebrated hiding titbit (5)	Answer PIECE
	Parsing hidden (hiding) in grouPIE CElebrated.
19	Caught sheep pack (4)	Answer CRAM
	Parsing charade of C (caught – cricketing terminology) + RAM (sheep – specifically a male sheep)
21	Section of vibrant, entertaining number (3)	Answer TEN
	Parsing hidden (section of) in vibranT ENtertaining.

25 comments on “Quick Cryptic 66 by Carpathian”

Dylan N

#1 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 03:51

Is “revolting” for reversal common? I suppose you could argue that someone living in revolting conditions is living in “backward” conditions.
paddymelon

#2 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 04:56

Thanks Shanne. Shame about the typo in the clue for NEVER, and the error in the revealed answer for BARB. I thought the clue for SLIP-UP was okay, ignoring all punctuation.

APPRISE was my LOI. Credit to Carpathian for the misdirection with brief (adjective) application. Instead the def was brief, verb.

STROP and PADDY from the clue, and PET from Shanne’s blog, are 3 words/synonyms not very well known in my dialect and which I had to learn early on in my cryptic journey. (Nothing to do with my moniker though.) We tend to use words like ”tantrum” or ”hissy-fit”.

I enjoyed Carpathian’s concise cluing, entertaining surfaces, misdirections, eg brief as mentioned, bear noun and verb, the tenses in hit and rap.
Dug revolting material, and the Groupie clue were amusing.
paddymelon

#3 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 05:06

DylanN@1. I’ve seen revolting as a reversal indicator before, but I can’t find a source or a dictionary entry to support that. I wouldn’t mind it so much in a down clue, because to me it has the connotation of ”rising up”.
paddymelon

#4 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 05:09

Just to add, I did find the surface for STROP a bit hard to visualise. A paddy (field) of boomerangs? Or someone called Paddy with a collection of them?
HG

#5 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 05:33

Thought there were some tougher def/answers like “setback=reverse”, “brief=apprise” and needed an alphatrawl to get to Suez – had never realised it’s a city as well as a canal! Thanks to Shanne for the blog and to Carpathian.

My talkthrough solve is available at .. https://youtu.be/x0_qp5ktWNA .. for anyone looking for tips and tactics on how to approach solving. Today I demonstrate how, even when you’ve been doing these for a few years, they aren’t always a write-in!
Martyn

#6 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 07:19

There were some nice clues – and I particularly liked 4a where electric was misleading & clever, ONE, SELF, and THERE.

But there was also a lot of loose cluing or editing or both – many mentioned already plus a couple of other clues that bugged me.

Thanks Carpathian and Shanne
Alison

#7 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 07:23

So annoying about the typos.
Like HG@5, I also hadn’t realised suez was a city! My geography is rubbish!
Holly Anderson

#8 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 08:07

Can someone explain the rules of allowing a single letter (eg w from with in 11d)? )
I thought it had to be a used abbreviation (eg s for south) – or indicate in the clue that it was the first letter of a word ?

Enjoyable crossword though – thanks Carpathian and Shanne for your ( as always ) very helpful blog
Shanne

#9 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 08:38

Hi Holly @8 – w as an abbreviation for with is in Chambers – in the last of the four lists (week, wife, with). As we’ve seen it before I didn’t do a lot of detail on it. I suspect it comes from prescription abbreviations – R(x) q.o.d w aq sorry, it’s a pdf – which translates as take four times a day with water. R and w turn up in puzzles regularly. But you also see e.g w/bath as an abbreviation in say estate agent listings to say the bathroom has a bath.

Basically the rule is that a single word abbreviation has to be recognised, so in dictionaries.
AP

#10 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 08:38

Holly@8, according to Google’s AI, the use of “w/” as an abbreviation for “with” is believed to have originated in the fast-food industry in the 1950s as a way for waitresses to quickly write down orders. Similarly w/o is without. No doubt it’s in Chambers or Collins, which is the usual requirement for use of such abbreviations.

[Cross-post with Shanne]
thecronester

#11 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 08:49

I felt there were too many single letter abbreviations at play in this with WAS being the most egregious using W from ‘with’. But all in all it was mostly Carpathian’s fair clueing. I must have been a bit late for the typo and starting letter issues. Thanks Carpathian for the puzzle and Shanne for the blog.
Shanne

#12 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 09:12

thecronester @11 – if the Quick Cryptics don’t use the regular abbreviations, how are learners supposed to learn them. W for with is everywhere in cryptic crosswords – I read clues which include with and start building words using w. And it has long usage – prescription language often turns up in crosswords.
SimoninBxl

#13 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 09:39

Thanks for the excellent blog Shanne. FYI the error in 12a has been corrected on the iPhone App, but the other mistakes are still there.
thecronester

#14 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 10:32

Shanne @ 12. Yes I understand the principle and I’m fine with stuff like C for ‘caught’ and S from ‘short’ and B from ‘bold’ as these seem genuine abbreviations and I know the context they come from. With the W from ‘with’ it just seemed arbitrary and I’m not sure I know what context it comes from, but that’s probably just a lack of knowledge on my part.
Paggers

#15 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 11:22

For 8a I had ER for first lady queen leaving Nev for name! While that was possible it didn’t impress me much. The correct parsing is much better and I should have realised that “lady queen” was unnecessary and that ER wasn’t the first queen. Hey ho, we live and learn .
Holly Anderson

#16 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 12:17

Shanne@9 and AP@10. Thank you – so I was correct that it has to be a recognised abbreviation , I just didn’t understand how w was one. But now I do. Onwards and upwards !
Shanne

#17 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 12:41

Holly Anderson @16 and thecronester @14 – as further justification of the use of w for with, I was reminded I have a book on reading English Handwriting from 1150-1750 from when I was researching a local site. In an inventory from 1638, with is being abbreviated to w and a superscript. (I had a feeling I’d seen it in early documents, scribes use a lot of shorthand, it’s where ye for the comes from – the thorn being shorter to write than th.)

thecronester @14 – if you read the comments @ 9 and 10, you’ll see several explanations of the use of w for with.
thecronester

#18 - Sat 5th Jul 25, 14:07

Shanne @ 17. Thanks, I’ve read through the comments now and see how it’s justified. New knowledge for me, and also the wider idea w.r.t. prescription language usage.
Mary

#19 - Sun 6th Jul 25, 09:49

Loads of misdirections here!! I had lots of ( wrong) alternatives. I read 20A as “ART AI” but the crossing words made me get it finally. Still struggling with charades and there were lots here. But 2D and 4D made me laugh. Also noticed that 25A is both anagram and hidden word. That was helpful!! So Shanne is once again totally essential for me but thanks Carpathian for the BIG challenge
Florrie Boleyn

#20 - Sun 6th Jul 25, 11:40

Hello Shanne, since we all come here for explanations I don’t see the point in hiding them until clicked. I find it a bit of an irritation.
But thank you so much – you’re an essential part of the game!
Shanne

#21 - Sun 6th Jul 25, 13:11

Florrie Boleyn @20 – we were asked to put this blog together with hidden solutions and explanations to give different levels of support. The idea is that if you’re really stuck you can come to the blog and see what the definition is and maybe some idea of the clue type from the indicators, or you can check a few solutions without having to see everything. There have been a number of requests that we extend this style to the Quiptic, but it’s a fair bit of extra work, so we’re not extending it.

The other option as someone coming to read the blog is to click the “expand all” and see everything as if it’s a standard blog, which isn’t a lot more effort.
GillGamesh

#22 - Sun 6th Jul 25, 20:10

I thought 17a was okay, on the basis that STUDENT’S is PUPIL’S, which reverses to SLIP-UP.

If there’s an issue with the apostrophe (i.e. that it would be S’LIPUP) then wouldn’t the same apply to the hyphen, wherever you put the apostrophe? I’m always unsure over the rules for punctuation in cryptic clues, so a long time ago I decided it was simpler to assume there (generally) aren’t any. Perhaps that’s wrong?
Shanne

#23 - Sun 6th Jul 25, 21:20

GillGamesh @22 the usual rule for getting from the question to the answer is to ignore punctuation, except sometimes the definition is the punctuation. However, the clue should be grammatical within itself, so I was complaining in this clue that the apostrophe was of omission not possession (as it was pretending to mislead),

Flipping student’s error (4-2) reads as the turning of the error of one student or turning a student is an error, but to get SLIP UP you need to turn several students/pupils.

so make the clue work it needed to be students’
GillGamesh

#24 - Sun 6th Jul 25, 22:45

Thanks Shanne @23. I’m still not sure why it can’t be turning “student’s” or “pupil’s”. It’s the letters that are flipped, and they’re all there, regardless of where you put the apostrophe. You need to turn several students, or one student plus possessive s.

The surface meaning is separate, and involves flipping as an adjectival euphemistic curse word. ‘The error of one fli**ing student’. That works, and inverting the letters works for the parsing.

Bit like I said above, I’m never sure how much I can ignore punctuation in parsing.
James

#25 - Mon 7th Jul 25, 10:17

LOI 16A, and my first attempt was Deus. Shamefully. Otherwise I found it nicely straightforward.

Comments are closed.