Thank you to Pasquale. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Locked-up prisoner punished for not returning book to library on time? (8)
CONFINED : CON(short for “convict”/prisoner) + FINED(punished, for not returning a book to the library on time?/for example).
6. About to take little medicine with yen to be put right (6)
REMEDY : RE(with reference to/about) plus(to take) MED(little/shortened form for “medicine”) plus(with) Y(abbrev. for the Japanese currency, yen).
9. Fruit and nuts about to be given to boy (6)
DAMSON : Reversal of(… about) MAD(nuts/crazy) plus(to be given to) SON(an informal term of address for a boy).
10. Guarded three successive characters, then finished (8)
DEFENDED : D,E,F(three successive characters in the English alphabet) plus(then) ENDED(finished/ceased).
11. Estrange a right troublesome goddess (8)
ALIENATE : A + LIEN(a legal right to keep possession of someone’s property as surety for a debt) + ATE(in Greek mythology, a troublesome goddess who makes people blind so that they blunder into guilty acts).
12. Son participating in apple festival (6)
EASTER : S(abbrev. for “son”) contained in(participating in) EATER(an informal term for an eating apple).
Defn: A religious ….
13. Awful pains – mothers who hate people? (12)
MISANTHROPES : Anagram of(Awful) PAINS – MOTHERS.
Defn: People ….
17. Part of military parade finds nobleman with hesitation at start of month (12)
COUNTERMARCH : [ COUNT(a nobleman) plus(with) ER(an expression of hesitation/uncertainty) ] placed before(at start of) MARCH(one of the twelve months).
20. Very cold beer (6)
BITTER : Double defn: 1st: Biting cold; and 2nd: A strongly flavoured ….
22. Sailor’s pamphlet gives summary (8)
ABSTRACT : AB(abbrev. for “able-bodied seaman”/sailor)’S + TRACT(a pamphlet, typically on a religious subject).
24. Military depot in periodical publication (8)
MAGAZINE : Double defn: 1st: … for arms, ammunition and explosives.
25. Documentation reportedly in small bottles! (6)
PHIALS : Homophone of(… reportedly) “files”(documentation/collections of information about a particular person or thing).
26. Material bringing this writer into a bit of money (6)
CEMENT : ME(this writer, using the self-referential singular pronoun) contained in(bringing … into) CENT(a bit/small amount of money).
Defn: Construction ….
27. Translated a bit of poetry, making one cross (8)
TRAVERSE : TR(abbrev. for “translated”) + A + VERSE(a group of lines forming a unit in a poem/a bit of poetry).
Down
2. Nothing clear somehow? Wise person needed (6)
ORACLE : O(letter representing 0/nothing) + anagram of(… somehow) CLEAR.
Defn: Person or thing consulted to shed light on/clarify a subject.
3. Female, one with American general – someone hoping to make a catch! (9)
FISHERMAN : F(abbrev. for “female”) + I(Roman numeral for “one”) plus(with) SHERMAN(William, an American general during the American Civil War).
4. Martial arts exponent contributing to tradition in Japan (5)
NINJA : Hidden in(contributing to) “tradition in Japan”.
Defn: … of the traditional Japanese art of ninjutsu.
5. Ineffective person gone mad shows resentment (7)
DUDGEON : DUD(an ineffective person/a failure) + anagram of(… mad) GONE.
6. New student joining engineers for training session? (9)
REFRESHER : FRESHER(a new/first-year student at university) placed after(joining, in a down clue) RE(abbrev. for the Royal Engineers).
7. Soldiers on American lists (5)
MENUS : MEN(soldiers who are ordinary members of the armed forces, as distinct from the officers) placed over(on, in a down clue) US(abbrev. for the United States, describing things American).
8. Eastern writer in act became more profound (8)
DEEPENED : [ E(abbrev. for “Eastern”) + PEN(something to write with/a writer) ] contained in(in) DEED(an act/feat).
14. Eccentric priest, man bringing a particular flavour (9)
SPEARMINT : Anagram of(Eccentric) PRIEST, MAN.
15. How tree is dealt with differently (9)
OTHERWISE : Anagram of(… dealt) HOW TREE IS.
16. Bully, horrible to maiden (8)
DOMINATE : Anagram of(horrible) TO MAIDEN.
18. Yours truly atop a home most miserly (7)
MEANEST : ME(“yours truly”/one making a speech or writing a message, refering to him/herself) placed over(atop, in a down clue) A + NEST(a place where animals breed or take shelter/home).
19. Lectures without passion aboard ship (6)
SCOLDS : COLD(without passion/unfeeling) contained in(aboard) SS(abbrev. for “steamship”, used in the names of such ships).
21. Guy drinks last of wine (5)
TEASE : TEAS(drinks made with the dried leaves of the tea plant soaked in boiling water) + last letter of(last of) “wine”.
Defn: …/to rag.
23. A pie’s cooked – it’s a shade of brown (5)
SEPIA : Anagram of(… cooked) A PIE’S.
A pleasant solve. I learnt today of the goddess Ate. Couldn’t parse EASTER, unaware that an eater is an apple. The clue for CONFINED was a bit verbose I thought — why not just “Locked-up prisoner punished”?
Enjoyable puzzle.
New for me: COUNTERMARCH.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua
Very good Quiptic. Just one thing – how does “one” work in the clue for TRAVERSE?
Maybe think of “one” as the solver?
This was a quiptic indeed; a couple of obscure words, as often with Pasquale, were clearly clued. Actually, some of the clueing seemed excessive to me (“person” in 5d, “start” in 17a, a whole phrase after “punished” in 1a as per GDU@1 as well as the “one” mentioned by muffin@3)
Anyway, the puzzle was very enjoyable; thanks Pasquale and scchua
The goddess Ate was new to me but had to be part of the solution, which was confirmed by a quick consultation of Google University. That’s one to file away for future reference. Otherwise entirely straightforward. Tick for 3d and a very nice anagram in 13a.
Thanks to Pasquale and scchua.
All very nice and learned a new goddess.
Ta Pasquale & scchua.
Had never heard of Ate either. Nor have I come across Guy = tease. So thanks to scchua for clearing those up. Agree with previous comments about the clueing. I thought 1a was CONFINED but hesitated to write it in as I tried to figure out what the library had to do with anything. Nothing as it turns out. Thanks Pasquale for a well aimed Quiptic.
Perhaps the eight extra words in the clue for CONFINED were meant as a red herring? I’ve not seen this done before.
I came here to check what the library has to do with the answer to 1a, as that part of the clue seemed unnecessary. scchua’s explanation that this is a definition by example is fine with me. There are many types of punishment, and not returning a book on time is an example of an activity for which one gets fined. Thanks, Pasquale and scchua!
A few new things for me made some of this more difficult – COUNTERMARCH, the Greek goddess and also that guy=TEASE always escapes me.
I think GDU @ 1 has picked most of what I’d say on this one. If expecting people to know their US Civil War generals is pushing it, knowing the daughters of Eris definitely is. If ATE didn’t provide such good letters I’d say it should be going in one ear and straight out the other.
PHIALS, DUDGEON and COUNTERMARCH are nice clues but seem a little antiquated. COLD appearing in 20a and 19d seems oddly poor style for a setter as good as this.
Thank you scchua and Pasquale!
For those who were unfamiliar with COUNTERMARCH, you’ve probably seen it without knowing what it was called. Here are detailed instructions on how to do it!
Nice puzzle. Thanks to Pasquale and sschua. I probably spent too long trying to figure out how to fit HER and SHE into FISHERMAN at 3!
Also didn’t recall Ate at first but I’m pretty sure she’s been around before…
Good Quiptic. Ate was new to me as well. Knew MAGAZINE as something which holds bullets in a firearm, but not as an armoury or arsenal. No word yet from the homophone police about ‘files’ and ‘phials’! NINJA and DEFENDED were my favourites.
ALIENATE is a difficult clue, but otherwise this was a fine puzzle for the Quiptic slot. Favourite was the Rufus-worthy BITTER.
Lovely puzzle. One of the best things about the crossword community is the readiness and ability to answer and explain anything and everything. Thank you muffin.
I’m sure I’d seen ATE in previous puzzles but had managed to forget her, and the word COUNTERMARCH was new to me, but the clues were clear enough to be gettable anyway. As always, Pasquale sets a Quiptic with precision and care. Very satisfying.
Nothing to add really. A pleasant solve, I hadn’t heard of countermarch or that meaning of guy.
Misanthropes is a good word.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua.
Some posters have wondered about the clue for CONFINED mentioning ‘for not returning book to library on time.”
I think Pasquale tried to make it the correct level for a quiptic as “punished = fined” is less straightforward than “punished for not returning book to library = fined.”
I enjoyed the puzzle…but I seem to be stuck to this level of difficulty.
Very enjoyable Quiptic. Thanks Pasquale and Scchua.
Very enjoyable Quiptic – thanks Pasquale and scchua.
For those unfamiliar with William Tecumseh Sherman, he is the one usually cited for the quote “War is hell.” He also has a tank named after him that you might have heard of. If you’ve ever seen Gone With the Wind (and if you haven’t, please don’t!), he’s the one who burned Atlanta to the ground.
The other thing unsaid about the clue for CONFINED is that it’s amusing to think of someone thrown in jail for keeping library books too long, which the surface reading of the clue is inviting you to do.
MrP @24
I knew the tank…
Re the goddess Ate: See Mark Antony’s “Oh pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth” speech from Act 3, scene 1, of “Julius Caesar”, containing the lines “And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge/With Ate by his side come hot from hell/Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice/Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war”.
@24 mrpenney
No, I definitely haven’t heard of a William Tecumseh tank.
Good puzzle, spent longer on ALIENATE than the rest of the puzzle combined. I didn’t know lien or ate so it was really just thinking of words that fitted. Tough one for a Quiptic.
Liked the anagram for MISANTHROPES
Thanks Pasquale and scchua
Not familiar with: damson, goddess “Ate”, eater for “apple”, countermarch, dudgeon, guy meaning “tease”.
So yeah, that made it rather tougher than I’d normally expect for a Quiptic.
Excellent Quiptic and blog, thanks Pasquale and scchua. I struggled with Easter because I’d decided there couldn’t possibly be two vowels at the start! Doh.
muffin@13 Thanks for the link. I’d no idea marching was so complicated. I enjoyed both the video you linked to and the one following it, the “spiral countermarch.” The things people do to make their lives complicated!
Gen Sherman is infamous for his savage march through Georgia, as mrpenney has mentioned. Although “Gone with the Wind” is a movie that celebrates the deplorable “lost cause” view of the Civil War, it was also the first film for which a black performer won an Oscar.
Thanks to Pasquale and scchua.
Thank you. A somewhat tricky but doable solve. It’s 7pm on Monday…
I particularly liked Misanthrope (13 across) as I am currently trying to deal with a very difficult mother who is definitely a pain!
In what can best be described as a war of attrition over multiple attempts I eventually ended up revealing 26A, 27A and 21D and while I was on the right track with two of those (26A and 21D) but still couldn’t get to the answer. Thought there was some tricky clues in there and definitely more parsing after getting the answer than I would like but not sure if that was down to the cluing or me. I suspect that it was a bit of both as I struggled with the Everyman this week as well but I did finish that one (or at least I think I did).