Harpo has the Quiptic for us this week.
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 Team players, catcalled, getting led off ground
CRYSTAL PALACE
(PLAYERS CATCAL[LED])* with ‘ground’ as the anagrind.
10 Comic villain, one poking holes?
RIDDLER
A dd.
11 Shore up tipsy old poet and musician
ORPHEUS
(SHORE UP)* with ‘tipsy’ as the anagrind.
12 Small trifle spread out
SPLAY
A charade of S and PLAY.
13 Earl animatedly welcomes northern actors in royal house
LANCASTER
An insertion of N CAST in (EARL)* The insertion indicator is ‘welcomes’ and the anagrind is ‘animatedly’.
14 Scrap book, with second article removed
ANNUL
ANNU[A]L
16 Master of Arts thus runs away from Saviour, one who embraces suffering
MASOCHIST
A charade of MA, SO and CH[R]IST.
18 Roman emperor into Annus Horribilis?
ANTONINUS
(INTO ANNUS)* wit ‘Horribilis’ as the anagrind.
19 Victor interrupts only what you’re now trying to do?
SOLVE
An insertion of V in SOLE. The insertion indicator is ‘interrupts’.
20 Dicky ran castle of forebears
ANCESTRAL
(RAN CASTLE)* with ‘dicky’ as the anagrind.
23 Fruit that stuffs German goose
MANGO
Hidden in GerMAN GOose.
24 Composer worked at Mensa
SMETANA
(AT MENSA)* with ‘worked’ as the anagrind.
25 Separate tips of spark plugs illuminated
SPLIT UP
A charade of SP for the initial letters of ‘spark’ and ‘plugs’ and LIT UP.
26 Accessory that facilitates change of direction in estate?
POWER STEERING
A cd.
Down
2 Mars communist plot–extremist gutted
RED PLANET
A charade of RED, PLAN and ET for the outside letters of ‘extremist’.
3 Frivolous cunning stopped by girl off and on
SILLY
An insertion of the even letters of ‘girl’ in SLY. The insertion indicator is ‘stopped by’.
4 Publicity staff in trouble for one month
APRIL
An insertion of PR in AIL. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
5 What, when bad, could offer poor signs?
PROGNOSIS
A cd.
Edit, for which thanks to several commenters: it’s a reverse anagram of (POOR SIGNS)*
6 Upset friend skips erotic performances
LAP DANCES
A charade of PAL reversed and DANCES.
7 Box upper section of body
CHEST
A dd.
8 Bright and vigorous cook going around Asia dashes about
FRESH AS A DAISY
An insertion of (ASIA DASHES)* in FRY. The insertion indicator is ‘going around’ and the anagrind is ‘about’.
9 Disrespect pro, shattering team spirit
ESPRIT DE CORPS
(DISRESPECT PRO)* with ‘shattering’ as the anagrind.
15 Painting captures headland
LANDSCAPE
A charade of LANDS and CAPE.
16 Young person is able to head off southern islanders
MINORCANS
A charade of MINOR, CAN and S for the initial letter of ‘southern’.
17 Chuck following one to north London borough
ISLINGTON
A charade of I, SLING, TO and N.
21 Company adopts radical belief
CREDO
An insertion of RED in CO. The insertion indicator is ‘adopts’.
22 Fine cotton left on edges of inlays and lace
LISLE
A charade of L and IS and LE for the outer letters of ‘inlays’ and ‘lace’.
23 Leaders among men of letters analyse rates that may be capped
MOLAR
The initial letters of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh words of the clue.
Many thanks to Harpo for this week’s Quiptic challenge.
PROGNOSIS
anagram (bad) of ‘poor signs’
Thanks Harpo and Pierre
I found this harder than most Quiptics, and I didn’t parse FRESH AS A DAISY.
“into Annus Horribilis” was very clever!
It was hard for me to get started on this puzzle. My FOI was 16ac after which it became a bit easier.
I couldn’t parse 1ac & 8d and I think those two clues might be difficult for ‘beginners and those in a hurry’.
5d was gettable from the crossers but did not seem to be very cryptic to me.
The puzzle was a bit anagram-heavy for my taste, but an enjoyable solve nonetheless. michelle@3 see KVa@1; indeed I think PROGNOSIS was my favourite clue. I also liked “into Annus Horribilis” and CRYSTAL PALACE.
SPLAY and ORPHEUS were the hardest for me, and my penultimate ones in, finally yielding ESPRIT DE CORPS (wasn’t thinking of a foreign phrase and so became hung up on the two-letter word being “ME”).
Thanks both
Good fun; nothing too taxing. Only the parsing of CRYSTAL PALACE defeated me. It shouldn’t have — it’s pretty straightforward.
Concur with KVa’s parsing of PROGNOSIS.
Just to note in between Database Errors that it is the third time that we have seen this grid inside a week: Vulcan used it on Monday and Vlad on Thursday, It’s odd how there sometimes occur repeated occurrences of the same grid within only a few days of each other.
I also enjoyed Annus Horriblis.
I had to reveal SMETANA because I’ve never heard of him, and it was otherwise impossible to get from the crossers (all the vowels, and the consonants could have been in any order, for all I knew). I understood what it was asking of me though, so all good there I suppose.
Other than 24A a great quiptic. With all the crossers in place I had a one in six chance of getting the nho composer, I did not! I dislike having to rely on google knowledge so really feel the cryptic element of the clue should be unambiguous for something as random/obscure as this (although am sure he will be known to some).
Anyway, thanks both for the crossword and blog.
Agree with previous posters: never heard of the composer so the anagram was tricky. Googled a couple of attempts and was right on the second one. I wonder if I have ever heard anything he composed without knowing it? If not, almost wilfully obscure.
I also got PROGNOSIS through it being an anagram of poor signs.
There’s an opera – The Bartered Bride – and a series of tone poems called “Ma Vlast” that are both well known. Vltava from the latter is often played on the radio – you would probably recognise it if you heard it.
The only one I couldn’t parse was 26. Then it was blindingly obvious. I actually drive an estate myself!
PROGNOSIS was my favourite clue here, precisely because the anagram was so well done. I otherwise found this on the tougher side, but that still made for a pleasant and steady solve.
Don’t want to police anyone, and I understand that some setters are irreverent sometimes, but I feel that using Christ’s name in this manner (16a) is a bit too much. It’s not “just a word”…
With respect, Layman@13, I would point out that to those of us who are non-believers or perhaps followers of another religion ‘christ’ is very much just a word, and should not merit special treatment.
[And without wishing to stir the pot (ok maybe just the tiniest bit 😉), doesn’t christ literally – albeit loosely – mean saviour anyway? So I think the setter’s on very solid ground. It was a title rather than a name, wherefore “the christ child” etc. It really is just a word, albeit one with additional significance for some. The man’s name was – again loosely – Jesus, although in Anglophone cultures that itself is more a title than a name, and so nobody else gets named that there. By contrast, the name’s as common as you like in Hispanic culture for example.]
A very enjoyable solve; had to pop over for the full parsing of a couple (including 1a) but really enjoyed the anagrinds of Dicky and Horribilis.
Thanks to Harpo & Pierre!
In junior high school we has one period a week of music appreciation (what a civilised bit of curriculum — do schools still have them?). The two standard examples of “programme” music were Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King and The Moldau by Smetana. Earworms, anyone?
… had one period …
ARO @14, also with respect, I’m not asking for a special treatment, just for consideration, which should be extended of course to other faiths or lack thereof as well…
The comment @13 was fine for five words, fourteen at a stretch, but then it deteriorated so dramatically as to become a parody of religious intolerance. The less said the better.
Anyway, it was a decent Quiptic, certainly not at the easy end. As Muffin @10 said, Vltava (I just know it as The River, unless I’m getting mixed up) is quite well known and I’m not really a connoisseur.
Thanks Harpo and Pierre
Did anyone else have trunk for 7 down? That seems to work fine to me.
Layman @19. I think you are a bit over sensitive here. I would understand your point if the literal meaning of the clue had been injurious towards Christ or Christians, but it wasn’t.
Martin @20 No, you’re not getting mixed up. The Vltava is the longest river in the Czech Republic and runs through the centre of Prague. It is also sometimes known by its German name, the Moldau, as recollected by grantinfreo @16. I lived in Prague for a number of years, and there, I found, Smetana is more celebrated than his countryman Dvorak, so he was a write-in at 24a. His name means ‘cream’ in Czech, so he is one of those composers, like Verdi, whose mystique is somewhat impaired if you translate their name.
I also thought there were a few tricky clues, in that it was difficult to identify what sort of clue I was solving. Once I got a handle on that, the solution came easily enough
I liked solved, smetana, antoninus, molar, silly and prognosis
Like others, I missed parsing fresh as a daisy. I thought power steering was pretty loose
Thanks Harpo and Pierre
Great puzzle with some fun clues but other than a heavy helping of anagrams not sure what differentiates this from a weekday puzzle.
Enjoyed PROGNOSIS, LAP DANCES and ISLINGTON
Thanks Harpo and Pierre
I enjoyed that one though not the easiest of quiptics. Some nice clues and well hidden anagrams. I was happy to have been able to parse them all eventually. It took a while for me to figure out what was going on with 1a!
As others have said, the anagram for 24a is no use if you don’t know the composer. I don’t think the composer is too obscure but it would have been nice to have more help from the wordplay or crossers to get there.
Did anyone else think that 26 wasn’t very cryptic?
Thanks to Harpo and Pierre
Re added comment on clue 5d – what is a “reverse” anagram?! Surely they are all just anagrams?
Mac@27
PROGNOSIS
What, when bad, could offer poor signs?
It’s a reverse anagram because the cryptic reading
becomes: What (PROGNOSIS) when bad (anagrammed) could offer ‘poor signs’?
An anagram of the solution (PROGNOSIS) gives us poor signs. That’s a reverse
process compared to the usual way of anagramming some letters from the clue
to get the solution.
Enjoyed this Quiptic. Got ANTONINUS from crossers and general knowledge and didn’t twig ’horribilis’ as an anagrind so glad to have it explained here – doh! Thanks Harpo and Pierre.
Got there fairly easily. After reading some comments, I went back over it and noticed a lot of general knowledge stuff (more so than usual?). RIDDLER, SMETANA, CRYSTAL PALACE, ANTONINUS, ISLINGTON. Could definitely not be someone’s lucky day…
Thanks S&B
Very much enjoyed this.
Didn’t get RIDDLER at all though. Seems to be some obscure American GK (‘comic’ would surely have been better?). But what’s the poking holes? I’m very familiar with a riddle for sifting stones from soil, say.
As for ‘Christ’, it’s his title not his name – and emphatically not his surname as many use it. As a regular churchgoer I am very happy with the clue. And I am delighted that Christians are happy for this; woe betide anybody using a certain other religion’s founder as a crossword clue, mind.
Not sure you’ll see this James but the RIDDLER clue is playful, thus the question mark. If something is full of holes it can be said to be “riddled” with them so ciuld a riddler be someone doing that? In dictionary terms, no.
Very enjoyable Quiptic and great blog. I liked Smetana and Antoninus. Struggled for ever with Fresh as a Daisy! Thanks Harpo and Pierre.
KVa@27 the clue leads one to anagram the letters of ‘poor signs’ to get prognosis.To me, saying ‘anagram xyz to find the answer’ and ‘if you anagram the answer you’ll get xyz’ are essentially saying the same thing.
Either way you are taking the letters of one word (or two in this case) and rearranging them to get another. The concept of one approach being the “reverse” of the other makes no sense to me. Prognosis is an anagram of poor signs and poor signs is an anagram of prognosis. I don’t see that one is “forwards” and the other is “reverse”, but wwik.
Mac@34. Does this help?
Sorry. Try Crosswords Unclued. Reverse Anagrams.
Martin @32 thanks; am kicking self!
And of course I will come back to see it! Thank you!
Very much a mixed bag this week with 12A, 14A and 8D eluding me albeit the first two I could parse OK once I had revealed the answers. No hope in hell of parsing 1A or 8D though even with the answer and had to look up 24A even with all the crossers in place.
Definitely felt on the upper end of the difficulty scale to me but still easier than this weeks Everyman which is just impenetrable this week.
Geybones@11, I didn’t make the connection of estate with a car! Duh!
Balfour@24 nice to know Smetana means ‘cream’ in Czech. 😊
Paddymelon@36, I’m off to check out Crosswords Unclued.
and Pierre/Harpo …
Thanks to all!
Took us a while to get going on this one but got there in the end. Didn’t understand the “estate” in 26A until I saw Greybones’ comment and remembered from my childhood in England that that’s what we call a station wagon in Australia…. Some very enjoyable clues – loved Prognosis.