Pasquale is always careful and thoughtful with his offerings for the Quiptic spot.
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 Victor is one getting on, showing imagination
VISION
A charade of V for the phonetic alphabet Victor, IS, I and ON.
4 Very beautiful young woman with police sergeant you spotted outside church
PSYCHE
A charade of PS and an insertion of CH in YE. The insertion indicator is ‘outside’. PSYCHE was the immortal wife of Cupid in legend, and a legendary beauty.
9 You’d hope not to be shocked by this in the bedroom!
ELECTRIC BLANKET
A cd.
10 Carriage that sounds ‘appealing to the eye’
HANSOM
Aural wordplay (‘that sounds’) for HANDSOME.
11 Hidden old boy’s no longer ill
OBSCURED
A charade of OBS and CURED.
12 Doomed loony didn’t see
DESTINED
(DIDNT SEE)* with ‘loony’ as the anagrind.
14 Expects adult was suppressing sex appeal
AWAITS
A charade of A and an insertion of IT for ‘sex appeal’ in WAS. The insertion indicator is ‘suppressing’.
15 Old city region Salvation Army goes round
SPARTA
An insertion of PART in SA. The insertion indicator is ‘goes round’.
18 Knight with spear meeting fate
LANCELOT
A charade of LANCE and LOT.
21 Disloyal types having skill, about to start terrible riots
TRAITORS
A charade of ART reversed and (RIOTS)* The anagrind is ‘terrible’ and ‘to start’ is just indicating the order of the particles.
22 In the morning one George or another is lying in wait
AMBUSH
A charade of AM and BUSH. You have two Georges to choose from when the reference is to the American President.
24 Discover man here being excited by this local dairy product
DEVONSHIRE CREAM
(DISCOVER MAN HERE)* with ‘being excited’ as the anagrind.
25 Fathers admitting right yen for alluring females
DRYADS
An insertion of R and Y in DADS. The insertion indicator is ‘admitting’.
26 PM keeping dry in a shelter
ATTLEE
An insertion of TT in A LEE. The insertion indicator is ‘keeping’. TT is for teetotal or ‘dry’.
Down
1 Very bad period for small community
VILLAGE
A charade of V, ILL and AGE.
2 Gets rid of containers for grain?
SACKS
A dd.
3 Fellows in boat given a sermon surprisingly
OARSMEN
(A SERMON)* with ‘surprisingly’ as the anagrind.
5 18d and I wandering round old European region
SILESIA
(LASSIE I)* with ‘wandering round’ as the anagrind.
6 Cute salon refashioned as diplomatic building
CONSULATE
(CUTE SALON)* with ‘refashioned’ as the anagrind.
7 Always starts to expect severe test in mountain
EVEREST
A charade of EVER and EST for the initial letters of ‘expect’, ‘severe’ and ‘test’.
8 A combination of notes said to bring agreement
ACCORD
A charade of A and aural wordplay (‘said’) for CHORD.
13 Go wrong with modern technology in Conservative district
TERRITORY
An insertion of ERR and IT in TORY. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
16 Herald left on border
PORTEND
A charade of PORT and END.
17 River flooding a road makes one excited
AROUSED
An insertion of OUSE in A RD. The insertion indicator is ‘flooding’.
18 Girl’s story about a ship
LASSIE
An insertion of A and SS in LIE. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
19 Closest home in which to house an army group
NEAREST
An insertion of A and RE for Royal Engineers in NEST. The insertion indicator is ‘in which to house’.
20 One catches wild animal in theatrical location
ONSTAGE
An insertion of STAGE in ONE. The insertion indicator is ‘catches’.
23 Liberty – sadly it is denied female
BERYL
(L[I]BER[T]Y)* with ‘sadly’ as the anagrind.
Many thanks as always to Pasquale for this week’s Quiptic.
Thanks P&P.
Don knows what he’s doing with these, although he did seem in the mood to teach a little Greek mythology to the uninitiated today.
Looking forward to it, thanks.
Looks like no more Everymen for this improving solver ……☹️
Break law, pal? And the first of you will pay dearly! . (7)
À very pleasant accompaniment to a leisurely Sunday breakfast. (So I’m very glad that I didn’t succumb to the “just a little peep” temptation last night.)
So well-balanced that it’s hard to find a stand-out CotD, but DEVONSHIRE CREAM was a nice, natural-sounding surface for a neat anagram.
LOI was PSYCHE, as I had a bit of a block on words starting PS… so much for my Duolingo greek!
Thanks to the Don and to Pierre.
Well-balanced,yes,only the top half of it was.SW and SE corners more suitable for Monday and Tuesday I think?A mixed offering I would say.
Enjoyable puzzle with some wonderful clues.
Favourites: ELECTRIC BLANKET, OBSCURED, AMBUSH, VILLAGE.
Thanks Pierre and Pasquale. Was a good balance of straightforward and requiring thought for a an hour at my level.
Last two in for me were Silesia (new to me) and Psyche (didn’t know the words etymology and YE for you took a long time to occur to me)… it’s nice to get a challenge and a lesson in one.
Having put SHEDS in for 2D thinking it was a slightly clumsy DD I was saved when I saw the anagram at 9A.
Nice Quiptic, thanks Pasquale and Pierre.
@Pierre N.B. STAG not STAGE in 20! (autocorrect error?)
I initially put SIRENS in 25a which works with the wordplay but not the crossers
Very satisfying – a series of appreciative ‘aha’s …
Why is SILESIA an “old” European region? Rather implies that that name for the area that is mainly in SW Poland is no longer used. It is. The Polish version is Śląsk.
I liked PSYCHE, SPARTA, LANCELOT, DRYADS, HANSOM. I had SHEDS for 2d before a crosser killed it. I felt that ELECTRIC BLANKET was a bit loose. Overall, a great quiptic, thanks Pasquale and Pierre!
I rather overthunk 20D, looking for Shakespearian settings. Having O_S_____, what lodged in my mind for too long was ORSINIA, which (a) doesn’t fit the parsing no matter how much I scratched my head, and (b) is Ursula LeGuin, not Shakespeare. It is the right length though…
[Crossbar@11 – at least it wasn’t ESTONIA, which seems to be attempting a bit of a takeover in recent weeks!]
A first attempt at a Quiptic for me, having been practicing on the Quick Cryptics for a while. I found it a big step up but got through it all in the end, with a certain amount of desperate searching of thesaurus and other references.
Rachel@14; Or, more plainly – good one!
Rachel@14; Or, more plainly – good one!
[Apologies for duplication – and truncated congratulatory comment – above. The site seems to have been playing up.]
A mini-theme, perhaps, with DESTINED, PORTEND, VISION and (in clues) “fate” and “doomed”?
Started late, but this is probably my quickest ever solve. Liked Ambush and Attlee – with Portend and Beryl my last ones in. Thanks to Pasquale and Pierre
Lobster darts #9 – me too at 25a, it slowed me down somewhat. I thought the right sided letter in yen was inserted into sires, not seen that wordplay before but thought it parsed and put it in.
Well done Rachel. This wasn’t the most straightforward Quiptic to start on. (I made it harder for myself by pocket typing a V where the R of BERYL was supposed to be.) I also spent some moments trying to parse EVEREST incorrectly.
Good fun. Thanks Pasquale and Pierre.
I smiled at the positioning of PSYCHE and DRYADS.
A nice little mental ramble. Thanks both.
Ps. Well done Rachel.