I have solved and blogged enough Anto puzzles for regular readers to know that I am not a fan of his Quiptic offerings, so I will present you with the blog this morning and let you make of the puzzle what you will.
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 Status of lager and porter perhaps in battle of the beers?
BITTER RIVALS
A cd.
8 On the way home by coach
IN TRAIN
A charade of IN for ‘home’ and COACH for ‘train’. ‘She coaches/trains the U-11 team.’
9 Criminal’s gun worn out
WRONG’UN
(GUN WORN)* with ‘out’ as the anagrind.
11 Drug causes his getting covered in mess
HASHISH
An insertion of HIS in HASH. The insertion indicator is ‘getting covered in’.
12 Pull legislation related to TV show?
DRAG ACT
A charade of DRAG and ACT. For the definition, you have to read TV as ‘transvestite’.
13 Puts order on military divisions?
RANKS
A dd.
14 Half-baked notion EU gave aid at random
VAGUE IDEA
(EU GAVE AID)* with ‘at random’ as the anagrind.
16 Health service asset pursued by unscrupulous law firms
AMBULANCE
A cd. No-win no-fee legal firms that advertise on the TV and elsewhere are often referred to as ‘ambulance chasers’.
19 Embrace son that’s been taken in hand
CLASP
An insertion of S in CLAP. The insertion indicator is ‘that’s been taken in’.
21 Urinals shut in the centre? Very loudly becomes annoyed
IN A HUFF
A charade of IN A and HU for the central letters of urINAls and sHUt, and FF for the musically ‘very loudly’.
23 Outing by meadow gets the best rating
TRIPLE A
A charade of TRIP and LEA.
24 Where art is largely represented
GALLERY
(LARGELY)* with ‘represented’ as the anagrind, and a cad.
25 Calm down gorilla by feeding it some vegetables?
APPEASE
An insertion of PEAS in APE, with the not entirely adequate ‘by feeding it’ as the insertion indicator.
26 Sex show lets people know what’s expected
GENDER REVEAL
A charade of GENDER and REVEAL for the name of the event where proud parents let the world know whether they’re having a little boy (blue theme) or little princess (pink theme).
Down
1 Interrupts victim over offence
BUTTS IN
A charade of BUTT and SIN.
2 Thomas occasionally stops working with these creeps
TOADIES
A charade of TOA for the odd letters of ‘Thomas’ and DIES.
3 In Devon, he set out for big city
EINDHOVEN
(IN DEVON HE)* with ‘set out’ as the anagrind.
4 Quarrelled when posting up some codewords
ROWED
Hidden reversed in coDEWORds.
5 Break instrument giving it hollow timbre
VIOLATE
A charade of VIOLA and TE for the outside letters of ‘timbre’.
6 A horse carrying fat is a slow one
LAGGARD
An insertion of A GG in LARD. The insertion indicator is ‘carrying’. GG is crosswordspeak for ‘horse’: a child might call a horse a GEE-GEE.
7 Undemanding book turned over makes it easier on the eye
LIGHT READING
If LIGHT READING were turned over it would result in READING LIGHT. But in an example of the way this setter plays fast and loose with definitions, ‘makes it easier on the eye’ is not a definition of READING LIGHT.
10 Charlie and Victor create personal history using it
NATO ALPHABET
Another very vague definition. Charlie and Victor represent C and V in the NATO ALPHABET.
15 Superior source of freshwater?
GREAT LAKE
A dd. Lake Superior is a GREAT LAKE.
17 Raised words due to awful libel about artist …
BRAILLE
An insertion of RA in (LIBEL)* The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the anagrind is ‘awful’.
18 … a musician being noisy having inhaled half of reefer
LOU REED
An insertion of REE[FER] in LOUD. The insertion indicator is ‘having inhaled’.
19 Fast food outlet puts flake on pastry
CHIPPIE
A charade of CHIP and PIE.
20 Everyone’s welcoming singular type of precipitation
ALL HAIL
I can’t make sense of this. Everyone is welcoming could be ALL HAIL; if there was only one type of precipitation it would be ALL HAIL. But where is the definition?
22 Risk initiating fall lifting your elderly relative
FLYER
The initial letters of the last five words of the clue.
Many thanks to Anto for this week’s Quiptic.
One of Anto’s best with the perimeter clues particularly pleasing and I also liked VAGUE IDEA, AMBULANCE, IN A HUFF, EINDHOVEN, BRAILLE and LOU REED. Certainly a test as a quiptic but fairly clued throughout. CV is referring to curriculum vitae in NATO ALPHABET, therefore personal history.
Ta Anto & Pierre.
Thanks Anto and Pierre
I was baffled by ALL HAIL too. EINDHOVEN is a long way down a list of cities that spring to mind.
The insertion for LAGGARD seems the wrong way round. It could be read as “on top of”, but that would give LARDGG!
[WRONG ‘UN reminded me of cricket commentary – it can refer to a googly. Sub-continental commentators, whose English is better than most of the English ones, can’t bring themselves to say this, and always instead say “wrong one”.]
I didn’t realise this was Anto until I came here. I really enjoyed the range of clue types used (not just charades, anagrams and insertions) and don’t mind a bit of looseness in definitions. It all made sense though I couldn’t see how a DRAG ACT was a TV show – I get it now.
Quite tough and I don’t think this puzzle belongs in the Quiptic slot.
Favourite: LIGHT READING.
I could not parse 12ac (forgot that TV=transvestite); 16ac, 22d ( did not know that FLYER=risk).
Hi muffin@2 – as a non-Brit, Eindhoven sprang to my mind more quickly than many small British cities (as well as towns and villages) that often appear in the puzzles here! With a population of approx. 250,000 Eindhoven is bigger than all but about 30 out of 1045 cities in the UK. And there are MANY on the list of 1045 UK cities that I have never heard of.
See https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/united-kingdom
Of course, it is all relative – many/most UK cities would barely class as a village in many countries of Asia or Africa 😉
This time I was simultaneously pleased that Anto tries to stretch what kind of wordplay is allowed–it’s truly wordplay, where most setters rely principally on letterplay–and annoyed at all of the things that were annoying. These include some not-so-cryptic cryptic definitions, some very vague indications that pass as definitions, and that general looseness that makes Anto a poor fit for this slot. This should have run on a Tuesday, is what I’m saying.
GREAT LAKE I took to be a single, cryptic definition, and not so cryptic at that. For ALL HAIL, the phrase means “everyone welcome,” so there’s almost a definition.
I agree with Muffin that the clue for LAGGARD is ass-backward.
I am surprised that both ambulance chasers and gender-reveal parties have found their way to your shores. Both of those annoyances seem so uniquely American.
Thanks, Pierre, for the useful, if reluctant, blog, and Anto for the puzzle.
I found this a decent enough Quiptic. I didn’t think NATO ALPHABET was “vaguely clued” – it seemed direct enough to me. Agreed that EINDHOVEN is more than a bit obscure to be clued just as “big city”: wiki gives its population as a touch under 250k, which hardly puts it into the Beijing league. ALL HAIL – yes, a touch woolly.
But I liked WRONG’UN, IN A HUFF and several others, not least BRAILLE for its smooth surface and devious definition.
Swings and roundabouts, then!
Thank you for the blog.
In 1d, where does BUTT come from?
Hi Steffen
A “butt” of a practical joke, for instance, would be a victim. Google “butt of the joke” for examples.
Michelle, you posted while I was drafting. The clue defines Eindhoven as a “big” city. The USA has approximately 90 cities larger than Eindhoven, including several that a UK crossword editor would ding as too obscure. (The one that sprang to my mind, being an Indiana boy, was “that’s about the size of Fort Wayne”. Fort Wayne, it turns out, is slightly larger.) So, how big is “big”?
To be sure, yes, we are too often expected to know obscure villages in Shropshire and so on. That part really annoys me too.
Still, the bottom line is that Eindhoven has its famous football team, which enhances its prominence, making it fair game.
I am more absorbed than perhaps I should be in the dynamics of certain grids. This is the same one that Vulcan used last Monday, and as I remarked then, it is notable for the number of seven-letter lights – 16 out of 28. The grid thus breaks down into 16×7, 4×10, 4×9 and 4×5. Ok – I’ll get my anorak …
[mrpenney@9
I agree with you that Eindhoven is not a “big” city but it is all relative. In this case, I guess the setter with their Brit-centric POV considers Eindhoven a big city as it would be #30 or so on a list of 1,045 British cities so that makes it “big” ?
Btw, in the past I lived in Jakarta, Indonesia which is now the world’s most populous city, with nearly 42 million residents.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2025/11/press-release-wup2025/
That’s my idea of a big city! ]
Michelle@11 what makes you think there are 1045 cities in the UK? There are 76!
mrpenney@9 et al. : re EINDHOVEN. I would have had no quibble had it been clued as “Dutch city” or similar, but “large city” with the whole wide world to go at…? Though, to be fair, there aren’t that many anagrams of “In Devon he”.
I think the most recent small British town to appear was Shepton Mallet, which AFAIR was specified as being English and was clued as an anagram, so I thought it was OK. But then it’s a place I know fairly well.
I look forward to the day when NEMPNETT THRUBWELL is clued just as “village”!
> I can’t make sense of this. Everyone is welcoming could be ALL HAIL; if there was only one type of precipitation it would be ALL HAIL. But where is the definition?
Is this like some kind of vague double cryptic definition?
Also, I felt the same way as others about the horse carrying lard being the wrong way round, but then thought more about how horses carry loads, and it is often in saddle bags, or similar, that hang either side of the horse.
And I read GREAT LAKE as a charade – superior = great, source of freshwater = lake, where the clue was also a vague definition.
[Me@13: I find that ” Maniac Trump went hellbent for Somerset village (8,9)” would work…]
But DerekTheSheep @15 – but that would be like me reckoning a clue for MELCOMBE BINGHAM, BINGHAM’S MELCOMBE, PIDDLETRENTHIDE or RYME INTRINSECA are fair game (all found in Dorset).
I am usually relieved not to be blogging Anto in the Quiptic spot, because explaining how some of the vaguer clues work is a challenge – but solving for myself I find him entertaining, even as I shrug at some of the cryptic definitions. But I do continue to wonder why he is so regularly in this spot
Thank you to Pierre and Anto.
Clues too annoying – didn’t bother finishing it.
It seems to me that the blogger’s antipathy towards this setter is more than apparent in his blogging.
25a If you feed agorilla with peas, they would be inside it.
7d The purpose of a reading light is surely to “make it easier on the eye”.
10d Pierre has not explained the personal history part of the clue, so I do not see this as a vague definition.
20d Isn’t the definition simply “Everyone’s welcoming”?
I thought this was just right for a Quiptic.
Thanks setter and blogger
Unlike most I found this to be a fair quiptic., if a little tougher than most and none the worst for that.
All in all a nice workout for a Sunday morning, my COD was LOU REED but I will admit to being a fan.
Thanks to Anto and Pierre.
I thought this was one of the more fun crosswords I’ve experienced from The Guardian. As mrpenny points out, this was truly a wordplay crossword and it was a blast. Surprised to read this bloggers distaste for it, as I had no problem with any of the definitions – seems like this blogger was carrying some bias against the setter that has coloured their opinion on this crossword.
Thanks Anto and Pierre.
This was very tricky for me, although I got there in the end, but even having read the helpful blog, I don’t feel I have fully understood NATO ALPHABET, although I guessed it from “Charlie and Victor” and the crossers.
Thank you Muffin @8
Rachel @21
As AlanC says @1, Charlie and Victor in the NATO ALPHABET give CV; this is used as an abbreviation for Curriculum Vitae (CV is far more common than the full expression!). This is the “personal history” in the clue.
Like Fozzykins, I thought this was fun and no less a Quiptic than many others I’ve tried. I loved LIGHT READING/READING LIGHT and figured out EINDHOVEN from the anagram letters and crossers. I have no idea where it is but it sort of rang a bell. I feel quite sorry for Anto, whoever he/she is!
Rachel@21, following Muffin@23: “CV” is UK common usage for what elsewhere might be a “Resumé” – i.e. what you’d submit with a job application. A classic (?) example is found here (and in many other places).
What made this a tough quiptic?
I count 4 britishisms… “In train”, rowed, chippie and flyer. Possibly, Eindhoven is a fifth as it is not a well known city in NA.
There are 6 insertions and 5 charades. These are harder for beginners, I think. I missed laggard because I forgot about “GG”, but mostly fair, if more frequent than in other quiptics.
Two questions involved cryptic-specific knowledge: Laggard ( gg) and Nato Alphabet.
There were a few unusual constructions, or blended constructions ( eg Thomas).
And some clues were very loose…. How is “Great Lake” a DD? It;s more like a dd with the clue as definition? This makes it harder because there are two levels to worry about, or am I missing something? “Reading light” is messy, as is “all hail”.
But overall, it took a minute, but I was able to finish all but 4 which is not terrible for me.
I enjoyed this–favorite clue was TRIPLE A. Though I came here looking for an explanation for ALL HAIL and I’m not sure I’m enlightened. Is it that if there is only a singular type of precipitation it might be ALL HAIL, and then “Everyone’s welcoming” is the definition?
mrpenney@9: When beginning to read your comment I was thinking “But what about all the tiny British villages?” and then you brought it up! I sometimes mentally compare them to towns of the same population in Vermont, though most of those are named after UK places anyway. DerekTheSheep@13: Quibble with Shepton Mallet–the clue included something like “cool” and the first vowel was uncrossed, so I had SHIPTON MALLET until I looked it up. Eindhoven at least I’ve heard of!
DerekTheSheep@25: CV is also universally used in US academia; here I think it’s basically a CV in academia and a résumé elsewhere. I appreciated that the NATO alphabet, which gets put to so much work in these, gets to shine as an answer!
Thanks Anto, Pierre, and the commenters!
I suppose if a weather forecaster said “it will be all hail tomorrow”, she means “no rain or snow”, so only one type of precipitation. I still don’t think it’s a good clue, though.
Tough for a quiptic, I think – some of the weekday puzzles last week were easier. But a delight; I can stand some vagueness in the clues if it results in nice wordplay – that includes all the perimeter clues. Also liked BRAILLE and TRIPLE A. Thanks Anto and Pierre!
matt w @27: SHEPTON MALLET – thanks for that, I’d forgotten the exact clue; should have looked it up.
CV / résumé – again, thanks for clarification; though I’ve worked a lot with US academics, I’ve never been involved on either side of the selection process on that side of the Atlantic.
robjoswel @26: it seems to be a continuing debate as to what level of “Britishisms” are acceptable in a crossword in a UK newspaper that’s gone online and international. My view is that there’s a traditional body of knowledge and lore, understandably very UK-centric, which is part of the deal of doing such a crossword; but which is shifting and expanding all the time, and that’s no bad thing – it keeps everyone on their toes. “Opinions may vary”…
It would of course ease the lot of the transatlantic solvers were the USA and Canada to join the majority of the (majority) English-speaking world and embrace cricket as a “proper” sport. According to the Gruan, this may already be happening.
I thought this was hard for a quiptic, but then I’ve never been able to discern an appreciable difference in difficulty between the quiptic and the Monday cryptic. Enjoyable Sunday afternoon fare with Anto yet again failing to grind my gears. Thought LIGHT READING and NATO ALPHABET were excellent.
20d. I thought singular meant “strange” or “remarkable” in this context so that ALL HAIL is an unusual type of precipitation.
I found the prize crossword easier than this crossword. I had never heard of the GENDER REVEAL parties. It’s unsurprisingly a rather recent US phenomenon.
A few clues were not following the usual clue construction, but I quite liked this throwing off the shackles of cryptic crossword rules. I thought this was good fun.
“For beginners and those in a hurry”.
I’m neither – which is just as well for this one took me an eternity to complete.
A perfectly acceptable crossword, for the most part, but definitely not a quiptic.
On a separate note: Pierre is one of my favourite bloggers, and his restraint in today’s blog is admirable. If the site rules consider it unacceptable to criticise a setter, the same should apply to posters who accuse hard-working, unpaid bloggers of “carrying a bias”…
Thank you Pierre, and Anto.
Probably too late for this blog, but I am struggling to see why Eindhoven is a “big” city. I googled its number if inhabitants, and is is around 300,000 – 400,000. Even for the Netherlands not really a big city… Apart from this quibble, a great puzzle. I particularly liked the long ones around the periphery. Thanks, Anto and Pierre
Anto strikes again seemingly with lots of divided opinions. I found lots of it fell into place neatly and then some of it didn’t, but all in all it felt fairly clued for a challenging Quiptic – which is typical Anto IMO. Lots to chuckle about, I especially liked AMBULANCE. Thanks Anto and thanks Pierre (despite your reservations).
@DerektheSheep… I don’t at all mind the Briticisms, it’s just one of many quirks in solving these puzzles rather than, say, a sudoku. But it makes them harder for some of us.
I went into this with some apprehension upon seeing it was Anto, but got them all in with some help of the check button. Horse for GG was new to me and TV for transvestite was also unfamiliar. Given that “transvestite” is generally regarded as a distasteful word these days I wouldn’t have guessed at that parsing.
As for Britishcisms in a British paper’s puzzle… totally fair game IMO. The NYT puzzles are full of Americanisms!
Thanks Pierre and Anto
I thought it was straightforward and am surprised at the reaction. Sometimes it’s the other around of course.
Is a blogger telling us he’s not a fan of a setter really setting the right tone? Yesterday we had a setter rating a commenter. It’s going to be a battle royale soon – which briefly looked liked fitting 1A, though obviously for no good reason.
I used to go to Eindhoven a lot. Odd place, dominated by Philips (and PSV of course). Not huge, but I got it from one letter (V).
Thanks Anto, I liked it. Thanks Pierre.
Thank you to MrPenney #5 for pointing-out that Anto offers us WORDplay rather than LETTERplay – which really gets up my nose as a developing Quipticioner. So I was pleased to see Anto here as today’s setter, even though I knew this meant it was going to take me all day – which it did!
Great stuff, probably my favourite in the Guardian this week.
Agree with others though this seemed too tricky for a Quiptic with some tough wordplay in parts. I think anyone completing this could have finished atleast 3/5 of the midweek puzzles and probably the prize.
Really enjoyed the perimeter clues in this.
Thanks Anto and Pierre
Thank you Pierre for your blog, and for all your work and the pleasure you bring us. Hopefully a little birdie will bring you some cheer in the New Year.
I think Anto is a wavelength or personal preference thing, as with other setters and clue types. I like Anto’s sense of fun, and prefer ”word play” to “letter play” (eg, a string of abbreviations stuck together, or components re-arranged without much wit or humour). There are similar reactions to Vulcan, our fortnightly Monday setter. I like his cryptic clues, often verging on Christmas-cracker-type jokes. But when there are a few cryptic and double definitions bundled together, it can make them difficult to solve. (It’s Monday here now, not long before the crossie is up, but I expect it won’t be Vulcan as he was here last week. I wait in anticipation.)
I go along with muffin’s interpretation @ 28 of ALL HAIL.
I read GREAT LAKE as a cryptic definition, as may have been indicated by the QM.
Amongst many clues, I liked BRAILLE for the definition, raised letters, and the gettable wordplay. FLYER was unfamiliar to me in the sense of risk, but the wordplay was undeniable, initiating fall lifting your elderly relative which resonated with me, as I’ve had several falls requiring the AMBULANCE to attend. Made me laugh. I’ll consider myself a ”flyer” now, although not an elegant or capable one. (Am working on ways to avoid the crash landings).
Happy and healthy holidays to all.
I enjoyed this. Hard but fair. I wasn’t sure Pierre got the subtlety of light reading, and a reading light that would make any light reading easier to read. Nor the CV.
The subtlety of CV passed me by, I have to say, so a fair enough clue. But there is no subtlety missed in LIGHT READING, in my opinion. ‘Makes it easier on the eye’ is not a definition of READING LIGHT. It’s what a reading light does, and then it’s down to whether you are prepared to accept that in the context of a cryptic clue.
And Martin #39, you can always look forward to the day when AI will write a tone-free blog for you and give you all the parsings without passing an opinion about whether it was enjoyable or not, or suitable as a Quiptic. Most of us do crosswords for entertainment and love of words, not for patting ourselves on the back for getting 28 out of 28 for the parsing. And some of us are going to love some crosswords more than others, and then be informed and engaged by others disagreeing with us.
Lovely and lively Quiptic, enjoyed the wordplay
I’m with those who think Anto’s a mood/wavelength setter, and I don’t have a problem with that in the Quiptic slot; there’s no reason why Quiptics shouldn’t be varied just like the midweeks are – in fact it makes for a more realistic taste of the next step up.
I’ve picked out certain clues of his in the past which have not IMO been Quiptic (and have attempted to explain why). I didn’t think today was problematic though, and I enjoyed the puzzle and its unique style. Sure there are some attempts at cryptic wordplay that might not be to everyone’s taste but I do think they work in a whimsical way. And the thing about cryptic wordplay (CD) is that it seems not to elicit a beginner vs expert division but rather a wavelength one. I’m often surprised when expert solvers on here state they’ve struggled with the CD clues.
Wellbeck@34 I’ll beg to differ here. I think our blogger’s distaste came through too strong, and to echo the previous comment I’m not convinced he saw the depth of a couple of the cryptic wordplay clues (or at least wasn’t motivated to explain it) and yet we know he is a very highly experienced and capable blogger and solver (and of course I’m grateful to him and all our bloggers). I think it should be left to the commentators to be the baying crowd.
In a similar vein, re Martin@39’s observation, I found Tramp’s comments on here yesterday a little extraordinary (whether or not one agrees that there was an element of trolling going on).
As for specific clues, I took the GG to be carrying the LARD in saddle-bag style as Xopher@43said, and wasn’t bothered by the big city; the V gave it away.
Thanks both
[Edit to note that Ive just seen Pierre’s latest comment, after having written this one]
I continue to think that Anto has no clue about how to set a Quiptic
I enjoyed the puzzle and the explanation … tv was new for me. Thank you Pierre. I thought this a fair quiptic and I can see, in the light of the comments, how the setter has bent the rules and how annoying some find this. I was just glad to nearly complete.
I thought this hard but most enjoyable. Thank you Pierre for your trials.
All Hail, Macbeth! It’s ALL one thing, hence ‘singular’. That seemed obvious to me.
I’m not sure I agree with this though “Where art is largely represented
GALLERY (LARGELY)* with ‘represented’ as the anagrind, and a cad.”
The definition is ‘where art is’. You can’t represent art, only an artist! And largely doesn’t make any sense at all, does it?
Fairly straightforward solve, but I sat staring at EINDHOVEN for about as long as it would have taken me to cycle there and back. Talk about staring you in the face…
Took me a few attempts to get through it hence the late comment but I wanted to weigh in on a few debates anyway.
Firstly, a horse carrying fat does sound like it should be lard on the inside or on top but I suppose you can use carrying like an adjective as in card carrying or passenger carrying.
As others have implied, a reading light is a lamp by the bed to make it easier to read, which probably deserved something to indicate a sketchy definition.
RANKS does not equal military divisions even with the ? and then to put something in order is clearly the same word just as a verb.
I wasn’t keen on much of the constructions. For instance 5D, ‘giving it hollow timbre’ seems clumsy. 25A ‘by feeding it some vegetables’ These clues could be phrased so much better. Having said that, once I figured out which clues were cryptic definitions, and the penny dropped I quite enjoyed them. BITTER RIVALS, GENDER REVEAL and NATO ALPHABET are great.
Hi Guys
This is the first time I am posting a comment in real time. I am 75 and semi retired. I shoved my ‘oar into’ this cross word business about 4 years ago. I represent a group on your site that you rarely hear from but there are many of us. I started with Quiptics, then Rufus and Janus and have now begun the whole lot from the back plugging away.
Anto was on my Enemy No 1 list 😂when I was doing Quiptics. But I actually began to get the hang of it. I now look forward to an Anto offering. These days I have a running war with Araucaria and Paul 😂 how these two have been allowed to walk the streets unescorted by HM constabulary beggars belief. But like Anto I’ll learn to cope.
Many of the comments about Anto being too difficult for Quiptics should also remember that many of us were actually challenged enough to go on to the “Sharks” in the cryptic section. This time I actually got all 28 clues in about 20 mins.
So that thank you Anto, Araucaria and Paul and the other Machiavellian setters even if think they were born to torture us all along the way to our graves
Cheers keep well
Allan
New Zealand
Hi Guys
This is the first time I am posting a comment in real time. I am 75 and semi retired. I shoved my ‘oar into’ this cross word business about 4 years ago. I represent a group on your site that you rarely hear from but there are many of us. I started with Quiptics, then Rufus and Janus and have now begun the whole lot from the back plugging away.
Anto was on my Enemy No 1 list 😂when I was doing Quiptics. But I actually began to get the hang of it. I now look forward to an Anto offering. These days I have a running war with Araucaria and Paul 😂 how these two have been allowed to walk the streets unescorted by HM constabulary beggars belief. But like Anto I’ll learn to cope.
Many of the comments about Anto being too difficult for Quiptics should also remember that many of us were actually challenged enough to go on to the “Sharks” in the cryptic section. This time I actually got all 28 clues in about 20 mins.
So that thank you Anto, Araucaria and Paul and the other Machiavellian setters even if think they were born to torture us along the way to our graves
Cheers keep well
Allan
New Zealand