Interesting one in the Quiptic slot from Moley today. What did you think?
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Taking road to renovated cabin in a taxi
MINICAB
A charade of MI for M1, the London to Leeds motorway or ‘road’ and (CABIN)*
5 Performer tears it, unfortunately
ARTISTE
(TEARS IT)*
9 Gum from fixtures inside houses
RESIN
Hidden in fixtuRES INside.
10 Tranquillity of old city shown in design
COMPOSURE
An insertion of UR for the setters’ favourite ‘old city’ in COMPOSE.
11 Paper and envelopes not shifting, we’re told
STATIONERY
A homophone of STATIONARY.
12 Problem so negligible any geek, primarily, could solve it
SNAG
The first letters of the second, third, fourth and fifth words of the clue.
14 Revised cost to king’s agents. those dealing in securities
STOCKBROKERS
There should be a comma, rather than a full stop, in the clue. But it’s (COST)* followed by K and BROKERS.
18 Do high tea for drunk, as a cure for a hangover
HAIR OF THE DOG
(DO HIGH TEA FOR)*
21 Tossed salad endlessly? Oh, dear!
ALAS
Moley is asking you to take the last letter from ‘salad’ and then make an anagram. (SALA[D])*
22 Colour of unusual beard for dead cockney
BROWN BREAD
I learned today that BROWN BREAD is cockney rhyming slang for ‘dead’. This seems to be BROWN plus (BREAD)* but I can’t quite get this to work in what passes for my crossword brain.
25 In case, for a change, everyone at first has connections
ALLIANCES
A charade of ALL and (IN CASE)*
26 Animal discovered within earshot, terrified
OTTER
Hidden in earshOT TERRified.
27 They try out new setters
TESTERS
That’ll be us, then. (SETTERS)*
28 Teams, level at one point, with the Spanish leading
ELEVENS
A charade of EL for one of the Spanish words for ‘the’, EVEN and S for one of the four ‘points’ of the compass.
Down
1 Marsh, a medic, with artist on ship
MORASS
A charade of MO for Medical Orderly or ‘medic’, RA and SS.
2 Mixed saunas in the Bahamas
NASSAU
(SAUNAS)* Some folk don’t like ‘in the Bahamas’ to clue this. I’m on the fence.
3 Prisoner, one on view
CONVICTION
A charade of CONVICT, I and ON. Good surface.
4 Rasher postgraduate study?
BACON
CON is ‘study’, and BA is a ‘graduate’, so I think that Moley is asking us to make a charade of CON after (‘post’) BA.
5 Worthy naval officer going round Britain with Elizabeth
ADMIRABLE
An insertion of B in ADMIRAL followed by E for ‘Elizabeth’, which is the E part of Elizabeth Regina, I suppose, although I’m not keen on that as part of a Quiptic clue.
6 God in authority?
THOR
Hidden in auTHORity, giving you the name of the Norse god who is responsible for the fourth day of the week.
7 Waste squad adopting name with hesitation
SQUANDER
An insertion of N in SQUAD followed by ER.
8 Perk up, as one reneges, sadly
ENERGISE
(I RENEGES)*
13 Chinese game four reportedly ruined to risk everything
GO FOR BROKE
GO is an ancient ‘Chinese game’, then you need a homophone of ‘four’ and BROKE.
15 Cast around: a measure of gold turned up in waterfalls
CATARACTS
I think that this is CARAT reversed in (CAST)*
16 Yokel admits aspiration to get a bird
PHEASANT
An insertion of H for ‘aspiration’, or the consonant that cockneys don’t use when they say ‘OUSE rather than HOUSE, in PEASANT. Here’s the obligatory Pierre bird link. They can barely fly.
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17 Wonders at amazing events
MIRACLES
A dd.
19 The web let fly, a cause of some irritation
NETTLE
A charade of NET and (LET)* with ‘fly’ as the anagrind.
20 Fuss over the navy’s decks
ADORNS
It’s a down clue, so it’s ADO for ‘fuss’ over RNS for ‘the navy’s’. Ignore punctuation, as the advice goes.
23 Used some fretsaws the wrong way, producing rubbish
WASTE
Hidden reversed in frETSAWs.
24 Prestige of footballers and yours truly!
FAME
A charade of FA and ME. For me, the FA and ‘footballers’ aren’t synonymous, but you may disagree.
Many thanks to Moley for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks Moley and Pierre
Nice quiptic, I thought. CATARACTS was my favourite. MIRACLES seems to be the same definition twice, rather than a dd.
Slight misprint in 22a, Pierre – the anagram fodder is BEARD rather than BREAD. Hardly any more challenging!
Thanks both. I thought that this was about right for a Quiptic. I agree with muffin @1 about MIRACLES. I can’t see a problem with BROWN BREAD
I suppose we are expected to read “wonders” as a verb rather than a noun as misdirection. I didn’t though!
I agree that this is a nicely, well-pitched Quiptic. I don’t have any problem with the clue for BROWN BREAD, but like muffin and Shirl I am less happy with the one for MIRACLES.
Thanks, Moley and Pierre.
Thanks Moley and Pierre – I enjoyed this one. Particular favourites were 22a, which made me smile, 1a and 28a.
Didn’t get the “H” from “aspiration” in “Pheasant” until I searched the connection, so I learned something too.
I still don’t know what the setters’ favourite ‘old city’ is. I guess that there is a particular ancient conurbation that is a favourite of crossword setters, but I can’t put a name to it.
Christopher @6
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur
Christopher Clifton @6
(If you are being serious 🙂 ) UR (of the Chaldees) turns up in crosswords a lot. The other “cities” are most frequently EC (postcode for the City of London) and LA.
Christopher @ 6: Ur is the old city being referred to, just as Pierre spelled it. It was a major city of Sumeria. I think biblical Abraham came from there though I may be remembering wrong.
Thanks all for explaining UR to Christopher for the ‘old city’. I’ve been out and just come back to the blog. Is this your first comment, Christopher? If so, welcome.
Thank you Moley and Pierre.
Just right for a Quiptic. I took ‘Tossed’ to be a reversal indicator at 21a, a change from the usual anagram device. The clue for CONVICTION was great, and I also liked those for STATIONERY, CATARACTS, PHEASANT and NETTLE.
Thanks, Pierre and Moley, this was a nice Quiptic to get the week started. At first I thought “around” was doing double duty in CATARACTS until I saw the penultimate word “in”. This grammar for a Quiptic perhaps too tricky is?
Thanks both.
A good Quiptic, but I have the same reservations as others about MIRACLES – the clue is a pair of synonyms for the answer rather than a double definition and so is hardly cryptic. Enjoyable nonetheless, but these synonyms must halt, stop, desist….
Thanks Moley & Pierre.
As you say, brown bread is cockney rhyming slang for “dead”. I took the definition in 22 across to be “dead (cockney)” rather than “dead cockney”. Sometimes you have to add punctuation!