I’m always pleased to see Orlando’s name when I open up a Quiptic. We haven’t seen much of him recently, but here he has given us a delightful puzzle to start the cryptic week. If there is anything I haven’t explained fully, just ask.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Two beastly males providing stiff fabric
BUCKRAM
A simple charade, of BUCK and RAM to get us going, giving the stiff cotton cloth often used in bookbinding.
5 Play with numbers
MUSICAL
You don’t get many cds in the Quiptic, but here’s one.
9 Titleholder, excluding a single Tory leader
BARONET
A charade of BAR for ‘excluding’ (‘all the candidates for the Tory leadership, bar none, are useless’), ONE and T.
10 Take on US prison where child may be behind bars
PLAYPEN
A charade of PLAY for ‘take on’ and PEN for ‘prison’. I think the US bit is just telling us that this is mainly American usage.
11 Fashionable perfume, fundamentally
IN ESSENCE
A charade of IN and ESSENCE.
12 Severely criticise traditional Sunday lunch
ROAST
A dd.
13 Twig, for example, brought back by bird
GET IT
A reversal of EG and TIT. No bird link because the bird is not the answer, before you ask.
15 A net helps wild animals
ELEPHANTS
(A NET HELPS)*
17 Down with legal document constraining journalists
DEPRESSED
An insertion of PRESS in DEED.
19 Clegg’s cuts?
NICKS
A dd, referencing NICK Clegg, the former LibDem leader.
22 I’d quit the Sunshine State for this girl
FLORA
FLOR[ID]A
23 Place to eat pastry that’s brought back to Rhode Island area
TRATTORIA
A charade: Orlando is asking you to reverse TART, then add TO, RI and A.
25 Non-combatant lacking distinctive features
NEUTRAL
Another dd.
26 Former opener for Essex enters punctually
ONE-TIME
An insertion of E for the first letter of ‘Essex’ in ON TIME.
27 Traitor’s initial motive for his crime
TREASON
A charade of T and REASON.
28 Sign of life after sappers drive back
REPULSE
A charade of RE for Royal Engineers or ‘sappers’ and PULSE.
Down
1 Hope and Crosby going up and down
BOBBING
A charade of BOB Hope and BING Crosby. Clever clue, since the two actors performed together in the ‘Road to’ films.
2 Present flower
CURRENT
A dd.
3 Tears as leading character in romance dies
RENDS
A charade of R for the first letter of ‘romance’ and ENDS.
4 “True men” is false!
MUTINEERS
(TRUE MEN IS)* The anagrind is ‘false’, and I will explain for those still on the nursery slopes that this is an &lit clue. Short for ‘and literally so’, it means that the wordplay in the clue leads you, as usual, to the solution; but the whole clue is the definition. Hard to do well, but when it is done well, as here, it’s time to give the setter a pat on the back.
5 Old man in one sort of tree has to climb another
MAPLE
An insertion of PA in ELM, all reversed. The answer by implication ‘another tree’.
6 Marine creature lookin’ round the bend?
SEA URCHIN
Took me a while to see this: it’s an insertion of U for a type of ‘bend’ in SEARCHIN’.
7 Leader in a pact that’s been arranged
CAPTAIN
(IN A PACT)*
8 Cough mixture was our connection, we hear
LINCTUS
A homophone of LINKED US.
14 He’s among group of stars in reference book
THESAURUS
The setter is inviting you to insert HES in the constellation TAURUS.
16 Try shuffling over a dune
ENDEAVOUR
(OVER A DUNE)*
17 Expired time after amusement in December
DEFUNCT
An insertion of FUN in DEC followed by T.
18 Obtain professional medical treatment
PROCURE
A charade of PRO and CURE.
20 Princess gets stuck into pink drink
CORDIAL
An insertion of DI in CORAL pink. I keep telling setters that she’s dead and wasn’t that important anyway, but they take no notice.
21 Cat sees bats about one in the morning
SIAMESE
An insertion of I and AM in (SEES)* The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the anagrind is ‘bats’.
23 Not a lonely part for a hooker?
TALON
No, not that sort of hooker, but the bird feature in raptors. Hidden in noT A LONely.
24 Belgian city ignoring an ass
TWERP
[AN]TWERP. Not sure I’d use TWERP and ‘ass’ interchangeably.
Many thanks to Orlando for this morning’s Quiptic.
Oi’ll give it foive!
A fun crossword. It’s funny what one can and cannot parse. I didn’t see how maple worked at all (thanks Pierre!), but got sea-urchin immediately.
For cryptic beginners, I think that an explanation of flower is due: this is something that flows rather than something that blooms. (I went on a hunt through flower and river nemes beginning with c before realising that current is the technical term for flow. Duh…!)
Thanks Orlando and Pierre
Great fun. Though a fan of the “Road” films, I’ve never noticed BOB BING before! MUSICAL and TALON my other favourites.
Nick Clegg is a bit past it for a reference, isn’t he? I say this because my first thought was Last of the Summer Wine!
Thanks Pierre for the clear explanation, particular of the &lit clue.
That should be ‘particularly’ of course.
I found this a tad difficult, at least for US solvers, with twig, Clegg and linctus all being unfamiliar.
As for Di being unimportant, I’ll represent the LGBT community and just say speak for your own damn self.
4d is a gem of an &lit.
Nick Clegg is certainly familiar to this US solver. His time in the leadership wasn’t that long ago, and he was in the news all the time then, even over here.
I didn’t know the word “linctus”, but it was quite gettable from the wordplay, and now I do know it.
Thanks to Orlando and Pierre!
(I should have said “from the wordplay and the crossers”, of course.)
Ted @7
Ah, but do you know Compo, Clegg and Foggy? Last of the Summer Wine was a (very) long-running TV sitcom over here.
No, I certainly don’t. I’ve heard the phrase “Last of the Summer Wine”, but I had no idea what it referred to, and those three names are completely unfamiliar.
1973 to 2010! See here.
Thanks both,
A non-calorific treat to go with my after dinner coffee.
@BlueDot: stick with Dorothy. She was equally glamorous but more intelligent.
Found nursery slopes comment a bit patronising
Hey, Pierre, what about the elephant bird.
Just checking, Gaufrid has stopped the “preview comments” option, but it was very useful to check if references came up properly.
Thank you Orlando and Pierre.
I’m sorry, Ian, I didn’t mean it to be patronising. Just a reference to the fact that the Quiptic markets itself as being compiled for beginners, so for those that are on the ‘nursery slopes’ of cryptic solving I thought an explanation of &lits might be useful. Alison found it so.
I failed to solve 5a, 8d and BUCKRAM was a new word for me.
My favourites were sea urchin + bobbing
Thanks B+S
Hi all. This was my first cryptic / quiptic crossword (I recently read a book about how you are supposed to solve them). Took half a day but managed to get all except 9A and 2D.
@charmmeth – cheers for the explanation of 2D – I was scratching my head over that…
Welcome, james m, and thanks for commenting. Keep trying with the Quiptic – doesn’t matter if you don’t finish every week. Practice and all that …