Come on, rise and shine. I know you’ve had an hour less in bed, but there’s a Quiptic to be solved and enjoyed. A good one it was too.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Secure letter for female recluse
ANCHORESS
A rather old-fashioned word, I fancy, which is a charade of ANCHOR and ESS for a transliteration of the letter ‘S’. It’s the female equivalent of ANCHORITE.
10 A pan-European regained consciousness
AWOKE
A charade of A, WOK and E.
11 Unsystematic search for strange version of game
RUMMAGE
A charade of RUM and (GAME)*
12 Mistake over new queen’s drink
PILSNER
A reversal of SLIP followed by N and ER for Brenda.
13 Retired quartet once holding part of score
NOTE
Hidden reversed in quartET ONce.
14 Around noon, bereaved ladies dine in good spot for watching people go by
WINDOW SEAT
An insertion fo N in WIDOWS followed by EAT.
16 Frank almost acquired street
EARNEST
A charade of EARNE[D] and ST.
17 Rescues setter with a plant
FREESIA
A charade of FREES, I and A.
19 Yearn to sail out to meet new daughter here off the coast of New York
LONG ISLAND
A charade of LONG, (SAIL)* N and D.
22 Adds up numbers of small children
TOTS
A dd.
24 Medic with drug rushed to old soldier
VETERAN
A charade of VET, E and RAN.
25 National ballet dancing for sport
NETBALL
(N BALLET)*
26 Standing up before court
ERECT
A charade of ERE for the poetic word for ‘before’ and CT.
27 Joy surrounding English vicar’s first promotion
ELEVATION
An insertion of E and V in ELATION.
Down
1 Novelist heard musical about stage’s ultimate actor
LAURENCE OLIVIER
A charade of LAURENCE for a homophone (‘heard’) of the ‘novelist’ David Herbert LAWRENCE and an insertion of I in OLIVER! for the ‘musical’. Except that doesn’t work, because the clue is telling you to insert (‘about’) E for the last letter of ‘stage’ in OLIVER, which wouldn’t give you OLIVIER. So I am happy to be corrected, but I’m going to call out this one as faulty.
2 Mark making sheath for imitation sword
SCIMITAR
An insertion of IMIT in SCAR.
3 Company artist using source of luminous rock-like substance
CORAL
A charade of CO, RA for ‘artist’ and L.
4 Credit arranged to protect the Spanish down and out
DERELICT
An insertion of EL for one of the Spanish words for ‘the’ in (CREDIT)*
5 Is old shell a crustacean?
ISOPOD
A charade of IS, O and POD. The question mark is there because an ISOPOD is only one type of ‘crustacean’, so it’s a definition by example.
6 Almost agreed to be embraced by female at festive occasion
HALLOWEEN
An insertion of ALLOWE[D] in HEN.
7 Recoil from British cat
BOUNCE
A charade of B and OUNCE for the snow tiger or ‘cat’.
8 Try to start afresh, accepting new place to offer life-changing procedure
HEART TRANSPLANT
A charade of HEAR for ‘try’, N inserted into (START)* and PLANT for ‘place’. The insertion indicator is ‘accepting’ and the anagrind is ‘afresh’.
15 Damage the reputation of dubious diet range
DENIGRATE
(DIET RANGE)*
17 Penalties imposed around political party’s funds
FINANCES
An insertion of ANC for the African National Congress or ‘political party’ in FINES.
18 Cook prosaic about top of dish being irregular
SPORADIC
An insertion of D for the first letter of ‘dish’ in (PROSAIC)* The anagrind is ‘cook’.
20 Head girl found in tree
NUTMEG
A charade of NUT and MEG gives you the ‘tree’ (as well as one of Pan’s co-setters of the Quiptic).
21 Cut organ supported by journalist
LUNGED
Since it’s a down clue, it’s LUNG over ED. There isn’t an organ called the LANC, is there?
23 Roles reversed in band
STRAP
A reversal of PARTS.
Many thanks to Pan for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
Like you (Pierre, that is), my reaction to 1D LAURENCE OLIVIER is that it is a slip. On the other hand, I differ about 5D ISOPOD: they are all crustaceans, so the latter is a good definition. A “definition by example” would be the other way round. At least after a dinner involving two rather good wines, I think so.
I was happy to see my home getting a mention in 19A.
Thanks Pierre and Pan.
I think it’s OLIVIR, a homophone (heard) of OLIVER, though of course thr former is not a real word. Does it have to be, under the crossword rule?
“… the…. rules?”, that is.
Thanks both. I didn’t notice the mistake in 1d, just bunged it in without thinking properly (I think you are being a bit too kind, scchua @ 2/3!). Haven’t heard of IMIT as an abbreviation for imitation.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
I thought 1d was an error too, and I wasn’t keen on IMIT in 2d – is there a source for this abbreviation? Also, strictly, ESS isn’t a letter, it’s the name of a letter (transliteration, as you say).
AWOKE was my favourite. NUTMEG nice too.
LUNGED for cut? Seems a bit loose
Shirl @6
Close enough in fencing, I think.
We crossed at 4 and 5.
Shirt @4. My spanking new (13th edition) Chambers gives imit as an abbreviation for imitation or imitative. (Well, it did once I had separated the pages that must have had folded-down corners that didn’t get cut properly during production…)
Thanks muffin & Blaise
Lunge may seem loose, but if it’s combined with a sabre cut, then it’s acceptable, I suppose. Any fencing experts among you who could clarify?
I didn’t spot the defect in Olivier.A pity.
Thank you, Pierre and Pan.
Seems like OLIVIER is faulty then (I too think you’re being a bit generous, scchua …) I’m always nervous to suggest that explanation in case I’m missing something obvious.
You are nitpicking with your use of ‘strictly’, muffin. ‘Letter’ = ESS. End of.
A most satisfying solve for me today. Many thanks to Pan. I patted myself for thinking of Laurence Olivier, going by “stage’s ultimate actor”, and didn’t bother to parse it.
A possible explanation for 1D: quite a few theatrical commentators have described Olivier as “the greatest actor”. (Especially around the time he died.) I don’t personally agree with that assessment – but I took it as the reason for the use of “ultimate”.
Wellbeck @13 — Your explanation still leaves the I in Olivier unaccounted for, doesn’t it?
To bad about that one slip, because otherwise I thought that this was a very fine cryptic, with a good variety of clues and an appropriate level of difficulty.
I think PeterO is right about the definition by example question. The question mark in 5d is just there for the surface, if I’m not mistaken.
Thanks to Pan and Pierre.
Yes you’re quite right, Ted! I’d already got Veteran – and then I’m afraid I guessed the answer to 1D first and made a stab at parsing it afterwards. Wrong way around, I know – but I’m still something of a novice at this lark.
Too bad about 1D. I tried & tried but could not come up with any reasonable excuse. I’m also not happy about 21D: a lunge might cause a cut but they are certainly not synonyms.
I wasn’t overly optimistic when my FOI was ANCHORESS (goodness knows where I dredged that up from), and so it proved when I was left with about a third of the grid incomplete.
Looking at the answers now there were several more that were well within my ability – a classic case of convincing myself the puzzle is harder than it really is….
Thanks to Pan and Pierre.
For a Quiptic this wasn’t that much easier to solve than today’s cryptic by Brendan. I didn’t notice the error, and was suitably baffled by IMIT, not that I gave it too much thought, but the rest fell, if slowly.