Guardian Quiptic 960/Carpathian

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A pleasing mixture of straightforward charades, insertions and anagrams, which hit the Quiptic spot for me. What did you beginners think?

 

 

 

 

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 Support advertiser circulating source of unsolicited advice
BACKSEAT DRIVER
A charade of BACK for ‘support’ and (ADVERTISER)* The anagrind is ‘circulating’.

8 Exploit vacuous American jerk
ANTIC
A charade of AN for the outside letters of ‘American’ and TIC.

9 Can the French tax Circle Line?
LAVATORY
A charade of LA, VAT, O and RY for railway or ‘line’.

11 Sweetheart venturing around lake
DARLING
An insertion of L in DARING.

12 Small wrinkle (not medium) causes moral difficulty
SCRUPLE
A charade of S and CRU[M]PLE.

13 Jog naked, covering genitals initially
NUDGE
An insertion of G for the first letter of ‘genitals’ in NUDE.

15 Oldest IT utensil’s content is poor
DESTITUTE
Hidden in olDEST IT UTEnsils.

17 Wizard dines regularly on special plants in Staffordshire
POTTERIES
A charade of POTTER, the Hogwarts hero, IE for the even letters of ‘dines’ and S gives you the factories in Staffordshire, or more precisely in Stoke-on-Trent.

20 Request time to fold
PLEAT
A charade of PLEA and T.

21 Misbehave with alcohol, golf and chanting
SINGING
A charade of SIN, GIN and G for the phonetic alphabet ‘golf’.

23 Fetch twig
REALISE
A dd. ‘I didn’t twig that the picture fetched £250 at auction.’

25 Stick a warning in item of clothing
PINAFORE
A charade of PIN, A and FORE! for the warning given in g**f.

26 Student accommodation holds over two learners
HALLS
An insertion of LL in HAS.

27 A tale about thin ice cracking is no longer relevant
ANCIENT HISTORY
(THIN ICE)* in A STORY with ‘cracking’ as the anagrind.

 

Down

1 Swine, big noise, doctor and idiot get authorisation to fly
BOARDING PASS
A charade of BOAR, DIN, GP and ASS.

2 Supply feline to queen
CATER
A charade of CAT and ER for Brenda, or more properly Elizabeth Regina.

3 Wise man suppressing constant anger and profanity
SACRILEGE
An insertion of C and RILE in SAGE.

4 A Liberal member journalist accused without proof
ALLEGED
A charade of A, L, LEG and ED.

5 Constructs 500 flexible sieves
DEVISES
A charadeof D and (SIEVES)*

6 Bury short trainee
INTER
INTER[N]

7 Repeat run redesigned to thrill
ENRAPTURE
(REPEAT RUN)*

10 Bank to hold fast to smaller amount without mercy
RELENTLESSLY
An insertion of LENT for the Christian ‘fast’ and LESS in RELY.

14 Confinement of Parisian number one trapped by heavy weight
DETENTION
A charade of DE for one of the French words for ‘of’, TEN and I inserted into TON.

16 Disparages that cockney bloke with fruit
IMPEACHES
A charade of IM and PEACHES. ‘That cockney bloke? Yer, ‘im.’

18 Fashionable dress includes bit of ribbing digging into flesh
INGROWN
A charade of IN and R for the first letter of ‘ribbing’ in GOWN. The flesh into which it digs is most often your big toe.

19 Dreadful sound coming from disorganised creches
SCREECH
(CRECHES)*

22 Nationality of independent artist on quiz show
IRAQI
A charade of I, RA for ‘artist’ and QI for the BBC ‘quiz show’ which I think is still hosted by Stephen Fry.

24 Starts to install galvanised layer over our home
IGLOO
The first letters of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh words of the clue.

Many thanks to Carpathian for this morning’s Quiptic.

14 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 960/Carpathian”

  3. Thanks Carpathian and Pierre

    Another nice one from Carpathian. I was distracted for a while when I had B?A?D?N? for 1d by trying to remember the name of Lord Emsworth’s pig in Blandings Castle! (She was the Empress of Blandings, I think.)

  4. I agree; a very suitable and enjoyable puzzle from Carpathian.  Thanks for the excellent blog Pierre!

    One query.  In 27a there seems to be an extra N in the answer which I can’t account for in the clue.  I parsed it (as Pierre did) as “(THIN ICE)* in A STORY” but that only gives 13 letters.  Am I missing (as is often the case) something here?

  5. Rick@4: well spotted! I suppose one could argue that the first ‘A’ could indicate ‘AN’, as it would be spelt thus if preceding a vowel, but it seems to me more likely to be an oversight.

  6. I’ll be summoned up before the beak for lack of care and attention during blogging – you are quite right, Rick.  There is an N missing.  Beaulieu’s reasoning just about gets the setter out of a similar trip to the headmaster’s study, but it’s a bit clumsy if so.

  7. Pierre@6:  I had a convention when lecturing (before I retired) that “All mistakes I make are deliberate and are just there to see if you (the students) are paying attention”.  A useful convention I thought!  (-;

    I agree that Beaulieu’s reasoning makes sense and may well be the explanation (but I also share Beaulieu’s opinion that it’s more likely to be an oversight).

  8. Thanks Carpathian and Pierre; just right for a Quiptic, I thought.

    I think the ‘thin ice’ is an oversight. I don’t think the setter would clue a tale as AN STORY, although I might be wrong.

  9. Thanks Pierre for the blog. There is often a clue or two where I can get the answer but can’t get the parsing. Your explanations are always helpful. Last one in today was 17 across. I am still kicking myself for not connecting Potter and Wizard (I haven’t read the books or seen the movies but I should have known!) I’ll look forward to another Quiptic by Carpathian in the future.

  10. I Liked it.

    Rick @7. I am still lecturing and have the same convention. If a student spots a mistake I say “Well done! I was just checking that you had not fallen asleep.”

  11. Pierrot@10:  Thanks for the comment.  I’m glad that others have the same convention; I found it to be a real face-saver on occasion!  (-:

  12. What a great day for Victoria – a double bill, her first!

    I actually found this crossword harder than the one in the Indy, also slightly different in style (which is funny).

    This setter should be added to the daily (early week) stable.

    Forget about Vulcan and/or Anto.

    When is Election Day?

     

  13. Thanks to both setter and blogger as this was needed as my antidote to Imogen yesterday. As usual I am doing things in an odd order.

    But, Pierre, I feel your definition in 1a should be “source of unsolicited advice” and not just the last two words as the unsolicited advice comes from the backseat driver.

    I also cannot think of a way of including that extra N in 27a.

  14. I’m fairly new to this cryptic lark and am finding the blog a huge help in getting my head around the various cryptic devices. I found this quiptic very enjoyable and approachable and was relieved to see I was not the only one not to be able to figure out where the extra N was coming from in 27a, I agree probably an oversight, I guess the setter could have used ‘An anecdote about thin ice…’ or another synonym for story commencing with a vowel and that would work?

    Thanks to Carpathian and Pierre

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