Guardian Quiptic 971 Carpathian

Thanks Carpathian for an enjoyable start to the week. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Pocket found in short jeans, perhaps (7)

TROUSER : “trousers”(an example of which are;perhaps “jeans”) minus its last letter(short …).

Defn: To receive or take something, especially money, for oneself.

5 One giving speech unsurpassed on island (4,3)

BEST MAN : BEST(unsurpassed) plus(on) MAN(island of that name in the Irish Sea).

Defn: … at a wedding reception.

9 Frame alien in fraud (7)

SETTING : ET(abbrev. for “extraterrestrial”;an alien from outer space) contained in(in) STING(a carefully planned operation to deceive;a fraud).

Defn: The surroundings in which something is placed or where events take place.

10 Stare at black line somewhere on face (7)

EYEBROW : EYE(to stare at) + B(abbrev. for “black”) + ROW(an arrangement of similar things forming a line).

11 Spin doctor cagiest about ways to display costs (5,4)

PRICE TAGS : PR(abbrev. for “public relations”, the activity of maintaining a favourable public image;a positive interpretation;spin on statements and events, say) + anagram of (doctor) CAGIEST.

12 Starting to transform ceremony that’s overused (5)

TRITE : 1st letter of(Starting to) “transform” + RITE(a ceremony, especially a spiritual one).

13 Bath robe hides sign of increased blood flow (5)

THROB : Hidden in(… hides) “Bath robe“.

Defn: … to various parts of your body, hidden or not, by a bath robe.

15 Complain I have shortened goal (9)

OBJECTIVE : OBJECT(to complain against) + I’VE(contraction of;shortened “I have”).

17 Sex with tenor among red hot ashes causes upsets (9)

EMBITTERS : [ IT(slang for sexual intercourse) plus(with) T(abbrev. for “tenor” in music) ] contained in(among) EMBERS(red hot ashes).

19 Joins golf course (5)

LINKS : Double defn.

22 Peer squeals endlessly, when excited (5)

EQUAL : Anagram of(…, when excited) [ “squeal” minus its 1st and last letters(endlessly) ].

Defn: One of equal status.

23 Cheeseparer to remove outside of stone (9)

SKINFLINT : SKIN(to remove the outside;skin of) + FLINT(a hard grey rock;stone).

Defn: …;a miser.

25 Offence shadow government engendered initially (7)

UMBRAGE : UMBRA(shadow;darkness) + 1st letters, respectively, of(… initially) “government engendered“.

26 Aiming to change European picture (7)

IMAGINE : Anagram of(… to change) AIMING + E(abbrev. for “European”).

Defn: To form a picture in the mind.

27 Serious attention given to bird’s place (7)

EARNEST : EAR(one’s attention;willingness to listen to others) plus(given to) NEST(a bird’s place).

28 Abandons wastelands (7)

DESERTS : Double defn.

Down

1 Throw drug to incompetent fool (7)

TOSSPOT : TOSS(to throw) + POT(slang for the drug marijuana).

2 Expose falsehood Romeo gives one separate from the pack (7)

OUTLIER : OUT(to expose;to show or state in the open) + LIE(a falsehood) + R(letter represented by “Romeo” in the phonetic alphabet).

3 Capture the sound of oceans (5)

SEIZE : Homophone of(the sound of) “seas”(oceans).

4 Doctor and mother with part in performance (9)

RIGMAROLE : RIG(to doctor;to manipulate something fraudulently) + MA(term for one’s mother) + ROLE(a part, in a theatrical or movie performance).

Defn: An elaborate, long-winded performance mainly meaningless, put on just for show.

5 Praise Britain? Not so much (5)

BLESS : B(abbrev. for “Britain”) + LESS(not so much as).

6 Dubious recycled plastic covering church (9)

SCEPTICAL : Anagram of(recycled) PLASTIC containing(covering) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).

Defn: … of.

7 Bird gets one drink (7)

MARTINI : MARTIN(a songbird of the swallow family) plus(gets) I(Roman numeral for “one”).

Answer: A cocktail.

8 Out of the running at this time and place (7)

NOWHERE : NOW(at this point in time) plus(and) HERE(at this particular place or position).

Defn: Nowhere in;not in contention for an award or victory.

14 Struggle to get rid of dragon (9)

BATTLEAXE : BATTLE(to struggle;to fight for) + AXE(to get rid of;to cut off).

Defn: A fierce and intimidating woman.

16 Defended fair on condition uncovered rides dismantled (9)

JUSTIFIED : JUST(fair;treating people equally) + IF(on condition;in the event that …) + anagram of(… dismantled) [“rides” minus its 1st and last letters(uncovered …) ].

17 Kill former boyfriend with bit of envenomed sweet (7)

EXECUTE : EX(one’s former boyfriend) plus(with) 1st letter of(bit of) “envenomed” + CUTE(sweet;pretty).

18 Babies, regularly entertained by Oasis rivals, weep excessively (7)

BLUBBER : 1st, 3rd and 5th letters of(…, regularly) “Babies” contained in(entertained by) BLUR(British rock band, rivals of Oasis, another British band).

20 More clamorous about one small charged particle returning (7)

NOISIER : Reversal of(… returning) [ RE(about;with reference to) + I(Roman numeral for “one”) + S(abbrev. for “small”) + ION(an atom or molecule carrying a net electrical charge).

21 Topless artistes gyrating for people in chairs (7)

SITTERS : Anagram of(… gyrating) [ “artistes” minus its 1st letter(Topless …) ].

23 Brushed end of humerus and cried (5)

SWEPT : Last letter of(end of) “humerus” plus(and) WEPT(cried;blubbered).

24 Acts following foot faults (5)

FLAWS : LAWS(legislated acts of the government) placed below(following, in a down clue) F(abbrev. for “foot” – an alternative to the more often used “ft”).

16 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 971 Carpathian”

Very enjoyable puzzle.

My favourite was 21d SITTERS.

Thanks Carpathian and scchua.

Thanks Carpathian and scchua

Lots to like. Favourites included UMBRAGE, IMAGINE, SCEPTICAL and JUSTIFIED.

BLUBBER rather relied on general knowledge.

I’m not keen on “bit of envenomed” for E, and its surface is technically incorrect – it needs “poisoned” rather than “envenomed” (we had a discussion on the difference between poison and venom a few weeks ago).

Very nice puzzle. Quite a jolly start to the week. But more than you could expect for the money. Hidden Pancras.

Bloody auto correct…

Rather spoils the effect when “pangram” is changed to “Pancras”.

I’m glad you explained, BOLB – I tried to find PANCRAS as a Nina!

First time I’ve tackled a Quiptic but with one of my favourite lady setters in the driving seat, hard to resist this one.

Very enjoyable solve with the surface of 9a giving it top marks.

Thanks to Carpathian and to scchua.

Perfect level for the Quiptic, I thought.

Carpathian/Vigo often does pangrams, so I was on the look out after the Q and Z.

Sex with tenor among red hot ashes … ouch, unless it’s The Ashes!

Thanks Carpathian and scchua.

I also thought this was an extremely enjoyable solve. Skinflint and Tosspot made me snigger, and whilst I share Muffin’s reservations about “bit of envenomed” = E, this was more than conpensated by other answers including Nowhere, Trouser and Embitters. I suspected a pangram (or a pancras!) once I’d got a J, X and Q…but although I was on the lookout, it still took me an age before Seize, my LOI with the pesky Z, suddenly occurred to me. Thanks Carpathian and scchua.

I preferred this to the cryptic. Does this setter do Vigo too,? Both nicely compiled.

I was held up for a while by my failure to spell SEIZE correctly, leaving me with a set of very unlikely crossers for 9a. And I failed to parse 18a. Aside from those stumbles, this was a quick and enjoyable Quiptic.

I thought that the intent in 11a was that “spin doctor” = PR, which doesn’t quite work (one is the person, and one is the activity). No doubt you’re right that the intent is that “spin” = PR, with “doctor” as the anagrind. In that case, “about” has no function in the cryptic reading, if I’m not mistaken. I suppose one could take it as an extra anagrind, which would be redundant but not incorrect. But more likely it’s just extraneous, which is a minor flaw but nothing to complain too loudly about.

Thanks to Carpathian and scchua!

I know we’ve been down this road before – well, at least I have – but although Chambers supports Carpathian with the definition of “tosspot” as an “incompetent fool” it is a misuse of the word which means a toper, ie someone who frequently tosses back a pot containing alcohol. Somewhere along the way, the usage got mixed up with “tosser” which means something completely different.

It’s in the same bucket as “I’ve had this chronic cough since Friday” and my personal favourite latte=coffee. End of soul-destroyingly boring post.

baerchen @11 —

I think that using “coffee” to clue “latte” is fine, although the other way around would require an indication of a defnition-by-example. The word “coffee” can certainly refer to a coffee-based drink, of which a latte is an example. (I know that “latte” is the Italian word for milk, but the word has entered English as a shorthand for “caffe latte.”)

I don’t have strong opinions on “tosspot”, as the word isn’t in my active vocabulary in any case. If asked to define it, I would have said that it meant a drunkard, but meanings do change over time, and for all I know it may now be commonly used to refer to a fool. The online OED gives this meaning as a draft addition, dated 2008, and has a few citations of this newer usage.

No doubt you’re right that the shift in meaning arose from association with “tosser”. The original meaning may die away, but English has no lack of words to describe drunkenness, so I can’t get too worried about it.

“Chronic”, on the other hand, has a specific meaning, and there aren’t a lot of substitutes for it. That’s one where I agree that it’s worth trying to stick to the original, precise usage.