The last Anto I blogged was an okay Quiptic, but this was, in my view, back to the bad old days when the feedback in the comments section on this setter’s offerings was very often negative. I am interested to see whether that is the same with today’s puzzle.
I wrote the blog of the first Anto crossword, which was almost exactly four years ago. If you read it, you’ll find it wasn’t the best-received debut puzzle. The subsequent offerings have improved (as they should have after four years of the editor persevering with this setter), but with so many other good Quiptic compilers available (and no doubt some aspiring ones in the wings) I do wonder why we are regularly seeing this setter’s work in the Monday slot. Even when they are technically sound, I never find them engaging or amusing. This one I just found hard.
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 Rotten worker — and so rude!
OFFHAND
A charade of OFF for ‘rotten’ and HAND for ‘worker’.
5 Dull rhyming couplet — that’s one word for it
HUMDRUM
HUM and DRUM is a rhyming couplet, and is one word.
9 Take short run with addict
TROUSER
A charade of TRO[T] and USER.
10 Leader drunk pink gin
KINGPIN
(PINK GIN)*
11 Stranger picked up beside station seat
POSTERIOR
I’m afraid I can’t parse this. ‘Picked up’ is telling me to look for a homophone, but I can’t see it.
Edit: thanks to contributors who point out that this is a homophone of ‘eerier’ for ‘stranger’, after post. Hmm.
12 Check in with a mate
CHINA
A charade of CH, IN and A gives you the Cockney rhyming slang for ‘mate’ (from ‘china plate’).
13 Encourages Spurs fans
FUELS
A triple definition. The trouble is, STIRS works just as well.
15 Meeting point for attack on Italian club
INTERFACE
A charade of INTER for the ‘Italian [football] club’ and FACE.
17 Fat cow messing in back row reveals something special
WOW FACTOR
I am generally mega-relaxed about the language used in surface readings, but I think most people would consider the description of a woman as a ‘fat cow’ pejorative, so I don’t think this has any place in a Guardian (or any other) cryptic. The crossword editor (if he even spotted it) thinks otherwise. An insertion of (FAT COW)* in ROW reversed. The reversal indicator is ‘back’ and the anagrind is ‘messing’.
19 Put off changing temperature to Fahrenheit — it’s really just the same
DETER
This is a strained, and frankly ambiguous, clue. T is ‘temperature’ and the F is ‘Fahrenheit’. DETER and DEFER both mean ‘put off’, which I think is where the ‘just the same’ bit is coming from. But the first part of the surface is telling you to change T to F, leading to the solution DEFER, which I entered and therefore screwed up 20dn.
22 Back section of laser-based weapon
SABRE
Hidden reversed in lasER BASed.
23 Hide elite to provide protection from surface damage
SKIN CREAM
A charade of SKIN and CREAM.
25 Sort of weird male who features in the Bible
ISHMAEL
A charade of ISH and (MALE)* with ‘weird’ as the anagrind. Some folk don’t like this kind of vague definition. Is this a good clue? Ish.
26 European got in a tailspin
ITALIAN
An example of what some people (including me) refer to as a ‘lift and separate’ clue. I must find out one day who invented that term. You need to do that to ‘tailspin’ to get ‘tail’ and ‘spin’. The latter half becomes the anagrind, then it’s (IN A TAIL)*
27 Tough position — perhaps as a result of lying?
HOT SEAT
I think Anto is whimsically suggesting that if you lay down for a long time on a seat, it would become hot.
28 Covers speeches without commercial introduction
DRESSES
[AD]DRESSES
Down
1 In control as well at the summit
ON TOP OF
A dd.
2 Is it played by romantic speculators?
FOOTSIE
A cd. FOOTSIE is a game you play under the table to flirt with them, and it’s also a nickname for the stock exhange index (from FTSE).
3 Firstly, action is the French approach in the theatre
AISLE
A charade of A for the first letter of ‘action’, IS and LE for one of the words for ‘the’ in French.
4 It is drawn out for one supporting evolution
DARWINIST
(IT IS DRAWN)*
5 One looking for a lift after hitch
HIKER
Another cd. If you put HIKER after ‘hitch’ you get ‘hitchhiker’.
6 Intense and awfully rude, but well groomed
MANICURED
A charade of MANIC and (RUDE)* with ‘awfully’ as the anagrind.
7 Copy line in saga that artist has adopted
REPLICA
Two insertions: of L in EPIC, and the whole thing in RA.
8 Pretty ordinary, yet oddly mourned, painter
MUNDANE
The odd letters of MoUrNeDpAiNtEr.
14 Dated lover allowing no room to move
STALEMATE
A charade of STALE and MATE, referencing the chess ending.
16 Bound to cover slip, if alarmed
TERRIFIED
An insertion of ERR and IF in TIED.
17 Tart with desire to embrace Egyptian poisoner
WASPISH
An insertion of ASP in WISH, referencing the snake that killed Cleopatra.
18 Online discussion of weak setting for Bach variation
WEBCHAT
An insertion of (BACH)* in WET.
20 Those people stand over timeless recommendations for players’ problem
THE YIPS
Because it’s a down clue, it’s THEY over [T]IPS. THE YIPS are a problem where players can’t smoothly complete their action: I’ve heard it most often referring to a bowler in the sport of cricket, but I think it might also be used in non-sporting activities like golf.
21 Holds in custody having broken up arms den
REMANDS
(ARMS DEN)*
23 Argument about learner having crashed by the sound of it
SPLAT
An insertion of L in SPAT.
24 Leading counsel hopeful as suit enters court
CHASE
The first letters of the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth words of the clue.
Many thanks to Anto for this morning’s puzzle.
11a. Is it POST for station and ERIOR a homonym of eerier (stranger)?
Oh dear. Back to square one with Anto.
I agree with trenodia @1 about 11a
I was another DEFER, and put in FEEDS for 13a
Thanks to Anto & Pierre. What with the PG Tips still being piping hot post Vulcan, I thought I’d have a rare look at a Quiptic. Much harder, this. But harder because of imprecision rather than misdirection and jiggery-pokery. I also entered DEFER at 19, since that’s what the clue told me to do. I also can’t find a definition in the clue for HIKER at 5d, nor a meaningful one in 5a HUMDRUM. I parsed POSTERIOR as “eerier” (homophone, ish) on “post” station.
Probably the less said about “fat cow” the better.
Another one for DEFER. I also had BRIDE for 5d. I think the HOT SEAT is as a result of “liar, liar, pants on fire”.
Thanks Anto and Pierre
I agree with Pierre and Baerchen @3. 19ac is just plain wrong.
Thanks (?) Anto and Pierre
Sorry, this was dreadful. Loose definitions and constructions all over the place. Repeat of ITALIAN in clue and solution? I won’t go into detail: to summarise, I had issues with 9a, 13a, 15a, 19a, 25a, 26a, 27a, 1d, 5d, 17d, 18d and 23d.
Far too difficult for a Quiptic, and too loose for a cryptic too.
…to be fair, I liked CHINA.
I liked the humour of ISHMAEL, SPLAT + STALEMATE.
I discovered THE YIPS 20D in my online dictionary as “extreme nervousness causing a golfer to miss easy putts.” Pierre, is this a typo: “I think it might also be used in non-sporting activities like golf.”
Thanks Pierre and Anto.
I agree with the general tenor of the above comments: this was a curate’s egg puzzle for me. I’m yet another who chose DEFER over DETER because that’s what the clue seemed to want, and wasn’t wild about WOW FACTOR – though more due a certain clumsiness in its construction. On the other hand, I grinned at FOOTSIE and SKIN CREAM. So yes, this wasn’t great all through, but surely it’s a bit harsh to demand that of a setter every time….
Thanks to Anto and to Pierre (though Pierre, you ruffled my normally easy-going partner’s feathers by dissing golf. And since he completed this long before me, he’d been in a happy mood up till then!)
Both cryptic and quiptic disappointing today. 19ac is not ambiguous – just wrong as it clearly leads to “defer” not “deter”. The triple definition in 13ac is really a single definition and I too put “feeds” at first. Defining someone as a character in the bible is as helpful as the cryptic’s “book” – it barely reduces the search space from an infinite domain. A quick google check suggests nearly 1800 unique names in the bible (compared to a mere 553 character in Game of Thrones, though fewer if we only count survivors). I did not like “hot seat” as lying down is hardly likely to make your bottom warm – but Charlie @4 has a good explanation, if rather too many steps removed.
There were some good, fun clues in here – I liked “trouser”, “posterior”, “footsie”, “mundane” and “waspish” so thanks, Anto, for those and a few others. but I do fear the editor needs to earn his keep a bit more here and on today’s cryptic. Merci Pierre.
In agreement with baerchen re PG tips and DEFER-the clue points to that but it doesnt cross. QED Clumsy clue.
But a bit of a challenge after Vulcan’s underarm bowling.
Diss golf, Wellbeck? Moi? You must be confusing me with another blogger. Apologies for spoiling your morning’s domestic bliss.
Count me as another who initially entered DEFER because that is what the clue told me to do. Regarding Pierre’s comment that “stirs” works just as well for 13ac, it obviously doesn’t because of the checkers, but FEEDS certainly does.
You’re right, Andy, there are other possibilities – I meant of course that with five blank letters, STIRS works (I put it in initially and only discovered it wasn’t right when I got some checkers).
I think the “Perhaps as a result of lying” part of 27A is referring to the phrase “Liar liar pants on fire” – hence a hot seat (i.e. posterior)… Still not a great clue though in my opinion.
What most others have said here. A minimal criterion for acceptability in a clue is that the clue plus the crossers should point unambiguously at the answer. DETERS at least clears that low bar, but FUELS does not. Thanks anyway, Anto, and a more enthusiastic thanks to Pierre.
This was harder than the cryptic but I didn’t think it was as bad as some posters claimed.
Obviously, the clue for DETER was flawed and the wrong way round. I agree with thezed @10 that the ‘triple’ definition of FUELS was really just one, although I’m not sure that feeds would equate to spurs (?)
I quite liked the clue for TROUSER.
Thanks Anto and Pierre.
I echo the enthusiastic thanks to Pierre. Indeed, to all the bloggers on this site. No matter how frustrating the crossword, reading the calm, erudite and informative blogs always restores my equanimity. And Pierre, my partner agrees your golf comment was so clearly due to a pesky typo that he swiftly got over it.
Pierre’s golf comment reminded me of the tone of Ambrose Bierce’s definition of mankind as “an animal…….that has spread to all habitable parts of Earth, and Canada”.
Yes, the “yips” affects putting.
Unfortunately, I agree with the negative tone of the comments on this puzzle. Anto had, in my opinion, been doing fairly well recently, so let’s hope this was an aberration.
One quick comment that I don’t think has been mentioned: I believe that 1d is intended to be a triple definition, including “as well” along with the two indicated.
Oh, and I favor Zlatan @15’s explanation of “hot seat”, for what it’s worth.
Not Anto at his (or her) best, but I still enjoyed this way more than today’s Cryptic.
I laughed aloud when I finally spotted POSTERIOR and HOT SEAT. I thought FUELS was a v. weak clue and one that didn’t really work; I thought the same of FOOTSIE until discovering the parsing here — many thanks.
I am sorry to say that I agree with the general tenor of the comments today.
I honestly don’t like criticising setters or editors, but I just did not enjoy this puzzle and thought that it was not up to standard.
Never posted before but feel I have to today after all the negative comments. I really enjoyed this, Anto’sa bit different and made me smile a lot today.
Always enjoy his puzzles.
If you put off changing T to F, you are left with DETER as the answer, perhaps.
Welcome, tempehman, and thanks for your first contribution. I’m glad you enjoyed it more than I (and others) did. Crosswords are very subjective things, so keep solving and keep letting us know what you think of some of the other Quiptic setters.
Thanks to Pierre and Anto
Some quite nice stuff here but one or two stinkers.
17a should never have appeared in a national (or any other) paper.
As has been pointed out, 19a doesn’t work.
13a really needs one of the defs to be from a different root –
Pete’s taken as an example for Spurs and Stoke’s fans?
or my favourite:
EUFA ruling out Salah’s second with his first and third for simulation encourages Spurs fans?
The first time I remember hearing YIPS was in relation to Eric Bristow losing the ability to let go of his darts at the correct moment. Whether or not darts is more of a sport than golf, I’ll leave others to judge.
I’m being slow but in 15A why or how does FACE = attack?
You are not being slow, Eric. I should have commented on it in my blog, but I had kind of lost the will to live a bit by then. It’s not a great synonym, is it? My Collins has under definition 31 ‘to meet or be confronted by’. But that is clearly not really the same as ‘attack’, and I think it’s just another example of what others have commented on – this setter’s lack of precision.
Thanks Pierre.
I do understand why people are annoyed with this setter, especially for a Quipic, but if it’s any consolation to Anto it isn’t the first bad clue or clues I’ve seen over the years and I’m usually the first to grump. My advice to Anto is, in the words of That Peter Crouch podcast “back stronger”.
Ps,
Along with Ted@20, I think 1d is intended as a triple DD. Unfortunately none of them quite work.
Sorry to have to ask this, however not clear on the parsing of 9ac. Seems I am the only one who doesn’t quite get it. After someone lets me know, I’ll go and get my coat!
Sorry to be confusing, I do get the parsing of the clue, just don’t get the answer.
Evening Martin. TROUSER is a synonym for ‘take’ in the sense of ‘steal’. ‘He trousered the money from the petty cash box at the charity where he worked.’ I guess it comes from the idea of putting whatever you’ve taken in the pockets of your trousers to conceal it.
Sorry to be so slow. It wasn’t just that the puzzle was too hard for a quiptic, but that the weather makes gardening imperative! I found 19a perfectly good. “Put off” can be used to mean “don’t” and the clue is genuinely ambiguous. I left the middle letter blank until 20d settled it. No-one has mentioned 24d. Chase is not a synonym for court: face and attack are closer in meaning!
Good Morning Pierre many thanks for the explanation, very much appreciated.
re Pierre’s comment on 26ac – back in the 50’s and 60’s, at least in the USA, “lift and separate” was an old slogan for Playtex bras. Ads in those days were very circumspect and elliptical, and exactly what was being lifted and separated was never mentioned.
Thanks very much to Anto and Pierre. I loved 5a, 11a (couldn’t parse it myself, fell around when I read the explanation) 12a and 25a.