Pan never disappoints in the Quiptic slot. Here’s a tractable, carefully constructed cryptic for a lazy Bank Holiday morning (where I live, at least).
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 Terrible cheat to get about 10,000 square metres
HECTARE
A charade of (CHEAT)* and RE for ‘about’.
5 Old instrument is still on fire
SACKBUT
A charade of SACK and BUT. ‘Still’ and BUT are interchangeable, I fancy, as single word interjections or sentence starters.
9 Check literature about married setter
LIMIT
An insertion (‘about’) of M and I for ‘setter’ in LIT.
10 Checked security after Irishman went round
PATROLLED
A charade of PAT for the stereotypical ‘Irishman’ and ROLLED.
11 Side returned after mistake with apparently harmless object
BOOBY TRAP
A charade of BOOB and PARTY reversed (‘returned’).
12 Time for a magic formula
SPELL
A dd.
13 Beginning to tie 18 with string
TWINE
Knowing that this was referring to 18ac and not 18dn would have been helpful, no? A charade of T for the first letter of ‘tie’ and WINE, of which PINOT NOIR is an example.
15 Head coach wasting time with something requiring little mental effort
NO-BRAINER
A charade of NOB and [T]RAINER.
18 Drink fermented in iron pot
PINOT NOIR
(IN IRON POT)* Yes, I know PINOT NOIR is a grape variety and not the drink itself, but it’s common usage to say ‘I’ll have a Pinot Noir/Pinot Grigio’, etc.
19 Doctors operating to save body part
TORSO
Hidden in docTORS Operating.
21 Queen wearing dress got larger
GROWN
An insertion of R for Regina or ‘Queen’ in GOWN. I looked twice at this, thinking the solution could only be GREW, but if you go with the present perfect rather than the simple past, it works. ‘The swelling has grown/got larger.’
23 Biological building blocks stop oxygen being withdrawn from instruments
STEM CELLS
A charade of STEM for ‘stop’ and CELL[O]S.
25 Nick not allowed in audition with group of musicians
STEEL BAND
A homophone (‘in audition’) of STEAL and BANNED.
26 Priest stood up to deliver dull discourse
PROSE
A charade of P and ROSE. One of the definition of PROSE as a verb is ‘to talk tediously’.
27 Object of much discussion caught in shoe
SCANDAL
An insertion of C in SANDAL.
28 Sieves through mysteries
RIDDLES
A dd.
Down
1 Fish skipping bail in basic accommodation
HALIBUT
An insertion of (BAIL)* in HUT. The anagrind is ‘skipping’.
2 Disturbance caused by vulgar cover for books on island
COMMOTION
An insertion of OT for the ‘books’ of the Old Testament and I in COMMON.
3 Anxious participation in Protestant synod
ANTSY
Hidden in ProtestANT SYmbol. American English usage, I fancy; I’d always say ‘fidgety’.
4 Ten operas translated into language that’s artificial
ESPERANTO
(TEN OPERAS)*
5 Erected frame
SET UP
A dd.
6 Annoyed about one bug found in French roll
CROISSANT
An insertion of I in CROSS followed by ANT. Not really sure that ‘roll’ is entirely accurate. Your croissant is, well, a croissant. A crescent-shaped roll, at a pinch.
7 Busy individual penning lines for beautiful woman
BELLE
An insertion of LL in BEE.
8 Duke told off Queen’s small child
TODDLER
A charade of (D TOLD)* and ER for Elizabeth Regina, or our gracious Queen.
14 Ten exotic fish originally destined to be caught up in a net
ENTANGLED
A charade of (TEN)*, ANGLE and D for the first letter of ‘destined’.
16 Trade admitting death of drink provider
BARTENDER
An insertion of END in BARTER.
17 Cat turning up across Loire after mixing ingredient for perfumier
NEROLI OIL
An insertion of (LOIRE)* in LION reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘across’; the reversal indicator (since it’s a down clue) is ‘turning up’; the anagrind is ‘after mixing’.
18 Marker put over a South American constellation
PEGASUS
A charade of PEG, A, S and US gives you the constellation also known as The Winged Horse.
20 Soy sprinkled on short tailless shellfish
OYSTERS
A charade of (SOY)* and TERS[E].
22 Start without new artist in musical drama
OPERA
A charade of OPE[N] and RA for ‘artist’.
23 Wrap fruit in edges of sail
SHAWL
An insertion of HAW in S and L for the outer letters of ‘sail’. A HAW is the red fruit of various varieties of hawthorn. Not to be confused with HIPS, although older readers will remember being shown hips and haws in the hedgerows on autumnal walks. Younger folk probably look it up on the internet these days. Fresh air is boring and you might actually meet and have to engage in conversation with somebody on a walk.
24 God presents trophy to fish
CUPID
As a recognition of being a Christian symbol for two millennia? A charade of CUP and ID.
Many thanks to Pan for the Bank Holiday entertainment.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
Nice Quiptic. I was held up by going with PUT UP for 5d at first. I knew the crossword fish “ide”, of course, but not that it could be spelt ID.
The only one I wasn’t happy with was NEROLI OIL. The structure was obvious, but, if one hadn’t heard of it (as I hadn’t), the vowels from “loire” could be in any order. I guessed right, in fact.
Thanks Pierre. This puzzle erroneously and prematurely appeared last week under the Cryptic category, so a lot of people (myself included) may have solved it before today.
In 26a I took just “dull discourse” as the definition, with “to deliver” as a linking phrase; “prose” as a verb seems a bit obscure for a Quiptic.
Andrew @2
“Prose” as a noun is often not “dull”. In fact, couldn’t “dull” could be omitted from the clue if the noun were intended?
Thanks to Pan for an enjoyable Quiptic and Pierre for the blog.
SACKBUT was new for me. I knew IDE but not ID for fish.
Lovely Quiptic, thanks Pan and thanks Pierre for the explanations. Gk is so personal, muffin I spent my professional life in many far flung places distilling essential oils such as neroli, so that, for me, 17d was a write-in.
Excellent crossword which shows again why Pan was ‘promoted’ to the daily G.
‘Nice Quiptic’ (muffin @1)? Not sure. (a) I don’t know what a Quiptic is, other than a crossword that is there just online, and (b) Pan is always Pan and not Q in particular, whether in The Guardian or in The Independent.
It’s clear that I liked this crossword.
Thanks P & P.
S Panza @5
Yes, that’s the point. Easy enough if you know the word, but if not, it could be NIROLE OIL, NORILE OIL, NORELI OIL, or NERILO OIL (I went for NEROLI as it looked the most likely).
This American who has become addicted to cryptics thanks all of you who contribute to FifteenSquared. I do the Quiptic , and I have run through as many from Everyman as I could find in the archives. I am now ready for puzzles that are a bit more challenging. I have tried Brummie, Qaos, and Arachne, and these seem like they might be the way for me to proceed. Your advice would be welcome. Thank you!
Evening Julie, and welcome. The Guardian main daily cryptic is a good one to give a challenge, so I’d have a go at doing that each day. Some setters are more challenging than others, it has to be said, but don’t be put off if you can’t finish one – it’s not an exam. Generally, the Monday puzzles are at the easier end of the spectrum. Keep doing the Quiptic and Everyman – these are the ones where if you’re getting better you should be able to complete more often than not. Fifteensquared will give you a flavour of how ‘hard’ or ‘easy’ the puzzle is, but the main advice, I think, is keep practising (and letting us know how you’re getting on).
Pierre
Thank you, Pierre, this is helpful!
Has anyone ever noticed that it is easier to solve these puzzles while having a glass of wine?
Pleasant puzzle. As usual a few resisted parsing and I had to rely on the definitions, crossers and informed guesses. I have a few comments:
The setter should not be tying clues together (three in this case: 13, 18a and 18c).
15: I did not realise that a head coach was a toff i.e. a NOB. I guess the sport/entertainment industry these days makes them rich and so they qualify. And some of them are nobheads.
26: Prosaic can mean dull.
3: ANTSY is also used in Oz. And probably in NZ, Canada.
17: NEROLI is obscure (and I agree it is not clear how to place the vowels) unless you are an aromatherapist or a perfumier. I hummed and hawed about the vowels.
23: SHAWL from the crossers; never heard of the fruit (berry?) HAW.
Thanks to Pan and Pierre. Now for some Pinot Noir!