Carpathian provides a very good example of how a Quiptic should be.
The clues are all elegantly concise, there’s nothing too obscure, and while some solutions are not straightforward they’re all “obvious when you see it”. I particularly liked the frequent misdirection where something that looks like an anagram indicator turns out to be the definition or anagram fodder.
It’s hard to pick favourites but I enjoyed the tipsy office workers, black-mark non-voting, and coastal ecosystem. Thanks Carpathian for a great puzzle.
Definitions are underlined; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CASH-STRAPPED | Poor Charlie, when he’s dropping ecstasy, gets caught (4-8) |
| C (Charlie in radio alphabet) + AS (when) + H[e]S (dropping the E, slang for the drug ecstasy) + TRAPPED (caught). | ||
| 8 | AEROSOL | Look unhappy, returning after a spray (7) |
| LO (lo! = look!) + SORE (aggrieved or unhappy), both reversed (returning), after A. | ||
| 9 | PANACHE | Harshly criticise long dash (7) |
| PAN (criticise harshly) + ACHE (long, as in to ache for something). Panache = dash = style. |
||
| 11 | STADIUM | Roughly admit us into sports venue (7) |
| Anagram (roughly) of ADMIT US. | ||
| 12 | LENIENT | Merciful Russian leader embracing European traditions, initially (7) |
| LENIN (Russian leader) containing E (European), then T[raditions] (initially). | ||
| 13 | ALL IN | Exhausted everything included (3,2) |
| Double definition; the second as in “all in wrestling”, where anything goes. | ||
| 14 | RACKETEER | Criminal uproar reheard regularly (9) |
| RACKET (uproar = loud noise) + alternate letters (regularly) of [r]E[h]E[a]R[d]. | ||
| 16 | GARNISHES | Decorates gargoyle’s face with glazes after head is lost (9) |
| First letter (face) of G[argoyle], then [v]ARNISHES (glazes) without the first letter (head). | ||
| 19 | ROGER | Man I flipped in posh car (5) |
| EGO (I), reversed (flipped), in RR (Rolls-Royce = posh car). | ||
| 21 | TYPISTS | Office workers, tipsy, stumbling across street (7) |
| Anagram (stumbling) of TIPSY, containing (across) ST (abbreviation for street). Does anyone call them typists any more? Secretaries, data entry clerks, personal assistants, or whatever. |
||
| 23 | INFORMS | Tells where pupils can be found (7) |
| Definition and cryptic definition: FORM = school class, so pupils can be found IN FORMS. | ||
| 24 | RESERVE | About to present book (7) |
| RE (about) + SERVE (present). Book = reserve, as in book a table at a restaurant. |
||
| 25 | ABSTAIN | Don’t vote using a black mark (7) |
| A B (abbreviation for black, as in grades of pencil lead) + STAIN (mark). | ||
| 26 | UNTRAMMELLED | Free wild mantled lemur (12) |
| Anagram (wild) of MANTLED LEMUR. I’m not sure there is an animal with this name, though there are a couple of monkey species with “mantled” in their name; but it’s a delightful clue anyway. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CURTAIL | Restrict dog following dog (7) |
| TAIL (dog = follow), following CUR (dog; originally a specific breed, but now generally indicates a mongrel or a “bad dog”). | ||
| 2 | SESSION | Rows about holding second sitting (7) |
| NOISES (row = unpleasant noise, as in “I can’t sleep with that row going on outside”), reversed (about), holding S (abbreviation for second). | ||
| 3 | SALT MARSH | Recklessly harms last coastal ecosystem (4,5) |
| Anagram (recklessly) of HARMS LAST. Salt marsh = a coastal area regularly flooded by seawater, and therefore dominated by salt-tolerant plants. |
||
| 4 | REPEL | Reject revolutionary outcast (5) |
| LEPER (outcast), reversed (revolutionary). | ||
| 5 | PENANCE | Money covering article as atonement (7) |
| PENCE (money), containing AN (a form of the indefinite article). | ||
| 6 | EXCRETE | Pass old lover on island (7) |
| EX (old lover) + CRETE (Greek island). | ||
| 7 | MANSLAUGHTER | Bloke’s mirth is killing (12) |
| MAN’S (bloke’s) + LAUGHTER (mirth) – obvious when you see it, but strangely inappropriate for the definition. | ||
| 10 | ENTERPRISING | Go in using lever to be adventurous (12) |
| ENTER (go in) + PRISING (using a lever to separate or open something). | ||
| 15 | CASTIGATE | Reprimand actors one found by entrance (9) |
| CAST (actors in a play) + I (Roman numeral for one) + GATE (entrance). | ||
| 17 | ROPES IN | Enlists misanthrope sinking bottles (5,2) |
| Hidden answer (… bottles) in [misanth]ROPE SIN[king]. | ||
| 18 | INSURER | Popular and more confident provider of cover (7) |
| IN (popular = fashionable) + SURER (more confident). | ||
| 19 | REFUSAL | Spurning failures sadly lacking independence (7) |
| Anagram (sadly) of FA[i]LURES, without the I (abbreviation for independence, as in UDI = unilateral declaration of independence). | ||
| 20 | GARLAND | Left kid upside down with wreath (7) |
| L (left) + RAG (kid = tease), all reversed (upside down, in a down clue), then AND (with). | ||
| 22 | STEAM | Small group shows energy (5) |
| S (small) + TEAM (group). Energy as in “get up steam”, used metaphorically. |
||
Thanks Carpathian and Quirister
Nicely-pitched Quiptic, though I didn’t parse GARLAND, and still think that it’s rather harder than the rest.
I finished in the NE, and was a little irritated by 4d, as with only the P in it could be REPEL or LEPER.
Fun and easy Quiptic.
Thank you Carpathian and Quirister.
Spot-on for a rainy Monday – as quirister says, elegantly clued with some lovely surfaces. I was sure 1ac was an anagram of “charlie when he” minus “e”. One of a number of misdirections when ultimately, with most of the clues, you just did what it told you. Thanks Carpathian – a fun solve.
I spent time on 1ac as did TheZed@3. Nicely mis-directed here as elsewhere. All good clean fun.
Does Carpathian ever pop in, I wonder? I have an old colleague called Roger Garland (19ac/20). Seems too good to be true……
Ditto TheZed and DP regarding CASH-STRAPPED, probably my favourite among many sparkling clues. I was also misled on first reading by 9a and 19a, guessing the wrong end of the clue as the definition, but like all the others they yielded after a minute’s thought. REPEL couldn’t be entered in the absence of a crosser at the top or bottom, but that sort of ambiguity doesn’t bother me.
Thanks to Carpathian and Quirister.
Super Quiptic, just right for this slot.
I especially liked poor Charlie.
Thanks Carpathian and Quirister.
We seem to have had a number of clues lately here and in the Cryptic where “man” or “bloke” stands for somebody’s name, and a number of objections to the practice. I’m not crazy about it myself.
I agree 100% with Quirister – a lovely Quiptic which I started slowly but warmed to in every sense.
Thanks Carpathian for an excellent puzzle and to Quirister for the blog.
I’m another who was misled by the smart clueing to the excellent CASH-STRAPPED, although my faves were EXCRETE, SESSION and the pissed TYPISTS. Thanks to Quirister for the blog, and all hail Carpathian for a truly delightful Quiptic.
Thanks both,
Paradigm of a quiptic. Just the right length for an LSD (family acronym for a ‘little sit down).
Thanks Carpathian and Quirister from me too, very nice. 19a had me wondering what counts as a posh car these days, so it’s good to see the old traditions being kept up.
A lot of misdirection for the beginner, i.e. Me. Beautiful clues though, once explained.
I accidentally saw the answer for 1a, which did help, although I was still undone in the NE – I had rebel in for 4d (I thought a DDD) so 9a proved intractable.
One of the more accessible Cryptics, I though.