The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28070.
Anto has graduated from an occasional Quiptic, which were not well received. Here he or she has some interesting ideas for clues; there were a couple of things I did not like, but on the whole I enjoyed it.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BLUSHER | One’s embarrassed to involve woman in smear (7) |
| An envelope (‘to involve’) of SHE (‘woman’) in BLUR (‘smear’). | ||
| 5 | DINGBAT | Eccentric involved in defending battleships (7) |
| A hidden answer (‘involved in’) in ‘defenDING BATtleships’. | ||
| 9 | AUDIT | Verification is essential to clause ceding title (5) |
| Middle letters (‘essential to’) of ‘clAUse ceDIng tiTle’. | ||
| 10 | CAST ASIDE | Abandoned area separating two sets of players (4,5) |
| A (‘area’) between CAST and SIDE (‘two sets of players’). | ||
| 11 | DEEP THROAT | Red hot tape turned out to be highly informative porn! (4,6) |
| An anagram (‘turned out’) of ‘red hot tape’. The definition goes back a bit, to 1972: originally it was the title of a pornographic film, then taken up for the informant, originally anonymous, in the Watergate scandal. | ||
| 12 | AGRA | City that can be stimulating after six (4) |
| Put AGRA after VI (Roman numeral, ‘six’) gets VIAGRA (‘that can be stimulating’). | ||
| 14, 26 | EXISTENTIAL ANGST | Worry about being disturbed as taxi lets gent in (11,5) |
| An anagram (‘disturbed’) of ‘as taxi lets gent in’. | ||
| 18 | EMERALD ISLE | Stone passage reportedly found in Europe (7,4) |
| A charade of EMERALD (‘stone’) plus ISLE, sounding like (‘reportedly’) AISLE (‘passage’). | ||
| 21 | NARK | Nettle or grass? (4) |
| Double definition, the first in the sense of annoy, the second an informant. | ||
| 22 | SCORESHEET | Record film music first (10) |
| A charade of SCORE (‘music’) plus SHEET (‘film’). | ||
| 25 | SHORTSTOP | Baseball player‘s casual clothing combination (9) |
| A charade of SHORTS and TOP (‘casual clothing combination’). | ||
| 26 | See 14 | |
| 27 | NOT FAIR | Against the rules to have one buried in the neighbourhood (3,4) |
| An envelope (‘buried’) of I (‘one’) in NOT FAR (‘in the neighbourhood’ – with FROM and ‘of’ respectively). | ||
| 28 | ON EARTH | Close and terribly hot around where we live (2,5) |
| An envelope (‘around’, awkwardly placed) of NEAR (‘close’) in OHT, an anagram (‘terribly’) of ‘hot’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BRANDY | Strong drink makes bishop up for it (6) |
| A charade of B (‘bishop’) plus RANDY (‘up for it’). | ||
| 2 | UNDIES | Abandoned by commandos, comes back to life perhaps (6) |
| Double definition, kind of; the first referring to the expression “going commando” – that is, without underwear – and the second the whimsical UN-DIES. | ||
| 3 | HITS THE BAR | Goes drinking and nearly scores (4,3,3) |
| Double definition, the second referring to soccer, say. | ||
| 4 | RECUR | Remove dry pieces from red curry — they can repeat (5) |
| ‘Just as it says: re[d] cur[ry]’. ‘They can’ belongs only in the surface. | ||
| 5 | DESCARTES | French philosopher who thought SS created mayhem (9) |
| An anagram (‘mayhem’) of ‘SS created’. Your average philosopher probably thinks, but Descartes is noted for the phrase “Je pense, donc je suis”. | ||
| 6 | NOAH | Animal conservationist starting national organisation against hunting … (4) |
| First letters (‘starting’) of ‘National Organisation Against Hunting’ with a nicely cryptic definition. | ||
| 7 | BRINGS IN | … introduces British group with pride, perhaps (6,2) |
| A charade of B (‘British’) plus RING (‘group’) plus SIN (‘pride, perhaps’). | ||
| 8 | TOENAILS | Weird one tucked into end bits found on little piggies? (8) |
| An envelope (‘tucked into’) of OEN, an anagram (‘weird’) of ‘one’ in TAILS (‘end bits’). | ||
| 13 | INTERSTATE | Unwilling republican intervenes between countries (10) |
| An envelope (‘intervenes’) of R (‘republican’) in INTESTATE (‘unwilling’). | ||
| 15 | INDICATOR | It shows popular autocrat taking first time off (9) |
| A charade of IN (‘popular’) plus DIC[t]ATOR (‘autocrat’) minus the first T (‘taking first time off’ – precisely indicated). | ||
| 16 | TENNYSON | Poet composed sonnet about New York (8) |
| An envelope (‘about’) of NY (‘New York’) in TENSON, an anagram (‘composed’) of ‘sonnet’. | ||
| 17 | REARMOST | In the end, brings together seat majority (8) |
| A charade of REAR (‘seat’) plus MOST (‘majority’; most can be a noun). | ||
| 19 | VERGER | Voltaire, ridiculing error, gutted church official (6) |
| Outer letters (‘gutted’) of ‘VoltairE RidiculunG ErroR‘. | ||
| 20 | STITCH | It helps to heal and keeps you from running (6) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 23 | REPRO | Criticism of missing copy (5) |
| A subtraction: REPRO[of] (‘criticism’) minus OF (‘of missing’). | ||
| 24 | ETNA | It blows up in Estonia occasionally (4) |
| Alternate letters (‘occasionally’) of ‘EsToNiA‘. | ||
A gentle and rapid solve, but not without some fun-clues (14, 26 was a clever anagram, and my LOI (12) gave me a final belly-laugh to sign off with).
I’m not familiar with this setter’s work, so I approached this without any preconceptions. My impression, before reading PeterO’s comments, was that there were some nice clues here, but a few seemed a bit amateurish (i.e. some unnecessary stuff just to get the surface to work, e.g. the “and” in 28a).
Making the move from the Quiptic slot, Anto continues to show improvement. I have no quibbles with this one despite being tripped up by British slang and misspelling NARK as narc. AGRA, BRANDY, UNDIES and NOAH were all quite good. And I’m old enough to be familiar with both connotations of DEEP THROAT. Thanks to Anto and PeterO.
Didn’t know about the commando expression but given the tone of 11 and 12ac, thought it must be something like that. Quite fun this. Unwilling for intestate was a bit cute and curly. I liked the def in 12,26, the surface in 28, and Noah the animal conservationist. Thanks Anto and PeterO.
I don’t do the Quiptics so this is my first encounter with the setter Anto.
I enjoyed it and ticked 5a DINGBAT, 14,26a EXISTENTIAL ANGST, 18a EMERALD ISLE, 27a NOT FAIR, 1d BRANDY, 2d UNDIES, 8d TOENAILS and 16d TENNYSON,so I found a lot to like. Two others that raised a smile were 21a NARK for its simplicity and the “unwilling” pun in 13d INTERSTATE, and I genuinely laughed our loud at 11a DEEP THROAT and 12a AGRA. I thought my LOI, REPRO at 23d, was a bit of a weak clue until I realised it was REPOOF without the “of”.
My little self-test was not to use reference sources and when that worked here I was pleased. This grid proved that it doesn’t have to be always be a complex puzzle for me to find it satisfying to solve.
Welcome Anto and thanks to her/him and PeterO.
[The Aussies crossed, gif@4! Your words “cute and curly” in discussing 13d reminded me that, for a while, I was looking for a way to fit in firstly trotters and then that curly tail to fit the “little piggies” at 8d.]
Some nice ideas and an easy work-out after a 4:30am start, so that was appreciated! A few niggles with surfaces and I hesitated with “interstate” because “inter” was in the clue. I originally had “hindmost” not “rearmost” (which works exactly as well) and that held up my last two in (Emerald Isle and Narc). Thanks Anto and PeterO for the blog.
Anyone else start with ‘weed’ for 21a?
Fun start to the week. Ta.
I have always enjoyed Anto’s puzzles in the quiptics but, like many others, found them too demanding for that slot. The most frequent comment being that the regular and the quiptic should have been swapped around. I don’t see this as a promotion as I believe it is probably harder setting a decent and apt quiptic than a harder puzzle.
Those not doing the quiptics really do miss out. Setters such as Mathilda and today’s Carpathian are really worth exploring.
… and Hectence, of course.
Well this for me was the best Monday crossword for some time. Not exactly easy but doable in one session. When I read PeterO’s introductory words I thought I might have to defend it from all sides, but I am pleased to read that most here have been very positive. If all that Dr. WhatsOn can find to criticise is a superfluous and, then I think this is a pretty stellar debut. I ticked much the same as those who have already commented and I especially like BRANDY!
Many thanks Anto, I hope to see you again soon, and as ever PeterO for the lovely early blog; much appreciated.
I thought this was one of the best “monday” puzzles I’ve seen in ages. Lots of smiles, guffaws and some genuinely good clues albeit on the easy side but then that is the brief. I’m sure I’ve seen the baseball clue before? Personally I’d be happy for Anto to have the Monday gig on a regular basis. Thanks to P&A
Relatively straightforward. I did chuckle at AGRA and smile at NOAH.
Thanks to Antonio and PeterO
B***** auto correct. Thanks to Antonio.
And try again:Anto.
No marking pen here.
Just to say welcome Anto. I found this both amusing and enjoyable.
My first Anto and like JinA I found lots to enjoy – in fact I ticked all the same clues. Maybe there is the odd quibble but I didn’t notice them at the time and I still don’t see them as detracting from an excellent puzzle. I’m sure it been done before, but UNDIES was my loi and as good as they get imo. A great start to the week so thank you and welcome to the cryptic slot Anto and thanks to PeterO for the fine blog. Also thanks to Larry for pointing out the virtues of the quiptics.
Took me a long time to type so I’d also like to endorse the comments between Larry and me.
Keep this lad in the first team-I seem to remember a source in Watergate named Deep Throat which made the clue even more relevant.
thanks all.
Welcome, Anto.
For me a perfectly enjoyable, if quick, solve, with ticks at DEEP THROAT, AGRA, UNDIES, INTERSTATE, & REPRO.
I hope this nails you into the Monday slot more frequently.
Nice week, all.
Thanks Anto and PeterO
FOI was VIGO @ 12a – unfortunately incorrect! AGRA is much funnier. Other favourites were EXISTENTIAL ANGST, where I saw the anagram directly from the nicely hidden definition, UNDIES (one of my last), DESCARTES, and REPRO.
Thanks PeterO and ‘Welcome’ to Anto.
Wit, not too many write-ins, amusing and fluent surfaces, some chuckle moments – what’s not to like?
Simple and amusing. A good debut.I wonder if anyone has ever counted how often certain words recur. The Italian spewer must be right up there!
Muffin @21; I was another VIGO at the beginning.
Entertaining crossword; I particularly liked UNDIES.
Thanks Anto and PeterO.
A new setter for me, and an enjoyable, diverse puzzle with many different types of clue represented well (no Spooners though) and nothing too painful or unfair. Many thanks to Anto; I look forward to more. Thanks also to PeterO for explanations.
Far from a gimme but all done in one reasonably brief session, so just right for a Monday morning, or a Torygraph any day (meow – though I haven’t actually tackled a Telegraph for years).
Plenty of smiles, a little bit saucy (11 and 12; 1 down), a reminder that our friends in Ireland remain in Europe, an anagram for a poet that included “sonnet”, and a deceptive “unwilling”.
I wasn’t sure why 6 and 7 were elided together; was it, having mentioned hunting in 6, to plant the idea of a pride of lions, deflecting from the deadly SIN?
My favourite was UNDIES.
I thought it was a bloody good effort. UNDIES, AGRA and DEEP THROAT all raised a smile (because I’m immature, mostly). Some nice definitions floating around.
Like oofyprosser I originally thought 21a might be WEED, till TENNYSON put paid to the idea – but NARK is pleasing too. I regularly do the Quiptics and have to admit I’ve not really paid any attention to which setters do which; I suspect, being a relative newcomer to the cruciverse, I’m still getting to know the various setters’ quirks. Also, given the number of comments about Anto’s “promotion”, does this mean Quiptics are seen as some lesser-breed of crossword? I often find them much harder than the Cryptics of that same day and several other days in the week. Or is the lower status because the Quiptics only appear online?
Anyway, there was much to love about this one: AUDIT, VERGER, UNDIES and BRANDY were very satisfying, whilst AGRA and DEEP THROAT made me giggle.
Thanks to Anto and also to PeterO for the ever-informative blog.
Anto was new to me. I thought this definitely one of the better Monday puzzles, with very little to nitpick over, and a special delight: not a single CD clue!
A few oddities but no worse than any other Monday, and some nice clues too. Interstate was probably my favourite. Welcome, Anto.
this guy is SO Paul – who’s with me?!
Thanks both,
Led myself astray with ‘crutch’ for 20d, which sort of works. Resort to the check button for 22 showed me my error.
There was much to enjoy in this and I hope we see Anto again soon.
I found this quite tough to get started – didn’t get a thing in until 28 across. (I’m blaming an unfamiliarity with the setter’s style, naturally.) The downs succumbed a bit more easily, and then the whole thing got picked apart in a very pleasing manner. No complaints, a fair few chuckles, and I really enjoyed some of the devices. A really good debut. Thanks all.
I remembered DEEP THROAT’s role in the Watergate story (and in the book and film All the President’s Men) but not very clearly, so I googled him. I found this article from the Washington Post that came out when his family revealed his identity, much to Woodward and Bernstein’s surprise. Surprise at the revelation, that is, not the identity, which they’d known and protected for thirty years. Here’s the link, if you’re interested: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbis-no-2-was-deep-throat-mark-felt-ends-30-year-mystery-of-the-posts-watergate-source/2012/06/04/gJQAwseRIV_story.html.
Thanks PeterO and welcome, Anto. Good job with this introductory offer.
New setter for me and enjoyed. Missed the watergate reference, perhaps a bit too much, omitting “highly informative” already gives an excellent clue. Wondered about IN in 28a doing double duty.
14/26 is brilliant, went straight in making me worried I have some kind of predisposition. Love HIT THE BAR and of course DEEP THROAT and AGRA
well done anto, thankyou petero
Always enjoy puzzles where I get a word that’s new to me strictly from the parsing — VERGER was such a word today. Liked SHORTSTOP, loved AGRA. Thanks Anto and PeterO.
I’m an Anto virgin so I didn’t know what to expect. Most went in quite easily. UNDIES and AGRA were last in and I didn’t parse the latter. Most amusing now I know and the name of the city brought back memories of my only visit to India. Quite often famous tourist destinations disappoint but the Taj Mahal certainly didn’t!
Thanks Anto.
What JinA said@5
and what SPanza said@11, and WhiteKing @17, and William and muffin and….
It’s all been said!
Welcome and thanks to Anto and thanks to PeterO
Gentle but very enjoyable puzzle. I still don’t get the “nark” = “grass” in 21 – is this something British?
I liked this too. The “they can” part of 4 was unnecessary and too deliberately misleading for my money. I was another who went for WEED at 21 at first. EXISTENTIAL ANGST was very good. I missed AGRA, literally – I simply forgot to return to it and saw it in the blog after it was too late. I like to think I’d have got it 🙂
Thanks, Anto and PeterO
Jay @38
Yes – “nark” and “grass” are both slang terms for “informer”.
LOLed several times at his/her “naughty” humour. Fun solve!
Thanks AntO and PeterO 🙂
I was one who griped about Anto in the Quiptic spot so I was glad to see him providing a Cryptic – and an excellent one at that. I thought the surface for DEEP THROAT was brilliant.
Thanks to Anto and PeterO.
Very happy Goldilocks here and much amused by those enumerated heretofore. If this is Anto unleashed I look forward to further offerings.
Wellbeck@27: Quiptics are aimed (I think) at those who are not overly experienced in cryptic crosswords – the idea being that they will be persuaded by success in the Quiptic to engage with the more regular fodder – so they are intended to be quite accessible. But it’s an almost impossible writ to discharge – a “hard” crossword that’s easy – and setters can fall between stools, drawing (sometimes imho unfair) criticism in these quarters.
[I meant to post this hours ago…..]
Blanchflower1961. Elision between 6 & 7 down. Genesis 6.19-20.”and of every living thing of all flesh you shall BRING two of every kind into the ark”.
Thanks Lancastrian @ 44. As an atheist I pride myself on not knowing much about the Bible in detail, but obviously I do know the NOAH fable in broad terms. I’m still not sure what connects the two clues if “pride” doesn’t refer to lions, and neither the fodder nor the solution have anything to do with those majestic beasts.
I think PeterO has it on 7d. Lions don’t figure. No prides only twos on the ark.
I think it’s purely one surface running over two clues.
Interesting stuff from Anto, I look forward to more.
Thanks PeterO
Reading all the above i am surprised how many people had not encountered Anto. Sometimes the quiptic is very simple but it is often harder than the Monday cryptic.
Anto has written more than 40 Quiptics thus far and you can’t say he’s a newbie.
His puzzles did often split opinions, the solvers’ verdict oscillating between ‘awful’ and ’quite nice’.
For many years some have asked for Anto to be given a chance in the daily version.
Personally, I wasn’t fully convinced about that being the right thing to do but here he is.
And, apart from a couple of things, this was an above-average Anto debut.
We enjoyed it, pleasantly surprised.
So, welcome!
This was a fun puzzle to solve. I enjoyed it.
Favourites were BRINGS IN, AGRA, TOENAILS, INTERSTATE, UNDIES.
Thanks PeterO and Anto
Never encountered Anto, as I solve the processed pine version. UNDIES caused me to chuckle. AGRA seems to have cropped up several times in the last week across here, Everyman and Azed.
Nitsuj @23 – I didn;t have my list to hand when I saw your question yesterday. ETNA has appeared 23 times as a solution in the Guardian Cryptic/Prize series since the archive started in 1999. More than any of today’s other solutions but only joint 149th on the overall list. The ones with 30 or more are:
58 EXTRA
54 ISLE
45 ERATO, STUD
43 USED
42 ECHO, EDGE, STYE
40 ARCH
39 IDEAL, STUN
38 ADIEU, ARENA, IDLE
37 BLUE, NIECE, ONSET
36 ANON, ISSUE
34 ACHE, ADDRESS, ADONIS, ESTATE, OUNCE, TASTE, UNIT
33 ETERNAL, EVENT, STAY
32 EDITOR, ERROR, IRIS, ORANGE, RARE, STIR, STOP
31 ALSO, DREAM, EMMA, INCH, ISIS, OMEN, OVERT, RANGE, STAG, STAR,
30 ELEVEN, ENIGMA, ESPY, ESTRANGE, EVENS, NIGHT, OPERA, UNISON
Like ETNA, The most popular ones have useful crossing letters in unusual combinations.
Blimey! Thanks beery.
Pleasantly enjoyable and more fun than a typical Monday I thought. As good as tomorrow’s….
Well done, no quibbles from me. I ticked AGRA, EXISTENTIAL, NOAH and REPRO.
Many thanks, both and all.