Anto often gives me the impression of not working quite hard enough to make the whole puzzle of a Quiptic nature, and that was my feeling with this one this morning.
Your experience may have differed, of course. Except if you’ve done the Guardian cryptic already, because that’s by Anto as well. Careful placement of the weekly puzzles in the Grauniad? Don’t be silly. That would require a bit of editorial oversight.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Remain firmly resolved to execute ruffian
HANG TOUGH
A charade of HANG and TOUGH. All dictionaries mark this as North American, and it’s certainly not an expression I personally would ever use, or can remember hearing in everyday conversation in the UK. So what it’s doing in a crossword for a British newspaper without some indication that it’s AmEng, I don’t know.
10 Doctor (single) is a bit of a bore
DRONE
A charade of DR and ONE.
11 Good lives on, the opposite for criminals
BADDIES
The opposite of ‘good lives on’ is that BAD DIES.
12 Travel wearing explosive weapon
TRIDENT
An insertion of RIDE in TNT. The insertion indicator is ‘wearing’.
13 Go slowly, as risk-taker drops margins
AMBLE
[G]AMBLE[R]
14 Sketch growing part of what’s up for approval
THUMBNAIL
You put your thumb up for approval (in many cultures), and this is what grows on it.
16 It can locate position with match — true or false?
LIE DETECTOR TEST
I think this is just a cd, with LIE DETECTOR whimsically being a device that could tell you the lie of the land, and TEST referring to the cricket match. But in truth, I don’t really understand what’s going on here.
19 Smile more excitedly as one delivers drinks
SOMMELIER
(SMILE MORE)* with ‘excitedly’ as the anagrind.
21 House Democrat in heavy defeat setback
TUDOR
An insertion of D in ROUT reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘in’; the reversal indicator is ‘set back’.
22 Pretend to have arrangement that accommodates song
PLAY ACT
An insertion of LAY for ‘song’ in PACT. The insertion indicator is ‘that accommodates’.
23 Youngster hanging around stores getting tips off little spoiled child
MALL RAT
[S]MALL [B]RAT
Again, an expression that is exclusively AmEng. The setter is Irish, so perhaps such terms are more widely used in his home country; but he is setting for a British newspaper.
24 Some of loan is deferred when starting firm
SOLID
The initial letters of the first five words of the clue.
25 Tory offer could be a runner
CONTENDER
A charade of CON and TENDER.
Down
1 Old group take in lake in ancient city
THE BEATLES
An insertion of EAT and L in THEBES. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
2 Lie in bed tossing? It’s most unpalatable
INEDIBLE
(LIE IN BED)* with ‘tossing’ as the anagrind.
3 All over the place after street disturbance
STRIFE
A charade of ST and RIFE.
4 They won’t go off with US men that lack energy
DUDS
DUD[E]S
5 Club supports discharge of one throwing weight about
SHOT-PUTTER
A charade of SHOT and PUTTER in its golf sense.
6 Rabbi led astray by one unprepared for speech
AD-LIBBER
(RABBI LED)* with ‘astray’ as the anagrind.
7 Mature former pupil promoted wine shop
BODEGA
A reversal of AGED and OB. The reversal indicator is, since it’s a down clue, ‘promoted’.
8 Pressure to remove last horse from moorland
HEAT
HEAT[H]
14 It was commonly read during troubled times
THE RIOT ACT
A cd.
15 Less substantial artist with true representation of books etc
LITERATURE
A charade of LITE, RA and (TRUE)* The anagrind is ‘representation’. LITE for ‘less substantial’ is used in foodstuffs, particularly drinks. I am guessing that this also is of US origin, but is widely used in British English now, so I don’t think we can criticise this clue on the same grounds as the previous two.
17 Examine outskirts of city, one looking quite attractive
EYE CANDY
A charade of EYE and C AND Y, which are the outside letters of ‘city’.
18 Trouble following older cast to wealthy location
EL DORADO
A charade of (OLDER)* and ADO. The anagrind is ‘cast’.
20 Poor medium I left without difficulty
MEASLY
A charade of M and EAS[I]LY.
21 Notified in hearing when being charged
TOLLED
A homophone (‘in hearing’) of TOLD.
22 Letters sent going after job
POST
Not a dd, but a td – a triple definition.
23 Some opportune moment to hold up consumer choices
MENU
Hidden reversed in opportUNE Moment. The reversal indicator is ‘to hold up’, since it’s a down clue.
Many thanks to Anto for this morning’s Quiptic.
Hang tough is not uncommon here, although no doubt imported from across the Pacific. Mall rat, otoh, is a species new to me.
I’d agree with you about the lack of American indicators, especially when there is one in 4d.
Thanks Pierre. As I speculated in my blog of the cryptic, I suspect that “editorial oversight” has resulted in the two puzzles being swapped. (Not the the other one is any more Quiptic-ish.)
I thought I was missing something with LIE DETECTOR TEST. I don’t think it quite works, but I thought this was more like a Quiptic than some Anto puzzles.
I had heard of MALL RAT somewhere or other but not HANG TOUGH and also couldn’t work out how to parse 16a.
Liked BADDIES, THUMBNAIL, EYE CANDY, THE BEATLES (was pleased I remembered Thebes.)
Interesting to see THE RIOT ACT again.
Thanks Anto and Pierre – now off to try the cryptic.
You might find that the cryptic is the puzzle that was meant to be the Quiptic, Fiona Anne. See what you think.
As blogged. Pierre’s forthright opinions about the crossword editor for this paper are noted. I think we may have heard their like a considerable number of times before.
16ac LIE DETECTOR = it can locate position (as in detect the lie of the land) + TEST = cricket match
I found this puzzle harder than today’s Cryptic.
Liked BADDIES, THE BEATLES.
I did not parse 5d.
Thanks, both.
This was more like the Cryptic for me esp with the non-Eng expressions.Lots to like such as BADDIES DUDS, THE BEATLES, TUDOR etc
Thanks Anto and Pierre
Bit confused by 8 d, since the last letter of “horse” is “e”. I suppose that you remove the last letter from “heath” = “h” which happens to be slang for heroin, or “horse”?
Indeed, Shirl. I should have made that clear in the blog. H for ‘horse’ or ‘heroin’ is common in crosswords and the ‘last horse’ is referring to the second H.
Shirl@10
I thought that maybe it was to remove the second/last H (horse) from heath -> HEAT[h], ie not the first H which would lead to [h]EATH.
I think that Anto has become something of a whipping boy recently. Personally, I find his puzzles fine. He does have one or two strange clues occasionally, but in my opinion other setters can be far more obscure, loose or impenetrable.
Pierre @6
I found the two puzzles to be about the same level – but it might have been because I did the cryptic second and my brain was overheating by then. I am a relatively new solver having started towards the end of the first lockdown. The one I am best at is Everyman and for over a year now I have not allowed myself to use aids like crossword dictionaries and word finders when doing it and mostly I finish it now or just have a last couple I can’t get.
I still use aids the rest of the week although I do go through the whole thing first without any aids to see how much I can get without help. I always wanted to learn to do cryptic crosswords and decided that lockdown was a good time to start – and I am really enjoying it – and thanks goodness for fifteen squared and all you bloggers. When I first started I just went straight to this website….
Enjoyed this and Anto’s regular cryptic today – though do agree with some of the criticisms too, especially the two Americanisms here which I don’t think are common enough in UK (whilst e.g. both DUDES and LITE I think probably are now OK without US indication). Although I liked BADDIES surely the opposite of “good lives on” is that either “bad lives on” or “good dies”? (Would have preferred something along the lines of criminals “(perhaps) implying” good lives on? Or maybe I’ve just misunderstood the original clue!) 21a & 23d favourites because they are both nicely constructed yet suitably ‘quiptic’.
Maybe because I’m living in the US now I didn’t have problems with the Americanisms, but was a little surprised they weren’t so indicated. The one that was indicated, DUD(E), amused me because a friend called me that just a couple of days ago. A dude, not a dud, I hasten to add.
Unlike many recent Mondays, I found this quite a bit easier than the Cryptic (but see above).
Agreed that 16a is a little weird. It seems 3/4 of the way to an &lit., if you squint a little when looking at it.
If I have to pay a tax, I’ve been taxed. If I have to pay a toll have I been TOLLED?
Neither MALL RAT nor HANG TOUGH is an expression I’ve ever used, Yank though I am.
Thanks, Anto (again) and Pierre. Sorry, no birds.
Fiona Anne @14: Very glad to hear you have been enjoying the journey. Bonne continuation!
CranberryBoat @15: yes, I seem to remember from maths lessons that a double reflection means you end up as you were before 😉 (or possibly translated or rotated). Perhaps here we could interpret “the opposite” here as meaning “the other side of the coin”.
Valentine @17:
…no Italian priest
Shall tithe or toll in our dominions
Thanks Anto, and for the blog, Pierre; I agree entirely with your comments. It may be, as you say, that some American terms are familiar in Ireland, and Anto didn’t realise that they are not used on this side of the Irish Sea. But if so, that’s another case where the editor should step in.
Isn’t LIE the position of a golf ball after it’s come to a halt? So maybe it was intended as a DD with that + TEST =MATCH and the true / false as the second Def?
I think Michelle @8 has the right parsing for 16ac (LIE DETECTOR TEST), although I can’t say I’m thrilled with “true or false” as a definition.
I found this extremely difficult for a Quiptic, but quite probably I’m just having an off day.
I found this puzzle MUCH easier than the other Anto, which took a couple of passes, a good night’s sleep, and finally a reveal to finish.
“LITE” for “LIGHT”, as far as I know, came from corporate advertising — we are victims here as well. Although, there could be an argument for getting rid of most of the “-ght” words, as the original sound is no longer used.
[It seems that mall rats (a term I’ve never used before in a sentence) are going extinct. Malls are struggling to survive and trying to re-invent themselves. Department stores (that “anchored” the malls) were already victims of online shopping. And then during height of the pandemic, nearly all the malls were closed (at least in California). Only shops with outside entries could be open at all.]
That’s interesting Calgal @22. Here, most of our supermarkets and half our medical practises are in malls, so they had to stay open (but with most of the shops closed).
Perfectly decent quiptic. I’m perplexed that anyone thought that this was harder than the cryptic!
BODEGA was my LOI, but a fine word I’d vaguely heard before. (I originally had ‘drill’ for DRONE, the ‘bit’ throwing me.) HANG TOUGH and MALL RAT I’d come across – yes they may be Americanisms, but with the preponderance of US influence in our entertainment, I’d say they’re fair game.
In the US (where I live), MALL RAT was a far more common expression about 30 years ago than today. There was a 1995 film called “Mallrats”, directed by Kevin Smith (later known for films such as Clerks and Dogma).