Chandler has the Quiptic offering for us this week. I blogged his well-received debut puzzle in April of this year and he’s been a monthly contributor to the slot since.
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 Endorse what those on high table do after dinner?
SUPPORT
High table would no doubt have port as the after dinner drink, so those on it would SUP PORT.
5 Cricketer beginning to shine at university makes a mistake
SLIPS UP
A charade of SLIP, S for the initial letter of ‘shine’ and UP.
9 Sun in a filming location is an advantage
ASSET
An insertion of S in A SET. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
10 Engineer pleased about a new feature in a resort?
ESPLANADE
An insertion of A and N in (PLEASED)* The anagrind is ‘engineer’ and the insertion indicator is ‘about’.
11 Choice of mainstream parties to defend a scientific research site
LABORATORY
An insertion of A in LAB OR TORY. The insertion indicator is ‘to defend’.
12 Some organise minor stage in knockout competition
SEMI
Hidden in organiSE MInor.
14 Formal piety in order to avoid having to take action
PLAY FOR TIME
(FORMAL PIETY)* with ‘in order’ as the anagrind.
18 Something that might occur in spell with cleric disrupted a privileged elite
MAGIC CIRCLE
A charade of MAGIC and (CLERIC)* with ‘disrupted’ as the anagrind.
21 Pink wine went up in price
ROSE
A dd.
22 Unrest cop provoked around hard place in Lincolnshire
SCUNTHORPE
An insertion of H in (UNREST COP)* The insertion indicator is ‘around’ and the anagrind is ‘provoked’.
25 Foreshadow image consultant, perhaps, infused with energy
PREFIGURE
An insertion of E in PR FIGURE, which whimsically could be an ‘image consultant’. The insertion indicator is ‘infused with’.
26 Upper-class person of wisdom reveals custom
USAGE
A charade of U and SAGE.
27 Part, we’re told, publicised in unveiling of a product, say
ROLLOUT
A charade of ROLL for a homophone (‘we’re told’) of ROLE and OUT.
28 Countryside view takes Frenchman aback in southern Cyprus
SCENERY
An insertion of RENÉ for the archetypal ‘Frenchman’ reversed in S and CY. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
Down
1 Main thing to secure papers
STAPLE
A dd.
2 Ignore fool with bachelor among extremists in party
PASS BY
An insertion of ASS and B in PY for the outside letters of ‘party’. The insertion indicator is ‘among’.
3 Ace troupe’s represented something studied by astronomers
OUTER SPACE
(ACE TROUPES)* with ‘represented’ as the anagrind.
4 Complicated matter without money for a special celebration
TREAT
([M]ATTER)* The anagrind is ‘complicated’.
5 Something productive in retirement?
SOPORIFIC
A cd. Something SOPORIFIC is likely to be ‘productive’ in sending you to sleep, or ‘retirement’.
6 Writer stood for election in Middle East country
IRAN
A charade of I RAN.
7 Criminal takes nip in place of vicious competition
SNAKE PIT
(TAKES NIP)* with ‘criminal’ as the anagrind.
8 Miss peer that’s shaken up area for a business
PREMISES
(MISS PEER)* with ‘shaken up’ as the anagrind.
13 Part of village overlooks hotel on river, somewhere plants grow
GREENHOUSE
A charade of GREEN, H for the phonetic alphabet ‘hotel’ and OUSE for the English river.
15 A spirit shown by royal followers in battle
AGINCOURT
A charade of A, GIN and COURT.
16 Rugby player is put in terrible mire? That’s unacceptable
IMPROPER
An insertion of PROP in (MIRE)* The insertion indicator is ‘put in’ and the anagrind is ‘terrible’.
17 Fine porcelain, for example, trailed by good helper initially during promotional activity
EGGSHELL
A charade of EG, G and H for the initial letter of ‘helper’ inserted into SELL. The insertion indicator is ‘during’.
19 Fold note in item of luggage
CREASE
An insertion of RE for the second note of the tonic sol-fa in CASE. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
20 Come late routinely when depleted to get vegetable
CELERY
The outside letters of the first three words of the clue. ‘When depleted’ is the instruction to remove the central letters.
23 Tyneside journalist has second requirements
NEEDS
A charade of NE, ED and S.
24 Posh car turning up in kingdom, illegally
LIMO
Hidden reversed in kingdOM ILlegally.
Many thanks to Chandler for this week’s Quiptic.
Nice steady solve, thanks to Chandler and Pierre.
Thanks Chandler and Pierre
OK, but it seemed very heavy on anagrams.
Enjoyable and a proper Quiptic. As muffin implies, it felt like an introduction to anagrinds, but that could be helpful for the beginner.
Quite tough for a so-called Quiptic.
Did not parse 4d.
Thanks, both.
I enjoyed this and eventually got there after realising that astronomers do not study space routes
Pretty straightforward, although I didn’t parse CREASE, but it couldn’t be anything else (I was thinking notes as A-G). AGINCOURT was my favourite.
AGINCOURT, quite similarly clued, appears in today’s Indy crossword. Are Chandler and Italicus perchance related?
About the right level for a Quiptic today. Slight eyebrow-raise at PR FIGURE meaning image consultant, but it was gettable so OK.
I smiled at NEEDS as I have an almost identically worded clue for that in an amateur puzzle I’m working on. I would say ‘great minds’ but it’s quite a simple construction and not surprising two people hit upon it at about the same time. I’ll have to come up with something more devious now…
By the way Pierre, I must say your explanations are excellent, very clearly worded and easy to understand, which is great for the Quiptic-level solver.
Thanks both.
Ditto, Rob T. Pierre writes great explanations. Merci, Pierre.
Je vous en prie.
Thanks Chandler and Pierre. Found this a very enjoyable way to start the day this morning. Lovely neat, simple clues throughout.
I parsed 11ac as instructing me to put A between LABOR and TORY and wondered why the first one had the American spelling. Of course Pierre’s parsing is right.
My ignorance of cricket being essentially complete, I thought that SLIP and TRIP could both plausibly be cricketing terms, so 5ac had to wait for the first crosser. And I didn’t know the expression MAGIC CIRCLE, but it was quite gettable.
Woohoo, I finally finished one of these on the day it came out! Thanks Chandler for the puzzle and Pierre for the very lucid explanations. I never would have figured out how to parse 5A on my own—for a while I thought the “initially” referred to cricketer and filled in COCKS UP.
I think my favorite clues were for ESPLANADE and SOPORIFIC. I was very pleased when I figured out EGGSHELL. MAGIC CIRCLE does not ring a bell for me in American English, but I was able to get the second word from the anagram. Clearly I need to bone up on my cricket and rugby terms as they seem to come up quite often—twice in this one puzzle! PREFIGURE and SCUNTHORPE took me a while to get. ROSE was the easiest.
I’m curious if I should try early-week cryptics or stick with the Quiptic for now. I guess I’ll see if
Ha, sorry for the dangling last paragraph that I forgot to delete.
I’m late to the Quiptic this week, but I agree with all the positive comments.
I had a slightly different way of splitting the double definition in 1dn:
‘Main’ = principal/chief = staple (adj.), as in staple foods/commodities
‘Thing to secure papers’ = staple = what comes out of a stapler
Thanks Chandler and Pierre, for an exemplary Quiptic and blog respectively.
[Nick @13/14, re your ‘dangling last paragraph” – I would say by all means have a go at the regular cryptics. Despite the impression you might get, there is no rule that the puzzles have to get harder as the week progresses (apart from the tradition of “easy Monday”) – so don’t discount a puzzle just because it appears on a Friday.
A better guide to difficulty is the name of the setter. Probably best to avoid Vlad and Enigmatist in the early stages! Paul also has a reputation for being tricky. Qaos is generally not too hard; I usually enjoy his themed puzzles (although he came in for some stick yesterday – including from me – sorry Qaos!). Philistine and Picaroon are well worth the effort if you feel like a challenge.
On the other hand, if you would like more practice first at Quiptic-ish level, how about Everyman?]
I was out all day yesterday, so finishing the Quiptic today is a triumph in my terms!
5A was FOI (cricket fan, so no surprise!) and 7D LOI – I completely missed the anagrind there (not the only one I didn’t spot in this puzzle).
Thank you to Pierre for the enlightenment on a lot of these clues.
@essexboy Thank you for the recommendations! The first Guardian cryptic I attempted was by Philistine from a few weeks ago, and I made it around 2/3 of the way before waving the white flag (and then discovering this blog). I’m a longtime New York Times crossword solver but new to cryptics. The NYT publishes a cryptic once every eight weeks or so, so I’ve been working my way through their archives and getting the hang of things. The British puzzles I’ve tried seem significantly tougher, though I’m sure part of that is due to differences in common knowledge (e.g., NE to me is Nebraska, not Newcastle). That said, I find it very satisfying to work my way through the clues and learn new tricks in the process! Maybe I’ll try Everyman next.
By the way, I parsed 1D the same way you did.