Anto, as usual, likes to stretch the boundaries of what’s expected in a Quiptic. But some of us have a public holiday today, so may have a bit of extra time for the puzzle.
A few obscurities, particularly the definition in 20d and the reverse wordplays in 21a, 28a and 17d (all fair, but not typical of a Quiptic). But lots of good clues: in particular I liked the anagram in 25a, the ingenious reversal in 7d, the misdirection in the definition of 8d, and the neat construction of 19d. Thanks Anto for the challenge.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | UP FOR IT |
Charged with sex game (2,3,2)
|
| UP FOR (charged with = “up” in front of a judge accused of a crime, as in “he’s up for breaking and entering”) + IT (slang for sex).
Game, as an adjective = up for it = willing. |
||
| 5 | SNIPPET |
Scrap university degree in a fit of pique (7)
|
| PPE (abbreviation for a university course in Philosophy, Politics and Economics) inserted into SNIT (a fit of pique = a bad-tempered mood). | ||
| 9 | SHIED |
Recoiled when guard abandoned line (5)
|
| SHIE[l]D (guard), without the L (line). | ||
| 10 | SAY NO MORE |
Be quiet? Gotcha! (3,2,4)
|
| Double definition. Stop talking; or an expression meaning “you don’t need to explain further, I understand what you mean”. | ||
| 11 | DOG WHISTLE |
This glowed at random to attract pet’s attention (3,7)
|
| Anagram (at random) of THIS GLOWED. | ||
| 12 | EGO |
I have nothing on, for example (3)
|
| O (zero = nothing) added to (on) EG (e.g. = Latin exempli gratia = for example).
I = ego = the self. |
||
| 14 | CARD CARRYING |
Official has bearing on character (4,8)
|
| CARRYING (bearing, as a verb) added to (on) CARD (character = an eccentric person).
As in “a card-carrying Labour party member” = an officially recognised one. I’d expect the phrase to be written with a hyphen, so (4-8) rather than (4,8), and both Chambers and Collins appear to agree with me. |
||
| 18 | FIRST OFFENCE |
Was Eve stealing an apple an unprecedented crime? (5,7)
|
| Double definition / cryptic definition. In the book of Genesis, humanity’s first disobedience against God; or a crime committed by someone who has no previous criminal record. | ||
| 21 | PUN |
Joke by gent is somewhat ripe (3)
|
| If you add PUN to GENT you get PUNGENT = smelly = somewhat ripe. | ||
| 22 | NEVER AGAIN |
It’s the end of continuous lossmaking (5,5)
|
| Continuous lossmaking = NEVER A GAIN. | ||
| 25 | SWIPE LEFT |
Wife spelt out way to reject potential date? (5,4)
|
| Anagram (out) of WIFE SPELT.
In mobile-phone dating apps, users “swipe right” to express interest in another user, or “swipe left” otherwise. Or so I’m told by those who like to use such things. |
||
| 26 | UNITE |
Couple held back by disquiet in university (5)
|
| Hidden answer, reversed (held back by . . .) in [disqui]ET IN U[niversity].
Couple, as a verb = join together. |
||
| 27 | EXHAUST |
Run out short extension over German’s house (7)
|
| EXT (short for extension) around HAUS (German for house). | ||
| 28 | PENDANT |
Medallion omitting first name would lead one to complain (7)
|
| PENDANT without the N = PEDANT = one who complains about small details. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | UPSIDE |
Without love, Oedipus complex may be an advantage (6)
|
| Anagram (complex) of [o]EDIPUS without the O (zero = love in tennis scoring). | ||
| 2 | FRINGE |
Band with iron around edge (6)
|
| RING (band, as in “wedding band” = a finger ring worn to symbolise marriage) with FE (chemical symbol for iron, from Latin ferrum) around it. | ||
| 3 | RUDE HEALTH |
Fitness of cheeky drinking toast? (4,6)
|
| RUDE (cheeky) + HEALTH (as in “to drink someone’s health” = to drink a toast to them).
Someone in “rude health” is well and physically fit. |
||
| 4 | TASKS |
Beginners in the arts seldom know Seurat’s works (5)
|
| First letters (beginners) of T[he] A[rts] S[eldom] K[now] S[eurat]. And if you’re a beginner in the arts, Georges Seurat was a French post-impressionist painter. | ||
| 5 | SAY PLEASE |
Pays off rent when told to ask nicely (3,6)
|
| Anagram (off) of PAYS, then LEASE (rent, as a verb = hire). | ||
| 6 | IDOL |
Wildfowl regularly an object of worship (4)
|
| Alternate letters (regularly) from [w]I[l]D[f]O[w]L. | ||
| 7 | PHONETIC |
Mention lack of credit rising? It might sound like that (8)
|
| CITE (mention) + NO HP (hire purchase = buying something “on credit” by paying in instalments), all reversed (rising = upwards in a down clue).
Phonetic = relating to the sound of words or letters. |
||
| 8 | THE ROUGH |
Where bad drivers end up, due to ingesting drug (3,5)
|
| THROUGH (due to = because of, as in “unfit through lack of exercise”), containing (ingesting) E (slang for the drug ecstasy or MDMA).
The “drivers” in this case are playing golf, in which a badly-aimed shot may end up in the “rough” = an area of uncut grass. |
||
| 13 | GRECIAN URN |
Doctor near curing poet’s Hellenic object of desire (7,3)
|
| Anagram (doctor, as a verb = fix) NEAR CURING.
Reference to the poem Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats. |
||
| 15 | DIFFERENT |
Check out crack (around two feet) that’s unusual (9)
|
| DIE (check out, in slang) + RENT (crack), around F F (two F = abbreviation for foot). | ||
| 16 | OFF PISTE |
Cancelled first part of exercise, as this route much harder (3,5)
|
| OFF (cancelled, as in “the game’s off because of rain”), then IST (1st = first) inserted into (part of?) PE (physical education = exercise classes).
At a ski resort, off piste = away from the prepared route, and therefore in more difficult terrain and/or snow conditions. |
||
| 17 | BRANDISH |
Wave moving right to left would be flatter (8)
|
| If you change the R (right) to L (left) you get BLANDISH (to persuade someone by flattery). | ||
| 19 | LA-DI-DA |
Pretentious girl going after young man (2-2-2)
|
| IDA (girl’s name) after LAD (young man). | ||
| 20 | INDENT |
Requisition National Trust to support short list (6)
|
| NT (abbreviation for National Trust) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) INDE[x] (list) without its last letter (short).
To make an official order for something; not a familiar word, but guessable from indenture = a legally-binding agreement. |
||
| 23 | EAT UP |
Take in a group of workers breaking record (3,2)
|
| A + TU (trade union = group of workers), inserted into (breaking) EP (extended-play record). | ||
| 24 | MENU |
List of options at the core of camera manual (4)
|
| Centre letters (the core) of [ca[ME[ra] [ma]NU[al]. |
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