Carpathian is this morning’s setter.
This would make an excellent crossword for a novice solver. After my first pass, I only had three solutions missing, and the crossers gave me enough letters to get them second time round. Nothing contentious, overly complicated or obscure. Just the kind of puzzle a blogger needs on a work day, although had I been solving on the morning commute, I would have needed somethig else to do as the whole thing was over in a flash,
Thanks, Carpathian
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BEREFT |
Deprived fellow wearing hat (6)
|
| F (fellow) wearing BERET (“hat”) | ||
| 4 | MISCHIEF |
Male is leading bad behaviour (8)
|
| M (male) + IS + CHIEF (“leading”) | ||
| 9 | SUPPER |
Great to eat quiet meal (6)
|
| SUPER (“great”) to eat P (piano in music, so “quiet”) | ||
| 10 | ESCAPISM |
Part of Shane’s cap is manufacturer’s fantasy (8)
|
| Hidden in [part of] “shanES CAP IS Manufacturer” | ||
| 11 | VENTURE CAPITAL |
Investment in Peruvian cattle development (7,7)
|
| *(peruvian cattle) [anag:development] | ||
| 13 | DISINHERIT |
Hinted Iris could be cut off (10)
|
| *(hinted iris) [anag:could be] | ||
| 14 | SCUM |
Froth starts to spill copiously upsetting mum (4)
|
| [starts to] S(pill) C(opiously} U(psetting} M(um) | ||
| 16 | SODA |
Obnoxious person with a drink (4)
|
| SOD (“obnoxious person”) with A | ||
| 18 | MOTIVATION |
Reason proposal includes one tank (10)
|
| MOTION (“proposal”) includes I + VAT (“tank”) | ||
| 21 | INCONSIDERABLE |
Prepared sociable dinner of no great size (14)
|
| *(sociable dinner) [anag:prepared] | ||
| 23 | APERITIF |
Healthy rage secretary turned around getting drink (8)
|
| <=(FIT (“healthy”) + IRE (“rage”) + PA (personal assistant, so “secretary”, turned around) | ||
| 24 | TIERED |
Draw wine arranged in rows (6)
|
| TIE (“draw”) + RED (“wine”) | ||
| 25 | END-TO-END |
Last nurse embracing love completely (3-2-3)
|
| END (“last”) + TEND (“nurse”) embracing O (“love”, in tennis) | ||
| 26 | PEDDLE |
Sell bike part on the radio (6)
|
| Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [on the radio] of PEDAL (“bike part”) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BASH |
Graduate having quiet party (4)
|
| BA (Bachelor of Arts, so “graduate”) having SH (“quiet”) | ||
| 2 | REPRESS |
Put down regarding journalists (7)
|
| RE (“regarding”) + PRESS (“journalists”) | ||
| 3 | FLEETING |
Brief, short affair includes upstanding support (8)
|
| FLING (“short affair”) includes [upstanding] <=TEE (“support” for a golf ball) | ||
| 5 | INSECTICIDE |
Poison from popular religious faction – one police investigate finally (11)
|
| IN (“popular”) + SECT (“religious factiopn”) + I (one) + CID (Criminal Investigation Department, so “police”) + (investigat)E [finally] | ||
| 6 | CLAMPS |
Charlie punches holding instruments (6)
|
| C (Charlie, in the NATO phonetic alphabet) + LAMPS (“punches”) | ||
| 7 | IDIOTIC |
Foolish jerk follows papers on moon (7)
|
| TIC (“jerk”) follows ID (identification “papers”) on IO (a “moon” of Jupiter) | ||
| 8 | FAMILY MAN |
My fan mail redirected to patriarch perhaps (6,3)
|
| *(my fan mail) [anag:redirected] | ||
| 12 | RHETORICIAN |
Train heroic Byzantine speaker (11)
|
| *(train heroic) [anag:Byzantine] | ||
| 13 | DISSIPATE |
Detectives drink strange tea and scatter (9)
|
| DIs (“detective” inspectors) + SIP (“drink”) + *(tea) [anag:strange] | ||
| 15 | MAGAZINE |
Arsenal publication (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | DECREED |
Last month grass gets laid down (7)
|
| Dec. (December, so “last month”) + REED (“grass”) | ||
| 19 | ILL-BRED |
Loutish setter will be around right before date (3-4)
|
| I’LL BE (“setter will be”) around R (right) before D (date) | ||
| 20 | INDIGO |
Colour of home before excavation over (6)
|
| IN (“home”) before DIG (“excavation”) + O (over, in cricket) | ||
| 22 | IDLE |
Unemployed individual demanding legitimate employment primarily (4)
|
| I(ndividual) D(emanding) L(egitimate) E(mployment) [primarliy] |
A steady solve. ESCAPISM was nicely hidden. I spent a bit of time trying to work out how Froth=Scam with the “upsetting mum” which was a nice bit of misdirection for SCUM.
A good puzzle for those starting off with cryptics.
Carpathian is setting the Quick Cryptic crosswords on alternate weeks with these types of clear clues. I’d like to see her set a Quiptic as this is a great step up for those newly introduced to cryptics through that initiative.
Thank you Carpathian and loonapick.
Smooth Nutmegesque surfaces, although the reason a proposal includes a tank is a but wtbleep? Overall pretty lite, but pleasant, ta both.
Mostly harmless.
mmmm…. Very Monday sadly, but nicely constructed
Thanks Carpathian and loonapick
Nice puzzle, but very easy. Favourite CLAMPS, for the misleading “holding”.
Grantinfreo@3. The reason I am proposing one tank for the invasion is that the enemy has none, so one should be enough?
I wondered if there was subliminal social comment in some of the answers – REPRESS MISCHIEF? BASH IDLE, ILL-BRED SCUM: DISINHERIT VENTURE CAPITAL!
Thanks loonapick, and Carpathian for a gentle work-out.
Some nice anagrams. I still find Carpathian’s definitions a bit obvious – a hallmark of the Quiptic?
IDLE would be more at home in the Daily Mail
Cheers L&C
Very enjoyable puzzle which I would recommend to beginners.
Favourites: ILL-BRED, MISCHIEF, DISINHERIT.
25ac – why does end-to-end = completely? I must be missing something because I tend to think of end to end as ‘in a row with the end of one object touching that of another’. Is it something like this example:
The fire was spreading and spreading, engulfing the dry valley from end to end. (=completely)?
Thanks, both.
Michelle if you eat an animal end-to-end you eat it from squeak to tail or completely. Or an end-to-end inspection is a complete inspection.
Too many long anagrams for my taste, otherwise I agree with loonapick. I found it a bit harder than yesterday’s, but it was the anagrams that held me up so maybe they are a weak point. When solving on paper, if I can’t see the answer without help, I write the vowels and consonants separately, which for me is easier than the online solver.
I liked Byzantine as the anagram indicator.
Shanne @2
Carpathian made her Guardian debut in the Quiptic slot some time ago and set several much appreciated puzzles.
A swap with Sunday’s difficult Quiptic would have been sensible.
Loonapick @7. hmm, yes, possibly … just.
And yes, totally, Shirl @14, that Quiptic was chewy!
Great puzzle. I found it a little tricky in parts and took far too long over the grass and the obnoxious drink but very enjoyable with some lovely clues. Thanks Loonapick and Carpathian.
When I was first learning to solve I always appreciated a Carpathian Quiptic, so I have a soft spot for her.
Mostly nice and easy 4 me. All the crossers needed for a few. Lamp = punch is a new one for I after 56 years. Are there any literary references to this?
My daughter, who is learning cryptics, is doing this one. Unfortunately her FOI was LUNATIC @7d – very good indeed, except for the “papers”!
As soon as I saw Carpathian’s name today, I realised I hadn’t seen her for a while – and that I’d really missed her.
(Maybe Shanne@2 has provided the explanation: perhaps the great woman is mostly tied-up with Quick Quiptics, these days.)
How wonderful to do a crossword created by a setter who really cares about surfaces, who creates such elegantly-worded clues with beautifully satisfying solutions. The parsing is always a delight, never unnecessarily tortuous nor totally up-itself.
Time and again I found myself smiling at her adroit use of language: “Byzantine” as an anagrind!
Far too many ticks to list them all – so I’ll just mention the deft and precise BEREFT.
I never “bung & shrug” with a Carpathian oeuvre, I never harrumph. She’s in a league of her own.
The only problem is: the fun is over far too soon!
Thank you loonapick for the blog – and a warm virtual hug for the classiest of all the Guardian’s setters.
The only thing that puzzled me today was the word Byzantine used as an anagram indicator. Pretty much anything can be used, it seems. Some very nice long anagrams in evidence today, but over too quickly as others have said…
Sweet.
Ta Carpathian & loonapick.
Crackers@18
Chambers says ‘lamp’ (slang, transitive verb)=to punch or thump.
I have come across lamp=punch/hit in some earlier puzzles too.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lamp
to punch someone (= hit them with your closed hand) hard:
He managed to ignore the guy and walk away, instead of lamping him.
The star was known for lamping photographers.
ronald @21: Byzantine has form as an anagram indicator. Chambers defines it as intricate and tortuous, both of which have also appeared as anagrinds on plenty of occasions. But that doesn’t mean pretty much anything can be used; you would have a hard job persuading solvers to accept cabbage, Vauxhall or purple …
No, not everything can be used as an anagrind ronald @21. Both Byzantine (meaning “Intricate, tortuous”) and the similar baroque are listed as anagrinds in Chambers Crossword Dictionary and on the Clue Clinic website.
I echo everything that Wellbeck says @20.
Carpathian was the natural choice to launch the quick cryptic puzzles, having such long-standing experience in the Quiptic slot. I had a wry smile at Shanne’s comment @2: ‘I’d like to see her set a Quiptic…’
Researching Carpathian’s setting history, I’ve just found a comment of mine from a couple of years ago: ‘It’s almost exactly a year since my last blog of a Carpathian puzzle and there has been only one cryptic one, among eight Quiptics, since then. I’d like to see Carpathian more often in the Monday cryptic slot.’ 😉
Postmark@24 and TimC@25, it’s just that I’ve not come across the Byzantine term used in that way before. Might Volvo be a better anagram indicator than Vauxhall, perhaps? I’ll get my hat…
Echo all the above comments. A combination of the precision and care shown by Carpathian and a bit more intent to maliciously confound would make for an excellent challenge.
Thanks Carpathian and loonapick
Carpathian still my favourite – this was a great cofidence boost for me, someone who is early in the business of the main cryptics. I agree with other commenters that perhaps this would have more readily fit the quiptic than this week’s quiptic! But that’s all subjective…
Thanks for the blog, loonapick. And thanks for yet another great day out, Carpathian!
@20 – ‘elegantly worded clues’ with great surfaces. Please tell me you’re joking. You are joking, right?
As Eileen sometimes says, a crossword doesn’t have to be difficult to be enjoyable, and this was a case in point.
I agree with those who like Byzantine as an anagram indicator. (PostMark @24, your comment of course immediately started me trying to think how cabbage, Vauxhall or purple could be justified. I think I’ve given up on the first two, but purple as in purple passage, meaning over-ornate, elaborate? Just about?)
Many thanks Carpathian and loonapick (I liked your one-tank invasion @7).
I’d come across punch/lamp in a cryptic a month or so ago, and was befuddled. I just checked “lamp” in Collins to see whether it’s British slang, but this meaning isn’t there at all. Punch/lam I could live with.
RHETORICIAN is a new one for me.
A nice easy puzzle today, which I might give to my pupil, who thus far has been progressing slowly with the quick cryptics.
[Lord Jim: I rather suspected that comment might be red rag to a bull – though not which bull it would turn out to be 😊. The first two words were safe choices so I bunged in a third that might tempt someone …]
LAMP = ‘punch’ is very familiar to me, for longer than I care to remember (but thankfully not through any sort of bitter experience).
I’m with what appears to be the consensus on this puzzle anyway: enjoyable, accessible and with a few that took me a bit longer to work my way through.
Thanks both and a solid 3 – over all too soon but enjoyable for all that.
Even with all the crossers I failed on APERITIF (but it was late at night and I was due to sleep – as it was I didn’t sleep for another long while; can’t seem to nod off these days). But this morning I am worried that I am losing the grip entirely. That’s a thought to keep a body awake……
By the way what do you call an alcohol-free APERITIF? Aperi-false-tif. (Yes that is my coat why do you ask? Oh…)
I have to say that before I came here, I was preparing to write something similar to what loonapick said in the preamble: “Nothing contentious, overly complicated or obscure”. I probably wouldn’t have been so concise but that summed it up for me. I found this was a steady solve in my case (not “over in a flash” or “over far too soon” as I’m a slow solver), but this offering from Carpathian certainly reinforced the already-mentioned truth that a puzzle doesn’t have to be complex and tough to be satisfying and enjoyable (thanks Lord Jim@31 for reiterating Eileen’s wisdom). I don’t think I’ve met “Byzantine” before, so thanks for the back story, PostMark@24 and TimC@25.
Thanks very much to Carpathian and loonapick.
Mostly a write-in, but no less entertaining for that.
My only objection was including the name of a hated football team from south London, in the clue for 15D. The answer to 14A is the name by which we Spurs fans unaffectionately refer to them.
Thanks to Carpathian and loonapick.
@37 off-topic, but is “south” london a dig at the “hated” team that is somehow intentionally geographically insulting? (or is it just that arsenal arena is slightly further south than Tottenham?)
That’s two Cryptics this week that have been easier than the Quiptic.
Enjoyable solve with Carpathian’s usual precise cluing.
I liked the long anagrams, particularly for VENTURE CAPITAL, the ‘holding’, which was not a containment indicator, for the clue to CLAMPS. LOI was RHETORICIAN, a bit of a mouthful but of course derived from the familiar RHETORIC.
Thanks Carpathian and loonapick.
Crackers@18 Jonathan Green’s Dictionary of Slang is a good source for “literary references”. Here’s 6d CLAMPS’ lamp v.1
‘[? lam v.1 ] 1. to beat, to strike, to thrash.1808 [UK] in Jamieson Etym. Dict. Scot. Lang.
1989 [UK] J. Morton Lowspeak 91: Lamp – 2. to hit in the face.
2001 [UK] N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 240: F*ckin lucky there Llýr, I was just about to f*ckin lamp yew one I was.
2004 [Scot] C. Brookmyre Be My Enemy 166: Energetically lamping Rory with a ‘Shut Up You Smug Tory Twat’ baseball bat.
2012 [Scot] (con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 269: One ay these days the big felly’s gaunny turn roond n lamp that stroppy wee f*cker.
2012 [US] C. Black ‘Topless Vampire Bitches’ in C. Rhatigan and N. Bird (eds) Pulp Ink 2 [ebook]
I swear if he changes his mind one more time I’m goonna f*ckin’ lamp him!
2020 [Scot] A. Parks Bobby March Will Live Forever 166: ‘[T]he mood I’m in I’ll lamp the bastard’.
2022 Twitter 19 Oct. 🌐 Any chance someone does the decent thing and lamps [Jacob Rees-]Mogg?’
[…To get past Akismet, I had to censor all the f*cks, there, which seems a shame, when I was only requoting citations from a reputable dictionary.] Feck it!
25a “If all the girls attending the Yale prom were laid END TO END, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.” — Dorothy Parker
It’s a Paraprosdokian, apparently. (No, I hadn’t heard the word before, either.)
@37 1961Blanchflower Sarf Lundun, the Gunners? I fought they wiz in ´ighbury?
Thanks Carpathian for a clearly written crossword with very economical surfaces. I enjoyed this especially the long anagrams like INCONSIDERABLE, VENTURE CAPITAL, and DISINHERIT. Thanks loonapick for the blog.
A pleasant morning spent with Carpathian. Thanks to both her and loonapick.
Ilan@38 Arsenal were previously Woolwich Arsenal and were indeed based on the benighted southern side of the river.
For 6d I always associate “lamping” with the phrase “punching someone’s lights out” – though that might just be me.
Thanks C and L
I had froth=FOAM for a while (upsetting the same Mum). This would have made a better Quiptic than the one we had from Anto (though I did enjoy that).
@37 @38 @44, Arsenal FC started its life in Woolwich, South East London (made up of workers at the Woolwich Arsenal). The move north to Highbury was in1913, but a strong fan base in SE London remained. (I live in New Cross SE14, a supporters’ bus from here to Highbury on matchdays is still in living memory). Personally I prefer NUFC, proper North…
[15d Always nice to see my beloved club in a puzzle. These days we don’t even think about East London sides.
We’re too busy hating a “Team ordering synthetic cream (10,4)” — 4d in Saturday’s FT by Pedrock]
[Adrian @49
When we lived in London, we learned to actually get in the cab at Euston before giving our address on Dog Kennel Hill to forestall the “Not going sarf the river, guv”!]
As a novice starter, I can concur this was right up my street.
Haven’t been to The Emirates Arsenal stadium for a while, but last time I went the obligatory chant from the home supporters was: “Stand up if you ‘ate Tot-Num”. Battle to be rejoined after the international break on Sunday 15th September…
Concur with many above that this was an enjoyable and confidence giving puzzle for newer solvers. Thank you for the puzzle and the explanation.
Thanks for the blog, ideal puzzle for newer solvers and good to see comments from some. There should be two puzzles at this level every week. Two hard puzzles as well but I have given up hope.
Adrian@49, perhaps you should support Tromso.
PostMark@24 and LordJim@31, how about “shredded” cabbage, and my favourite CRS – Vauxhall Garden = I beg your pardon. (OK, I made that one up.)
Cellomaniac @56 Vauxhall does have a couple of CRS variants based on car models. They cannot be traditional because the car models are very modern.
@muffin №51
I still live on Dog Kennel Hill 🙂 I think the challenge of Ubers has knocked off some of the black cabbies’ edges – but you still don’t see many of them in SE 5 15 or 22 let alone further south
[Matthew @58
Interesting! We lived in Karen Court, a block of flats right at the very top, for 10 years or so. Being at the top of the hill meant that (nearly) every run I did finished uphill (there was a short flat finish along the road opposite that came from the Fox on the Hill).]
A great example of how to elevate a straightforward (for experienced solvers) puzzle through sheer excellence in the surfaces, and by deploying a broad range of devices.
Muffin @59. I am in Wilton House part of the huge estate the other side of Grove Hill Road. I am new to the area but I expect you would be astonishined by how some pockets of the area are completely changed (that what long term residents have explained to me).
I am a daily cyclist so the eternal uphill finish is part of my pain too
Enjoyed it but what exactly goes through the editor’s mind when putting this in the Tues slot and Anto’s slog in the Quiptic?
Very well constructed and enjoyable.
I’m not a beginner but I have my moments and as others have mentioned, an ideal quiptic.
Thanks both…
As another beginner just wanted to add my appreciation of an excellent puzzle yielding a very satisfying solve. It took me three sessions but got there in the end. After two successful days am happy to leave the rest of the week to the experts!
Far too easy
As someone new to cryptic crosswords, having been helped by doing the quick cryptics and quiptics ( sometimes a struggle ), I really enjoyed this today and felt a great sense of achievement. I only had a go because I recognised Carpathian ( and was not disappointed).
15 d was a particular joy, being a Gooner.
I’m in the minority (surprise surprise!)
I’m so chuffed I saw 9a.
In 1a, is FELLOW always ‘f’? I was stumped on this.
I needed a good bit of help from crossworldsolver.org
I managed almost all the top half, but – embarrassingly- the whole lower half (apart from IDLE) was beyond me.
Steffen – in which case you are plainly making progress. Keep it up.
Steffen@67 I think “fellow” can also be “don.” Oxbridgers may correct me.
Steffen & Valentine
F = FELLOW is the case when an individual has been elected as a Society Of Fellows, eg FRS = Fellow of The Royal Society etc
FELLOW = DON applies in predominantly Oxbridge colleges when an academic in a specific subject has been selected for a senior role in teaching said subject in the college, and possibly within the wider university. DON is an appellation for such a role.
And, yes, I’m a Cantabrian…
New here. This was a nice one. About half at first glance. The remainder a mix of ‘oh my brain isn’t up to the long anagram right now’, a few head scratchers and the eventual groan of ‘cant believe I didn’t see that earlier’. I consider myself a beginner, certainly at regular Guardian cryptics.
[@41 I’ve misspelt JonathOn Green’s first name. Soz, JonnieG]