Guardian Quiptic 1,323/Carpathian

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Carpathian in the Quiptic slot this week. Which means a thoughtfully constructed, beginner-friendly puzzle with no obscurities or over-complicated constructions. Brava.

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 Marvel race film remade without female
MIRACLE
(RACE [F]ILM)* with ‘remade’ as the anagrind.

5 Lays on international male models
IMPOSES
A charade of I, M and POSES.

9 Be informed of incline around start of road
LEARN
An insertion of R for the initial letter of ‘road’ in LEAN. The insertion indicator is ‘around’.

10 Story teller and traitor carrying prisoner to Europe
RACONTEUR
A charade of CON inserted into RAT and EUR. The insertion indicator is ‘carrying’.

11 So exciting newly living together
COEXISTING
(SO EXCITING)* with ‘newly’ as the anagrind.

12 Fix options regularly
PIN
The even letters of oPtIoNs.

14 Someone you know dancing a quiet can-can
ACQUAINTANCE
(A QUIET CAN CAN)* with ‘dancing’ as the anagrind.

18 Intimate interaction from one card to another
HEART-TO-HEART
A charade of HEART TO HEART, referencing the suit in a pack of cards.

21 Worker accepts new technology at first
ANT
The initial letters of ‘accepts’, ‘new’ and ‘technology’.

22 Be aware of ice parapet melting
APPRECIATE
(ICE PARAPET)* with ‘melting’ as the anagrind.

25 Plant US drugs agent is starting to share with us
NARCISSUS
A charade of NARC, IS, S for the initial letter of ‘share’ and US.

26 Inspire hearts of grimly robust men
IMBUE
The central letters (‘hearts’) of grIMly, roBUst and mEn.

27 Sketch fish returning in direction of shelter
LEEWARD
A reversal of DRAW EEL.

28 Let nuns broadcast passages
TUNNELS
(LET NUNS)* with ‘broadcast’ as the anagrind.

Down

1 Abysmal ice-cream containing venom
MALICE
Hidden in abysMAL ICE-cream.

2 Wandered around with setter getting in way
ROAMED
An insertion of ME for ‘setter’ in ROAD. The insertion indicator is ‘getting in’.

3 Take away finest coca concoction
CONFISCATE
(FINEST COCA)* with ‘concoction’ as the anagrind.

4 Lament missing first bird
EGRET
[R]EGRET and a chance for the Obligatory Pierre Bird Link. One we’ve had before (because EGRET comes up more often than it ought to in crosswords) but nonetheless an opportunity to appreciate its leggy elegance. It’s a heron, taxonomically: all egrets are herons, but not all herons are egrets. I’ve gone for the Great White Egret, which is becoming more established in the UK after a first breeding pair were spotted in the Somerset Levels over a decade ago.

5 Popular coin I have as bribe
INCENTIVE
A charade of IN, CENT and IVE.

6 Boat stake
PUNT
A dd.

7 General cleaning up
SWEEPING
Another dd. ‘She made general/sweeping changes.’

8 President taking drug foolishly ran
SPRINTED
Another subtractive anagram: Carpathian is asking you to ‘take’ the E (a drug) from ‘President’ and then make an anagram. The anagrind is ‘foolishly’. (PR[E]SIDENT)*

13 Draw with time and revolutionary skill during battle
ATTRACTION
An insertion of T and ART reversed in ACTION. The insertion indicator is ‘during’.

15 United nations operation put forward without dissent
UNOPPOSED
A charade of UN, OP and POSED.

16 Her plans going to pieces
SHRAPNEL
(HER PLANS)* with ‘going’ as the anagrind.

17 Lightly fry radish tip with new English wine
SAUTERNE
A charade of SAUTE, R for the initial letter of ‘radish’, N and E. I would always spell the luxuriously rich (and expensive) dessert wine SAUTERNES (and so would dictionaries) but a little furtle on the internet tells me that SAUTERNE is the term of choice for a wide variety of white wines from California, so Carpathian is on solid ground.

19 Loudly frolic and take a chance
GAMBLE
Aural wordplay (‘loudly’) for GAMBOL. It’s that time of year at the moment, when lambs do their thing.

20 Puts off those discussing dropping degree
DETERS
DE[BA]TERS

23 Lie about one exam
RESIT
An insertion of I in REST. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.

24 Upset keen female performer
DIVA
A reversal of AVID.

Many thanks to Carpathian for this week’s puzzle.

35 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 1,323/Carpathian”

  2. Thanks Carpathian and Pierre
    Very good Quiptic, though the SAUTERNE spelling grated (Chambers does give it as an alternative, but that’s them being descriptive again, acknowledging a misspelling in common use).

  3. It’s not a misspelling in America, muffin. But, unlike last week, at least you didn’t give up today when you came across what you consider to be a misspelling, so your entire Sunday wasn’t spoiled. Have a good day, as they say in the US.

  5. Pierre @3
    Why is the US spelling relevant in a British puzzle? The wine comes from a place called Sauternes, which the Americans probably think is in Bawdoh!

  6. Sorry Pierre, typo in 1a – it’s RACE [F] ILM (the Female is the subtraction)

    Thank you to Pierre and Carpathian for an entertaining Quiptic and the beautiful EGRET

  8. This fit the bill nicely, and was thoroughly enjoyable. The only unparsed one for me was 20d, but I can’t fault the clueing.

  9. My heart always lifts when I see Carpathian’s name. Her creations are proof that it’s perfectly possible to devise a crossword that’s on the easier end of the spectrum without having clunky or cumbersome clues.
    Her clues – as is amply displayed here – are so elegant, they’re almost beautiful!
    Lots of ticks, so I’ll just pick three: ROAMED for the surface, RESIT for its succinctness, ACQUAINTANCE for a clever anagram and a delightful mental picture.
    Thank you Pierre for the blog and the egret, and a 21-gun salute to Carpathian

  10. I thought this a perfect Quiptic with a good range of clue types for those of us new to crosswords. I realised yesterday when doing the 52nd Quick Cryptic that I have been attempting cryptics for a year now. Starting from nothing, I have learned a great deal in that time. Reading the blogs and comments here every day has helped enormously and kept me motivated. I think that without fifteensquared I might have given up, frustrated at not understanding how the clues work. Today I put in ANT with confidence and realised quickly that 1a required me to solve an anagram of ‘race film’ minus the ‘f’ and that 6d was a double definition. Wouldn’t have had any idea this time last year. So thanks everyone!

  11. Thanks Carpathian and Pierre.

    LEARN
    Should the def be ‘be informed of‘?

    Faves: HEART-TO-HEART and DETERS.

  12. That’s a really positive experience to share, Amma @10. Good to know that this site has been part of your journey and bon courage for the next 52.

  13. I did twitch at Sauterne, but as an American winery tells me “Sauterne:
    Sauterne is an intentional misspelling of the name of the famed wine region Sauternes. The term is typically used on low-quality wines produced in the U.S. from native grapes. Completely unlike Sauternes, it can be either white or pink, and ranges from nearly dry to sweet.”.

    If I’m prepared to accept the name of a French wine region without an indicator of it being French I think I need to be prepared to accept an American wine type without an indicator of it being American.

    In my first birding book the little egret is identified as a rarity. Now when strolling along a brook in London I often see two little egrets in the water.

  14. Thank you for explaining in more detail the American origin of the spelling, Eoink. I agree – there is no need for an American indicator in the clue. And it was a toss up between the Little Egret and the Great White when it came to the OPBL. I’ll give the Little Egret its fifteen minutes of fame next time the solution comes up on my watch.

  15. Always pleased to see Carpathian in this slot and this one didn’t disappoint. Amma @10 I echo your thoughts and want to add my thanks to Pierre and the other bloggers and contributors on this so helpful site.

  16. Excellent from Carpathian. FWIW I rattled through relatively quickly but in the Quiptic slot I’d much rather that than some of the more esoteric material we get that isn’t beginner friendly. Clues like 5d and 14a are textbook.

    I cleverly avoided the confusion at 17d by not being cultured enough to be confused by the spelling…

  17. Great Carpathian clueing. Enjoyed solving although did get some holdups along the way. Thanks Carpathian and Pierre.

  18. Since I didn’t grok the wordplay for DETERS, I wasn’t sure how to choose between that and “defers,” since both can be defined by (different senses of) “puts off.” I chose correctly, but can’t quite claim credit for that. It’s obvious now that it’s explained. Hey, it’s still early here, so that’s my excuse.

  19. Possibly the perfect Quiptic. Many thanks Carpathian. I’d add APPRECIATE, IMBUE, RACONTEUR and INCENTIVE to the list of favourites already identified. Thanks as always to Pierre for the very comprehensive blog and the lovely picture.

  21. I had the same “deters/defers” problem as mrpenney @18, and like others I failed to parse SPRINTED, although it makes perfect sense now.

    My only slight complaint about this puzzle is that it seemed rather heavy on the anagrams. But that’s the tiniest of complaints; in general, I thought it fit the Quiptic bill very well.

    [The word EGRET always reminds me of a headline I saw in a tabloid years ago — I forget which one — above a photo of a post-prandial crocodile: “Egrets, I’ve had a few.”]

  22. Totally agree Amma@10. This was a very satisfying puzzle thanks to carpathian’s excellent work and all the support I’ve had from fifteensquared this past year whilst doing quiptic and quick cryptics. I still don’t feel ready to tackle full cryptics but I usually manage most of Everyman and have great pleasure as I work my way through these weekly puzzles.
    Thank you all so much

  23. I got DEFERS for 20D.

    Didn’t spot the intended wordplay and settled on DEFER rather than DETER because the option of deferring an exam, or year, might convince someone not to drop their degree entirely. So — I convinced myself it was a weird double definition — it means both “puts off”, and, more specifically “puts off someone considering dropping their degree”.

    Some really impressive anagrams.

    Thanks S&B

  25. [Ted@21, that lovely headline (actually “Egrets? We’ve had a few”) – most recently used as a nod to the declassification in 2021 of the great white egret as a rare bird in the UK – was in the Independent; although they had used it previously in 2008 too.]

    I thought this was a perfectly-pitched Quiptic. Thanks both!

  26. Overall I was very happy with this weeks quiptic. It was enjoyable and pleasant and more importantly (for me at least) it is really extending my vocabulary, Raconteur and Sauterne were both new to me and I didn’t know Narcissus was a plant.

    Thanks to Carpathian and Pierre for an enjoyable puzzle and parsing 🙂

  27. I wasn’t quite able to finish, but I found this easier than Saturday’s quick cryptic.

    I’d NHO the wine before and got it from the wordplay, so the spelling didn’t worry me. The only other thing I hadn’t heard of was GAMBOL, so couldn’t get that.

    Thanks Pierre and Carpathian

  28. Thanks I find this blog very helpful. I was ok on most of these and enjoyed it. Couldn’t parse 13 d and still can’t really. Could someone help me with how we get ART?

    I do still take a bit of issue with 17d, notwithstanding the existence of the American wine. It’s virtually unknown in the UK (home of the Guardian so relevant), indeed I suspect it can’t be sold over here due to EU regulations, so I think some indication that it was American (if that was really what was intended) should have been given.

  29. I’m a simple human. I see a Carpathian Quiptic, I click, I complete, I enjoy.

    Thanks 🙂

  30. I wonder if the complaints about 17d SAUTERNE derive from the fact that the name (but not the wine) is too much like the French name. We don’t see similar complaints about Zinfandel (American for Primitivo) or Shiraz (New World for Syrah). They don’t seem to require a geographical designation.

    In Canada (yes, we still exist) we have an excellent wine variety called Tidal Bay, from grapes grown in the Bay of Fundy region. Some iterations have won international awards, so I would argue that no reference to Nova Scotia should be necessary in a clue about it.

    Thanks Carpathian for the well-received puzzle and Pierre for the blog and photo.

  31. I guess I slightly don’t believe that Carpathian intended to reference the poor quality Californian wine that can’t be legally sold in the UK, but has somewhat been saved by its existence. If for example she had given, aglianico, as an answer for wine, I think people would have thought that a bit obscure for a quiptic. But aglianico is sold in the major supermarkets legally in the UK, and so is much less obscure than sauterne. If she really meant sauterne it’s extremely obscure for a quiptic.

  32. Re cellomaniac above, zinfandel and shiraz are on the shelf at Tesco express, I think people would take issue with Tidal Bay as an answer for wine in a quiptic, but it’s more available in the UK than sauterne.

    But I enjoyed the crossword and I appreciate the blog, I liked the wordplay for sauterne. No drama!

  33. 7 General cleaning up
    SWEEPING
    Another dd. ‘She made general/sweeping changes.’

    Well, no. There is no double definition. “General” is not a definition, while “cleaning up” is. “General cleaning up” and “Cleaning up” are not two definitions. That was irritating.

  34. Thank you Pierre! And thanks to Carpathian for an enjoyable puzzle.

    lestyn@28
    Art can mean skill, for instance “he never did master the art of small talk”

    Sebastian@33
    Sweeping can mean broad or general in its own, not in the context of cleaning, for instance “to make a sweeping statement”

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