The weekly online only cryptic crossword from the Guardian, found here
Carpathian is this week’s setter of the Quiptic – setting a good range of clues
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | RECKLESS |
Foolhardy king left in hole (8)
|
| insertion of K (king – from chess) + L (left) into RECESS (hole) to give REC K L ESS | ||
| 5 | ASSERT |
Maintain a reflex lock (6)
|
| charade of A (from the clue) + reversal (reflex) of TRESS (lock) < – they assert/maintain a point of view – which sounds very literary to me | ||
| 9 | SERENITY |
Eccentric tiny seer is cool (8)
|
| anagram of (eccentric) of (TINY SEER)* | ||
| 10 | DEFILE |
Returned Little Life declaring parts dirty (6)
|
| reverse hidden (returned … parts) of littlE LIFE Declaring < | ||
| 12 | REMINISCENT |
Suggestive skirts with fresh lining (11)
|
| insertion of (lining) MINIS (skirts) into RECENT (fresh) – lining can either mean outlining outside or inside (as in curtains or a box), here it’s outside | ||
| 15 | CANOE |
Boat made from bamboo perhaps with hole in (5)
|
| insertion of (in) O (hole) in CANE (bamboo perhaps) | ||
| 17 | AMORPHOUS |
Shapeless, empty plinth held by Randy (9)
|
| insertion (held by) of PH (empty PlintH) in (held by) AMOROUS (randy – with a misleading capital to misdirect the solver to think of a name) | ||
| 18 | EVACUATED |
Emptied bowels of European vessel holding a copper edition? (9)
|
| charade/insertion of E (European) + VAT (vessel) around A (from the clue) + CU (chemical symbol for copper) + ED (edition – in publishing) to give E V A CU AT ED | ||
| 19 | TAPER |
Spill from faucet heard regularly (5)
|
| charade of TAP (faucet – in US English) + ER (where ER is the alternate letters of hEaRd – so regularly). This taper or spill is the long thin match or strip of wood to light candles or fires. | ||
| 20 | PRODIGAL SON |
Wandering relative returned from a gold prison in disarray (8,3)
|
| anagram (in disarray) of (A GOLD PRISON)* to give PR OD I G A L SON with an anagrind of “in disarray” from the Biblical story | ||
| 24 | READER |
Audience for book of French held by parent (6)
|
| insertion of DE (of French – so translating “of” into French) inserted into (held by) REAR (parent – as in the verb, to rear) | ||
| 25 | IDEALISM |
Impracticality of one trade is misunderstood initially (8)
|
| charade of I (one) DEAL (trade) + IS (from the clue) + M (Misunderstood initially – so the first letter) | ||
| 26 | SLEUTH |
Hustle disorganised detective (6)
|
| anagram of (HUSTLE)* with anagrind of “disorganised” | ||
| 27 | DESIGNER |
Buck perhaps holding placard for architect (8)
|
| insertion (holding) DEER (buck, perhaps) around (holding) SIGN (placard) – a deer could be a fawn, doe or buck, so buck is a definition by example (DBE), and indicated as such by “perhaps” | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | RESTRICTED |
Demarcated grass around firm (10)
|
| insertion – REED (grass) around STRICT (firm) | ||
| 2 | CEREMONIAL |
Reclaim one strange ritual (10)
|
| anagram of (RECLAIM ONE)* with an anagrind of “strange” | ||
| 3 | LINEN |
Recline naked clutching sheets (5)
|
| hidden in (clutching) recLINE Naked | ||
| 4 | SATISFACTION |
Assembled one’s camp for comfort (12)
|
| charade of SAT (assembled – as in sat in Parliament) + I’S (one’s) FACTION (camp) | ||
| 6 | SWEET SPOT |
Go in street getting small prize for optimal location (5,4)
|
| insertion of WEE (go – as in urinate) in ST (street – general abbreviation) to give S WEE T + S (small) + POT (prize – informal use in UK English) | ||
| 7 | EVIL |
Be up to no good (4)
|
| reversal (up in a down clue) of LIVE (be) < | ||
| 8 | THEN |
Tango with bird afterward (4)
|
| charade of T (Tango from the NATO phonetic alphabet) + HEN (bird) | ||
| 11 | SECOND FIDDLE |
Scolded fiend playing subordinate role (6,6)
|
| anagram of (SCOLDED FIEND)* with anagrind of “playing” | ||
| 13 | COMPASSION |
Pity commander with enthusiasm (10)
|
| charade of COM (commander – naval abbreviation) + PASSION (enthusiasm) | ||
| 14 | ASTRONOMER |
Moron tears up seeing Galileo perhaps (10)
|
| anagram of (MORON TEARS)* with an anagrind of “up” – I see complaints about “up” as an anagrind, but it can take the meaning of “excited”, so it has always seemed fair to me. | ||
| 16 | EQUIPMENT |
Kit starting to enjoy joke with blokes ahead of time (9)
|
| charade of E (starting to Enjoy) + QUIP (joke) + (with) MEN (blokes) + (ahead of) T (time – standard abbreviation in physics/science) | ||
| 21 | ABACI |
Heads of agriculture believe animal care incentives to be things that can be counted on (5)
|
| acrostic (heads of) Agriculture Believe Animal Care Incentives for the plural of abacus | ||
| 22 | ARMS |
Gives weapons to ranches needing force (4)
|
| deletion / decapitation fARMS (ranches) without (needing) F (force in scientific abbreviations) | ||
| 23 | LAZE |
Idle leader removed from finish (4)
|
| decapitation (leader removed) from gLAZE (finish) |
I solved this while trying to ignore my father-in-law, so I’m maybe not the best judge of how difficult it was. I thought the clue for EVIL was particularly elegant, even though the basic idea has been seen before. TAPER=”spill” was new to me, but the wordplay was clear.
I agree that EVIL was the stand-out clue. I also did not know SPILL = taper. I found the top half needed some time and appreciated the blog’s help to parse REMINISCENT.
Thanks Carpathian and Shanne
I found this Carpathian trickier than usual, but no less pleasant, and still a quiptic level. I spent too much time on ASSERT, which was my LOI. DESIGNER is not the same as architect, but they often work together (or sometimes the same person can do both) so ok. Thanks Carpathian and Shanne!
Jet lagged so solved this in the early hours. Loved EVACUATED and PRODIGAL SON but definitely needed your help on the parsing of REMINISCENT. Must remember the use of the Nato alphabet. Thanks Carpathian and Shanne.
I couldn’t parse 5ac.
Layman@3 I think that the clue for DESIGNER/ARCHITECT is fine if we take the meaning of architect in the wider sense such as:
• a person who is responsible for inventing or realizing a particular idea or project: the architects of the reform programme | John was indisputably the architect of his own misfortune.
or
Computing: a person who designs hardware, software, or networking applications and services of a specified type for a business or other organization: we are seeking an experienced software architect to join our scientific computing team.
Thanks Carpathian and Shanne.
It was nice to have an easy one after a week where I just haven’t really got going.
18 across reminded me of a sign I saw in a toilet cubicle at a place where I worked, which said (in all seriousness):
“In the event of hearing the fire alarm, evacuate immediately”
Couldn’t parse ASSERT even though I was thinking of a lock of hair. I didn’t link reflex to something going backwards. Lots to like, with ticks especially for ARMS, SATISFACTION and SWEET SPOT. Thanks Carpathian and Shanne.
Thanks Carpathian and Shanne
I too thought the inclusion for REMINISCENT was the wrong way round, so thanks for the elucidation. Also raised an eyebrow at “demarcation” = RESTRICTION.
[Showaddydadito @6 – at Southwaite service station on the M6, I once saw a sign “Toilet out of order. We apologise for the inconvenience”.]
Quite a lot of the clues didn’t yield at first glance, so I ended up working mostly from the right hand side leftwards; it was a good steady and satisfying solve once I’d got going.
I think though that some of the devices used were a bit obscure for a quiptic: the inverted use of “lining” in REMINISCENT, the use of “up” as an anagrind in ASTRONOMER, for example.
I especially liked SECOND FIDDLE for its vivid surface, and the compact and smooth clue for that old friend EVIL (/live).
Thanks to Carpathian for the amusement, and Shanne for a very clear blog.
btw when I was teaching chemistry, we made a distinction between a spill – a thin narrow piece of wood – and a taper – a thin narrow candle. The tapers were easier to use, but we preferred the students to use spills, as they couldn’t drip candle wax down the Bunsen burners; this would block and jam them, and they were difficult to clean once this had happened.
Good fun with the usual smooth surfaces. I parsed SPOT in SWEET SPOT as a small prize without splitting it into S and POT, i.e. a small prize given informally during an event such as a dinner dance.
Ta Carpathian & Shanne.
Me @10
We more often referred to the wooden lighter as a “splint”. A “spill” is more generally a rolled piece of paper used to light something.
I think TAPER, ASSERT, SATISFACTION and GLAZE were maybe a little stretchy by Carpathian’s standards in the Quiptic but still very worthwhile.
Be that as it may, even if they don’t leap out as difficult, she seems to be the most consistent at creating elegant clues and solutions like REMINISCENT, AMORPHOUS, RESTRICTED, PRODIGAL SON and SECOND FIDDLE that look like they should be as old as time but probably aren’t.
For the first time ever, I have (nearly) finished on Sunday (2 reveals at the end). A nice puzzle and just right for me. Thank you to everyone for the explanations.
Re 25a, I’d like to think a person could be both practical and idealistic (ie someone who believes in a fairer society volunteering in a food bank or someone planting trees to counter climate change) but I understand a dictionary/thesaurus might put impracticality and idealism in the same box. Still, shout out to all the idealists putting their hopes into action…
A lot of trickiness in this one but a good challenge that I mostly got. Just needed some assistance from my wife for a couple of clues at the end. My only quibble is ‘needing’ indicating a deletion for the fARMS (22d). I’ve never seen that and would have thought it should be ‘not needing force’; at least in a Quiptic 🤷♂️. But thanks Shanne for your blog and Carpathian for the puzzle.
thanks Shanne and C! I thought this was outstanding clear and thorough and entertaining blog (and puzzle) — and now that we’re on the topic of toilet humour, my father’s favourite sign is the one he claims to have seen in middle-east somehow above a hotel sink: “Note that the management has passed the water”.
[ Showaddydadito@6; Ilan Caron@17 – I’m pleased to have in my photo collection one I took of the loos at the old central car park in Oxford, with its two adjacent signs: “Gents Toilet” and “Have You Paid and Displayed?”.
Also, for a long time in Ingleton, N. Yorks, adjacent signs near the bridge were “Ladies Toilet” and “Unsuitable for Coaches”. ]
I note that the puzzle today had the now almost obligatory “go” = WEE.