A fine Quiptic from Chandler which I think will appeal to newer solvers.
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 Remove dirt from winding lanes in borders of Cheshire
CLEANSE
An insertion of (LANES)* in CE for the outside letters of ‘Cheshire’. The anagrind is ‘winding’.
5 Son slowly moves illegible pieces of handwriting
SCRAWLS
A charade of S and CRAWLS
10 Lack success following trouble
FAIL
A charade of F and AIL.
11 Cricket side with individual batters lately plucky and playing well
ON ONE’S GAME
A charade of ON, ONE, S for the last letter of ‘batters’ and GAME.
12 Group not up to much in brief fall of rain
SHOWER
A dd.
13 Put forward number in team possibly
NOMINATE
A charade of NO and (IN TEAM)* The anagrind is ‘possibly’.
14 Bid lawyer formulated to get track for riders
BRIDLEWAY
(BID LAWYER)* with ‘formulated’ as the anagrind.
16 Secure day avoiding area affected by gusts?
WINDY
A charade of WIN and D[A]Y.
17 Secret consignment put in chest as highlighted
STASH
Hidden in cheST AS Highlighted.
19 Dub a lefty misguided through lack of positive action?
BY DEFAULT
(DUB A LEFTY)* with ‘misguided’ as the anagrind.
23 A grim era sadly for union
MARRIAGE
(A GRIM ERA)* with ‘sadly’ as the anagrind.
24 Mist in Virginia – and rain
VAPOUR
A charade of VA and POUR.
26 Southern sailor, one in Baltic at work, has period of leave
SABBATICAL
A charade of S, AB and an insertion of I in (BALTIC)* The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the anagrind is ‘at work’.
27 Badgers and horses in poor condition
NAGS
A dd.
28 One covertly placed in overnight train
SLEEPER
Another dd.
29 Special form of therapy to do with ghostly figure
SPECTRE
A charade of SP, ECT for Electro Convulsive Therapy and RE.
Down
2 State of agitation about origin of exotic material made from skin
LEATHER
An insertion of E for the initial letter of ‘exotic’ in LATHER. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
3 Permit shown in general lowdown
ALLOW
Hidden in generAL LOWdown.
4 Celt almost on impulse is cause of great trouble
SCOURGE
A charade of SCO[T] and URGE.
6 Best shop principally for ointments
CREAMS
A charade of CREAM and S for the initial letter of ‘shop’.
7 Rent again varying in Spanish-speaking country
ARGENTINA
(RENT AGAIN)* with ‘varying’ as the anagrind.
8 Was dishonest about US college of a narrow nature
LIMITED
An insertion of MIT for Massachusetts Institute of Technology in LIED. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
9 Barrier between properties beyond furnace needs rebuilding
BOUNDARY FENCE
(BEYOND FURNACE)* with ‘needs rebuilding’ as the anagrind.
15 Attractive bread is baked with glee essentially
DESIRABLE
(BREAD IS)* followed by [G]LE[E]. The anagrind is ‘baked’.
18 A first sign of visitor in nature walk in ordeal
TRAVAIL
An insertion of A and V for the initial letter of ‘visitor’ in TRAIL. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
20 Cover even stewed prune
ENVELOP
A charade of (EVEN)* and LOP. The anagrind is ‘stewed’.
21 Turn in more extensive comfortable chair
LOUNGER
An insertion of U (‘turn’) in LONGER.
22 Unnerve judge describing case for trial
RATTLE
An insertion of TL for the outside letters of ‘trial’ in RATE. The insertion indicator is ‘describing’.
25 Old man leading name in charge produces alarm
PANIC
A charade of PA, N and IC.
Many thanks to Chandler for today’s Quiptic.
My iPad wouldn’t download The Observer this morning but the usual puzzles were there. As a relatively new solver, I loved Chandler’s Quiptic and didn’t miss the newspaper at all. I might go straight to the crosswords every day.
Thanks PeterO. The one I couldn’t parse was the first def in SHOWER. Guessed it might be British slang, so looked it up, and it was. Unknown to me.
The surfaces for BY DEFAULT, SCOURGE, MARRIAGE and LEATHER made me chuckle.
Sorry, I mean thanks Pierre. Bedtime for me. Glad to see you here before I turn into a pumpkin.
Thanks Chandler and Pierre
I found this easier than his Quick Cryptic yesterday (though that was harder than usual).
This was a fabulous Quiptic, which I managed to solve in a one-er for first time, showing progression.
Liked to use of ‘trouble’; and marriage was certainly an ordeal and ‘a grim era’!
Short but sweet. Nothing to complain about here.
I liked the anagram for MARRIAGE, though MrsTheSheep was less impressed when I read it out to her…
Many nice surfaces, but a special up-tick for BRIDLEWAY.
Thanks Chandler & Pierre.
Enjoyable effort from Chandler. Pierre, you made a slight error in your parsing of SABBATICAL in 26a, the “one” in the clue gives an A not an I.
Why is “cricket side” “on”?
MrsSandgrounder @8
The “on” side is another way of describing the leg side – the side the batsman’s legs are on. The other side is always the off side.
Remember it – it often turns up in puzzles.
muffin@9 thanks for explaining that. I wondered too but, knowing nothing about cricket, couldn’t figure it out.
One or two unparsed until I got here, but I thought this was a really nice puzzle.
Lovely, something not too difficult for once. Thank you Chandler and Pierre.
As a newer solver, I thought that was at just the right level… I had to work at it, but I got all of it and could parse everything except LOUNGER (which is obvious with Pierre’s explanation) and SCOURGE (where I got URGE but struggled with SCO as “Celt”. I now see that it comes from “Scot” or “Scotland” but I’m still not sure the cryptic grammar works.) Thanks Pierre for the very helpful blog!
Comment #14
A nice quiptic. Needed help with a couple of parsings. Thanks Chandler and Pierre!
Nice Quiptic for a newish solver. I too didn’t get “on” for cricket side. My husband (who doesn’t like cryptic crosswords) guessed right and then gave me a lovely demonstration 🤣