Guardian Quiptic N° 625, by Don Putnam

by

Notably simple constructions here, but one, 11A, I only got by the skin of my teeth.

Across
1. Lively bachelor goes into the river (6)
NIMBLE An envelope (‘goes into’) of MB (‘batchelor’ of Medicine) in NILE (‘river’).
5. Temperance so needs cheese pasty — not father’s! (8)
SOBRIETY A charade of ‘so’ + BRIE (‘cheese’) + [pas]TY without pa’s (‘not father’s’).
9. Quarrel said wrongly by Greek getting cut short (8)
DISAGREE A charade of DISA, an anagram (‘wrongly’) of ‘said’ + GREE[k] (‘getting cut short’).
10. Sad diva, not half small? Not quite (6)
DISMAL A charade of DI[va] (‘not half’) + SMAL[l] (‘not quite’). Simple but effective.
11. Being let down, I’d turn to energy cutting (12)
DISAPPOINTED A charade of DI, a reversal (‘turn’) of ‘I’d’ + SAP (‘energy’) + POINTED (‘cutting’, as in “a pointed remark”). It took me a long time to come up with the obvious.
13. It’s not possible, like two numbers (2-2)
NO-NO N° twice.
14. Recommend no friend to keep at home (8)
NOMINATE An envelope (‘to keep’) of IN (‘at home’) in ‘no’ + MATE (‘friend’).
17. My old Pa and I may not be competitors in it! (8)
OLYMPIAD An anagram of ‘my old Pa’ + ‘I’.
18. He’s at home among celery and fennel tops (4)
CHEF An envelope (‘among’) of ‘he’ in C + F (‘Celery and Fennel tops’) &lit.
20. Commotions as I burst out in waltzes and foxtrots (12)
DISTURBANCES An envelope (‘in’) of ISTURB, an anagram (‘out’) of ‘I burst’ in DANCES (‘waltzes and foxtrots’; indication by examples).
23. Look while starting to grin with horseman’s spear (6)
GLANCE A charade of G (‘starting to Grin’) + LANCE (‘horseman’s spear).
24. Faces pulled by horrid champions (8)
GRIMACES A charade of GRIM (‘horrid’) + ACES (‘champions’).
25. Fantasiser and the one that got away (8)
ESCAPIST Double definition.
26. Name of girl going round singly (6)
GLYNIS An anagram (‘going round’) of ‘singly’.
Down
2. Goddess, one with a half-sister (4)
ISIS A charade of I (‘one’) + SIS[ter] (‘half-sister’).
3. Committee chamber for having meals, if there’s space (9)
BOARDROOM A charade of BOARD (‘having meals’, as in “full board”) + ROOM (‘space’).
4. Exit, eg with a topless dress (6)
EGRESS A charade of ‘eg’ + [d]RESS (‘topless dress’). They don’t come much simpler than that.
5. Sing about upset skin, needing air and a medicated drink (8,7)
SLEEPING DRAUGHT An envelope of LEEP, a reversal (‘upset’) of PEEL (‘skin’) in ‘sing’ + DRAUGHT (‘air’).
6. Boredom’s possible in such places! (8)
BEDROOMS An anagram (‘possible’) of ‘boredom’s’.
7. He wrote plays to be linked with sin, perhaps (5)
IBSEN An anagram (‘perhaps’) of ‘be’ + ‘sin’.
8. Made a mockery of having tried to keep a vest hidden (10)
TRAVESTIED An envelope (‘to keep … hidden’) of ‘a vest’ in ‘tried’.
12. Alfie gets colds outside the miners’ workplace (10)
COALFIELDS An envelope (‘outside’) of ‘alfie’ in ‘colds’.
15. It’s required as scenery is moving (9)
NECESSARY An anagram (‘moving’) of ‘as scenery’.
16. PM twice called out: “Liars die troubled” (8)
DISRAELI An anagram (‘troubled’) of ‘liars die’. Benjamin Disraeli was the Prime Minister of the UK in 1868, and again in 1874-1880.
19. Wanting to have feature cast in silver (6)
ACHING An envelope (‘cast in’) of CHIN (‘feature’) in AG (chemical symbol, ‘silver’).
21. Friendly islands are not coming up for Georgia (5)
TONGA A charade of TON, a reversal (‘coming up’) of ‘not’ + GA (‘Georgia’).
22. It’s a mountain creature; however I must follow it (4)
YETI A charade of YET (‘however’) + ‘I’.

3 comments on “Guardian Quiptic N° 625, by Don Putnam”

  1. Thanks, Peter. You have been busy today.

    I quite enjoyed this one, with the setter clearly making the effort to keep things simple. One or two more convoluted constructions, but that’s what crossing letters are for. DISAPPOINTED is obvious. Now that you’ve explained it, that is. I couldn’t quite see how it worked.

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