Another sound as a pound Quixote Monday offering. When I’m trying to persuade friends to get beyond the ‘Oh, I can’t do cryptics’ stage and have a go, I always recommend Quixote on a Monday, the Everyman in The Observer, and the Quiptic in The Guardian. You’ll get a solver-friendly grid, plenty of anagrams to get you going, not many obscurities, and clear cluing throughout. Which is what we had today. It might not have detained experienced solvers very long, but it’s not supposed to.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Note shortage with home missing out
FAME
FAM[IN]E. She’s not IN; she’s not HOME .
3 Formula for hospital room creates disadvantage
DRAWBACK
A reverse clue thingy. DRAWBACK would be a ‘formula’ to get you WARD, which is a room in a hospital.
8 First drop of alcohol loosens up family members
AUNTIES
A charade of A for the first letter of ‘alcohol’ and UNTIES. There are some excellent surfaces in this crossword.
9 In a row as the result of dodgy dealing
ALIGNED
(DEALING)*
11 A new attempt to join church and chapel
CHANTRY
A, N and TRY after CH.
12 End of joke that could bring a tingle
TAG LINE
(A TINGLE)*
13 New car presented in magazine feature
CENTRE SPREAD
(CAR PRESENTED)*
17 Flag that’s raised aloft to denote excellence
HIGH STANDARD
A cd. If a flag were raised aloft, it would be a HIGH STANDARD.
20 Stories about love and about people soft in the head?
LOONIES
An insertion of O for ‘love’ and ON for ‘about’ in LIES.
21 Staff appointment gets approval
MANDATE
A charade of MAN and DATE.
22 Even one with skill may suffer setback as a novice
TRAINEE
A reversal of E’EN, for the poetic word for EVEN, I and ART.
23 Pet is bold, jumping across lake
DARLING
An insertion of L for ‘lake’ in DARING.
24 Fashions worn by Italian holy men of old
STYLITES
An insertion of IT for ‘Italian’ in STYLES. ‘Worn’ is the insertion indicator. Early Christian ascetics who stood on tall pillars for long periods to preach, fast and pray. Must have taken advice from Monty Panesar about relieving themselves. Never heard of the term, but it couldn’t be owt else.
25 Feature of country with eastern area destroyed
CHIN
CHIN[A]. ‘Eastern’ because it’s the right hand letter that’s removed.
Down
1 Country female has love affair, losing honour
FRANCE
F plus R[OM]ANCE. The ‘honour’ is OM or Order of Merit. The surface made me think of Hardy’s Tess, although being violated isn’t quite a love affair, of course.
2 Intellectual restricted by government always
MENTAL
Hidden in governMENT ALways.
3 Dirty job son gets stuck into
DUSTY
An insertion of S in DUTY. Like my house at the minute.
4 At sea pirate had a wicked form of rule
APARTHEID
(PIRATE HAD)* and indeed a wicked form of government.
5 East and West uniting in common purpose?
BRIDGE PARTNERS
A cd.
6 Prisoner given extra punishment and not let out?
CONFINED
A charade of CON for ‘prisoner’ and FINED.
7 A girl’s dissent’s possibly an indication that urgent help is needed
DISTRESS SIGNAL
(A GIRLS DISSENTS)*
10 Worries about being sadder after mishap
DREADS
(SADDER)*
14 Passing rain’s unfortunately penetrating shelter
TRANSIENT
An insertion of (RAINS)* in TENT.
15 Cabin in Switzerland on a lease
CHALET
A charade of CH for the two-letter abbreviation for ‘Switzerland’ (Confédération Helvétique), A and LET for ‘lease’. And there are plenty of chalets in Switzerland.
16 Empty-headed and ranting stupidly about nothing
IGNORANT
An insertion of O in (RANTING)*
18 Duck, a swimmer lacking elegance?
OAFISH
A charade of O, A and FISH.
19 Soldiers once more ignoring one former President
REAGAN
A charade of RE for Royal Engineers or ‘soldiers’ and AGA[I]N. The Iron Lady’s big mate.
21 Ways to be self-effacing for the most part
MODES
MODES[T].
Many thanks to Quixote for the Bank Holiday (in these parts at least) entertainment.
I particularly liked 8a, 7d, 1d, 23a, 21a, 22a, 20a & 19d and my favourites were 13a CENTRE SPREAD, 15d CHALET, 3a DRAWBACK & 18d OAFISH (last in).
New words for me were CHANTRY, STYLITE.
Thanks Quixote and Pierre – you got two blogs out quickly today!
Another enjoyable puzzle from Quixote. Regarding Pierre’s comparison of it to an entry-level puzzle like an Everyman or a Quiptic I would say that STYLITES and CHANTRY could be a bit obscure for some solvers, but they were gettable from the wordplay. OAFISH was also my LOI, mainly because it took me much longer than it should have done to see CHIN.
A pleasant Monday morning diversion, just right for a bank holiday, with nothing too obscure except possibly STYLITES. But I took longer than I should to twig BRIDGE PARTNERS and went off on a false trail with 23a thinking ‘jumping’ was an anagrind for ‘is bold’ plus another ‘l’.
In 25a I think ‘area’ refers to the letter ‘a’ as an abbreviation, although the clue works well enough without.
Thanks, Quixote and Pierre
Many thanks Pierre & Quixote.
Very enjoyable!
I’d never heard of STYLITES either but I did guess it correctly.
Thanks to Quixote and Pierre.
Straightforward fun here; didn’t take long but since this is unusual for me it was a welcome glimpse into the world of the seasoned pro. Lots of lovely clues to smile at, just the same.
Pierre, I quite agree that this is a good starter puzzle. Cryptic crosswords were utterly impenetrable to me until I started having a go at Quixote’s regular spot on the IoS years ago and found I could manage some, then most, then all of it.
Without Quixote I don’t think I’d have persisted so it’s only fair to acknowledge the debt I owe.
Thanks, Pierre. While you’ve explained HIGH STANDARD correctly, I don’t think it’s a cryptic definition, just a normal (wordplay and definition) clue.
Thanks to Pierre and Quixote for the Bank Holiday puzzle and blog!
Not much else to say!
Been a long day out merci Pierre.
Agree, Pierre, you couldn’t have put it better. An excellent starter puzzle, although I also agree with those who say that one or two of the words make it less than totally easy.
Coming in late to say that I was flying to the US yesterday and started this after getting on the plane and had finished it before we took off. OK, our take-off was delayed as some maintenance was required on the plane, but this does make this the easier end of the spectrum.