(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) This was an enjoyable puzzle from Hectence, with bits of it reminiscent of a Cryptic. There were lots of letter deletions used in the clues, and some might find this, perhaps, too much of a good thing after a while. Thanks to Hectence. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Eatery has starter of rissoles in gravy (6)
BISTRO : 1st letter of(starter of) “rissoles ” contained in(in) BISTO(the UK brand named product for thickening, flavouring and browning gravy).
5 Snag with Thailand ending revolutionary conflict has Obama losing heart (8)
DRAWBACK : Last letter of(… ending) “Thailand ” + reversal of(revolutionary) WAR(a conflict) plus(has) “Barack”(Obama, US president) minus its middle letters(losing heart).
9 Made non-starter sequel to hit space adventure (8)
ESCAPADE : “Made ” minus its 1st letter(non-starter) placed after(sequel to, in an across clue) anagram of(hit) SPACE.
10 Paganini endlessly suffering heart disease (6)
ANGINA : Anagram of(suffering) “Paganini ” minus its 1st and last letters(endlessly).
11 Circle around loo in place where getting runs is likely! (4)
OVAL : O(the letter representing a circle) + reversal of(around) LAV(short for “lavatory”;in slang, loo).
Defn: The historic cricket ground where batsmen get runs (not the runs).
12 He organises shooting sessions with goalie after match (10)
GAMEKEEPER : KEEPER(short for “goalkeeper”;a goalie, in, say, football) placed after(after, in an across clue) GAME(a sporting match).
Defn: … where wild game are shot.
13 Creepy-crawly, pointlessly biting fellow, spread disease (6)
INFECT : “insect”(a creepy-crawly) minus “s”(abbrev. for the compass point, south)(pointlessly) containing(biting) F(abbrev. for “fellow”).
14 Identify O’Connor’s house by Finisterre (8)
DESCRIBE : DES(O’Connor, British singer and TV personality) + CRIB(a small house;a cottage) plus(by) last letter of (Finis;the finish;the end) “terre “. And Finisterre is in Spain, the abbrev. for which is “E”(Espana).
16 Old joke about chicken crossing street even aunt will follow (8)
CHESTNUT : C(abbrev. for “circa”;about with reference to time periods) + HEN(a chicken when it’s grown a bit) containing(crossing) ST(abbrev. for “street”) placed before(… will follow, in an across clue) 2nd and 4th letters of(even) “aunt“.
19 Remove tab from veritably hideous uniform (6)
LIVERY : Anagram of(hideous) “veritably ” minus(Remove … from) “tab “.
Defn: …, worn by some menservants and chauffeurs.
20 Touched by advice on page and print spacing from writer (4-3,3)
FELT-TIP PEN : FELT(touched) plus(by) TIP(a piece of advice) plus(on) P(abbrev. for a page, say, in a book) plus(and) EN(in printing, a unit of measurement of spacing, equal to one-twelfth of an inch).
Defn: A writing implement.
22 Capable of power in workout (2,2)
UP TO : P(abbrev. for “power” in physics) contained in(in) anagram of(work) OUT.
23 Composer from Denmark hosts ball in Victoria and Albert’s capital (6)
DVORAK : DK(international code for Denmark) containing(hosts) < [ O(the shape of a ball;a 3-dimensional circle) contained in(in) VR(abbrev. for “Victoria Regina”, Queen Victoria) ] plus(and) 1st letter of(…’s capital) “Albert “>. The last to be parsed.
24 Sneaky way out of swimming baths back to house on banks of lake (8)
LOOPHOLE : Reversal of(back) POOL(swimming baths) plus(to) HO(abbrev. for “house”) plus(on) 1st and last letters of(banks of) “lake “.
25 Create purpose in green movement (8)
ENGENDER : END(a purpose;an objective) contained in(in) anagram of(… movement) GREEN.
26 Some native deer are strangely the least widely known (6)
RAREST : Hidden in(Some native) “deer are strangely “.
Down
2 Batting side initially happening to get man into safe area is over the moon (2,7,6)
IN SEVENTH HEAVEN : IN(descriptive of the cricket side taking its turn at bat) + 1st letter of(initially) “side ” + EVENT(a happening) plus(to get) [ HE(pronoun for a man) contained in(into) HAVEN(a safe area, as in a “tax haven”) ].
3 Endlessly groom large dog (5)
TRAIL : “train”(to groom;to prepare, say, for a job position) minus its last letter(Endlessly) + L(abbrev. for “large”].
Defn: To follow, as a dog might.
4 Primate managed to get godhead into published article (5-4)
ORANG-UTAN : [ RAN(managed, say, a commercial concern) plus(to get) 1st letter of(…head) “god ” ] contained in(into) OUT(published, as in “is her new book out?”) + AN(an indefinite article in grammar).
Defn: … , in the local language, “man of the forest”.
5 Imagined setter in fear! (7)
DREAMED : ME(self-referential pronoun for the setter) contained in(in) DREAD(a great fear of).
6 Need to pursue a cry of woe (5)
ALACK : LACK(a need;not having) placed below(to pursue, in a down clue) A.
7 Worst fear is a computer problem to put up with (7)
BUGBEAR : BUG(a computer problem in a programme, leading to user fear and loathing) + BEAR(to put up with;to tolerate, eg. computer bugs).
Defn: A thing that causes obsessive fear or anxiety.
8 Can’t betray rules set out for pilgrims’ stories (10,5)
CANTERBURY TALES : Anagram of(set out) CAN’T BETRAY RULES.
15 Cockney chars raised whip-round with brilliance (9)
SPLENDOUR : Reversal of(raised) ‘ELPS(Cockney for “helps”;ladies who clean homes or offices;chars) + anagram of(whip) ROUND.
17 Deliver TV for nothing (3,4)
SET FREE : SET(a TV) + FREE(for nothing;gratis).
Defn: To rescue from a bad situation.
18 Drunkard, having left after double parking, got into row (7)
TIPPLER : [ L(abbrev. for “left”) placed below(after, in a down clue) twice(double) P(abbrev. for “parking”) ] contained in(got into) TIER(a row;a rank, placed one behind or above another).
21 King aboard rough ride gets irritated (5)
IRKED : K(abbrev. for “king”) contained in(aboard) anagram of(rough) RIDE.
22 Escort American girl (5)
USHER : US(abbrev. for things American) + HER(pronoun for a girl).
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Once again, I found this puzzle considerably harder than the daily cryptic, and I failed to parse ‘describe’, though the answer was obvious.
Unlike last week, I do not think this puzzle was appropriate for a quiptic. It should have been in the daily cryptic slot.
13a doesn’t work. If INSECT is to be pointless the NS and E should all be removed.
Otherwise enjoyable stuff so thanks to Hectence and scchua
I thought this was an enjoyable puzzle, but I’m of the opinion that a couple of the clues should have been in a daily cryptic rather than a Quiptic. As has already been mentioned, the use of “Finisterre” in 14ac is cunning but not exactly entry-level cluing, and to a lesser extent so is the use of “workout” in 22ac. Neither bothered me because I am an experienced solver but I’m not the target audience for this puzzle. LOOPHOLE was my LOI after SPLENDOUR.
Thanks Hectence and scchua.
This was more difficult than the Rufus and was not, in my opinion, suitable as a Quiptic. For a start, the three unchecked lights at 13 and 19 are unsuitable. The construction of DESCRIBE was clever, but too clever. Crib according to my ODE is ‘informal, chiefly N. Amer.’
Finisterre was jokey but again not really suitable for a Quiptic.
In 5, I think it should be ‘minus its middle letterS’ as both ‘r’ and ‘a’ have to be removed. I liked ORANG-UTAN and GAMEKEEPER
Whilst admitting that I am not the intended ‘audience’ for the Quiptic, I have to say that this crossword has been both the easiest and most enjoyable of all the cryptics today (I have one more to solve)
Very enjoyable thank you Hectence and scchua too.
Thanks Robi, blog corrected
11a reminded me of the supposed illness suffered by England cricketers touring India in the 1970’s: Boycott Belly.
Like Delhi Belly, but the runs come slower.
Thanks scchua,
I always enjoy the Hectence puzzles and this was no exception. I agree with the consensus view
that some clues were maybe too difficult for the target audience.
I was quite happy with the ‘s’ removal in 13a as pointless means having no point ie singular.
This was one of the more difficult clues and one of the last two that I got, the final one being
LIVERY. Both having three unchecked lights of course.
Some great surfaces from Hectence, my favourites being ANGINA, OVAL, LOOPHOLE, ENGENDER and ALACK (so simple).
Thanks a lot Hectence.
What Andy B said, really. Would also confirm that I wouldn’t expect to see two six-letter clues with four unchecked letters each in a ‘normal’ crossword, never mind a Quiptic.
Thanks to S&B.