(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.) A fairly easy Quiptic. Thanks to Moley. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Some bird atop a Greek temple? (9)
PARTHENON : PART(some of) + HEN(a female bird) + ON(atop).
10 Direction to flee to Gateshead or be tortured (5)
WRUNG : W(abbrev. for the direction, west) + RUN(to flee) plus(to) the 1st letter of(…’s-head) “Gate “.
Defn: …, as in “put through the wringer”.
11 Stop pal producing computers (7)
LAPTOPS : Anagram of(… producing) STOP PAL.
12 Beginning to fall for America? (7)
OCTOBER : Cryptic defn: Reference to the autumn season, known as the fall in America.
13 Sees sound clutch (5)
SEIZE : Homophone of(… sound) “Sees “.
14 Kind of obsession leads to no ammonia being processed (9)
MONOMANIA : Anagram of(… being processed) NO AMMONIA.
Defn: … about a single thing, idea, etc.
16 Choice location for political propaganda (8,7)
ELECTION ADDRESS : ELECTION(the process of exercising one’s choice) + ADDRESS(a location, usually where you live).
19 Perhaps stare around new site, then read essays (9)
TREATISES : Anagram of(Perhaps) STARE containing(around) anagram of(new) SITE.
21 Beast of burden arrived at first light (5)
CAMEL : CAME(arrived at) + the 1st letter of(first) “light “.
22 Hand over bear (7)
DELIVER : Double defn: 2nd: To give forth or produce.
23 Question heavyweight returning something (7)
WHATNOT : WHAT?(a type of question) + reversal of(… returning) TON(a heavy weight).
Defn: …, the name of which is unknown, temporarily forgotten or deliberately overlooked.
24 Bother before every single enquiry today, initially (5)
BESET : The 1st letters, respectively, of(…, initially) “before every single enquiry today “.
25 Polite Scotsmen, who are not in the services (9)
CIVILIANS : CIVIL(polite;courteous) + IANS(plural of the archetypal Scots male name).
Defn: Those not actively in the military services.
Down
1 Sparkling gemstone Edward sent, reportedly (10)
OPALESCENT : OPAL(a gemstone) + E(abbrev. for “Edward”, as in “King Edward”, I take it) + homophone of(…, reportedly) “sent “.
Defn: …, like, well, an opal.
2 Chart Italian note with point of pencil (8)
GRAPHITE : GRAPH(a chart) + I(abbrev. for “Italian”) + TE(syllable used for the seventh note in the musical scale).
Defn: What pencil lead at the point of a pencil is made of.
3 Select church rings Home Counties (6)
CHOOSE : CH(abbrev. for “church”) + 2 x(…s) O(letter in the shape of a ring) + SE(abbrev. for the southeastern part of England which comprise the Home Counties).
4 Animals make news, they say (4)
GNUS : Homophone of(…, they say) “news “.
5 Watchful folk in manic SOS broadcast (10)
INSOMNIACS : Anagram of(… broadcast) IN MANIC SOS.
Defn: People who can’t help but keep awake (and watch).
6 Cheated, but clocked twice? (3-5)
TWO-TIMED : TWO(twice) -TIMED(clocked;recorded the duration of an event).
7 Model city headgear (6)
TURBAN : T(the famous old-time Ford car model) + URBAN(descriptive of a city).
8 One tabloid newspaper turned up gelling agent (4)
AGAR : A(one) + reversal of(… turned up, in a down clue) RAG(a tabloid newspaper).
14 Satellite impressed romantic lunatic (10)
MOONSTRUCK : MOON(satellite of a planet) + STRUCK(impressed;affected keenly or forcibly).
Double defns: Both as adjectives, as is the answer.
15 Submit Laos, perhaps, to dictatorship (10)
ABSOLUTISM : Anagram of(…, perhaps) SUBMIT LAOS.
17 Bird number four swallowed tart up (8)
TITIVATE : TIT(any of a family of small songbirds) + IV(Roman numeral for the number four) + ATE(swallowed).
Answer: … as with these (car and girls):
18 Cheese for me? On the contrary, it’s all in the mind (8)
EMMENTAL : Reversal of(…? On the contrary) ME + MENTAL(descriptive of what’s occurring only in the mind).
20 Register to volunteer (6)
ENLIST : Double defn: 2nd: … to join the military, say.
21 Car led criminal to nurse (6)
CRADLE : Anagram of(… criminal) CAR LED.
22 Obligation for young society girl, given time (4)
DEBT : DEB(short for “debutante”;a young girl who’s come out in society) plus(given) T(abbrev. for “time”).
23 Ripple of Welsh prayer (4).
WAVE : W(abbrev. for “Welsh”) + AVE(short for “Ave Maria”, the prayer).
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Thanks Moley and scchua
My favourites were 14d, 6d, 10a.
* I think there is a typo in 9a – it should be PART (some)
Thanks michelle. Typo corrected.
Thanks Moley & scchua. About right for a Quiptic, apart from E=Edward. Ed, Ted, Edw., yes but ‘e’ seems a bit farfetched.
I liked GRAPHITE.
There were a few clues where the charade simply included the root word itself (OPALESCENT was the most obvious of these, as you point out, but MOONSTRUCK and ELECTION ADDRESS also seemed a bit non-cryptic), which even for a Quiptic I find a bit silly. OCTOBER was an excellent groaner, though, and INSOMNIACS was nicely misleading. Thanks for the blog, and thanks Moley for the crossword.
I suppose ER can mean Edward Rex as well as Elizabeth Regina, so E for Edward is okay with me. And I’ve seen it before and nobody’s complained about it. And it’s a convention in crosswordland. And …
Good puzzle. Thanks to S&B.