I never thought that I’d be writing this sentence, but this Quiptic from Nutmeg didn’t really do the business for me this morning.
Some words that perhaps shouldn’t get an airing in this slot; a few fairly obscure definitions; and it’s a pangram. Pangrams generally leave me cold, and on this occasion it might have resulted in some clues getting shoehorned into the grid. But that’s just what I think, and I’m only your humble blogger.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Modern kind of port toured by crewman’s “other half“
HUSBAND
An insertion of USB for the computer ‘port’ in HAND. USB stands for Universal Serial Bus, but you knew that already.
5 Prod guards with single part of body
JAWBONE
An insertion of W in JAB followed by ONE.
9 Traditional weapon forthright men trust in, unfortunately
BLUNT INSTRUMENT
A charade of BLUNT and (MEN TRUST IN)*
10 Dog’s head and tail wagging, going up and down
TIDAL
(D TAIL)* I’m not that keen on the somewhat random definition, but the surface is irresistable, I suppose.
11 Bird that female navigator found on lake
SHELDRAKE
Oooh, a bird. I love Nutmeg in a special way, because here is the obligatory Pierre bird link. It’s not looking well. A charade of SHE, L and DRAKE.
12 Breakaway union should follow it
ELOPEMENT
A cd.
14 Grass-like plant ultimately overruns border
SEDGE
S for the last letter f ‘overruns’ and EDGE.
15 Investor facing unknown menace
BULLY
A charade of BULL and Y, the first part a reference to trading on the stock market.
16 Comic partner told of gangster’s resilience
HARDIHOOD
Perhaps a word that you wouldn’t want to come up against in a Quiptic. I’d never heard of it, at any rate. A charade of HARDI (a homophone of HARDY as in LAUREL and HARDY) and HOOD for the gangsters’ mob.
18 Handicaps attract defensive players
DRAWBACKS
A charade of DRAW and BACKS.
21 Period Harry Potter’s familiar with?
SPELL
A cd cum dd. Harry and Ron were pretty rubbish at spelling; Hermione was the go-to girl.
22 Protection for Labour — most top parties hope to get it
OVERALL MAJORITY
A charade of OVERALL for bodily ‘protection’ and MAJORITY for ‘most’.
23 Grasp flower setter’s holding
MASTERY
An insertion of ASTER for the ‘flower’ in MY for ‘setter’s’.
24 Stole placed in case outside church
FILCHED
An insertion of CH in FILED.
Down
1 Regular dress for sister, not even used
HABITUÉ
A charade of HABIT for the nun’s outerwear and UE for the odd letters of ‘used’.
2 Airmen read slanderous spread featuring queen
SQUADRON LEADERS
An insertion of QU in (READ SLANDEROUS)* with ‘spread’ as the anagrind. Chocks away.
3 Source of fire poorly restricted in vessel?
ARTILLERY
An insertion of ILL in ARTERY.
4 Reverberations from marriages we’d abandoned
DINGS
Another fairly random definition, but it’s [WED]DINGS.
5 Trendy traveller‘s black dog
JET-SETTER
A charade of JET for ‘black’ and SETTER for the dog.
6 Twisted insult
WOUND
A dd, and a reminder of the stupidity that is English spelling and pronunciation.
7 Editor with handwoven pants is finished for good!
OVER AND DONE WITH
(EDITOR HANDWOVEN)* with ‘pants’ as the anagrind.
8 Final portion of text remembered
EXTREME
Hidden in tEXT REMEmbered and best known to lapsed Catholics in the final sacrament, EXTREME UNCTION.
13 With high principles they arranged to host one visit
ETHICALLY
An insertion of I CALL in (THEY)*
14 Possibly Federer’s turn to provide cake
SWISS ROLL
A charade of SWISS (Roger Federer is an example of one) and ROLL for ‘turn’.
15 Best place in the house for kippers?
BEDROOM
A not very convincing cd.
17 Non-professional caught in the act and arrested
DELAYED
An insertion of LAY in DEED.
19 Short jacket’s something brigade should get rid of
BLAZE
BLAZE[R]
20 Jack may be on this workforce
STAFF
I think this is referring to the Union JACK, a flag that may be on a STAFF, so it’s a dd.
Many thanks to Nutmeg for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks both. Didn’t notice the pangram, that might explain why It was a bit trickier than expected. Couldn’t parse STAFF, so thanks for that.
Thanks Nutmeg and Pierre
Very hard, and not just for a Quiptic – first pass yielded only SPELL (I think you do Harry an injustice, Pierre – he wasn’t bad). Needless to say I didn’t see the pangram either.
I’ve seen a very similar construction for HUSBAND very recently – can’t remember where – but the definition was “Farm”.
Although a bird-watcher for more than 50 years, I don’t think I’ve heard of a male shelduck being called a sheldrake (though I suppose there’s nothing wrong with it). Sheldrake suggests Rupert of that ilk, the chap with the funny theory about morphic resonance.
Wikipedia tells me that “sheldrake” was their name until the late 19th century:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelduck
There’s a good practical reason only to use one word – the sexes are pretty much indistinguishable from a distance (the male has a slightly larger know on his bill).
knob, not “know”!
Still struggling – 4d clue on web reads “Reverberations from marriages we’d abandoned”.
I think the extra crept in from the clue for 7d, Cookie – perhaps Pierre will correct it.
I too missed that it is a pangram. I agree that i tis rather daunting, probably too much so for a Quiptic. It was enjoyable nevertheless.
Thanks, Nutmeg and Pierre.
Thanks Nutmeg and Pierre.
I needed help with some of the parsing and did not help myself by entering SLICE SHOT for “Federer’s turn to provide cake”.
As usual on Monday the Quiptic should have been the cryptic and vice versa. As it was Quiptic, i brazenly wrote in Union instead of staff which I thought was fair. But soon sussed that it didnt fit with the crossers. Excellent puzzle from Nuitmeg despite what anybody else says.
Apologies for the bit of cut and paste that went wrong. Both clues corrected now. When in doubt, proof read the blog before hitting the ‘publish’ button.
Re 20d On the bows of ships there is a small flag pole, it is there for the Jack (nations flag) to be flown. It is known as the Jack Staff. There is a strict ettiquette regarding flag flying on ships dependent on whether it is at sea or tied up alongside, unfortunately I can’t remember what it is…..its been a long time.
I’m with copmus @9 on this: a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle, and a delight to find something a bit chewier after a far too simple Rufus.
Referring to bugs @11
The British flag is properly called the “Union Flag”. It is only correct to refer to it as the “Union Jack” when it is flown on a jackstaff.
copmus @9 and realthog @12
I don’t disagree that this was a challenging and entertaining crossword, but did it fit the brief of a Quiptic?
Agree that this was hard for a Quiptic,but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Quick small correction: the explanation for 2D should say “Insertion of Q”, not “of QU”, or else there are too many U’s.
I too didn’t parse STAFF and didn’t notice that it’s a pangram
Thanks to Nutmeg and Pierre!
I did pretty well for me. Have up with 11a the only one not entered and still am not sure how this is constructed. “she” is fine and I’m assuming “L” is lake and “drake” is Sir Francis. But, the order is wrong, or is this OK or have I missed something? Thanks.
Urrrm. Have “given up”. Oops.
PaulinOz, I perhaps didn’t explain SHELDRAKE well, for which apologies. Got too carried away with the obligatory link.
I parsed it as SHE for ‘that female’, then L for ‘lake’ next to DRAKE, the ‘navigator’. Setters will use ‘on’ for ‘next to’, in the sense of towns like STOKE-ON-TRENT or WALLSEND-ON-TYNE. Neither of those places are actually ‘on’ the river; they’re just ‘next to’ it. That’s how I’ve always interpreted it, anyway.
Please can someone explain where the pangram is?? I can’t see any sentence that includes every letter of the alphabet … Or is pangram something else in a crossword? Thanks!