Guardian Quiptic 856/Anto

23 comments on “Guardian Quiptic 856/Anto”

1. I would explain 25d but ‘my lips are sealed’.

2. This is the best I’ve encountered from Anto except this should have been the Cryptic and Chifonie the Quiptic.

3. An odd puzzle that seems full of basic errors. For example:

   13 PESETAS. The definition is “no longer acceptable in Spain”. This defines an adjective, not the required noun. Inserting “that’s” between wordplay and definition would have made the definition a noun, as required.

   17 AGGRO. Putting the entirely superfluous “always” to one side, the cryptic grammar is incorrect. The form “X produce Y” is not English as we know it. This needs to be “X produces Y” or “X producing Y”.

   I could go on, but can’t be bothered.

4. Thanks Anto and Pierre

   Anto’s best yet, I think (though that’s not saying much). I did find it difficult though, particularly in the SE, and I eventually cheated to get KEY (I’m therefore bound to say that I don’t think that this clue works!)

   Google and I both thought that the plural of HOBO is HOBOS, but Chambers allows either.

   FREELANCE for “mercenary” is fine; in fact it’s the original meaning – a guy on a horse with a lance who will fight for anyone who is prepared to pay him.

5. I failed to solve 8d POLL and could not parse 19a as I do not know of Wayne Rooney. But I thought that WAX fitted the “increase” section of the clue.

   My favourites were BRAIN-BOX, CLEAVE, BLEEP.

   Thanks Pierre and Anto.

6. Thanks Pierre & Anto. I have moaned about this setter’s puzzles before, but I found this ok (with a couple of minor quibbles). You are just upset that there are no birds in it, Pierre!

7. I am writing the following after reading some comments above.
   I don’t think all UK newspapers that publish crosswords have ‘crossword editors’.
   But where a newspaper has a ‘crossword editor’, what is that person’s work?
   Is it defined well by the newspaper concerned?
   Does the CE set any requirements to be followed by the setters?
   Does the CE solve every crossword before passing it? Or does the CE only answer any questions from the staff handling the crossword? Does the CE intervene in a puzzle only when a reference is made?
   Does the CE have authority to edit/change/rewrite clues without consulting the setter? Or does the CE only asks the setters to rewrite any clue should the CE think it necessary?
   I imagine it would differ from paper to paper.
   How can we solvers detect the stamp of a CE in a particular crossword?

8. Definitely a few obscure clues too many for a Quiptic, but nothing that I thought was really unfair.

   Re 25d, LIPS are edges and if you seal them, you can’t leak information.

   Favourite was BLEEP.

9. Thanks Anto and manehi.

   I enjoyed solving this and had no real problems. I think the ellipses are not meant to have an actual meaning, but in both cases they allow for less wordiness in the following clue.

   I did not know the evil cat lover, perhaps his inclusion frightened the birds away.

   BRAINBOX, FREELANCE, BLEEP, LIPS and VOICEMAIL made me smile.

10. There are some quite good clues. Not all of those would be appropriate for a puzzle classed as a good introduction for beginners, but as far as I can see the website no longer claims that it is suitable for them. If that has changed, I am disappointed, to say the least. I think enough has already been said about the poor clues.

    I failed to parse the wordplay for WAX, even though I thought of “wax and wane” as I entered the answer and I knew Rooney’s first name, so I’ve no excuse for that.

    Thanks, Anto and Pierre.

11. Rishi @7
    As has been pointed out in comments on previous blogs here, the role of Crossword Editor is probably an administrative title rather than a literal job description. I don’t expect them to solve them all themselves before approving for publication, even to vet all the puzzles personally. However, surely they should set policy (including whether the Quiptic slot is still supposed to encourage beginners) and make decisions about which setters to feature and in which of the various slots available.

12. I think some of the comments reflect more on Anto’s previous Quiptics than on this particular puzzle – I certainly expected it to be much more convoluted when I saw the setter’s name but actually I found this fine for the Quiptic slot. Plenty of straightforward clues provided crossing letters for the slightly trickier ones, but none of the latter were too ‘out there’ for a Quiptic IMHO (although 29a was a bit much, the crossing letters made it clear).

    Thanks to both blogger & setter.

13. Thanks Anto & Pierre.

    Better than many of this previous setter’s puzzles. I thought this was a bit tricky for a Quiptic, though. Had to use a word search for BLOFELD.

    I don’t really see what is wrong with the surface of 19, although despite thinking of WAX and wane I didn’t parse it correctly.

14. Yes Brian, X ‘produces’ Y, but since ‘stag groups’ are ‘they’, then it’s ‘Xs produce Y’.

15. I suspect that 25d is a reference to this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loose_lips_sink_ships

16. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Anto always presents an interesting challenge, and this was no exception. The only one I didn’t like was 19A, which I got from the definition and the crossers — not into football/soccer, me.

    Thanks, Anto.

17. I thought this was Anto’s best effort so far. Although I agree some of the clues were too difficult for a quiptic (or badly written) there were enough easier clues crossing to complete the whole thing. My last 3 clues in were all from the crossers and definitions as the parsing was beyond me.

    Definitely not the elegance of, say, Orlando but not too far from the brief.

18. I’m new to this forum but have been attempting some back issues of the Quiptic. Usually I end up with 2 or 3 left that I can’t find without resorting to the use of the web. I thought managed to get all of this one, but had OFF-SET instead of OFF-KEY.

19. Well, re 17 ac you may say that the hidden fodder can be regarded as either singular or plural, so it’s probably a matter of preference rather than of some cryptic-grammatical absolute. As to superfluity, some compilers, generally not the high-flying ones it has to be said, have extraneous material in their hiddens, but it’s always struck me as technically rather weak, and a lame excuse to tart up surfaces.

    ‘Belligerent behaviour in stag group’ would have avoided the argument and the superfluous word, of course.

20. When Anto’s first Quiptic appeared (in May 2015) I was actually quite puzzled by how on earth a new setter was given a chance with such a poor crossword.
    That same day I received an email from one of the UK’s top setters telling me that Anto’s debut was ‘awful’.
    [this is no bluff but something that really happened]
    There came a moment that I even wrote: “Not a fantastic setter (4)”.

    Now, I have no idea who Anto is, a newbie or a well-known setter given the opportunity to provide a Quiptic.
    I am still puzzled how this person rolled into Crosswordland as the initial efforts were, to say it friendly, so under par.

    Today, Pierre warned us for another ‘challenge’.
    But was it that ‘poor’?
    I don’t think so.
    The top half went in rather quickly and without many quibbles – as it should be in a Quiptic.
    However, the fact that I decided to ask help from various resources with only six clues to go, meant that this still wasn’t the Perfect Quiptic.
    But, believe or not, ultimately I enjoyed solving this crossword.
    I didn’t understand 19ac and 18d but you can’t have it all, can you?

    I particularly liked the twist in 11ac (UNTIE) and had to smile when the penny finally dropped in 29ac (SEVENTEEN).
    Tongue in cheek? Anto’s revenge?

    ETNA (27d) was my first one in, BLOFELD (14ac) my last.
    Yet, there were things that annoyed me.
    Like the addition of ‘always’ in 17ac to make the surface more attractive.
    Or ‘comes first’ for C.
    Or the two ellipses that made no sense.
    All four clues could have done without them.
    The use of ‘half of’ in 1d to tell us to apply this to both ‘town’ and ‘fund’.

    The good news is: Anto’s really on the way up, certainly not ‘awful’ anymore.
    The bad news is: This is once more not a Quiptic.

    Meanwhile, I am not sure we should want Anto to be published in the daily Guardian.
    As far as I am concerned, one Otterden’s enough.
    Or am I going one step too far now?

21. Inconsistent is what this is, and so very hard for even the old hands like me to judge, or solve! I had serious problems, on my unforgiving night-shift, with this, by far the harder of the cryptic and quiptic. But only because of the inconsistency. This is a junior writer, flexing ill-formed muscles, in need of a good editor, which The Guardian doe not have. Really, this puzzle should not have been included.

22. Dear fellow clever-clogs –
    As the son of an English mother and a German father, living in Germany, now aged 74, I was introduced to English crossword puzzles, usually The Times, early on. Then, many of their clues contained gaps left in ’classic’ quotations. These days I try my brain on Guardian crosswords, preferring the Quiptics to the real ones, which I cannot always complete. I occasionally find your bloggers a tad patronising towards us beginners and harsh on the setters, though they clearly do their best to be fair. Why should a Quiptic not contain a few challenges Cryptic-way?
    I wonder if anyone can give some sort of ranking of the range of cryptic puzzles in the British press? I’m occasionally Telegraph Prize crossers and find them way easier than Quiptics.Mustn’t make it too long – but would appreciate a reaction re ranking.
    I am grateful to FIFTEEN SQUARED, which I usually consult when the work is done (which may take a couple of hours.)
    Georg Seifert

23. Guten Morgen, Georg, and welcome to Fifteensquared, if this is indeed your first comment.

    I don’t think any of the bloggers here are patronising towards beginners, but if you have examples then let us know. On the contrary, bloggers tend to give full explanations, and encouragement, for those who are still learning (and let’s face it, all of us are).

    I don’t think any of us would describe ourselves as clever clogs. We just enjoy cryptics.

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