Moley always produces a good Quiptic for us, because she’s a talented and generous soul. Just one or two in this one that I wasn’t that enamoured with. What did you think?
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Joy to find food shop by good hotel on the square
DELIGHT
A charade of DELI, G for ‘good’, H for ‘hotel’ in the phonetic alphabet, and T (square).
5 Extremely excited after gown was prepared
DRESSED
A charade of DRESS and ED for the outside letters of ‘excited’. Think salad dressings.
9 One child’s horse runs round causing annoyance
AGGRO
A four-part charade for a five-letter word: A, GG for ‘child’s horse’, R and O.
10 Gun Laura and I rigged for the opening stage
INAUGURAL
(GUN LAURA I)*
11 Fashionable cricketers play baseball too!
INFIELDERS
A charade of IN for ‘fashionable’ and FIELDERS for ‘cricketers. INFIELDERS are part of the rounders-mimicking American game, so I guess it’s an extended definition.
12 Decline some invitations again
SAG
Hidden in invitationS AGain.
14 Vessel with a comic quality?
HUMOROUS VEIN
I didn’t much like this. It’s a cd.
18 Swinging calypso gem I’m giving this international event …
OLYMPIC GAMES
(CALYPSO GEM IM)*
21 … where each training course initially is for the others
ETC
The initial letters of ‘each training course’. A distressingly large number of people write this as ECT, which upsets me.
22 Amount to be paid to measure fellows’ model
ASSESSMENT
I think this is a charade of ASSESS, MEN and T for ‘model’ T Ford. T-squares, Model T Fords … this Quiptic is sponsored by the letter T.
25 Spice on one pizza topping
PEPPERONI
A charade of PEPPER, ON and I. Another extended definition. I daren’t call it &lit any more, because folk shout at me.
26 Be around clergyman to produce a musical note
BREVE
An insertion of REV in BE for the note. Eight crotchets if I remember well: if I don’t, someone who reads music better than I do will put me right.
27 No awful little puns in puzzle!
NONPLUS
This must be NO followed by (L PUNS)* but I can’t really see L for ‘little’.
28 A gentle transformation that is chic
ELEGANT
(A GENTLE)*
Down
1 “Darling” — that is a term of endearment
DEARIE
A charade of DEAR and IE for id est or ‘that is’
2 Symbol’s very powerful, shut down
LOG OFF
A charade of LOGO and FF for the musical ‘very powerful’ (usually ‘very loud’).
3 Manifestations of fear when silly fool knocks
GOOSEBUMPS
A charade of GOOSE and BUMPS.
4 Two hotels in rural district originally winning bronze award?
THIRD
The initial letters of the first five words of the clue.
5 Oh dear, air’s polluted, causing illness
DIARRHOEA
(OH DEAR AIR)* I’m a good speller, but I always have to look this up.
6 Trendsetting makes one nervous
EDGY
A dd. The first sense is often used in the art world to describe something that’s avant-garde.
7 Edward, second lock forward, is under pressure
STRESSED
ED preceded by S and TRESS.
8 Painstaking policeman, liberal, a fine fellow
DILIGENT
A charade of DI for Detective Inspector or ‘policeman’, L, I and GENT.
13 It’s apparent that there is nothing sensible about time
OSTENSIBLE
A charade of O and T in SENSIBLE.
15 Freshly made cocoa’s in supply initially at such events
OCCASIONS
(COCOAS IN)* plus S for the first letter of ‘supply’. The anagrind is ‘freshly made’.
16 Rustic yarn?
HOMESPUN
A (not very convincing) cd.
17 String up and fix the mainstay
LYNCHPIN
A charade of LYNCH and PIN.
19 Swelling love Medea’s disposed to exhibit
OEDEMA
A charade of O and (MEDEA)*
20 Road to this Somerset village
STREET
A dd. STREET has a population of over 11,000, but still describes itself as a ‘village’.
23 Merge together when English lied badly
ELIDE
A charade of E and (LIED)*
24 Evil old hill in the north
FELL
Hmmm. A bit naughty in a Quiptic perhaps, when you’ve only got ?E?L to work with. It’s a dd. The first definition you’d probably only ever hear in the expression ‘in one fell swoop’. Guess who coined that usage? That bloke whose 400th anniversary we celebrated this weekend, natch (Macbeth, since you ask). The second is found in the word used in Cumbria particularly, but also elsewhere in the North, for a ‘hill’: there are lots of them, but SCAFELL is perhaps best known. It comes from the Old Norse word fiall, for ‘mountain’; and like BECK and TARN, also ultimately Norse words, it’s only found in the North because the Viking invasion/settlement never really got south of the Danelaw, in linguistic terms at least. Swarm of bloody economic migrants, the Vikings. Who’d want that kind of stuff these days on this Sceptred Isle?
I’ll stop wittering now and thank Moley for today’s Quiptic.
Thanks Moley and Pierre
A bit tricky for a Quiptic, I thought – in fact I had to cheat to get the VEIN part of 14a (and the HUMOROUS only from the crossers) – I didn’t like this one either. ELIDE was difficult too, as would STREET have been if I hadn’t been there once. Several nice ones, though – especially THIRD and OLYMPIC GAMES.
[Some time ago my mother-in-law told me about a friend of hers who had climbed all of the Lake District 2000 footers. When I asked if he had spent a long time doing it, she replied, quite innocently, “No, he did them in one fell swoop”.]
Thanks Moley and Pierre.
I wouldn’t call 25a an extended definition (or an &lit) as PEPPERONI is salami (= pizza topping), not a spice (that’s just the pepper).
I liked DIARRHOEA (always a favourite in school spelling tests). HOMESPUN was LOI.
Thanks Moley and Pierre.
Oh dear, HUMOROUS VEIN and HOMESPUN were my favourite clues along with EDGY!
For NONPLUS, L for liberal might have worked, but it has been used in the clue for DILIGENT.
I appreciated the explanation in the blog for FELL.
Yes, a little tricky for a Quiptic, though still enjoyable. I struggled with FELL, which was my LOI. L for “little” is somewhat confusing considering how often it is used to mean “large”. Favourites were DELIGHT, AGGRO, THIRD, EDGY and DILIGENT.
Thanks, Moley and Pierre.
Thanks swatty @2. You are quite right of course – brain fade on my part.
Thanks Moley and Pierre
Started well but then ground to a halt. I really don’t see the point of using an archaic definition for FELL when others could be used e.g. ‘knock down’ [hill] BTW in the blog I think it should be ‘evil old’ that is underlined.
HUMOROUS VEIN was difficult and doesn’t seem to be in the main dictionaries. L=little seems to be a bit weird. The usual abbreviation is l’il or lil.
As a beginner / improver I didn’t find this too bad – I managed to get them all without having to look anything up (though after finishing I had to check ELIDE as it was a new word to me – once I had the crossers it seemed more of a likely word than EDILE). I also had to wait until I had all the crossers before daring to attempt to spell DIARRHOEA.
I didn’t find FELL too bad – maybe because I do a lot of hill walking, and it appears in the ‘Fell Riders’ (if I remember correctly) in Lord of the Rings
Hi all, a lurker here and big Quiptic fan. For those like me who miss regular Orlando Quiptics, you really should have a crack at The Sticker Weekly found at http://www.australiancrosswords.com.au/ .
Whilst not specifically aimed at beginners, its scrupulously fair and eventually solvable for those confident at Quiptic level.
Like to know your thoughts.
Thanks GregfromSydney @8. I wasn’t aware of that site. I like the hints.