Moley has given us a fine puzzle in the Quiptic style this morning.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Medallion depicting river and oriental duck
CAMEO
This was my last one in, because it’s not a definition I’m familiar with. It’s CAM for the river flowing through Cambridge, E for Eastern or ‘oriental’ and O for ‘duck’ in cricket. Eoin Morgan, the England captain, got a golden one over the weekend. Advice to Eoin: if it’s going to rip into the top of off, try to get a bat on it rather than shouldering arms.
10 Disloyal when trust is diminished?
FAITHLESS
A cd cum dd.
11 Nicest boy disguised rude word
OBSCENITY
(NICEST BOY)*
12 Trades told to get cooler accommodation
CELLS
Not mad keen on this, because it could equally have been SELLS. And yes, I know we’ve got crossing letters to help us. But it’s a homophone of ‘sells’ and the ‘cooler’ bit is referring to the slang word for ‘prison’.
13 Broken china? It’s returned with wine
CHIANTI
A charade of (CHINA)* and IT reversed. I do like a glass of Chianti.
15 Greek goddess‘s deserved downfall
NEMESIS
A dd. But is a NEMESIS ‘deserved’?
17 Silver found in cookware is pre-Christian
PAGAN
And post-Christian too, I guess. AG in PAN.
18 Originally, your elderly aunt says yes
YEA
The first letters of Your Elderly Aunt.
20 Ninety-nine pursue leading subject
TOPIC
If you don’t like IC for ‘ninety-nine’ in Roman numerals, look away now. TOP followed by IC. You need to think of ‘pursue’ as ‘come after’.
22 Sail had overturned flowers
DAHLIAS
(SAIL HAD)*
25 Lunatic outside is boring
TEDIOUS
(OUTSIDE)*
26 A northerner at the races?
ASCOT
A SCOT is ‘a northener’. Might have seen this once or twice before, but because it’s a Quiptic, I will absolve Moley of her sins for including this one. A dd.
27 Soldier’s compassion overcoming near disaster
MERCENARY
An insertion of (NEAR)* in MERCY.
30 Masses of Greeks
HOI POLLOI
A cd. Language pedants (there are none among the bloggers and contributors here, of course) will spend many a happy hour arguing about whether you should say the hoi polloi, since HOI POLLOI on its own means ‘the masses’, and then you’d be saying ‘the the masses’. Personally, I’m saving my pedantic energy for campaigning to keep the distinction between ‘uninterested’ and ‘disinterested’.
31 Lighter father left to the Queen
PALER
A charade of PA, L and ER for Elizabeth Regina.
Down
1 Repeat part of phrase chosen
ECHO
Hidden in phrasE CHOsen.
2 Superb serenade about an American army mobile hospital
SMASHING
An insertion of MASH in SING. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or M*A*S*H, if you were a fan (like me) of the series.
3 Twelve shortly take a nap
DOZE
DOZE[N]
4 Kinship‘s one powerful, if tiny, deviation
AFFINITY
A charade of A, F for the musically ‘powerful’ (forte) and (IF TINY)* with ‘deviation’ as the anagrind.
5 North African gets nil, by a fluke
LIBYAN
(NIL BY A)*
6 Reportedly, East European pal died, totally frustrated
CHECKMATED
Slightly unusual definition, but it’s a homophone of ‘Czech’, MATE and D.
7 Ring tones for pretty girls?
BELLES
A dd, I suppose, but there’s not really a homophone indicator. She was the belle of the ball.
8 Flower goddess
ISIS
Another dd, with ‘flower’ referring to the River Thames at Oxford.
13 Managed to catch journalist
COPED
A charade of COP and ED.
14 No French fables in such books
NON FICTION
A charade of NON for the French word for ‘no’ and FICTION for ‘fables’.
16 Fires rifles
SACKS
A dd.
19 Space traveller used radio set
ASTEROID
(RADIO SET)*
21 Likely to investigate outside new lab
PROBABLE
An insertion of (LAB)* in PROBE.
23 Hector, briefly in charge, became frenzied
HECTIC
Some folk won’t like this. How ‘brief’ do you want me to make ‘Hector’? One letter off, two letters off, three letters off? It’s HECT plus IC for ‘in charge’. And not sure why we have the past tense in the surface reading: ‘becomes’ would have been just as good. But what do I know about setting?
24 Son’s more than adequate taste
SAMPLE
A charade of S and AMPLE.
26 Hurt a hundred hard Europeans, initially
ACHE
A charade of A, C, H and E.
28 Catch sight of English agent
ESPY
A charade of E and SPY.
29 Cart backing up three feet
YARD
A reversal of DRAY.
Many thanks to Moley for entertaining us this morning.
Thanks Moley and Pierre.
I liked SACKS, DAHLIA, YARD, CAMEO and CHECKMATED among others.
I think NEMESIS is all right for ‘deserved downfall’; the OCED gives nemesis 1 retributive justice, 2 a downfall caused by this.
Thanks Moley, just the right level for a Quiptic, I thought.
Thanks Pierre, I guess the ‘became’ in 23 is if Hector refers to the Trojan prince, not extant.
For CELLS, I think the ‘to get’ makes it more likely to be the former rather than sells.
I liked CHECKMATED.
Wow! I finshed for the first time in breakfast and lunchtime. Happy me!
Well done, Colette! Always nice the first time that happens.
As well as cells/sells in 12a, 8d could equally well be IRIS – goddess and (garden) flower.
As a neophyte (of one week’s standing) I thank Moley and Pierre for their (relatively easy) problem stting and clear explanations.