A fair Quiptic, with a couple of clues that I felt weren’t that cryptic, even for a Quiptic. Thanks to Moley. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
7 Goddess just atrophied away (9)
APHRODITE : Anagram of(… away) ATROPHIED.
8 Name written in footwear that was well polished (5)
SHONE : N(abbrev. for “name”) contained in(in) SHOE(footwear).
9 Behave on rare visits to militants (9)
ACTIVISTS : ACT(to behave in a certain manner) plus(on) anagram of(rare) VISITS.
10 Emus returned, keeping quiet in the foam (5)
SPUME : Reversal of(… returned) EMUS containing(keeping) P(abbrev. for “piano”, the musical direction to play softly).
12 Withdraw when about to grow weary (6)
RETIRE : RE(about;with reference to) + TIRE(to grow weary).
13 Shape altering mistakenly (8)
TRIANGLE : Anagram of(… mistakenly) ALTERING.
16 Poetess pens erotica, partly for an old poet (7)
SPENSER : Hidden in(…, partly) “Poetess pens erotica “.
Answer: Edmund, English poet of the Elizabethan era.
19 Study a hundred pet aberrations: it’s an idea (7)
CONCEPT : CON(to study) + C(Roman numeral for “a hundred”) + anagram of(… aberrations) PET.
22 Judgment of story by Edinburgh, say (8)
SAGACITY : SAGA(a story spanning a long period or many generations) plus(by) CITY(an example of which;say, is Edinburgh).
25 House for student down with depression (6)
HOLLOW : HO(abbrev. for “house”) plus(for) L(sign displayed by a student driver) + LOW(down, as in “feeling down”, say).
27 Some urban allegories are hackneyed (5)
BANAL : Hidden in(Some) “urban allegories “.
28 Lawyers’ jargon involving narrow interpretations of the rules (9)
LEGALISMS : Hardly cryptic clue.
29 Kind of information we go after (5)
GENUS : GEN(information) placed before(… go after, in an across clue) US(objective case of the pronoun “we”).
Defn: … as used in taxonomy.
30 Insect seen in goat race? (9)
BUTTERFLY : BUTTER(one that butts, eg. a goat) + FLY(to race;to move speedily).
Down
1 Native American‘s father turns up hurt (6)
APACHE : Reversal of(… turns up, in a down clue) PA(an informal term for one’s father) + ACHE(hurt;pain).
2 Reward for one getting on provides enjoyment (8)
FRUITION : FRUIT(reward;something obtained as a consequence of an action or effort) plus(for) I(Roman numeral for “one”) plus(getting) ON.
Defn: … from having possession of something attained or realised.
3 Guidance these days on sin (6)
ADVICE : AD(abbrev. for for “Anno Domini”, to indicate a year numbered from the supposed year of the birth of Christ;these days) placed above(on, in a down clue) VICE(a sin).
4 Astute interpretation in law (7)
STATUTE : Anagram of(… interpretation) ASTUTE. But a “T” is missing from the anagram fodder.
5 Composer about to jump in (6)
CHOPIN : C(abbrev. for for “circa”;about with reference to time periods) + HOP(to jump, on one foot) + IN.
6 Paint English title over Latin (6)
ENAMEL : E(abbrev. for “English”) + NAME(a title) placed above(over, in a down clue) L(abbrev. for “Latin”).
11 Hello and goodbye, as Berlusconi might have put it (4)
CIAO : Cryptic defn: What Berlusconi, the Italian, might have said.
14 Mild surprise expressed when geese leave the Home Counties behind (3)
GEE : “geese ” minus(leave … behind) “SE”(abbrev. for the “South East” denoting the Home Counties in England).
15 Juvenile creature left after pupil disappeared (3)
EFT : “left ” minus(after … disappeared) “L”(sign displayed by a pupil driver).
Defn: A newt in its immature state.
16 Second love on first sight – help! (3)
SOS : S(abbrev. for “second”, a unit of time) + O(letter indicating zero;love in tennis scores) placed above(on, in a down clue) the 1st letter of(first) “sight “.
17 For example, George is a nit! (3)
EGG : EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”;for example) + G(abbrev. for “George”, perhaps as in GR).
18 It’s about time to broadcast (4)
EMIT : Reversal of(about) TIME.
20 Dog on railway is mine (8)
COLLIERY : COLLIE(a breed of dog) placed above(on, in a down clue) RY(abbrev. for “railway”).
21 It’s hard for unknown, quiet, egghead with daughter out of bed to be overexcited (5,2)
HYPED UP : H(abbrev. for “hard”) plus(for) Y(symbol for an unknown quantity in maths) + P(abbrev. for “piano”, musical direction to play quietly) + the 1st letter of(…head) “egg ” plus(with) D(abbrev. for “daughter”) + UP(arisen from;out of bed).
23 More than one saw Proverbs (6)
ADAGES : Double defn: in a clue that’s not very cryptic, notwithstanding the surface readings of “saw” and “Proverbs” .
24 As a cub developed, you could count on it (6)
ABACUS : Anagram of(… developed) AS A CUB.
25 Get better, reaching the endless state of well-being (6)
HEALTH : HEAL(to get better;to get cured) plus(reaching) “the ” minus the last letter of(… endless).
26 Brass decoration for gold on doctor’s large uniform (6)
ORMOLU : OR(gold or yellow in heraldry) placed above(on, in a down clue) MO(abbrev. for “medical officer”, a doctor in the military, say) plus(…’s, contraction of “has”) L(abbrev. for “large”) + U(abbrev. for “uniform”).
Thanks scchua and Moley
Quite fun, though it’s a pity about the mistake for STATUTE, and the clue for ADAGES is hardly a “double” definition, as “saw” (in this sense) and “proverb” mean the same thing.
I probably spent as long on the FRUIT part of FRUITION as on the rest of the puzzle!
Thanks, scchua. Yes, STATUTE is strange, unless we are missing something. Otherwise all good – thank you to the setter.
Count me as another who struggled to see FRUITION. I just shrugged my shoulders with the clue for STATUTE. I didn’t have a problem with the clue for ADAGES because it is a Quiptic and not every solver will know the required meaning of “saw”. Experienced solvers won’t have been fooled but the puzzle isn’t aimed at the experienced solver.
Thanks Moley and scchua.
I enjoyed this, particularly the hidden clues SPENSER and BANAL. EFT was a new, or forgotten, word.
ASTUTE, could an extra T be worked in somehow from the saying ‘to a T’?
Cookie@4 – regarding your theory for the missing T in the anagram fodder for ASTUTE – how? As far as I can see it’s just a cluing error that wasn’t picked up by the editor. Such mistakes do happen from time to time.
Andy B, guess the only way would be by ‘interpretation’ doing double duty, but ‘astute’ and ‘to a T’ are not exactly synonyms.
Presumably being trained up for a daily slot then 😀
Thanks Moley, largely OK as a Quiptic.
Thanks scchua, I just wrote in STATUTE without noticing the missing ‘t.’ The ADAGES clue wasn’t a dd, as muffin @1 pointed out.
Can anyone help me understand how CON means ‘study’ and GEN means ‘information’?
Thanks!
Can anyone help me understand how ‘CON’ means ‘to study’ and GEN means ‘information’?
Thanks
My apologies, I’ve looked them both up now and see that they do have those meanings. No wonder I’m not progressing very fast with cryptic crosswords…!