This was a good puzzle from Provis, with a number of excellent surface readings. No obscurities, but I’m not sure I’d recommend this one as an entry-level puzzle to someone who really was just starting in the dark arts. And embarrassingly, there is one I can’t fully parse. Over to you.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Abandon hope of the French match
DESPAIR
A charade of DES for ‘of the’ in French and PAIR.
5 Strong action I took over a lie
FICTION
A charade of F and ACTION with the A replaced by an I (‘I took over a’). The F bit I’m not sure about, because I’d always thought F was for musically ‘loud’, which is not the same as ‘strong’. Someone will put me right, no doubt.
9 Would try a change, apparently
OUTWARDLY
(WOULD TRY A)*
10 Nearly left behind in the dark
NIGHT
Well, ‘near’ is NIGH, but how we get to NIGHT from there, I know not. Some kind soul will explain and reveal my stupidity, I’m sure.
11 Industrial outskirts bordered by Tyneside river
NILE
Nice surface, but it’s five-eighths of naff all to do with Newcastle. IL are the outside letters of ‘industrial’; Tyneside is NE. Put one inside the other and you’ve got your river.
12 Fresh cuts in Fife are at the required level
SUFFICIENT
(CUTS IN FIFE)*
14 Leading alpinist regularly sick at finish of climb
ASCEND
A charade of A for the first letter of ‘alpinist’, SC for the odd letters of ‘sick’ and END. Another fine surface reading.
15 Forces unopened locks
TRESSES
[S]TRESSES
16 Private note by princess reaches the Queen
SOLDIER
A charade of SOL for the fifth note of the tonic sol-fa, DI for the dead princess and ER for her mother-in-law.
18 Copy key shortly before breakout
ESCAPE
A charade of ESC for the key on my laptop and APE.
20 Directly competing to make for the top
HEAD-TO-HEAD
A cd cum dd. If you were ‘making for the top’ you’d be HEADING TO HEAD.
21 Start showing doubt held by magistrate
JUMP
An insertion of UM in JP.
24 Canoe could be Indian, possibly
OCEAN
(CANOE)*
25 Unable to stand being ordered to accept European doctor
BEDRIDDEN
An insertion of E DR in BIDDEN, the rather old-fashioned sounding past participle of the verb to BID.
26 American writer died after second stay
SUSPEND
A charade of S, US, PEN and D.
27 Stop welcoming horribly rude bore
ENDURED
An insertion of (RUDE)* in END. Here you’ve got the past tense of ‘bear’ for ENDURED.
Down
1 Obliterate retrograde N-word
DROWN
A reversal of N-WORD.
2 Arranges fixed time with the French
SETTLES
A charade of SET, T and LES for one of the words in French for ‘the’.
3 Content to draw a youth out
AWAY
Hidden in drAW A Youth.
4 Communists secretly plot to support unrest here arranged with two Democrats
REDS UNDER THE BED
The ‘plot’ is BED, as in the garden. That is ‘supporting’ (UNREST HERE DD)* with ‘arranged’ as the anagrind.
5 Suddenly leave the control and hit the roof
FLY OFF THE HANDLE
A charade of FLY OFF and THE HANDLE.
6 Scruples against knowledge based on experiments
CONSCIENCE
A charade of CON and SCIENCE.
7 Entrance French artist at opening of show
INGRESS
A charade of INGRES and S for the first letter of ‘show’. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867). If you’re still finding your way with cryptics, he’s worth remembering, because he does come up often.
8 Turn on old volunteers with incomplete exam marks
NOTATES
Reverse ‘on’, put TA for ‘volunteers’ (are they really ‘old’?) and add TES[T].
13 Criminal resents CIA’s lack of co-operation
RESISTANCE
(RESENTS CIA)*
16 Teaches in groups
SCHOOLS
A dd. Think fish.
17 Top story’s on earls regularly becoming prime ministers?
LEADERS
A charade of LEAD and ERS, which are the ‘regular’ letters of EaRlS.
19 Starts to plague international body over the German spoils
PLUNDER
Provis is asking you to take the first two letters (‘starts’) of ‘plague’ and follow it with UN and DER for one of the German words for ‘the’.
22 Marginally inconvenienced after power faded away
PINED
P followed by IN ED, which are the four outside letters (‘marginally’) of INconveniencED. Some folk don’t like this, because ‘marginally’ doesn’t tell you how many letters to include. I am one of those folk. And I can’t think how ‘faded away’ means PINED. I know, I know, somebody’s going to tell me it’s definition 7 in the BRB, but that doesn’t make it a good clue, especially for a Quiptic.
23 Sympathetic relative takes on daughter
KIND
A charade of KIN and D.
Since we’ve had a bit of French and German this morning, I will say Merci and Danke schön to Provis for this one.
Thanks for the blog. 10a across – the ‘T’ is “left behind”
I found this one trickier than today’s Rufus.
I typed that as “lefT behind”
Thanks for explaining, Aoxomoxoa. It’s fair enough, but I don’t think beginners would appreciate that sort of clue. Or maybe I should just go back to Y1 in the Cryptic Crossword school.
Thanks for the blog.
18 ac: I believe that ESC on a computer stands for “escape”, which rather ruins the clue
Pierre @ 3. For the benefit of beginners, I think any clue that contains words such as ‘start’, ‘front’, ‘leading’, ‘first’, ‘end’, ‘last’, etc, could be a candidate for using the first or last letters of another word. In this particular one, my thought process was that ‘nearly’ is probably ‘nigh’ (as you had) which suggests that the answer is going to be ‘night’ (confirmed by ‘the dark’). Where would the ‘T’ come from? ‘lefT behind’.
Count me as another who found this a bit trickier than today’s Rufus, although that could be because I don’t do a Provis that often and it took me a while to get on the right wavelength. I would agree that this isn’t one for beginners.
Thanks Provis and Pierre.
I found this harder than today’s Rufus, but enjoyed it.
5a, the F for ‘loud’ in music is from the Italian ‘forte’ = strong, loud (also used as a person’s strong point)
8d, the TA volunteers must be old since it no longer exists I believe.
Thanks Provis and Pierre.
Cookie @7; yes, the TA is now called the ‘Army Reserve.’ When will AR be allowable?
I found this easier than the Rufus, although it is a bit tricky in parts for a Quiptic.
So embarrassing to have the Quiptic harder than the Cryptic, but I’m not sure this really was.
“Provis is asking you to take the first two letters (‘starts’) of ‘plague’” (19d).
She’s not!
She’s asking us to take any number of starting letters – that is, if that’s what she is.
As I made clear in a comment on the most recent Magwitch puzzle (FT) [Magwitch = Provis] I really don’t like this.
A word has just one start.
‘Starts to plague international body’ cryptically means PI (plus something) or PIB.
This setter’s crosswords are good, full of thoughtful and inventive clueing, she’s really talented.
But I just can’t stand this kind of thing.
She does it all the time.
Also, in my opinion, it shouldn’t be there in a puzzle for ‘learning solvers’ because … ah well, let it be.
It looks like I’m a crusader.
So, to cite The Clash, “Should I stay or should I go”?
I go.
As ever, thanks Pierre.
There were several clues that I couldn’t parse, so thanks for this deconstruction.
Re: “PINED” as “faded away”, compare a famously unwell Norwegian Blue, who was allegedly, “pining for the fjords”.
Sil @10, ‘starts to plague’ , that means more than just the P, so the L qualifies as well. Now the ‘a’ does not qualify, it is in the middle here with the ‘g’. Seems OK to me.
Cookie, if you’re still there, don’t worry, I do see your point.
However, for me, a word has only one start and one end (if you mean by that the final character [and not a tip of the word]).
Clearly, Provis/Magwitch and you (and Pierre) see “starts” as being “the/a part at the beginning”.
Now, as ‘plague’ is only a 6-letter word, there’s hardly any doubt to what ‘starts to plague’ stands for: PL. In that sense, you are correct – although I still question the use of “starts” itself.
That said, isn’t PLA also not the first part of the word?
It becomes more problematic with longer words, eg “starts to discriminate”: DI, DIS, DISC?
Some may think this adds to the cryptic element of a clue, in my opinion it is too vague.
I know, Araucaria did similar things when using “some” in front of the fodder but, even though I hugely admired the great man, I wasn’t very keen on this ‘device’.
As I said before, I absolutely do like the setter that Provis/Magwitch is.
But after solving all the Magwitch puzzles so far, it has become clear that the kind of ‘device’ that I am critical about has become a not unimportant part of her style.
That’s the setter choice, she’s apparently very happy with it.
Unfortunately, I still cannot get used to it (although it doesn’t affect the solving of a puzzle as such).
It might be an idea to read some of the blogs of Magwitch puzzles in the FT section (if you’re not familiar with these).
You will then see that she does it (or similar things) in almost every crossword, sometimes two or three times.
In my opinion, that’s a pity.
But, as I used to say, we’re all different, aren’t we?
Sil @13, I see what you mean. For instance, Magwitch, FT 16 January 2015, 9a and 19d,
Slimy froth runs back round front of outbuildings(6)
SCUM (froth, runs back = reversed) round OU (front of OUtbuildings)
Factional divide is the beginnings of anarchy (8)
PART (divide) IS AN (beginnings of ANarchy)
Then 23 October 2014, 12a, GLA[diators] early gladiators. 8d, DELU[ge] (flooding cut off)