There was some tough stuff for a Quiptic in Pan’s puzzle today. Or perhaps I’m just jet-lagged from putting the clocks forward at the weekend. What did you think?
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Long-running serial provided by a father and English artist
SOAP OPERA
A charade of SO, A POP, E and RA.
10 Mistake made by unruly child lacking leadership
ERROR
[T]ERROR
11 Setter’s factory makes enhancing item
IMPLANT
A charade of I’M and PLANT. I’m sure you’re all aware of which part of the body this enhances.
12 Ate nuts after wasting disease
TETANUS
(ATE NUTS)*
13 Woman hoarding gold and another valuable commodity
IVORY
An insertion of OR in IVY. Sadly for elephants, IVORY is indeed a ‘valuable commodity’.
14 A point that caused Australian war hero to collapse, dead
ARROWHEAD
(A WAR HERO)* plus D.
16 Fools shout here about leader in deserted chamber
THE HOUSE OF LORDS
(FOOLS SHOUT HERE)* around D for the first letter of ‘deserted’.
19 Hormone produced when Linda’s cross about near catastrophe
ADRENALIN
There are two anagrinds in this clue: ‘is cross’ and ‘catastrophe’. It’s (NEAR)* in (LINDA)* for the fight or flight hormone. In case it helps in future crosswords, there is an alternative spelling of ADRENALINE.
21 Secretion containing gallons of dirty water
BILGE
An insertion of G in BILE, the ‘secretion’ produced by the liver and stored by the gall bladder.
22 Try to reunite Matt with pet
ATTEMPT
(MATT PET)*
23 Speaker’s formed a bond between you and me with sticky stuff available from 15
LINCTUS
A homophone (‘speaker’s’) of LINKED US. Not sure that cross-referencing clues is a great idea for a Quiptic.
24 Stretchy stuff essential to any longbow
NYLON
Sticky stuff, stretchy stuff … Hidden in aNY LONgbow.
25 Green?
OFF COLOUR
Not sure that a one word clue with a cryptic definition is a great idea either, but that’s what this is. Green could be described as an OFF COLOUR, because if you’re a bit green, then that’s what you’d be.
Down
1 Doctor is paid by excited star for this plant
ASPIDISTRA
Pan is giving us some double anagrinds this morning: in this clue they are ‘doctor’ and ‘excited’. It’s (IS PAID)* plus (STAR)*
2 Happy about single public facility
PAYPHONE
(HAPPY)* plus ONE. Not many of them left these days.
3 Girl missing out essential part of series of prayers
ROSARY
Goodness, there are some devious clues in this one. It’s ROS[EM]ARY, which it took me ages to see. In my defence, there are a lot of girls’ names. One Hail Mary, three Our Fathers …
4 Touched soft fabric
FELT
A dd.
5 Count with old drinking vessel on the mountain
MATTERHORN
A charade of MATTER and HORN. ‘What matters/counts is …’
6 Drink for two drunk by the Spanish kitchen help
TEA TOWEL
A charade of TEA, (TWO)* and EL.
7 New contribution to cost of royalty
PRINCE
An insertion of N in PRICE. Looking forward to seeing that spidery writing in a newspaper near me soon. He can’t have it both ways.
8 Retired teacher pursuing setter with flower
IRIS
A charade of I and SIR reversed. You have to read ‘pursuing’ as ‘coming after’.
14 Sailor with answer to priest’s forgiveness
ABSOLUTION
A charade of AB and SOLUTION. Priests absolve you of your sins, I’ll have you know.
15 Head of surgery writes in record of events with drugs supplier
DISPENSARY
An insertion of S for the first letter of ‘surgery’ and PENS in DIARY.
17 A parish priest leaving meeting with cream available from 15
OINTMENT
More priests. You have to know that PP is an abbreviation for ‘parish priest’; then it’s [A PP]OINTMENT. Used together with LINCTUS, OINTMENT will make you a whole lot better this morning.
18 Family member‘s disclosure ignoring topless lady
RELATION
Another random ‘lady’ to find. I very seldom make suggestions about improving a clue, because that’s not my job, but ‘First Lady’ might have been a help here. Whatevs, it’s [E]VE removed from REVELATION.
20 Animal let loose with something to amuse baby
RATTLE
A charade of RAT and (LET)* More likely to be an i-Pad these days.
21 Painful problem resulting from ballerina’s first partnership
BUNION
A charade of B for the first letter of ‘ballerina’ and UNION.
22 Girl baked naan
ANNA
(NAAN)* It’s been all girls and priests this morning.
23 It’s not right to be abandoned
LEFT
Well, LEFT is ‘not right’, innit? A dd.
Many thanks to Pan for this Monday’s Quiptic.
Thanks Pan and Pierre
I was very confused, as I misread clue 15 as “The House of Lords”, and wondered if Pan was making some obscure constitutional point by suggesting the LINCTUS and OINTMENT were available from there!
Thanks both.
For 25 Ac could green be the colour in traffic lights for the traffic to go off?
I’d agree that this was a tricky one. As you say, there were a lot of clues where a name in the wordplay was clued just as “girl”/”woman” (ROSARY, IVORY, RELATION), which I never like and find a bit unfair for a Quiptic, as well as the unconvential/double anagrinds and other assorted blighters. Probably more suited for the daily slot rather than a Monday Quiptic. Still, some cracking clues – NYLON was probably my favourite.
Comparison of 24ac and, especially, 10ac with Saturday’s prize leads me to wonder whether Pan and Otterden are related.
…though I think that in many ways this was a more enjoyable (though quicker) solve. 16ac is a wonderful clue – I’d almost describe it as a double &lit.
Thanks Pan and Pierre,
ROSARY and RELATION were devious and I also failed to parse MATTERHORN.
A lot of laughs though, IMPLANT is also possible for another B body part, and as for Rog’s @5 suggestion for THE HOUSE OF LORDS!
Thanks, Pan and Pierre
I agree with the comments above.
In 9a, I don’t see how “provided by” = “so”.
Hi crosser
“In 9a, I don’t see how “provided by” = “so”.”
It doesn’t. It’s ‘provided’ = SO. The ‘by’ is simply there for the surface though it does also indicate that the SO is next to the subsequent letters.
Thanks, Gaufrid. I should have seen that.