Anto has this week’s Quiptic for us.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Complain when government’s head departs – it means trouble
RUMBLE
[G]RUMBLE
5 Extremists get a republican involved in terror
FAR RIGHT
An insertion of A and R in FRIGHT. The insertion indicator is ‘get … involved’.
9 Day in France is part of boy’s brief trips
SOJOURNS
An insertion of JOUR in SONS. The insertion indicator is ‘is part of’.
10 Toughen up old queen by adding additional edges
ANNEAL
A charade of ANNE and AL for the outside letters of ‘additional’.
11 Clothing for one providing party music initially
DINNER JACKET
The initial letters of the solution are DJ, who would be the one spinning discs at your party. A dinner jacket is also known as a DJ, so you could see it as a kind of dd.
13 Half of them fail to see this fellow
EMIL
A charade of thEM and faIL.
14 Wine in sample is most delicious
TASTIEST
An insertion of ASTI in TEST. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
17 Wrong when unwell to have a flatbread
TORTILLA
A charade of TORT, ILL and A. TORT for ‘wrong’ is confined to legal language. It comes (like a lot of legal terms) from French.
18 Subtle film is not exalted initially
FINE
The initial letters of the second, third, fourth and fifth words of the clue.
20 Plaster bones when fractured – you’ve never done it better
PERSONAL BEST
(PLASTER BONES)* with ‘when fractured’ as the anagrind.
23 Take in the essence of fading legend Castro
DIGEST
The central letters of faDIng, leGEnd and caSTro.
24 Eventually agree to accept a freebie
GIVEAWAY
An insertion of A in GIVE WAY. The insertion indicator is ‘to accept’.
25 Intelligence about destroyed hound identifying culprit?
WHODUNIT
An insertion of (HOUND)* in WIT. The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the anagrind is ‘destroyed’.
26 Turn off with this dense absorption of energy
THE ICK
An insertion of E in THICK. The insertion indicator is ‘absorption of’. THE ICK is a sudden, visceral feeling of disgust or repulsion toward a romantic partner, turning attraction into aversion, often over minor, trivial behaviours. It was apparently popularised by Love Island in 2017, which is why I’ve never heard of it.
Down
2 Strange sightings occur regularly in Gulf Coast
UFOS
The even letters of gUlF cOaSt.
3 Family fool is a potential killer
BLOOD CLOT
A charade of BLOOD and CLOT.
4 Go wrong taking on colony worker wandering around
ERRANT
A charade of ERR and ANT.
5 Starting the half playing at impossible speed
FASTER THAN LIGHT
(STARTING THE HALF)* with ‘playing’ as the anagrind.
6 Study what’s right and make further changes
READJUST
A charade of READ and JUST.
7 Sort of bond used in classical architecture
IONIC
A dd.
8 An event she worked on is miraculous
HEAVEN SENT
(AN EVENT SHE)* with ‘worked on’ as the anagrind.
12 Rogue finished up sort of bankrupt
IMPOVERISH
A charade of IMP, OVER and ISH.
15 Fat auntie dancing to inspire passion
INFATUATE
(FAT AUNTIE)* with ‘dancing’ as the anagrind.
16 Board not turning up for seafood
PLANKTON
A charade of PLANK and NOT reversed.
19 Soft material added to underground for old group
VELVET
Referencing VELVET UNDERGROUND, the American rock band from the 1960s.
21 Lay out odds before finale
SPEND
A charade of SP for Starting Price or ‘odds’ and END.
22 Drying material crystal clear to some extent
TALC
Hidden in crysTAL Clear.
Many thanks to Anto for this week’s Quiptic.
I really like Anto’s Quiptics – always variety in the types of clue which is useful for the less experienced solvers like me. I revealed THE ICK. I have heard that term (though not from watching Love Island!) but couldn’t see it from the clue. I liked the fat auntie dancing – made me think of Beryl Cook’s paintings. An enjoyable start to a Sunday morning.
Liked DINNER JACKET. Also THE ICK and F T LIGHT.
F T LIGHT
I think the def should include ‘at’.
Thanks Anto and Pierre.
Really nice puzzle, but I got stuck for ages on EMIL even with checking letters. Seems a bit of a weird clue even though wordplay is straight forward in hindsight.
Splendid clueing from Anto. Felt this was just right as a Quiptic. Thanks Anto and Pierre.
ANNEAL took the longest as I didn’t know the word and was expecting a two letter abbreviation for the queen.
I felt like I dodged bullets by getting EMIL and THE ICK quickly; that one will cause trouble.
I liked the anagrams, SOJOURNS (another possible banana skin for lax parsers) and IMPOVERISH.
Thanks Anto and Pierre.
A fine quiptic, I thought, with some great clues; my favourites were VELVET, DINNER JACKET (which I only got because of seeing it in another crossword not long ago), IMPOVERISH and the long anagram. Didn’t know THE ICK or ANNEAL. Thanks Anto and Pierre!
I never trust ratings given by Guardian.This is definitely NOT for beginners unless you have a PHD in linguistics.
Lovely quiptic. Took a while to warm up and get going, but managed to complete the grid.
VELVET was my favourite 🙂
Ta, Anto & Pierre!
I could not parse 11ac.
Favourites: BLOOD CLOT, READJUST, PLANKTON, IMPOVERISH.
New for me: THE ICK (loi).
I can’t believe it took me so long to get “velvet” when they are one of my all time favourite bands!
Proper DOH! moment when I got it!
Who is emil? Feels like a very random choice of a male name. I very much enjoyed this puzzle, perfect for a sunday – and nice to see some ‘younger’ words.
I enjoy Anto’s crosswords, but I wish he wasn’t so often stuck in the Quiptic slot where he isn’t (imho) a particularly good fit.
Alas, I forgot that he nearly always has a middle-letters clue and missed DIGEST. Surprised to see THE ICK which I have recently discovered in btl Guardian comments: it must have reached the mainstream. Some nice anagrams: I did like the plaster bones and the Fat Auntie (and the WHODUNIT). Thanks Anto and Pierre.
I knew icky as an adjective but nho of the ick as a noun. Saw “day in France” and “trips” and immediately bunged in JOURNEYS which caused me some mild headache later, but I can’t blame Anto for that, the clue was very fair. All in all an excellent quiptic, thanks Anto and Pierre!
26A gave me the ick.
Never heard of the expression before.
Are quiptics only aimed at young trendy beginners?
Humbug@14 Well, I’m not so sure teeny boppers [showing my age] would be hep to ‘Velvet Underground’ :-). I appreciate the chronological range in general.
Lovely from Anto.
“The ick” is not in Chambers. I thought this was the Guardian bible. However, the same can be said about elements of popular culture as “Velvet Underground.”
Help for the non-British please? I understand the wordplay, but why is this fellow EMIL? And does everyone just know that odds before are a Starting Price?
Whilst I worked out EMIL from the wordplay and crossers, I also have no idea why “this fellow” is Emil specifically. I guess it could be any male name or reference to a man, but that strikes me as very loose cluing!
I also struggled with ANNEAL since as far as I’m concerned that just means heating a sample for a while, and the material may become tougher or less tough, depending what you start with.
Overall, I thought this was mostly achievable but with a few really tricky ones. I liked the long anagrams and I thought PLANKTON was clever.
Thanks Pierre and Anto. SP for Starting Price was new for me.
Alicia F@11 and aemmmnostt@17, I *think* random names are just fair game, whether as the whole answer or as part of the wordplay. Old queen = ANNE (10A) could be in that category, I suppose, given the number of old queens there are (admittedly not all being equally useful for clueing!).
aemmmnostt @17. Starting Price (SP) as odds is fairly well known in the UK, but, like any bit of knowledge, no – not everyone knows it.
Dave @10 I never found them quite as good again after that mad Welshman John Cale departed. Those first two albums – WOW! (Albeit with one clanger of a track on each, IMO, European Son and The Gift.)
I know “the ick” and I’m a seventy-year-old Scot who has barely heard of Love Island. I didn’t think it was exclusive to a romantic context.
I liked this but did seem on the tough side for a Quiptic. Glad to get THE ICK, I am not quite ready for the pipe and slippers yet.
THE ICK and GIVEAWAY favourites today.
Thanks both
Took me a lot longer than it should have. Just can’t get on Anto’s wavelength but all fair clues today. I’m in my 30s but I think I got all the cultural references for a change.
Maybe DJ for dinner jacket I only know from crosswords and I thought that clue was out of place in a quiptic.
nho ANNEAL or IONIC in the architecture sense but I pencilled them in just from 5a and then I got JACKET and READJUST so can’t complain.
LOI was EMIL even though I knew it had to be that from the clue. It’s not a name I come across often so I couldn’t just bung it in for fellow. And I’m not sure how SPEND is lay out and not heard of starting price so that was a what other word can it be?
Loved the anagrams.
Comment #25
Overall a lot of fun. Anto does like to keep us on our Quiptic toes with a couple that require some head scratching.
I never did parse DJ although I do think I’ve heard of DINNER JACKET abbreviated like that. That’s one clue that seemed out of place here; I think it’d have got likes in any full-fat cryptic.
Like others, I must admit that I shrugged at EMIL. It was almost my FOI but my actual LOI because I’m not sure I’ve heard the name and I’m not a great fan of random forenames as solutions, so I was doubting until the end.
ANNEAL was was a TILT, but I’ve known and indeed used THE ICK all my life; nothing to do with Love Island (or romantic partners particularly) I think!
I enjoyed VELVET and thought the clue might have been even better (but less quiptic) still if it had said “group of oldies”, the oldies being the listeners. Humbug@14, the usual complaint is that all cultural references in cryptics likewise seem to be aimed at the retired, so I (as others here it seems) also welcome some contemporary stuff in general!
aemmmnostt@17, re SP: crosswordland’s type species for “obscure” yet essential abbreviations has, IMO, always been RA for artist. Stuff like that you just have to learn as you go along. I agree that SPEND was hard, since the definition was also non-obvious. Tidy@24: to lay out is to spend (lavishly, IMO), as in I laid out a small fortune on that sofa.
Thanks Anto for giving us plenty to talk about. And tx for the blog.
Agree Gladys @12. I think Anto’s in the wrong slot.
Rather chewy for a Quiptic, I thought, although some cracking anagrams. Of all the four-letter “fellows” that might spring to mind, EMIL isn’t near the top of the list. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable solve; thanks Anto and Pierre
Who in the name of the good lord is Emil??
Rarely on Anto’s wavelength but this one went well for me today, only had to reveal two (didn’t spot RUMBLE=trouble and TORT=wrong is new to me). In awe at the FASTER THAN LIGHT and PERSONAL BEST, the former especially was a case of “there’s no way that’s an anagram”.
Interesting to learn that Emil is more obscure a name than I thought. It was a write in for me, but Wikipedia lists it as being a very central European name. Having roots there probably coloured my perception. Not going to bat for it, IMO cluing a name as “this fellow” with no additional context is unfun (but then I also don’t like guessing rivers or flowers with no context either) but I’d be saying the same if the name were John or Ian.
Always slightly disappointed to see fellow solvers complain about gaining new vocabulary — I thought these puzzles were for language lovers. If anything, learning hip new slang (a mere decade old!) is more interesting than some vitrified old chestnut, preserved only in crosswordese because of tradition (looking at you, it=SA and knowledge=GEN).
Thanks Anto and Pierre 🙂
I could see the parsing in retrospect but I thought this was hard. Thank you for the explanations and to the puzzle setter. A quiptic for the more experienced, I think.
Thought this was actually one of Anto’s easier puzzles, but that means it was still pretty tough. In the past many of their puzzles have defeated me, so I was happy to actually get through this one. Like others, I had never heard of the word ANNEAL and EMIL would have never come to mind for fellow. THE ICK was sort of familiar but I never would have figured it out if not for the parsing. Some very clever clues with satisfying solutions though too. My favs were SOJOURNS, BLOOD CLOT, and PERSONAL BEST. Actually started really well and completed about 80% of the grid before hitting the trickier ones and then I slowed down to a crawl. Had to go away and come back to the puzzle numerous times to reset enough to be able to figure them out, mostly via the parsing. I used to dread Anto’s puzzles, sorry Anto, but now, in a strange way, I sort of look forward to them…. still often defeat me though, but I am not as frustrated when I can’t figure the clues out. Sometimes I will win and sometimes I won’t, and that’s okay. Thank you Anto and Pierre
Comment #33
I met EMIL when I was quite young, when I read Emil and the detectives.
Comment #35
I thoroughly agree with Sakenotabibito @32! All very true. A satisfying though quite tricky Quiptic. I liked WHODUNIT, TORTILLA and TASTIEST. My LOI was THE ICK which I didn’t know but after some brow-furrowing wrote it in from the logic of the clue then came here to understand! Thanks Anto and Pierre.
Never heard of the ick but defines what the clue gave me. I enjoyed the puzzle but it wasn’t a quilting.
This was great, and dipped in and out throughout last week. LOI was THE ICK & had to eventually reveal. Favourites were BLOOD CLOT and VELVET which came to me finally after getting nowhere with ‘felt’. First time solving an Anto and it was very enjoyable. Thanks Pierre.
IMPOVERISH, INFATUATE & PLANKTON also made me chuckle.