A puzzle that might have fitted well in the Quiptic slot, though with a couple of quirky “subtractive” clues. (However, I see that some commenters one the Guardian site found it challenging.. ah well.) Thanks to Anto.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | GROWN-UP | Cultivate witticism about being adult (5-2) GROW (cultivate) + reverse of PUN |
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| 5 | BITCOIN | Currency is part I contributed to swindle (7) BIT (part) + I in CON (swindle) |
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| 9 | PETIT | Small piece of advice about way to reassure your dog? (5) To reassure your dog you might PET IT. The feminine form petite is used in English, but I think this version should have an indication that it’s French |
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| 10 | NAUSEATES | USA Senate carve-up turns one’s stomach (9) (USA SENATE)* |
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| 11 | E-PASSPORT | Earl, unable to answer question, left to get some identification (1-8) E[arl] + PASS [(I’m) unable to answer] + PORT (left) |
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| 12 | FEWER | Less often confused with it when counting (5) Cryptic definition, referring the distinction between “less” and “fewer” that some people get very agitated about |
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| 13 | RUINS | Heads of redbrick universities institute new standards for dilapidated buildings (5) First letters of Redbrick Universities Institute New Standards |
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| 15 | ARCH RIVAL | Chief competitor, if losing run, would be matter of record (4,5) If we lose the R[un] from this then we’d end up with ARCHIVAL, relating to record |
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| 18 | FEEL GREAT | Left eager to get transformed and be happy (4,5) (LEFT EAGER)* |
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| 19 | SPROG | Issue dealt with in Pilgrim’s Progress (5) Hidden in pilgrim’S PROGress |
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| 21 | NIGHT | Close temperature when sun goes down (5) NIGH (close) + T |
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| 23 | SANGFROID | RAF’s doing badly, showing coolness under pressure (4,5) (RAF’S DOING)* |
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| 25 | GESTATION | Post on half of wage when things are developing (9) [wa]GE + STATION (a post) |
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| 26 | CRIME | Giving lip in church is a sin (5) RIM (lip) in CE |
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| 27 | EGOISTS | Selfish people say Oscar is extremely tedious (7) E.G. (say) + O[scar] + IS + T[ediou]S |
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| 28 | SPLAYED | Moved quickly to protect place when stretched (7) LAY (to place) in SPED |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | GAP YEAR | Constantly talk equipment with Spooner in period before university (3,4) Spoonerism of “yap gear” |
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| 2 | OSTRACISE | CIA stores criminal blacklist (9) (CIA STORES)* |
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| 3 | NOTES | Records found when breaking up sofa? (5) Breaking up “sofa” gives “so fa”, two notes (after do re mi) |
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| 4 | PANTO DAME | Criticise book about father being camp mother at Christmas (5,4) PAN (criticise) + DA (father, in dialect) in TOME |
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| 5 | BLUNT | Plain type of sandwich has a French filling (5) UN (French “a”) in BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich) |
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| 6 | TREE FERNS | Sea birds circling coastal feature to find plants (4-5) REEF (coastal feature) in TERNS |
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| 7 | ON TOW | Regular cognition women get being dragged around (2,3) Alternate letters of cOgNiTiOn + W[omen] |
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| 8 | NOSTRIL | Central parts of genome system purify cells forming air passage (7) Middle letters of geNOme sySTem puRIfy ceLls |
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| 14 | SIGHT GAGS | In one sense, mufflers funny things to look at (5,4) SIGHT (one of the senses) + GAGS (mufflers) |
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| 16 | CO-TENANTS | Business has ten workers who share accommodation (2-7) CO (company, business) + TEN ANTS |
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| 17 | VERBOSITY | Talking too much, manager almost overwhelmed by truth (9) BOS[s] (manager) in VERITY |
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| 18 | FINAGLE | Trick old horse to get into line (7) NAG (old horse) in FILE (line) |
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| 20 | GODSEND | Without AI, diagnosed ruptures – it’s an unexpected benefit (7) Anagram of DIAGNOSED less AI |
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| 22 | GUSTO | Some plot suggestions raised, showing enthusiasm (5) Hidden in reverse of plOT SUGgestions |
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| 23 | SKIPS | Dirty place in ship where dumped material stored (5) KIP (a dirty place, sometimes a brothel, in Irish slang, from kip as a cheap place to sleep) in SS (ship). More information about “kip” here. |
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| 24 | FOCAL | Critical secondary characters in office come across major flaws (5) Second letters of oFfice cOme aCross mAjor fLaws |
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Dnf for me. SIGHT GAGS did for me and I couldn’t parse SOFA. Tx Andrew. I shall look at ANTO differently now. This was all fair but chewy for me.
What Fuddleduddy said.
Did anyone else notice the nina across the middle row. Think of a famous Nina …
Thanks Anto and Andrew
Some lovely clues – NAUSEATES for its surface must be a contender for clue of the year! ARCH RIVAL very good too.
Held up on SPLAYED as I thought PL was the place to start with.
A DNF though – never heard KIP in that sense.
I’m one who found it a bit challenging. Many very easy clues but some that I couldn’t work out all. Nho kip as a dirty place (thanks Andrew for the link), didn’t remember SIGHT GAG as a phrase (but the only possibility from the crossers), didn’t know E-PASSPORT, and couldn’t fathom the for me deeply obscure FEWER. There were enough crossers in place to make the solution doable for me.
Favourites ARCH RIVAL, FINAGLE (lovely word), and SPROG (clever misdirection)
Thanks Anto and Andrew
Thank you Balfour@3 for pointing out the nina. Missed it as always.
Hardly the trivial solve that Andrew implies it to be. Despite being a musician, I failed to parse 3d, and had NHO ‘kip’ in this context. Also, as usual I completely failed to spot the Nina nina.