Thank you to Anto. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Fun performer read to hostile crowd (4,3)
RIOT ACT : RIOT(an amusing event/fun) + ACT(one who performs in a part of a show/entertainment).
Defn: From the idiom “read the riot act”, ie. to forcefully and sternly warn off, in this case, a hostile crowd, from continuing with its actions.
5. Little bird nicks lids but can do no more? (5,2)
THAT’S IT : TIT(a little songbird) containing(nicks/steals) HATS(informally, “lids”).
Defn: Expression signifying a stop to an action, as in, “That’s it! I’ve done all I can to help”).
9. Cabby’s eager to hide alternative way to travel (2,3)
BY SEA : Hidden in(… to hide) “Cabby’s eager”.
10. Governess wastes time in book opening (9)
CHAPERONE : “Chapter One”(a book’s opening/its first section) minus(wastes) “t”(abbrev. for “time”).
11. Potter’s eye reimagined characteristic model (10)
STEREOTYPE : Anagram of(… reimagined) POTTER’S EYE.
Defn: …/a generalised idea about a specific group of people or things.
12. Instinct is to pull back (3)
GUT : Reversal of(… back) TUG(to pull/tow).
14. Anxiety about electric vehicle in practice facility (7,5)
DRIVING RANGE : Cryptically, the worry/anxiety of how far an electric car can go/be driven before it needs recharging, though that anxiety seems to be lessened with the newer models.
18. He shook sleepy lives around rock’s beginning (5,7)
ELVIS PRESLEY : Anagram of(shook) [SLEEPY LIVES + 1st letter of(…’s beginning) “rock” ].
Defn: He who was a pioneer of rock music:
21. Drink forced king to abandon Scottish church in the end (3)
KIR : “k”(symbol for “king” in chess notation) deleted from the end of(forced … to abandon … in the end) “kirk”(a Scottish church).
Defn: … made of dry white wine mixed with a small amount of crème de cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur.
22. Coastal fort eventually destroyed by the tide (10)
SANDCASTLE : A CASTLE built on the beach SAND could be, whimsically, equated to a “coastal fort”.
Defn: That model made out of sand and water built by children on a beach, which is washed away/destroyed by the incoming tide.
25. Cautioned about such knowledge (9)
EDUCATION : Anagram of(… about) CAUTIONED.
26. Nasty character UK sent back – well done (5)
KUDOS : Reversal of(… sent back) [ SOD(a nasty character/scoundrel) + UK ].
Answer: From the expression “Kudos to …”, meaning “Well done to …”
27. One annually presenting favourable margins for city (5,2)
SANTA FE : SANTA(Claus, the legendary one giving out presents at Christmas every year) + 1st and last letters of(… margins) “favourable”.
Answer: Capital city of New Mexico, USA.
28. Hospital department, somewhat dodgy, displaying disorder (7)
ENTROPY : ENT(abbrev. for the “ear, nose and throat” hospital department) + ROPY(of poor quality/somewhat dodgy).
Defn: …/lack of organisation.
Down
1. Half of roof broken but it’s sound (6)
ROBUST : 1st 2 out of 4 letters of(Half of) “roof” + BUST(broken/inoperative).
Defn: …/hardy.
2. Playboy’s terrific store of seafood (6)
OYSTER : Hidden in(… store of) “Playboy’s terrific”.
3. Mama is true criminal – but it doesn’t pay (10)
AMATEURISM : Anagram of(… criminal) MAMA IS TRUE.
Defn: …/is without financial gain.
4. Diplomacy must gather information to be understood (5)
TACIT : TACT(discretion/diplomacy) containing(must gather) I(abbrev. for “information”).
Defn: …/without being spoken, written or directly expressed.
5. Catch high-pitched noises from bells and whistles? (9)
TRAPPINGS : TRAP(to catch/capture) + PINGS(high-pitched noises).
Defn: …/extra, non-essential features added to make a product or system more attractive or impressive but not adding to basic functionality.
6. Plant initiating another capital expenditure review (4)
ACER : 1st letters, respectively, of(initiating) “another capital expenditure review”.
7. Activity that contributes to cleaning up when begging? (8)
SPONGING : Double defn: 1st: …, using a sponge; and 2nd: …/asking for support by others but not making any contribution.
8. Drunken three, hot for sex? (3,5)
THE OTHER : Anagram of(Drunken) THREE, HOT.
Defn: Euphemism for ….
13. Fundamental capitalist idea lets you get stuff for nothing! (4,6)
FREE MARKET : Literally and whimsically, place where you can, instead of buying, get stuff free.
Answer: In contrast to socialism, a basic capitalistic economic system where prices for goods and services are set by buyers and sellers with little or no government control or intervention.
15. Say something about lines appearing around holiday island (9)
VERBALISE : VERSE(lines of poetry) containing(appearing around) BALI(a holiday island in Indonesia).
16. Dissolute Irishman’s resolution to cut back bad language (8)
FECKLESS : [FECK LESS][What you might term an Irishman’s resolution/declaration to cut back on/say less of the swear word/bad language “feck”(the Irish slang substitute for “fuck”)].
Defn: …/lacking moral restraint.
17. Capsize open vessel (8)
OVERTURN : OVERT(open/not hidden) + URN(a vase/vessel).
19. Boss supported by central unions in workplace (6)
STUDIO : STUD(a rounded raised knob/boss) plus(by) middle letter of(central) “unions”.
20. My holding on to broken seal is pathetic (6)
MEASLY : MY containing(holding on to) anagram of(broken) SEAL.
23. Dye one’s pet occasionally? That’s just stupid (5)
DENSE : 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th letters of(… occasionally) “Dye one’s pet”.
24. Heroin by another name will create aggressive display (4)
HAKA : H(slang for the drug “heroin”) + AKA(abbrev. for “also known as”/called by another name).
From actual battlefield to rugby stadium:
A well-pitched Quiptic, I thought – thanks to Anto and to scchua.
Couldn’t parse OVERTURN, though it’s obvious now. Wasn’t aware of THE OTHER = sex. LOI was KIR, as didn’t know kirk, but was pretty clear with 2 of the 3 letters!
Thanks Anto and scchua
GUT isn’t instinct – “gut instinct” is!
Muffin – my gut tells me you’re wrong.
CHAPERONE and HAKA were brilliant!
Did not know about the Scottish church but got KIR from crossers.
I could not fully parse 14ac (coming from Australia that type of EV anxiety always seemed exaggerated to me as we also need to be aware of when petrol will run out when we do long-distance driving and petrol stations can often be few and far between). Also I did not fully understand 16d although I know FECK = ****/euphemism for a swear word.
Favourites: CHAPERONE, SANTA FE.
I’m with Crispy@3 on GUT.
Good Quiptic. CHAPERONE has a nice construction but I’m a bit dubious about the definition – chaperones look after their charges but they don’t teach them, unlike governesses.
I’m just about old enough to remember when KIR was simply known as blanc-cassis, before it universally took the name of the postwar mayor of Dijon, Félix Kir.
Thanks to Anto and scchua
Very amusing puzzle, including clues like CHAPERONE, DRIVING RANGE, SANDCASTLE, ELVIS PRESLEY, THE OTHER and the lovely FECKLESS, probably introduced to the rest of the world by Father Ted. Nicely done indeed including the dovetailing of TACT and TAC(I)T.
Ta Anto & scchua.
Is KIR with the King a Kir Royale?
Loved this quiptic, lots to smile about. Favourites CHAPERONE, FECKLESS, HAKA and KIR.
Thanks Anto and scchua.
This fitted the bill nicely, I thought.
Thanks scchua and Anto.
“The other” is a new euphemism for me and was stuck for ages trying to get “EV” into 14A. And I would say “range” is the anxiety rather than “driving range”, but minor quibble if we permit some whimsy.
Feckless and overturn are great, even if I only got the parsing of the latter by coming here 🙂
My first in was STEREOTYPE but once in place, everything tumbled very quickly. Good fun.
That’s _A_A for something heroin related for the second time this week. I wonder how our American friends will find this one. CHAPERONE was my favourite.
Thanks Anto and scchua.
I listened to my gut! Also, DRIVING RANGE seemed to have appeared recently. Nice Sunday fare. Thanks Anto and scchua
Probably a very well pitched quiptic but I admit I struggle with Anto’s whimsical cryptic definitions. Even after SANTA, FECKLESS and SANDCASTLE I still forgot that cryptic definitions were a thing when it came to parsing DRIVING RANGE. I saw the answer really early but I refused to put it in because I couldn’t see the synonym for anxiety. I’m kicking myself because I think it’s actually a brilliant clue in a crossword full of great clues.
Thanks Scchua for the parsing.
As an intermediate level solver I thought this was perfectly pitched for a Quiptic. It’s remarkable to see how Anto has managed to adjust the level of his clueing, and eliminate the looseness, since his early impenetrable offerings. And he still retains the wit that produces many smiles when the penny drops.
Many thanks to Anto, and of course to scchua for the clear blog – though for once I’m pleased to say that reading it only confirmed my own parsing throughout.
Stand-out clue for me was 18 – wordplay and definition dovetailing perfectly.
i loved feckless. one of my favourite clues for a long time.
Thanks to #14 for making me revisit clue 18 … Brilliant, along with scchua’s apposite url related to the clue being an anagram.
That struck me as well-pitched as an improving solver, although some of the cryptic definitions / double definitions took me a little while. The only one I couldn’t parse was “VERBALISE”. I need to remember “lines” can mean “verse” instead of “LL”!
I’m fed up with people putting in the number rather than the answer. Just spell it out, it’s very simple.
Loved feckless. Irish people tell me it has a different meaning to f**k. See Father Ted for evidence.
Timb @19
I always thought it was invented for Father Ted. Did it exist before then?
I was a tad lucky with kir – I removed S ch from kirsch to get the middle letter, but couldn’t parse the rest of it. Was unfamiliar with kirk = Scottish church.
Took me a few breaks to get the last few answers, after a strong start.
Worth it for the brilliant FECKLESS!
Perfectly pitched by Anto who has set a few Quiptics better suited to weekdays.
Best by a mile today FECKLESS. It brought up some of my favourite Father Ted scenes in my mind.
Thanks Anto and Scchua
AlanC@18, agreed, but better yet, why not include the number and the answer? It takes an extra 1.5 seconds, which I think most of us can spare.
My favourite, as it was for many others, was 18a ELVIS PRESLEY, for the excellent anagram, the apposite surface, and the excuse for scchua’s link to the song.
Thanks S&A for the Sunday amusement.
Liked FECKLESS as I recently watched Song of the Sea, which got that one past the censors by spelling it “feic” (which wiktionary tells me IS an Irish word but unrelated to the minced oath, and also leads me to a source that says Father Ted reinvigorated the usage of feck)
A good watch if you haven’t seen it already. Loads of beautiful non-sweary detail in the animation.
I always think of a governess more as a tutor than a chaperone, but i suppose she has a dual role. Though perhaps Jane Eyre could have done with her own chaperone.
American here. Been playing the quiptics for a few months now and starting to get feel for it. “Kir” is new for me, but otherwise a perfect quiptic.
ELVIS PRESLEY was absolutely beautiful!
Thanks for making me laugh Anto and for the extra bits Scchua. OMG Elvis and the hunky haka boys! I had an Irish friend who always addressed me, affectionately, as you fecking eejit.
I know this clip was Ireland, but when the All Blacks perform their Haka in front of an English team, I do so wish that England would respond with a morris dance. The All Blacks would be so thrown that they’d never be able to concentrate on the game.
A Governess teaches a child who is not yet out. A chaperone accompanies a young lady during her coming out.
The two are not equivalent in any way shape or form. Shape maybe I suppose.
American here. Had zero problem with ‘haka’, Martin, thank you very much.
On the other hand, ‘the other’ for sex? Now that I’ve never heard before but I have heard that there’s no sex in England.
Governess for chaperone is too much of a stretch, IMO, but I’m okay with gut for instinct.