Thank you to Chandler. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Start to survey papers inside facility in holiday area (7)
SEASIDE : 1st letter of(Start to) “survey” + [ ID(short for “identity” or identity papers) contained in(inside) EASE(a lack of difficulty/facility) ].
5. Dejection sadly about island in Middle East (7)
MALAISE : [ ALAS(sadly/unfortunately) containing(about) I(abbrev. for “island”) ] contained in(in) ME(abbrev. for “Middle East”).
Defn: A vague feeling of discomfort.
10. Some paste with dish cooked in liquid (4)
STEW : Hidden in(Some) “paste with”.
11. Eastern Europeans given a role with nothing in common? (5,5)
POLES APART : POLES(Eastern Europeans, specifically from Poland) plus(given) A + PART(a role/a character or duty assigned to someone to play or perform).
12. In retreat, secures edges of estuaries for wading birds (6)
SNIPES : Reversal of(In retreat) PINS(secures/fastens with a pin or nail or similar object) + 1st and last letters of(edges of) “estuaries”.
13. Unprepared husband? Hope not somehow when touring (2,3,3)
ON THE HOP : H(abbrev. for “husband”) contained in(… when touring) anagram of(… somehow) HOPE NOT.
14. Required money with a rightwinger (9)
MANDATORY : M(abbrev. for “money”) + AND(with/plus) + A + TORY(a member of the Conservative Party, a rightwinger in the political spectrum)
16. Attractive with no end of colour – and lacking in weight? (5)
PETTY : “pretty”(attractive/pleasing) minus(with no) last letter of(end of) “colour”.
17. Break odd parts of some tree (5)
SMASH : 1st and 3rd letters of(odd parts of) “some” + ASH(any of a particular genus of trees).
19. Tell niece to move customers (9)
CLIENTELE : Anagram of(… to move) TELL NIECE.
23. One with ambition managed to enter a second underground area (8)
ASPIRANT : RAN(managed, say, an organisation) contained in(to enter) [A + S(abbrev. for “second’ in time notation) + PIT(a cavity in the ground/an underground area) ].
Defn: …, who aspires to something.
24. Plain-spoken person standing for election ignoring latest trio of characters (6)
CANDID : “candidate”(a person standing for election to an official post) minus(ignoring) its last 3 letters(latest trio of characters).
26. Invest in reforms to cover case for change as things to spur people (10)
INCENTIVES : Anagram of(… reforms) INVEST IN containing(to cover) 1st and last letters of(case for) “change”.
27. Daughter is given peculiar percussion instrument (4)
DRUM : D(abbrev. for “daughter”) plus(is given) RUM(odd/peculiar).
Just 2 out of numerous forms of this instrument:
28. Sally after vacation checks organised schemes (7)
SYSTEMS : “Sally” minus all its inner letters(after vacation) + STEMS(checks/restrains).
29. Prisoner on the loose in cloak in eastern Kent area (7)
ESCAPEE : CAPE(a cloak/an outer garment tied round the neck and hung from the shoulders) contained in(in) [ E(abbrev. for “eastern”) + SE(abbrev. for “South East”, a reference to the Kent area in SE England).
Down
2. Russian neighbour shuffling in seat holding nothing (7)
ESTONIA : Anagram of(shuffling) IN SEAT containing(holding) O(letter representing zero/nothing).
3. Conclude in this way, reportedly, ahead (3,2)
SEW UP : Homophone of(…, reportedly) “so”(in this way/thus) + UP(ahead, in reference to one team’s performance versus its opponent’s during a competitive match).
Defn: …/to achieve total success, with no loose ends.
4. Put down disbandment of top side (7)
DEPOSIT : Anagram of(disbandment) TOP SIDE.
6. Advantages when with groups (6)
ASSETS : AS(when/at that moment, as in “Smile when you enter the room”) plus(with) SETS(groups/collections of similar items).
Defn: …/that which can be used to one’s benefit.
7. Parts teen misused currently (2,7)
AT PRESENT : Anagram of(… misused) PARTS TEEN.
8. Separate soldiers captivated by dark-coloured beer (4,3)
SORT OUT : OR(abbrev. for “other ranks”, soldiers who are not commissioned officers) contained in(captivated by) STOUT(a dark-coloured beer).
9. Sister, say, in a bolder violet when dressed (5,8)
BLOOD RELATIVE : Anagram of(… when dressed) A BOLDER VIOLET.
Defn: An example of which/say, is a sister.
15. Rebel is with team among Dutch conservationists (9)
DISSIDENT : [ IS + SIDE(team in a competition) ] contained in(among) [ D(abbrev. for “Dutch”) + NT(abbrev. for the National Trust, a conservationist group) ].
18. Stonework making mother and child really discontented (7)
MASONRY : MA(a familiar term for one’s mother) plus(and) SON(an affectionate term of address for a younger boy/child) + “really” minus all its inner letters(discontented).
20. Overlooks poor grounds? (7)
EXCUSES : Double defn: 1st: …/forgives; and 2nd: Pretended/made-up/poor reasons/grounds to justify bad conduct or to evade doing something.
21. Employee lately is taken in by enticement for free time (7)
LEISURE : [ Last letter of(… lately) “Employee” + IS ] contained in(taken in by) LURE(bait/enticement).
22. Hold up thing put on table to catch small chicken (6)
BANTAM : Reversal of(Hold up, in a down clue) [ MAT(thing/a piece of material like fabric or plastic put on a table to protect its surface) + NAB(to catch/grab) ].
25. Female has partly written a diary (5)
NADIA : Hidden in(partly) “written a diary”.
Defn: A … name.
Enjoyable puzzle.
Favourites: BANTAM, MANDATORY.
Thanks Chandler and scchua
Very nice Quiptic, not as easy as some. The only grating note was SNIPES – the usual plural is “snipe”.
Thanks to Chandler for a well pitched Quiptic and scchua for the blog.
A question to all: is ‘Middle East’ as ‘ME’ a well known crosswordese usage? It’s not one I’ve seen before, should I add it to my list of acronyms?
Just the level I needed after a slightly heavy night. Excellent blog.
I liked CANDID, SEASIDE and ESCAPEE.
I don’t think ME is particularly crosswordy Graham. It’s just a commonly use abbreviation.
Thanks Chandler and scchua
Martin @4 Really? It’s not a usage I’ve run across before in any context.
Graham @5 It comes up a lot in commercial regions: ME, MEA, EMEA etc depending on whether Africa and Europe are included. If a letter is part of a recognised abbreviation then the word it stands for can be used in a clue. So, M for middle would be allowed here. I used to think the first letter of any word could be used but was put straight in this group. Look up ME in Chambers and you’ll find Middle English, Most Excellent and Mechanical Engineer among others.
The ones that need to be learned are the likes of OR in 8d which is only ever referred to obliquely as men or soldiers. Totally impossible without being in the know.
Seemed about the right Quiptic level although I did find myself guessing the answer and then working out the parsing which seemed a bit convoluted in some clues. Thanks Chandler and Scchua.
INCENTIVES and CANDID were my favourites in a very pleasant puzzle.
Ta Chandler & scchua
I assume in 6D “AS(when/at that moment, as in “Smile when you enter the room”)” should say “… Smile AS you enter the room” otherwise it’s even more baffling to me.
Couldn’t parse 20D and I still don’t see why EXCUSES have to be “poor grounds”. An excuse can be perfectly valid, no?
VinnyD@10 Excuses could be poor grounds but they don’t have to be, hence the question mark. Schoolteachers always seem to see them as poor!
Judge@11: Ah, fair enough. Thanks.
All gentle & pleasant stuff, done over lunch after a very busy morning.
BLOOD RELATIVE was an excellent anagram.
I enjoyed the drum videos: by way of contrast try the Lambeg Boogie. That is one big drum!
Thanks both!
Nice and straightforward, as a Q should be. Had a bit of a wobble with SMASH – I originally had SM + TE (odd letters of tree) with an I for odd/one, but it didn’t feel right.
Lovely Quiptic.
Thanks to Chandler and scchua.
My favourite might be BANTAM, only because I had a brain freeze and should have got it sooner. Next favourite was LEISURE (though more on that in a mo).
As for favourites I got without any trouble, it’s probably MASONRY.
Partly because I work in construction 🤦♂️😂, but also because the wordplay was convoluted enough to introduce people to the puzzle whilst being simple enough to get with a bit of an idea of wordplay.
I’m not sure about LEISURE and EXCUSES, as I think the wordplay was above what a Quiptic should be.
It’s a puzzle meant to be over the skill of the introductory Quick, but still intuitive enough to be an intro to the larger cryptic puzzle – we’re meant to be getting people into crosswords at this stage still!
Seasoned solvers shouldn’t need help parsing a Quiptic, let alone newcomers.
That being said, a lovely puzzle on fine form. 2 out of 29 clues being fairly simple introductions (and one being due to just my own brain failing me in the heat with a glass of wine at hand), is good – though maybe turn the knob down a notch from 11 at times, and remember who the audience is meant to be, even if I loved face palming myself at LEISURE in particular. That would have been a great week-time clue.
Still, lovely puzzle for those getting over the beginner stage.
As a newish solver, I really enjoyed this. I thought it was essentially perfectly pitched – fair and workable but requiring some thought. The only ones I had trouble parsing were BANTAM and SEW UP. I was fine with both LEISURE and EXCUSES (clues suggested to be hard by e.g. Eekimus @15) which only goes to show that different people have different strengths and weaknesses and hence setting a Quiptic that works for lots of people must be a hard job!
Thanks Scchua for the blog and Chandler for the puzzle.
Thanks Chandler for the perfectly pitched Quiptic. It should be more of a challenge than a quick cryptic, and easier than a weekday cryptic, and this one fits neatly in the middle.
And thanks scchua the well-timed blog and illustrations. 27 DRUM was my favourite clue, for obvious reasons:
My daughter-in-law is into Taiko drumming, and I am amazed at the rhythmic precision and the physical strength required. I wouldn’t want to arm-wrestle her.
Joe Morello’s superb solo was my introduction to 5/4 time. I always wondered whether Brubeck’s repetitive vamping was intended to help Morello stay within the time signature, or to help listeners hear how Morello was staying within the beat. In any event it remains a classic.
I got there! Not by any means the easiest for me, but I see others coasted through. Still learning. Thank you, Chandler, but just one thing if you’re reading this: Poles these days hate being called Eastern Europeans. It’s a relic of the Cold War that they want to put behind them. ‘Central Europeans’ is much preferred – and 11a would have worked just as well, indeed might have been a useful (and legitimate) misdirection, in that form.
Good fun. Thanks sschua and Chandler.
Thanks Chandler and Scchua. I thought SMASH was emblematic of a Quiptic.
I only got three clues on my first pass and was very disappointed that it was way over promised level. However I did finish it so it was doable ish.
Eekimus @15 LEISURE and EXCUSES were among the easier clues IMO. Not sure why you singled them out – is it that you couldn’t parse them? Indeed I don’t understand how you found parsing the latter clue difficult as it’s a double definition and there is no parsing?!
I struggled with SORT OUT, DISSIDENT and SYSTEMS, sticky bits being OR, D (surely Germany not the Netherlands!), NT (I think of them as mostly destructive rather than conservationist), and vacate.