The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/30075.
Carpathian gives us an excellent fill of the Monday slot: simple constructions in succinct clues, giving even the less experienced solvers a chance to complete, but with enough bite to keep more versed solvers happy.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | MASKED |
Disguised male questioned (6)
|
| A charade of M (‘male’) plus ASKED (‘questioned’). | ||
| 4 | RAREBIT |
Dish of unusual grain (7)
|
| A charade of RARE (‘unusual’) plus BIT (‘grain’ – “It doesn’t have a bit/grain of truth”). | ||
| 9 | SUCCULENT |
Uncle cuts up plant (9)
|
| An anagram (‘up’) of ‘uncle cuts’. | ||
| 10 | TERSE |
Short tenor getting refreshed on and off (5)
|
| A charade of T (‘tenor’) plus ERSE (‘rEfReShEd on and off’). | ||
| 11 | TASTE |
Sample bit of pasta stealthily (5)
|
| A hidden answer (‘bit of’) in ‘pasTA STEalthily’. | ||
| 12 | ELABORATE |
Make speech after European scientist’s workplace gets involved (9)
|
| A charade of E (‘European’) plus LAB (‘scientist’s workplace’) plus ORATE (‘make speech’). | ||
| 13 | PLACARD |
Bill quietly left a club? (7)
|
| A charade of P (piano, ‘quietly’) plus L (‘left’) plis ‘a’ plus CARD (‘club?’ – indication by example). | ||
| 15 | TURNIP |
Root of change I proposed initially (6)
|
| A charade of TURN (‘change’) plus ‘I’ plus P (‘Proposed initially’). | ||
| 17 | STATUE |
Effigy of union’s leader embraced by nation (6)
|
| An envelope (’embraced by’) of U (‘Union’s leader’) in STATE (‘nation’). | ||
| 19 | LACONIC |
Brief note concerning one Conservative snorting cocaine (7)
|
| An envelope (‘snorting’) of C (‘cocaine’) in LA (‘note’ of solfa) plus ON (‘concerning’) plus I (‘one’) plus C (‘Conservative’). | ||
| 22 | HERBAL TEA |
That woman sorted out table with a hot drink (6,3)
|
| A charade of HER (‘that woman’) plus BALTE, an anagram (‘sorted out’) of ‘table’ plus ‘a’. | ||
| 24 | GLADE |
Pleased with mouse finally finding space in forest (5)
|
| A charade of GLAD (‘pleased’) plus E (‘mousE finally’). | ||
| 26 | IRONS |
Smooths out chains (5)
|
| Double definition. “Clap him in irons’. | ||
| 27 | ASSAILANT |
Mugger is idiot upset by six footer (9)
|
| A charade of ASS (‘idiot’) plus AIL (‘upset’) plus ANT (‘six-footer’). | ||
| 28 | PENDANT |
Quibbler holds new medallion (7)
|
| An envelope (‘holds’) of N (‘new’) in PEDANT (‘quibbler’). | ||
| 29 | BEATEN |
Hammered bachelor put away (6)
|
| A charade of B (‘bachelor’) plus EATEN (‘put away’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MISSTEP |
Fail to attend precious flipping trip (7)
|
| A charade of MISS (‘fail to attend’) plus TEP, a reversal (‘flipping’) of PET (‘precious’). | ||
| 2 | SOCKS |
Request for help involving Calvin Klein footwear (5)
|
| An envelope (‘involving’) of CK (‘Calvin Klein’) in SOS (‘request for help’). | ||
| 3 | EXUBERANT |
Former ride-share company worker is vivacious (9)
|
| A charade of EX (‘former’) plus UBER (‘ride-share company’) plus ANT (‘worker’). | ||
| 4 | RETRACT |
Withdraw from English area after start of revolution (7)
|
| A charade of R (‘start of Revolution’) plus E (‘English’) plus TRACT (‘area’). | ||
| 5 | RATIO |
Traitor I love in proportion (5)
|
| A charade of RAT (‘traitor’) plus ‘I’ plus O (‘love’). | ||
| 6 | BARBARIAN |
Pub ban before Scotsman gets savage (9)
|
| A charade of BAR (‘pub’) plus BAR (‘ban’) plus IAN (‘Scotsman’). | ||
| 7 | TEETER |
Former X contributor without sway (6)
|
| A subtraction: T[w]EETER (‘former X contributor’) minus (-‘out’) W (‘with’-). | ||
| 8 | DEFEND |
Protect upstanding US agent on border (6)
|
| A charade of DEF, a reversal (‘upstanding’ in a down light) of FED (‘US agent’) plus END (‘border’). | ||
| 14 | AFTERNOON |
PM behind expression of hesitation regarding accepting refusal (9)
|
| An envelope (‘accepting’) of NO (‘refusal’) in AFT (‘behind’) plus ER (‘expression of hesitation’) plus ON (‘regarding’). | ||
| 16 | RECOGNISE |
Try rising during sincere broadcast for Grant (9)
|
| An envelope (‘during’) of OG, a reversal (‘rising’ in d down light) of GO (‘try’) in RECNISE, an anagram (‘broadcast’) of ‘sincere’. | ||
| 18 | ENTRANT |
Competitor in event ran tirelessly (7)
|
| A hidden answer ‘in’ ‘evENT RAN Tirelessly’. | ||
| 19 | LIAISE |
Is a lie tricky to communicate? (6)
|
| An anagram (‘tricky’) of ‘is a lie’. | ||
| 20 | CHEAT ON |
Be unfaithful to Charlie with passion and touching (5,2)
|
| A charade of C (‘Charlie’, NATO phonetic alphabet) plus HEAT (‘passion’) plus ON (‘touching’). | ||
| 21 | SHRIMP |
Small person parking next to quiet verge (6)
|
| A charade of SH (‘quiet’ as a command) plus RIM (‘verge’) plus P (‘parking’). | ||
| 23 | AT SEA |
Disorganised leaders of army training session elicit apathy (2,3)
|
| First letters (‘leaders’) of Army Training Session Elicit Apathy’. | ||
| 25 | AWAIT |
Anticipate a pressure for auditor (5)
|
| A charade of ‘a’ plus WAIT, sounding like (‘for auditor’) WEIGHT (‘pressure’). |
Thanks Peter.
A small hours solve for me.
I liked ELABORATE, EXUBERANT and AFTERNOON. A couple of ants working today but there are more in my patio.
Thanks Carpathian.
Good fun; no obscurities and nothing too taxing. I didn’t understand TEETER, but should have. I was fixated that X had something to do with ten. I initially had WOOED for 24a. I don’t like “up” as an anagrind, but I’ve said this several times before and I really should stop.
Thanks Carpathian and PeterO
Very nice. Favourites BARBARIAN and LOI AFTERNOON.
I’ve had to stop whinging about up as an anagrind as it’s clearly here to stay.
Nice crossword for beginners to cut their teeth on.
Many thanks, both.
Not much to say about this beyond PeterO’s assessment. Straightforward but satisfying.
Like GDU@2 I initially had WOOED for 24, but the crossers soon sorted that out. Agree with the general assessment of a good Monday level puzzle. Liked SUCCULENT, PLACARD and PENDANT. Thanks to PeterO and Carparthian.
I don’t seem to have tackled a Carpathian puzzle for a while, and had forgotten how much I enjoy them.
She has a lovely way with elegant, deceptively simple clues, such as SOCKS, GLADE, BEATEN and AWAIT.
Thank you to her and to PeterO
The only real problem was that I confidently entered BA+SHED=BASHED for 29a and took some time to realise it was wrong.
Went in straightforwardly. I had a problem parsing a few clues but I don’t work too hard with parsing on a Monday if the answer is obvious.
Overall tick in box for this.
Thanks to PeterO and Carparthian
On the brink with TEETER, but finally realised out how that one worked…
gladys @ 8
I did exactly the same as you until 16d made me realise that it was wrong. Even then, it took me a while to spot what it should be. Thanks to both.
Not wanting to be a quibbler, but do ants actually have feet (outside of crossword-land)?
Favourites were EXUBERANT, BARBARIAN, SOCKS and TEETER.
Ta Carpathian & PeterO.
Good Monday stuff. A few meatier bits to slow down what otherwise would have been a smooth solve.
Are tweeters called something else now? I am still using the phrase but then I am also still occasionally using Twitter and tweets so maybe it’s just the old me not liking change.
Thanks Carpathian and PeterO
Held up slightly by initially thinking 1d was mission, that is miss and No 1 “precious flipping”. But misstep is a more precise defintion of trip so no problem there.
Thanks to S & B
Usually I don’t even start the Guardian before 19:30 so, by the time I’ve finished, all comments have been made. Having finished before 9:00, all my comments have already been expressed except I have no problem with “up” as an anagrind. I now accept that almost anything goes as an anagrind.
Thanks both.
Re’up’ – GDU@2 and William@4: would ‘What’s up?’ = ‘What’s wrong?’ help?
Liked RAREBIT, HERBAL TEA, MISSTEP,
AFTERNOON and AWAIT.
Thanks Carpathian & PeterO.
Staticman1@14
What was a tweet is now a post (retweet-repost and tweeter-poster).
Roger@17
‘up’ as an anagrind: Yes. ‘amiss’ is one sense, which justifies ‘up’ as an
anagrind. Also, I think ‘excited’ is another sense, which is fine in this context.
When solving, I thought that there seemed to be an unusually large number of words ending in ‘ant’. But now I see that it’s only four. Is that a lot? Probably not.
Ronald @10, I used to run a DnD campaign that featured a town on the edge of a chasm. It was called Teetering On The Brink.
Good solid Monday morning stuff. Favorite was 8D for the “with-out” business.
Good Monday level, though I missed TEETER. I don’t recall seeing the with-out device before, but no doubt it’s been used in the past.
Rather too many ANTs for my taste, and I almost tottered over TEETER, but all fair enough. My favourite was BARBARIAN.
Redrodney @12 – I think by definition an insect has 6 legs
@Redrodney #12 yes, ants do have feet or tarsi. Six footer is an old setter’s joke.
I haven’t seen Scottish Ian for ages. It might originally been Celtic but I don’t think it’s particularly Scottish now. I know several with no Scottish links.
Thanks for the blog , perfect example of a well-set Monday puzzle with something for everyone and educational for newer solvers .
TEETER a neat use of fission , AFTERNOON a great deceptive definition and flowing wordplay , many more …
The feet of insects can multitask , far more advanced than ours .
Like others I initially had WOOED for 24 and also BASHED for 29 which delayed my solving the SE corner somewhat. I have also only just learnt that ‘smooth’ is both an adjective and a verb and the latter doesn’t need an ‘e’. It still looks strange to me.
Thank you Carpathian for an otherwise straightforward crossword.
[ A good chance to see Mercury this week , need a clear NE horizon and get up at 4am UK time but it is worth it . It is said that Kepler never saw Mercury but I am doubtful , he was the first to predict a transit but died one year too soon . ]
I enjoyed Carpathian’s neat and succinct clues. Deceptively simple but with a twist.
Favourites:
TEETER – for the clever with/out. A very elegant clue.
AFTERNOON (LOI) – for the misdirection as I tried to recall a British Prime Minister beginning with A.
BARBARIAN – a chuckle for the savage Scotsman.
Thanks to Carpathian and PeterO.
Not completely happy with AWAIT as a synonym of ‘anticipate’, but it couldn’t be anything else given the crossers. Otherwise Mondayish and uncontroversial. Thanks to setter and blogger.
Another example of the fact that a puzzle doesn’t have to be difficult to be fun. Only TEETER would be out of place in a Quiptic.
[As a completely unrelated aside, it occurred to me yesterday that Harry Styles must be the only well-known person whose names are both anagrinds. It also occurred to me that this forum is the only place where I could conceivably share this tidbit.]
Pleasant and friendly. Thanks, Carpathian and PeterO.
Carpathian’s name drew a smile. A welcome return after a few months off. Completed in one sitting, but not without challenges. Held up by 1d MISSTEP (MISSION, as DadsLad@15) until near the end. LOI 14d AFTERNOON was a nice misdirection. Other holdouts were 4a RAREBIT, 25d AWAIT, 21d SHRIMP
I agree with PeterO’s preamble. A beautiful set of clues
[Roz, sorry I didn’t take longer to complete this one!] 🙂
[Good one muffin@33]
mrpenney @30
How about:
Harry Styles is the most devious (6)
Thanks both and a fine entertainment. The only problem I had was PLACARD=’bill’ which I suppose is ok in the context of advertising. Ish…..
Mig@32: Prescience bordering on time travel.
Thoroughly enjoyable. This, for me, is a perfect Monday puzzle. Thanks Carpathian and PeterO.
Alphalpha@34 I knew you’d say that
Like SueM #28 I struggled with 14d. Even after I realised that AFTERNOON was the only word that fitted I just couldn’t see how that related to a PM. Deary me. I know it’s Monday but still.
Enjoyable and well-weighted for a Monday, especially such a warm one when I don’t need my brain overheating. AFTERNOON was my one need for full parsing, having thought behind = after. Personal favourites: PLACARD, TURNIP, LACONIC, RECOGNISE, and my LOI, TEETER. All of which had just enough misguidance in the clues to give me smiles.
Thank you C and P.
Nice one for a Monday, felt like a smooth difficulty curve as it progressed.
LACONIC was a new word for me, and struggled with AFTERNOON like some others – good misdirect.
Thanks both 🙂
I was just about to say the same about the misdirection in AFTERNOON. All went in smoothly, but I did miss the parsing of TERSE, so thank you PeterO. Hadn’t realised that was what LACONIC meant. I’d probably been using it like a Mr. Malaprop all my life….
Mig@32 well done finishing quickly and means you have more time to spend on Azed .
I have now worked out why certain coloured squares are for certain people .
Mig@36: Haha
TomK@40: I had the same thought. LACONIC does not mean ‘brief’ to me. (Meant to say…)
Thanks Carpathian. I second PeterO’s statement. Top picks were RAREBIT, BEATEN, BARBARIAN, and ENTRANT.
TomK @40 and Alphalpha @42
LACONIC to me means “not using many words”, which equates to “brief”?
I feel as if I’ve seen many of these clues before. At first I thought a puzzle had been repeated by mistake.
[mrpenney@30: how about the great American actor Rip Torn? “harry” is an underutilized anagrind imo; this got major up-votes on r/crosswords a few months back: Maybe Prince Harry reigns (6)
Roz@41: please tell … ]
Ouch. Too many errors/failures to mention. I’m struggling to grasp where and what the definition is a lot of the time (still)`
For example, in 15a I cannot help but read “Root of Change” What function does OF play?
Incidentally, has the beginners section disappeared?
Alastair @24: I don’t think of Ia(i)n as particularly Celtic, as it’s usually understood to be a form of John / Jan / Juan / Gian / Ivan, ultimately from Hebrew. But it is pretty distinctly—and stereotypically—Scottish, indeed as much as your handle is … In the modern ‘global village’ no forename is exclusive to any particular nation any more; the current public figure who comes first to my mind is the CBC host & news-anchor Ian Hanomansing, who’s a New Brunswicker of Indo-Caribbean extraction.
No problem with LACONIC as “brief”, plain and minimal; it comes from the same place as ‘spartan’ but refers to a manner of speech rather than a lifestyle. I too had “bashed” for 29 until the crossers began to make it look implausible. I thought of MISSTEP fairly early on, but premised on the definition of “fail” (which is used as a noun in modern slang), so couldn’t parse it; by the time the penny dropped it was my LOI.
Thanks Carpathian and PeterO. Enjoyed this. Very Sunday-ish in places. AWAIT was my last in and took ages despite having all crossers in. Just couldn’t see what was going on, then a massive groan when the penny dropped!
mrpenney@30 What a shame Harry Styles is too young to have been a member of New Order.
Carpathian is by far my favourite setter and this puzzle is exactly why. Everything felt fair and tractable (given enough time) for a relatively new solver like myself. I found IRONS, AWAIT and AFTERNOON quite satisfying once they clicked!
[Muffin @33, thank you for your bonus clue, it gave me a nice chuckle]
Steffen@47, re 15a, I think “of” is a link word between definition and wordplay, as in “[Definition] (is made up) of [Wordplay]”, or “Root (is made up) of change I proposed initially”
Re the beginners’ section, there was some discussion on the site feedback page that led to its removal, here:
https://fifteensquared.net/site-feedback/#comment-747663
…starting with comment 39…
Seems it wasn’t really being used…
I loved this one. After a few brutal puzzles in the Guardian, great to have a straightforward one on a Monday. The top left went in very quickly, then it got more challenging for this learner. Loved AFTERNOON in particular. My LOI was TURNIP.
Was surprised by TEETER as I’m not used to the indicator and the letter being within one word (‘without’ meaning ‘without w’). Am I right in thinking this wouldn’t be acceptable in The Times?
Coloradan@46 it is a tad complicated , if you get promoted from the Greens I may be able to give you a simplified explanation , at least you are not in with the Pinks .
It’s all been said now and I generally agree, but AmphiAnna 53, I think that you’re perhaps overcomplicating it. As Roz says this is a fission. That is, “without” is really simply “with out”. That is, an instruction, to take the recognised abbreviation for “with”, i.e. w, out (of TWEETER).
Thanks one and all.
Thank you Mig@52
Thanks Carparthian and PeterO. I’m learning a lot and enjoyed the playful (and not elitist) misdirections in the clues – which of course I took.