The official bored-at-work cryptic crossword pass it on thread.

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odd steps = the odd letters, s e s.

ledge, Sunday, 4 January 2009 16:32 (fifteen years ago) link

Healthy, sick or broke (6)
Five-0 almost got rapper to talk (5)

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 20:14 (fifteen years ago) link

The second one's voice

ailsa, Monday, 5 January 2009 20:21 (fifteen years ago) link

Yes.

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 20:22 (fifteen years ago) link

What's the first one, ailsa?

Also still have these two
Alsatian artist, for example, greeting American soldier with embrace delineated FACE, for example (8)
-r-e--i-

What candy reveals if floating (4,5)

---- ---e-

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 20:23 (fifteen years ago) link

And this
Smelly and amusing state (5)
(might be easier for someone in the US)

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 20:24 (fifteen years ago) link

arpeggio (figured out '--eggi-' and then cheated)

ledge, Monday, 5 January 2009 20:39 (fifteen years ago) link

Great, thanks for getting that over with.

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 20:52 (fifteen years ago) link

Healthy, sick or broke (6)
-----t

What candy reveals if floating (4,5)
---e ---e-

Smelly and amusing state (5)
---n-

Dies outside icu, sadly (6)
Top monkey times (4)
Mobile man around tree (6)

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 6 January 2009 14:07 (fifteen years ago) link

tell a student 'come as you are' (8)
no idea

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 6 January 2009 16:30 (fifteen years ago) link

informal.

What candy reveals if floating (4,5)
life saver?

ledge, Wednesday, 7 January 2009 14:24 (fifteen years ago) link

Yes.

Who is Al?

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 7 January 2009 14:37 (fifteen years ago) link

A L, a learner. (Common over here, 'L' plates on cars indicate learner driver.)

ledge, Wednesday, 7 January 2009 14:38 (fifteen years ago) link

Healthy, sick or broke (6)
-o---t

Smelly and amusing state (5)
--n-- (Previous hint was messed up)

Dies outside icu, sadly (7) (previous numbering was messed up)
--i----

Top monkey times (4)
--e-

Mobile man around tree (6)
----e-

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 January 2009 15:12 (fifteen years ago) link

Apex. A pedant writes: ape is not monkey!

ledge, Thursday, 8 January 2009 16:28 (fifteen years ago) link

I know, but I wanted to use "Monkey Time(s)"

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 January 2009 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link

Oh, I wondered if the N was in the wrong place. "Funky"

britisher ringpulls (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 8 January 2009 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link

Suicide

ledge, Thursday, 8 January 2009 16:32 (fifteen years ago) link

Yes and yes.

Did I ever ask you this one?

Ape aches inside for beauty (5)

No I don't think so.

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 January 2009 16:33 (fifteen years ago) link

A propos of nothing at all, my work did a Christmas prize crossword, with some winter festival themed clues, and I can see that one of them must be Diwali but I can't figure the clue out at all, which means I don't know whether they want the W spelling or the V spelling (non-intersecting square). Bah!

Anyway, it'd be unsporting to ask you guys, but still, I thought I'd complain here where people might understand my annoyance.

britisher ringpulls (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 8 January 2009 16:36 (fifteen years ago) link

Why don't you post clue?

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 January 2009 17:12 (fifteen years ago) link

Healthy, sick or broke (6)
ro---t

Mobile man around tree (6)
-a--e-

Ape aches inside for beauty (5)
--a--

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 19:37 (fifteen years ago) link

robust!

ledge, Friday, 9 January 2009 19:39 (fifteen years ago) link

Yes!

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 19:49 (fifteen years ago) link

peach

ailsa, Friday, 9 January 2009 20:08 (fifteen years ago) link

Yup.

Mobile man around tree (6)
-a--er

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 20:33 (fifteen years ago) link

Hanger?

Beloved lightbulb (Neil S), Friday, 9 January 2009 20:37 (fifteen years ago) link

Esoteric electronic duo confuse posh teacher (8)

ledge, Friday, 9 January 2009 20:49 (fifteen years ago) link

Nope.

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 21:02 (fifteen years ago) link

-al-er

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 21:17 (fifteen years ago) link

A kiss, hugs, a wave lead to something to get down to (8)

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 12 January 2009 15:26 (fifteen years ago) link

^Greeting?

throwbookatface (skygreenleopard), Monday, 12 January 2009 16:55 (fifteen years ago) link

Nope.

---i----

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 12 January 2009 17:00 (fifteen years ago) link

Business? sine= wave but don't get buss = kiss.

Esoteric electronic duo confuse posh teacher (8)

--t-----

ledge, Monday, 12 January 2009 17:04 (fifteen years ago) link

Yes. "Buss" is old word, used to be slang over here, you guys probably lost it earlier. Here's what OED says

buss /bVs/ n.2 & v.t. & i. Now arch., dial., & N. Amer. colloq.L16. [Prob. alt. of BASS n.3, v.1] (A) kiss.

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 12 January 2009 17:09 (fifteen years ago) link

Still can't get yours, sorry.

Kind of engine school gets an earful (6)

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 12 January 2009 17:15 (fifteen years ago) link

Autechre!

anatol_merklich, Monday, 12 January 2009 21:43 (fifteen years ago) link

yup!

ledge, Monday, 12 January 2009 21:54 (fifteen years ago) link

Damn. For some reason I kept trying to work "Pole" in their. I still don't see how it works.

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 12 January 2009 21:57 (fifteen years ago) link

Mobile man around tree (6)
-alder

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 12 January 2009 21:58 (fifteen years ago) link

anag, teacher + u (posh)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

calder! d'oh, i even thought of his sculptures, but his name didn't spring to mind.

ledge, Monday, 12 January 2009 22:00 (fifteen years ago) link

Kind of engine school gets an earful (6)
--a---

Races around a dictator (6)

Something following a queen and a metal-plated sun-god (5)

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 13 January 2009 14:50 (fifteen years ago) link

Races around a dictator (6)
Ceasar

Francisco Javier Sánchez Brot (onimo), Tuesday, 13 January 2009 15:00 (fifteen years ago) link

yes

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 13 January 2009 15:11 (fifteen years ago) link

Something following a queen and a metal-plated sun-god (5)

Okay, I'm sure this is wrong, but I've been trying to get into cryptic crosswords for a while with limited success. Any tips on why I'm an idiot and going about it all the wrong way would be gratefully received. The only answer that I got for this that seemed vaguely plausible was 'carat'. First off, I started with the thing that seems obvious, that sun-god refers to 'ra'. I wasn't sure about the metal-plated, I thought maybe it should be a single letter, but we can relate 'carat' to gold, and gold to metal-plating, so that's where the final answer came in. The queen could be Catherine, hence 'cat' surrounding 'ra'... but the 'something following' is a mystery to me.

emil.y, Tuesday, 13 January 2009 15:25 (fifteen years ago) link

That's a good try emil.y, but not quite there yet. Don't feel bad about "going about it all the wrong way" - a lot of times the wrong way is the right way. I mean to say that's the kind of thinking that eventually gives you the right answer.

ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 13 January 2009 15:29 (fifteen years ago) link

Train

The key to cryptic clues is that they normally consist of two parts, the definition, and a description of how to build up the word. So because there are only two parts, the definition either has to come first, i.e. at the start of the clue, or second, at the end. In this case it's the start, 'Something following a queen'. Then we get the word-play bit: sun-god is indeed 'ra', which is plated, or covered by, or inside, 'tin'.

ledge, Tuesday, 13 January 2009 17:17 (fifteen years ago) link

Company member is allowed to be involved in illegal activity (9)

ledge, Tuesday, 13 January 2009 17:37 (fifteen years ago) link

Actually I guess it should really be

Company member allowed to be involved in illegal activity (9)

ledge, Tuesday, 13 January 2009 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link

The key to cryptic clues is that they normally consist of two parts, the definition, and a description of how to build up the word. So because there are only two parts, the definition either has to come first, i.e. at the start of the clue, or second, at the end. In this case it's the start, 'Something following a queen'. Then we get the word-play bit: sun-god is indeed 'ra', which is plated, or covered by, or inside, 'tin'.

Ah, yep, that makes much more sense. The reason why I knew my answer must be wrong is that I thought 'metal-plated' was in too strange a position to be the definition part (aside from the fact that it's not a true definition of the word I gave), but completely overlooked the fact that it could be 'something following a queen' rather than 'something following' (which made no sense to me), 'a queen', etc etc...

emil.y, Tuesday, 13 January 2009 17:59 (fifteen years ago) link


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