Post a cryptic crossword clue

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Napoleon thinks he is able. (8)

― logodaedalus, Thursday, 22 April 2004 09:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Prime gatherer taking characters at random? (3,4,6)

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 22 April 2004 09:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Are we supposed to be solving these? Or just wondering at them?

― winterland, Thursday, 22 April 2004 10:06 (twenty-two years ago)

My one is not too difficult.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 22 April 2004 10:13 (twenty-two years ago)

No, it's great...but half the fun is not having the answer in front of you...so I wasn't gonna post the solution...first one's bugging me now tho'.

― winterland, Thursday, 22 April 2004 10:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Wolf (3)

― logodaedalus, Thursday, 22 April 2004 10:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Love will tear us apart, causing grief (3)

― Tom Ledger (ledge), Thursday, 22 April 2004 10:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Alphabet-starter (1)

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Thursday, 22 April 2004 11:36 (twenty-two years ago)

"Skizziks" backwards (7)

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 22 April 2004 12:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Reading lights may help its elucidation (9)

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 22 April 2004 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

HIJKLMNO (5)

― winterland, Thursday, 22 April 2004 13:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I just got the Napoleon one. Very clever Logodaedalus, if you're still there.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Thursday, 22 April 2004 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

This clue bugged me all day, and when I got it I couldn't believe how thick I'd been.

There's a name here (7)

― winterland, Thursday, 22 April 2004 13:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Winterland ... is it Water?

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 22 April 2004 13:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Nope

― Ricardo (RickyT), Thursday, 22 April 2004 13:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Yep, it was from a Times article where setters picked their favourite clues, wish I still had it. It included the oldie but goodie;

Gegs. (9,4)

― winterland, Thursday, 22 April 2004 13:30 (twenty-two years ago)

ahahaha! now I've finally solved one I can get back to work.

― isadora (isadora), Thursday, 22 April 2004 19:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Full _____ (Stamos & Olson Twins vehicle) (5)

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 22 April 2004 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

___hat (3)

― martin m. (mushrush), Thursday, 22 April 2004 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't get Jonathan's first one. How many letters??

― SLeeeter Kinney (Leee), Thursday, 22 April 2004 20:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Those are regular crossword clues ya punks. Cryptic crossword clues are different.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 22 April 2004 20:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Is the answer to the first clue 'tittwank'?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 22 April 2004 20:33 (twenty-two years ago)

The start of brains, or the world's brains? (5)

(Get that one, ya bastards!)

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Thursday, 22 April 2004 20:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Gegs (9,4) = Henry the newsreader.

Bam.

― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 23 April 2004 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Ironmonger (6)

― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 23 April 2004 00:11 (twenty-two years ago)

winterland's one is "theresa" obv.

I shouldnt post the ans here I know but I NEVER NORMALLY GET cryptic xwords so Im chuffed I did this time (heh if I did that is)

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 23 April 2004 01:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Believes in reincarnation, wishes the pope had a bigger dick (9,3,2,3)

― robin (robin), Friday, 23 April 2004 01:34 (twenty-two years ago)

"the" "dean"

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 23 April 2004 01:51 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

Napoleon thinks he is able. (8) = Corsican

― winnie the shit, Wednesday, 12 May 2004 10:40 (twenty-two years ago)

some play literati with me (5)

― Skottie, Wednesday, 12 May 2004 13:06 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

How do I read a clue like this: "Prime gatherer taking characters at random? (3,4,6)"? What're the numbers in the parens mean?

― Picard Maneuver (Leee), Wednesday, 30 June 2004 22:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Prime gatherer taking characters at random?

I got it! I got it! Am I supposed to post the answer here, or just sit here and feel clever?

(Leeeee, the numbers are the number of letters in the answer, so that's a three letter word, a four letter word and a six letter word)

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 30 June 2004 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

ok, last two i need to complete this week's observer crossword:

13a River, one featured in superstitions (5)

L _ I _ E

9d A mostly gloomy (according to some Americans) Indian city (4)

_ G _ A

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 08:26 (twenty-one years ago)

13a is Loire....

― reclusive hero (reclusive hero), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 08:37 (twenty-one years ago)

...and 9d is Agra...

― reclusive hero (reclusive hero), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 08:38 (twenty-one years ago)

ta. prize is New Penguin English Dictionary and if i win i'll send you, er, 2/28ths. would you prefer A-B or Y-Z? 8)

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 09:02 (twenty-one years ago)

nine months pass...

I'm just getting into these! So so fun.

The hardest I've ever got is "Intros I never expected in friend's performance" (7), which I am still dead chuffed about.

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 1 May 2005 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Did you have a letter?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 1 May 2005 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I'm being unfair. Starts with 'M'...

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

(I got 'Even my hired lady must submit' {5} today from scratch though! So gorgeous. I am going to fail my degree)

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

i am so terrible at these (though i did get the theresa one upthread before i saw the answer)

― joseph (joseph), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

GP's is "matinee".

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)

dahhhh i get it now.

― joseph (joseph), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

And the 2nd one is "yield".

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

gdlmfdgl i only get these when someone tells me the answer! :(

― joseph (joseph), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

(that isn't entirely true, actually)

(and now i really want to do a proper crossword thanks to this thread)

― joseph (joseph), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Nice, Chris.

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

OMG the Gegs one!!!

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 1 May 2005 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Best clue ever.

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 1 May 2005 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

This Finnish lake is a wily, unfinished, chocolate break (8)

― JTS, Sunday, 1 May 2005 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Splain me the Gegs one.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh! Never mind, just got it!

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:14 (twenty-one years ago)

fucking, backwards....

― Aaron Zanders (AaronHz), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Both "HIJKLMNO" and "Gegs" are brilliant but they're not proper cryptic crossword clues, at least according to the American traditions.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:49 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

spotted these whilst recycling. and i have no idea.

kcul? (8,2,7)
ylper? (6,4)
ytud? (3,7)
eert? (6,2)
tew? (6,4)

(Guardian #24,271, Dec 29, 2007)

― koogs, Thursday, 21 February 2008 10:29 (eighteen years ago)

oh, they are all words backwards. - luck, reply, duty, tree, wet

― koogs, Thursday, 21 February 2008 10:44 (eighteen years ago)

I might be barking up the wrong tree here but I'm guessing something like "reversal of fortune", "answer back", and... some other stuff I can't think of now. "Splash back"? (seeing as it's not the Mail crossword I'll try to resist "comedy" "Mexican" gag, political correctness gone mad)

Or were these meant to be blatantly obvious and I have ruined it by storming in here and not even knowing half of them?

― a passing spacecadet, Thursday, 21 February 2008 11:43 (eighteen years ago)

think you're right . ytud = tax credits?

― Thomas, Thursday, 21 February 2008 11:47 (eighteen years ago)

Ah, good point. "tax returns", I reckon. Smirk etc.

― a passing spacecadet, Thursday, 21 February 2008 11:49 (eighteen years ago)

spruce up?

― ledge, Thursday, 21 February 2008 11:51 (eighteen years ago)

i think you are all right. the tree one does start with an s, yes. (is also a Down clue, which makes sense)

'tew?' remains, i think ('splash back' re-uses 'back' and i don't think they would. it's a Down clue if that helps)

_ _ S _ _ _ / _ _ _ _

― koogs, Thursday, 21 February 2008 13:01 (eighteen years ago)

it's a Down clue if that helps

Yes it does, because then it can be "rising damp". Ahh.

Shame we've run out; that was much better than doing some work.

― a passing spacecadet, Thursday, 21 February 2008 13:14 (eighteen years ago)

ok here's another:

tlusni? (6,6)

― ledge, Thursday, 21 February 2008 13:24 (eighteen years ago)

Think Hendrix...

― ledge, Thursday, 21 February 2008 15:05 (eighteen years ago)

I didn't want to monopolise them all! Nice one, though.

― a passing spacecadet, Thursday, 21 February 2008 15:10 (eighteen years ago)

three months pass...

http://fifteensquared.net/

― The stickman from the hilarious "xkcd" comics, Wednesday, 11 June 2008 16:30 (eighteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

today's grauniad puzzle a real pisser. why the other setter's names bedded into clues? hate that feeling when you know you ain't going to get a single clue.

― whatever, Saturday, 6 June 2009 19:42 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

Alright, I'm American, fairly new to cryptics, and just finished my very first puzzle (yay, me!) But I totally don't understand one of the clues/answers, I just assume it's correct because everything else fits. (fwiw, it's in the 3/28 issue of The Nation.)

The clue is: Carry away broken slide top, finally (6)

With cross-fills yields: _I_P_L

So I guess it's DISPEL, although "carry away" doesn't exactly fit with the dictionary definitions: chase away or drive away would be better? Maybe that's just bad cluing? But what the hell am I doing with "broken slide top?" Broken leads me to anagram SLIDE, which has most letters I need for DISPEL, but what's up with "top, finally?"

― Partyin', partyin', fun fun fun fun (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 18:53 (fifteen years ago)

Ohhhhh, am I supposed to figure out that the final letter of "top" is "p" and add that to the anagram? Really?!

And is this clue typical or really lame?

― Partyin', partyin', fun fun fun fun (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:52 (fifteen years ago)

it is lame imo, but come join us on the other cryptic thread for examples of what we like

― the salmon of procrastination (darraghmac), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 20:01 (fifteen years ago)

Also that kind of thing is allowed in UK puzzle but not in a US cryptic- the cluing in the The Nation puzzle is notoriously loosey-goosey and it's not clear whether they follow any rules, US or UK.

Not clear where you should start as a beginner these days. You could get one of those Mensa cryptic books by Cox & Rathvon, which contain puzzles which were originally published in a Canadian newspaper that aren't too hard. Or maybe the Fraser Simpson book, but I haven't really looked at it. Or you could do the puzzle in the Telegraph, which is easier I think, than most British puzzles.

Cox & Rathvon also do a Variety Cryptic now in The Wall Street Journal, used to be in The Atlantic forever, but you probably aren't ready for that. Or Richard Maltby, Jr. in Harpers. But when you feel up to it you should check those out.

But yeah, this thread is dead, the other thread is where it all happens. The other thread being The official bored-at-work cryptic crossword pass it on thread.

― Phred "Psonic" Psmith (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 20:16 (fifteen years ago)

This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T0ea9ofLA8
from this blog http://www.crosswordmanblog.com/
has an explanation of the main differences between US and UK rules from a British constructor who now lives in the US.

― Phred "Psonic" Psmith (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 20:25 (fifteen years ago)

I have never gotten cryptic crosswords, even the ilx ones from 2009, although I want to get them.

― bamcquern, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 20:32 (fifteen years ago)

The Harper's cryptic crossword looks like Japanese to me.

― bamcquern, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 20:33 (fifteen years ago)

Ha, it kind of is! I've been futzing with the Nation ones for about six months, checking the solutions for the many answers I didn't get (or understand) and then going, "What the... how did they get to... OHHHHH!"

― Partyin', partyin', fun fun fun fun (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 20:50 (fifteen years ago)

And is this clue typical or really lame?

Both, kinda - it's pretty lame, but it's not unusual for even good crosswords to have at least one pretty lame clue to fill space

(the cluing is clumsy but not too out of the ordinary from my UK-ish perspective, but the definition mismatch is annoying)

― dimension hatris (a passing spacecadet), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 21:08 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

have been doing the first 15 or so everyman's from the guardian website. some favourite clues:

Promiscuous woman exposed by Sunday Herald? (8)

Form of entertainment illustrated in woven tapestries (10)

― koogs, Friday, 22 June 2012 10:27 (thirteen years ago)

nine months pass...

Promiscuous woman exposed by Sunday Herald? (8)

Strumpet (S for Sunday, herald = trumpet?)

(I think? I'm usually terrible at these and I'm surprised that even came to me).

― i've a cozy little flat in what is known as old man hat (Hurting 2), Monday, 1 April 2013 21:24 (thirteen years ago)

and why did I even search this thread again? Oh yeah, because I made one up --

Male name beginning in summer and ending in autumn (5)

― i've a cozy little flat in what is known as old man hat (Hurting 2), Monday, 1 April 2013 21:26 (thirteen years ago)

I got it! Am I allowed to answer? Nobody else seems to be answering

― paolo, Tuesday, 2 April 2013 12:18 (thirteen years ago)

go ahead

― --808 542137 (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 2 April 2013 19:30 (thirteen years ago)

I think Hurting's clue is vg!

― Gravel Puzzleworth, Tuesday, 2 April 2013 20:19 (thirteen years ago)

Jason

July August September October November

― paolo, Wednesday, 3 April 2013 07:28 (thirteen years ago)

Wow, I didn't get it, but that's a great clue.

― NWOFHM! Overlord (krakow), Wednesday, 3 April 2013 07:31 (thirteen years ago)

five months pass...

here's a variant of one i saw in a puzzle by patrick berry

Simpsons actor in Mad Monk's hat (3,5)

― idembanana (abanana), Tuesday, 10 September 2013 20:12 (twelve years ago)

Use foil to surround something - in case it's too hot, one can handle it! (5)

Aren't there actually 3 definitions at work here? I don't think I've ever seen that before. (Could 'to surround something' just be eliminated?)

― Same old bland-as-sand mood mouthings (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 11 September 2013 15:23 (twelve years ago)

four years pass...

Wound, sounds like rapt attention (4)

― Gary Synaesthesia (darraghmac), Sunday, 12 November 2017 22:13 (eight years ago)

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