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

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you're probably right:
ana+to+my

but i dunno why skinny girl's imaginary friend = ana

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Ana = shortened "anorexia" (there are "pro-ana" internet communities which are all "thinspiration" pictures of corpses etc).

― Sarah, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:08 (seventeen years ago) link

I am stuck on my stupid 'how to do cryptic crosswords' book by the way. It has suddenly got harder or I have got stupiderder.

― Sarah, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:09 (seventeen years ago) link

ana = from anorexia
mia = bulima

It's a way that girls with EDs refer to their diseases.

― ENBB, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:11 (seventeen years ago) link

so wherefore the "imaginary friend"?

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:24 (seventeen years ago) link

They are personifications of the diseases, I presume.

― ledge, Thursday, 29 March 2007 14:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Anatomy is right! And yeah, anorexics/bulimics are known to refer to their friends "Ana" and "Mia" as codewords/personifications.

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 29 March 2007 16:12 (seventeen years ago) link

And ya see, it's clever because it uses "to my", and the apostrophe and the bebop and the...

</cosby>

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 29 March 2007 16:13 (seventeen years ago) link

haha I was thinking of 'Ana' as a skinny Anna and 'Tom' as imaginary friend because he's everyone's fake pal on myspace :)

― onimo, Thursday, 29 March 2007 16:15 (seventeen years ago) link

(this was in reverse engineering the puzzle of course)

― onimo, Thursday, 29 March 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

anorexics/bulimics

that should read "certain a/bs within certain online communities", obv

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 29 March 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Nordic bird gets the flatbed treatment, as it were (12)

― lurker #2421, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 04:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Scandinavian. Cute!

― Casuistry, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 05:21 (seventeen years ago) link

Memo in re: ammo (8)

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:20 (seventeen years ago) link

bulletin?

army hq costs nothing but heroin addiction ensues (8)

― Will M., Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:26 (seventeen years ago) link

yep :)

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:26 (seventeen years ago) link

freebase?

― ailsa, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Lodging has nothing but slabs of ribs (8)

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:33 (seventeen years ago) link

barracks.

I really REALLY wish I could make these up as well as I could solve them.

― ailsa, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:38 (seventeen years ago) link

French blame in the Italian bath (7)

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Dad picks up the tab for fruit. (6)

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 17:05 (seventeen years ago) link

The second one's "papaya", right? Though I don't see where the third A comes from.

In tennis, endlessly out-of-practice serving gets failing grade upfront, causes vexation (11)

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 12 April 2007 18:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah, it's "papaya." I'm taking luxuries: do all the letters have to be accounted for? I still don't really know the rules here.

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:17 (seventeen years ago) link

The one before "papaya" doesn't really obey the rules, either. :(

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:27 (seventeen years ago) link

Yes, all the letters have to be accounted for. Every word in the clue has to be reflected in the answer, as well.

― Casuistry, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:40 (seventeen years ago) link

Go get that Rathvon/Cox book I linked to. It's worth it! Especially if you find it remaindered like I did.

― Casuistry, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:40 (seventeen years ago) link

This would work:

Dad, pick up the tab for a fruit! (6)

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 12 April 2007 22:51 (seventeen years ago) link

("Dad" = pa, "pick up the tab for" = pay, "a" = a, so everything is accounted for)

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 12 April 2007 22:52 (seventeen years ago) link

In tennis, endlessly out-of-practice serving gets failing grade upfront, causes vexation (11)

I'm a novice. Is this 'frustrating' or something similar? I'm not 100% sure how though, if it is.

― Not the real Village People, Friday, 13 April 2007 08:13 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, Jaymc's other one is "jacuzzi".

― Casuistry, Friday, 13 April 2007 08:29 (seventeen years ago) link

"Frustration" almost works - "F" = failing grade up front, "rust" = endlessly out of practice (rusty), and "ration" = serving. Don't see where the tennis comes from though.

― ledge, Friday, 13 April 2007 09:09 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah I just realised it was probably 'frustration' while I was in the kitchen. Don't get the tennis either.

― Not the real Village People, Friday, 13 April 2007 09:21 (seventeen years ago) link

in tennis = intense ?

― StanM, Friday, 13 April 2007 09:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Stare at own goal mix up to search (6)

― onimo, Friday, 13 April 2007 10:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Sorry, "in tennis" was a bit lame -- I was basically saying "the tennis word for out-of-practice, without its end". Probably should've just left that off; "frustration" is correct.

― lurker #2421, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:15 (seventeen years ago) link

Stare at own goal mix up to search

Google

Am I meant to make one up if I post an answer...?

― Not the real Village People, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, Jaymc's other one is "jacuzzi".

You are correct, sir.

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:23 (seventeen years ago) link

xpost - if you like. Or you could just throw one in at any time. Like so:

Crowd on internet forum criticise company providing travelling terpsichorean entertainment (6,5)

― ledge, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:29 (seventeen years ago) link

Newspaperman is red faced, loud and drunk (5)

― Mark C, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:49 (seventeen years ago) link

Copy chief sleeps around with gentleman caller (9)

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:02 (seventeen years ago) link

Nonsense from an aging idiot (8)

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Question: If you're using words backwards, anagrammed, or embedded within other words, do you need to give some indicator in the clue that that's what you've done? Like with words like "return," or "mix," or "between"?

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

In my experience there's usually an indicator of some sort.

― onimo, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:24 (seventeen years ago) link

yes, you do. Otherwise, how will you know that that's what you're to do?

xpost

― ailsa, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:25 (seventeen years ago) link

OK, let's change my most recent one to...

Nonsense from an idiot who's aging inside (8)

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:28 (seventeen years ago) link

folderol

Except that doesn't work.

― ailsa, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Why not, because the O is shared?

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:34 (seventeen years ago) link

Yep, you have to give some clue to the process, and the clue has to divide very strictly between definition/synonym and wordplay. Here are some simple examples --

Party | hides in Tonga lake (4)
Mixed-up kids | lose control on the ice (4)
Lana reversed | neatnik tendencies? (4)
Stan lost his head | looking like a beach bum? (3)
Belafonte is | hirsute, they say (5)

(xpost)

― lurker #2421, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah. You'd have to have something that discounted one of the "o"s attached to one of the parts of the clue - in this case it could be the "o" at the start of older or one of the "o"s in fool so either part of the clue could be modified.

xpost

― ailsa, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:39 (seventeen years ago) link

Why not, because the O is shared?

Right. You could do something about "starved for oxygen" (minus one O) but that gets very fussy.

― lurker #2421, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:42 (seventeen years ago) link

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