dropping 6 at a time turns this thread into some kind of piranha word puzzle frenzy, i love it.
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 14:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Ok new lot coming!
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 14:42 (thirteen years ago) link
Fashionable dress-silk (7)Old watchman to hang fire (4)Exceptionally bright light at the front (4)Indeed name a hundred, already named! (9)A drop of water that mars one's view (8)Obliged to worry constantly about a wild horse (7)
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 14:48 (thirteen years ago) link
nynzbqrjnvgirelqrabhaprq (this is the now-obligatory one I get as soon as I type it)pngnenpgzhfgnat
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 14:50 (thirteen years ago) link
#1 is double definition
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 14:52 (thirteen years ago) link
As is #2
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 14:53 (thirteen years ago) link
pretty archaic first def tho.
― ledge, Friday, 30 July 2010 14:54 (thirteen years ago) link
i know, it says "old"
these ones i'll admit to struggling with- i've tried looking up types of silk but only getting a similar spelling to the answer for the first one.
rest of em? baffled
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 14:54 (thirteen years ago) link
don't get #3, #5 is nice - double def basically.
xps
Yeah it's listener/azed level arcane vocab - last definition in Chambers.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 14:55 (thirteen years ago) link
indeed = in 'deed'
― ledge, Friday, 30 July 2010 14:55 (thirteen years ago) link
i get the last one alright, i would not have seen the last three letters standalone before though?
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 14:56 (thirteen years ago) link
Is the idea that pngnenpg's are caused by drops of water?
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 14:58 (thirteen years ago) link
nah, cataract = waterfall
― ledge, Friday, 30 July 2010 14:59 (thirteen years ago) link
i would not have seen the last three letters standalone before though?
not sure what you mean here?
drop of water is just a double def - word comes from the Greek and then the Latin for water flowing downwards, think it meant "waterfall" in English too before it became a somewhat less pleasant thing
xp again dammit
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:00 (thirteen years ago) link
must -ang?
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:00 (thirteen years ago) link
many xps
Chambers (again) has that spelling for the kind of silk.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:00 (thirteen years ago) link
xp, ang = nag anag? (lol.) 'worry constantly' = nag, 'about' = anag.
― ledge, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:01 (thirteen years ago) link
christ #3 is more ridic vocab double def, irel = signalling or illuminating flare
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:03 (thirteen years ago) link
So 1 and 2 are obscure vocabulary for 'silk' and 'watchman' respectively?
But what is 'hang fire' doing?
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:03 (thirteen years ago) link
hadn't seen 'about' used to signify anagram before- it's always 're' in crosaire. fair enough
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:04 (thirteen years ago) link
xp hmmm. Indirect anagrams usually considered unfair.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:04 (thirteen years ago) link
But it does seem to be the best explanation.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:05 (thirteen years ago) link
true, but the rest of it was easy enough so.
about as anag indicator is pretty standard, (move the letters) about.
hang fire = wait!
pretty sure i wouldn't have got 1 2 or 3 meself.
― ledge, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:06 (thirteen years ago) link
3 is kind of a crummy clue in that case - it's either completely impossible or literally the first thing you'll try if you've memorised chambers somehow.
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Hang on - nag isn't a wild horse, so 'wild' must be the signifier? So what's 'about'?
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:08 (thirteen years ago) link
nag anag
Happy with "about" for anag, but surely the "wild horse" is being the whole-word definition?
I got the -stang as being "angst" about but then was stuck on "mu", and while it's used for various sciencey things I don't think any of them are "constant"s
am I barking up the wrong tree?
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:08 (thirteen years ago) link
mustang is a wild horse, nag is ang 'about', must is the 'obliged'
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:08 (thirteen years ago) link
OH RIGHT
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:10 (thirteen years ago) link
Could maybe get 1, might need checked letters. The other two, not if it was a regular xword. Don't expect lunatic dictionary digging tests outside barred grids.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:10 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh, I somehow dropped the "obliged" in my mental wranglings. Still don't really get it. Maybe knowing where all the bits come from is missing the point. It certainly would be with today's Telegraph crossword, dunno the 80s.
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:11 (thirteen years ago) link
All done? Alright, one more batch then.
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:12 (thirteen years ago) link
(Is the modern Telegraph considered terribly debased?)
Wait, must + nag(anag) doesn't cover the "worry constantly", unless that's an anagram signifier, but we already have 2 potential anagram signifiers.
If I'm being very thick let me know and I'll shut up
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:12 (thirteen years ago) link
I dunno, my grandparents stopped buying it because a) the crossword had gone downhill and b) even they'd noticed it was a bit righty, so I thought so, and the few occasions I did the modern Telegraph crossword I could happily go through the whole thing thinking "this answer doesn't account for half the words in the clue, but it's a synonym of either the first or last word and it fits the letters I've got"
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:14 (thirteen years ago) link
...unlike this old Telegraph clue, where I can't get any of them, and when you give us the answers I'm still wondering where half the words went
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:15 (thirteen years ago) link
obliged = must, worry constantly = nag, about = anagram (of nag), wild horse = definition.
telegraph was hella easy last few times i tried, also overabundance of one type of clue (e.g. anags one day, hidden words the next) - but didn't think the clues were bad or wrong.
― ledge, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:15 (thirteen years ago) link
I've forgotten how to write English and have to resort to posting 4 incoherent blasts in a row, it must be a Friday afternoon. No wonder I can't do crossword clues
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:16 (thirteen years ago) link
Thank you ledge, got it now, I can go home happy. Or I wish I could. 40 minutes...
― rah rah rah wd smash the oiks (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:17 (thirteen years ago) link
Think telegraph is usually easiest of the traditional broadsheet xwords (imo difficulty is more or less: Hard Guardians > Indie = Times > Easy Guardians >> Telegraph. Dunno abt FT or Standard)
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:20 (thirteen years ago) link
Where rosiest apples are displayed in peach cover-up? (4-5)Foresight exhibited by the wearer of a necklace (4)House value not appreciated by the council, possibly (10)Something to which one is lately indebted (7)Bang-on-time style of journalists (11)Some racehorses of fibre (6)
― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:23 (thirteen years ago) link
and the few occasions I did the modern Telegraph crossword I could happily go through the whole thing thinking "this answer doesn't account for half the words in the clue, but it's a synonym of either the first or last word and it fits the letters I've got"
WELL DUUUUH
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Wife is sick so I'm gonna head out & get stuff for her, answers when I come back, mad props to anyone who solves & explains in the meantime...
now we're talking!
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:25 (thirteen years ago) link
freestyling while these are no doubt solved in the meantime
I'm thinking something about beards in first one maybeThird one something about depreciation of a council house i guessFourth one funeral or some other cost of dyingsomething like starter's pistol
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:33 (thirteen years ago) link
i'm just free, free styling
― "It's far from 'lol' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:34 (thirteen years ago) link
was thinking something about eden or similar for the first one? and/or maybe 'cover up' is the def.
― ledge, Friday, 30 July 2010 15:35 (thirteen years ago) link
This got real. Stable's a stretch, maybe, for the last one.
― tetrahedron of space (woof), Friday, 30 July 2010 15:44 (thirteen years ago) link