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

nynzbqr
jnvg
irel
qrabhaprq (this is the now-obligatory one I get as soon as I type it)
pngnenpg
zhfgnat

#1 is double definition

As is #2

pretty archaic first def tho.

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

don't get #3, #5 is nice - double def basically.

xps

Yeah it's listener/azed level arcane vocab - last definition in Chambers.

indeed = in 'deed'

i get the last one alright, i would not have seen the last three letters standalone before though?

Is the idea that pngnenpg's are caused by drops of water?

nah, cataract = waterfall

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

must -ang?

many xps

Chambers (again) has that spelling for the kind of silk.

xp, ang = nag anag? (lol.) 'worry constantly' = nag, 'about' = anag.

christ #3 is more ridic vocab double def, irel = signalling or illuminating flare

So 1 and 2 are obscure vocabulary for 'silk' and 'watchman' respectively?

But what is 'hang fire' doing?

hadn't seen 'about' used to signify anagram before- it's always 're' in crosaire. fair enough

xp
hmmm. Indirect anagrams usually considered unfair.

But it does seem to be the best explanation.

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.

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.

Hang on - nag isn't a wild horse, so 'wild' must be the signifier? So what's 'about'?

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?

mustang is a wild horse, nag is ang 'about', must is the 'obliged'

OH RIGHT

xps

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.

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.

All done? Alright, one more batch then.

(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

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"

...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

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.

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

Thank you ledge, got it now, I can go home happy. Or I wish I could. 40 minutes...

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)

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)

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

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!

freestyling while these are no doubt solved in the meantime

I'm thinking something about beards in first one maybe
Third one something about depreciation of a council house i guess
Fourth one funeral or some other cost of dying
something like starter's pistol

i'm just free, free styling

was thinking something about eden or similar for the first one? and/or maybe 'cover up' is the def.

This got real.
Stable's a stretch, maybe, for the last one.

So uh I'm a moron - Bang-on-time style of journalists is (9), not (11)

sorry for being rubbish

GRAHGHGHAGHA