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

Nodding Colonel, we hear, leads soldier (6)

From 3 years back, unsolved apparently.

and by way of a remix:

Silent soldier heard freak (6)

not a clue

eh, that's not actually a criticism of the clue, which realise it looks like

first one begins with a n, second one begins with a m

2nd one: mutant

correct

yay!

sure the other one is something to do with nut but i just can't get it.

finished (well more or less) the next two of those nation crosswords. they're getting harder, but not much better. some good clues, some bad, pretty average over all. *spoiler* '44' as a definition for 'barack obama' is a real teeth-grinder.

u are on the right track and the other clue shd help and a dictionary also

nutant (hurray for dictionaries!)

:) CORRECT love that word

kinda horrible but fed up staring at it. also easy i daresay.

For jellyfish stew: puree with gusto and serve with turnover slice raw on a muffin (10, 3-1-3)

Portuguese man'o'war.

Haven't looked at the cryptic bit yet, but feeling pretty solid on jellyfish... (10, 3-1-3)

clue starts well, but 'turnover slice raw on a muffin' is fugly, in sense and for wordplay.

Wait did you write that? Sorry if I was rude I thought it was from a newspaper.

struggles over the line imo

nah i wrote it and yeah it's fugly :( what would you suggest?

jellyfish- 10, 3'1 3

doesnt lend itself to cryptic tbh, as it's so recognisable

but if the clue were a thing of beauty...

Things aren't simple beyond the grave, I see. (7)

ok so yes it looks a lot better when I actually have to come up with something

For jellyfish stew: puree with gusto and serve to an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York formed in 1980, noted for such albums as Into Glory Ride (10, 3-1-3)

print it!

No wait something to do with the cooking instructions and 'warm on a' to supply the rest of the anagram letters.

i'm still keen on 'raw on a muffin' tbh, that's where i started from.

i'd start with

'o'

Could have a lot of fun with that

Oh, I like the puree + gusto anag. 'raw on a m' -> manowar is nice, it's just that turnover slice that feels awkward.... umm 'add muffin top, serve raw on a turnover'?

not getting muffin ref tbh

muffin
marmalade
macaroni
minestrone
milk
meringue
mustard
marzipan
mayonnaise
m&ms
milky way
mousse
mints
meat
marshmallows
maple
marinade
molasses
margarine

dash of Martini. dash of mead. dash of metheglin.

i dunno what that's the ingredient list for but would i fuck be eating it

but it's got jellyfish

there's not always room for jellyfish

From The Nation again. I'm gonna spoil it and just post the answer too, 'cause I'm new and still trying to figure out if some of the cluing is typical or just wtf:

What shows up repeatedly in this puzzle: frequently, that guy with long, low, backwards underwear. (5,2,3,4)

It was a fruit themed puzzle, so once I got that (5) was Fruit, the rest led me to "Of The Loom."

Okay, so:

frequently = oft
that guy = he
low backwards = oom (groan!)
underwear = fruit of the loom

But what the hell is he doing with "long?" Is there a standard abbreviation that leads me to just include an L? I have no idea...

yeah I think he's using "l" as an abbreviation for long. I've seen it done, but I find it a bit cheap when setters overdo the one letter abbreviations

i think so, tho you'd nearly want to have solved it first before working it out.

Ps a lot of cryptic clues are like this

I suppose you could cite e.g. LP. He (or she) had my fave clue in all the five, fwiw:

Swinger's unsightly nude lump (8)

pendulum

actually that was in the next one.

yeah not hard but it raised a grin.

xxxxp

a lot of bad cryptic clues are like this. imo an abbreviation is only legit if it's a common usage eg SI units

Took l-for-long as being trouser-sizing-derived. But yeah, NV otm, too many single letter abbrevs cheap - make for unsatisfying, fiddly clues (see also things like the Doctor collection – dr, md, dd, gp, mo, mb etc etc)

Good, so we're basically in agreement that L for long is a cheap shot? I just kinda think if I manage to solve the line and STILL don't know what the setter was thinking, it's pretty vague. That Cosima Coinpott puzzle had a few groaners; overall I didn't care for it.

Here's another one I didn't quite understand:

Exclude upper-class sign in groove. (4,3)

RULE OUT = R((U+LEO)UT

I'm dense, I'm still not understanding U+LEO.

U=upper-class, LEO=astrological sign of the lion

Again the single-letter thing. U = upper-class? Is this a British-ism, a cryptic-ism, or...?

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