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

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

Pretty standard. Some might prefer it to be clued like "University head," or "Urban chief" or something, although "University" is commonly abbreviated U, so "University" is a legitimate stand alone clue for "U."

OK, just looked at that link.

University Head I would have gotten. This from the Wiki for "U English" I have never heard of in my life:

"This was a reflection of the anxieties of the middle class in 1950s Britain

Thanks for the education!

Seriously, being very new to this I am a bit in awe of you folks. How many puzzles do you have to do before "upper-class = U and sign denotes zodiac denotes LEO" becomes your standard thought process?

I've got one more from that Coinpott puzzle:

Actor Eric and Newton are well-known in tropical country. (6,8)

I got Actor Eric, and I got the conclusion, but still don't understand what Newton is doing in there.

Banana Republic

Newton = n, are = a, re. public?

I evidently have a lot to learn about single letter abbreviations!

N/Newton is an SI unit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_%28unit%29

Okay, thanks, I got that, belatedly, but I'm still confused.

BANA + N + ??? + well-known = PUBLIC.

Neil says above are = A?

The International System of Units[1] (abbreviated SI from French: Système international d'unités[2]) is the modern form of the metric system

Haha, I'm American, we told the metric system to bugger off years ago...

in that clue are = are, right?

bana/n/are/public
eric/newton/are/well-known

Thank you, I'm truly appreciating the input. But holy hell, I never realized this re: SI

The system has been nearly globally adopted. Three principal exceptions are Burma (Myanmar), Liberia, and the United States.

& yes, the abbreviations are prob the biggest hurdle for a lot of people starting cryptics - there's a large but finite set of them, and they're very offputting, especially the traditional ones that, I think, would not be guessable (eg city = ec).

It just sounds total voodoo nerdery when you have to explain one of those clues to someone: 'Well, the sailor, that's AB, able-bodied has a pound, that's L in old money, and he's in church, CE, Church of England, yes I know we say C of E, it just is CE. So cable'

Plenty of setters are manageable without having instant recall for all of them; some setters lean on them hard, and I don't usually enjoy their puzzles as much; and yeah it took me a good while (years) of off-and-on solving to get to know the abbrevs (though you can get quickly to recognising where there's probably a stupid abbreviation in a clue).

you can get quickly to recognising where there's probably a stupid abbreviation in a clue

This is it - you might not know the abbreviations but you can get to the point where you go "well, I need one more letter, and it's got to come from one of these three words" and try the first letter of them all.

(Obviously if you have all but one letter then you probably know the answer anyway, but a thought process a bit like the above does occur when you're trying out possible word fragments, especially if you get to know that the setter likes to use these things.)

I've been reading up on US units for force, mass, etc. and I think they're just being awkward. Slug!

>>>sailor, that's AB, able-bodied

Mind = blown.

It just sounds total voodoo nerdery when you have to explain one of those clues to someone:

oh yeah, i get this all the time, but i do have some converts amongst friends at this stage.

with repeated practice at any one setter you'll start to learn their little piquancies

eg crosaire- 'father' can be da, pa, or pp, prob others i can think of, for instance

>>>sailor, that's AB, able-bodied

Mind = blown.

has a pound, that's L in old money