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

Was a bit unsure whether this one worked TBH:

Market oven guards alternatively (5)

yeah that's fine i think, slightly dodgy syntax at worst

i didn't get a single clue on saturday -_- hate it when that happens.

haven't got that one yet

quite liked

25 What Beatrix of the Netherlands used to do in the shower, according to rumour (5)

groan, but a good groan. that surface is quite funny.

that was my cotd. there were a few other saucy ones, think picaroon needs to take a cold shower.

Haha yeah, it seemed to be a bit of a theme today! "Topless 17 gives you the horn" made me laugh.

keep this filth in the Private Eye crossword where it belongs IMO

araucaria double grid this weekend blew my mind a bit

have actually got a few answers but still no idea which grid i should be putting them in

we got about half done this lunchtime, leaning v heavily on wiki pages for the two composers. grid a composer was the first answer we got, quite a few of the clues not too hard & gettable without specialist knowledge.

the thing which most baffled me was that the named composer went into grid a, the unnamed into grid b, yet NEITHER OF THEM WERE NAMED AT ANY POINT

i assumed grid a for the most "obvious" composer

the named composer was the answer to one of the clues!

i thought that would be it but i couldn't see a single clue which gave you either answer!

10 across, hidden word.

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE EFWJN,FSELNKEAOPWOPJE'L;NFENLKC/KNCMCAS<:CS';CDDDD

how long did i spend going "but wagner doesn't have 5 letters"

also that means my grids are wrong YAY

i remember this thread when people would post clues, not references to clues printed in some other place...

pdf here: http://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1364300029019/Guardian-Easter-prize-cross.pdf

10A: A party member’s first defence from clever dick’s composer (5;5)

(that's a clue for both answers and is probably missing something, the way they do on these themed crosswords)

cryptic crosswords can be pretty depressing huh

got ZERO of today's araucaria and barely understand the definitions even after looking them up

they always remind you that YOU KNOW NOTHING

not you personally obv

ideally they remind you that YOU KNOW SOMETHING as well, but the days when you just draw a complete, total blank are just...ugh

I never attempt Araucaria, too mind boggling, but I just glanced at today's and got one (I think) in seconds!

And another. Most of this looks insane, though.

A little weak this one but best I can do at the moment (v hungover):

Iron lady cut short but illness (5)

*by illness, fucking phone

is femal a word

congrats on hangover btw

thx, it's my bday :-D kinda celebrationed out after yesterday, figure baroness t's death takes precedence over my continuing to be alive tho

Femal is a blend of unique pollen extracts proven to alleviate symptoms associated with PMS and menopause.
Femal is a unique natural remedy that can help manage the symptoms that often accompany hormonal fluctuations from the start of menstruation through till menopause. Femal has been used by women around the world for over 10 years. Now Flora offers the first Femal product in a vegetarian capsule, free of sweeteners, coatings or binders.

not the answer btw but you're thinking along the right lines

i'm just going to go ahead and take that tbh

(not sure but)

Left in poached cake (7)

Pretty good, took me a while

Oh yeah, sudden flash of insight - that kind of poached.

ahhhhhh

vg

A++

A good one from today's Guardian:

Spice Girl on tour topless, one topless in Australia (9)

from sunday's observer

Fight fire in Bergen? (8)

My Spice Girls knowledge not being all that great, I was trying to make "Posh" or "Sporty" work before backing into the answer. That's a fun one. (xpost0

yeah it works well doesn't it!

Ooh, just got the Spice Girl one. Nice!

Got a lol out of the other spice girls clue:

Was there nothing Ginger Spice accomplished that's musical? (10)

haha!

Songster of happiness perished in lake (8)

Certain i've got this answer right but have no idea why. Also:

Rocky part of sail (4)

is the only clue i haven't got today and i've had enough

nevermind the first one, i've just twigged. idiot.

kasabian? pizzaman? wikipedia not helping here.

I think I have the 1st, no idea on the 2nd

the first is fractionally unfair imo, odd use of grammar