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

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Or, the thread where Greg repost clues from The Oxford Times that he has now seen seen the answers too but still doesn't get, wtf?

King leaves to shorten meeting(7) = CONTACT, apparently!?

Either way you can play it(5) = DARTS (okay I have just googled, are they abbreviating 'Stradivarius'? What a bunch of nobbers.)

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 18:03 (eighteen years ago) link

King = regis = R. Take R out of "contract" (as in opposite of expand, i.e. shorten) and you get "CONTACT" which is a meeting.

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 18:29 (eighteen years ago) link

(the R thing might not be Regis, but it's the R that you see on postboxes with a monarch's initials on it, whatever the male equivalent of Regina is anyway)

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 18:32 (eighteen years ago) link

Rex, isn't it?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 18:45 (eighteen years ago) link

That's the chap! Or is it, I don't know. It's what's on the postboxes anyway. (sorry, I'm useless)

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 18:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh right! That's quite clever, actually. Nice one ailsa.

How do people feel about that 'to' there? Is that kind of fluff a necessary evil for readable clues?

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 19:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Maybe it's to drop a hint that it's a verb you're looking for (specifying that the "contract" is the verb meaning to shorten, and not the noun version of the same word)? Or maybe I am just waffling, as without knowing the answer, you wouldn't actually have that distinction to make. (I don't think that makes as much sense written down as it does in my head)

To be fair, I don't think I'd have got that from the clue, but it made sense and was relatively easy to work back when I have the answer in front of me.

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 19:47 (eighteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

Bonanza note about opened pack (7)

Art deco rules! (4)

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 14:58 (seventeen years ago) link

This one is even worse:

Young girls spill guinness and rotate a point (8)

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 15:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Code.

I'm not sure about the others though.

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 15:09 (seventeen years ago) link

Yup. and ledge was right upthread.

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 15:11 (seventeen years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Crocodile mad at gorilla (9)

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 26 May 2006 15:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Young girls spill guinness and rotate a point (8)

Ingenues

(I didn't see this thread when it was revived)

Crocodile mad at gorilla (9)

Alligator

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 26 May 2006 15:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Crocodiles and alligators are completely different animals!

― theantmustdance (theantmustdance), Friday, 26 May 2006 16:04 (seventeen years ago) link

Yes, how did she ever work it out?

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Friday, 26 May 2006 16:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Maybe they never worked it out, maybe she'll stay mad forever!

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 26 May 2006 16:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Thanks for solving the guiness one, ailsa!

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 26 May 2006 16:27 (seventeen years ago) link

Bonanza note about opened pack (7)
-a----t

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 26 May 2006 16:27 (seventeen years ago) link

islanders who end in rebellion...?

― autovac (autovac), Friday, 26 May 2006 16:37 (seventeen years ago) link

(8)

― autovac (autovac), Friday, 26 May 2006 16:38 (seventeen years ago) link

More pedantic version of disputed clue:
Crocodilian mad at gorilla (9)

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Friday, 26 May 2006 17:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Bonanza note about opened pack (7)
-ac---t

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Saturday, 27 May 2006 00:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Bonanza note about opened pack (7)

Jackpot

― theantmustdance (theantmustdance), Saturday, 27 May 2006 07:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Bingo!

― Sons Of The Redd Desert (Ken L), Saturday, 27 May 2006 11:20 (seventeen years ago) link

one month passes...

I don't know if this really works but

Blade Runner? (4)

Still don't know who the islanders are.

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Saturday, 22 July 2006 20:42 (seventeen years ago) link

Here's a related clue:

Sounds like a Scandinavian blade? (4)

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Saturday, 22 July 2006 20:48 (seventeen years ago) link

(I'm hoping OleM will straighten this out)

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Saturday, 22 July 2006 20:50 (seventeen years ago) link

islanders who end in rebellion...?

Cypriots? Can't see where the CYP would come from, though...

― lurker #2421, inc. (lurker-2421), Saturday, 22 July 2006 20:52 (seventeen years ago) link

two weeks pass...

I change that old clue to

Leaf Runner? (4)

and add

Place for poor people to sleep relocates from Florida to Switzerland, where one can eat steak (9) (Or 4-5)

White in Nubian company (6)

Chant "Moorehead," bug sun-god (6)

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 16:45 (seventeen years ago) link

White in Nubian company (6)

Bianco

I'll get back to you on the rest of them :-)

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 10 August 2006 17:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Flophouse?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Place for poor people to sleep relocates from Florida to Switzerland, where one can eat steak (9) (Or 4-5)

Flophouse, innit?

dammit x-post!

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Chant "Moorehead," bug sun-god (6)

Mantra

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:04 (seventeen years ago) link

Seduce a group of finches (5)

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:09 (seventeen years ago) link

(pls to explain flophouse)

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:19 (seventeen years ago) link

flophouse is not quite right, actually.

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:23 (seventeen years ago) link

swophouse?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Closer

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:25 (seventeen years ago) link

SLophouse!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:27 (seventeen years ago) link

I cheated on Matt's.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:33 (seventeen years ago) link

Seduce a group of finches (5)

Charm.

Useless pub quiz trivia comes in useful at last!

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:34 (seventeen years ago) link

I cheated too.

You're not there yet, Huk.

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:41 (seventeen years ago) link

beef slops?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:51 (seventeen years ago) link

How does Switzerland = CH?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Now you've driven the car off the Alpine road.
(xpost!)

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:53 (seventeen years ago) link

I'll let a European explain.

― Ruud Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:54 (seventeen years ago) link

Chalets?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 10 August 2006 18:55 (seventeen years ago) link

How does Switzerland = CH?

Switzerland = Confoederatio Helvetica. See also internet addresses, nationality stickers for cars etc.

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Thursday, 10 August 2006 19:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Switzerland = Confederation Helvetica in Latin, except it's not spelt like that, but that's the general gist of it. It's named in Latin because it's got a zillion official languages and they didn't want to offend any of them by giving them the rights to the name.

(xpost)

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 10 August 2006 19:00 (seventeen years ago) link

(like you could offend the Swiss, being how they're the most neutral country in the world and everything)

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 10 August 2006 19:01 (seventeen years ago) link

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