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

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (5780 of them)

View Previous Page...

barracks.

I really REALLY wish I could make these up as well as I could solve them.

― ailsa, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

French blame in the Italian bath (7)

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

Dad picks up the tab for fruit. (6)

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 17:05 (nineteen years ago)

The second one's "papaya", right? Though I don't see where the third A comes from.

In tennis, endlessly out-of-practice serving gets failing grade upfront, causes vexation (11)

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 12 April 2007 18:24 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, it's "papaya." I'm taking luxuries: do all the letters have to be accounted for? I still don't really know the rules here.

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:17 (nineteen years ago)

The one before "papaya" doesn't really obey the rules, either. :(

― jaymc, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, all the letters have to be accounted for. Every word in the clue has to be reflected in the answer, as well.

― Casuistry, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:40 (nineteen years ago)

Go get that Rathvon/Cox book I linked to. It's worth it! Especially if you find it remaindered like I did.

― Casuistry, Thursday, 12 April 2007 21:40 (nineteen years ago)

This would work:

Dad, pick up the tab for a fruit! (6)

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 12 April 2007 22:51 (nineteen years ago)

("Dad" = pa, "pick up the tab for" = pay, "a" = a, so everything is accounted for)

― lurker #2421, Thursday, 12 April 2007 22:52 (nineteen years ago)

In tennis, endlessly out-of-practice serving gets failing grade upfront, causes vexation (11)

I'm a novice. Is this 'frustrating' or something similar? I'm not 100% sure how though, if it is.

― Not the real Village People, Friday, 13 April 2007 08:13 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, Jaymc's other one is "jacuzzi".

― Casuistry, Friday, 13 April 2007 08:29 (nineteen years ago)

"Frustration" almost works - "F" = failing grade up front, "rust" = endlessly out of practice (rusty), and "ration" = serving. Don't see where the tennis comes from though.

― ledge, Friday, 13 April 2007 09:09 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah I just realised it was probably 'frustration' while I was in the kitchen. Don't get the tennis either.

― Not the real Village People, Friday, 13 April 2007 09:21 (nineteen years ago)

in tennis = intense ?

― StanM, Friday, 13 April 2007 09:24 (nineteen years ago)

Stare at own goal mix up to search (6)

― onimo, Friday, 13 April 2007 10:38 (nineteen years ago)

Sorry, "in tennis" was a bit lame -- I was basically saying "the tennis word for out-of-practice, without its end". Probably should've just left that off; "frustration" is correct.

― lurker #2421, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:15 (nineteen years ago)

Stare at own goal mix up to search

Google

Am I meant to make one up if I post an answer...?

― Not the real Village People, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, Jaymc's other one is "jacuzzi".

You are correct, sir.

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

xpost - if you like. Or you could just throw one in at any time. Like so:

Crowd on internet forum criticise company providing travelling terpsichorean entertainment (6,5)

― ledge, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:29 (nineteen years ago)

Newspaperman is red faced, loud and drunk (5)

― Mark C, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:49 (nineteen years ago)

Copy chief sleeps around with gentleman caller (9)

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:02 (nineteen years ago)

Nonsense from an aging idiot (8)

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:05 (nineteen years ago)

Question: If you're using words backwards, anagrammed, or embedded within other words, do you need to give some indicator in the clue that that's what you've done? Like with words like "return," or "mix," or "between"?

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

In my experience there's usually an indicator of some sort.

― onimo, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

yes, you do. Otherwise, how will you know that that's what you're to do?

xpost

― ailsa, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

OK, let's change my most recent one to...

Nonsense from an idiot who's aging inside (8)

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

folderol

Except that doesn't work.

― ailsa, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

Why not, because the O is shared?

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:34 (nineteen years ago)

Yep, you have to give some clue to the process, and the clue has to divide very strictly between definition/synonym and wordplay. Here are some simple examples --

Party | hides in Tonga lake (4)
Mixed-up kids | lose control on the ice (4)
Lana reversed | neatnik tendencies? (4)
Stan lost his head | looking like a beach bum? (3)
Belafonte is | hirsute, they say (5)

(xpost)

― lurker #2421, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah. You'd have to have something that discounted one of the "o"s attached to one of the parts of the clue - in this case it could be the "o" at the start of older or one of the "o"s in fool so either part of the clue could be modified.

xpost

― ailsa, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:39 (nineteen years ago)

Why not, because the O is shared?

Right. You could do something about "starved for oxygen" (minus one O) but that gets very fussy.

― lurker #2421, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:42 (nineteen years ago)

Added Ecstasy to mixed drink for German kids (6)

― lurker #2421, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

kinder

― ailsa, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

Wow, nice one.

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:45 (nineteen years ago)

Sorry, I'm changing my clue again:

Copy chief interrupts gentleman caller to sleep with him (9)

― jaymc, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:51 (nineteen years ago)

I want the hardcore xword dudes to tell me if my clue is flawed (i think it may be, in terms of where the words come)

Newspaperman is red faced, loud and drunk (5)

― Mark C, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:02 (nineteen years ago)

hahahaha I am teh idiot

Newspaperman is red faced, loud and drunk (7)

― Mark C, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:03 (nineteen years ago)

man am I red faced myself now.

― Mark C, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:03 (nineteen years ago)

The basic idea is tht clues come in two halves. One half is the "definition" part, and the other half is the "wordplay" part. And the wordplay part needs to literally describe the word. Notice how in "added ecstasy to mixed drink" is a recipe for putting "e" in "kindr" and getting "kinder", and notice how all of "kinder" is accounted for and how there are no extraneous words to the recipe.

― Casuistry, Friday, 13 April 2007 20:37 (nineteen years ago)

Bad girls got rough start (5)

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 19:02 (nineteen years ago)

Tarts.

Wayward girl got ahead? (5)

― Casuistry, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 20:23 (nineteen years ago)

is it holed?

― Will M., Wednesday, 25 April 2007 22:11 (nineteen years ago)

Pointlessly pine for this thread (4)

― ledge, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

two months pass...

Wake up to Romanesque foreign-sounding French dream? (6)

― Casuistry, Wednesday, 25 July 2007 18:41 (eighteen years ago)

three months pass...

Hand toilet in intensive care covered in dung (8)

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Saturday, 17 November 2007 03:48 (eighteen years ago)

I was thinking about reviving this!

Manicure.

Exalt when one hears an elderly relative passes away (10)

― ledge, Saturday, 17 November 2007 09:41 (eighteen years ago)

(pretty yuckily constructed, that one)

― ledge, Saturday, 17 November 2007 09:43 (eighteen years ago)

Oh for shame, ledge. ;-)

Aggrandize.

Do another one.

― Casuistry, Saturday, 17 November 2007 09:55 (eighteen years ago)

More grammatical liberties taken:

Fewer than a thousand in turn become a child prodigy (10)

I've just signed up with the Times online xword, that might help me buck my ideas up.

― ledge, Saturday, 17 November 2007 10:27 (eighteen years ago)

Skipping 5680 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.