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

Wow!

Never mind get these right, I don't think I could ever even independently deduce half of these from the solutions.

Can someone explain #3?

but fa doesn't appear in answer? (am i being dumb here?)

i read the four central letters of the answer as the fish

i think no 3 is almost not cryptic, unless i'm missing another *level* mayne

tinned fish = type of fish inside chemical symbol for tin (sn)

spain one quite funny.

shout in the sense of 'it's your shout.'

xposts

oh FA why didn't you say!

i'm meh on the shout aspect tbh

"it's your treat"?

not cryptic clues always throw me, are they actually allowed?

xps

Sorry, maybe sticking in rot13 is confusing things, fa=sn, so the fish is 'in' tin.

#5 horseplay = n ent + in progress = ba

xp it's a double definition, that's legit.

yes, when buying rounds in pubs. it's my shout - i'm buying these, these are my treat.

Spain - think of a student ___ week, the main surviving example of this usage - like that one more than the rest but then it's the only one I got

(xposts, oh well)

Still hate #3.

#5 amazing work!

dropping 6 at a time turns this thread into some kind of piranha word puzzle frenzy, i love it.

Ok new lot coming!

Fashionable dress-silk (7)
Old watchman to hang fire (4)
Exceptionally bright light at the front (4)
Indeed name a hundred, already named! (9)
A drop of water that mars one's view (8)
Obliged to worry constantly about a wild horse (7)

nynzbqr
jnvg
irel
qrabhaprq (this is the now-obligatory one I get as soon as I type it)
pngnenpg
zhfgnat

#1 is double definition

As is #2

pretty archaic first def tho.

i know, it says "old"

these ones i'll admit to struggling with- i've tried looking up types of silk but only getting a similar spelling to the answer for the first one.

rest of em? baffled

don't get #3, #5 is nice - double def basically.

xps

Yeah it's listener/azed level arcane vocab - last definition in Chambers.

indeed = in 'deed'

i get the last one alright, i would not have seen the last three letters standalone before though?

Is the idea that pngnenpg's are caused by drops of water?

nah, cataract = waterfall

i would not have seen the last three letters standalone before though?

not sure what you mean here?

drop of water is just a double def - word comes from the Greek and then the Latin for water flowing downwards, think it meant "waterfall" in English too before it became a somewhat less pleasant thing

xp again dammit

must -ang?

many xps

Chambers (again) has that spelling for the kind of silk.

xp, ang = nag anag? (lol.) 'worry constantly' = nag, 'about' = anag.

christ #3 is more ridic vocab double def, irel = signalling or illuminating flare

So 1 and 2 are obscure vocabulary for 'silk' and 'watchman' respectively?

But what is 'hang fire' doing?

hadn't seen 'about' used to signify anagram before- it's always 're' in crosaire. fair enough

xp
hmmm. Indirect anagrams usually considered unfair.

But it does seem to be the best explanation.

true, but the rest of it was easy enough so.

about as anag indicator is pretty standard, (move the letters) about.

hang fire = wait!

pretty sure i wouldn't have got 1 2 or 3 meself.

3 is kind of a crummy clue in that case - it's either completely impossible or literally the first thing you'll try if you've memorised chambers somehow.

Hang on - nag isn't a wild horse, so 'wild' must be the signifier? So what's 'about'?

nag anag

Happy with "about" for anag, but surely the "wild horse" is being the whole-word definition?

I got the -stang as being "angst" about but then was stuck on "mu", and while it's used for various sciencey things I don't think any of them are "constant"s

am I barking up the wrong tree?

mustang is a wild horse, nag is ang 'about', must is the 'obliged'

OH RIGHT

xps

Could maybe get 1, might need checked letters. The other two, not if it was a regular xword. Don't expect lunatic dictionary digging tests outside barred grids.

Oh, I somehow dropped the "obliged" in my mental wranglings. Still don't really get it. Maybe knowing where all the bits come from is missing the point. It certainly would be with today's Telegraph crossword, dunno the 80s.

All done? Alright, one more batch then.

(Is the modern Telegraph considered terribly debased?)

Wait, must + nag(anag) doesn't cover the "worry constantly", unless that's an anagram signifier, but we already have 2 potential anagram signifiers.

If I'm being very thick let me know and I'll shut up