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

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I can't work out top secret! :(

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:20 (twenty years ago)

"s" is the first (top) letter of secret, innit?

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:20 (twenty years ago)

Harsh!

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:21 (twenty years ago)

What's harsh is not having any other letters to at least get a starting point for these...

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:22 (twenty years ago)

I might need to check the 'quickie' clue for that last one :-(

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:31 (twenty years ago)

That's my boy!

― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:32 (twenty years ago)

That's my boy.
xpost

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:32 (twenty years ago)

Here's one I made up.

For a cooking pot brandname, the French put America in a mixed up Greek island. (2, 7)

― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:36 (twenty years ago)

La Creuset.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:37 (twenty years ago)

Le, rather.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:37 (twenty years ago)

Too easy!

― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:38 (twenty years ago)

Too middle-class!

― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

Italy's the spot for a bunch of mentalists. (3)

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

Are cryptics more of a working class thing?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:40 (twenty years ago)

haha

― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:40 (twenty years ago)

xpost

― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:40 (twenty years ago)

ILX

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

haha

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:49 (twenty years ago)

Chris, is it not three in the morning over there?

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:52 (twenty years ago)

Madchen's "overworked postman" joke to thread!

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:53 (twenty years ago)

beanz new clue! (I thinka ailsa and Sam still have one saved up too)

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:54 (twenty years ago)

Put back strength about advance (8)

Warning: I read this the other day and thought it was a crap clue, but it lodged itself in my head which is why I'm reproducing it now.

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:01 (twenty years ago)

Do they have cryptic crosswords (in this sense) in America?

― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:05 (twenty years ago)

Put back? Advance? Too generic! Millions of synonyms! Letters please...

― ledge (ledge), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:50 (twenty years ago)

R _ _ H _ _ _ E

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:54 (twenty years ago)

recharge

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:57 (twenty years ago)

bingo

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:58 (twenty years ago)

sorry i've got to go for dinner now and don't have any new clues, someone will have to take my go

― Ste (Fuzzy), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:59 (twenty years ago)

Aw crap, I thought about = re, then discarded it.

― ledge (ledge), Friday, 9 December 2005 11:59 (twenty years ago)

Oh, I don't have any old guardians lying about any more = no decent crossword clues to dispense to you. I'll just keep reading and solving if that's alright with you lot.

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:01 (twenty years ago)

I discarded re too :(

Okay supereasy one but I really like the clue: French boulevards of broken dreams (4)

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

Rues

(too easy, I know)

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:06 (twenty years ago)

I'm gonna jump in with an old fave:
Love will tear us apart, causing grief (3)

― ledge (ledge), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:08 (twenty years ago)

woe! NICE

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:09 (twenty years ago)

Gonna get lunch, I'll try and think of one while I'm out. Feel free to post any you think of...

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

OK, another old classic:

H.I.J.K.L.M.N.O (5)

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:30 (twenty years ago)

Water

― Come Back Johnny B (Johnney B), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:32 (twenty years ago)

A ship that nobody caes about (7)

― Come Back Johnny B (Johnney B), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:32 (twenty years ago)

cares about

― Come Back Johnny B (Johnney B), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:33 (twenty years ago)

(to be honest, I stole this one from I'm Sorry I Havn't a Clue, so it's less of a strong cryptic clue, more of a weak pun)

― Come Back Johnny B (Johnney B), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:35 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I was going to say that's "frigate" - I read it in one of those made-up-definitions-for-words things in the newspaper not that long ago.

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:37 (twenty years ago)

Back from LUNCH mm sandwich. Quite proud of this one:

Point at vase, a codename for orgies (11)

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:39 (twenty years ago)

I'm pretty sure that's going to be "bacchanalia" due to alias and and the orgy thing, but I can't quite work out why.

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:46 (twenty years ago)

not quite!

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 12:59 (twenty years ago)

Do people want some letters?

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 14:28 (twenty years ago)

Ooh, yes please.

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

S------L--S

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

saturnalias

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 9 December 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

doh

― beanz (beanz), Friday, 9 December 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

New clue!

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

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Just here to express my general dislike of Daily Cryptic. They seldom bother to make the surface readings make sense, but also charming is an anagram indicator?

Bream charming tint (5)

― cinematic hobo hip-hop rock ‘n’ roll blues-jazz soul-review (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 13:09 (three weeks ago)

very uncharming clue, yes

― Michael F Gill, Wednesday, 20 May 2026 15:18 (three weeks ago)

I always enjoy a surprising non-standard anagram indicator but yeah that one just doesn’t work

― unclear apocalypse (wins), Wednesday, 20 May 2026 15:42 (three weeks ago)

had a look at today's and yeah that is a rubbish clue too - nothing unconventional but the surface just doesn't work.

― stick your cheffing job (ledge), Thursday, 21 May 2026 12:36 (three weeks ago)

As opposed to Minute Cryptic where the surface is almost always clever but puzzles pretty easily gettable. Today’s:

Praise the Trinity at the end of spiritual retreats with the Right Reverend (4)

― cinematic hobo hip-hop rock ‘n’ roll blues-jazz soul-review (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 21 May 2026 13:28 (three weeks ago)

agree of the Minute Cryptic, today was fun too:

"Midrange van crashed into circular intersection?" (4,7)

― nxd, Friday, 22 May 2026 17:56 (three weeks ago)

these have been good to help train couple of friends who probably wouldn't have been interested to learn before

― nxd, Friday, 22 May 2026 17:58 (three weeks ago)

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