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

Got one in the Saturday Guardian for the first time today

Keep your chin up to apply warpaint (3,2,1,5,4)

put on a happy face

saw this one in a 'history of crosswords' book i have -- it's not hard but it has a clue i hadn't seen before:

British flee in all directions, to town in part of Canada (3, 9)

Brave face surely

yeh it's brave

"Way to the top - and why you can't get there." - ROAD UP

Is this some kind of phrase I've never heard of? I don't get the second half at all.

The road surface has been taken up making it impossible to traverse.

It's a road sign, I think, probably one of those things that cartoons depict that isn't really a thing any more.

Thanks Koogs! I'm really struggling with expressions that I just don't know at the moment, I had "In a pet" just now which I'd never heard of.

Some others I couldn't make sense of:

Bitter about a man - ALEC
Lower class fare - COMMONS (is fare 'S' for "standard" or something? But then I feel like the whole thing would need to clue "Commons")?
Common cleric constantly in pain - REVEREND (I think constantly is 'ever', which leaves pain as... rend? I guess being rent would be painful? Also, why 'common'?
Rock a shade of yellowish green - LIMESTONE (It's... a rock? And lime is green? I can't seem to make this one fit together.)

The first one is ale (bitter) c. (about, as in circa)
Third one is exactly as you say (to pain, to rend)
Fourth: a shade of yellowish green = lime’s tone

I'm always amused by a good, off-color surface reading, and this one was excellent, if a bit convoluted.

Before taking off partner's clothes, firstly extinguish flash lamp (9)

Lower class fare - COMMONS (is fare 'S' for "standard" or something? But then I feel like the whole thing would need to clue "Commons")?

iirc "commons" is an oldfashioned word for a meal served communally such as in a monastery refectory, university hall, etc, so it's a double definition - I think

no idea about yours yet, Dan, but I look forward to thinking it over

Yeah, in researching it, commons (plural) can mean "the common people" i.e. lower class, and "food provided for meals in common for all members of a group." So it's a double def. Not a particularly satisfying one imo.

Here's another one I liked from the same puzzle as above. Dictator's pampering young swimmer (7)

Creole tune originally played as synthesised music (7)

got it!
that's a nice cute one

lolz

Bones found here in your ass, remarkably (7)

finally got that Creole one!

xp is that from a newspaper? either way i approve of this increased ass content.

Yeah today’s Graun

another Graun, from today's

Doubtful The Sting was Peter's kind of film (9, 7)

nice anag though the apostrophe s might make ximenes slightly shuffle in his grave.

still parse-able enough IMO

yeah it's fine. just not perfect :)

lord knows it's hard enough to write good clues without pedants like me sticking their oar in; i hereby rescind all previous remarks and will refrain from all future such.

i like it

lovely clue

Recent clues I don't understand:

An opening celebration or its finale (DOOR)
Cases prepared for Italian consumer groups (RAVIOLI) - I kiiiind of get this one but 'consumer groups' confuses me
Left in charge (OVER)
Baked beans need this lid for protection (TOPI)
Show symbol of authority, namely, before holding exercises (SCEPTRE)
Screen for illness in advance? Imagine! (PRETEND) - this kinda makes sense but... 'screen for illness' doesn't clue tend???

celebration or = DO OR. could it be that obvious / clumsy?

Some of these explanations may be missing something, I'm sure others will correct me if so:

1. celebration = do (party) + or but there seem to be two definition parts, "opening" and "finale"... hmm
2. cryptic definition, ravioli is in a case, consumer groups = eaters of food
3. double definition, left = over (left over?) and in charge of something is to be over it
4. top = lid, other than that I got nothing
5. a sceptre is a symbol of authority, PT = exercises? other than that I got nothing

'_or_ its finale' is descriptive of the word after celebration / 'do'

ha i kinda guess thats what you guys said, it's quite hard with common words like 'or' to pick apart definitions

SCEPTRE relies on you knowing that sc is a less common equivalent to viz (which I didn’t)

A similar expression is scilicet (from earlier scire licet), abbreviated as sc., which is Latin for "it is permitted to know".

So SC (namely) + ERE (before) holding PT (exercises, as in physical training)

lord knows it's hard enough to write good clues without pedants like me sticking their oar in; i hereby rescind all previous remarks and will refrain from all future such.

wtf!

Thanks to everyone on the last batch! 'Sc' namely is hmm.

bit in the observer yesterday

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/may/12/anna-shechtman-the-new-queen-of-crosswords

american crosswords are strange things.

I read that whole thing this morning really confused; assumed it was a cryptic setter

the one i couldn't get from yesterday's observer:

Tests idiot about uniform (2-6) and i have the letters _S-_E_E_S

("as sevens" i thought. 'ass' around 'even'. but that leaves an unexplained 's' and also isn't a thing)

AS Levels

though i would say that's 1-1-6

Idiot = Ass
Uniform = level

AS Levels?

Beat me to it

thanks. i should've got that.

was also convinced about similies being an anagram of missle until the other letters got in the way.

>american crosswords are strange things.

This article def made me realise that the weirdly arbitrary set of canonical UK-crossword acronyms are just, like, locked in annoyingly until someone consciously challenges them though - are there setters who just don't use the R.E./R.A. ones or the others that always have to be introduced to learner solvers with an apology?

H.E. (his excellency) for ambassador had me rmde when I learned about it not very many years ago.

made you what, sorry

smdh

Never come across this clue type before:
Cryptic crosswords for beginners: cycling clues

https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2019/may/27/cryptic-crosswords-for-beginners-cycling-clues

Me neither! But seems both fair and useful to me.

loved this one in todays times

rogue cop wearing blue material flicks food (7)

p good