This is the fifth Guardian Quick Cryptic, a series of 11 x 11 crosswords designed to support beginners learning cryptic crosswords. The whole point of these crosswords is support and encouragement of new solvers, so special rules for these crosswords apply – see here. The puzzle can be found here.
Fifteen Squared uses several abbreviations and jargon tricks, there’s a full list here, of which I’ve used the following in this blog:
- underlining the definition in the clue – this is either at the beginning or end of the clue
- CAPITALS to indicate which bits are part of the answer, eg R in CEASE means that ‘in’ is not part of the answer
- *(fodder) to indicate an anagram, eg *(ORCHESTRA)
- anagrind to describe the anagram indicator.
- […] to indicate a letter or letters omitted or unused, eg FI[r]ST
- surface – the meaning from reading the clue – so often cryptic clues use an English that could only be found in a cryptic crossword, but a smooth surface is a clue that has a meaning in English, which can be pointed or misleading.
TODAY’S TRICKS – from the crossword site – which can be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick-cryptic/5
Clues begin or end with a definition of the answer. The rest is one of these:
- Anagram An anagram of the answer and a hint that there’s an anagram
‘Senator arranged crime (7)’ gives TREASON - Hidden word Answer is hidden in the clue’s words
‘Some have altered meat (4)’ gives VEAL
In haVE ALtered - Charade A combination of synonyms
‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port) - Deletion Remove letters from another word for the answer
‘Car trip with no parking is bad thing (3)’ gives SIN
SpIN – SPIN = car trip, P = Parking (signs)
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SMITHEREENS |
Hermits seen moving tiny fragments (11)
anagram of (HERMITS SEEN)* indicated anagrind (moving)
SMITHEREENS apparently comes from an Irish word meaning small pieces.
|
| 7 | RIVER |
Flowing water in golf club lacking depth at first (5)
deletion of D for depth at first from [d]RIVER (golf club)
D = the first letter of depth, described by at first although d for depth is a valid abbreviation and I wouldn’t normally expect the additional help.
|
| 8 | MATZO |
Bread held by team at zoo (5)
hidden (held by) teaM AT ZOo
Matzo is an unleavened bread often used in Passover celebrations, if you haven’t come across it before.
|
| 9 | MAGNET |
Glossy publication with bag is something that attracts (6)
charade of MAG (glossy publication) + NET (bag) = MAGNET (something that attracts)
A multi-word definition here in something that attracts.
MAG for magazine is a regular occurrence in Crosswordland
|
| 11 | BAKE |
Stop a car having lost right cook (4)
deletion (having lost) of R for right from B[r]AKE (stop a car).
Sorry – added in the deletion indicator later
|
| 12 | SAW |
Proverb was misspelt (3)
anagram (WAS)* anagrind (misspelt)
SAW is another crossword staple – “He could muster an old saw for every occasion” |
| 14 | TALE |
Story is no longer fresh with no introduction (4)
deletion [s]TALE (no longer fresh) -with the first letter removed (no introduction)
|
| 15 | REMISS |
Careless squire missed section (6)
hidden (section) in squiRE MISSed
|
| 18 | UTTER |
Spread missing first piece, say (5)
deletion (missing first piece) from [b]UTTER (spread)
|
| 19 | VOILE |
Alter olive fabric (5)
anagram (OLIVE)* anagrind (alter) to give a fabric (VOILE)
|
| 20 | STREAMLINED |
Derailments can be smooth (11)
anagram (DERAILMENTS)* anagrind (can be) gives STREAMLINED
|
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SCRAM |
Go away and cry having taken an E (5)
deletion of E (having taken an E) from SCR[e]AM (cry) The surface here is suggesting drug ingestion |
| 2 | INVIGILATOR |
Examiner of ITV original broadcast (11)
anagram (ITV ORIGINAL)* anagrind (broadcast)
broadcast can mean scattered in the original sense of casting seed
|
| 3 | HORDES |
Partly abhor desperate crowds (6)
hidden (partly) in abHOR DESperate
|
| 4 | RUMP |
Rear dowdy female without father initially (4)
deletion of F (father initially) from [f]RUMP (dowdy female)
F or Fr are abbreviations for Father in church circles, so the initially was particularly helpful.
|
| 5 | EXTRADITION |
Transfer of accused person from former practice (11)
charade of EX (former) + TRADITION (practice) = EXTRADITION
EX for former is another piece of crossword vocabulary it’s worth remembering
|
| 6 | SCORE |
Scratch small kernel (5)
charade of S (small) + CORE (kernel)
S for small as in clothing sizing, along with XL, L, M and etc.
|
| 10 | TAR |
Sailor in u-boat arrived (3)
hidden (in) u-boaT ARrived
A sailor in Crosswordland could be so many things: TAR is common, as is AB (able seaman), OS (ordinary seaman) or JACK
|
| 13 | WEEVIL |
You and I getting bad bug (6)
charade of WE (you and I) + EVIL (bad) = WEEVIL (bug)
here getting indicates the addition and works to make the surface smoother
|
| 14 | TRUSS |
Surgical appliance rusts badly (5)
anagram (RUSTS)* anagrind (badly)
I have actually come across a TRUSS to treat a hernia before surgery (not on me, someone I worked with) other than in crosswords. |
| 16 | SPEED |
Son went to get amphetamine (5)
charade of S (son) + PEED (went) = SPEED (amphetamine)
S for son is one of a series of genealogical abbreviations that are used in crosswords: D for daughter, died or dead, M for married, etc.
PEE and PEED for go or went are also worth remembering.
|
| 17 | AREA |
Piece of ground held by popular earl (4)
hidden (held by) populAR EArl
|
Thank you Shanne. Yes peed for went is worth remembering, as is tar for sailor in crosswordese.
STREAMLINED is a great anagram.
The only slightly critical thing I’d say is that according to Alan Connor, Guardian crossword editor, Quick Cryptics were not meant to have specialised vocabulary, or “general” knowledge. INVIGILATOR is very much from the academic world and may not be well known outside of that. I find that a lot of clues, and comments in cryptic blogs, come from people who are very familiar with that world and don’t realise that others may not be.
Still, INVIGILATOR is a good exercise in wordplay and in checking dictionaries or google for confirmation , something we all need to do at times.
Very enjoyable crossword for a newbie
Thank you.
I failed with 11a; I had no idea how to tackle it.
Also failed with 13d – never heard this word before.
I managed the rest with a good amount of checks, anagram-solving toolkit and Chmabers Word Wizard.
Steffen @3, have you found the crossword solver sites that give you the possible words from what you have? The one I use gives definitions of words and helps with new words such as WEEVIL. (It isn’t infallible, it doesn’t always know things I start looking for now.)
Or the Chambers Crossword Dictionary? That starts with how to solve clues and a list of anagram indicators. It wouldn’t have helped with WEEVIL, but under cook, cooking methods, for 4 letters it gives BAKE, boil, stew. It’s worth checking the word at the beginning or end of the clue if really stuck. I tend to use it more to suggest other words for bits of the clue.
Fun and enjoyable puzzle!
I took longest on 11ac but it is very fairly clued.
paddymelon@1 – I think that INVIGILATOR is one of those words that I only know from crosswords.
Thanks, both.
Couldn’t figure out 6D.
Never heard of 8A, 19A but worked them out from crossers and clues.
Definition in 12A new to me.
Quite difficult this week.
Thanks to all.
I did wonder how many people would know VOILE and that proverb/adage meaning of SAW as I put this together, but I use a dictionary in the standard cryptic puzzles when I come across new words, either online or my Chambers (1999 edition) so I felt it was worth not explaining every word, because it’s a good habit to get into. And I learn more from the action of looking something up, rather than being spoon-fed everything.
I dressmake so have handled VOILE and come from an education background, so I have been an INVIGILATOR for umpteen exams, also an AMANUENSIS, which is another word most people only ever encounter in crosswords.
Thanks for the blog, I hope newer solvers enjoyed this , it seemed very fair .When I was learning I liked the hidden words and anagrams the most . The grid is very friendly , lots of checked letters including many first letters, I think these puzzles should use this type of perimeter grid.
Should not really qiubble but INVIGILATOR not really an examiner , just overseeing the exam .
Shanne@7. Agree that looking things up is the way to learn, and I (almost) always check a dictionary when I find an unfamiliar word or to confirm something I think I’ve got from wordplay. I don’t have Chambers but I usually go to Onelook https://onelook.com/ as it links to several dictionaries.
When I first got into Cryptics, I found sites which helped me with clue types, abbreviations etc. The link below from Crossword Unclued is a good place to start:
https://www.crosswordunclued.com/2008/08/tackling-cryptic-crosswords-7-step_11.html
Also Alan Connor’s series in the Guardian, Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners, is very informative, and entertaining. Others have said they learned a lot from books, eg Chambers Crossword Manual.
Yes, this is at my level, so its good. I am getting used to seeing Tars and Abs for sailors and ex for old.
What paddymelon @1 wrote.
I proved to myself that I find deletion clues difficult. An enjoyable puzzle with plenty of nice clues. And wonderful explanations in the blog.
Thanks to Carpathian and Shanne
new to me: MATZO and SAW.
Got stuck at SCORE for a while for some reason.
favourite: SMITHEREENS.
Just here to say many thanks for the blogs! We are really enjoying learning via the quick cryptics and check here afterwards to confirm things. This week it was ‘saw’ – we thought it was a word for a proverb or saying so happy to see that we were correct.
Keep up the great work!