This is the twenty-first 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.
This week a new clue type is introduced, the reversed hidden clue, but with anagrams, acrostic and decapitation clues learned earlier in the series, there should be letters filling the grid from the clues that provide everything to help with the decapitations. .
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, e.g. Get A Good (joke) or tALE see below
- anagram *(SENATOR) shows letters in clue being used, see clue below.
- anagrind the anagram indicator (arranged)
- the > symbol to show reversals of letters – e.g. vieTNAm < (from the clues below)
- 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 www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick-cryptic/21
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 - Acrostic The first letters of the answer
‘Initially get a good joke (3)’ gives GAG - Decapitation Answer is another word without first letter
‘Beer in story without intro (3)’ gives ALE - Hidden reversal Answer defined and hidden backwards
‘Insect returns in Vietnam (3)’ gives ANT
| ACROSS |
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| 1 | Partly withdraw also returning prize (5) | AWARD |
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reverse hidden (partly … returning) in withDRAW Also <
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| 4 | Vote for choice that’s a non-starter (5) | ELECT |
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decapitation (that’s a non-starter) of sELECT (for choice)
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| 7 |
Eggs provided by organically verified association initially (3)
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OVA |
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acrostic (initially) of Organically Verified Association for the scientific name for eggs
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| 8 |
Rejected part of lifetime retirement transfer (5)
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REMIT
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reverse hidden (rejected part of) lifeTIME Retirement
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| 9 |
Delay leaders of some terrible and loathsome litigation (5)
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STALL
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acrostic (leaders of) Some Terrible And Loathssome Litigation
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| 10 |
Got to know losing head is deserved (6)
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EARNED |
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decapitation of (losing head) of lEARNED (got to know)
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| 12 |
Pass around health facilities (4)
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SPAS
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anagram (PASS)* with anagrind of around
Health spas nowadays, but Bath and Baden-Baden were famous spas for their waters and the supposed health-giving benefits.
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| 14 |
Stupid heads of department in meeting (3)
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DIM
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acrostic (heads of) Department In Meeting
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| 16 |
Film music with no start or middle (4)
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CORE
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decapitation of (with no start) sCORE (film music)
Core is another of those very useful words that come up a lot in crosswords, as ambiguous to give different meanings.
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| 17 |
Anoint strange people (6)
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NATION |
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anagram (ANOINT)* with anangrind of strange
Nation / people / races are often used as synonyms in crosswords.
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| 20 |
First of all agents make people like electing liberal (5)
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AMPLE |
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acrostic (first of all) Agents Make People Like Electing
Liberal in the sense of open handed, generous, not the political party -which the surface is suggestion
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| 22 |
Teach swimming trout (5)
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TUTOR |
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anagram (TROUT)* with anagrind of swimming
swimming is another of those words that suggest movement that gets used as an anagram indicator
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| 23 |
Long time in unopened prison (3)
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AGE |
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decapitation (unopened) of cAGE (prison)
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| 24 |
Doctor takes piece of meat (5)
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STEAK |
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anagram (TAKES)* with an anagrind of doctor
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| 25 |
Sizeable keg Ralph carries back (5)
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LARGE |
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reverse hidden (carries back) in kEG RALph
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 |
Strangely eager to comply (5)
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AGREE |
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anagram (EAGER)* with anagrind of strangely
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| 2 |
Married eccentric suitor (7)
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ADMIRER
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anagram (MARRIED)* with a anagrind of eccentric
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| 3 | Spotted some Muscadet to drink up (6) |
DOTTED
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reverse hidden (some … up (in a down clue)) of muscaDET TO Drink <
The surface splits the indicators, and the hidden word is across three words – it’s even worse to spot when the answer is split across lines in the clue
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| 4 |
Stop removing top for comfort (4)
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EASE
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decapitation (removing top) of cEASE (stop)
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| 5 |
Period in revolutionary China reassessed (3)
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ERA
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hidden reversal (in revolutionary) chinA REassessed
ERA, AGE, eon and other words for periods of time are regularly used in crosswords, often as part of charades or mixed clues to build up longer words. They are all worth remembering.
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| 6 |
Ceramic pieces in rural steps (top piece missing) (5)
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TILES |
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decapitation (top piece missing) of sTILES
I have definitely blogged STILES, but not sure if it was the for the Quick Cryptic or Quiptic – they are steps through barriers for pedestrians to access the footpaths without releasing farm stock (and the ones in the Yorkshire Dales are designed to stop sheep with wide bodies, narrow legs, by being narrow high enough to stop the sheep – and for smaller hikers with backpacks they work just as well.
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| 11 |
Noise didn’t irritate nobles initially (3)
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DIN
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acrostic (initially) Didn’t Irritate Nobles
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| 13 |
Runner removing lid to find office equipment (7)
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PRINTER |
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decapitation (removing lid) of sPRINTER (runner)
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| 15 |
Lament damaged shelf above fireplace (6)
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MANTEL
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anagram of (LAMENT)* with anagrind of damaged
I know that shelf above the fireplace as a MANTLEpiece, but apparently both spellings are correct, although my quick search suggested that MANTEL is the preferred spelling in the USA, and it’s used to distinguish from the mantle we take up when we take on a new role.
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| 16 |
Primarily categorise learners and students studying form (5)
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CLASS |
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acrostic (primarily) of Categorise Learners And Students Studying
Class as in a school class or form or the class of a horse or form of a horse.
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| 18 |
Look after employees running topsy-turvy section (5)
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NURSE |
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reverse hidden (topsy-turvy section) of employeES RUNning <
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| 19 |
Tip from pundit excited about knockabout primarily (4)
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PEAK |
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acrostic (primarily) of Pundit Excited About Knockabout
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| 21 |
Slice of upside down cake I purchased in dish (3)
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PIE |
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reverse hidden (slice of upside down) cakE I Purchased
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Very enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks, both
Thank you very much.
DOTTED and NURSE are the two that I really struggled with; I got them only because I had the crossers.
It’s a great feeling to solve a clue…that feeling was sadly lacking Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the cryptics!😂
I am finding these very useful as structured practice which is helping in the other cryptics through the week. I do cryptics in a very haphazard fashion but in these I try to
1. Find the type of clue indicator
2. Split the rest of the clue from the definition. Make sure I have read and absorbed each part.
3. And only then look at the crossers and actually try to solve.
Thanks Carpathian and Shanne for super complete blogs
I had MANTLE and was looking at A?L for ages before moving on to LARGE and changing the spelling. I thought I’d spent the last 70 something years spelling it wrong.
I know the (c)AGE unopened conversation, but it always looks opened to me. I have worked out the logic in the past, but I can never remember it
Thanks both.
Good to see new two new types of tricks today, a nice introduction to both.
Thanks both!
I’ve been enjoying these quick cryptics from the start, and really enjoyed this week’s introduction of the Hidden Reversal and Decapitation which freshened things up. I found the hidden reversals surprisingly hard to pull out. Enjoyed 22A trying to work out which five letter word was the definition. Thanks for great explanations and puzzle.
Great intro to more clue types (decapitation and hidden reversal). The QCs have really helped me get into Cryptics and giving me practice for stepping into the Quiptics. Thanks Carpathian for the puzzle and Shanne for the explanations of thinking.
I had exactly the same problem as nicbach (4) above, I’m not alone! 🙂 Most enjoyable. Thank you for clarifying some of the workings for me.
Great puzzle, and really thorough blog thank you. I found the decapitations more challenging but as others have said good practice for the cryptics. It’s very helpful to be slowly building and consolidating the clue repertoire. I’m finding it particularly useful to be being taught the words within the clue that give you an indication of what you need to do with it. So often in the main cryptics it seems hard to know where to begin!
Morning all. Successfully done and a new trick learnt with decapitation, hidden reversal I have come across before but always nice to have the chance to go over these things again.
Last one in was 6D – that took a while to figure out but eventually got there. Also new to me definitions of transfer (8A) and liberal (20A) – got the answer for both but couldn’t parse the clue for either so thanks for that.
Quite a gentle one today, I’ve always found that acrostics are the easiest clue type and this contained loads of them. The only issue I had was like @4 and @8 I misspelled 15 as MANTLE, which made me think that 23 was (j)AIL, but then realised that doesn’t work.
Thanks both.
Steffen@2. I wonder if the difficulty with DOTTED and NURSE was because the reverse hidden was in a down clue.
Carpathian had 3 reverse hiddens in the down clues DOTTED, NURSE and PIE. I had to look twice at NURSE and PIE as their indicators for reversal in a down clue topsy turvy and upside down were somewhat disguised as they blended in so well in the surface reading, something Carpathian excels at.
I’ve often found it helpful to write out attempts at the answers for down clues, of varying kinds, in the margin of a printed crossword, or on a piece of paper with an online crossword. We’re so used to reading from left to right, that reading from top to bottom is an extra challenge, and in a reverse hidden, from bottom to top, even more challenging.
@paddy №12. Regarding horizontal reading as opposed to vertical – yes, I do exactly the same. I also do opposite for anagrams – letters in two columns (vowels and consonants); it forces me to see them as individual letters to be rearranged rather than words to read.
@12paddymellon you may well be correct. To be honest, I just struggle to figure what type of clue each one is!
Had it not been for the advice in the QC Special Instructions I would have had no idea what to look for.
Me@12. Correction: I meant from top to bottom on the grid, and from right to left in the clues, with reverse hiddens. Glad you got my drift Steffen and Matthew.
Nice puzzle, thanks both
I found this crossword a little easier than previously. Either I am getting better at recognising clues or it was just easier?? Anyway I really look forward to this particular puzzle every week. Thanks for creating it.
@nicbach I had no problem with mantel as that is how I was taught to spell it seventy years ago in the West Country and I just learned it as being different from mantlepiece
Lots of really helpful tips and explanations, thank you Shanne! And another most satisfying puzzle, thank you Carpathian! Looking forward to the next one : )
Thought that Carpathian crafted some lovely surfaces here to fit the clue types. Thanks Shanne for the blog.