This is the twenty-eighth 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 we continue consolidating clue types learned earlier in the series. This crossword uses anagrams and acrostic clues which provide all the required letters, with reversal and charade clues that have been met many times before. Today’s setter sees a second puzzle by Chandler, one of the regular Quiptic setters. I did find I wrote in the wrong reversal for one clue until corrected by crossers and I think there’s a mistake in one clue, but otherwise didn’t note any particular challenges, but I did note some new abbreviations.
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. PASS (qualify) to get PORT (drink) or Give A Good (for GAG -joke) see below
- anagram *(SENATOR) shows letters in clue being used, see clue below.
- anagrind the anagram indicator (arranged)
- charade – the description below only gives the example of words being added together, but charades can be more complicated, adding abbreviations or single letters to another word. Examples previously used in this series are: Son ridicules loose overgarments (6) S (son) + MOCKS (ridicules), Get rid of dead pine (5) D (dead) + ITCH (pine) – D ITCH
- CAD or clue as definition– where the whole clue gives the definition, sometimes called an &lit.
- DBE or defintion by example – e.g. where a dog might be clued as a setter – often using a question mark, maybe, possibly or e.g. to show that this is an example rather than a definition.
- reversal – using < to indicate the letters to be reversed – so DOG< (pet) in the example below to give GOD.
- 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/28 – because the clues have moved on from the clue descriptions below, I am now adding more to the descriptions above.
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 - Charade A combination of synonyms
‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port) - Reversal The answer backwards, and a hint that we’re reversing
‘Deity’s pet comes back (3)’ gives GOD - Acrostic The first letters of the answer
‘Initially get a good joke (3)’ gives GAG
- Anagram An anagram of the answer and a hint that there’s an anagram
| ACROSS |
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| 1 | Broken brace, something that’s tossed (5) | CABER |
| anagram of (BRACE) with anagrind of broken. | ||
| 4 |
After returning, ward off social outcast (5)
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LEPER |
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reversal of (after returning) of REPEL< (ward off)
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| 7 |
Chap of advanced years coped (7)
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MANAGED |
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charade of MAN (chap) and AGED (advanced years)
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| 8 |
Young troublemaker introducing major problems initially (3)
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IMP |
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acrostic of (initially) of Introducing Major Problems
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| 9 |
Peculiar origins of outstanding Dutch dealer (3)
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ODD |
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acrostic of (origins of) Outstanding Dutch Dealer
ODD has appeared so often as an indicator – for anagrams and alternate letters, but I think it’s been the first time it is an answer.
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| 10 |
Reduced working in period at school (6)
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LESSON |
| charade of LESS (reduced) and ON (working)
ON for working is a regular and has appeared before |
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| 13 |
One confused for especially long time (3)
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EON |
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anagram of (ONE)* with anagrind of confused
We haven’t seen EON as a term for time before, but it is used in charades for building up words.
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| 15 |
Figure recalled feature of tennis (3)
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NET |
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reversal of (recalled) of TEN< (figure)
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| 17 |
Busy type starts to bring extra enthusiasm (3)
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BEE |
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acrostic (starts to) of Bring Extra Enthusiasm
BEEs in crosswords are busy from their industriousness – Chaucer wrote about busy as a bee in the 1400s.
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| 19 |
Floral arrangement from the war possibly (6)
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WREATH |
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anagram of (THE WAR)* with anagrind of possibly
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| 22 |
Backing for reserve player in doubledecker, maybe (3)
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BUS |
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reversal of (backing for) SUB< (reserve player)
Definition by example here (DBE) – a double decker might be a BUS, so maybe to indicate that.
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| 24 |
A green sign in the past (3)
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AGO |
see below – charade of A and GO (green sign) |
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| 25 |
Powerful piece of verbal skill by civilised fellow (7)
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PUNGENT |
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charade of PUN (piece of verbal skill) and (by) GENT (civilised fellow)
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| 26 |
Experienced person to arrange Asian currency (5)
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DOYEN |
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charade of DO (to arrange) and YEN (Asian currency)
a doyen / doyenne is the most outstanding person in a field
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| 27 |
Highly praise former partner to learner (5)
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EXTOL |
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charade of EX (former partner) + TO (from clue) + L (learner)
L from L plates on cars, EX for a former partner we’ve seen before.
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DOWN
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| 1 |
Beast of burden arrived on lake (5)
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CAMEL |
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charade of CAME (arrived) + (on) L (lake)
I suspect we’ve seen this before. The L for lake comes from maps.
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| 2 |
Book about America is additional benefit (5)
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BONUS |
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charade of B (book) + ON (about) + US (America)
B for book isn’t one we’ve had before, but comes up a lot, US for America we have seen before, ON for about
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| 3 |
Ignore wild area (6)
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REGION |
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anagram of (IGNORE)* with anagrind of wild
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| 4 |
Top over outdoor pool (4)
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LIDO |
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charade of LID (top) + O (over)
I’m not sure how uniquely British the LIDO is, but we have quite a few of them in and around London – I’ve swum in a few of them, definitely the Ruislip Lido and Tooting, not Hampstead.
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| 5 |
Penny on journey by bike shows dignity (5)
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PRIDE |
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charade of P (penny) and RIDE (journey by bike)
P for penny refers to decimal currency (since 1970 in the UK), but we do still occasionally see D for penny (from denari, LSD) referring to pre-decimal currency, in crosswords.
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| 6 |
Mature religious instruction followed by writer (5)
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RIPEN |
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charade of RI (religious instruction) + (followed by) PEN (writer)
RI for religious instruction is new, but comes up regularly, along with RE (religious education)
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| 11 |
Pioneering female leads to everyone valuing enterprise (3)
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EVE |
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acrostic (leads to) Everyone Valuing Enterprise
Pioneering as EVE is the first named woman in the Christian Bible.
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| 12 |
Fresh tops for notably energetic walkers (3)
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NEW |
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acrostic of (tops for) Notably Energetic Walkers
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| 14 |
Choose cracked pot (3)
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OPT |
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anagram of (POT)* with anagrind of cracked
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| 16 |
Cretan sadly in dazed state (6)
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TRANCE |
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anagram of (CRETAN)* with anagrind of sadly
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| 17 |
Uninteresting British territory (5)
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BLAND |
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charade of B (British) and LAND (territory)
Another new abbreviation with B for British – occasionally also Br
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| 18 |
Unsettled by one dark wood (5)
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EBONY |
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anagram of (BY ONE)* with anagrind of unsettled
EBONY is famously the dark wood used for the black keys on pianos
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| 20 |
Warning of danger later revised (5)
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ALERT |
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anagram of (LATER)* with anagrind of revised
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| 21 |
Place for tourists is fashionable with the Spanish (5)
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HOTEL |
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charade of HOT (fashionable) with EL (the Spanish)
We’ve come across EL for the in Spanish before, possibly not HOT for in or fashionable / trendy, which has a lot of synonyms used in crosswords.
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| 23 |
Sleeps in turn for stretch of time (4)
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SPAN |
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reversal of (in turn) of NAPS< (sleeps)
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Thanks Shanne. I read AGO as a charade: A GO(green sign).?
Pdm: so did I. I particularly liked PUNGENT
Thanks both.
Pungent my fave too. Also liked the surface for EBONY, and the misdirection of the adjective mature in the surface of the clue for RIPEN, the verb.
Very beginner friendly puzzle.Took a little longer to parse 25A.
What PM@1 &@3 wrote. Nice surfaces all round
Thanks Chandler & Shanne
Good puzzle from Chandler – lots to like – a good mix of reinforcing stuff that come up regularly and wordplay needing a little more thought. The only sticking point was whether we were looking for a TEN or NET with the reversal indicator being in the middle of the clue. Also now realising I never did NEW clue.
I’ve put up my regular live solve over at https://youtu.be/u2rDEVQ7xtc may be helpful to anyone see how to approach these, not just understand the wordplay.
(Shanne – the intro needs a small revision as referring to “twenty-seventh”)
I had a different answer for 1D that I could sort of make work; OX (beast of burden) + BOW (arrived, as in made his bow) to give a type of lake. Obviously not right, but I misled myself for a while with that.
Thanks so much for these write-ups; they are so useful and informative for someone new to cryptics (like me).
Fun puzzle.
Thanks, both.
Thanks Chandler for the nicely levelled QC.
Thanks Shanne for the blog. As someone else has mentioned your intro paragraph says this was puzzle 27 when it’s puzzle 28.
24a troubled me as I got the answer but then couldn’t parse out the ‘o’ as ‘sign’ as my thought process was that G was just ‘green’ but as people have pointed out it was more obvious than that with GO for ‘green sign’ LOL. 2d I convinced myself was a word for book surrounding US until realising that insertion wasn’t a clue type today 🙂
Enjoyed PUNGENT and DOYEN.
A very enjoyable start to Saturday. Managed to get all the answers and only needed a couple to be explained here. I’m still at the stage when I sometimes guess the word from the definition then revisit the clue to understand why. Hotel for example. And when the penny drops I could kick myself for not seeing what I was meant to do!
But on the whole I’m pleased with my progress since these quick cryptics started and have been grateful to all the help from this blog.
Well done, Holly.
I corrected AGO before I decided I had to go to sleep, but didn’t acknowledge thanks to paddymelon @1 and nicbach @2.
I’ve corrected the twenty-eighth in the blurb – I build this blog from the previous and try to remember to correct all the bits. Thank you to HG @6 and the cronester @9
Holly Anderson@10: Getting the answer first and then working out why is something a lot of experienced solvers haven’t grown out of: nothing wrong with it if it gets you there!
While book=B, you will also find that the plural books gives you either OT (Old Testament) or NT (New Testament) for books of the Bible – though probably not in the Quick Cryptic.
Thanks Chandler and Shanne
I liked the clue for REGION – surprised I haven’t see that anagram before.
Like HG @6, I realised when I read the blog that I hadn’t actually read the clue for NEW – a problem with this grid.
5D – in fact, decimal currency was introduced in the UK on 15 February 1971.
Plus I’m curious how many elements are new and yet are seen regularly!
This was really excellent today and definitely my quickest yet. I understood it all but really like reading this blog anyway for the array of generic tips – I actually finished a quiptic the other day using the knowledge I’ve gained here! Thank you Shanne and Chandler. : )
Cheers Shanne and Chandler. This is the one I’ve done best on, and felt I’ve been getting the hang. Have tried a couple of the Grown Up cryptics but they’re a completely different level!
They definitely need to adjust the definition of charade in the categories pre-amble to cover abbreviations and single letters. Thank you Shanne for a very comprehensive blog as ever.
I couldn’t quite get over the line, didn’t get DOYEN (which to be fair is a word I’d never heard of so I don’t feel too bad about), and just couldn’t see PUNGENT (kicked myself after revealing).
I think about=on is new for me, I was looking for an insertion, which is silly really as the puzzle instructions state there are none. RI as an abbreviation of Religious Instruction is new for me too.
Thanks Chandler and Shanne.
Thanks due to Chandler, another enjoyable QC, also to Shanne for the enlightening explanations.
Like many I enjoyed revisiting the various clue types and the realisation of improvements made, when I completed it.
American here and I have heard of a LIDO but only in a British context, and only got it through the charade. PUNGENT I got by guessing and kicked myself afterwards.
Pungent got me I’m afraid, but fairly easy and enjoyable other than that.
In a children’s book “The Little White Horse” a previous governess is referred to as the “previous Doyen” and I have been wondering what it meant for 40+ years! Took this crossword to bring it to mind and actually look it up.
Great puzzle and thanks for the explanations Shanne.
I’m new to cryptic crosswords and enjoy the Quick Cryptic but fancy a bit more of a challenge. Can anyone recommend a puzzle that would be one step up in terms of difficulty? For context I’m struggling with Sunday’s Everyman.
Cameron @22 – we have had various suggestions, and I have been saying I’d collect them on the summary listing I did for the first 6 months – which I need to link to in these puzzles – but I haven’t done so yet. It’s been a tad busy the last couple of weeks!!
I’d say this week’s Quiptic from Chandler was a gentle step up (he also set 1291), as were the two from Pasquale (1296 from 22 September & 1292) and Picaroon (1297 from 29 September and 1290), but Anto (1298) isn’t a Quiptic setter. For the Quiptics you’ve got the check buttons and blogs on 15^2. To get to the others, change the last digit of the number in the url bar. Picaroon, Matilda, Chandler, Carpathian and Pasquale are all reliable Quiptic setters who dial the difficulty up and down accordingly. Hectence can be, but a lot of us find her harder, Anto is often setting in the Quiptic slot, but most of us find him at the same sort of difficulty as the Cryptic crosswords. You can also sort the Guardian crosswords by setter – so all Carpathian’s puzzles are found here and all Matilda’s here and on 15^2 here (although that relies on the setter adding that information to the blog).
Someone else recommended older Everyman crosswords – going back before the current setter, who I find uneven, some weeks I find that it’s Quiptic level, others Cryptic. You can work on the previous week’s when the check buttons are there and the blog is already published. I’ll find that link and start adding to this resource:
Elsewhere, there are suggestions that the Daily Telegraph crosswords are easier (which I did know, my parents take the Torygraph and I cut my teet on crosswords solving what my mother couldn’t) and the Quick Cryptics in the Times, both of which are behind a paywall. Personally, I wouldn’t give money to either the Telegraph or the Times, but you pay your money and you take your choice.
Neither the FT or Independent crosswords are behind a paywall and Matilda sets as Velia in the FT and Carpathian sets as Vigo in the Independent – but you can’t search back more than a month in the Independent without subscribing. Hectence, if you get on with her, sets as Zamorca in the FT.
Thank you very much for such a detailed response Shanne @23. It’s very interesting to get an insight into the setters, and their different pseudonyms! I’ll definitely check out those Quiptic puzzles you mentioned 👍
Definitely getting better! I laughed at Managed. Guessed hotel but needed your explanation to see why the second part of the clue was there.
I feel like I’m improving with these. 🙂
I got very stuck on 4a, trying to figure out the meaning of ‘after’, but it seems like it was just a filler word for the sake of the surface?
For 26a I don’t understand how ‘arrange’ can become ‘do’.
I also got very lost on 23d, as I didn’t think to reverse a charade.
Other than that, it all made sense to me in the end, and I didn’t have to give up on anything.
Thanks again for the explained solutions.