This is the thirty-third 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 – those rules include not posting solving times. There is a summary of the tricks used in the first six months here. This puzzle can be found here.
Following a number of comments we are continuing to tweak the blog. The first suggestion was to to hide the answers and the last couple of weeks, following another request, we hid the wordplay descriptions too, to mixed reviews. To find that hidden information, click on “Details” and it will pop up. The definition is in bold and underlined, the indicator is in red.
This week we have a the return of one of the regular Quick Cryptic setters in Picaroon. He has continued consolidating clue types learned earlier in the series using anagrams and hidden clues, which provide all the required letters, with reversals and insertions.
A recent Guardian Crossword blog is called the ultimate beginner’s guide and has tips which may be useful for some solvers.
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
- indicators are in red.
- CAPITALS to indicate which bits are part of the answer, e.g. PASS (qualify) to get PORT (drink)
- anagram *(SENATOR) shows letters in clue being used, see clue below.
- anagrind the anagram indicator (arranged)
- reversals – the description below is for DOG< (pet) with reversal indicator <
- insertion – the PO (post office) with R (republican from US elections) inside to give P R O
- 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.
- 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/33 – 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:
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- 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 - Reversal The answer backwards, and a hint that we’re reversing
‘Deity’s pet comes back (3)’ gives GOD - Insertion One thing inside another makes the answer
‘In favour of republican entering Post Office (3)’ gives PRO
- Anagram An anagram of the answer and a hint that there’s an anagram
| ACROSS |
Click on “details” to see the solutions | |
| 1 | Pokes around inquisitively in cutlery, coming back (6) |
SNOOPS
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reversal of (coming back) SPOONS < (cutlery)
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| 4 |
Lie next to brass instrument, turning over (4)
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ABUT
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reversal (turning over) of TUBA < (brass instrument)
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| 8 |
Part of a watch – components from the east (5)
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STRAP
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reversal (from the east) of PARTS< (components)
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| 9 |
Group of nine running inside trap (5)
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NONET
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insertion of (inside) of ON (running) inside NET (trap) to give N ON ET (came back to correct this, see below – if you’re not familiar with NONET, I think of musical groups, as in quartet, quintet, sextet, septet and octet)
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| 10 |
Listener of some reggae, a rocker (3)
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EAR
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hidden in (of some) in reggaE A Rocker
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| 12 |
Thinner clothing right for apprentice (7)
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LEARNER
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insertion of (clothing) – LEANER (thinner) clothing R (right) to give LEA R NER
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| 14 |
A few guards, ever alert, but not entirely (7)
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SEVERAL
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hidden clue (not entirely) in guardS EVER ALert – as last week, this clue has two possible hidden indicators – some and guards, so it took a bit of thought to know where to look in the clue to find the answer.
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| 15 |
Partial assumption in maths problem (3)
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SUM
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hidden clue (partial) in asSUMption – an a trick we’ve seen before of hiding the answer in a single word
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| 16 |
Heading west, smooth ships’ bases (5)
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KEELS
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reversal of (heading west) of SLEEK (smooth) – and as someone who spent a lot of time in boats in my youth, I’d quibble about the definition of a KEEL here. It’s not the base, but a ridge along the bottom from stem to stern in the building style and/or a protrusion under the boat to counterbalance the sails (if you see boats at low tide on their sides, it’s the keels that mean the boats cannot sit flat or are sitting on two or three legs).
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| 17 |
Yell about Republican in noisy fight (5)
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BRAWL
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insertion of (about) of BAWL (yell) about R (Republican) to give B R AWL
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| 19 |
A drink knocked over in Italian city (4)
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PISA
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Reversal of (knocked over) of A SIP (a drink) < to give this city
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| 20 | American’s nappy brought back and reimbursed (6) |
REPAID
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reversal (brought back) of DIAPER < (American’s nappy)
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DOWN
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| 1 |
Nuns, I stress, needing to reform (7)
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SISTERS
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anagram of (I STRESS)* with anagrind of needing to reform
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| 2 |
Item used to propel boat, article covered in gold (3)
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OAR
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insertion of (covered by) A (article) covered by OR (gold) – OR for gold comes from heraldry, which still uses Mediaeval French words – another sources of different terms used in crosswords. A and the are the indefinite and definite articles in English.
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| 3 |
Make well-liked app lousier after changes (10)
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POPULARISE
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anagram of (APP LOUSIER)* with anagrind of after changes.
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| 5 |
Crazy noises from sheep overwhelming grandma (7)
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BANANAS
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insertion of (overwhelming) of BAAS (noises from sheep) overwhelming NAN (grandma) to give BA NAN AS – and here crazy and bananas are often used as anagram indicators, so my first thought was an anagram when I read crazy.
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| 6 |
Teetotaller drinking nothing, or a wee dram (3)
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TOT
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insertion of (drinking) TT (teetotaller) drinking (insertion indicator) of 0/O (nothing) to give T O T. TT is in Chambers as an abbreviation for teetotaller (among other meanings). And teetotal comes from t-total abstinence as one of the proponents of the temperance movement, a man called Turner, stammered.
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| 7 |
I’ll ban file that’s corrupt or never wrong (10)
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INFALLIBLE
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anagram of (I’LL BAN FILE)* with anagrind of that’s corrupt
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| 11 |
Critiques censure view Satanist maintains (7)
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REVIEWS
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hidden in (maintains) in censuRE VIEW Satanist
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| 13 |
Wandered around, having stroll in road (7)
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RAMBLED
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insertion of (in) of AMBLE (stroll) in RD (road) to give R AMBLE D. Rd for road comes from the abbreviations on maps
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| 16 |
Snooze, one grabbed by Kevin Pietersen initially (3)
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KIP
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insertion of (grabbed by) – I (one 1/I) grabbed by K P (Kevin Pietersen initially) – to give K I P. This trick of using initial letters we’ve seen in acrostics and occasionally in charades, so combining clue types. I for one is from Roman numerals (which we’ve met before)
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| 18 |
Husband admitted to group for alcoholics? I see! (1-2)
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A-HA
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insertion of (admitted to) H (husband – from genealogy) admitted to AA (group for alcoholics) to give A- H A
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Enjoyable puzzle, perfect for beginners.
Very nice QC there from Picaroon. All the words are familiar to me although I know NONET may be not be to some. Somehow I got stumped on RAMBLED – stuck in a mindset that it began RE-
My weekly livesolve where I walkthrough my approach and breakdown clues/answers is over at https://youtu.be/WrGAqg3SVCk … I try to give some tips and tactics along the way.
Completed this with no trouble. The Quick Cryptics are becoming a little harder, the insertion clues especially, but I’m finding them very useful. Together with reading this blog every day, it’s an education!
Great practice for reversals and insertions, and very well pitched as a QC I felt. BANANAS and A-HA were particular favourites for me.
By the way @shanne you’ve typo’d 9a as OCTET rather than NONET 🙂
Thank you thecronester @4 – corrected (I was posting this at stupid o’clock and normally I manage to spot my half-asleep boobs, but obviously not that one – and I can’t check the hidden stuff in preview without having to go back in and recode the hidden bits).
Note the regular crossword use of ON=running or working in NONET. Some nice surfaces from Picaroon.
Shanne @5. No worries. Thanks for the blog.
Shanne @5
Hidden bits and boobs? 😘
What kind of site do you think we’re running here?👙
Admin @8 😀 – just checking you’re paying attention.
Very enjoyable and managed to complete on my own first before reading details for a better understanding. Good to practise insertions.
Thanks Picaroon & Shanne.
Great QC and although I completed before coming onto this site I find Shanne’s breakdown and the blog comments very helpful in extending my knowledge. So thank you !
Ps Shanne – whatever time to you wake up to do this for us ? No wonder there are boobs and bits sometimes!
Nice one.I thought 5D.was funny.Ideal for beginners or those who are pressed for time.
I enjoyed the emphasis this week on insertions and reversals, another fun QC from Picaroon. Thank you Shanne for another excellent blog.
Easier this week. Got everything apart from 5 and 12D. Still need to learn the shortcuts for certain flag words. Had to google group of nine for Nonet which is a new word for me.
Nice to have a Picaroon again albeit a quicky. Wonder why he’s not setting normal puzzles.
Rats @15 – Picaroon is setting around 4 Guardian crosswords a month: roughly monthly Cryptic puzzles, monthly Quiptic puzzles and around two Quick Cryptics a month (around 1/3 of those set) (see here), He’s also setting monthly puzzles as Rodriguez in the Independent and monthly as Buccaneer in the FT.
@16, James, who also sets puzzles for the Telegraph under the pseudonym Robyn, has been more active there recently. It has been five weeks since his last standard cryptic puzzle for the Guardian and even longer for the Prize puzzle, which was back in August.
Appreciate that Picaroon took the trouble to use a few of the tricks that we see in the Quiptic the next day – makes this beginner pleased to spot them!
Agree with schizophoenix@18, very helpful to be able apply the learning here to today’s Quiptic. Thanks for the excellent blog as always Shanne.
I’m the person who does the crossword on Sunday. I never look here until I’ve finished. This week I was much quicker but unsure if I understood all the clues. Well I did! First time for me that one! So Thankyou both. Very enjoyable
Mary@20, congratulations! It’s a lovely feeling. Cryptic crosswording is fun – and you’ll never see a quick/definitional/concise crossword in the same way again. I continue to promote the idea that a cryptic is just a consise with a built-in self-checking algorithm… albeit that more than 50% of the effort with cryptics is deciding what the definition is!
Very enjoyable – 5d especially good, and as a fan of anagrams I liked 7d too.
14a is a really good reminder for me as a newbie on how to break the clue down – got too hung up on ‘right’ as a possible reversal indicator, meaning I read the ‘thinner clothing’ as a confusing phrase rather than two separate words.
Enjoyable. Thanks Picaroon and Shanne
As an aside, I find Picaroon creates great surfaces for QC and cryptic puzzles. Not so much for his standard cryptics.
Oops – autocorrect played havoc with that. What I wanted to write was: …Picaroon creates great surfaces for QC and Quiptic puzzles. Not so much for his standard cryptics.
This one felt tough to me, I had a lot of trouble parsing the clues and there were some elements of terminology I didn’t know. I got there in the end, though.
Thank you.