Quick Cryptic 39 by Picaroon

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This is the thirty-ninth 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.  This puzzle can be found here.

Following a number of comments we now hide the answers and the wordplay descriptions too.   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.  (As of today, 3 January, we’re experimenting with an Expand All button to reveal all the solutions with one click, which I’m trying to break before going properly live in the blog tomorrow.)

This week we have a return of Picaroon to the Quick Cryptic, one of the two setters who have compiled most of these puzzles and sets puzzles at different levels.   Today we see anagrams and acrostics with all the letters present, double definitions and charades where the solver works out the words included.

There is a summary of the tricks used in the first six months here and a recent Guardian Crossword blog called the ultimate beginner’s guide 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 – adding later and some of these are split.
  • CAPITALS to indicate which bits are part of the answer, e.g. some haVE ALtered meat, Get A Good,
  • anagram *(SENATOR) shows letters in clue being used, see clue below.
  • anagrind the anagram indicator (arranged)
  • charades – 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, and early on DR (doctor) + IVE (I have) to give DRIVE .
  • 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/39 – 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:

  1. Anagram An anagram of the answer and a hint that there’s an anagram
    ‘Senator arranged crime (7)’ gives TREASON
  2. Charade A combination of synonyms
    ‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port)
  3. Double definition Both halves are definitions!
    ‘Search scrub (5)’ gives SCOUR
  4. Acrostic The first letters of the answer
    ‘Initially get a good joke (3)’ gives GAG

ACROSS
 Click on “details” to see the solutions
1
Footballer, one of the Reds (4-6)
LEFT-WINGER
double definition with the position in football for one, the second works because the Labour party uses red as their rosettes at elections and, theoretically, their policies are on the left.   This is one of many political references that come up in crossword puzzles regularly.
7
Friends’ triumphs when playing chess (5)
MATES
double definition –  referring to checkmate in chess and another word for friends
8
Firm underwear for venomous sort (5)
COBRA
charade of  CO (firm) + BRA (underwear) – co is short for company so a business firm and is a regular abbreviation.  BRA is another regular – often coming up referred to cups or a supporter
9
Golfing achievements for high-fliers (6)
EAGLE
double definition – an eagle in golf is a score of 2 under on a hole (and golf terminology is just one of the jargon from sport that comes up in crosswords all the time).
10
Ribald Conservative (4)
BLUE
double meaning –  a blue movie is ribald and, in UK politics, Conservatives wear blue rosettes and their logo and publicity uses blue. 
13
Starts off Jane Eyre emitting really derisive remark (4)
JEER
acrostic of (starts off) Jane Eyre Emitting Really  – with a surface referencing a book by Charlotte Bronte
14
Courage, or the source of Dutch courage (6)
BOTTLE
double meaning – lots of English slang meaning courage – and this is one of many originally coming from Cockney rhyming slang.  Dutch courage is the sort of courage given by alcohol.  
16
I carp dreadfully in Italian resort (5)
CAPRI
anagram of  (I CARP)* with anagrind of dreadfully for this resort.
18
Openings of shops that exhibit eye-watering prices – expensive! (5)
STEEP
acrostic (openings of) Shops That Exhibit Eye-watering Prices 
19
Run publicity by clergyman (10)
ADMINISTER
charade of AD (publicity – short for advert(isement)) + (by) MINISTER (clergyman).
DOWN
1 Feller to move clumsily with Jill’s partner (10)
LUMBERJACK
charade of  LUMBER (to move clumsily) + (with) JACK (Jill’s partner).   Jack and Jill went up the hill in a nursery rhyme.   Feller in the sense of tree-feller.
2
Weary from shivering fit with ague (7)
FATIGUE
anagram of (FIT (with) AGUE) with an anagrind of shivering.  Here the with is telling the solver to use FIT + AGUE for the anagram. 
3
Used to be that lady’s cleaner (6)
WASHER
charade of WAS (used to be) + HER (that lady’s) 
4
Kiss part of the body (4)
NECK
double definition – a discussion of how the kissing bit came about is here
5
Elizabeth Barrett Browning initially in decline (3)
EBB
acrostic of (initially) of Elizabeth Barrett Browning – with a surface referring to the life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the wife of Robert Browning, a Victorian poet, whose adult life was spent in failing health. 
6
Someone who looks after animals in match with goalie (10)
GAMEKEEPER
charade of  GAME (match) + (with) KEEPER (goalie) 
11
Most flexible thistle cultivated (7)
LITHEST
anagram of (THISTLE)* with anagrind of cultivated
12
Kind of tree a bison knocked over (6)
BONSAI
anagram of  (A BISON)*  with anagrind of knocked over
15
Fruit for an Antipodean (4)
KIWI
double definition of this fruit and UK slang for a New Zealander
17
Heads for peculiar and dark home (3)
PAD
acrostic of  (heads of)  Peculiar And Dark 

29 comments on “Quick Cryptic 39 by Picaroon”

  1. Thanks Shanne. That’s a very sobering link you’ve provided about Dutch courage.
    I liked LEFT-WINGER. At first I thought oh no, I’m going to have to look up UK football clubs or possibly red wines.
    There’s a lot of history about red associated with left-wing politics as per this interesting Wiki link.

    Another favourite today was FATIGUE where I had to think about the adjective weary in the clue, and the verb in the answer.

  2. As another Antipodean, just a comment about Kiwi (a Māori word). The kiwi was a flightless bird, endemic and totemic in New Zealand, and became a term to refer to New Zealand forces in WWI . Apparently the kiwi (fruit), aka Chinese gooseberry, introduced to NZ, was so named as it resembled the kiwi (bird), in colour and texture, at least on the outside.

  3. Not much to add to PM.

    I found this on the difficult side. I parsed all clues so I did not read the blog (too much work to click on all those links). At PM’s recommendation I read the link to Dutch courage and agree it is very sobering.

    Thanks Picaroon and Shanne

  4. Early struggles with the Across clues and I wondered if this was going to be the puzzle which left me foundering. But having seen a variant of LUMBERJACK in a recent Everyman that kickstarted the Downs.

    My live talkthrough available at … https://youtu.be/L3qQFcM9gKY … which hopefully highlights to those early in their cryptic journey that getting to a completion isn’t always straightforward. Provides some tips and tactics on how to approach solving.

    (Shanne – the description link in the puzzle needs updating as it states 38 and links to 37 !!)

  5. I found this the easiest Quick Cryptic that I’ve try. Admittedly I’ve been doing cryptic crosswords for 55 years off and on, every day for the last 5 years. I remember feeling chuffed if I solved 4 or 5 Auracaria clues. I only really do these as an ego boost and because I’ve recommended them to my children, I want to gauge the difficulty.
    The accessibility is pria good thing, they were getting harder, but that assumed that there were no newbies. There needs to be a progression, QQ, Quiptic then Monday Cryptic. This doesn’t mean setters should not challenge their solvers regularly, but need to bear in mind that not everyone joined the journey at the same time.

  6. Got muddled with 6d because I didn’t read all of the clue properly and so ended up with GOALKEEPER so that was my Doh! moment for this week’s QC when my wife pointed out my silliness. That in turn caused confusion with 10a. But got there in the end. Really liked COBRA and FATIGUE especially the split of words with FATIGUE. Thanks Picaroon and Shanne.

  8. An added little something from Picaroon. LEFT- WINGER is on the left side of the grid, and BLUE/Conservative/right-winger is on the right hand side.
    When moving on to themed crosswords, grid position can be significant and something to look out for.

  9. Apologies HG @5 – I forgot to check that one.

    Admin @8 – lol, half done, the words on top, not the link. I’ve done the rest. I was logging in to a laptop to sort that out, having wimped out on doing it on my phone and getting sidetracked with an email for another hat that arrived at 4:50am! UK time. I blogged this crossword once on a phone, and not in this format. Never again!

    nicbach @6 – several new tricks today that we haven’t seen before in the Quick Cryptics, the colours for politics in the UK (it’s not the same in the USA) are new, for example.

    thecronester @7 – I filled in the keeper of GAMEKEEPER early and came back to the GAME. Personally I am unconvinced that gamekeepers, in the UK at least, look after animals. It rather depends on which animals. I’ve come across gamekeeper gibbets (warning on that link) and don’t immediately think of gamekeepers as looking after most animals and birds.

  10. Found this very doable and enjoyable – completed and fully parsed. I might stick to the Quick Cryptics and Quiptics for a while after dismal failures on the regular cryptics recently. I think I’ve been trying to run before I can walk!

  11. I found this fairly straightforward, with the usual references to sport, politics and religion. I thought the answer to 1A was a player’s name at first, but eventually realised it was a position. Tried to fit ‘zoo’ into 6D – took a while to realise it was ‘game’! Favourites were COBRA & PAD. A Saturday highlight.

    Thanks for the informative blog Shanne.

  13. Sorry to go off topic, but does anyone have a link to a Guardian prize cryptic puzzle for 28th December? The link on the puzzles page still goes to last week’s. I think the number should be 29577. Thanks.

  16. Ague is an unusual word these days. I was vaguely plagued by thoughts of Hague, a blue politician. GAMEKEEPER held me up a bit , as I don’t tend to think of them as looking after animals (perhaps in a euphemistic sense Shanne @10!) and for some reason I missed the obvious match of “match” to “game” for some time.

  17. AP @13 – I found that bottle had changed meaning interesting too when I was looking at links to the this, but decided not to complicate things, but I agree, fascinating the changes. Somewhere else this week, I read a quotation that was initially being attributed to St John of the Cross (1500s), then St John Climacus (6th – 7th century) – all across the internet that one – and, when really pushing through AI search engines, was eventually tracked down to the Metropolitan Kallistos Ware in a book published in 1979.

    (It’s been Christmas this week: I’m hoping for quiet time in front of a computer over the next week for buttons that change)

  18. Managed to complete, sometimes with a bit of help from letters from other clues. Also parsed everything so was pleased with my achievement today.
    Now I’m hoping to do the whole of Everyman before the answers are published tomorrow. Have had no time this last week so happy to spend a quiet day today
    Found the Dutch courage link fascinating – thank you. Although couldn’t face opening the gamekeepers gibbet link. Being a birdwatcher I’m sadly very aware of how some grouse moors are “ managed”.

  19. I wasn’t quite able to finish this – managed it all except for 14a and 19a. A reveal showed me that I absolutely should have got them though. I share the same quibble about GAMEKEEPER, but it didn’t prevent me from getting it.

    Very interesting link about the meaning of the word BOTTLE, AP@13.

    Thanks Shanne and Picaroon.

  20. Amma@11: I think you should, at least , try the Monday Cryptic as well. In my early days of doing cryptics, i would solve with friends who bought the Telegraph because it was the easiest, but I bought the Guardian for the news and comments, so I plugged along with that, sometimes not getting a single clue, but very occasionally filling, it almost filling, the grid. After that I did the farmers guardian crossword every week, bot the greatest but not the worst and these days I can tackle Paul, with a little bit of help, some would say cheating, but in the end it’s me v the setter and the only person I can let down is myself

  21. Managed to finish this one a bit quicker than last week. Started with the acrostics then worked from there. I got the second part of 6D quickly – took a bit longer to fill in the first bit. Liked 1A and 8A. 19A made me smile too (once I worked it out)

  22. Amma@11. From your comments on the cryptics you’ve been doing very well. Don’t get disillusioned by a couple which have been challenging, and sometimes it’s a wavelength thing. All good experience getting used to different setters. I’ve admired your pluck and skill, and the best thing is your enjoyment, which will take you far. But you can also confidently state if you don’t enjoy a puzzle. Everyone else does! 🙂

  23. paddymelon@23. Thanks for your kind comments and encouragement. Although I become impatient with myself when I don’t find the answer and, even worse, when I can’t see the parsing until I come on here, it has given me a good deal of (unexpected) pleasure to have a go. I’ll steer clear though of anything with sandwiches!

  24. [Amma@24. I often avoid puzzles when I see the name of the setter who put the sandwiches together, or have a go and then wished I hadn’t. At other times I’ve enjoyed one. The most polarising setter, from my experience, but then he’s been one of the Guardian’s most prolific setters for years.

    What fascinates me, from a solving point of view, not just personal taste, is how people’s responses vary so widely. I think it’s just something about how are brains are wired, what we connect with, and what we don’t. )

  25. Paddymelon@9 that’s a really helpful bit of information about positioning in the grid. Thanks. I think I was a lot faster and a bit more confident today. It took me ages to get left winger, and I had gatekeeper instead of gamekeeper ( thinking of zoo instead of estate) and Blue totally stumped me. Thanks for the explanations and of course the setting!

  26. Thought there was a bit more challenge this week, but still perfectly appropriate for the brief. My wife, who has only been doing these for a few weeks, found it quite tricky.

    Didn’t we have the exact same Kiwi clue a week or so ago? Maybe I’m imagining it.

  27. Most enjoyable as usual. Foxed myself for a while by inserting “peck” at 4 down as an alternative synonym for kiss and thinking of the muscles “pecs” (I associate “neck” more with what one does to a beer when thirsty!) Many thanks again Shanne.

  28. Monkey@17. LOL. Loved your riffing on -gue. Can’t argue or harangue you with anything you’ve said.. 🙂

  29. Maybe it’s a sign of being less afraid of making mistakes but got myself a bit stuck with 14a as I’d gone with Spirit (courage and thinking of dutch Genever) and also match instead of mates. Gamekeeper amused me!

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