Quick Cryptic 53 by Ludwig

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This week’s 11 x 11 crossword from the Guardian, intended to teach cryptic crosswords, found here

This is the 53rd Quick Cryptic – the first a year ago, in early April last year. It’s Ludwig’s fourth Quick Cryptic. Today we have anagrams, hidden clues and something similar to acrostics, but using the end of the words in the clue – all with all the letters present in the clue, plus charades which need synonyms finding before the clue can be solved.

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 blog continues to develop in response to suggestions. We hide the answers and the wordplay descriptions (parsing) too.   To find the solution click on “Answer” and to find how the word play works, click on “Parsing” which will reveal the hidden information. You can choose to reveal everything using the “Expand All” button. If you have partially revealed the page, refreshing it will clear that, and allow you to expand all. The definition is in bold and underlined, the indicator is in red.

For additional help click here

There is a summary of the tricks used in the first six months here and a Guardian Crossword blog called the ultimate beginner’s guide has tips which may be useful for some solvers

For abbreviations and clue tips click 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
  • indicators are in red.
  • CAPITALS to indicate which bits are part of the answer, e.g. (SENATOR)* for the anagram, haVE ALtered meat for the hidden clue
  • Anagrams – letters used are shown in brackets with an asterisk – so (SENATOR)* becomes TREASON
  • Anagram indicator / anagrind – in this case it’s “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. These are rare.
  • 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 here – because the clues have moved on from the clue descriptions below, I am now adding more to the descriptions hidden 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. Hidden word Answer is hidden in the clue’s words
    ‘Some have altered meat (4)’ gives VEAL
  3. Charade A combination of synonyms
    ‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port)
  4. Last letters Final letters give answer
    ‘Finally pulL thE ruG showing limb (3)’ gives LEG

ACROSS Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1
Waterfowl’s sitting – and ermine’s wanting a piece (6)
Answer

GANDER
Parsing

hidden (wanting a piece) in sittinG – AND ERmine’s

for the male goose, but also can mean a look (to take a gander).
4
Oily types taking a ‘Pope – Catholic?’ bit (1,1,1,1)
Answer

OPEC
Parsing

hidden (taking a … bit) of pOPE – Catholic for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. As OPEC is an acronym, I thought it could be indicated by (4), not (1,1,1,1). It’s because it can be pronounced as a word, like NATO.
7
Japanese theatre, ultimately down to earth (3)
Answer

NOH
Parsing

final letters of (ultimately) + (shown by) dowN tO eartH. The Japanese theatre turns up a lot in cryptic crosswords and can be spelt NO or NOH
8
Italian port that – after I made tracks – caught fire finally (7)
Answer

TRIESTE
Parsing

final letters of (finally) thaT afteR I madE trackS caughT firE
10
Bummer: I played Ozzy Osbourne, perhaps (7)
Answer

BRUMMIE
Parsing

anagram of (BUMMER I)* with anagrind “played”, and a definition by example (perhaps) in naming Ozzy Osbourne who is an example of a BRUMMIE, someone from Birmingham.

BRUMMIE comes from the earlier name of Birmingham – Brummagem, at that time a small village, with much larger places around – all of which gives me an earworm of this
11
Mia deficient in aspect of darts (3)
Answer

AIM
Parsing

anagram of (MIA)* with anagrind of “deficient” and a cryptic definition – the AIM of the darts’ player is definitely an aspect of the game.
13
Mark, in conclusion, laid to rest (3)
Answer

DOT
Parsing

final letters (in conclusion) of laiD tO resT
15
Roads’ goo gets darker: they’re designed in Scotland (7)
Answer

TARTANS
Parsing

charade of TAR (roads’ goo) + TANS (gets darker) – for a traditional patterned woven wool cloth mainly from Scotland, but not just, with a lot baggage, mostly dating to the salesmen’s pitches of the mid-nineteenth century (see here)
17
The crossword setter’s old news, leading to deadlock (7)
Answer

IMPASSE
Parsing

charade of I’M (the crossword setter’s) PASSÉ (old news) – not sure whether the “leading to” is part of the definition as an IMPASSE does lead to deadlock, or an extended joining phrase between the wordplay and definition.
18
Caterpillar, a little unhealthy (3)
Answer

ILL
Parsing

hidden (a little ) in caterpILLar
19
Yaps about rewards (4)
Answer

PAYS
Parsing

anagram of (YAPS)* with anagrind of “about”
20
Saint travelled by horseback – then walked (6)
Answer

STRODE
Parsing

charade of ST (saint – abbreviation, one of several for saints) + RODE (travelled by horseback) to give ST RODE.
DOWN
1 Rotten bondage toppled (4,3)
Answer

GONE BAD
Parsing

anagram of (BONDAGE)* with anagrind of “toppled”.
2
Indian leader again came forth for you in the end (5)
Answer

NEHRU
Parsing

final letters of (in the end) agaiN camE fortH foR yoU for the first Prime Minister of an independent India after British Rule and Partition – more here
3
Guesses, making some protest, I’m a Tesla-driver (9)
Answer

ESTIMATES
Parsing

hidden in (some) protEST I’M A TESla-driver – which amused me as a surface as there’s a lot in the news currently about protests against Tesla and owners finding driving their cars embarrassing, but not in a position to sell them as they’ve lost so much value.
5
Dad’s thanks for carbs (5)
Answer

PASTA
Parsing

charade of PA’S (Dad’s) + TA (thanks) for PASTA, a form of carbohydrates in food, often referred to as carbs.
6
English sports figure in finals magic to observe (3)
Answer

COE
Parsing

final letters (in finals) of magiC tO observE – for Seb (Sebastian) COE, the middle distance runner, who won several Olympic medals and has recently been in the news for failing to be elected as the new president of the International Olympics Committee, after a career of working in sports management.
9
Demolished tanneries – not joking! (2,7)
Answer

IN EARNEST
Parsing

anagram of (TANNERIES)* with anagrind of “demolished” to give IN EARNEST.
12
Runner Farah’s with Frenchwoman getting white wine (7)
Answer

MOSELLE
Parsing

charade of MO’S (runner Farah’s – for the Olympic runner) + ELLE (Frenchwoman – literally she/her in French) for this white wine
14
Anti-psychological to an extent, having had a drink (5)
Answer

TIPSY
Parsing

hidden (to an extent) in anTI-PSYchological
16
Final stages of drama: William III insulting to Spanish friend (5)
Answer

AMIGO
Parsing

final letters (final stages of) dramA WilliaM III insultinG tO
17
Mischief-maker. Pimply? Somewhat (3)
Answer

IMP
Parsing

hidden in (somewhat) pIMPly for something I think we’ve seen before from this setter.

 

 

27 comments on “Quick Cryptic 53 by Ludwig”

  1. I’d never have got BRUMMIE had Eileen not educated me just a few days ago. Thanks again, Eileen!

  2. Thanks Shanne. Couldn’t bring up the earworm in your blog on BRUMMIE.

    ”Oily types” was a nicely disguised definition.

    I’m not keen on how Ludwig and Everyman use ”wanting”. In Everyman it’s often the linkword/pointer to the clue. Here in GANDER it’s stranger still. Often I find it counter-intuitive. On first reading ‘wanting a’ led me to think there was an ”a” missing. It’s more than misdirection or my misreading. He has a particular sense of ‘wanting’ which is unfamiliar to me.

  3. Shanne, your parsing for 1a is not properly hidden. I would fix it for you but my sleepy brain and editing on phone screen might make more of a mess.

  7. Enjoyed that, quick and fun. I think I the “wanting a piece” works – to take a gander; I want a piece of that.

  8. I don’t understand “wanting a piece “ either. As the instructions mentioned hiddens I looked for them, otherwise, I’d have floundered.
    Cheers Ludwig and Shanne

  10. I must admit I had the same reservation about 1a as pm@2. Otherwise I enjoyed this with some nice surfaces and cleverly hidden word clues

    Thanks Ludwig and Shanne

  12. Enjoyed the introduction of the ‘last letters’ type. Overall favourite was MOSELLE but had a chuckle seeing an Ozzy reference. My LOI was 15a which like Muffin@11 I initially mis-parsed as TARMACS as I mis-understood what the definition was. Thanks Shanne for the blog, clear and detailed as always, and thanks to Ludwig for the early Saturday puzzle.

  15. [I looked up tarmacadam. It was an improvement on the bedded stone invented by Macadam, but the inventor of the improvement (using tar to bind it) was in fact Welsh!]

  16. Can I be added to the tarmacs for 15A list please? It felt all wrong when I wrote it in but I thought it must be me not being able to work out how it parsed so went ahead anyway. Clicked the ‘Check All’, swore and then sat and thought about it some more and the second part was rather more obvious.
    The only other one that I couldn’t parse was 12D, had MO in place but then couldn’t figure out the second part even after working out the answer. Again it was very obvious once I had checked here but at the time it was as clear as mud.
    Still a good learning experience as ever.

  17. 1A is perhaps a rare example of me underthinking something, as I got it immediately and struggle to understand the problem that others have (had) with it. Maybe it just reflects that I’m not long enough / good enough at this cryptic crosswords thing so was oblivious to any problems!

    Overall, I enjoyed this one – got c.80% on first parse then the added crossers helped me get the rest on a second run through. I also admit to initially putting tarmacs for 15A but maybe there’s another reason for that!

    Thanks, Ludwig and Shanne.

  18. For all those who had TARMACS, you can see from my slightly sarcastic blog comment on that one that I wasn’t entirely convinced by the definition. (Clan TARTANS, as you can see from the link, are a mostly Victorian salesman’s trick, along with Victoria and Albert’s obsession with Balmoral, Scottish castles and deer stalking, helped by Sir Walter Scott. There’s very little evidence that those tartans ever existed, although a couple of regiments do have earlier documented patterns, including the Gordons. There’s also a large Scots diaspora – to Africa, India, Canada, New Zealand and tartans are made in many of those regions.)

  19. I found this much more gentle than the last few weeks. The only one I couldn’t get was 12d as I’d never heard of the wine and I parsed the clue as MO + Frenchwoman, instead of MOS. Got it after using the check tool though.

    Thanks Shanne and Ludwig

  20. I’m another that’s ok with wanting being used as a joining word: that wall wants knocking down = needs knocking down.

    I spent way too long thinking that “Selle” isn’t a French name or relevant word (apparently it means saddle, or commode/the results of a visit to one).

  21. I’m joining the crowd who put TARMACS. Fortunately it didn’t affect the other words. I didn’t get 4A so got 6D wrong too, but i enjoyed the fun in 20A and 12D. Thanks both. I’m definitely improving….

  22. Brummagem is a slang term used (mainly by brummies) for Birmingham. It was never the name of the town: the earliest name seems to have been ‘Beormingahām’ in Anglo Saxon times, becoming ‘Bermingeham’ in the Domesday Book and seems to have settled on its modern form by mid 12th century.

  23. Jeff Taylor @22 – Wikipedia disagrees with you on Brummagem. I heard that it was an old name for Birmingham from John Wilks, the performer in the YouTube link, who was a journalist, now a folk singer, who has researched the city and folk literature for an album of songs about the City.

  24. Intriguing how many went for TARMACS – so did I! I liked the charades in this one, too.

    Re: Birmingham origins – West Bromwich was supposedly a result of being west of Bromwicham, which was later corrupted to Brummagem.

  25. I was another who went for ‘tarmacs’ though I wasn’t happy with it. I feel the criticism of the clue is a wee bit harsh. It doesn’t say “exclusively designed in Scotland” or make any claims about tartan’s historical origins!

  26. I loved this one! I missed the week before’s and so particularly relished it. I didn’t get 4A, 15A or 12D but actually smiled with delight at 5D and 20A. A year on and I can finally say I have an inkling into cryptic crosswords. Thank you!

  27. Hi, newbie here. Well, new commenter. Have been working through the Quick Cryptics from number 1 over the last few weeks with varying degrees of success. As a newcomer to cryptic they’ve been a great introduction, though some of the comments I’ve read on here make me nervous to approach a “proper” one as some of these have still felt tricky.

    This was definitely one of my best yet, got all but a couple.

    But mainly wanted to say huge thanks to all involved in this excellent resource!

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