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This week’s 11 x 11 crossword from the Guardian, intended to teach cryptic crosswords, found here
This is the 54th Quick Cryptic, an initiative that’s now been running more than a year. It’s Chandler’s seventh Quick Cryptic, but he’s a regular setter of the Quiptic puzzles. Today we have some nice surfaces with clue types of anagrams, acrostics and hidden reversals all with all the letters present in the clue, just decapitations that need synonyms finding before the clue can be solved. All clues we have met before in this series, albeit twice before for the hidden reversals and decapitations.
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”.
- decapitations – the missing letter is shown in lower case – so in the example below tALE
- reversals are shown by the < symbol – so in the example below, vieTNAm <
- 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:
- 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 - Hidden reversal Answer defined and hidden backwards
‘Insect returns in VieTNAm (3)’ gives ANT - Decapitation Answer is another word without first letter
‘Beer in story without intro (3)’ gives tALE
| ACROSS | Click on “Answer” to see the solutions | |
| 1 |
Single copy missing header (4)
|
AnswerLONE |
Parsingdecapitation (missing header) of cLONE (copy) as in genetic cloning. |
||
| 3 |
Pressures initially ignored for coaches (6)
|
AnswerTRAINS |
Parsingdecapitation (initially ignored) of sTRAINS (pressures) |
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| 8 |
Seaman, I suspect, has loss of memory (7)
|
AnswerAMNESIA |
Parsinganagram of (SEAMAN I)* with anagrind of “suspect” |
||
| 9 |
First signs of this official noticing heavy weight (3)
|
AnswerTON |
Parsingacrostic (first signs of) This Official Noticing |
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| 10 |
Other fuss provoked quick temper (5,4)
|
AnswerSHORT FUSE |
Parsinganagram of (OTHER FUSS)* with anagrind “provoked”, and a definition by example (perhaps) an idiom that conjures up images of explosions, with a discussion about its origins here |
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| 12 |
Place a pin differently in piece of equipment (9)
|
AnswerAPPLIANCE |
Parsinganagram of (PLACE A PIN)* with anagrind of “differently” and one of the nice surfaces mentioned in the introduction – a clue that makes sense and isn’t the sort of English that could only be found in cryptic crosswords. |
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| 14 |
Sticky stuff too ghastly to come back? Not entirely! (3)
|
AnswerGOO |
Parsinghidden reversal (to come back? Not entirely) in tOO Ghastly < – for a word that came up in a clue last week. Because I was interested to find out how such an onomatapoeic word had come about, here’s Wiktionary on the origins |
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| 15 |
Divested of clothes, scratching head, made a stumble (7)
|
AnswerTRiPPED |
Parsingdecapitation (scratching head) of sTRIPPED (divested of clothes) |
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| 17 |
Fears wild adders (6)
|
AnswerDREADS |
Parsinganagram of (ADDERS)* with anagrind of “wild” – for another good surface – adders being the only venomous native British snake (we have a few others, but they aren’t venomous). |
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| 18 |
Periods in dangerous areas after turning (4)
|
AnswerERAS |
Parsinghidden reversal (in … after turning) in dangerouS AREas < with a split indicator, as we’ve sometimes seen before in this series and regularly see in the full fat cryptics. It’s more likely with a clue like this, where there are two steps to decoding the instructions. |
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|
DOWN
|
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| 1 | Be first to make an emotional appeal after losing head (4) |
AnswerLEAD |
Parsingdecapitation (after losing head) of pLEAD (to make an emotional appeal) |
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| 2 |
Sister starts to notice unkempt niece (3)
|
AnswerNUN |
Parsingacrostic (starts to) Notice Ukempt Niece for a religious sister |
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| 4 |
Nine alerts disrupted racket sport (4,6)
|
AnswerREAL TENNIS |
Parsinganagram of (NINE ALERTS)* with anagrind of “disrupted”, for the game played by Henry V and more famously Henry VIII – for more about the sport and the UK’s oldest court, see here. I’ve never seen real tennis in action but I’ve seen it clued a lot in cryptic crosswords. |
||
| 5 |
Encroach primarily in new territory reached under duress exceptionally (7)
|
AnswerINTRUDE |
Parsingacrostic (primarily) In New Territory Reached Under Duress Exceptionally – conjuring up several current political situations. |
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| 6 |
Tenor, maybe, reigns in a new guise (6)
|
AnswerSINGER |
Parsinganagram of (REIGNS)* with anagrind of “in a new guise” with maybe in the clue indicating a definition by example: a tenor is one possible singer. Singer often gets used to describe birds, as well as specific singers (the crossword staple is Cher for the useful letter cluster). |
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| 7 |
Ideas a Scot developed are linked (10)
|
AnswerASSOCIATED |
Parsinganagram of (IDEAS A SCOT)* with anagrind of “developed” to give ASSOCIATED |
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| 10 |
Assume Pop uses liquid (7)
|
AnswerSUPPOSE |
Parsinganagram of (POP USES)* with anagrind of “liquid” |
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| 11 |
Trailed leader leaving in tatty clothes (6)
|
AnswerRAGGED |
Parsingdecapitation (leader leaving) of dRAGGED (trailed) – the children dragged/trailed desultorily after their mother, bored and annoying (it’s the Easter holidays here) |
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| 13 |
Poetic works, things to be deciphered without introduction (4)
|
AnswerODES |
Parsingdecapitation (without introduction) of cODES (things to be deciphered) |
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| 16 |
Normal robber, apparently – after reflection – hides (3)
|
AnswerPAR |
Parsinghidden reversal (after reflection – hides) robbeR APperently – in golf the normal/par shots expected to complete a hole depends on the difficulty of the course |
Nice puzzle with consistently interesting surfaces.
For me, it was confirmation that deletion clues are difficult
Thanks Chandler and Shanne
The decapitation clues were tricky.
Are trailed / dragged the same? Once I got RAGGED, I thought the word was dragged but couldn’t link it to trailed. TRAINS was LOI but that was me being slow
Thanks Chandler and Shanne!
For me the decapitation clues were hardest and I alternated between trying to find an appropriate word to add a letter to/take a letter from until finally hitting on something that worked. In contrast, the other clue types today have the letters you need for the answer within the clue – very comforting. Thank you Shanne for another great blog, I have learnt so much from doing these puzzles with you over the last year and a bit. The main cryptic is no longer completely beyond me now. Thanks to Chandler too for the puzzle.
Lovely little puzzle from Chandler. The 1s with decapitations were a little bit nasty to introduce it but came back to those at the end to finish off a tidy solve.
My talk through solve is available from https://youtu.be/YNPVb8jBmL8 which gives tips and tactics on how to approach the puzzle. Hope it’s useful for anyone looking for hints.
Very enjoyable puzzle.
Enjoyable puzzle but as others have mentioned the decapitation clues were the trickiest. I needed some crossers to help.
@Shanne: once saw a demonstration match of real tennis at Hampton Court. It was an interesting watch with the ball coming off the different walls and roof elements of the court. Still don’t understand how the different lines on the court work though 😄
Thanks Chandler for the puzzle and Shanne for the blog page.
Thanks so much- I was so puzzled by 16d as I had found the answer another way but couldn’t make the parsing work.
Having worked through the first year of Quick Cryptics in recent weeks I am finally in a position to contribute to these posts.
First off thanks Shanne for your efforts over the past 12 months. These detailed explanations have been an invaluable resource.
This week’s puzzle was probably the most enjoyable of them all. It felt like I was able to complete at a reasonable pace without it feeling like too much of battle.
Next goal is to be able to do the same for the Quick Cryptics but currently I’m only able to get through about a quarter. It’s a quarter more than I could do 2 months ago.
Found it relatively straightforward to parse the decapitation clues given the headsup but very much relied on the crossers to figure out the answers.
Good puzzle – I found this a little easier than the last few Quick Cryptics. I like the decapitation clues but find the hidden reversals harder to spot; the split indicator in 18a would probably pass me by in a regular cryptic. Useful to have the practice.
We really struggled parsing the “hides” bit of 16D even though we knew the answer. Sometimes things just don’t click!
Hard to disagree with any of the above. A very nice puzzle, which I found tricky to start but amenable once I had a few crossers.
Excellent blog, as always Shanne
Nice puzzle, not that difficult. Over too soon!
Thanks, Chandler and Shanne
As a complete novice just over a year ago, I’ve done every one of these Quick Cryptics since the beginning and thoroughly enjoy them. I’ve come such a long way. But I’m still a million miles from being able to make a decent job of tackling the main Guardian daily cryptic. What would be the most effective way of us all getting together to try to persuade the paper to publish a Quick Cryptic more often – perhaps twice a week to start?
FrankT@13 I would also appreciate more Quick Cryptics. They (and Shanne’s blog) have helped me enormously.
Agree that spotting dragged=trailed was tough; I’d wondered if ‘ ragged’ might have been a synonym (and this held be up in the bottom left, as the definition was a little ambiguous on the parts of speech wanted in the answer.)
But this was almost an ideal Quick Cryptic – acrostics almost guarantee you can get into it, the anagrams help fill it out, and then the decapitations means you have a bit of a stretch at the end.
Only (very minor) quibble – having the first clues all as decapitations may make it seem much harder than it needed to.
But this was fantastic – very good job, Chandler. And thanks, as always to Shanne.
Just thinking out loud, but would it maybe be helpful if the Quiptics were blogged in a way that hid the answers like this, but actually allowed you to just see the clue ‘type’ without any parsing/answer etc? Maybe that would help the step-up a little? As it’s quite a leap to go from knowing the clue types to expect to having no idea and all possible clue types to contend with…?
Guinevere @16 – to get these blogs looking like this means I write them in code, no keyboard shortcuts other than copying and pasting (the instructions and clues from the Guardian website, and the bits of code I don’t now type as I go. And the way the new Guardian site copies and pastes doubles up, so it needs editing before I can use the clues). I can’t use the WordPress helpful screens and shortcuts without recoding everything at the end, because this level of coding means WordPress undoes it to protect the system. It’s quicker to type in code.
The way I produce the Quiptic on my turn on the rota, once every four weeks, (or if I cover the Cryptic) is by using a nifty program, often called the utility, that extracts all the information from the Guardian website, loads into a very user friendly grid that means I type in the answer and parsing and everything appears for the blog, with buttons to add italics, bold and all the rest.
It takes me about 1 and a half to 2 hours to write this blog. It takes me 30 minutes to an hour to write the Quiptic (or cover the Cryptic) depending on any problems with parsing, finding extra information, and the rest – assuming I’ve already solved the puzzle. We’re on a rota for the Quiptic. I’m not sure we’d have a rota if we asked everyone to code from scratch.
Absolutely fair enough and totally respect the amount of work that goes in to this, thank you!
May not be one for 225 but perhaps even just a primitive list of the clue numbers and types might help people on their way – but not meaning to put any extra expectation on the fantastic bloggers here, just wondering if it was something that might be found helpful to learners:-)
Gosh Shanne. I’ve always appreciated your blogs and comments but now even more so. I hope you realise just how much you’ve helped us beginners and can take real pride in the support you give.
Thank you !
I forgot that charades weren’t on today’s list, and spent ages trying to make 8a be something beginning with AB… Agreed that decapitations are difficult – I can never think of the word that needs beheading.
The Real Tennis court at Hampton Court is still in use, and you can wander in and watch whoever is playing. I don’t do it much these days, because the gardens are now behind a tall Historic Royal Palaces paywall, and us locals can no longer enjoy them for free as we could in my younger days.
FrankT @13 If there were to be more Quick Cryptics, you would still remain a million miles from being able to tackle successfully a midweek Cryptic. The next step to progress involves leaving your comfort zone and learning more through a mixture of bamboozlement, success and failure. I learnt crosswords back in the 1990s, when there were no entry-level online offerings and my work prevented me from addressing anything except the Saturday Prize. This was more often than not by Araucaria. I cracked it maybe half the time, sometimes over two days, cut it out and sent it in, but it was only by having wrestled with clues then which were on the fringes of my capabilities that I found, when I came back to the dark art around five years ago, that regular daily Cryptics and almost all Prizes were well within my capabilities.
How is “goo” onomatopoeic though – it’s not like it generally makes any sounds? “gloop” is definitely an onomatopoeic word though, and I can imagine a port of goo on a stove going “gloop”…
Like FrankT @13 I’ve completed all the Quick Cryptic crosswords, since their inception. I ‘feel’ I’m getting better at them. But I sometimes look at the Cryptic Crossword in The Independent and even once I’ve revealed the answers, I still have no idea most of the time, how they have been arrived at! So I’ll stick to the Quick Cryptic ones for now.
Mel and FrankT, try today’s Quiptic – it’s by Chandler again, so some similar tricks to this one.
Thank you so much for your tips explanations and especially your encouragement. Previous attempts at a cryptic have left me bemused. Enjoyed and completed this weeks in record time for me. Looking forward to next Saturday.
Wow. First time I have felt confident and understood all the answers bar one-1D ( I had LEAP – thought it was a reversal)
Maybe this process is working!!!
Thanks Shanne and Chandler
So… where to go for similarly pitched cryptics? Full fat ones still leaving me mostly mystified and somewhat frustrated.
Trevor Coultart @27 – if you click on the link to the 6 months summary – under the more help drop down – we did our best to summarise alternatives. Sadly, since then Picaroon has moved to pastures new and can no longer set for the Guardian, but most of the other suggestions still stand.
Thanks, but excuse my ignorance here – can’t find the 6 month summary (or indeed the ‘more help’ drop down)?
Sorry Trevor – in the blog there is a little arrow that says “For additional help, click here”, and when you do there are a couple of links, one to a Guardian blog beginner’s guide and this link to the summary I did of the first 6 months, here – in the comments on that blog there are suggestions for other places to go.
I do also have a draft part built for another blog for the second six months set up, but no-one sounded as if they wanted it, so I didn’t get further than the first chunk of drafting.
I hope that helps.
Great, thanks, I’ll take proper look at that. Having exhausted the Quicks (well, not looked at today’s yet!) I had a go at the recent Quiptics, but they do seem a big jump. I feel luck to get three or four on first pass.