Quick Cryptic 55 by Dice

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

This is the 55th Quick Cryptic, an initiative that’s now been running more than a year. Dice is not a setter I recognise from either the Quick Cryptics or the usual Guardian crosswords. Today we have some nice surfaces with clue types of hidden and acrostics with all the letters present in the clue, with insertions and soundalikes that need synonyms finding before the clue can be solved. All clues we have met before in this series, but there’s a new introduction to this puzzle – a theme – with the grid at the bottom shaded to show the theme words.

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
  • Soundalikes are shown by “Wilde” – in the clue below Oscar Wilde sounds like WILD, the answer.
  • Insertion – in the clue below R (republican – in US politics) is inserted in PO (post office)
  • 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. Hidden word Answer is hidden in the clue’s words
    ‘Some haVE ALtered meat (4)’ gives VEAL
  2. Soundalike Something that sounds like the answer
    ‘Excited as Oscar’s announced (4)’ gives WILD
  3. Acrostic The first letters of the answer
    ‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG
  4. Insertion One thing inside another makes the answer
    ‘In favour of republican entering Post Office (3)’ gives PRO

ACROSS Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1
Holiday in overseas territory (6)
Answer

EASTER
Parsing

hidden (in) oversEAS TERritory – for the first of the themed entries.
4
Cut of lamb unsuitable for sweet rolls (4)
Answer

BUNS
Parsing

hidden in (cut of) of lamB UNSuitable – and this is also a themed entry as it goes with the HOT and CROSS elsewhere on the grid.
8
Confirm taking on English Iron Man, among others (7)
Answer

AVENGER
Parsing

Insertion (taking on): AVER (confirm) with an insertion of (taking on) ENG (English – one of many abbreviations) to give AV ENG ER – Iron Man is a definition by example, hence the “among others” as one of the Avengers.

9
Popular starters of halloumi or tapas (3)
Answer

HOT
Parsing

acrostic (starters of) Halloumi Or Tapas – for another themed entry to go with the BUNS and make HOT CROSS BUNS
10
The French nurses provided vitality (4)
Answer

LIFE
Parsing

insertion (nurses) – LE (the French – so the in French) around (nurses) IF (provided) – for another Easter themed word. IF/provided my ship comes in, I’ll be rich – a really common bit of crosswordese.
12
Dried fruit is squashed by fall (6)
Answer

RAISIN
Parsing

insertion of (squashed by) IS (from the clue) inserted into (squashed by) RAIN (fall) = RA IS IN
14
Followed flawless broadcast (6)
Answer

CHASED
Parsing

soundalike of “chaste” (flawless) to give CHASED (followed)
15
Coloured section of Dandy edition (4)
Answer

DYED
Parsing

hidden in (section of) danDY EDition – and as we have EGGS as another answer, this too could be a theme word – DYED EGGS
18
Tips from overtly unscrupulous touts exposed (3)
Answer

OUT
Parsing

acrostic of (tips from) Overtly Unscrupulous Touts
19
Fine roses expire easily – shelter is advantageous at first flower (7)
Answer

FREESIA
Parsing

acrostic (at first) of Fine Roses Expire Easily Shelter Is Advantageous

21
Team moaned audibly (4)
Answer

SIDE
Parsing

soundalike (audibly) “sighed” (moaned)
22
A number in school stink (6)
Answer

STENCH
Parsing

insertion of (in) TEN (a number) inserted into (in) SCH (abbreviation for school – from maps) to give S TEN CH
DOWN
1 Modern technology found in cinema illegally (5) (4)
Answer

EMAIL
Parsing

hidden (found in) cinEMA ILlegally
2
Witness letter being dictated (3)
Answer

SEE
Parsing

soundalike (being dictated) of “cee”, the letter C – and SEE

3
Elon’s getting grief seemingly, principally issues from Tweeters (4)
Answer

EGGS
Parsing

acrostic (principally) of Elon’s Getting Grief Seemingly – with a reference to Twitter / X to try and mislead and an indirect definition – for another themed answer
5
Cunha’s typically running around taking his time (7)
Answer

UNHASTY
Parsing

hidden (running around – not a hidden indicator I’ve met before) CUNHAS TYpically – Cunha is a Brazilian footballer, currently there’s speculation about him playing for Manchester United instead of Wolves.
6
The enemy personifies a tangerine, to some extent (5)
Answer

SATAN
Parsing

hidden (to some extent) in personifieS A TANgerine – depending on interpretation, this could also be a theme word (the old Mummers plays have Satan appearing)
7
Money brought up in audition (5)
Answer

BREAD
Parsing

soundalike (in audition) of “bred” (brought up) for BREAD – which is a slang English word for money (no wine, so I’m not sure if this is a theme word, would tie into Maundy Thursday services).

11
European aboard hadn’t eaten, ate everything (7)
Answer

FEASTED
Parsing

insertion (aboard) E (European) inserted into (aboard) FASTED (hadn’t eaten) to get FEASTED (ate everything). Do we count FEASTED as an Easter theme word?
13
Hefty bouncers endure education for years to begin with (5)
Answer

BEEFY
Parsing

acrostic (to begin with) of Bouncers Endure Education For Years
14
Primarily comprises rum, orange syrup, soda mixture (5)
Answer

CROSS
Parsing

acrostic (primarily) of Comprises Rum Orange Syrup, Soda – for another Easter theme word – either for the HOT CROSS BUNS or the Good Friday crucifixion that is what gives the buns the cross. – and I meant to add this last night – a mule is a cross/hybrid/mixture of a horse and donkey
16
Demise sealed by ineptitude at Harrods (5)
Answer

DEATH
Parsing

hidden (sealed by) ineptituDE AT Harrods for another theme word in the puzzle.

17
Reportedly inclined towards a period of abstinence (4)
Answer

LENT
Parsing

soundalike (reportedly) “leant” (inclined towards) for LENT – the period of 40 days fasting before Easter (although it’s not 40 days, you have to take off the Sundays, and not all of Holy Week counts
20
Child star announced (3)
Answer

SON
Parsing

soundalike (announced) of “sun” (star) to give SON and another theme word for this Easter puzzle.

 

 

41 comments on “Quick Cryptic 55 by Dice”

  1. Really enjoyed this one – especially 3D and 11D. And noticed the theme! Loving these Quick Cryptics, they’ve really helped me progress in my journey into crosswords after decades of trying and failing. Thanks Dice and Shanne!

  2. I found this tough due to Dice’s choice of clueing and answers being relatively obscure in its word/style. It was saved by the Acrostics and Hiddens but even then I missed the hiddens in the first two clues which became obvious with checkers. Wasn’t expecting the Insertion clues to have anything more than “add a letter” so those were a big holdup.

    My talkthrough is available at https://youtu.be/wQRL2hkd0yw where I discuss how to approach the solve. I suspect it will be very useful to anyone starting out on their cryptics journey.

  3. Thank you Shanne for suggesting I have a go at last week’s Quiptic. It kept me going most of the week (in short bursts) and provided a useful link to something just a bit more difficult.

  5. Yes I found this really difficult. I recognised the theme quite early on so that helped with LENT and FASTED but I found some insertions and soundalikes unwieldy. I managed to finish by using the crossing words I was certain about, but I had TRIAL as “an audition” for 7D. so completely the wrong interpretation there!!
    So thanks Shanne for all the explanations!! A tough one for beginners Dice, but great to have a theme.

  6. Agree with @Fred Gruff, 3D was very amusing and made me laugh. Very enjoyable. I found 8A and 7D both took me a while to crack. Thanks Dice for the fun Easter theme, and Shanne for the great explanations.

  7. The acrostics and hidden words gave enough crossers for me to get the insertion clues some of which I thought wouldn’t have been amiss in the Quiptic. Like the introduction of ‘aver’ which I have only ever come across in the cryptic but seems to get used a quite often. Thanks Shanne for the ever super helpful blog and to Dice for the puzzle.

  8. Frank @4 – the Everyman is created by the same setter as Ludwig, and is supposed to be the easiest standard puzzle, some of the time it is, others not so much. It’s a prize puzzle still, so it’s published on a Sunday, and the answers aren’t blogged until the following Sunday. But you can solve a week late if you want the blog handy while you solve.

    Colour coding added and hopefully all the typos spotted and removed.

  10. I thought this was tough for beginners. I do hope The Guardian are not going to increase the difficulty level now this intro puzzle has been going for a year. After all there are plenty of ‘next level up’ puzzles available and it is very easy to be discouraged if things get too difficult.
    Great blog Shanne.

  11. Adding to the theme – think that there are usually raisins in hot cross buns. Was also thinking that Easter’s about God raisin’ Jesus from the dead but I think that may be a link too far..

  12. Amanda @11 – I’ve made Hot Cross Buns and they used sultanas, also Easter biscuits, which used currants. There are traditional breads for Easter, Paska for example, which may or may not include raisins, but not universally.

    I wondered about SIDE too – from the spear in the side to make sure Jesus was dead, but decided better not.

  13. I found this the hardest Quick Cryptic so far. I was concentrating so much on the individual clues that the Easter theme passed me by though it is obvious now! The insertion clues were particularly tricky and there were no anagrams to help me along. I couldn’t parse 8a or 10a. Thanks for explaining it all, Shanne.

  14. Google tells me that Dice is Sarah Hayes, aka Arachne. Can anyone confirm that? Nice treat to have an Easter themed puzzle today.
    Many thanks to Shanne and Dice

  15. I found this tricky. Dice had some interesting misdirections going in the clueing I thought and so it was good we knew what clue types there were as some of them looked a bit like anagram signals or could have been charades 😄. Took a while to get some of the insertions with 12a being last one in – I thought the answer was ‘dried’ with ‘fruit’ being inserted into something to do with ‘fall’ 🤦‍♂️.
    Thanks Dice and Shanne.
    PS: 1 year in for me on the Quick Cryptics and they’ve worked for getting me into cryptic crosswords which I was convinced were beyond me.

  16. HumbleTim @14 – Arachne is usually smoother than this – she’s known for her really good surfaces. In this puzzle some of the clues were very smooth but the acrostics were “interesting”. Although the dig at Musk in EGGS and ineptitude at Harrods for DEATH are things I’d expect from Arachne.

  17. Thanks Dice and Shanne
    Well, this was a DNF for me. I had to reveal AVENGER as I couldn’t put it together and had never heard of Iron Man as an example. I might have had more chance if it had been John Steed!

  18. Thank you for the blog Shanne it was much needed this week. This was the first time ever I’ve had to resort to reveal(s) for a Quick Cryptic and feel very much that some of the clues were way beyond this category, the insertions particularly.

  19. Shanne@ 16 – Thanks, that’s interesting. Running the identical search three times gave me three different names, so I too remain sceptical. I should know better than to believe AI overviews that can’t be substantiated!

  20. Definitely needed the blog for this. I struggled most of the way through this. Had a few checks on the way. The insertions in particular were very tricky. Up there with Spoonerisms as my least favourite clue type.

    Easily the hardest Quick Cryptic so far. Let’s hope for easier fare next week to balance things out and encourage new newcomers

    Thanks Shanne

  21. HT @14 – No, Dice is a new setter to the Guardian, definitely not Arachne, but has set elsewhere under a different pseudonym.

  23. Agreed – quite a mixture of straightforward acrostics and hidden words and tough insertions and homophones. Failed on 7d – only 2 crossers to help and kept thinking of vomit or retch! Got 8a from the wordplay and crossers but no idea of the definition until I came here. Thanks Shanne. Look forward to the next throw of the Dice.

  24. I had to google why Iron Man = Avenger (I am not into Marvel Comics), but otherwise no real problems. An enjoyable solve.
    Thanks Dice and Shanne

  25. I didn’t understand 10a (life) at all, so thank you Shanne for explaining that “provided” = “if”. I took the wrong path on 7d, expecting “in” to indicate an insertion. I was expecting “English” to denote just “E” is 8a, but I worked out the right construction after I eventually got the answer.

  26. Thanks Shanne and Dice.

    I thought that was tough for a QC but the crossers were very kind which gave you three ways (definition, wordplay and just guesssing) to get most the clues.

    Not too many problems for me but I did need a few minutes on AVENGER to finish it off.

    Quite enjoyed that. A big welcome to Dice I look forward to your next puzzle.

    Happy Easter all.

  28. If we’re being pedantic, “The modern period is today more often used for events from the 19th century until today” (Wikipedia), or Chambers’ first definition is “Of or characteristic of present or recent time”. Email would fit either definition of “modern”.

  29. My first ever finish with no checks or guessing! Loved the Easter theme. Didn’t manage to parse all the clues but they went in ok.

    Thanks to Dice for the puzzle and to Shanne for blogging every week – I have been working through the QC from #1 for the past month and finally feel like I’m getting the hang of them.

    Happy Easter!

  30. Initially this seemed pretty hard as I started by trying to write in the answers in order (without looking at the special instructions), but I think once you had lots of crossers in from the acrostics and hidden words it was quite tractable. The theme went completely over my head, but I expect that it’s also rather helpful for those not stuck in tunnel vision!

  31. This is about my tenth quick cryptic – thought it was great – got them all though have to admit, on several I didn’t quite understand how! So thanks to Shane …and to Dice.

  32. I found this a challenge. I guessed raisin at 12A from the crossers, but I still can’t see why “fall” should give rain… it’s a synonym for autumn, not rain… rather tenuous. Anyway, great stuff. Thanks all, glad to see there were others who also found it tougher than previous ones.

  33. I thought I was doing ok with this but then got stuck on 14a. Kept it at the back of my mind for a day but then had to reveal. Makes sense but I’m pretty sure I’d never have gotten it.

    Thanks Shanne and Dice.

  36. Don’t believe everything Google tells you. I received a crossword from Dice the other day for publication in “1 Across” magazine. The compiler is new to the crossword scene. And as for my dear friend Sarah Hayes being Dice …. Wholly incorrect

  37. I struggled with the insertions and sounda likes. Couldn’t get bread, or chaste. Never heard of that meaning of chaste either!

  38. Enjoyed this one and my daughter and I managed to complete. Couldn’t completely parse 10a though; got the french the and the F was given by 11d but failed to recognise ‘if’ as being clued by ‘provided’. Hopefully will remember that trick the next time I encounter it! Regarding your comment @12 Shanne, paskha is not a bread but a curd cheese based Easter dessert. My late wife was from a Russian orthodox family and we still make it at Easter. Traditionally it is eaten with a brioche-like bread called kulitch.

  39. Jonathan @38 – I’ve actually made that pashka and Kulich combination too – I have a book of Easter recipes and have cooked a lot of it over the years*. That version was a Kulich without raisins. But when I double-checked I was right because it’s some time ago, the internet told me that Paska is the Ukranian name for the brioche type Easter bread, and I chose to go Ukranian rather than Russian.

    * I’ve given up on yeasted baking because I can’t make it work gluten-free, so I haven’t tried making hot cross buns or special yeasted Easter breads for decades. The biscuits do occasionally happen.

  40. Themed?! The paper version of this has no shaded grid squares so the whole theme thing was lost on me. Grr. I might actually write to grumble about that

  41. Sara @40 – there won’t be any shaded grid squares on the crossword, a theme is just an added extra, like NINAs to add to interest of a crossword, which the solvers can have fun spotting, or not, as the case may be.

    There are some setters who love themes and their crosswords are often based around a theme – Qaos (I blogged one recently around the Clangers), Brockwell usually (this week’s was around Squares), Tramp, Brummie, Boatman and Paul sometimes, Pangakupu usually has a Maori nina in his Guardian Cryptics. Tuesdays in the Independent is theme day.

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