Guardian Quick Cryptic 76 by Ludwig

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

This week we have the 9th Quick Cryptic by Ludwig, who sets Cryptic, Quiptic and Quick Cryptic puzzles in the Guardian. Today we have anagrams and acrostics with all the letters given, the other clues are the 5th appearance of the cryptic definitions, last seen in week 60, and a new clue described as “this after that” which looks to me to be a variation on charades, with an indicator giving the ordering of the components. I found several clues more difficult to explain than solve.

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. Get A Good joke for the example.
  • anagram – letters being used shown in brackets (SENATOR)* for the clue below to give TREASON.
  • anagrind – anagram indicator – in the case below it is “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 definition 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 – 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. Acrostic The first letters of the answer
    ‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG
  3. This after that Swap components
    ‘Japanese fighter’s round, after all (4)’ gives SUMO
  4. Cryptic definition Whole clue is playful definition
    ‘Pair of braces? (4)’ gives FOUR

ACROSS Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1
Lodgings bagged after nine dodgy bids to begin with (1,3,1)
Answer

B AND B
Parsing

Acrostic (to begin with) of Bagged After Nine Dodgy Bids – B&B is an abbreviation for Bed and Breakfast – the sort of lodgings often offered in seaside towns.

4
Go after the French toy (4)
Answer

LEGO
Parsing

this after that (after) GO (from the clue) after LE (the French – so translating “the” into French) to give the ubiquitous Danish toy washed up on beaches around the world
6
Noblewoman barely seen in Coventry? (4,6)
Answer

LADY GODIVA
Parsing

cryptic definition referring to this legend of a woman riding naked through the streets of Coventry. The lady existed, but it’s unlikely she was naked. Scholars now think she was riding in her shift.
7
Norse deity on duty in Norway, primarily (4)
Answer

ODIN
Parsing

acrostic (primarily) of On Duty In Norway – for the Norse God of war. This clue is almost a clue as definition (CAD) as Norse and Norway are equivalents.
9
Badgers unshod, bizarrely (6)
Answer

HOUNDS
Parsing

anagram of (UNSHOD)* with an anagrind of “bizarrely”
10
100 mph, following automobile that might contain OJ (6)
Answer

CARTON
Parsing

this after that with TON (100mph – someone speeding at 100mph is said to be doing a ton) following (after) CAR (automobile). OJ is an abbreviation for Orange Juice, giving a cryptic definition for CARTON

13
Always run after Adam’s mate (4)
Answer

EVER
Parsing

this after that R (run – from cricket) after (from the clue) EVE (Adam’s mate)
15
Crazy drop in cost for PR pro (4,6)
Answer

SPIN DOCTOR
Parsing

anagram of (DROP IN COST)* with an anagrind of “crazy” – where the PR pro is a public relations professional
17
Former capital of Germany? (4)
Answer

MARK
Parsing

cryptic definition – capital here is referring to money, the capital spent or saved, and before much of Europe adopted the Euro in 2002, Germany’s currency was the Deutsche Mark or Mark

18
Fifteen pairs of braces? (5)
Answer

SIXTY
Parsing

cryptic definition – if, as in the examples showing how the clues work, a pair of braces is 4 (2 x 2 because a brace is another word for a pair) then fifteen pairs of braces = 15 x 2 x 2 = 60, which gives the answer of SIXTY. Nope, I don’t like it either.

DOWN
1
Down Under cereal trademark (5)
Answer

BRAND
Parsing

this after that D (down) after (under in a down clue) BRAN (cereal) – with misleading tricks of having to split up the Down Under which we think of as a complete phrase (meaning Australia from the UK) and the capitalisation of Down (hidden at the beginning of the clue) and Under. The D for down comes from crosswords – we refer to this as 1D, to differentiate it from 1A.
2
In intros, national anthem yawnsome? Certainly not (3)
Answer

NAY
Parsing

acrostic (in intros) of National Anthem Yawnsome with a question mark after “yawnsome” as it is not in Chambers, but suggests (surely not!) that a national anthem is boring, quirkily. This quirky use of English is a feature of cryptic crosswords and some of the setters I find more entertaining use it extensively in their cluing.
3
Liquid lunch; throb uncontrollably (5)
Answer

BROTH
Parsing

anagram of (THROB)* with an anagrind of “uncontrollably”. We have another quirky/misleading definition here: a liquid lunch is more usually a euphemism for few jars of something alcoholic down the pub so omitting to eat anything, leaving the partakers returning for their afternoon’s work unfit for polite company and/or incapable of productivity, but soup or BROTH is literally a liquid lunch.

4
Time when everyone’s completely out of work? (7)
Answer

LEISURE
Parsing

cryptic definition LEISURE is defined as time away from work or free from occupation in Chambers (the BRB – big red book). (I’m just wondering who wrote the definition and where housework fits in, as it’s still 3 times more likely that women spend their “leisure” time doing chores than men.)
5
S African money backing, good: £1,000 (5)
Answer

GRAND
Parsing

this after that RAND (S African money – the currency of South Africa / RSA) after (backing) G (good – as in condition for coins)
8
Tip: Nick cooked carp … (7)
Answer

NITPICK
Parsing

anagram of (TIP NICK)* with anagrind of “cooked” – and carp and cooking are used together to suggest the cooking of a fish and hopefully put the wrong idea into the solvers mind. Here the ellipsis doesn’t have any meaning, it’s just that this clue and the next might make a better surface as one clue. However, it’s worth looking out for this one, because in the full fat cryptics, that punctuation can be the solution, or the clues may refer to each other.

11
… a tea’s spoiled – lost! (2,3)
Answer

AT SEA
Parsing

anagram of (A TEA’S)* with anagrind of “spoiled”. And the ellipsis suggests that the spoiled tea is the badly cooked carp of the previous clue (just referring to the surfaces).

12
Principally naked, undressed, daringly expressive sculptures: The Thinker etc (5)
Answer

NUDES
Parsing

acrostic (principally) of Naked Undressed Daringly Expressive Sculputures – with a definition by example (DBE) of this sculpture and another almost clue as definition.

14
Starts off easily broken opposite number, your opposite number to ivory (5)
Answer

EBONY
Parsing

acrostic (starts off) Easily Broken Opposite Number Your for the material that was traditionally used to top the black keys of a piano, when the white keys were topped by ivory. Neither ebony or ivory are used nowadays as both are protected, it’s more usual for plastic or stained wood to be used instead of ebony. (And pianos that do have ivory keys cannot be sold unless proven to be old enough to have been made before the bans.
16
One over the eight? (3)
Answer

COX
Parsing

cryptic definition in the traditional televised boat race on the Thames, the teams of eight, rowing with their backs to their direction are instructed on directions by a COX, small, very light, facing forward, who could whimsically be described as “one over the eight”. And harking back to the liquid lunch earlier, someone who has had one over the eight is plastered, blotto, bladdered, trolleyed and/or any of the many, many other words to describe drunk in the English language.

 

 

32 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 76 by Ludwig”

  1. A mix of nice surfaces and quirky charades. Answers to the former flowed nicely enough but it took me ages to see some of the charades. In fact, I was wondering at one stage whether I could finish the grid.

    I did not mind THIRTY. Even though it took a while to see the answer, I quite liked the surface. It is COX that I find odd.

    Thanks Ludwig and Shanne

  3. Didn’t know COX in either of the meanings, but there’s simply no other word that would fit 🙂 Same about TON and OJ. The instructions above give up the answer to 18a (maybe intentionally?)

    Thanks Ludwig, and Shanne for a great blog (it must take no less time than the regular one to write it up!)

  4. Thanks Shane. I liked the clue for CARTON. Nice misdirection/double meanings of OJ and car/ton. I read it as referring to the (in)famous attempt by OJ Simpson to mescape arrest for his wife’s murder by driving his automobile very fast along a freeway with police in pursuit.

  6. [ and other typos. Sent without editing as the clock was ticking and I’ve lost a few posts lately. Must be challenging for you as blogger until the gremlins with 15 squared are resolved]

  7. The top section didn’t pose any problems but got weird in the bottom section. Didn’t particularly like clues 10A,18A and 16D.

  8. @4 Paddymelon – I read the OJ clue as you did although the chase was conducted at low speed not 100mph – but that’s nitpicking!

  9. Another enjoyable puzzle from Ludwig. SIXTY and COX were the two which needed more thought for me.

    As ever I’ve done a talkthrough solve for the puzzle, available at … https://youtu.be/Whu1gwF261Y … tips and tactics on how to solve.

    Thanks to Shanne for another detailed blog

  12. Lady Godiva was my last in – I kept trying to work it from the angle of “sent to Coventry” (being shunned/ignored) which wasn’t helpful.

    My thanks to Shanne and Ludwig.

  13. I thought that 18ac and 16d were a bit difficult for a Quick Cryptic and beginners – I almost gave up on them myself!

    Martyn@2 – I gave up on the first episode of the Ludwig TV series after about 20 minutes – not my taste at all and I found it to be very illogical.

  14. NathanB @10 – sorry corrected throb to BROTH.

    Martyn @2 – Ludwig the TV series aired in 2024 it’s still available on i-player and you can read about the reception in the Wikipedia link. Series 2 is currently filming, as of 4 September 2025.

    Layman @3 – , this blog takes a good 2 hours to put together, because to create the coding for the hidden material, it has to be typed up in code. For the other blogs (Friday’s Pasquale, tomorrow’s Quiptic), I use what gets called the utility by the bloggers on this site, which is a programme that extracts and codes a lot of the material, and I’ve put together an emergency blog in 20 minutes using that, having already solved the puzzle, references take a bit longer.

    paddymelon @4, 5, & 6 – yes, we have all the same problems getting on to the site as everyone else – but across two parts of the site – it took 3 goes to get into the blogging bit of the site and then another 3 to publish the finished blog, with pauses trying to load the bit you all see to check whether the blog was up or not.

    Deebster @12 – it’s one of the reasons I don’t like cryptic clues as much – you have to know the legend that LADY GODIVA rode naked (barely) through the streets of Coventry. If you don’t know the reference you don’t have much chance of answering.

  15. Thanks Ludwig and Shanne
    By far the hardest so far – a DNF for me with COX and SIXTY unentered. Lots of general knowledge required too. Not appropriate for this slot.

  16. Wasn’t sure about the ‘this after that’ clue type based on the example which I didn’t understand until halfway through the actual puzzle and finally saw it! Enjoyable puzzle overall, tricky in places which is good to get the Saturday morning brain cells going. Thanks Shanne for your blog, and Ludwig for the puzzle.

  17. Agree thecronester@16. I didn’t think that ‘trick’ was a good example. It’s more about the order of the parts of the clues. In the full blown cryptics a ‘swap’ is truly an exchange of elements.

  18. I’m a cricket fan and usually pick up cricket references and vocab in these crosswords (overs, stumped etc), but I often miss out on R for runs. I think I might have identified the problem. In 13A we are expected to think of R as an abbreviation for ‘run’, but I’m not sure that R ever abbreviates ‘run’ – I can only think of its use in the bowling analysis O-M-R-W and there it stands for ‘runs’ (plural).

  19. This was fun, thanks again for the handy explanations. Despite knowing it was wrong (not a cryptic clue) I couldn’t get Bonn out of my head for 17A. I Had to wait for the crossers before I could banish that thought! 1D was probably my favourite today.

  20. Thank you, Shanne, for the explanation of the non-COX meaning of “one over the eight”–we don’t have that expression in US English. As a result, I thought it was a not-very-cryptic definition. (Of course we have hundreds of other ways of saying the same thing.)

  21. I guessed 16d having got C and X already, then laughed. What stumped me was 17a as I didn’t think of capital referring to finance.

  22. Janet @21: “capital” for money is a common trick, so add it to your repertoire. The capital of Korea is more likely to be won than Seoul (and more likely to be K than either).

  24. Was anyone else irked by 14d? Admittedly if it had been ‘starts OF’ that might have made the clue rather too easy but ‘starts OFF’ is surely a misspelling as an acrostic indicator. I didn’t see the point of 18a using virtually the same clue as the one used in the example given of a cryptic definition. Otherwise an enjoyable puzzle.

  25. Pino@23 ah that could be it. Don’t think it’s used much any more, but it does ring a bell from the past – thanks!

  27. Barb @26

    This after that Swap components
    ‘Japanese fighter’s round, after all (4)’ gives SUMO

    The definition is Japanese fighter
    O (round) after SUM (all – the sum of the parts)

  28. Like thecronester@16 I wasn’t sure about ‘this after that’ but actually found them very accessible so well done Ludwig. Never managed 17A at all so thanks for all the explanations Shanne.

  29. Some bizarre bits and pieces in here but I didn’t come away dissatisfied. I didn’t mind SIXTY although I can see why it has caused some disquiet! For COX, is it as simple as them being considered to be the team leader in a rowing crew, and therefore are “over” the eight?

    Enjoyed this – and v grateful to Shanne for putting the work in to keep this parsed!

  30. Perfidious Albion @29 – I reckoned the COX was that they order the team while rowing so instructing them on how to steer. Coxes aren’t necessarily the team leader; I’ve met coxes – they tend to be very light, anorexic in the case of one girl I’m thinking of, and not necessarily in a position to stand up to the beefier crew, who aremore there for their muscles.

  31. During the race itself, the COX is indeed supreme and the crew obey without question. Remember they are looking ahead and around, and the rowers are facing backwards. If rowers are thinking about anything they are wasting precious energy.

  32. Are 17a, “Obvious” answer for a normal crossword puzzle, with same number of letters “Bonn” (at least for me, I have German background) I put that in first thinking I’ll work out the cryptic part later. Crossers proved that wrong. Then spent ages thinking it must have something to do with capital letters…Cdef? In the end had to do a reveal. Great clue!

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