Guardian Quick Cryptic 89 by Ludwig

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

The puzzle for this week is the 10th Quick Cryptic by Ludwig. Pangakupu sets a range of puzzles for the Guardian, the Genius, Cryptic, Quiptic and more recently the Quick Cryptic puzzles. Today we have anagrams, hidden and acrostic clues with all the letters given, which should be accessible. The other clues are soundalikes, which all need all of the letters finding and manipulating, which can be more challenging, especially if your accent varies from the usual RP used in 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 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. haVE ALtered 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”
soundalike – is indicated by “Wilde” – so in the example, Oscar “Wilde”, the playwright and author, is indicating the soundalike WILD.
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 descripti ons hidden above. Clues begin or end with a definition of the answer. The rest is one of these:

Anagram Anagram of answer and hint that there’s an anagram
‘Senator arranged crime (7)’ gives TREASON
Hidden word(s) Answer hidden in clue’s words
‘Some haVE ALtered meat (4)’ gives VEAL
Soundalike Something that sounds like answer
‘Excited, Oscar’s announced (4)’ gives WILD (from Oscar “Wilde” the playwright)
Acrostic First letters of answer
‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG

	ACROSS	Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1	Audibly – audibly – given permission (7)	Answer ALLOWED
	Parsing soundalike (audibly) of “aloud” (audibly) – and this shouldn’t be a problem for rhotic speakers. Even if I can mix it up!
5	Tattoo? I’m not keen, primarily (3)	Answer INK
	Parsing acrostic (primarily) from the first letters of I‘m Not Keen – for a slang name for the action of tattooing, hence the question mark.
7	Ex-PM flourishing somewhat (5)	Answer RISHI
	Parsing hidden word (somewhat) in flouRISHIg for this ex prime minister of the UK, one of several who regularly appear in crosswordland.
8	Blasted Android’s slow this evening – for starters, add juice (5)	Answer BASTE
	Parsing acrostic (for starters) of Blasted Android’s Slow This Evening – I confirmed my impression from cookery was that this meant to continually coat the cooking food in fat and juices, so this definition is partial.
9	Home with slice of T-bone steak (4)	Answer NEST
	Parsing hidden word (slice of) in T-boNE STeak (and it amuses me that this is exactly the same position as last week’s clue for thrush, where I commented on the photographs of a fieldfare nest).
10	Recklessly intend to get canned (6)	Answer TINNED
	Parsing anagram of (INTEND)* with an anagrind of “recklessly” and the surface is using the image of someone intending to get drunk (canned), but using a different meaning of “canned” for the definition.
12	Refined savant that’ll offer you direction (3-3)	Answer SAT-NAV
	Parsing anagram of (SAVANT)* with an anagrind of “refined” to give this, not always helpful, aid to finding your way.
14	Back and (to begin with) forth … up … next, down (4)	Answer FUND
	Parsing acrostic (to begin with) of Forth Up Next Down – and the trick here is using different meanings of the definition – “back” – the clue surface refers to the directions, the solution means support.
17	Things for the evening I’ll rule out: night shift’s just beginning (5)	Answer IRONS
	Parsing acrostic (just beginning) of I‘ll Rule Out Night Shift’s – the surface gives a slightly clunky definition by adding a “the”. And I’ll be less subtle about my whinge here as other people aren’t getting it – “things for (the) evening” – so things for evening out the creases in clothes are IRONS. Using “evening” to suggest something that flattens or smooths is a regular cryptic trick.
18	Some sexists are … are … (5)	Answer EXIST
	Parsing hidden word (some) found in sEXISTs – another clue using the verb “to be” in all its forms.
20	Career’s root? Upper nepotism from the outset (3)	Answer RUN
	Parsing acrostic (from the outset) of Root Upper Nepotism – to career as in the runaway train careered down the track … I think this clue surface would have made more sense if it had been “utter nepotism” rather than “upper nepotism”.
21	‘Unfair treatment!’ noisily yelled slippery character (3,4)	Answer RAW DEAL
	Parsing soundalike (noisily) of “roared eel” (yelled slippery character) – and this one will give rhotic speakers some pause (I couldn’t work this out until I had all the crossers in, so this was my LOI (last one in)). There clue has two possible soundalike indicators, “yelled” and “noisily” to mislead further.

	DOWN
1	Outward appearance of first-born discussed (3)	Answer AIR
	Parsing soundalike (discussed) of “heir” (first born).
2	Categorises silts in resort (5)	Answer LISTS
	Parsing anagram of (SILTS)* with an anagrind of “in resort” – where “to resort” is read as “to re-sort” – to sort the letters again – another of those usefully misleading anagram indicators.
3	Talked of ‘importance’: hold it! (4)	Answer WAIT
	Parsing soundalike (talked of) “weight” (‘importance’) – and the imperative instruction works for the definition and solution.
4	Brides arranged bits and pieces (6)	Answer DEBRIS
	Parsing anagram of (BRIDES)* with an anagrind of “arranged” – I’d like a question mark here to indicate a rather twisty metaphorical rather than direct definition.
5	Collection of adlibs enrage playwright (5)	Answer IBSEN
	Parsing hidden word (collection of) in adlIBS ENrage for this playwright. I’m not totally convinced by “collection of” as a hidden word indicator.
6	Gave a massage, being essential, we’re told (7)	Answer KNEADED
	Parsing soundalike (we’re told) of “needed” (being essential)
9	Retsina’s gone off, increasingly unpleasant (7)	Answer NASTIER
	Parsing anagram of (RETSINA)* with an anagrind of “gone off” – one of those words that provides a lot of anagrams.
11	In the auditorium, spots a Roman emperor (6)	Answer CAESAR
	Parsing soundalike (in the auditorium) of “sees a” (spots a) for something that started as a title rather than specifically one Roman emperor. And this is another “soundalike” rhotic speakers won’t like
13	Problem up North? (5)	Answer THORN
	Parsing anagram of (NORTH)* with an anagrind of “up” as in excited – think of the “thorn in one’s side” for the problem.
15	Wee sample of tambourines (5)	Answer URINE
	Parsing hidden word (sample of) in tamboURINEs – “wee” can mean small, and having seen Karine Polwart last night, that’s where my head went. But there’s another layer to the clue here – “wee sample” is something we think of as a phrase, something the doctor orders – so we have to translate a phrase into the two components to solve the clue – something some setters use a lot.
16	Announcement from Burmese homeowner partially ignored? (4)	Answer MEOW
	Parsing hidden word (partially ignored) in hoMEOWner – lots of misleading tricks in this clue and a question mark to indicate there is some tricksiness here. “Announcement” suggests a soundalike, rather than being part of the defnition. An “announcement from a Burmese” could refer to someone from Burma/Myanmar rather than a cat, as is really happening here.
19	To the point that this idiot leads at the front (3)	Answer TIL
	Parsing acrostic (at the front) of This Idiot Leads – it’s in the dictionaries as a preposition, although in older books it’s got an apostrophe to indicate a shortening of “until”.

15 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 89 by Ludwig”

EmptyJ

#1 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:45

Think 1A is wrong. Too many audiblys, alas, not allowed.
Shanne

#2 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:48

EmptyJ @1 – yes, wrong way round – and corrected.
EmptyJ

#3 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:49

And duplicate of 1d also.
EmptyJ

#4 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:52

Enjoyed this one, 16D was LOI. Thanks as ever Shanne.
paddymelon

#5 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:53

AIR. I object to Ludwig’s definition :”first-born” (discussed). Heir. Not only first-borns.
But apart from that, I found this very witty and fun.
michelle

#6 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:54

Typo in blog for 1ac – the answer is ALLOWED (not audibly).

Re 19d Collins Online dictionary has it with apostrophe as ’til. It made me think, in cryptic crosswords do we see WON’T for WONT etc as answers? Are apostrophes always dropped in answers? I never thought about this before 😉

EDIT: took too long to type and post, the blog is corrected already!
HG

#7 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:55

Interesting one – I was rolling along quite nicely until I hit the SE corner. Couldn’t understand “TIL” until I came here even though I spotted it immediately and went looking in the wrong place for MEOW. Didn’t understand why IRONS=things for the evening.

As ever, I’ve done a talkthrough solve which is available at … https://youtu.be/gA8zNE8CNxA … and contains tips and tactics on how to solve.

Thanks to Shanne for the detailed blog. (Noting 1D from last week “Sight” seems to have been retained by accident)
Shanne

#8 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 08:58

The blog is being corrected – sorry – so if you refresh you’ll see I’ve corrected 1A and removed the second 1D. (And if I’ve corrected all my bloopers, can I go back to sleep now, please).

michelle @6 – yes, often apostrophes are omitted, often to howls of rage.

paddymelon @5 – I did wonder about the heir being the first-born, but I was quibbling about so much else.

HG @7 – I think IRONS should be defined as “things for evening”.
Barold Higlash

#9 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 09:32

I hate how you have to be English to get 21ac
thecronester

#10 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 09:44

Enjoyable puzzle. Soundalikes are definitely my weak point and took me ages to get WAIT (my LOI). Loved 16d’s tricksy misdirections, probably my favourite of today. Thanks Shanne for you ever helpful blog, and to Ludwig for the grid.
Janet

#11 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 09:50

No idea what 17a has to do with things for the evening. As a cat lover I was amused by 16d, although it took me a while to get it. 19d not a spelling or abbreviation I was familiar with.
muffin

#12 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 10:45

Thanks Ludwig and Shanne
As a rhotic speaker, I disliked CAESAR (originally Julius’s surname, as your link says, Shanne), but inconsistently quite liked RAW DEAL!
Everpuzzled

#13 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 10:46

Janet @11 – evening = making things even – what you do when you iron (which I haven’t done for a very long time). Decreasing is used sometimes too
Holly Anderson

#14 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 11:44

Very quick today for me. The sound alikes were the most challenging. Loved Meow.
Shanne, I love Karin Polwart too. I can hear her Scottish lilt as I write this. So many beautiful and moving songs. The one about gneiss ( I burn but I am not consumed ) is particularly relevant again now Trump is back.
Tim

#15 - Sat 13th Dec 25, 12:32

Very enjoyable today. Liked CAESAR and MEOW. RAW DEAL was my LOI too as I had TIP for 19D but couldn’t see how that parsed. Many thanks Shanne and Ludwig

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15 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 89 by Ludwig”

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