Guardian Quick Cryptic 90 by Dice

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

The puzzle for this week is the 7th Quick Cryptic by Dice. Dice only sets Quick Cryptic puzzles for the Guardian. Today we have anagrams, hidden and acrostic, plus middle letter clues with all the letters given, which should be accessible. We are seeing middle letter clues for the second time, last seen in Dice’s puzzle #61 (but I have seen that clue in the last few days in the Guardian). There is a seasonal theme – a late addition to the conversation on Dice’s last puzzle was someone pointing out that all Dice puzzles have a theme, and I did go back to check, but didn’t write it down anywhere.

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”
middle letters – a similar idea to acrostics where the word is made up using the first letters of words in the clue, in these clues the middle or middle letters are used to build a word
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
Acrostic First letters of answer
‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG
Middle letters Answer from centres of other words
‘Essentially tHe sAMe meat (3)’ gives HAM

	ACROSS	Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1	U.S. Catalans dressed as festive character (5,5)	Answer SANTA CLAUS
	Parsing anagram of (US CATALANS)* with an anagrind of “dressed as” with the first of the themed entries. “Dressed as” suggest reorganising letters as in the sense of disguising a person/word.
7	Impatient, mistakenly agree (5)	Answer EAGER
	Parsing anagram of (AGREE)* with an anagrind of “mistakenly” to suggest that letters are not organised in the “right” order. This could be a theme word at a stretch.
8	Essentially, man follows star imparting place to offer gifts (5)	Answer ALTAR
	Parsing middle letters (essentially) of mAn folLows sTAr impaRting – in the odd lettered words, the middle letter is taken, in the even letter words, the middle two letters are taken. And I’d include this as a thematic clue – partly the surface of the clue, partly the reference to church services.
9	Local farmer hides baby born in a stable? (4)	Answer CALF
	Parsing hidden word (hides) in loCAL Farmer – the clue is thematic, suggesting a baby born in a stable, but there’s a question mark to indicate that this definition is slightly cryptic. (In my experience, as someone who grew up in farming villages, calves are born in fields or barns).
10	Compose a song fragment for Winter, perhaps (6)	Answer SEASON
	Parsing hidden word (fragment) in compoSE A SONg. There’s a question mark to indicate a definition by example (DBE) and this is definitely a thematic answer (think all those Christmas cards).
13	Hearts of uncaring rascals effectively ‘de-iced’ where Father Christmas lives? (6)	Answer ARCTIC
	Parsing middle letters (hearts of) of uncARing rasCals effecTIvely ‘de-ICed’ with a “perhaps” to indicate a definition by example (DBE) – Lapland would be the usual mythical answer, but it’s within the broader area. And another thematic clue here.
14	Mongol dynasty concealing wise man’s gift (4)	Answer GOLD
	Parsing hidden word (concealing) in monGOL Dynasty and another thematic entry, this time to the Biblical account in Matthew (and only in Matthew). As an aside on this one, the Nativity story as we know it is cobbled together out of accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (not in Mark or John), which don’t quite marry. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that there are three wise men – it’s traditionally assumed from the named gifts and other non-canonical books. (Although there is a Protestant tradition of 66 books in the Bible, there are more books in the Bibles used by Roman Catholics and different Orthodox traditions, the Apocrypha/apocryphal books, and more stories/books that didn’t make the canons of the accepted modern Bibles. Those non-canonical books are sometimes the sources of some of the traditional details, and it’s thought that the names of the Magi, Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior, come from some of these earlier stories or oral tradition, even if there’s no longer any written evidence to prove that.)
16	Designing caramels extremely messy in the centres – they’re made for fun! (5)	Answer GAMES
	Parsing middle letters (in the centres) of desiGning carAMels extrEmely meSsy – for another thematic clue and solution.
18	They’re looked after mostly by shepherds, to begin with (5)	Answer LAMBS
	Parsing acrostic (to begin with) of Looked After Mostly By Shepherds and this is also a clue as definition (CAD) – shepherds look after LAMBS, but I need to use those words to build the acrostic, hence the “they” being indicated as the definition. It’s also a thematic clue and answer.
19	Trimming the tree, perhaps mischievous dog in crate! (10)	Answer DECORATING
	Parsing anagram of (DOG IN CRATE)* with an anagrind of “mischievous” with a perhaps to indicate a definition by example, as “trimming the tree” is just one example of DECORATING, but it’s a thematic example.

	DOWN
2	Nice gal resolved to become heavenly (7)	Answer ANGELIC
	Parsing anagram of (NICE GAL)* with an anagrind of “resolved to become” – and another thematic answer.
3	Pastry dish’s toppings of treacle and roasted toffee (4)	Answer TART
	Parsing acrostic of (toppings of – in a down clue) Treacle And Roasted Toffee.
4	Small church teach ape liturgy, in part (6)	Answer CHAPEL
	Parsing hidden word (in part) in teaCH APE Liturgy – and possibly another thematic solution; one of the older local CHAPELS holds one of its few services at this time of year.
5	The crowns of angels completely transform play (3)	Answer ACT
	Parsing acrostic of (the crowns of – in a down clue) of Angels Completely Transform – and the definition works if both words are verbs. The clue surface is thematic.
6	Needs ears to become attuned to lover’s songs (9)	Answer SERENADES
	Parsing anagram of (NEEDS EARS)* with an anagrind of “to become attuned to”.
7	Converted Multiplex change dreary content to some extent (9)	Answer EXCHANGED
	Parsing hidden word (to some extent) in multiplEX CHANGE Dreary – and we could include this in the thematic clues if we think of presents.
11	Frosty, say, early signs of somewhat nippy outdoor weather making animals nervous (7)	Answer SNOWMAN
	Parsing acrostic (early signs of) Somewhat Nippy Outdoor Weather Making Animals Nervous – with reference to this version of Frosty, (being nice and not linking to the earworm currently running through my head). Note the tricksy hiding of the required capital letter at the beginning of the clue. It’s another thematic entry.
12	One under the mistletoe surprising skiers? (6)	Answer KISSER
	Parsing anagram of (SKIERS)* with an anagrind of “surprising” – for another thematic entry referring to a Christmas tradition that was introduced between 1720 and 1784, and no-one knows why
15	Central characters exposed in spy blog – it’s a conspiracy! (4)	Answer PLOT
	Parsing middle letters (central characters exposed in) of sPy bLOt iT‘s.
17	Raincoat from Grandma Carol (3)	Answer MAC
	Parsing hidden word (from) in grandMA Carol – and I suspect it’s Grandma Carol to tie into the theme.

6 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 90 by Dice”

Shanne

#1 - Sat 20th Dec 25, 08:54

I’ve published this without a grid because it’s getting late – and second attempt to produce a highlighted grid hasn’t worked … If I can work out why it’s not working, I’ll add a grid later.
HumbleTim

#2 - Sat 20th Dec 25, 09:08

Thank you Dice for some really great surfaces today. Found it slightly hard work picking out the central letters on a small phone screen! Many thanks again Shanne, and seasons greetings to all.
Shanne

#3 - Sat 20th Dec 25, 09:13

OK, I can upload as a grid, but I can’t work out why it’s not allowing me to highlight. I suspect closing everything might mean I can go back and add highlighting later.

Thank you for the Seasons Greetings @ Humble Tim @2
HG

#4 - Sat 20th Dec 25, 09:37

Great puzzle from Dice fitting together all those Christmas themed words and creating clues to complete it.

As ever, I’ve done my talkthrough solve of the puzzle, available over at … https://youtu.be/7LzCba0f8wQ … tips and tactics for those looking for solving help beyond the literals.

Happy Christmas to everybody. Especially to Shanne who I’m sure spends significantly longer producing this weekly QC blog and answering questions than to actually solve the puzzle. Appreciate all the hard work and effort put in.
thecronester

#5 - Sat 20th Dec 25, 09:43

Lovely puzzle from Dice. Great surfaces like the LAMBS clue. I was slightly stumped by the middle letters clues for a bit then the penny dropped which is annoying as this clue type has turned up before and in the Quiptics that I’ve done – doh!
Thanks Dice and to all the other QC setters of this year. Still feel I’m just an improving beginner but all the QCs have led me to be able to regularly and successfully tackle the Quiptics. And thanks to Shanne for the informative blog, which has also been important in my cryptic solving journey, as have the commenters. Happy Christmas holidays to everyone.
Tim

#6 - Sat 20th Dec 25, 12:57

Made me smile. Many thanks to Dice and Shanne. ⛄❄️

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6 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 90 by Dice”

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