Guardian Quick Cryptic 111 by Chandler

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

This week’s puzzle is the 15th puzzle by Chandler, who is one of the regular setters of the Quiptic puzzle. He has now equalled the number set by Picaroon. This puzzle which has anagrams and acrostic words where all the letters are present, plus soundalikes and charades where the solvers have to find the 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 was developed 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.
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.
reversals – the reversal element of a clue is indicated by < – so in the example clue below, VieTNAm <.
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:

Anagram Anagram of answer and hint that there’s an anagram
‘Senator arranged crime (7)’ gives TREASON – (SENATOR)* arranged
Charade Combination of synonyms/abbrevs
‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port)
There is more to charades than this, so a more detailed explanation above
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	Mere ad funnily is created again (6)	Answer REMADE
	Parsing anagram or (MERE AD)* with an anagrind of “funnily”.
4	Leading part of a curve by hotel (4)	Answer ARCH
	Parsing charade of ARC (part of a curve) + (by) H (hotel – from the NATO phonetic alphabet). The second definition for ARCH from Chambers is “principal, now, esp in compounds” – so the archcriminal, the archdeacon or archangel.
8	Second team has metal pin (5)	Answer SCREW
	Parsing charade of S (second – from the measurement of time) + CREW (team). The “has” is there for the surface, so the clue reading makes sense.
9	Number against the Spanish in literary work (5)	Answer NOVEL
	Parsing charade of NO (number – abbreviation) + V (against – versus) + EL (the Spanish – so “the” translated into Spanish). The NO for number is old-fashioned, I’ve seen it in old documents – usually written No.
10	Close companion is mute also after treatment (8)	Answer SOULMATE
	Parsing anagram of (MUTE ALSO)* with an anagrind of “after treatment”.
13	Blueprints, we’re told, for drinks (8)	Answer DRAUGHTS
	Parsing soundalike of “drafts” (blueprints). This one I’m going to quibble about. I didn’t see it until I had all the crossers, because the equivalence didn’t occur to me until I was scrubbing around for words to fit. I’ve printed off blueprints in one of my early jobs, and they weren’t drafts, they were final drawings, huge sheets and using an interesting bit of kit and chemicals. Drafts are preliminary drawings or sketches according to Chambers. DRAUGHTS for drinks I think of as, for example, the hobbits drinking draughts of ale or butter beer in Lord of the Rings.
16	Fail to take advantage of part of garment around middle, it’s said (5)	Answer WASTE
	Parsing soundalike of “waist” (part of garment around the middle). This definition feels clunky, but it’s in Chambers (after the part of the body)
17	Note first person with right stopwatch, perhaps (5)	Answer TIMER
	Parsing charade of TI (note – from the sol-fa scale) + ME (first person) + R (right). The sol-fa scale uses various spellings, so ti / te and me / mi are valid. If you don’t know it, it’s what’s used in “Doh/doe, a deer” – doh, re, mi, so, fa, ti, doh. I and me are both first person indicators. There is a “perhaps” to show that this is a definition by example
18	First signs of these ramblers exhibiting keenness for long journey (4)	Answer TREK
	Parsing acrostic (first signs of) These Ramblers Exhibiting Keeness.
19	Sound of large bear is frightful (6)	Answer GRISLY
	Parsing soundalike (sound of) “grizzly” (large bear) for the sort of word that turns up describing the murder scene in detective novels.

	DOWN
1	Oppose leaders of regime exploiting society in short time (6)	Answer RESIST
	Parsing acrostic (leaders of) Regime Exploiting Society In Short Time.
2	Reportedly, spot brand of car (6)	Answer MARQUE
	Parsing soundalike (reportedly) of “mark” (spot). I just double checked in Chambers as I’ve never heard this describing anything other than cars and Chambers also marks it as mostly referring to cars.
3	Struggling workman Ted is cheap and nasty? (10)	Answer DOWNMARKET
	Parsing anagram of (WORKMAN TED)* with an anagrind of “struggling”. There’s a question mark to indicate that the clue definition is a definition by example (DBE) – Chambers defines this as “commodities relatively low in price, quality or prestige”.
5	Wander over nervously (4)	Answer ROVE
	Parsing anagram of (OVER)* with an anagrind of “nervously”.
6	Stop here after leaving town initially (4)	Answer HALT
	Parsing acrostic (initially) of Here After Leaving Town.
7	One engaged in tuition devised curt intros (10)	Answer INSTRUCTOR
	Parsing anagram of (CURT INTROS)* with an anagrind of “devised”
11	Beginners in this higher education module examine several topics (6)	Answer THEMES
	Parsing acrostic (beginners in) of This Higher Education Module Examine Several .
12	Off the rails when on carrier? (6)	Answer ASTRAY
	Parsing charade of AS (when) + TRAY (carrier) and a question mark to suggest as quirky definition / word play.
14	Speaker’s hard blow for excessively diligent pupil (4)	Answer SWOT
	Parsing soundalike (speaker’s – so from the speaker) of “swat” (hard blow) think of swatting flies with a fly-swat.
15	Mentioned feature in a supermarket in Skye, perhaps (4)	Answer ISLE
	Parsing soundalike (mentioned) of “aisle” (feature in a supermarket) – perhaps because Skye is just one example from the Inner Hebrides. I think if I’d written this clue, I’d have been nastier. “Rum, maybe, discussed in feature in a supermarket” would have hidden the capital letter at the beginning of the clue.

2 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 111 by Chandler”

thecronester

#1 - Sat 16th May 26, 08:27

The tricky soundalikes held me up especially 2d MARQUE. A couple of the charades I also thought chewy. Online Chambers Thesaurus had draft as a synonym for blueprint which is how I got it. Lovely puzzle though, thanks Chandler and to you Shanne for the blog.
Amma

#2 - Sat 16th May 26, 09:01

Harder than usual, I thought. I gave up and revealed MARQUE, the first time, I think, I’ve revealed an answer in the Quick Cryptic. The parsing of ASTRAY confused me too; I wouldn’t generally equate ‘as’ with ‘when’ though I can see how it works in practice: ‘As/when I was walking down the road . . .’

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2 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 111 by Chandler”

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