This is the twenty-second Guardian Quick Cryptic, a series of 11 x 11 crosswords designed to support beginners learning cryptic crosswords. The whole point of these crosswords is support and encouragement of new solvers, so special rules for these crosswords apply – see here. The puzzle can be found here.
This week we continue consolidating clue types learned earlier in the series, and with anagrams and alternate acrostic letter clues, which provide all the required letters. The by now familiar charades, plus the reversal clues that we have seen four times in this series, last seen in Week 16, so this should be a reminder of clue types encountered earlier for those who’ve been following this series. There are a few new abbreviations and pieces of general knowledge that are worth learning.
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
- CAPITALS to indicate which bits are part of the answer, e.g. PASS (qualify) to get PORT (drink) or Get A Good (joke), see below
- anagram *(SENATOR) shows letters in clue being used, see clue below.
- anagrind the anagram indicator (arranged)
- reversals are shown by the < symbol next to the letters to be reversed – so DOG< (pet) (see below)
- 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 www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick-cryptic/22
Clues begin or end with a definition of the answer. The rest is one of these:
- Anagram An anagram of the answer and a hint that there’s an anagram
‘Senator arranged crime (7)’ gives TREASON - Charade A combination of synonyms
‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port) - Reversal The answer backwards, and a hint that we’re reversing ‘
Deity’s pet comes back (3)’ gives GOD - Acrostic The first letters of the answer
‘Initially get a good joke (3)’ gives GAG
| ACROSS |
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| 1 |
Menace in a cartoon transgressed the wrong way (6)
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DENNIS
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reversal of (the wrong way) of SINNED< (transgressed)
for Dennis the Menace, this cartoon character – originally from the children’s comic The Beano, but nowadays there’s a cartoon on TV too. Adding in that there’s also an American Dennis the Menace comic strip (thanks to Ken below)
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| 4 |
Flipping dreary poet (4)
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BARD |
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reversal (flipping) of DRAB< (dreary) to give BARD, the often Welsh poet
This is another regular crossword word, BARD for poet, also referring to Shakespeare as the BARD of Avon
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| 8 |
Starts off adjusting the thermostat in chilly room (5)
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ATTIC
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acrostic (starts off) Adjusting The Thermostat In Chilly
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| 9 |
Working on set for paper money (5)
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NOTES
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anagram of (ON SET)* with anagrind of working
NOTES in English describes the folding stuff, rather than coins, as money in legal tender comes in both promissory notes or metal coins.
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| 10 |
Characters leading equestrian races really go wrong (3)
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ERR
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acrostic (characters leading) Equestrian Races Really
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| 12 |
Bump off racehorse from the east (6)
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MURDER
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reversal (from the east – in an across clue) of RED RUM < (racehorse) to give MURDER
Bump off as in American slang, originally, Red Rum as in this race horse
And Red Rum is worth remembering as a piece of General Knowledge as he’s a very common feature in crosswords.
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| 14 |
Remove blockage from a French shoe (6)
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UNCLOG
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charade of UN’ (a French or “a” in French) and CLOG (a type of wooden shoe).
The use of UN, ein, el, il, le, la, der, die for the various definite and indefinite articles in French, German, Spanish and Italian and are all regulars in crossword land, not always indicated so clearly.
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| 15 |
Greek character tips off police – helpful informant (3)
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PHI
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acrostic (tips off) of Police Helpful Informant
It’s worth knowing the Greek alphabet, as the letters turn up in cryptic crosswords
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| 17 |
Intelligent public transport reversing (5)
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SMART
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reversal of (reversing) of TRAMS< (public transport)
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| 18 |
Breaking hinge, making a beastly noise (5)
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NEIGH |
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anagram or (HINGE)* with anagrind of breaking
making a beastly noise here means making a noise like a beast (or horse)
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| 20 |
Peer in openings of dingy, untidy, kooky eateries (4)
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DUKE |
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acrostic (in openings) of Dingy, Untidy, Kooky Eateries
Peer of the realm, not peer into
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| 21 |
Coming back, schoolchildren blunder (4,2)
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SLIP UP |
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reversal (coming back) of PUPILS< (schoolchildren)
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 |
Turned up recompense in part of a commode (6)
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DRAWER |
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reversal (turned up) REWARD< (recompense) to give DRAWER
A commode isn’t just a piece of furniture to hide a chamber pot, it can also be a chest of drawers, usually fancy – see here.
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| 2 |
Large cask rolled over for superfan (3)
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NUT |
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reversal (rolled over) of TUN< (large cask)
We have had tun for large cask before, but it’s definitely a piece of crossword-ese worth remembering. It still appears in pub signs – like the Three Tuns.
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| 3 |
Unfinished poem client composed (10)
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INCOMPLETE |
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anagram of (POEM CLIENT)* with anagrind of composed
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| 5 |
An idiot in Belgian city (7)
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ANTWERP |
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charade of AN (from the clue) and TWERP (idiot)
Watch out for the use of letters from the clue, as here the use of AN.
TWERP is one of many versions of idiot used in crosswords.
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| 6 |
Pass time idly in party on steamship (4)
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DOSS |
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charade of DO (party) and SS (steamship)
Not that there are many steamships in use now, but SS lives on in crosswords. Often on board means put the SS around other letters
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| 7 |
Go in urinal that’s rebuilt, lacking any novelty (10)
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UNORIGINAL |
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anagram of (GO IN URINAL)* using the anagrind of that’s rebuilt
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| 11 |
Hastened, with large bag, to plunder (7)
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RANSACK |
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charade of RAN (hastened) and SACK (large bag)
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| 13 |
Cleric that’s bisexual in front of retail outlet (6)
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BISHOP |
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charade of BI (bisexual) and SHOP (retail outlet)
BI is too useful not to use, but it usually turns up as swings both ways or (sexually) very available
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| 16 |
Employed American editor (4)
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USED |
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charade of US (American) and ED (editor)
We may have seen this clue before with one of these setters – USED comes up so often that it gets clued in various ways, but US for American (as well as A and Am) and ED for editor are really regular abbreviations.
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| 19 |
One politician is a troublemaker (3)
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IMP |
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charade of I (one – Roman numerals) and MP (politician)
Again both regular abbreviations – I’m sure we’ve seen a Roman numeral before, possibly X. They are worth remembering: I for one, V for five, X for ten, L for fifty, C for one hundred, D for five hundred and M for thousand – and their relationships.
MP for politician is so common I think of it first (and PM for prime minister)
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For one across some people may be more familiar with this Dennis
I’m getting worse at these! Two wrong this week. Dived in with UNpLuG even though I questioned plug as a type of shoe. But also had DIAPER / repaid for 1D. All I know about commodes is they’re something to do with toilets so it kind of works if you squint hard enough.
Anyway my disaster is recorded for posterity along with the talkthrough over at https://youtu.be/tlqhXwAh-IE … hopefully still a useful breakdown of how to read clues etc.
PHI
What the opinion on “tips oFF” ? To me, that’s a very different thing to “tips oF”. In a full size cryptic I’d have been looking to do some kind of deletion clue.
I can’t see it as a printing error because the surface doesn’t work with “of”.
Sorry, should have clarified commode – there are two things called a commode in furniture, the one that hides a chamber pot and the others are fancy chests of drawers as per the link.
I hear off and of used interchangeably, within this and other dialects, and I read that clue as that sort of trick. It may not be classically grammatical, but dialects rarely are.
Thank you for the blog. I had a disaster.
1a, 12a, 1d, 2d, 11d were off limits for me.
Steffen@5 so 4 reversals and one charade – all clues you have to bring your own general knowledge or vocabulary to solve the clues.
I didn’t say to remember Red Rum, but he often features as the named horse in crosswords, particularly as the reverse is murder.
Very enjoyable puzzle. I think it would be a fun one for beginners even though it took me a while to solve my last two (1ac and 1d).
Favourites: PUPILS, ANTWERP, BISHOP, IMP, UNCLOG, BARD.
New for me: DOSS = spend time idly.
Like HG@2, I usually think of toilets or chamber pots when I see the word commode but today I remembered it also can be a chest of drawers.
Re the answer to 12ac, I just watched the last few minutes of a video on youtube of the Classic Grand National No. 1 – Red Rum (1973). Wow, Red Rum was an impressive horse.
Thanks, both.
Great puzzle and really clear, helpful blog. Thanks both.
Toughest quick cryptic for a while I thought. Some of those reversed required quite a bit of thinking.
Thanks Imogen for a tougher than normal but completely fair test and Shanne for their usual complete and precise blog.
I think the QC and the blog are both an excellent resource
I found this quite gentle except for 1d, I only knew of commode as a toilet so I had to look it up in Chambers for the other meaning.
I got 12a pretty quickly from remembering The Shining.
Thanks Picaroon and Shanne.
With the exception of 1d, which I failed to get, I thought this was a more gettable crossword than some recent ones.
Shanne, setters and Guardian keep these going at this level.
I had an inkling that “commode” may have had little to do with chamber pots. There is an episode of “Lovejoy” with a running joke throughout about the two types of commode.
Same problem for me with commode, as I only knew the toilet version. Admin@1 – interesting, never heard of the US Dennis the Menace, I only ever knew the Beano character in the UK. Shouldn’t the definition be “Menace in a cartoon” rather than just “Menace” ? 12a immediately brought back images of “The Shining” !
Many thanks Picaroon and Shanne
I’ve added in the information about commodes and the two versions of Dennis the Menace. I must remember that just because I know something it doesn’t mean that it’s common knowledge.
Couldn’t parse 15A for the life of me. There are two greek letters that fit with the crossers.
Thanks for the explanation.
Thanks Picaroon and Shanne
I’m another who didn’t know that meaning of commode. “Starts off” doesn’t look right for first letters. DENNIS might require solvers to be of a certain age!
muffin @16 – I’m not sure you have to be a certain age to know about Dennis the Menace and Gnasher as they are shown on CBBC as a cartoon. We’ve had it on in the background at the afterschool sessions recently and checking there was an episode on TV this morning at 7:20am.
Off/of are interchangeable in this area – albeit not conventionally grammatically correct, but dialect isn’t often, and it works in dialect.
Shanne
Using “of” and “off” interchangeably is akin to the “your/you’re” controversy of a few days ago!
I didn’t wince as I read them, I suspect I read those two clues as follows:
15A – Greek character tips off police – helpful informant (3)
I read the tips off as using off and from interchangeably – so it’s saying tips from. Locally that off and of would be used interchangeably in that situation. Which is almost certainly dialect usage – and there have been problems in school teaching correct English when we mean formal, and refusing to accept dialect forms.
8A Starts off adjusting the thermostat in chilly room (5)
I read that as “starts of” when I transferred the information to my spreadsheet listing out indicators*, but thinking about it I would read “starts off” as the “using the starts from the following words to make a word”.
I do cheerfully admit to speaking MLE (Multicultural London English) a lot of the time because I work with young people and that’s the general dialect around here – and we don’t say of / off clearly – it’s one blurred “ov”.
* I’m planning a summary blog of these crosswords after 6 months, so 26 weeks. To that end, I’m listing information out in a spreadsheet, including indicators for different clue types and some of the GK and abbreviations used. Looking at the amount of information, I’m not sure how much will be included in the blog, as I suspect I’ll have to edit it hard to make it readable. 72 anagram indicators is a lot to list out, and that’s just one of the 16 clue types used so far. It is longest list.
Thank you to both Shanne and Picaroon, I really enjoyed that one. Like some of the other commenters I found the reversals the most challenging, but I’ve found the more you do the quicker they seem to get.
Shanne
“Starts off” means “first letters removed” to me. The ugly “starts off of” would work, though.
As a retired teacher I’m not very tolerant of grammatical errors. In particular, I hate it when words with different meanings are used interchangeably – of/off, your/you’re, and the classic irritate/aggravate!
Really enjoyed this weeks QC, especially the reversals this time around. Loved 1a and 12a if only for the nostalgia. Not sure really about “starts off” being controversial as I read it as ‘the letter that starts off the word’ 🤷♂️
Thanks Picaroon for the puzzle, and once again to Shanne and her comprehensive explanations.
muffin @21 – can’t you read that as starts off those words to make the next word?
There’s nothing that says a clue indicator cannot be used in more than one clue: my lists from the Quick Cryptic Crosswords have lots of duplications – oddly as both an anagram and an alternate letter indicator, about and around feature in both the anagram and insertion indicators and the reversal and anagram indicator lists both include upset. The hidden and insertion indicators haven’t duplicated, but the words used are similar.
This was just Tricky!! At first I had sinned instead of Dennis, then changed it round because of 3D. Really puzzled by French shoe. I wanted to put an F in the answer. Totally didn’t get BARD or the DO of 6D though I got SS. Challenging and enjoyable. Thanks.
A few very old favourites in this one, nice for newer solvers to see these . RED RUM , BARD , ANTWERP , SS , A FRENCH will turn up quite often
I think the types of clue may have been a bit harder overall this week .
Starts/tips OFF ….. is very common in puzzles. Off simply means FROM in this usage.
This is the most enjoyable Picaroon / Buccaneer puzzle I have done. In particular I was amazed that he was able to keep the fantastic reversal clues coming.
I must admit, I also looked for a deletion initially when I read “tips off”. Like muffin@21 I did not like the answer, but I will take heed of what Roz@25 wrote. As this use (misuse?) of the word is common in crosswords, I will try to remember it
Thanks Picaroon and Shanne
just for fun, i asked gemini to solve many of the clues and it actually did a fairly good job though it got very confused 15a for some reason (insisting on PI). got all of the anagrams immediately and the reversals.
Liked (where do I start? There was so much to like): ATTIC, UNCLOG, SMART, ANTWERP, BISHOP.
Thought def for DUKE was peer as in look, not peer of the realm, as in Geoff Duke.
For quite a while I had DIAPER (repaid reversed) for 1d. Didn’t know that COMMODE referred to lots of furniture items, I was only familiar with the one with a chamber pot.
Like Shaun @10 and HumbleTim @13, was reminded of “Red rum, red rum, red rum!!!”