Quick Cryptic 68 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 7th Quick Cryptic by Ludwig, apparently a pseudonym used by various setters, but originally by Alan Connor / Everyman. Today we only have anagrams and acrostics with all the letters given, plus charades which are making their 60th appearance. In addition there is a new type of clue, foreign words – which do turn up in cryptic crosswords occasionally – some of these are regulars.

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 acrostic 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 defintion 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. Charade Combination of synonyms/abbrevs
    ‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port)
  3. Acrostic The first letters of the answer
    ‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG
  4. Foreign words Answer means something different abroad
    ‘In France, arm’s undergarments (4)’ gives BRAS

ACROSS Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1
In intros, Coleman Hawkins energetically earned rapturous acclaim (5)
Answer

CHEER
Parsing

acrostic (in intros) Coleman Hawkins Energetically Earned Rapturous – for the surface Coleman Hawkins was a jazz musician – this is also a current basketball player, but intros from a tenor saxophonist makes more sense.

4
Wedding attendant’s quiet time (4)
Answer

PAGE
Parsing

charade of P (quiet) + AGE (time) for little boys in attendance at weddings, often carrying the rings. P for quiet comes from music – p for piano on a score means to play it quieter.
6
Australian bird damaged our oak bark (10)
Answer

KOOKABURRA
Parsing

anagram of (OUR OAK BARK)* with anagrind of “damaged” for this bird
7
Cannes cat to chew the fat (4)
Answer

CHAT
Parsing

foreign word (Cannes) – so in French (so in Cannes – and normally this would be Nice) a cat becomes un CHAT and CHAT in English means something else. Look out for Nice at the beginning of crossword clues, because that it often cluing a French word.
9
More agreeable children in Berlin (6)
Answer

KINDER
Parsing

foreign word (in Berlin) – der Kinder in German means children, and this is crossword regular.
10
In Seville, 15 fruit (6)
Answer

QUINCE
Parsing

foreign word (in Seville) – so in Spanish, I presumed, because I don’t speak Spanish, 15 is quince (I did this from knowing that the French for 15 is quinze and that a QUINCE is a fruit.)
13
French bread? Bother! (4)
Answer

PAIN
Parsing

foreign word (French), bread is le PAIN and this French equivalence is a regularly used in crosswords.
15
Sadly intermixes as a last resort (2,8)
Answer

IN EXTREMIS
Parsing

anagram of (INTERMIXES)* with an anagrind of “sadly” – no indication here, but this is a Latin phrase.
17
Pass twisty snakes (4)
Answer

ASPS
Parsing

anagram of (PASS)* with anagrind of “twisty” for the snake that reportedly killed Cleopatra (according to Shakespeare).

18
Condescending in upper storey – and yard (5)
Answer

LOFTY
Parsing

charade of LOFT (upper storey) + Y (yard) where y for yard comes from imperial measurements.
DOWN
1 Idiot given hot fabric (5)
Answer

CLOTH
Parsing

charade of CLOT (idiot) + H (hot – from hot and cold taps)

2
At first, earless lizard kisses deer (3)
Answer

ELK
Parsing

acrostic (at first) of Earless Lizard Kisses to give the large deer also known as moose.
3
Leading characters from redbrick university buy in Kenyan toymaker (5)
Answer

RUBIK
Parsing

acrostic (leading characters) of Redbrick University Buy In Kenyan for the architect and inventor, who invented the eponymous cube

4
Golfer’s target: cut root vegetable (7)
Answer

PARSNIP
Parsing

charade of PAR (golfer’s target) + SNIP (cut) for the root vegetable liked better in the UK than in France.
5
Good, party is solemn (5)
Answer

GRAVE
Parsing

charade of (in) G (good) + RAVE (party). G for good comes from the condition ratings for e.g. coins, for numismatists, or for book collectors.

8
Stinker clumsily interferes (7)
Answer

TINKERS
Parsing

anagram of (STINKER)* with anagrind of “clumsily”
11
Apartments in Tunis resort (5)
Answer

UNITS
Parsing

anagram of (TUNIS)* with anagrind of “resort” – if we haven’t had “resort” before, it is telling us to re-sort those letters, rather than, as in the surface here, suggesting a seaside holiday place.
12
Praise exotic xylophone that’s often loud in openings (5)
Answer

EXTOL
Parsing

acrostic (in openings) of Exotic Xylophone That’s Often Loud.
14
Introductions to Italo Calvino impenetrable, leaving you without warmth (5)
Answer

ICILY
Parsing

acrostic (introductions to) of Italo Calvino Impenetrable Leaving You

16
In Hamburg, supernatural creature is 11 (3)
Answer

ELF
Parsing

foreign word (in Hamburg) – the German for 11 is elf – which is another translation I’ve seen before in cryptic crosswords. The other confusion in the surface is that often numbers in clues refer to another clue of that number – so if I didn’t speak German, I might look for a German translation of the answer to clue 11 – units.

 

 

19 comments on “Quick Cryptic 68 by Ludwig”

  2. Given how I did on that, I think/hope this one will be good for the beginners. My weekly talkthrough is available at … https://youtu.be/Z7-Gou8E2Bs .. perhaps providing some tips and tactics on solving.

    Today’s puzzle presented no issue with the foreign words but I’m never a fan when required to recall French words beyond articles, numbers and greetings – recent examples in crosswords are ile=island and moi=me – the latter of which seemed obvious once I had it but I dropped French in favour of German forty years ago for my ‘O’ level options and 1985 is a long time ago!

    Thanks to Shanne for writing the blog and to Ludwig for a good QC

  3. There’s a guardian user wizofaus asking about the misdirection in 11, so just expanding on that a bit. Shanne has already pointed the main one out – does the solver perchance go scurrying to google maps looking all around the Tunisian coast for the name of a place which is synonymous with “apartments”? There’s also arguably a second misdirection – is there some kind of anglicised arabic word for “resort”? Given that one of the tricks this week is foreign words, a solver might see “Tunis resort” and be tempted up that path too, albeit that one is a bit less well signposted than the geographical misdirection.

  4. Doing the Across clues in order, 7-13 felt a bit like a vocab test but, as Shanne says, mostly clues chosen for their wider crossword frequency. Lovely Saturday fare.
    Thanks to Shanne and Ludwig!

  5. Enjoyed the foreign words clue type and also how Ludwig teased that clue type as a misdirection on 11d. Ludwig slightly bent the rule about the definition being either at start or end with 16d but I suppose we should let him off LOL 😂. My favourite was KOOKABURRA. Thanks Shanne for the explanations and Ludwig for the puzzle.

  6. Good to have some practice with foreign word clues. I was fine with the French and KINDER is a familiar German word. Didn’t know ELF or QUINCE though, as Shanne points out, quince is very close to the French quinze. I’m annoyed with myself for wasting time thinking about seaside resorts rather than seeing the anagrind re-sorts.

  7. thecronester @5, I’m not sure we should let him off so easily. The brief specifically says: “Clues begin or end with a definition of the answer”. If this is ok why wouldn’t be other types of clues not listed in the brief? I think it would encourage new solvers if they know there are strict rules that they can trust

  8. Just like to point out that the normal plural for ‘children’ in German is DIE Kinder, not der. The singular form is DAS Kind. ‘Der’ is used for singular masculine words, the plural dative and plural genitive forms of plural die, so does not fit here. Sorry to be pedantic! Really love these puzzles and have done everyone since they started!

  10. Parsed everything correctly but shamefully I did have to google both Spanish and German numbers to complete. Tentatively put in Kookaburra without being 100% sure I’d spelled it right, luckily I had.

    Cheers Shanne and Ludwig

  11. I had ORANGE for 10a, and I had no idea what to do with 11d and 16d.

    Never in a month of Sundays would I have solved them.

    Thanks for the blog.

  12. Re QUINCE: In Latin American cultures, it is common to throw a big party for girls on their 15th birthday, called a quinceañera. (Well, it appears that the party itself is only called that in the U.S.; south of the Rio Grande, more properly the girl is the quinceañera and the party is a fiesta de quinceañera.) Also, for those used to French, quince is a two-syllable word, as all letters are pronounced in Spanish: say keen-say.

  13. I found this very approachable. Favourites were KOOKABURRA and TINKERS for their nice surfaces and anagrams

    Thanks Ludwig and Shanne

  14. Re QUINCE. Dundee, Scotland came to mind with marmalade & Seville oranges. The name marmalade originates from the Portuguese word ‘marmelo’ or quince, the fruit which made up the preserve with thin bits of peel from the Seville oranges. Quince and the bitter of the orange both have high pectin allowing the jam or jelly to set. Historically in England, quinces were used to make jam in the 16thC and fruit imported from Spain & Italy.

  15. I have no issues with rules re 10a & 16d. Surface reading is smooth, both similarly indicate foreign but word order is switched in second part of 16d.

  16. This style suited me well, I was pleased to get most of the foreign words, never formally learned Spanish, so only failed on quince, realised it couldn’t be orange and, so guessed it due to French quinze similarity.
    Immediately I remembered eating membrillo – quince jelly – on my only visit to Seville. Very good too!

  17. Doing this on Sunday as a beginner. I enjoyed this and it enabled me to manage more of the charades first time. (Except 4A and 18A – I got the answers but not the parsing). 11D made sense to me and 9A was ok because of the English word kinder. So thankyou both again.

  18. RK0000@3, nice detail on that topic. The sort of misdirection you discuss is one of the most enjoyable things about crosswords, for me. And just to add to the blog a little: “Nice” for “French” or “of France” (person or word) is a really common example of the genre and is usually seen in things like “Nice woman/thing” and should be read cryptically as “woman/thing from Nice”, which might lead to a typical Frenchwoman’s name or perhaps MME for “madame”, while “Nice article” might be referring to an article [technical term from the study of language grammar] of French such as UN or LE (for a or the). I can’t actually think of a standout “stereotypical’ French female forename, but RÉNÉ is very common for a Frenchman (Nice man) in crosswords…

    thecronester@5, no such rule exists, in wider field of cryptic puzzles. Layman@7 is right to spot that the blurb says that “Clues begin or end with a definition of the answer” but I suspect that’s a left-over from the earlier QC puzzles, that the clues have moved on in sophistication, and that no-one has spotted that that rule is an oversimplification.

    The real rule is more subtle, basically being that the cryptic reading should be a grammatical instruction for the solver to determine the definition (or definitions) and to “solve” it from the wordplay.

    The most common approach to forming such a grammatical instruction is to use link words such as “for” and “from” to produce a reading such as “wordplay for definition”, “definition from wordplay” which is acceptable shorthand for “wordplay produces/gives definition”, “definition is given/produced by wordplay”; but an omitted link word (and hence merely juxtaposition of definition and wordplay) is also acceptable, as are other less frequent forms such as that of the clue you discuss.

    It just so happens that having a definition at the start or end and using either juxtaposition or link words that are synonymous with “gives” or “is given by” lends itself really comfortably to producing a grammatical cryptic reading, and so the vast majority of clues follow that form.

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