This week’s 11 x 11 crossword from the Guardian intended to teach cryptic crosswords, found here
The puzzle for this week is the 6th Quick Cryptic by Dice, 7th if we count the print only special. Dice only sets the Quick Cryptic puzzles in the Guardian. Today we have anagrams and hidden clues with all the letters given, which should be accessible. The other clues are dropped letters and insertions which require the other letters to be found, It’s the third time we’ve seen dropped letters called this, but it’s a class of decapitations. Adding – there seems to be a cake theme – the second time we’ve had a theme in these puzzles. Last time was Dice at Easter back at #55.
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 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”
- 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 An anagram of the answer and a 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 - Dropped letter Remove a letter from another word
‘Time away from coach in wet weather (4)’ gives RAIN (from tRAIN) - Insertion One thing inside another makes answer
‘In favour of republican entering Post Office (3)’ gives PRO
(from PO = Post Office – maps + R = republican – American elections)
| ACROSS | Click on “Answer” to see the solutions | |
| 1 |
Distributing Puck’s ace sweet treats (8)
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AnswerCUPCAKES |
Parsinganagram of (PUCK’S ACE)* with an anagrind of “distributing”. |
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| 6 |
Your setter loses head – cool down! (3)
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AnswerICE |
Parsingdropped letter/decapitation (loses head) of dICE (your setter – the setter today is DICE) – this trick, using the name of the setter in crosswords turns up regularly, and is worth looking out for. We have had it before in this series, but not for a while. (Some setter’s names lend themselves to this more easily). The cryptic yesterday by Soup had “soup” cluing “me” for one clue. |
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| 7 |
Rustiness and decomposing in trash (7)
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AnswerTARNISH |
Parsinganagram of (IN TRASH)* with an anagrind of “decomposing”. The “and” is just for the surface here, but occasionally it indicates two parts of the anagram fodder – two words that are shown separately, but should be included in the anagram. |
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| 9 |
Bit of salad also spread around floor covering (6)
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AnswerTOMATO |
Parsinginsertion (spread around) insertion of MAT (floor covering) into TOO (also) around (spread around). |
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| 10 |
Tribe erroneously conceals drink (4)
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AnswerBEER |
Parsinghidden (conceals) in triBE ERroneously |
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| 12 |
Turn cork to stone (4)
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AnswerROCK |
Parsinganagram of (CORK)* with an anagrind of “turn” – turn as in change these letters. |
</td | |
| 14 |
Common ‘addiction’ somewhat symbolic of feeble-mindedness (6)
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AnswerCOFFEE |
Parsinghidden word (somewhat) in symboliC OF FEEble-mindedness – with “addiction” in inverted commas as it’s something said colloquially, but according to Wikipedia, it’s not an addiction, but a dependence. |
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| 17 |
Striving endlessly to find headache cure (7)
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AnswerASPIRIN |
Parsingdrop a letter (endlessly) of ASPIRINg (striving) losing its last letter (endlessly). |
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| 18 |
Leaves side short (3)
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AnswerTEA |
Parsingdrop a letter (short) dropping the last letter from TEAm (side) – short in cryptic crosswordland often suggests dropping the last letter. |
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| 19 |
Chatter incessantly to Barb in broadcast (6,2)
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AnswerRABBIT ON |
Parsinganagram of (TO BARB IN)* with an anagrind of “broadcast” – where broadcast is using the original meaning of spreading widely (as in cast seed across a wide area) |
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|
DOWN
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| 1 |
Best to shout loudly, blowing top (5)
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AnswerCREAM |
Parsingdrop a letter/decapitation (blowing top) from sCREAM (to shout loudly) to give CREAM (best). |
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| 2 |
King Edward’s one dropping packaging rubbish (6)
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AnswerPOTATO |
Parsinginsertion (packaging) of TAT (rubbish) in POO (dropping) – and here we have a DBE (definition by example) as a King Edward is a POTATO variety. |
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| 3 |
Breezy mythical being drops crown (4)
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AnswerAIRY |
Parsingdrop a letter/decapitation (drops crown) from fAIRY (mythical being) losing the first letter (dropping crown – indicates the top letter in a down clue). |
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| 4 |
Phone company retaining bright, best people (5)
|
AnswerELITE |
Parsinginsertion (retaining) EE (phone company) around (retaining) LIT (bright) – insertions don’t have to be just one letter as in the example. Updated to add: EE is causing confusion now. BT, British Telecom, took over EE in 2016, and is now remarketing its non-business services to customers as EE. I happen to use EE for my mobile and BT for my internet and at some time it’s going to be combined, but so far they haven’t joined the dots. |
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| 5 |
Wood’s one of many characters inside – evict or I attack! (8)
|
AnswerVICTORIA |
Parsinghidden clue (characters inside) of eVICT OR I Attack. The definition refers to Victoria Wood the comedian and character actor, who is one of many named Victoria, but suggesting a type of timber. The other trick here is disguising the required capital letter for a surname at the beginning of the clue. Conventionally, cryptic clue setters can capitalise misleadingly, but they can’t remove the capital from a proper noun. |
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| 8 |
Rider’s hen roams around (8)
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AnswerHORSEMAN |
Parsinganagram of (HEN ROAMS)* with an anagrind of “around”. Here you need to read “rider’s” as rider is for the cryptic cluing, but the surface suggests the hen belonging to the rider. All fair in the setter’s toolbox of misleading solvers. |
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| 11 |
Instrument rooted in ‘tricorn’ etymologically (6)
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AnswerCORNET |
Parsinghidden word (rooted in) in ‘triCORN’ ETymologically – with a reference to both words, tricorn and CORNET, being etymologically related by the use of corne, the French for horn. |
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| 13 |
Magic up package containing hot beverage (5)
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AnswerCUPPA |
Parsinghidden word (containing) in magiC UP PAckage – UK slang for a cup of tea, usually, but could be coffee. |
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| 15 |
Make time for first sighting of shark, maybe capturing it (3,2)
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AnswerFIT IN |
Parsinginsertion (capturing) FIN (first sighting of shark, maybe) around (capturing) IT (from the clue). |
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| 16 |
Taxi transporting King to get seafood (4)
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AnswerCRAB |
Parsinginsertion (transporting) CAB (taxi) around (transporting) R (king – R for Rex, as in the royal cypher – currently CRIII for Charles Rex, which interestingly mixes English and Latin). |
I hope that this is OK, without anything obviously wrong. I was supposed to be out all today too, but I have had to make my apologies, so I will be around to keep an eye on this.
There seems to be a cake theme. I counted ten: cupcake, (f)airy, cream, Victoria, potato, tomato, rock, coffee, tea and crab.
Think this is first time we’ve had a theme in the QC.
There does seem to be a theme. Dice did a theme on her first Quick Cryptic – an Easter one, back at #55.
I have highlighted the clues. I’ve added TOMATO (which I hadn’t heard of) + BEER and CORN , which I vaguely knew, to the more obvious CREAM, VICTORIA and etc cakes I haven’t highlighted ICE but could have as part of an ICE CREAM CAKE. (My daughter hates ice cream cakes. She got one for her August birthday one year and was most unimpressed.) I also thought AIRY refers to FAIRY cakes, but not actually in the clues.
I’d definitely add TEA to the highlighting and maybe CUPPA and ICE. If we’re having CORNet then why not RABBIT(on) although HORSEman?!?
I totally missed the theme, never even thought to look.
I came here for the parsing of 5d. I have vaguely heard of Victoria Wood via cryptic crosswords so I was able to solve the clue without knowing how or why!
POTATO was my last one in – it’s another thing that I have learnt from crosswords over the years (ie the potato variety), and I back-parsed it after solving.
That was a good puzzle from Dice. The Insertions and Dropped Letter clues are usually the tough ones for people but they didn’t seem too bad today once letters were on the board.
As always I’ve done a talkthrough solve available at … https://youtu.be/_KXU4_0j5vE … tips and tactics on how to solve. Hope it helps.
I meant to add TEA, sorry – ICE is part of ICE CREAM CAKE, but CORN CAKE is a thing, RABBIT and HORSE cakes only bring up party cakes shaped to match.
A lovely start to the weekend. Thanks to DICE for the pleasant theme and cluing.
Thanks to Shanne, too, of course – needed the parsing for POTATO, though had clocked the definition and answer pretty promptly. VICTORIA was my LOI – even with the limited options of the QC, I still forget to check for hidden words!
Shame we didn’t have BEEF too!
Didn’t much like POTATO’s clue.
Otherwise VICTORIA was satisfyingly clued.
The UK phone company and Victoria Wood were unknown this far away, but no dramas.
For an extra ‘Easter Egg’ hunt, all Dice puzzles so far have, to some extent, a theme…
Most enjoyable puzzle today. I found it a bit more chewy than usual. Misled into looking for a deletion in 2d (potato) because of ‘dropping’ in the clue. Not come across tomato cakes before – they sound interesting. I would have said that Wood’s one of many Victorias (Victoriae?) but that’s just me being fussy.
Many thanks Shanne and Dice
Too hard for me, this felt more like a cryptic proper. Couldn’t parse 2D and beaten all ends up in the SE corner with 14A, 15D and 18A.
I rather thought the theme to be food in general; haven’t heard of half the cakes you guys have listed. Overall, I think this is a very good puzzle except that, like JaMaNn@9, I didn’t like POTATO (but then, I don’t generally like what is known as “Paulisms”). Thanks Dice and Shanne