Guardian Quick Cryptic 91 by Budmo

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

The puzzle for this week is the 5th Quick Cryptic by Budmo. Budmo only sets Quick Cryptic puzzles for the Guardian. Today we have anagrams and acrostic clues with all the letters given, which should be accessible. In addition, there are charades, returning for the first time after a break since November and #85 and soundalikes which require the solver to find all the letters.

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”
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.
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
Charade Combination of synonyms/abbrevs
‘Qualify to get drink for ID (8)’ gives PASSPORT (pass + port) – see more above
Soundalike Something that sounds like answer
‘Excited, Oscar’s announced (4)’ gives WILD – from Oscar “Wilde”
Acrostic First letters of answer
‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG

	ACROSS	Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1	Travel document in father’s Golf, maybe (8)	Answer PASSPORT
	Parsing charade of PA’S (father’s) + SPORT (Golf, maybe) – pa for father is a regular in crosswords (along with ma for mother – I suspect from the public school names of pater and mater, reduced to their minimum.) Golf has a misleading capital and is used because it suggests a car model, rather than the activity – conventionally one of the allowed misdirections. There is also a definition by example (DBE) here because golf is just one example of a sport – indicated by “maybe”. And the third cryptic trick here is ignoring punctuation – so all of PA’S is used to give the double letter, but to get there we need to ignore the apostrophe.
7	Memorise line to get paid (5)	Answer LEARN
	Parsing charade of L (line – abbreviation seen in, say dictionaries of quotations to indicate a line in a Shakespearean play) + EARN (to get paid). There have been a few variations on this clue recently.
8	Already arranged introductions to plumbers regarding iron oxide’s reappearance (5)	Answer PRIOR
	Parsing acrostic (introductions to) of Plumbers Regarding Iron Oxide Reapparance – with a surface that suggests some rusting pipes.
9	Broken hinges making horse-like noises (6)	Answer NEIGHS
	Parsing anagram of (HINGES) with an anagrind of “broken” – the “making” works in the cryptic grammar because it suggests that the first part of the clue is the wordplay to give the definition in the second part of the clue.
11	Dictator’s to obstruct united countries (4)	Answer BLOC
	Parsing soundalike (dictator’s – so from someone dictating a word) “block” (to obstruct) – and a link to an example of one of these groupings of united countries.
12	Organised Germany’s currency (4)	Answer RAND
	Parsing charade of RAN (organised) + D (Germany – from Deutschland, for the IVR – international vehicle registration abbrevation for Germany). The IVR codes get used a lot in cryptic crosswords. The rand is the currency of South Africa, Namibia and Eswatini.
13	Filter liquid dessert (6)	Answer TRIFLE
	Parsing anagram of (FILTER)* with an anagrind of “liquid” – something liquid can change shape, so it works as an anagram indicator as it suggests moving the letters around.
16	Spread misinformation around regarding Greenland’s economy, primarily (5)	Answer MARGE
	Parsing acrostic (primarily) of Misinformation Around Regarding Greenland’s Economy. Here the definition is a noun, a spread as in something to spread on bread
17	I tear around, furious (5)	Answer IRATE
	Parsing anagram of (I TEAR)* with an anagrind of “around”. There is a lot of misdirection here “furious”, “around”, “tear around” could be anagrind indicators, so the trick here is sorting out which word is definition, which is wordplay.
18	Logical and firm, that man gets payment from lodger (8)	Answer COHERENT
	Parsing charade of CO (firm – abbreviation of company) + HE (that man) + (gets) RENT (payment from lodger) – the “and” is just for the surface.

	DOWN
1	Friend in Dutch capital city is deified, perhaps (10)	Answer PALINDROME
	Parsing charade of PAL (friend) + IN (from the clue) + D (Dutch capital) + ROME (city) with a definition by example, indicated by “perhaps” – and in this case, “deified” is an example of the word being clued.
2	Writing materials still to be picked up (10)	Answer STATIONERY
	Parsing soundalike (picked up) of “stationary” (still) – and with a neat surface suggesting presents still to be collected from the shop. I’m sure you all know this, but I remember how to distinguish between these spellings by “stationEry comes from a stationEr’s shop”.
3	Quietly shuffle a little bit (5)	Answer PINCH
	Parsing charade of P (quietly) + INCH (shuffle) for the small amount in cookery recipes. For those who’ve seen this before, apologies, p for quiet comes from musical notation, one of the many Italian words used on score abbreviations. This one is piano, meaning quiet – and the full name of a piano was a pianoforte because it could be quiet and loud). For “shuffle”, think of someone shuffling along a window ledge.
4	Mature heads to run international peace event (4)	Answer RIPE
	Parsing acrostic (heads to) of Run International Peace Event.
5	William, from town in Greater Manchester, provides deed transferring property (4,2,4)	Answer BILL OF SALE
	Parsing charade of BILL (William – a standard abbreviation for the name) + OF (from) + SALE (town in Greater Manchester).
6	Monitor steady temperature in 10,000m race, for example (5,5)	Answer TRACK EVENT
	Parsing charade of TRACK (monitor) + EVEN (steady) + T (temperature), and the definition is another DBE (definition by example) – the 10,000m event is one of the athletics track and field events.
10	Drunk initially slags off Trump (3)	Answer SOT
	Parsing acrostic (initially) Slags Off Trump – drunks and drinking are the source of a lot of expressive words, and this is just another.
14	Move up level, reportedly (5)	Answer RAISE
	Parsing soundalike (reportedly) of “raze” (level) as in the war in Gaza has meant that several cities have been razed.
15	Damaged dome in protest (4)	Answer DEMO
	Parsing anagram of (DOME) with an anagrind of “damaged”.

16 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 91 by Budmo”

michelle

#1 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 09:21

Enjoyable puzzle.

Favourites: RAND, TRACK EVENT (loi).

New for me: SALE, town in Greater Manchester.
Geoff Down Under

#2 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 09:28

Straightforward solve, apart from required knowledge of Manchester.
thecronester

#3 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 09:34

Very enjoyable. A few tricky elements with the soundalikes and long charades. PALINDROME was my favourite; liked its construction. Initially misspelled STATIONERY 🙁
Thanks Shanne for your blog, and to Budmo for the puzzle.
paddymelon

#4 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 09:36

Thank you Shanne, especially for your blog at this time of year, and for all your work here. Best wishes.
That’s a scary thought, shuffling along a window ledge.
I was wondering if we’ve had a PALINDROME before in the QCs?
My pick was MARGE, for the topicality of its surface.
Shanne

#5 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 09:57

paddymelon @4 – we’ve had 4 puzzles with palindromes as a clue type, but not for a while – Pasquale for #65, Picaroon at #45, Carpathian at #37 and Maskerade at #12.
Holly Anderson

#6 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 10:28

Happy Christmas Shanne and bloggers. Always very helpful. I got palindrome from parsing but hadn’t spotted that deified is one!
My way of remembering stationEry is that it could be Envelopes
HG

#7 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 10:38

Good puzzle, for which I have done a talkthrough solve available over at … https://youtu.be/yPVKaEXfISQ … Tips and tactics on solving; explanation on choosing your soundalikes and so on.

Thanks to Shanne for the blog and Budmo for the QC
HumbleTim

#8 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 11:31

Thank you Shanne.
Paddymelon@4 – shuffling along a window ledge reminded me of Keanu Reeves in The Matrix! Nice little challenge this morning, especially the charades.

Thanks Budmo, and very best New Year wishes to all.
Shanne

#9 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 12:06

Humble Tim, paddymelon – I was remembering a Tim Dowling article in the My Big Night Out series in the Guardian when I referred to shuffling along window sills.
DR.MENARD ZOMBI 2

#10 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 12:13

Merry Christmas everyone. Great puzzle and blog👍👍
Layman

#11 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 13:09

I liked PALINDROME and BLOC, which were the most difficult to see. Thanks Budmo and Shanne!
Justadrone

#12 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 13:45

I have been learning cryptics (so much fun) through the Guardian quick cryptics (started at #1 in October) and Shanne’s extremely helpful blogs. I have finally caught up. Thanks for teaching me (still learning) how to attack these fun puzzles. I liked Palindrome today, thought that was very clever.
Tyro

#13 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 15:59

Thanks Budmo for a great puzzle – some straightforward, some challenging – and Shanne for a helpful blog.
One question: why the possessive apostrophe for Dictator in 12ac? It doesn’t help the surface and wouldn’t Dictator alone be a sufficient homophone indicator?
mrpenney

#14 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 17:23

Tyro @13: the possessive is necessary for the wordplay. A dictator in that sense is a person who is speaking, not that person’s speech, so it doesn’t work by itself as a homophone indicator, which always has to indicate speaking or hearing (or spoken or heard). But “dictator’s” can mean by implication “the dictator’s version of,” which solves that problem. And it doesn’t much matter for the surface reading, for which it’s a contraction of “dictator is”.
Tyro

#15 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 17:41

MrPenny#14: Thanks -I didn’t get the double meaning of the apostrophe S. All clear now!
TheFishmonger

#16 - Sat 27th Dec 25, 18:23

This was an odd one for me. In the US Midwest, I’ve never heard those truncated forms of margarine or demonstration. Nor was I familiar with the town of Sale. Thanks for the explanations!

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16 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 91 by Budmo”

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