Guardian Quick Cryptic 103 by Ludwig

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

This week’s puzzle is by Ludwig who has set 14 of these puzzles, plus occasional Cryptic puzzles in the Guardian. Today we have anagrams,hidden words and acrostics clues with all the letters present, plus soundalikes where the words come from the solvers general and cryptic knowledge. I am part way through a summary of the tricks and crosswordese from probably the first 104 puzzles (2 years), and depending on what else I get caught up in this weekend, I’ll aim to get it out for Easter.

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.
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
Hidden word(s) Answer hidden in clue’s words
‘Some haVE ALtered meat (4)’ gives VEAL.
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	We’re told more than one large landmass causes fascination (8)	Answer BEGUILES
	Parsing soundalike (we’re told) of “big isles” (more than one large landmass) – breaking that down – “big” (large) “isle” (landmass) + s (more than one). It was my last one in (LOI) and needed all the crossers. If you think of soundalikes as the punchline to punning jokes, it might help, like Milton Jones or Denis Norden and Frank Muir’s shaggy dog stories on My Word.
6	Somewhat dread erstwhile bookworms (7)	Answer READERS
	Parsing hidden word(s) (somewhat) in dREAD ERStwhile.
7	Sheep that’s been swallowed by the werewolf (3)	Answer EWE
	Parsing hidden word(s) (that’s been swallowed by) in thE WErewolf.
9	Rowing crew noisily had some grub (5)	Answer EIGHT
	Parsing soundalike (noisily) of “ate” (had some grub). Rowing crews in crosswordland are always EIGHTs – whether or not rowing crews can also be fours, pairs or coxed variations of the above. With the cryptic grammar this could be read either way, but the soundalike is only 3 letters, so the definition has to be the rowing crew to fit the numbers of letters.
10	Announced occasion for aromatic herb (5)	Answer THYME
	Parsing soundalike (announced) of “time” (occasion). And this time the cryptic grammar gives: Soundalike (announced) of “time” (occasion) is definition (an aromatic herb).
11	Tips of the antlers pierced injured rat-like snouty beast (5)	Answer TAPIR
	Parsing acrostic (tips of) The Antlers Pierced Injured Rat-like to give this animal. The convention is that hyphenated words, only the first letter counts as it’s all one word.
13	A bad actor’s surely hoping to take leads? Shame! (5)	Answer ABASH
	Parsing acrostic (to take leads) of A Bad Actors Surely Hoping – and an image from the surface of the local amdram (amateur dramatics group) with the not very good leading man wanting to take all the romantic leads, through his sponsorship of the group.
15	Feel sick and ill, lurgy’s early stages (3)	Answer AIL
	Parsing acrostic (early stages) of And Ill Lurgy – with another acrostic indicator that’s less common.
16	Messily wrestle and get too hot (7)	Answer SWELTER
	Parsing anagram of (WRESTLE)* with an anagrind of “messily”.
17	Courses of dried grapes discussed. (8)	Answer CURRENTS
	Parsing soundalike (discussed) of “currants” (dried grapes) (and I went through sultanas, raisins, currants for this one). The cryptic grammar matters here – it’s saying: Definition (courses) of soundalike (dried grapes) sound like this (discussed).


	DOWN
1	Songwriter Billy’s riffs always guarantee great intros (5)	Answer BRAGG
	Parsing acrostic (intros) of Billy Riffs Always Guarantee Great for this singer songwriter and activist. And this is a good example of a clue as definition or an &lit clue. Billy’s intros are good guitar riffs and distinctive. He’s also playing London tonight, I found when I went to find a link (to one of his more famous songs).
2	Bigger device for cheese called for (7)	Answer GREATER
	Parsing soundalike (called for) of “grater” (device for cheese), although I mainly use mine for other things (potatoes and onions for latkes, carrots, apple to eat on porridge). The cryptic grammar here gives: Bigger (definition) device for cheese (soundalike) called for (soundalike indicator) – where the soundalike is next to the indicator, and the indicator is at the end of the clue, leaving the definition at the other end. Also the letter count is smaller for “grater” (6).
3	Initially, I’ll fix some uncertainties (3)	Answer IFS
	Parsing acrostic (initially) of I‘ll Fix Some – uncertainties can be referred to as IFS and buts.
4	Yemen, unlikely adversary (5)	Answer ENEMY
	Parsing anagram of (YEMEN)* with an anagrind of “unlikely” – not sure the surface is that unlikely: Yemen has been involved in a civil war since 2014/15 – it’s one of the wars President Trump declared he’d finished in 2025, but it still rumbles on and involves other countries in the Middle East and the USA.
5	Teenager brewed infusion (5,3)	Answer GREEN TEA
	Parsing anagram of (TEENAGER)* with an anagrind of “brewed” – this is a beautifully linked anagrind.
8	They care about optician’s thing (3,5)	Answer EYE CHART
	Parsing anagram of (THEY CARE)* with an anagrind of “about”.
10	Trained to reassemble kind of car (5-2)	Answer TRADE-IN
	Parsing anagram of (TRAINED)* with an anagrind of “to reassemble” – and this is a term used for the old car being part-exchanged as part of a purchase of a new(er) car.
12	Taking sample of soup, I laud choice of rice (5)	Answer PILAU
	Parsing hidden word(s) (taking sample of) souP I LAUd for a rice dish.
14	They’re against vigilantism to some extent (5)	Answer ANTIS
	Parsing hidden word(s) (to some extent) in vigilANTISm – ANTI(s) for people who are against something is a regular in crosswordese.
16	Gentleman desired bottles (3)	Answer SIR
	Parsing hidden word(s) (bottles) in deSIRed – I don’t think we’ve seen bottles as a hidden or insertion indicator before, but it turns up occasionally in the full fat cryptics.

13 comments on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 103 by Ludwig”

Jen

#1 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 08:03

Slightly chewier than usual, which was great. Managed to parse all without outside aids. Can’t say the same for yesterday’s cryptic – only third way through.

Thanks Ludwig for a more challenging cryptic and Shanne for the blog.
Jen

#2 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 08:12

‘Bottles’ as hidden word indicator new to me too.
Moley

#3 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 08:52

I do the G quick cryptic most weekends with Fifteensquared as my trusted ally when things get tough. Hate to be a show off but 🙂…. ‘beguiles’ just came to me in a rare and unexpected moment of cerebral clarity…then couldn’t get ‘antis’ for ages, which now seems so obvious! Found this easier than last week which I couldn’t complete. Thank you Shanne for blog
Mary

#4 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 08:57

After last week this crossword was fun and achievable for a learner like me. I really enjoyed the puns like 2D. Great fun! Thanks Ludwig and Shanne
Andrea

#5 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 09:03

1a was a challenge… I got the word, but couldn’t parse it at all.
thecronester

#6 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 09:08

Thanks Shanne and Ludwig. Very nice QC, lots of good soundalikes practice and neat hidden words. Will now return to Ludwig’s Friday cryptic which I’ve only managed half of so far.
Mel

#7 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 14:07

I found today’s QC a bit easier than last week’s one which took me a few days to complete. Some nice soundalikes. 1A had me stumped for a bit and then the penny dropped. My LOI was 17A which had me foxed for a while. Thanks Ludwig – and thanks to Shanne as ever for the blog.
DutchGirl

#8 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 14:22

This was a sigh of relief after Thursday’s Enigmatist (which I enjoyed neverthless, but required a lot of checking letters)… 8d my LOI. It took me a bit to see it is an anagram. I thought “they care” would be the definition. I finf soundalikes always tricky, but they were clear in this puzzle, except 1a, which needed all the crossers to solve. Thanks, Ludwig and Shanne
Rachel

#9 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 19:31

I found this one relatively straightforward except for “beguiles” which took some head scratching. I need to get back into the Quiptics, which I haven’t looked at for a couple of weeks due to lack of time!
Janet Mundy

#10 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 20:15

1a – that’s just a really bad pun!
Martyn

#11 - Sat 21st Mar 26, 22:48

Some of the soundalikes took me some time, not helped by clunky surfaces. On the other hand, I thought GREEN TEA and ENEMY wonderful anagrams and surfaces, and READERS had a nice surface

Thanks Ludwig and Shanne
Nigel

#12 - Sun 22nd Mar 26, 11:36

Thanks Ludwig and Shanne for the always excellent blog – they’ve got even better over time. Having worked through all of the Quick Cryptics I can now manage them pretty well, which wouldn’t be the case without this site. I still find attempts to step up to a Quiptic or full Cryptic a real struggle though – I can just about get there, but always a multi-day affair with lots of revisits and hopeful checking.
Anna

#13 - Sun 5th Apr 26, 16:32

1a was my LOI and my favourite clue!