Cryptic Crossword Clues

[IrvinaYalom]

Right, I am aware that this might be a bit niche and that I may be totally alone in thinking that this would be a good thing to exist but I am going to go ahead and ask anyway and hope that I am not as alone as I think I might be!

I have recently discovered the joys (oh yes- the joys are multiple!) of doing cryptic crosswords. Being new I am obviously no expert and during these early days of crossword exploration and discovery I have repeatedly bemoaned the lack of "clue explanations". Now it may well just be me who experiences this but I quite regularly find that even upon discovering the answer to a more challenging clue I don't quite understand exactly how or why the clue in question lead to that particular answer. So this leads me to ask...

Would anyone else out there be interested in an ongoing thread upon which we could post about cryptic crossword clues and help each other see what's what?

anticipates tumbleweed

I'm afraid I have no advice on them as I am ridiculously bad at them, but following as I would like to get better!

I used to do loads but not so much now so I'm a bit rusty but would like to get my eye back in, so to speak.

You'll find that the computers have a certain style and you get used to what to look for after a while.

Yooohooo.
I LOVE a good cryptic and used to do them all the time, but I taught DH and now he has claimed them all and I only get to help when he can’t do a clue himself.

Bring it on!

I'm in! There is a website that explains the Daily Telegraph cryptic crosswords. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it here?
But I'll watch this thread anyway as my DH and I do a cryptic crossword, or as much as we have time for, most days. We are very interesting people with lots of friends

Watching! Have you seen www.fifteensquared.net ? It's excellent for explaining the answers.

I'm like iklboo & am rusty.

This is a blog of the Times cryptic crossowrds:

times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/

They explain the answers to the clues. They can be a bit smug with remarks like: "Much harder this morning - took me 14 minutes." (!!) but it is very helpful.

Oh how nice to have some replies. Thank you both!

Sorry if this is a stupid question @iklboo but what do you mean by computers? I'm pretty sure (or at least I was until I read your post) that the crosswords I do are created by real people.

Bloody autocorrect!! Compilers

@magimedi that is exactly what I need! But sadly not for The Times, I'm not a reader and don't subscribe online. I want that but for The Guardian one- there are (amusingly smug) comments posted below the online version but they rarely actually help explain the particularly mind boggling clues in the way that I require.

Keen

@magimedi oh sorry! I should have guessed it would be an autocorrect. You had me questioning my whole understanding of the limits of current AI for a second there!

I love cryptic crosswords, but hardly ever do them these days. I'm pretty useless at The Times and The Telegraph ones - maybe only get a few answers. If you're in the London area, the London Evening Standard has an easier one Mon-Thurs (maybe they have it online too, I'm not sure).

I always regret not asking my Dad, because he was brilliant at them.

I do the Metro and the Evening Standard ones; which are moderate, except the Friday one in the Standard, which is harder. I don't often manage to complete the whole crossword though.

You have to learn what to look for: words such as "muddle", "confusion", "chaos", "round", "out" often means the answer is an anagram of some words or letters in the clue.
"Points" mean points of the compass: n, s, e, w.
"note" can mean musical note, abcdefg.
"we hear" means a word which sounds the same as another. For example "Scratchy piece of period clothing worn round the neck, we hear" (5 letters).

With crosswords by computer: most of the clues were probably written by real people, but a computer has a large bank of them, and puts them together to make a crossword.

One from Friday's Evening Standard:

"Copy it in a mite shakily, 7 letters."
Shakily implies an anagram. Find one that means "copy".

I have been doing the Times Quick Cryptic for a couple of years. At first I found this blog very useful.

I’m still not ready to move up.

"Copy it in a mite shakily, 7 letters."

Imitate

Imitate? ('it' in 'a mite' )
The Guardian cryptic can be quite fiendish, depending on the compiler.
There are 'rules' or at least 'conventions' eg 'flower' can mean a river, while bloomer can mean a flower. etc. And there are various ways to signal an anagram, as above.
After a while you get to know the rules, and the styles of the various compilers.
And I've often found that cryptic crosswords can be more tightly clued than straigthforward ones, sometimes with up to three elements to the clue including the one to the entire word.

Just had SGEG for lunch! (9,4)

Scrambled eggs...

I did too. And a circle of confused stoat. (5,2,5)

My Dad taught me how to do cryptics when I was quite small and I've loved them ever since.

The best ever compiler [imo] was Araucaria, the Rev John Graham, who was still contributing Guardian cryptics until he died aged 92. You can still find some of his puzzles on the Guardian website.

Here are some of his cleverest clues:

www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2013/nov/27/crossword-blog-araucaria-john-graham

Foil some of the peerage, 4 letters.
Look for letters from "the peerage", which mean the same as foil. There are several meanings of foil - you have to consider all of them.

Precious little company inside for the prematurely forward, 10 letters.
little company inside means abbreviation for "company", inserted into a word meaning "prematurely forward".

His map is transformed by an accident, 6 letters.
"transformed" = anagram. Look for one meaning accident.

Make a sound comeback in a speech original in content, 4 letters.
"in" can mean that the answer is letters in sequence. Look for a word meaning "sound comeback", in the ltters of "speech original".

A double-crosser with more than one sort of merit (3-5):
The answer means the same as "double crosser".
More than one implies two.
Sort of merit: anagram.

Round of toast

Following - we learnt this sort of thing for the Telegraph cryptic at school & I can't remember a thing.
There's a group that do it at lunchtime at work that I'd like to join but need to practise first.