Please help with cryptic crossword clue

[SomeoneBurntTheToastAgain]

Hello, fellow cryptic crossworders.

I’m only just getting into cryptic crosswords, so I’m still figuring out how to get to the solutions.

This one is bothering me:

Pick an artist for Sophocles’ play (7)

I know already that the answer is Electra (it’s the only play I know by Sophocles, plus the letters just fit,) but how does one arrive at this answer if actually solving the clue?

pick = elect, I assume.

how do you get from elect to electra? What suggests you add RA at the end from the clue?

GMOOH2023
Your post has helped me finally realise why I have never been able to get cryptic crosswords.
This thread might encourage me to try again.

Tiredpat, obviously. 🤣

I wonder if other ND people can do these cryptic crosswords?

Is it something you can learn or do you need a certain mindset to do it?

Are there ND people around who are really good at them or do all ND people think 'what a load of bollocks'?

*I wonder if other ND people can do these cryptic crosswords?

Is it something you can learn or do you need a certain mindset to do it?

Are there ND people around who are really good at them or do all ND people think 'what a load of bollocks'?*

I'm not ND and I am very good at cryptic crosswords - I can do them very quickly (not boasting - I have few other skills and being good at cryptic crosswords isn't exactly useful )

it is definitely a learned skill (with a bit of mind set and facility with words/wordplay etc thrown in)I started doing them at a young age - my dad let me 'help' him do the Times Cross words from when I was quite young and I learned all the codes - and that's really all they are codes for groups or pairs of letters, word play/double meanings, anagrams and the codes for anagrams etc. The more you do the better at them you get - I'm in my 60's and have been doing them for years, I still love doing them - I do one every night before I go to sleep in the hope it will keep my brain going for a bit longer !

As for any correlation with being good at/not good at and ND - I don't know. I can fully see how someone with a literal mind set would find them silly or not enjoyable. on the other hand I have an autistic friend who loves puns/word play etc and I imagine she would be pretty good at them - she's good at most things.
But if you are ND , I would say have a go, they are certainly a learned skill and you can get books of crosswords with the answers in the back and if you are struggling you can look at the answer and work backwards as it were. Once you have learned the code words and shorthand you can very quickly 'read' a clue and get to the heart of it.

I also love puns etc., but I have clear memories of my mum whizzing her way through cryptic crosswords and me being frustrated because I just didn't get them, despite being a smart-arse and being more than her equal at chess, backgammon etc.

And I still don't get them, despite being really logical and adept at problem-solving.

You can access all the Guardian crosswords on-line for free.

They get progressively more cryptic as the week goes on, so best to start with Monday and Tuesday ones.

On a Monday (I think) they publish one called a Quiptic. It's a sort of Cryptic-lite. A good place to start to get into the feel of doing them.

You can reveal individual answers on-line and then that sometimes helps with working backwards to understand the clue (IYSWIM).

You can also check letters within the clue, so in your original example you might now think "oh, artist, that must be RA" and put it at the end and check that it's right.

Having been laptop-less for several weeks, I would definitely recommend using a screen somewhat bigger than a phone though!

Guardian's Everyman (Sunday only) is an excellent starting point, it's a reasonably easy cryptic with quite formulaic clues so you get a feel for typical types of clue. You can't check it until the following week though!

@Alwaysatyke

I've never looked at the Everyman one! Off to do that now.

Excellent! Nice and straightforward without being too "cryptic".

I particularly liked "Like something to beat eggs for sauce" (6)

What was the answer for this one? I can’t see any indicators in this one whatsoever. I thought “beat” might mean an anagram but beyond that… well. It’s beyond me. 🤣

Whisky!
Like a thing to beat eggs: whisk - y

Sauce meaning a boozy drink!

I think.

…Could someone please help again?

This one is:
Condescend to listen to a Scandinavian (5).

my first letter is D.

I pretty much guessed and have entered in DEIGN. But again, I have no real idea how to arrive at this from the clue alone. What is the meaning of Scandinavian? What does it add?

"to listen to" = sounds like when spoken.
ie. It sounds like Dane (a Scandanavian)

A lot of these things are standard indicators for crosswords that the more you do you get the hang of. There are lots of ones for that type of clue where the clue indicates something about how the word sounds when spoken like 'sounded' 'audibly' etc.

RA is another standard one for artist/Royal academidician. OB for old boy/ex-school boy. TA = terratorial army. Tar for sailor. RE for engineer/royal engineer

If you are serious about taking up crosswords @SomeoneBurntTheToastAgain I'd highly recommend Bradfords crossword dictionary which has all these little descriptor and tricks in.

There are few things in life more annoying than when you know the answer but can't parse the clue (ie. work out why it is that answer) as per your opening post.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/bradfords-crossword-solvers-dictionary/anne-r-bradford/collins-puzzles/9780008489441

Dane, as in Danish (Scandinavian)person. Sounds like deign.

Oh my gosh! Now it seems SO obvious!! I didn’t realise “to listen to” was an indicator, I knew “we hear” is a homophone, but didn’t know this was one too. How clever!
And thank you for the book recommendation! I’m getting myself a copy.

Thank you! Seems so obvious now.