Cruciverbosity

Gold!

dave — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:14:13 +0000

As usual, I submitted a few of my favourite clues from XWD009 to the Compose A Clue competition on Paul’s Cryptica website, and I’ve just seen that 11 across was awarded the gold for this week. Here’s the clue:

Outfit designers created incorporating large bust and white headpiece. (7,5)

Very pleased!

XWD009

dave — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:06:41 +0000

Well, it seems to have been quite a few weeks since I last posted a new puzzle. I have a few “works in progress” but I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to put my mind to getting them into a fit state to be published. But here’s one I’ve managed to finish off, and I hope there’ll be more to follow soon.

There are a couple of really good clues in this one, even if I say so myself!

XWD009

XWD008

dave — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:12:09 +0000

My latest crossword has just gone online and can be seen here.

XWD007

dave — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:53:14 +0000

And another new one online here.

I actually finished this one before number 6, and in my haste to complete it, mucked up one of the clues (21a) by making an anagram that was one letter short. It now has a new clue, and a couple of other clues have been slightly tweaked – hopefully for the better.

As with my previous themed puzzle, knowledge of the theme is not required to solve it. Two of the solutions are obviously linked, the rest less obvious unless you are familiar with what it is that links them…

Brendan in the Guardian recently had a puzzle with a theme that was not made explicit – you either spotted it or you didn’t. I like this approach. Sometimes, knowing the theme or having it mentioned explicitly in the clues can make it too easy to solve – or too difficult, if you don’t know the subject. I prefer themed solutions to be words that stand alone, and clues to be solvable without requiring specialist knowledge. I think next time I do a themed puzzle, I’ll take the Brendan approach and not mention the theme at all.

XWD006

dave — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:22:36 +0000

New puzzle now online here.

This one took me ages to do. It was about mostly done a few weeks ago, but I found the last few words very difficult to write clues for. Plus I’ve not had my mind on crosswords much lately due to being tired from having a busy time at work.

Anyway, it’s still not perfect but it will do for now. I’ll post an annotated solution later.

XWD005 – solutions

dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:56:01 +0000

My first attempt at a themed crossword – the theme is cryptically alluded to in the introductory line but is otherwise not made explicit in the puzzle.

“MacGuffin” is the name Alfred Hitchcock gave to the device in any film that drives the story along without being itself of any special significance (eg the statue in The Maltese Falcon). Here it’s a group of words around which the grid is based. Although the words are thematically linked, they stand alone and no knowledge of the theme is required to solve the puzzle – they were simply the first words I put into the grid; the rest were filled in around them.

Specifically, the words are all titles of films directed by Alfred Hitchcock – there are seven in the grid, all marked with asterisks below.

Across

1. STRAND – S + TRAD (folk music), insert N

4. *I CONFESS – ICON + FESS (heraldic term for a broad horizontal band on an escutcheon)

10. *BON VOYAGE – insert [C]ONVOY (procession with no “leader”) in BAG (Gladstone) + E

11. *TOPAZ – TOP + AZ (middle letters of “brazen”)

12. THREE – anag of ETHER

13. IMPARTIAL – “I’m partial!”

14. UNAWARE – UNA + WARE (Dorset town)

16. ROOD – DOOR (opener) reversed (flipping). A rood is a cross that usually stands on a screen in church. The surface is meant to make you think of cricket.

19. OPUS – OP (middle letters of Chopin) + US

21. CASCADE – insert CAD in CASE

24. *SUSPICION – U’S (University’s) + PI (an irrational number) inserted into SCION

25. TINGE – [S]TINGE[R]

26. CHINA – CHIN (punch) + A. “China plate” is Cockney rhyming slang for “mate”, hence “friend in East London”

27. PUNCTUATE – cryptic definition. Another one that got a favourable mention from the Guardian’s Paul (www.cryptica.co.uk). I seem to have a strike rate of one per puzzle, though I only submit my personal favourites for his consideration, not the whole lot.

28. OVERTURN – OVERT (seeming) + URN (pot)

29. *FRENZY – FRENCH swapping CH (companion) for Z,Y (two “unknowns”)

Down

1. *SABOTEUR – anag of ASBO TRUE

2. RING ROAD – RING (cabal) + homophone of “rode” (cycled)

3. NO ONE – a fairly cheesy cryptic definition

5. CREEPER – CREE (Native American) + PER (by)

6. *NOTORIOUS – anag of ORTON + IOUS (debts)

7. ESPRIT – anag of PRIEST. Rufus in the Guardian recently used the same anagram, though his clue had “turbulent priest”, evoking Henry II’s famous line about Thomas Becket. I wrote my clue before I saw the Rufus puzzle but wished I’d thought of that one. I’m quite happy with my version, though.

8. SIZZLE – EL (“the” in Spanish, hence Madrileno) + ZZ (snores) + [H]IS, all reversed. A fairly elaborate bit of wordplay but I think it just about works.

9. RAVINE – insert IN (fashionable) in RAVE (enthuse)

15. APPLICANT – anag of PLAIN PACT

17. MAINTAIN – AINT (“isn’t” as commonly spoken) inserted in MAIN (ocean)

18. SEVERELY – anag of EVE’S LYRE

20. SLIPPER – REP + PILS reversed

21. CANING – CAREENING (running amok) less RE and E (English)

22. *PSYCHO – hidden answer

23. ASPIRE – cryptic definition, “a spire” being what you see on top of a church

25. TUTOR – anag of TROUT

XWD004 – solutions

dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:30:41 +0000

This was a fairly straightforward puzzle to write clues for and it was all done quite quickly, except for a few tricky words that kept me scratching my head for ages. I’m still not happy with a few of the clues but I think the overall standard is progressively better than the earlier efforts. Again, I’ve got three consecutive anagrams in the down clues, which is unfortunate, but I think the balance of different clue types is OK overall.

Across

8. NAPOLEON – NAP (tipster’s choice) + OLEO (margarine) + N (knight in chess notation). It took me a while to come up with a satisfactory clue for this one but I eventually hit on the idea of making use of the fact that racehorses often have apparently nonsensical names.

9. NECTAR – homophone of “necked” (drank) + A + R

10. HAZE – insert A and Z (beginning and end) in HE

11. SEE-THROUGH – anag of THREESO[ME] + UGH

12. RIBBON – BB (Brigitte Bardot) inserted into NOIR (low-key film) and reversed. “Film noir” is so-called because of its use of “low key lighting”. Serge Gainsbourg wrote a song about Bardot, “Initials B.B.” but I don’t think you need to be an expert on French 60s pop to be familiar with the nickname.

14. OBSIDIAN – OB (outside broadcast) + SID + IAN

15. WINNIE THE POOH – anag of ON WHITE IPHONE. Another that got an honourable mention from the Guardian’s Paul (www.cryptica.co.uk). Hurrah!

17. BLOWPIPE – BLOW + PIPE

19. RESIDE – hidden answer. Strict Ximeneans might not like the deliberately misleading punctuation in the clue, but I was quite pleased with it.

21. GORGONZOLA – GORGON + ZOLA. I found it hard to write a clue for this one and to be honest, I’m not at all satisfied with what I eventually settled on. Definitely needs some refinement.

22. LUTE – [F]LUTE.

23. PEANUT – a very straightforward double definition.

24. TAKE FIVE – a slightly more cryptic double definition, with a reference to the biggest hit of 60s jazz musician Dave Brubeck.

Down

1. SAFARI – insert FA in SARI

2. ROPE – anag of PORE

3. HELSINKI – anag of LIKE SHIN. The surface is meant to make you think of a nice dish of braised shin of beef. Mmm!

4. ANGEL OF THE NORTH – anag of ANOTHER GOLF around THEN

5. INCHES – [W]INCHES or possibly [P]INCHES, if you interpret “lift” in the sense of “steal”.

6. ACCORDIONS – ACCORD + I[R]ON. I was happy with the basic wordplay here but struggled to make it work in the clue and think the surface feels a bit forced.

7. BAR GRAPH – GRAB reversed + RAPH[AEL]

13. Fashions rings around cart. (10) BANDWAGONS

15. WALK OVER – double definition, with bridge as a verb in the solution and a noun in the surface.

16. EARMARKS – anag of RARE MASK

18. IGNITE – hidden answer

20. DATIVE – insert TI in DAVE

22. LOFT – “Lo! It’s the Financial Times!”

XWD003 – solutions

dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:53:45 +0000

Date stamp 16 January 2009. Getting better but still far from perfect. Three consecutive anagrams is clearly something a pro setter would try to avoid. Highlight of this puzzle is 24a, which got a gold award from Paul of the Guardian in his weekly clue competition at www.cryptica.co.uk, presumably for the nicely misleading use of a well-known phrase.

Read on for the solutions…

Across

1. REDUCE – RED + U[L]CE[R]

4. AIRTIGHT – TIGHT[S] (hosiery “snipped”) with AIR (vent) in front

9. PLUMBS – LUM (Scots word for a chimney) + B inserted in PS

10. HOWITZER – anag of WHO + partial anag of TIZER

12. ROMANIAN – ROMAN + IAN

13. AKIMBO – KIM (as in the Rudyard Kipling novel) inserted in A + BO (body odour)

15. SON ET LUMIERE – anag of MOLIERES TUNE. This was the first grid entry. Something made me think of the phrase and I thought it would be a good one to have in a crossword. And it lends itself nicely to anagrams.

18. MISANTHROPIC – anag of CHAMPION TIRES less E

21. ACETIC – anag of CAT ICE. Looking at it now, three consecutive anagrams seems somewhat less than ideal.

22. INVASION – INV[ITE] + homophone of “Asian”. I guess some might not like “cut short” for removing an unspecified number of letters from the end of a word, especially when it’s as much as half the word that needs to be removed.

24. STARTERS – double definition.

25. BIKINI – BI + KIN + I

26. LITERATE – L (last letter of “fool”) + ITERATE

27. AGENCY – AGEN + C[LA]Y (as in Cassius Clay)

Down

1. REPHRASE – REP + anag of HARES

2. DRUMMING – D + RUM + MING

3. CABINET MINISTER – CABINET (private room) + MINISTER (cater for needs) and a cryptic definition. I’ve taken a bit of a liberty with the definition – “One is [Alastair] Darling” – but it amused me.

5. IDOL – hidden answer

6. TRICK-OR-TREATING – RICK inserted in TORT + REA[C]TING. I feel this clue is slightly inelegant but just about works.

7. GAZUMP – ZU[LU] inserted in GAMP (old word for umbrella)

8. TURBOT – hidden answer. Is “it’s served with hollandaise” OK as a definition?

11. SAMURAI – SA (South Africa) + MURA[L] (used here as an adjective) + I (iodine)

14. KITTENS – cryptic definition

16. OPTICIAN – ICI (in Paris=French) inserted in OPT + AN

17. SCANTILY – anag of SCALY TIN, to describe how someone in a bikini (25) is dressed.

19. DAMSEL – DAM + SEL[L]

20. TENANT – homophone of [David] Tennant, as in Doctor Who

23. GRIT – cryptic definition referring to True Grit, the 1969 John Wayne film

XWD002 – solutions

dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:18:02 +0000

As with my first crossword, this was put together over approximately a week of train journeys to and from work. Date stamp 19/12/2008.

Click on “Read the rest of this post” below to see the solutions.

Across

1. TEMPING – TEMP[T]ING

5. AUDITOR – AUDI + TOR

9. PASTA – hidden answer

10. ECTOPLASM – anag of CASTLEMOP. I originally had a different clue here: “Disturbed place most observed by mediums.” I changed it because I wasn’t sure if the definition part of the clue was strictly valid, though I prefer the surface reading.

11. SPANISH CHESTNUT – SPANISH (foreign) + CHEST (funds) + NUT (head)

13. TEASER – EASTER with the T moved to the front

16. TRUTHFUL – T + RUTH + FL with U inserted

18. LUDDITES – anag of DELICATE E PUNDITS less the letters of PATIENCE

19. GREENS – [O]GRE+EN. I was quite pleased with the misleading use of “leaves” here.

23. PERPETUAL MOTION – anag of A PETROLEUM POINT [updated following Sil's comment]

26. RECOMBINE – insert COMB in REIN + E

27. SWEEP – WEEPS with the S moved to the front. “Fairytale Tom” being the hero of The Water Babies.

28. HONESTY – HONEST + Y. If “Hon” is honourable, then “honest” is most honourable, right?

29. SUSPECT – insert USP in SECT

Down

1. TYPESET – hidden answer. This is another that got an honourable mention from the Guardian’s Paul in his clue competition (www.cryptica.co.uk). Casting in hot metal is how newspapers used to be typeset not so very long ago.

2. MASCARA – SAM reversed + CARA

3. IRAQI – IRA + IQ “muddled”

4. GOETHE – ETH inserted in an anag of EGO. Eth was the girlfriend of Ron Glum in the old radio sitcom The Glums, hence “Glum girl”.

5. ANTIHERO – ANTI + HER + O and a cryptic definition. Benedick is the “antihero” of Much Ado About Nothing. In the same play, Hero is the lover of Claudio and Don John the one who tries to split them apart, hence Don John may be said to be “anti-Hero” [updated following Sil's comment]

6. DEPOSITOR – anag of POOR TIDES and a cryptic definition

7. TRAIN – T (“the” in Yorkshire) + RAIN (lavish – as in the verb)

8. REMIT – TIMER reversed

12. U-TURN – [C]UT + URN

14. ETUDE – anag of DUET + E (energy)

15. EPIDERMIS – anag of EMPIRES ID

17. SECURITY – SECU[LA]RITY

20. EVIL EYE – anag of VEIL + EYE (seer)

21. SANDPIT – SAND (George Sand, 19th century French feminist novelist) + P (penny) + IT (“sex”). I can only apologise for the image conjured up by the surface reading!

22. SLEEPS – insert LEE (sheltered) + P (port) into SS (ship)

23. PORCH – P+OR+CH

24. RICIN – hidden answer

25. OASIS – double definition. It’s sometimes said that cryptic crosswords don’t include enough contemporary cultural references, so I hope this clue redresses the balance slightly.

XWD001 – solutions and commentary

dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:36:32 +0000

This was my first ever cryptic crossword, date-stamped 12 December 2008. I wrote the clues to occupy my evening train journey home from work and it took me about a week’s worth of train journeys to complete. On the whole, I’m pleased with it for a first effort, though I’ve subsequently rewritten a few of the clues that I really wasn’t happy with. There are still several that aren’t great, but I’ve let them stand for posterity’s sake.

Read on for explanations of the solutions (spoiler alert!)

Across
1. FLORET – FL(Florida)+OR+ET(alien)
5,14. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE – P (quietly) + anag of INJUREDPADRE + DICE (chop). This was the first grid entry, because I’d already written the clue and wanted to use it. The rest of the grid, with a couple of exceptions, was auto-filled by Crossword Compiler. On reflection, I’m not as pleased with the clue as I was when I first came up with it.
9. CRITIQUE – anag of ERICQUIT
10. ALUMNI – ALUM[i]NI[um]
11. COORDINATE – anag of DETAIN+CO+OR
12. ARMY – cryptic definition (and a very old joke!)
13. APOSTASY – anag of YAPS+OATS. I had to rewrite this clue after it was pointed out to me that the original version had an incorrect definition. One of the hazards of writing clues on the train is not having a dictionary handy to check these things.
16. YOICKS – insert I(one)+C(vitamin)+K (potassium) into SOY reversed. “Yoicks!” is a hunting cry, which I wasn’t familiar with until, coincidentally, it came up in a recent Guardian crossword. The Quorn is a hunt, hence “declaration of Quorn”, but it’s also a vegetarian meat substitute, which is what the surface reading refers to. I was pleased with the idea behind this clue but I wish I could have made it a bit snappier.
17. HERNIA – HER + [p]AIN reversed
19. ORDINARY – double definition, ordinary being another name for a Penny Farthing bicycle
21. JURA – JUR[y] (“12 good men”) + A
22. RIFLE RANGE – anag of FRAILGREEN
25. LIBIDO – IB (International Baccalaureate) inserted in LIDO
26. ICEHOUSE – [m]ICE (ie “decapitated” mice) + HOUSE
27. MEANTIME – cryptic definition
28. THEISM – cryptic definition

Down
2. LARGO – double definition (reference to Key Largo, the 1948 John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart). This one got a “highly commended” mention from the Guardian’s Paul in his clue competition (see www.cryptica.co.uk), though it was uncredited. Chiz!
3. ROTOR – a not-very-cryptic definition. It’s a palindrome and it’s a down clue, hence “like a yo-yo”.
4. TEQUILA – QUIL[L](feather) inserted in TEA(cuppa)
5. PLENARY – LENA(woman) inserted in PRY(be nosy)
6. IMAGERY – I(a) + MARY with G and E (“bottom and top of egg”) inserted. This is a bit clumsy but I found the word very hard to write a satisfactory clue for.
7. EDUCATION – DUCATI inserted in EON
8. NONSMOKER – NS (partners) + M (male) inserted in NOOK + ER (the queen). A couple of bits of classic crosswordese here (bridge partners and her majesty). I do try to avoid these hackneyed devices on the whole but I enjoyed the surface reading here so let myself get away with it.
15. SENSATION – double definition.
18. A PRIORI – PRIOR inserted in AI (artificial intelligence)
19. OFFSIDE – OFFS + IDE[S], “ides” being the 15th of the month, as in “the ides of March”. This was one of the last clues I came up with and is my own favourite.
20. DEEPEST – DEE + PEST
23. ATONE – cryptic definition (“at one” being “around lunchtime”)
24. GASES – double definition (“waffles” as in “talks too much”)