This week’s 11 x 11 crossword from the Guardian intended to teach cryptic crosswords, found here
This week’s puzzle sees a new setter Garson, with some interesting vocabulary and cluing. This puzzle has anagrams, hidden words and acrostics with all the letters in the clues, with just the double definitions where the words and letters need to be found by the solvers. This crossword uses every letter of the alphabet, called a pangram in crosswordese, which seems to have stretched the vocabulary used.
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 was developed 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 - Double definition RBoth halves are definitions!
‘Search scrub (5)’ gives SCOUR - Acrostic First letters of answer
‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG
| ACROSS | Click on “Answer” to see the solutions | |
| 1 |
Jaunty singer of Heigh-Ho? (5)
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AnswerHAPPY |
Parsingdouble definition the first being a straight definition, the other referring to one of these characters – the song appears in the film. |
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| 4 |
Serving of delicious crumble for crowd (5)
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AnswerSCRUM |
Parsinghidden word (serving of) in deliciouS CRUMble – “serving of” suggests a part of the whole, so hidden. “The festival was such a scrum/crowd that it wasn’t much fun.” |
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| 7 |
Swish suit (7)
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AnswerWHISTLE |
Parsingdouble defintion – for the first think of a train swishing past, for the second, we’re in the world of Cockney Rhyming Slang – and this is one I’ve come across working in the areas with the old cockney speakers forty years ago. |
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| 8 |
Sock receptacle (3)
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AnswerBOX |
Parsingdouble definition the first comes for different words meaning “hit” and is a verb, the other is noun meaning a container. |
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| 9 |
Flick finger in lewd men’s faces (4)
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AnswerFILM |
Parsingacrostic (faces) of Finger In Lewd Men. The definition is old slang for the definition, referring to the early days of flickering frames. |
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| 10 |
A spire built in historic Middle East region? (6)
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AnswerPERSIA |
Parsinganagram of (A SPIRE)* with an anagrind of “built”. The definition is referring to what a part of the Middle East that is now renamed, hence the “historic”. |
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| 12 |
Dmitri v Iago boxing technicalities (6)
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AnswerTRIVIA |
Parsinghidden word(s) (boxing) in dmiTRI V IAgo. Boxing as a hidden indicator suggests something being contained within. |
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| 14 |
Jester opening King’s erudite intros with wisecrack (4)
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AnswerJOKE |
Parsingacrostic (intros) of Jester Opening King’s Erudite. |
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| 17 |
Origins of early Roman architectural period (3)
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AnswerERA |
Parsingacrostic (origins of) Early Roman Architectural – with a very smooth surface. “Origins of” suggests the first letters as origins are the beginnings. |
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| 18 |
Tipsy nun duet is discordant (7)
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AnswerUNTUNED |
Parsinganagram of (NUN DUET)* with an anagrind of “tipsy”. |
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| 20 |
Confiscate jam (5)
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AnswerSEIZE |
Parsingdouble definition – both meanings are verbs – and I’d realised we had a pangram by now, and was looking for somewhere to put the less common missing letter, which helped. |
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| 21 |
Unfairly try Pa – he may be the defendant (5)
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AnswerPARTY |
Parsinganagram of (TRY PA)* with an anagrind of “unfairly” – the whole clue is suggesting trials. |
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|
DOWN
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| 1 |
Methodology of some characters in shows (3)
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AnswerHOW |
Parsinghidden word(s) (some characters in) sHOWs. |
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| 2 |
Medicine bottle with sample of morphia lingering (5)
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AnswerPHIAL |
Parsinghidden word(s) (sample of) morPHIA Lingering. |
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| 3 |
You explore Tibet’s icy summits for giant ape (4)
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AnswerYETI |
Parsingacrostic (summits) of You Explore Tibet’s Icy for this mythical great ape. |
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| 4 |
Somewhat austere old sound system (6)
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AnswerSTEREO |
Parsinghidden word(s) (somewhat) in auSTERE Old. |
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| 5 |
Fictional detective hiding in hellebore bush (5)
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AnswerREBUS |
Parsinghidden word(s) (hiding in) helleboRE BUSh for this fictional detective, although I know him from the books, not the the TV series. |
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| 6 |
Cryptic exit map in curated collection (7)
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AnswerMIXTAPE |
Parsinganagram of (EXIT MAP)* with an anagrind of “cryptic” – and this takes me back 40 odd years to the 1980s. When I tried to find a link to explain this, I mostly found a video game. |
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| 9 |
He farts inappropriately – dads! (7)
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AnswerFATHERS |
Parsinganagram of (HE FARTS)* with an anagrind of “inappropriately”. |
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| 11 |
Outline cost (6)
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AnswerFIGURE |
Parsingdouble definition neither particularly obvious. |
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| 13 |
Ibrahim remembered a quiet individual, originally from Baghdad, perhaps (5)
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AnswerIRAQI |
Parsingacrostic (originally) of Ibrahim Remembered A Quiet Individual and a definition by example (DBE), indicated by “perhaps”, as Baghdad is just one place Ibrahim could originate. |
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| 15 |
New or unfamiliar landlady? (5)
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AnswerOWNER |
Parsinganagram of (NEW OR)* with an anagrind of “unfamiliar” and another definition by example (DBE) indicated by a question mark. |
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| 16 |
Tread stage (4)
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AnswerSTEP |
Parsingdouble definition the first a verb, the second a noun. |
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| 19 |
Dynamic aerobic yoga starts in 24 hours (3)
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AnswerDAY |
Parsingacrostic (starts) of Dynamic Aerobic Y. |
And apologies in advance – today we’re cooking for tomorrow’s event, so I am not around this morning.
Had to reveal HAPPY & WHISTLE, and still didn’t understand them. A “quick cryptic”?
Thanks, as ever, for this Shanne and to Garson, too, of course!
I was defeated by the double definitions, specifically the interlocking 11 & 20 – even with all the other crossers, I couldn’t get there. If I’d spotted the pangram I might have had a chance, but that’s being optimistic!
Geoff @2, they’re both double definitions.
Happy: Jaunty / one of the 7 dwarfs.
Whistle, as Shanne explains, is the swish noise (I didn’t get it from that one) and Cockney rhyming slang “Whistle & Flute” = suit. Only got that one from the second definition and all the crossers.
Thanks Garson and Shanne
A few clues totally inappropriate for this slot – HAPPY (needs knowledge of Snow White), WHISTLE, REBUS (who he?).
A DNF – I gave up and revealed SEIZE and FIGURE.
holypeanut@4, yes, understood when I came here, not before.
Radio3 broadcasts a mixtape at 7pm on weekday evenings.
muffin @5 – Rebus comes up a lot – he’s the detective in the Ian Rankin series of books, first published in 2008, set in Edinburgh. I have read a few of the earlier books. It’s now a TV series, and there are links on IMDB, BBC TV and the listing of the books, which I could have chosen.
I think this was the first time I failed to complete a Quick Cryptic as I could not solve 7ac. And I found a lot of the puzzle quite tricky!
This QC revealed to me how far I have come since beginning my cryptic journey last March. I could not possibly have completed this back then, but today I found it challenging in an enjoyable way. I had to come here for the parsing of 7a and 20a.
I struggled on the same clues as the previous commentators: had to use a thesaurus for “figure” and “seize” but they were both there, so not so very obscure; “whistle” I got from the crossers and couldn’t parse, even though, on reflection, I knew “whistle and toot” ; as for “Happy”, he was my third choice, after Jeff Beck and Santa, but heigh ho!
Even with an explanation, whistle as a synonym for swish makes absolutely no sense. Clues like this make me not want to progress on to harder cryptics. You have to understand a particular setter’s own form of insanity and misunderstanding.
I enjoyed this puzzle 7 across stumped me until I got the checking letters in and then remembered whistle and flute, though I wonder if it needs an indicator, as I am used to seeing that in other cryptic eg Swish east end suit?
Thanks Garson and Shanne. Enjoyable puzzle not as chewy as last week’s perhaps but still on the edge for new starters. Some tricky double defs including a bit of crosswordland’s favourite London dialect, and some non-obvious anagram signals added some spice to it all.
Always thought it was “Hi-ho” (because that’s how the song sounds), but research proves me wrong after all these years. Oh well, heigh-ho.
Thanks Shanne, and congratulations Garson for squeezing a pangram into such a small grid.
How does jam mean seize? I worked out it was a double definition and used a thesaurus but it didn’t have seize as an alternative.
Sarah, it probably is closer to “seize up”. My printer seized up the other day.
Managed to complete thanks to crosses and thesaurus, but some double definitions are still obscure. Why is step the same as stage?
Update: ah, I get it now. 😀
Sarah @16
Think of a machine getting jammed up – it could also be considered to be seized up. That’s how I parsed it.
Andrea @18
Think of it as a step in a process, step 1, step 2 = stage 1, stage 2 etc.
Can’t help thinking, for quick cryptic at least, it should be, “Swish London [or Cockney] Suit” at least
Ben @12 I could not agree more. I feel exactly the same way.
Not that I found that clue easy either, and it was my last one in, but both swish and whistle are onomatopoeic words signifying the whoosh / swish / whistle as a train or bus goes past for example, or a fly or wasp past an ear.
I was stuck on 11 and 20 for a while. I’d sussed it was a pangram, so went looking for which letters hadn’t been played. Knowing I had a Z and a G to play was enough to get me across the line.
Swish and whistle didn’t seem quite synonymous to me – definitely needed the crossers there.
Happy Fathers Day around the edge.
I clearly wasn’t alone being stuck on 11 and 20 too. I finally struck on SWIPE, which fitted the grid and agreed with confiscate (just), then spent ages thinking about a jam…. Still kicking myself. A good puzzle though, and thanks to Shanne and Garson.
Pob @24 – in the UK Fathers’ Day was 21st June, in common with most of the world on the 3rd Sunday in June. The only country I can find that celebrates Fathers’ Day this weekend is Uruguay.
Thank you, Shanne and holypeanut @4, I came here for parsing of WHISTLE, which I made from ‘swish’ and crosses.
The QC was a bit tricky due to vocabulary. I used a dictionary to check ‘flick’ for ‘FILM’ (I spotted the acrostic, but what did it have to do with ‘flick’?). But found nothing about WHISTLE.
Also, it took me ages to work out SEIZE and FIGURE.
Anyway, it was enjoyable.
Thank you Garson and Shanne. Creative indicators from a new setter, double definitions that forced pulling down Chambers and remembering Snow White, and proof that Cockney Rhyming Slang still befuddles the middle classes – well done!
Thank you Garson and Shanne.
Just wanted note that sometimes romantic films/movies are referred to as chick FLICKs.
Thanks, as ever, Shanne for your fantastic explanations. Thoroughly enjoyed this Garson. But was pleased to see I wasn’t the only one totally bamboozled by 11 and 20!
Comment #31
Granville @31
Not only does WHISTLE need a knowledge of Cockney rhyming slang, “swish” doesn’t really clue it either. I would have complained about this one in a full-fat crossword.
Thanks Shanne! I largely enjoyed that, but felt that the inclusion of Cockney rhyming slang was another example of the use of a second unspecified technique within a clue, when QCs are meant to have one technique per clue and specify all the techniques at the top. This has happened a lot lately. I’m starting to wonder if it’s the result of a deliberate editorial decision! Not a good one on my view of so.