Guardian Quick Cryptic 137 by Glyph

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

Glyph is a new setter to the Quick Cryptic slot and not someone I recognise under this name. This puzzle is hopefully going to be more accessible than of recent weeks as all the clue types have all the letters contained in the clues. There’s also a sort of Nina around the edge.

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.

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. 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 (crime)
Hidden word(s) Answer hidden in clue’s words
‘Some haVE ALtered meat (4)’ gives VEAL.
Acrostic First letters of answer
‘Initially Get A Good joke (3)’ gives GAG (joke).
Alternate letters Choose every other letter for answer
‘Oddly EnViEd First Lady? (3)’ gives EVE (First lady).

	ACROSS	Click on “Answer” to see the solutions
1	Despicable hater we rise above(7)	Answer WEATHER
	Parsing anagram of (HATER WE)* with an anagrind of “despicable” – for the definition, think of coping with emotional storms.
5	Chart mountainous alpine paths primarily (3)	Answer MAP
	Parsing acrostic (primarily) from Mountainous Alpine Paths.
7	Type of balm extracted from plant I germinated (5)	Answer TIGER
	Parsing hidden word(s) (extracted from) in planT I GERminated for this balm
8	Starts to find uranium nearby, growing incandescent mushrooms (5)	Answer FUNGI
	Parsing acrostic (starts to) Find Uranium Nearby Growing Incandescent.
9	One casts light about labs intermittently (4)	Answer BULB
	Parsing alternate letters (intermittently) of aBoUt LaBs – and intermittently with a way of indicating alternate letters.
10	Woman in Poundland reading? (6)	Answer ANDREA
	Parsing hidden word(s) (in) PoundlAND REAding – apparently, it’s one of the things l have learned from blogging crosswords, this cluing of a woman’s (or man’s) name by just woman or man is only accepted in British crosswords. What commenters say is that in American crosswords additional cluing is required.
12	Charon’s new device for keeping ferry still (6)	Answer ANCHOR
	Parsing anagram of (CHARON) with an anagrind of new – and the surface is referring to the Charon, the ferryman over the Styx.
14	From time to time doubt one’s instrument (4)	Answer OBOE
	Parsing alternate letters (from time to time) in dOuBt OnE‘s.
17	Genuflect as leaders of Kingdom near – everyone, even ladies (5)	Answer KNEEL
	Parsing acrostic (leaders of) Kingdom Near Everyone Even Ladies – and this gives me an earworm.
18	Spirit of Verne novel (5)	Answer NERVE
	Parsing anagram of (VERNE)* with an anagrind of “novel” – and the surface is referring to the French science fiction writer Jules Verne.
20	Money pocketed by light infantry (3)	Answer TIN
	Parsing hidden word(s) (pocketed by) in lighT INfantry – this is a regular cryptic crossword equivalent, but other than the slang dates to 1836, there’s no explanation why, that I could find while digging, other than a suggestion that it might explain why the Australian “tinny” means lucky.
21	Every so often, SW choir set clues – one might be 20ac (7)	Answer WHISTLE
	Parsing alternate letters (every so often) in sW cHoIr SeT cLuEs – and this trick of referring to another clue is something that comes up often in crosswordland – here it’s referring to one of these – I’ve got a few in different keys and refer to them by the penny nomenclature. The oldest one is the original Clark’s black design.

	DOWN
1	Tweed to regularly get damp/strong> (3)	Answer WET
	Parsing alternate letters (regularly) from tWeEd To – and the indicator is telling the solver to take the even letters.
2	Backer invested in Italian gelato (5)	Answer ANGEL
	Parsing hidden word(s) (invested in) in ItaliAN GELato – and this clue surface is referring to theatrical or other business investors.
3	Cheap red occasionally complex (4)	Answer HARD
	Parsing alternate letters (occasionally) in cHeAp ReD – with another nice surface, this one suggests cheap red wines can sometimes be more interesting.
4	First shows of run exciting for understudies, no demands for money back (6)	Answer REFUND
	Parsing acrostic (first shows of) Run Exciting For Understudies No Demands – and another theatrical surface.
5	Worker contributing to admin errors (5)	Answer MINER
	Parsing hidden word(s) (contributing to) in adMIN ERrors.
6	Secret rate VIP arranged (7)	Answer PRIVATE
	Parsing anagram of (RATE VIP)* with an anagrind of “arranged”.
9	Global bank let off (7)	Answer BLANKET
	Parsing anagram of (BANK LET)* with an anagrind of “off” – and a surface reminding me of the 2008 financial crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
11	Grasp what’s primal in fear of leeches, lungworms or weevils (6)	Answer FOLLOW
	Parsing acrostic (what’s primal in) of Fear Of Leeches Lungworms Or Weevils – in this case, grasp as in understand.
13	Sterile lance repaired (5)	Answer CLEAN
	Parsing anagram of (LANCE)* with an anagrind of “repaired”.
15	Excalibur’s tip partly shattered (5)	Answer BURST
	Parsing hidden word(s) (partly) in excaliBUR’S Tip – and this surface suggests a different direction for the solvers, either using “shattered” as an anagram indicator or something to do with the King Arthur legends, suggested by naming his sword, Excalibur.
16	Not in favour of odds being cut – damn it Jim! (4)	Answer ANTI
	Parsing alternate letters (odds being cut) from dAmN iT jIm – so the odd letters are removed, leaving the even letters.
19	Assess heads in early years education (3)	Answer EYE
	Parsing acrostic (heads in) of Early Years Education – and heads here is used as an indicator to tie into the education theme of the rest of the clue.

picture of the completed grid

All the words around the edge for double word phrases.

1 comment on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 137 by Glyph”

Shanne

#1 - Sat 14th Nov 26, 08:41

Apologies that this is later than usual – I was experimenting with a program, and I’ve got another to fiddle with too.

One of the suggestions has been a beginners’ guide and I’ll see if I can put something together and link to reduce how much is here.

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1 comment on “Guardian Quick Cryptic 137 by Glyph”

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