Alan, in the afternoon, is a tree (4)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)
xpost
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)
― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)
― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:08 (twenty years ago)
City stylish in the past (7)
― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)
Ok here's one: Unsuccessful rock promoter (8)
― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)
Can't do the one above though :(
― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:26 (twenty years ago)
― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)
Later TL!
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)
The Chicago clue is not original- I've seen it and its variants in puzzles many times.
― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:31 (twenty years ago)
― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)
S_S_P_U_
― ledge (ledge), Friday, 9 December 2005 08:52 (twenty years ago)
― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 08:55 (twenty years ago)
― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:06 (twenty years ago)
― ledge (ledge), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:09 (twenty years ago)
New clue! Ailsa you there?
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:13 (twenty years ago)
Heats sacks (5)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:24 (twenty years ago)
Id's involved in painful, er, mistake. (8, 4)
― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:34 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:36 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:37 (twenty years ago)
― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:42 (twenty years ago)
― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:45 (twenty years ago)
Country with its capital in Czechoslovakia (6)
― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:47 (twenty years ago)
― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:48 (twenty years ago)
― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:49 (twenty years ago)
― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:50 (twenty years ago)
(xpost, yes correct)
― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:50 (twenty years ago)
x-post :)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:51 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 09:54 (twenty years ago)
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:03 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:06 (twenty years ago)
I can't think of any more just now - will go trawling through my newspaper recycling box and come back later.
― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:07 (twenty years ago)
― Tag (Tag), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:09 (twenty years ago)
(this thread has saved work)
x-post okay: 'I have recognized my son!' he said proudly (5,2,3)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:11 (twenty years ago)
― ledge (ledge), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:14 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:20 (twenty years ago)
― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:20 (twenty years ago)
― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:21 (twenty years ago)
― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:22 (twenty years ago)
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:31 (twenty years ago)
― Sam (chirombo), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:32 (twenty years ago)
― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 9 December 2005 10:32 (twenty years ago)
i know that's just a retread of an old joke but tbh as a west midlander we do not make that vowel sound
― badder living thru Kemistry (Noodle Vague), Monday, 11 November 2024 13:03 (one year ago)
So it’s common knowledge that Noddy is from West Midlands and solvers know to apply a regional speech pattern to dairy free cuppa? That’s mind-boggling.
I’ve actually started to understand some of the similar Cockney accent clues occasionally.
― Glam conspiracist (Dan Peterson), Monday, 11 November 2024 13:24 (one year ago)
I get the Warney one and the Noddy Holder one, but what's the Yorkshireman one?
― kinder, Monday, 11 November 2024 20:21 (one year ago)
int’end
― Heartbreaking: the worst novel you’ve finished has a staggering genius (wins), Monday, 11 November 2024 20:35 (one year ago)
ah cheers
― kinder, Monday, 11 November 2024 21:55 (one year ago)
Angler hopes for this amount of information, we're told (4)
so, easy enough, but can you tell which of the two they want? the i/y was unchecked so it could be either
― koogs, Friday, 31 January 2025 13:35 (eleven months ago)
You want the one in the first half cause the “we’re told” is in the latter half indicating that’s the wordplay part & the other is the definition part
― the babality of evil (wins), Friday, 31 January 2025 13:39 (eleven months ago)
that was indeed the case (everyman #4017)
― koogs, Friday, 31 January 2025 14:44 (eleven months ago)
anyone do the daily minutecryptic? just one clue a day which is about my pace. oddly I have been able to do them all with minimal hints.
― kinder, Thursday, 13 February 2025 07:36 (eleven months ago)
just started! an easy one today.
― birming man (ledge), Thursday, 13 February 2025 08:41 (eleven months ago)
loads of pop references in the guardian prize https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/prize/29637
in clues or answers - bowie (cracked actor), big star, rem, stones, royksopp, ac/dc, spice girls, the police...
― birming man (ledge), Monday, 10 March 2025 15:08 (ten months ago)
amazing clue in grauniad:
Do I monitor racy act in shot? (8,11)
― birming man (ledge), Tuesday, 11 March 2025 09:09 (ten months ago)
internet anagram server to the rescue
― koogs, Tuesday, 11 March 2025 09:38 (ten months ago)
xxp the Norwegian one was a surprise!
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Tuesday, 11 March 2025 09:43 (ten months ago)
I wonder if the commenters at fifteensquared will be up in arms about it.
― birming man (ledge), Tuesday, 11 March 2025 10:45 (ten months ago)
the second of dave gorman's new Modern Life Is Goodish had a bit about his 15^2 beefs. he sets cryptic crosswords for three different papers.
so r......p with anag(spooky) in it. why r......p though?
― koogs, Tuesday, 11 March 2025 12:48 (ten months ago)
crypt intermittently
― birming man (ledge), Tuesday, 11 March 2025 13:08 (ten months ago)
― kinder, Tuesday, 11 March 2025 16:43 (ten months ago)
I have never heard that phrase before, but yes that’s amazing!
― Founder of America’s Golden Age (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 11 March 2025 16:55 (ten months ago)
Being American I have never heard of this in my life, even in cryptic crosswords. This is a common expression?
https://qmhistoryoftea.wordpress.com/2015/01/27/shall-i-be-mother/
― Founder of America’s Golden Age (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 8 April 2025 21:07 (nine months ago)
I'm well aware of it, have come across it on TV and in books, possibly I've heard it jokingly irl. I wouldn't be that surpised if it's still used seriously by older generations.
― constant gravy (ledge), Tuesday, 8 April 2025 21:29 (nine months ago)
!!!
Earth cover lifted revealing some stimulating objects (6)
― Founder of America’s Golden Age (Dan Peterson), Monday, 19 May 2025 20:35 (eight months ago)
Nice
― the babality of evil (wins), Monday, 19 May 2025 20:43 (eight months ago)
Anyone else doing the Minute Cryptic? I enjoyed today’s:
One goes into debt flying private jet? (5)
https://www.minutecryptic.com/
― once beloved, recently troubled (Dan Peterson), Saturday, 28 June 2025 20:31 (six months ago)
i had to get a hint to the definition, then I got it. oddly I was reading a book that day with that word being discussed!
― kinder, Saturday, 28 June 2025 20:54 (six months ago)
Mark E Smith’s head rattles (6)
― Dan Peterfuckice is a pseudonym (Dan Peterson), Friday, 1 August 2025 22:45 (five months ago)
Heh
― Cognosc in Tyrol (emsworth), Friday, 1 August 2025 23:44 (five months ago)
ok what's the answer, i've been thinking about this one and i give up
― ava (aiva), Sunday, 3 August 2025 09:33 (five months ago)
scares(scar + es)
― nxd, Sunday, 3 August 2025 10:10 (five months ago)
loved this from the minute cryptic a week so back:
Nineties freestyle icon known for his energetic MC work? (8)
― nxd, Sunday, 3 August 2025 10:12 (five months ago)
yeah that was a good one!Would never have got the Mark E Smith one
― kinder, Sunday, 3 August 2025 10:24 (five months ago)
xp amazing!
― ledge, Monday, 4 August 2025 10:02 (five months ago)
music coming from place where detectives live? (4,5)
― ava (aiva), Sunday, 16 November 2025 10:18 (two months ago)
Ha took me a minute
― 🤷♂️ Cunt Tory Cheese (wins), Sunday, 16 November 2025 14:02 (two months ago)
Very nice! I feel like it would be slightly fairer to say ‘from a place where detectives live’ - sorry if that’s a spoiler I dunno how to do the tags
― crisp, Sunday, 16 November 2025 14:07 (two months ago)
I googled the clue to get the answer (I'm impatient) and I wouldn't have got it on my own. But Google AI Overview would like to let you know that "the answer is adetective opera. This is a riddle where "detective" refers to a type of musical performance, which fits the (4,5) format for a 4-letter and 5-letter word."
― kinder, Sunday, 16 November 2025 16:35 (two months ago)
That is no spoiler or help to the actual answer whatsoever, in case anyone's wondering.
― kinder, Sunday, 16 November 2025 16:36 (two months ago)
never change, LLMs.
― ledge, Sunday, 16 November 2025 17:02 (two months ago)
Turns sanctimonious bugger in backward glance (8)
I’ve been doing these puzzles a long time, but never in a million years would I have gotten that “sanctimonious bugger” = PI SOD
― Gacy and the Sunshine Band (Dan Peterson), Sunday, 7 December 2025 03:54 (one month ago)
I vaguely remember learning about pi a long time ago, not sure I've encountered it more than twice. Where would it ever be used outside of a crossword? Sod is common enough over here.
― ledge, Sunday, 7 December 2025 10:05 (one month ago)
Yeah my problem was treating “sanctimonious bugger” as one thing rather than two separate charades.
Interesting factoid from Wiki: It is derived from Anglo-Norman bougre, from Latin Bulgarus, in reference to Bulgaria, from which the Bogomils, a sect labeled by church authorities as heretics, were thought to have come in the 11th century, after other "heretics" to whom abominable practices were imputed in an abusively disparaging manner.[1]
― Gacy and the Sunshine Band (Dan Peterson), Sunday, 7 December 2025 14:30 (one month ago)
I'm starting to get into this but am absolutely flummoxed about 80% of the time
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 15 December 2025 10:35 (one month ago)
Looking at solutions (fifteensquared.net if you're doing uk newspaper ones) is u+k to learn common patterns and recondite lore, e.g. the many different synonyms for 'sailor'. There's a bunch of websites that list abbreviations and synonyms too.
― ledge, Monday, 15 December 2025 11:00 (one month ago)
i got hooked on minute cryptic via instagram and and starting to understand the rhythms of it. however i'm getting the impression that compared to UK newspaper cryptics it's quite straightforward. it rarely wants you to replace a group of words with a synonym for example, which seems like a pretty core feature of a lot of cryptics (and i imagine makes them much harder, particularly when you're outside the culture. like cmon i am not going to know that earls are famous for receiving belts etc)
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 29 December 2025 12:10 (three weeks ago)
doesn't seem too different to something like the guardian quick cryptic for me
― nxd, Monday, 29 December 2025 12:36 (three weeks ago)
maybe i'll have a go at an actual cryptic crossword one of these days instead of these little snack-sized clues
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 29 December 2025 12:43 (three weeks ago)
the requirement of knowledge both general and of every acronym, shortening, military ranking, cricket terminology etc under the sun is what stops me from doing most newspaper cryptics. I do get the minute cryptic pretty easily now though.
― kinder, Monday, 29 December 2025 14:43 (three weeks ago)
replace a group of words with a synonym for exampleIf this includes cryptic definitions then they are the bane of my life. I've never heard of earls & belts either! Some setters are easier than others especially in the Guardian, unfortunately since Rufus passed away I don't know their easiest setter is. Monday used to be easier and it got harder towards the end of the week, I don't know how reliable that is now.
― ledge, Monday, 29 December 2025 14:56 (three weeks ago)
The Guardian quick cryptic is a good learning puzzle, as it explains what methods you should be looking for: anagram, charade, sounds like, use the first letters etc.
The weekly Quiptic is supposedly pitched to the easier end but isn’t always. This week’s being a prime example of “isn’t always.”
Yes, Fifteensquared is a great resource for understanding.
― cinematic hobo hip-hop rock ‘n’ roll blues-jazz soul-review (Dan Peterson), Monday, 29 December 2025 21:36 (three weeks ago)
Observer Everyman crossword is a good place to start - it's always pitched pretty easy (it's aimed at casuals because real cryptic heads are spending their Sunday doing Azed, the much tougher prize crossword). I haven't been in the game for a while but that should still hold.
― woof, Saturday, 3 January 2026 00:21 (two weeks ago)