CROSSWORD SOLVER PUZZLE:
[ CRYPTIC THURSDAY]
PROGRAM: [Crossword Solver]
PROGRAM: [Java]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ CRYPTIC THURSDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ CRYPTIC THURSDAY]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
Here we go, it only took 273 puzzles or a little over two years to run the second cryptic in a series. Check this out: I’m going to shoot to post number three in this series within two months. Ayup.
Huge thanks again to my cryptics lifecoach/personal trainer Ross Beresford. The cryptic clue-writing light may be dawning on my marble head.
Share the puzzle. New one on Monday.
I’m pretty sure I’m better at cryptics on paper than on screen (because I like to strike letters in anagrams and stuff), but that was pretty easy- which is good, it means the clues were clear. Well, you know, for cryptics.
Couple of things I might quibble with. Not sure I like the anagrind in 3D. I get it, like grapes, but, eh. Don’t really like “over” in 5D, but I’ve seen it. Might’ve been a funnier surface to work “lit” in there instead.
Really liked some of these. 23A and 26D were funny, and I don’t recall seeing them before. Some others are sort of tired (12A, 13A, 25A, 2D, 22D), but probably not for people who don’t do cryptics all the time.
Pretty good mix of clues. None of those damn jokey ones the Brits do too much of and not many hidden words (which, I swear, are the hardest clues).
Good job. I look forward to more in the future!
I’ve only solved the cryptics in the NYT, so no answers/clues are “stale” to me. I thought this was fairly easy on the cryptic scale. As usual with these puzzles, I got answers that I didn’t get. Still unsure how to parse 13A for example.
Please keep ’em coming!
13A: ex-pensive, as in not pensive now.
Ooops. I meant 20A. Thanks, and sorry about that.
okay, might as well (spoiler alert!):
across
1 GO + OGLE + BOOKS
9 double def
10 TO(PHI)TS
12 PAST + A
13 EX + PENSIVE
14 SO + A + POP + ERA
17 IS HOT anag
18 B + A + D + G + E
20 GO(DIVER rev)AL
23 S(PEED)ITUP
25 double def
27 SAT + HOME
28 NORIEGA anag
29 SE(QUEST)E RED
down
2 hidden in prOGRESs
3 POSTAGE anag
4 SEGREGATE anag
5 ON + (PAT rev)
6 KO(PUN)CH
7 CAMP + US
8 CITI FIE(L)D with 8th struck out
11 SUITE homophone
15 AND + (ITT + ER rev)
16 A + TROPHIES
18 B + AS IS
19 NEED NOT anag
21 VA + MOOSE
22 LESSON homophone
24 THEE + U
26 (L)AMAZE trunc
Thanks, Joon. Couldn’t quite finish out the bottom myself. Enjoyed what I could get, BEQ!
A more elaborate version of Joon’s post is here
http://www.mumde.net/CampusTest/quigleycryptic.html
This is the first cryptic I have ever seriously attempted, hence my time was mostly spent figuring out what the precise definition was and what the subsidary indication was. It was very useful to write up what I figured out.
Thanks for giving us an opportunity to try out a cryptic puzzle without British slang in it.
First off, I’m not trying to criticize anything or anyone here. I realize there are people who enjoy these puzzles, probably even more than they do standard crosswords. I just want to say that I don’t get cryptics. I never have. I probably never will. I’ve given them a shot here and there, but they just don’t register with me. Needless to say, I didn’t get anywhere with this one. I waited three days to get a new BEQ puzzle and here I end up with an impossible (to me) cryptic staring me in the face. Again, no hard feelings toward anyone. It’s just not for me.
Waiting for the next themeless,
Andy
Andy- the initial learning curve for cryptics is steep. While I can understand not wanting to succumb to the madness that is cryptic solving, you might be surprised how rewarding it is once you get started. Granted, getting started can be tough.
I got a friend interested in them (and he’s now a very good and avid solver), but only after weeks of “you can’t be serious!” I find the biggest problem is having a good supply of relatively accessible puzzles.
Most of the free ones you can get online are a) British and b) tricky. I used to recommend the Sydney Morning Herald or The Herald (of Scotland), but they aren’t free anymore. The WSJ ones (and The Atlantic before them) are (I think) really easy in the cryptic department, but the variety stuff you have to do makes them hard. GAMES has good ones, but only two (and a variety maybe) per issue. For online ones, try the FT and then follow up by reading the review at fifteensquared.net. They break down all the answers for the major publications’ cryptics, though they don’t always explain the references and Britishisms.
(If you do get into solving and have an iPhone, get the Chambers Dictionary app. I haven’t popped for the thesaurus yet, but I’m getting close.)
The best thing about BEQ making cryptics is that’ll increase the pool of non-Commonwealth puzzles. You won’t have to know a bunch of MPs and PMs and Scottish islands to get through every one. That’d be nice, although my brain is already polluted with that stuff. Maybe we can save the next generation. 🙂
Thanks for the distraction from lesson-planning. 29A was definitely the last to fall for me, even with every-other letter in place. _E_U_S_E_E_ didn’t really help all that much!
@Andy: have you tried the NYT Puns and Anagrams puzzles? Good way to get started on cryptics. Assuming you want to start. But if you like standard crosswords it really might be worth a shot. They are very frustrating, but chock full of aha moments.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions regarding cryptics. Should any spare time decide to fall my way, I will try to investigate some of the ones you fine folks have mentioned.
Couple of things I might quibble with. Not sure I like the anagrind in 3D. I get it, like grapes, but, eh. Don’t really like “over” in 5D, but I’ve seen it. Might’ve been a funnier surface to work “lit” in there instead.
I enjoyed this puzzle quite a bit. 8D and 4D were particularly nice finds. Two of the answers refused to come to me (but became all too obvious once I saw Joon’s post). A couple of questions regarding style that the solving community might be able to answer for me (SPOILER ALERT!). 1) When abbreviations are part of the answer (as in 6D and 24D), isn’t it standard to include that indicator as part of the enumeration? 2) Isn’t it a construction rule that no more than half the squares in a block cryptic entry can be unchecked? 29A was one of the two clues I had trouble with – even with all five of the crossers in place.