Sarah's website catalogs her beginnings and she includes a tutorial for clue solving as well as some practice puzzles. Kindness being she puts out three versions with varying degree of ease to help break us gently into the solving. I tackled her Puzzle #1 (hint free) Regular version and with her permission I'll ramble through this. I'm still not finished (now I am!) I'm waiting on some mercy from Sarah to help me in the SE corner where I'm 5 answers short. I also do not know 100% if what I have is correct. I'm sure Sarah will pip in and correct me, welcomed and encouraged.
1A - Help murmur for each one consumed (9)
As there is no doodling on the clue that means I got this on a guess. There's no stopping us from taking the easy path. "Help" is the definition, "murmur" is COO "each one" is PER and "consumed" is ATE for COOPERATE.
5A - Very expensive brew (5)
Yes I went through a few versions of beer, lager, stout, ale, cider when really I should have thought tea. Double definition clue STEEP.
9A - Not keen on a poem (6)
For a relatively straight forward clue, it took me a long time. It's slightly punny and I have pun blinkers. "Not keen on" is the definition and "a poem" is AVERSE. Now for me, I'd always want to slip a D in there and make adverse instead. Yes I toyed with the dictionary on these two words. What other word sins would I commit?
10A - Prescribed balm cut appointment short (8)
"Prescribed balm" is our definition "Cut appointment short" is a command so we better do as we're told. When we cut the word appointment short we get a synonym for balm, OINTMENT.
11A - Sculptor shaped older elm (8)
"Sculptor" is our definition and shaped is an anagram signpost. If we mix up "older elm" we'll get MODELLER.
13A - Sing before centre of tableau is more important than battle (6)
Definition is "Sing" This is another literal clue and we'll do fine as long as we do as we're told. "Before centre of tableau" means the middle of "tableau" BLE will come after "more important than battle" the synonym for "battle" is WAR, and it's more important so it goes in front to give WARBLE.
15A - Condemned 500 pound piece in finale (9)
"Condemned" is our definition and I got this after having a few cross letters. I knew 500 was D due to Roman numeral clueing. "pound piece" I went straight to currency and thought quid but here it's weights and we want OUNCE. I got DENOUNCED but I'm not sure where the EN or the final D...wait. Now I see "Finale" as END and those were the unaccounted for letters. I wasn't aware I was to scramble those letters.
16A - Bothered starting up port side engine turbine (5)
Crap! Is port side the left or the right? Is it important? NO! Don't go down those rabbit holes! "Bothered" is our definition and "started" is an instruction to look at the letters at the start of the following words. "Up Port Side Engine Turbine" gives UPSET.
18A - They're not strong in swim psychology (5)
"They're not strong" is our definition and IN is an instruction that we should look in the following words should there be a hidden answer, "sWIM PSychology." There they are, WIMPS.
19A - Figure A's positive (9)
I'm still working this one out...currently unsolved. I know "Figure" is the definition and even Sarah has hinted "How about some strategic hints? 19A: Answer = synonym of "figure". Hint: If you're positive you have the answer you are...?" Assured! No. I'm Certain. So..I'd ASCERTAIN! Bloody hell, that was hard work!
23A - Date unfastened corset (6)
My favourite clue. I do like a hint to the lewd clue. (I'm still squirming over the DA ear licking clue from a few weeks ago) "Date" is our definition, unfastened is an anagram signpost and we rescramble "corset" to get ESCORT.
25A - Call about endemic rabies-vector taking off (8)
Uhm...what? Even the old trick of word salad = anagram won't help us here. I'd figured "Taking off" was the definition but was thinking launching or stripping. Sarah hinted "25A: Answer = synonym of "taking off". Hint: As in discounting. Hint: "endemic" is only in there for the "e". Ah, so discounting. The other "taking off" "Call" = RING and about means we are splitting that word. As hinted we take the E from "endemic" and when thinking about rabies what animal springs to mind? Badgers! No. We want BAT. Put all together for REBATING. I'll admit to never hearing the phrase Rabies-vector before and I had to google that.
27A - Jack had an ice house in Mexico (8)
I struggled with this clue and kicked around igloo, casa, highjack, knave...all for nothing. I'm guessing "Jack" is being used an anagrind but it's not one I've seen before. If we then scramble "had an ice" we'll get HACIENDA for a house in Mexico. (I keep saying Hacienda like Harry Potter speaking parseltongue)
28A - Fly infected set twice (6)
I think playing with this word an old compiler's favourite. The definition is "Fly" and we want to scramble SET twice to get TSETSE. I've not seen "infected" used as an anagrind, either. I think I need a bigger anagrind list.
29A - Broken trees? Start from scratch (5)
Broken is an anagrind telling us to scramble "trees" to get RESET, or to "start from scratch"
30A - Fixed 1980's hairdo (9)
This one took ages! I felt sure as an 80's kid I'd know all the hairstyles. Then I thought, maybe it's more cryptic than that as "Fixed" is our definition, maybe it was wanting something more solidly Aqua Net and immovable. I wasn't too far off, but still needed a hint which Sarah provided in another picture, to give us PERMANENT. Oh yes, you couldn't get that lion's mane volume without a perm.
1D - Alleged medical malpractice (7)
Definition is "Alleged" and malpractice is an anagrind (again, not on that list. I'm learning so many new anagrinds!) and rejig "medical" for CLAIMED.
2D - Super weird handbag (5)
An easy one - thank you! Weird is an anagrind and "Super" having five letters like our answer, scramble that for PURSE a synonym of "handbag"
3D - Wine circle around twisted lies (8)
"Wine" is our definition. Circle = RING and we are to twist LIES withRING to get RIESLING.
4D - Pass wind on a French street? I couldn't agree more! (3,4)
I very much wanted this answer to be FAR TRUE. I even googled around to see if this was a Canadian slang. Sadly it's not. Although RUE is a "French street" we wanted the politer TOOT for "pass wind" to give TOO TRUE for "I couldn't agree more"
6D - Alarm starts to influence marine's earlier response (5)
Definition is "Alarm" and starts hints to pull the first letters from the following words "To Influence Marine's Earlier Response" with TIMER.
7D - Sick man doesn't mind waiting(7)
Another classic styled clue. I'm sure a type of this was in one of my tutorial books. Double definition clue here and we want PATIENT.
8D - Powdery inside is now yours (5)
I may have been hungry but my first though was Donut. "Powdery" is the definition and we are hinted to look inside as a hidden word is there, SNOWY.
12D - Active, damn icy storm! (7)
"Active" is our definition and notice how "damn icy" has 7 letters like our answer and "Storm" is an anagrind, throw those into the wind to get DYNAMIC.
14D - Indian side dish is Batam curry (7)
If the donut didn't make me hungry, this did. "Indian side dish" is the definition and "is batam" doesn't make much sense - my brain first read "Bantam" which is chicken. Chicken curry. No! What's in the clue is "Batam" an Indonesian island. Throw around "is Batam" to get BASMATI, a kind of rice that goes with curry. Is "curry" the anagrind? It's another new one for me if it is.
17D - Literally open or close a backward Boston university (8)
I just went to Boston. I went through all the universities in my head but did the right one show? No. Sarah helped me with this one " 17D: Tried it because my mentor uses it but it seems unfair so I probably won't use it again: "open" and "close" = verbs" Definition is "Literally" but it's also an instruction to use "open and close" literally for VERB. Add the A before "backward Boston university" and the one we want is MIT or TIM for VERBATIM.
18D - Endure reported "if"... (7)
I had a lot of cross letters for this one and guessed the answer with looking for synonyms for "Endure" and got WHETHER. I think I thought "Well we report the "weather" and "whether" could count as an "if, right?" lucky guess.
20D - Waves, star emerge (7)
This one had be struggling. Was the definition "Waves" or "emerge" how does "star" fit in? I had to upload the easier puzzle to discern which end was the definition. I'm telling you, that SE corner was a killer. "Emerge" is the definition and waves = SURF and star = ACE for SURFACE.
21D - Overlook Negril dialect bookends (7)
I got this one last. To be honest, I got it only after hints and then just a few minutes ago. Definition is "Overlook" and the word bookends is an instruction to look at the first and last letters of the words "Negril Dialect" now I confess I was too literal and only tried to work the first and last: N&T. Then maybe it was N&L and D&T? Still a few letters short. Eventually with help from Sarah "21D: Hint: What are the "bookends" of "Negril dialect"? ;)" I got the answer, using the first three and last four to get NEGLECT.
22D - Bite Police man? (5)
I'm still not 100% sure I have the right answer for this one. It doesn't feel solid enough. "Bite" is the definition and I found a word related to Police and went with STING but honestly, I'm not sure. Those question mark clues always throw me.
24D - I love twisted Mediterranean fruit (5)
Back to standard clues. Twisted is an anagrind and rearrange "I love" for OLIVE, a Mediterranean fruit.
26D - Overly sentimental Norwegian 12-year-old (5)
It took me a while to come up with a word for "Overly sentimental" that would work with our definition "12-year-old" but Pop! it came to me, TWEEN. Twee = overly sentimental and the N from Norwegian.
There! Done. Hope the review was painless. I know the delicious torment of having work reviewed. I'll say this was a good beginner's puzzle. Enough hard clues tossed in to challenge and enough easy ones to keep us coming back and not giving up. It must be easy if I managed most of it without hints. I'll work out Sarah's Puzzle #2 soon. I still have the newspaper to get!
I also have a sick child at home and errands to run before my husband leaves us for work abroad. Happy to be back in the busy home life. Hope your day is great, too.
...what's up with the fonts?
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