The age Cryptic by DA #20,397

This was hard. This puzzle was worthy of an aneurism. "The puzzle was so hard her brain popped."  I didn't have the full day to get stuck in, either. I had a quick look before 10 and was then I was out until the afternoon but then kids, dinner, rush to bookstore for the new Derek Landy Skullduggery Pleasant books for my kids which they've been pining after for more than a year. Had to buy two or the kids would've killed each other for the one book. I am raising first class nerds.

I had to rely on the hints from the D. A. Trippers heavily to get through this puzzle. My pic is a maze of scribbles and pondering. I will also confess the red pen is lacking as I got into the clueing and forgot to swap. A letter here and there within clues.

I'm still having a struggle getting all of 8D/2D which is the second photo. I often have to get solutions and then work them backwards. I still have letters missing in the solution but that's how I often have to get answers. Old school words and lines, see what's left over. (Got it! with help)

1A - Snow-making company beat audit (7)
"Snow" is the definition and our answer is a slang term. "Company" = CO, "beat audit" where "audit" works as a homophone indicator, so we want a word for "beat" = CANE and the homophone being CAINE for COCAINE.

5A - Spots copperhead blocking way and pointlessly escape? (7)
"Spots" is the definition. "Copperhead" = C, "way" = PATH for PAT(C)H but here I get lost. Luke at DAT says "wordplay for 5A is ‘copperhead’ inside another word for ‘way’, followed by ‘escape’ having lost another word for ‘point’. Definition is ‘spots’ (nothing to do with vision).  " I don't know what the word for "escape" is minus the word for "point" that leaves ES for PATCHES.

9A - Cut end off notepapers? (5)
Answer is SHEAF, so are we to cut the end off SHEAFS to get the word for "notepapers" or was it to be SHEAR then use the "end" of "off" for the F? I got this with cross letters and the definition being "notepaper" but "sheaf" means just a bundle of stuff, we use it with papers...

10A - Observe pedlar flogging gem (4,5)
"Gem" is our definition. "Observe" = SEE and "pedlar flogging" is partial fodder+ anagrind to give us SEE(D PEARL)

11A - Caretaker needs old hat for playing charades (6,3)
"Playing charades" is the definition. "Caretaker" = ACTING if we think of temporary position holder like an acting prime minister. "Old hat" = OUT, like old fashions, to give us ACTING OUT.

12A - Love Child virtually bombed after showbiz finale (5)
"Love" is the definition. Now I'm guessing "child virtually" means to remove the last letter to give CHIL but how "virtually" means "hey take off that D, please, ktxbai." to be placed "after showbiZ  finale" = Z(ILCH)

13A - Weird Spanish medico attends to allergic reaction (8)
"Weird" is the definition. "Spanish" = EL, "medico" = DR, "allergic reaction" = ITCH for ELDRITCH. I'd fumbled about with "hives" and "rash" before Dictionary.com took pity and said "did you mean ELDRITCH?" you know it's bad when algorithms take pity on you.

14A - Second drink makes finch finer? (6)
"Second drink" is the definition. "makes finch finer?" What's the difference between "finch" and "finer? CH AS ER. I know, right? Breaks the brain.

17A - Secured Communist stock exchange ? On the contrary (6)
"Secured" is our definition "Communist" = RED and a "stock exchange" isn't financial, but livestock like cattle, and what kind of "exchanges" may they have? MOO? MOO! MOORED.

18A - Spare card opens back section of cosmic vehicle (8)
"Cosmic vehicle" is our definition. This is a hidden word clue and the word "back" hints it's hidden in reverse. "SpaRE CARD OPens " if we remember Star Wars, sadly yes the new ones, we'll see PODRACER.

21A - Look at tail of emerald parrot in the air (5)
"Look at" is the definition. "tail of emeralD" = D "parrot" = ECHO and "in the air" is a homophone indicator so we want a word like "Echo" to get DEKKO. I've never heard of this, and had guided hints from Ray at DAT.

23A - Mug lairs obstructing prized belief in diversity (9)
"Diversity" is the definition. "Mug lairs" is anagrind (new to me I thought it was a deletion indicator) + partial fodder, "prized belief" = PLUM to give us PLU(RALIS)M

24A - Transport boring outcast that little bit (5,4)
I got a bit mixed up here. I'm told the solution is: "A little bit" is the definition, "Transport" = TRAM and "boring outcast" = EXILE "boring into" TRAM to give EX(TRA M)ILE. I'd thought "Transport" was EXILE thinking of Aussie history setting up a penal colony. I made the "outcast" a tramp with the P missing. I'll just make up my own rules, why don't I?

25A - Souvenir toy dock done with capital? (5)
"Souvenir" is the definition. "Toy dock" = I think means remove a letter from TOY -Y = TO, but I don't know why "with capital" = KEN. Mort is DAT says "nn, re 25A. letters 1-2 are toy after applying dock. “done with a capital” is a (very bad and colourful painter); letters 3-5 are his first name. Another rather weak clue that I only parsed after getting the answer." A quick google and I find Ken Done (done with a capital! Now I get it.) and I had a look at some of his work. I agree it's colourful but I don't think it's very bad. A lot of it is fun. I see the inspirations of Gauguin, Van Gogh and Picasso. I'd buy some of his work if I had a wad of cash to throw around on art. Especially this one. Oh, forgot! Answer is TOKEN.

26A - Crook fibs most when undressing for tea (5)
"Tea" is our definition and "undressing" is a signpost for removing first and letters. "cROOk fIBs mOSt = ROOIBOS.

27A - Goat ran amok in zoo (7)
Hooray! A simple one! "Goat ran amok" is fodder+anagrind: TARONGA zoo.

1D - Ne'er do well 20-down slab of beer (7)
"Beer" is the definition and I had to have someone tell me that because otherwise I had no idea. "Ne'er do well" = CAD, "20-down" which we've not solved yet is SPLITS then "slab of beer" is a CASE. So I solved this not knowing what the definition was because it made sense as it was. CASCADE is a brand of beer in Tasmania.

2D - See 8-down

3D - Babyish way Apaches move around colonist? (9)
"Babyish" is our definition. "way" = IN, "Apaches move, around" American Indians walk in single FILE which is to be split "around" a "colonist" = ANT for INF(ANT)ILE.

4D - Lodge ego abandoning science on wrangle (8)
This clue drove me nuts. I was certain "Lodge abandoning ego" meant to remove EGO from lodge leaving LD. BUT NO! Lodge is the definition.  "Ego" = I, which abandons "science on wrangle" which is fodder+anagrind  SC(-I)ENCEON = ENSCONCE.

5D - Dozens plan to abandon an access outright (6)
"Dozens" is our definition. "Plan to abandon an" = PL(-AN), "access" = ENTRY and "outright" is a one word command saying to remove the letter R - out with the right which is usually the letter R = PLENTY.

6D - A precious thing, to microwave turnover (5)
"A precious thing" is our definition. to microwave" = TO ZAP which we must "turnover" to get TOPAZ.

7D - Hook panic merchant? (8,7)
The people who solve this give me envy. I can readily believe someone would be twisted enough to think this up as a clue - but to be able to solve it? I got it with Indy's hint "7Ds tend to run around (without looking where they’re going) " once I'd decided against Toddlers. I thought about Chicken Little being a "panic merchant" and got HEADLESS CHICKEN from there. I thought that was it until this clue from Ray "7D – What’s another word for the second word of 7D answer. Then if you apply the 1st word of 7D answer to the that other word and you get “hook " Wow! Do you see it? My mind was blown. Headless Chook = HOOK. Son of a bitch that's sneaky.

8D,2D - Bird turned and retouched cracks in disarray as well (7,7-8)
This clue took me ages and a week to solve. I was just about there but couldn't make a few bits fit. That was working in reverse with the solution! "Bird" is the definition. "turned and" = PLUS but reversed SULP, "retouched cracks in disarray" is partial fodder+anagrind, then "as well" - TOO.
PLUS + (RETOUCHED CRACKS) + TOO = SULPHUR CRESTED COCKATOO and that's what the second photo is showing my attempt to solve. I did it one more time after that pic and got it right./\

15D - Male tennis star once banked Euros for the future (9)
"Future" is the definition. "Male" = HE (which I missed and had to have someone (Julie) tell me because I was so blocked I couldn't see the obvious. "Where does the "he" come from?"  Der!) "Tennis star" is Pat RAFTER who "banked Euros" = E and "banked" meaning to put inside. HE(R(E)AFTER)
In my defence, Pat Rafter *is* a "male tennis star."

16D - Make guys contribute to abridged report (8)
I got this with cross letters and a guess the "report" was the definition. "Make" = DO (it does?) "guys" = MEN and "bridged" = CUT put together as: DO(CU(MEN)T). I'm guessing DA is not someone we want to play Upwords against.

17D - June and Mary die horribly! (7)
Another easy one! Gosh we needed this break. "June" is the definition. "Mary die horribly" is fodder+anagrind for: MIDYEAR. (poor Mary)

19D - Upheld alternative fetish in Europe (7)
I needed help with this and it should be red pen. I thought "uphelp" was one of those single word instructions to put UP in something. "19D – “Upheld” = reverse indicator. “alternative” = 2 letter synonym for letter 2,1. “fetish” = synonym for letters 3,4,5,6,7. Defn = “in Europe”. " "alternative" = OR reversed to RO and "fetish" = MANIA for ROMANIA. I think just because the thesaurus says mania and fetish are synonyms doesn't really, kind of, mean they are. Loose association at best, yeah? Anyway to look deeper at that leads to Creepytown so moving along...

20D - Leaves flexing for the experts? (6)
"Leaves" is the definition. We are looking for a kind of "flexing" that's only done by experts: SPLITS.

22D - Choice of brush or vestment (4-1)
I got this once I had 21A in place. It's a brand name of "brush" = ORAL-B. "or Vestment" = OR ALB

There's a definite escalation going on! A couple of easy weeks, a bit harder last week a killer this week...it's Latin Cricket Spoonerisms next week isn't it. I know it's coming one day. But finally done. Until next week. Last run puzzle for LR on Monday, and it should be a themed one. I'm going to ride bikes with the kids and play hours of Assassin's Creed Black Flag and sing many a shanty and pillage the kings of their gold. But first knitting and Dr. Blake! Cor, I live by the seat of my pants, no?

Have a great weekend!

The Age Cryptic by DH #20,394

I got stuck into this one quite quickly and went from top to bottom then right to left. I got stuck in the very bottom, right corner with 16D/25A but with the help of a fellow puzzler on Twitter I got those, too. 11A gave me a juvenile giggle, which I had to share on Facebook.

This puzzle had a fair mix of easy and hard clues. I'm still working on getting them all parsed. I found with this puzzle I was quick to spot the definition and get the answer but had no idea how the cryptic end of the clue worked. Even typing out the questions, a few clues I felt I was reading for the first time. That's weird - I spent a couple hours on this puzzle and then don't even remember some of the clues?

1A - George Cole's crazy about upstart sugar (7)
"Sugar" is our definition. "George" = G as we often take the first letter from proper nouns, "Cole's crazy" is partial fodder+anagrind and "upstart" is a one word instruction to take the "start of up" = U, "cole's goes about U" and they're all put together like this: G(L(U)COSE)

5A - Rudd almost back with last word for heartwood (7)
"Heartwood" is the definition. "Rudd almost, back" means we don't want all of the word "Rudd" just RUD and "back" means to reverse it to DUR, "last word" = AMEN for DURAMEN. That's a new word for me.

9A - Unusually pacy Rod like Central American rodents (9)
My mind first leaped to Chupacabra, which was close but not really. My mind saw something there. "Unusually pacy" is anagrind and partial fodder, "Rod" = BAR, "like" = AS becomes CAPYBARAS. See, my brain was almost there.

10A - Magistrate swallows beer in scene of 1692 executions (5)
Not fair, I grew up near here and used to skip university to go hang out in their shops. I knew it from the definition "Scene of 1692 executions" and I can see "beer" = ALE but I don't know why "magistrate" = SM.

11A - Torres confused about duck cock (7)
"Cock" is our definition and "Torres confused, about a duck" Torres is partial fodder, "confused" is the anagrind and "duck" = O. Fodder goes around the O to give RO(O)STER.

12A - Trying to ring old Roman emperor before us (7)
"Trying" is our definition. "Ring" = O, "Roman emperor" = NERO, "before US" put together like this: O(NERO)US.

13A - See! Soluble every second in Olympic city (5)
We are looking for an "Olympic city" and zone in on the words "every second" as an odd/evens clue. "SeE sOlUbLe" for SEOUL.

14A - Bust in sire? Ruined cytoplasm particles (9)
"Cytoplasm particles" is what we're looking for. "Bust" = BOSOM, "sire ruined" is partial fodder and anagrind, put together like this: RI(BOSOM)SE.

16A - Concerned with brain membranes in game Lenin lost (9)
" Concerned with brain membranes," is our long definition not leaving much else to work with. "game Lenin lost" is fodder + anagrind to give us MENINGEAL.

18A - Companion, with skill, produces navigation aid (5)
Ok, I got this wrong. I had the cross letters and made a guess. I was right that "Navigation aid" was the definition. I'd put in COAST thinking early mapping, follow the coastlines. Answer is CHART, how does "companion"= CH, "with skill" = ART? I asked the Cryptic Crossword Society on Facebook and they tell me CH/Companion means Companion of Honour. I don't feel so bad about not knowing that.

20A - In exercise, paces around grassy plains (7)
"Grassy plains" is the definition. "Exercise" = PE, "paces" = STEPS put together like this: STEP(PE)S.

22A - Then dip out, being thorough (2-5)
"Being thorough" is the definition "Then dip out" is fodder+anagrind to get IN DEPTH.

23A - Model leaving Tony Prior's boss (5)
"Prior's boss" is our definition. "Model" = T from the original model T Ford.  "leaving Tony" is ABBOTT -T as the T is "leaving" to give us ABBOT, the leader of a priory.

24A - Hart in good shape, ever poetic, to make excess gain (9)
"To make excess gain" is the definition "Hart" = PRO but I don't know why, "in good shape" = FIT, and "ever poetic" = EER as that's how "ever" is often written in poems. Answer is PROFITEER. So why does Hart = PRO? I know hart as a DEER and was trying to figure out how to work that but the D wasn't happening.

25A - Pass footballer and wither gradually from outside (7)
I got this one last and from its definition "wither gradually from outside" was DIEBACK and I see  "pass" = DIE but not "footballer" = BACK unless it's a position?

26A - Lech one off in rank (7)
"Rank" is the definition and "Lech one off" is fodder+ anagrind to give us: ECHELON.

1D - Leave captain on university faculty some small racing vehicles (2-5)
"Small racing vehicles" is the definition and I got this on a guess with the enumeration. "Leave" = GO, "Captain" = C and "university faculty" = ARTS to give: GO CARTS.

2D - A French class of word, last one in wire, cannot be readily enunciated (15)
I got this purely from definition "Cannot be readily enunciated" but let's tackle this: "A French" = UN, "class" = PRO (sport rank), "word" = NOUN, "last onE" = E to be put "in wire" = CABLE like this: UN+PRO+NOUN+C(E)ABLE.

3D - Ralph Sarich's engine little spoken about (7)
I googled Ralph Sarich to see if he was real and if he had an engine; he was and he did. "Little" = BIT, "spoken about" = ORAL to be split around BIT like this: OR(BIT)AL. I'm getting better at these container clues.

4D - Go wrong otherwise at liberty to be completely correct (5,4)
"To be completely correct" is our definition. "Go wrong" = ERR, "otherwise" = OR and "liberty" = FREE for ERROR FREE.

5D - Dance hall in Washington area, love (5)
"Dance hall" is the definition and "Washington area, love" where the USA capital is Washington DC - DC stands for District of Columbia could be DIS CO, but I thought the "love" = O, so is it just DIS+C+O for the answer DISCO?

6D - Hasty queen's breakfast food? (7)
Sweet clue, I liked this. We are looking for a "Breakfast food" and "hasty" = RASH and "queen's" = ERS for RASHERS.

7D - Fraser about? Parliamentarian Alexander Graham after speed-addicted Englishman (7,8)
We want the "speed-addicted Englishman," and I had all the cross letters for the NE corner so the name MALCOLM fell into place easily so I'm guessing "Fraser about" = MALCOLM Fraser. "Parliamentarian" = MP and "Alexander Graham" = BELL The answer is MALCOLM CAMPBELL so I don't know where the CA comes from.

8D - Avenging agent seems in trouble (7)
"Avenging agent" is the definition, "seems in trouble" is fodder+anagrind to give us NEMESIS.

15D - Able to wreck Sunda Island in Maryland port? (9)
We want a "Maryland Port," and "able to wreck" is partial fodder and anagrind, "Sunda Island in" = TIMOR to put in ABLE to give us BAL(TIMOR)E

16D - Top player in Mire is hot stuff (7)
I needed a hint to get this as I'd struggled thinking LAVA, FIRE, and other hot things. "16D Mire letters 1, 2, 7. Top player letters 3, 4, 5, 6." from @rhapsody_bri  This is a container clue and I struggle with those. "Top player" = STAR, to be place "in" a word for "Mire" = MUD to give us MU(STAR)D. Well that's a matter of opinion, I don't find mustard all that hot. Ok, maybe the Colemans one is a bit spicy. In New England they mix Colemans mustard with apple sauce, vinegar, soy, ginger and apricot jam or pineapple bits and call it Duck Sauce for dunking your springs rolls into.

17D - Doctor Hahn apt to produce coal tar solvent (7)
"Coal tar solvent" is the definition and "Doctor Hahn apt" is anagrind+fodder to give us NAPHTHA.

18D - After business beautiful girl takes fellow in for some piscine tucker (7)
"Piscine tucker" is our definition, "business" = CO, "Beautiful girl" = DISH and "Fellow" = F to be put together like this" CO(D(F)ISH)

19D - Brown out here in Middle Eastern capital (7)
We want a "Middle Eastern capital" and "Brown" = TAN, "out here" is anagrind+fodder put together like this: T(EHER)AN.

21D - Paderewski Pestered to return some flower in PNG (5)
This is a hidden word clue. "Flower" should always raise a red flag as it's either a flower or a river. We want a river in PNG. "PaderewsKI PEStered to return" we want a river hidden in reverse: SEPIK. A bit of google was needed here.

Done! Mostly! Some holes in my knowledge on a few bits but on the whole I'm pleased with this effort. I don't know if I'll ever be fluent in Heraldry or Medals but really - when is that useful except to solve puzzles or have a job in genealogy and antiques?

The age cryptic by LR #20,393

Ha HA! Done in record time, before lunch and no red pen. You see that pic - No Red Pen. I gots all them thar clues. No tricky theme, straightforward solves, nothing dodgy. I thought 4D was particularly genius and was one of my last clues in the grid. 11D was my last clue, bah geography. I may have gotten through this quickly because it's only 25 questions, but let's go with "Emerging cryptic solving genius" for today.

6A - Robbery delay (4-2)
Double definition: HOLD-UP

7A - Prejudiced parties banned drug...ban didn't begin (8)
"Prejudiced" is our definition. "parties banned drug" where drug = E to be removed from "parties" = PARTIS. "ban didn't begin" is an instruction to remove the first letter from BAN -B = AN for: PARTISAN.

10A - Bible book I cut out in jeans (9)
"Bible book" is our definition. "I cut out" is partial fodder+anagrind, "in jeans" means to put the mixed ICUT into a word for "jeans" = LEVIS like this: LEVI(TICU)S.

12A - Harmful time loop from 11th century (5)
"Harmful" is our definition. "time" = T, "loop" = O, "11th" = XI, "century" = C (as 100, I believe, not the first letter of century) to give TOXIC.

13A - Apologise or return borrowed item? (4,4,4)
Double definition: TAKE THAT BACK. Which make me think of this scene from A Fish Called Wanda.

16A - Doesn't explain night foliage (6,2,3,4)
Would this count as a cryptic double definition? LEAVES IN THE DARK. I was tempted to not put an answer in here, but I'm not cruel and I doubt anyone would've got the joke.

18A - Win gracefully with broadest pogo jumping (2,1,4,5)
"Win gracefully" is our definition. "broadest pogo jumping" is fodder+anagrind to give us: BE A GOOD SPORT. This phrase has lots of options for anagramming, and I particularly liked Adopts Goober and Beards Got Poo.

22A - Fake coastal feature (5)
Double definition: BLUFF.

23A - Gathers corrosion on beating pulse (7,2)
"Gathers" is our definition. "corrosion" = RUST, "beating pulse" is anagrind+partial fodder to give: RUST(LES UP).

24A - Director put State Emergency Service in film music (8)
"Director" is our definition and "State Emergency Service" = SES which is to be put "in" a word for "film music" = SCORE like this: SCOR(SES)E

25A - Fisherman Glen spilled carp guts outside (6)
"Fisherman" is our definition. "Glen spilled" is partial fodder+anagrind. "cARp guts, outside" tells us to take the middle of "carp" = AR and put that "outside" the fodder like this: A(NGLE)R

1D - Study of stamps on Greek letter recently (9)
"Study of stamps" is our definition. "Greek letter" = PHI, "recently" = LATELY for PHILATELY.

2D - Central European craft sank, voila! (9)
"Central European" is what we're looking for. "craft sank, voila" is anagrind+fodder to give: SLOVAKIAN.

3D - Coach flipped over championship caption (8)
"Caption" is our definition. "Coach" = BUS and we need to "flip" that over to make SUB, "championship" = TITLE for SUBTITLE.

4D - Freezing remote parts? (5,7) 
Siberia? Toes or other "parts" frozen? Nope "remote" is a noun here and what part of the remote freezes action? PAUSE BUTTONS. This was a very satisfying solve. My favourite clue in this puzzle.

5D - Sport factoid: One captain is not moving (6)
"Is not moving" is our definition. "sport factoid"  = STAT, "one" = I, "captain" = C for STATIC.

8D - She gutlessly took chromosomes to be attractive (4)
"To be attractive" is our definition. "She gutlessly" means to remove the middle of "she" leaving SE, "chromosomes" = XY for: SEXY.

9D - Pinch festive saint (4)
Double definition: NICK.

11D - Part of London where tea gang got angry (7,5)
"Part of London" "tea gang" = CHA RING (You know, that kind of punning is painful) where CHA is Japanese and Chinese for tea, "got angry" = CROSS for: CHARING CROSS.

14D - Employ Christmas songs outside merry-g-rounds (9)
"merry-g-rounds" is our definition. Employ" - USE, "Christmas songs" = CAROLS to be put "outside" like this: CARO(USE)LS.

15D - Electricity encloses Winslet's recreation area (5,4)
"Recreation area" is our definition. "Electricity" = SPARK which is to "enclose" "Winslet's" = KATE like this: S(KATE)PARK.

17D - Reckless, pointless, heartless Greek characters (8)
I got this wrongly. I'd thought "Heartless Greek" = E, then looked at "Greek Characters" as E as a plural Greek character EPSILONS. What word I'm supposed to mix-up (reckless?) and remove a compass point from (pointless?) then pull its middle out (heartless?) I don't know. Seems a lot of abuse for one word. OK! I see it now! I had to go away and come back. "Reckless pointless" is anagrind and fodder, but we also have to make "pointless heartless" and remove the middle T leaving POINLESS as the fodder to be mixed to make EPSILONS.

19D - The Spanish angle is mischievous (6)
"Mischievous" is our definition. "Spanish" = EL, "angle" = FISH (verb) for ELFISH.

20D - King of guitar questions grills (4)
"Grills" is our definition. "King of guitar" = BB, "questions" = QS for BBQS

21D - Regret turning up with zero foreign currency (4)
"Foreign currency" is our definition. "regret turning up" = RUE but reversed to EUR, "zero" = O for EURO.

Done! that was a great start for the week. Thanks to @LRxword. Looking forward to next week - the last theme puzzle in this short series? What will it be?

The Age Cryptic by DA #20,391

It's been a harsh week. I've not even looked at a puzzle since Tuesday because: life. I made time for DA though, emboldened by the short piece on SBS2 show The Feed about cryptic crosswords featuring David Astle. They then shared this pic on Twitter with a quote which was probably the most thought provoking in the interview:

Well, thought provoking for a former psych major like myself where it's "cigars and lollies" all the time. Did they have to use a crazy eyes picture? Poor DA. When are they bringing Letters and Numbers back?! I loved that show. I loved the UK version, Countdown, too. Bring that show back, please.

I made the effort to set time aside for this and what did we get - a themed puzzle full of across clues lacking definition. Oh come on! The first way to tackle a cryptic clue is to discern which end has the definition then work backwards. No definition? All clueing? They better be nice lollies, is all I'm saying. If it's all Minties I'll be pissed off. And by "Minties" I mean a cricket theme.

Of course, because of 7D I thought - it's a fucking cricket puzzle isn't it. I'm so jaded - I pulled up my cricket glossary and got to work focussing on the down clues; the ones with a definition. I got 13D first, then 5D. 21D was gorgeous - loved it. 16D was a firm guess. That got me the downs for the SW corner. With a hint from Gayle for 10,15A "10/15 A You’ve probably got ‘and so on preceding’ .. My take for letters 4 to 11 is a synonym for plot (as verb, although I see it as a verb usually associated with a plot) containing a shortened word for bias as in slant."  and said "Yes, I think it's ETC...hey!" and the lightbulb went off and I got the answer. Nothing crickety? Then I looked over at 23D and thought 23A's 6-letter word could be TOMATO...looked closer... POTATO HEAD? I looked up at 12A and MISTER was working: MISTER POTATO HEAD?! I was joyous! It's not a cricket puzzle. Closed off the glossary and got stuck in. Confident the theme was toys, 22,25A fell into place, then 20A. Like dominoes, bliss.

I still used a lot of the clues from the D.A. Trippers but here's my final effort:

NB - All Across answers share a theme, and thus go undefined. Down clues are normal.

8A - Tom possibly sees a loss in deposit (8)
"Tom" = CAT and I think "sees A" = A but "Loss in deposit" I think is to put the L from "loss" into PUT for "deposit" to give CAT+A+PU(L)T. I'm not completely confident on that solution.

9A - Supporter cuts tree facing west (6)
"Supporter" is commonly BRA and "tree" = ELM. The instruction "cuts tree facing west" means ELM is being cut into BRA and the words are reversed to give M(ARB)LE.

10, 15A- Bias briefly stops plot, and so on, preceding (4-1-6)
I got this one second of the across clues and I had the "and so on preceding" as ETC, with 2D filled so 10A = ETCH,  "bias briefly" = ASKEW -W, I'm not sure on the "stops plot" = TCH, It could be as a plot of land = PATCH -PA but how to remove the PA isn't there so I'm not confident. Answer is ETCH-A-SKETCH.

11A - Old Scot, one in sleeper's position? (10)
Blah! I spent too much time time thinking of synonyms for taxes. Not until Mort at DAT said "CC, re 11A, the old Scot is not a celt but another four-letter word." You mean Scot means Scot? Well frick. If not a celt then it's a PICT. I'd scribbled notes about "one in sleeper's position" as FETAL+I but that was wrong (I still think it was a good guess) and the next letter is "one" = I. Getting the last part isn't as easy. "Sleeper's position" isn't a sleeping person. It could be a railway sleeper and the answer could be "ON A RailwaY" but where is the instruction to remove those middle letters? RY isn't an abbreviation for railway. No idea. Answer is PICTIONARY. Edit* I've been humbly corrected by Qix @Crypticqix on Twitter "in 11a, RY *is* an abbreviation for railway. RY for railway is used quite a lot; it's in Chambers dictionary, which is useful to have, at least for UK crosswords." Going to get me one of those. My Oxford one is a bit ratty, now I look at it.

12,23A - Film tape heard to twist around spool? (6,6-4)
I got this from cross letters and theme - which was lucky because the clue is bloody hard. "Film" = MIST (not movie film but icky, dirty film; like soap scum) "tape heard to twist" is fodder+anagrind and we need to add a "spool" = O (because spools are round?) to give us:
MIST(ER POTAT(O) HEAD) I'll be adding "spool" = O to my list  of things to know.

17A - Kiss supports its own genre? (3,4)
I had first guessed this would be PET ROCK from the theme but some of the DATs clues made me think it was something else like GLAM ROCK but what's a three-letter word for Glam? No we just needed to know "Kiss" = ROCK without any further expression. I'm less sure about how we get PET except it was a fad toy and it fits the enumeration.

20A - Radio welcomes live audience (4,4)
With cross letters and theme I got this. Radio could be AM, FM, HAM or CB and here we want CB. "Welcomes live" = ARE  to be inserted into CB and "audience" = EAR to give C(ARE)B(EAR). Don't stare at them or they'll belly barf rainbows on you.

24,14A - Flexing all set to lead run inside (4,8)
I did not get this one. And until I just broke this down on paper I didn't get it because the "lead" part was screwing me up. "Flexing all set" is anagrind+partial fodder. "run" = RACE. I had to put the answer SLAP BRACELET next to those letters to find my leftovers: PB for "lead"...completely forgetting atomic symbols. I was thinking CEO and PRES and that kind of lead. I hate getting caught out...moving on.

25,22A - League melee erupted within two secs (6,2,4)
I got this with cross letters and theme. The word "melee" caught me at first as an anagrind, but it's really fodder with "erupted" as the anagrind. MELEE is to be put "between two secs" like "just a TICK" and "just a MOment" for (TICK)LE ME EL(MO), so what is the point of "League?"

26A - 7 in 10 don't stretch (8)
I love this clue! Very must thinking outside the box. My first thought was candlepin bowling with a 7-10 split but that's very New England and probably not here in this puzzle. You can see in my puzzlepic I wrote out the the words because the clue isn't saying "don't stretch", it's saying me must stretch seveNINTENDOnt to get NINTENDO.

1D - Leads right into killer's grasp (8)
I didn't get this and I'm struggling to make sense of it even now with the answer CAPTAINS. I see "Leads" is the definition but which "right" if not the letter R is going "into" which "killer's grasp?" For the longest time I was sure this was "clutches" but but the I in12A scuppered that. I can see TAIPANS which are killer snakes with a C on top but I don't think that's the answer. Looking back to the DATs, Sandy says "The killer is biblical. Included is a word for right, in the sense of correct." so CAINS + APT? C(APT)AINS.

2D- Tender man in black? (4)
Sweet clue. My first thought on "man in black" was Westley from The Princess Bride. With "Tender" as the definition and it meaning as a form of payment, the "man in black" became CASH, as in Johnny Cash. On googling I find there's a stage show about his life also titled Man in Black.

3D - Part of pinball delivery (6)
I'm not sure of this as a cryptic clue, I read it more as a straight clue and got BUMPER listing through parts of pinball machines.

4D - Doggedly support criticism over extra report (5,2)
"Doggedly support" is the definition. "Criticism" = STICK and "extra report" = BY is that for "byline" or "by product" I'm not sure. Edit* I'm told by Qix @CrypticQix via Twitter that "In 4d BY is a homophone of "bye" (an extra in, yup, cricket)" Curses! Put the glossary away too soon. Thanks Qix!

5D - I'm up snarling fury at refereeing (8)
"Refereeing" is the definition. "Im up snarling" is fodder+anagrind and "fury at" = IRATE for UMPIRATE. I'd first put in "Umpiring" following the line of the clue which made 17A rather hard to solve for a long time. Edit* Didn't realise I put the wrong ending in after all that Thanks Robin for pointing this out "5D UMPIRATE needs you to use the I twice. Try RAGE " Correct answer as show in the key is UMPRAGE.

6D - Borneo climber course lost newbie, initially, in orchard (6,4)
"In orchard" is the definition and a "Borneo climber" is an ORANGUTAN and I'm a bit confused with "course lost" = -UTA "Newbie initially" = -N as well. The whole answer becomes ORANGE TREE.

7D - Latest among our cricket 1-down seen dunking hands in soap? (6)
I didn't get this. I'm guessing it has something to do with Michael CLARKE? does "soap" = CAKE and "hands" = L&R for left and right being put into CAKE? C(L)A(R)KE? I'm going with that.

13D - He kept arms stacked in tourist venues (5,5)
"Tourist venues" is our definition and "he kept arms stacked" is fodder+anagrind to give is : THEME PARKS.

16D - Amerindian rancher operated off average estate limits (8)
"Amerindian" is the definition and we're looking for a tribe. I got the "EstatE limits" = EE for the outer limits of the word "estate". I can see that "average" = OK, but how "Rancher operated" CHER I'm unsure. I had noticed in the words "ranCHER Operated" are the letters we want but there's no hidden word indication that I recognise. CHEROKEE is the answer. Here, being a Yank came in handy.

18D - Mark, as seen here, and Don mugged marauder (8)
"Marauder" is the definition and "Mark, as seen here," is being very literal - what marks do we see? COMMA "Don mugged" is fodder+anagrind to give us COMMA(NDO).

19D - Kinky Fergie scandal essentially liberating (7)
"Kinky Fergie" is anagrind+fodder to which we add "scaNdal essentially" where "essentially" means to look at the heart of "scandal" for the N. Mix FERGIE+N to get FREEING for "liberating"

21D - Blondie hit Britpop's kitten? (6)
Sweet clue! We want a Blondie hit and I saw "kitten" and knew TOM meant ATOMIC but where did the AIC come from? Not until I was enlightened by Andy at DAT "Def first two words. Then a british pop girl band …… kitten. " knowing the band Atomic Kitten. Great double definition.

22D - I'm beside myself drinking in holy city (6)
"Holy city" is the definition and "I'm beside myself drinking in" is ME+DA+IN where the setter DA is beside himself but done this way: MED(IN)A.

24D - Look for software starter - a mouse! (4)
"Look for" is the definition and "Software starter" = S and EEK! A mouse! for SEEK.

Done! Help for 1D, the BY part of 4D and the RY part of 11A appreciated. Going to be full-on Springtime today so I'm happy to have this done before Noon (just) and I'm getting to the beach. Enjoy your weekend, get some fresh air.

The Age Cryptic by LR #20,387

What a great puzzle! I had fun with this. It certainly got easier once I got the theme and that happened just before halfway through. I had many moments of "curse you!" because I finally caught the twist in the terms or the line of the clue. Many favourites: 11A, 12A, 16A, and 18D.

At this time, I'm stumped by first half of 15D and 17A. What I think is in 15D, makes 17A look weird. There is a theme to this puzzle and I don't know if 17A fits the theme. (it didn't)

The theme kicks off with 20D: Sportsman to whip up beer every second (6) and "to whip" = FLOG, the word "up" means to reverse that to GOLF for a down clue, then "bEeR every second" means to take every second, or other letter, in "beer" to get ER. Put together for GOLFER. Yes, just on the tail of PGA Championships, there's a golf puzzle. Of course, I lived in Scotland for many years - the home of Golf and not far from St. Andrews. So of course, I know absolutely nothing about golf. 15 years there, never played golf once.

8A - Ring mum at home back in US city (5)
First clue in the grid and "US city" is what we need to find. "Ring" = O, "mum" = MA, and "at home back" wants us to take the first letters of "At Home" and reverse them to get OMAHA. (How did I know to just take those first letters? I guess this puzzle stuff is getting easier as I'd just assumed?)

9A - Crusader to stir China in wars (9)
This took me ages! So frustrating. I knew there was an anagram here but I couldn't find it. The word "stir" was an obvious anagrind - Well didn't I fall for that trick. We want a word for "Crusader" and I got this with cross letters and noticing "China" was split near the beginning and the end then I realised it was CHRISTIAN. "Stir" was part of the fodder, not the anagrind. I guess "in wars" is the anagrind.

11A - Most urgent, outspoken journalist (7)
Again I got this late and what a lovely clue. "Outspoken" is a homophone signpost. We want a word that works for both "most urgent" and "journalist" and we get DIARIST/direst.

12A - Poison rump sent back in top café (7)
"Poison" is our definition. "Rump" = ARSE, "sent back in" = NI to reverse the word "in" and "top Café" wants us to take the C to make ARSENIC. It's always fun when we can swear in puzzles. I must try the Private Eye ones one day.

13A - Lunchtimes, maybe, bother son on diet (9)
"Lunchtimes" is our definition and "bother" stuck out as an anagrind. I am lazy and often use an anagram solve tool because it takes me long enough to solve puzzles without spending tons of time breaking down anagrams - but I am getting better. This one stumped the algorithm. I had to solve the old fashioned way to get NOONTIDES, an anagram of "son on diet"

15A - Reject state year number (3,2)
"Reject" is our definition (a lot at the beginning I'm seeing) and "state" = SA (South Australia), "year" = Y and "number" = NO for SAY NO.

16A - Snakes ruin a sand pit - get daughter out! (7)
This one made me laugh, I like when the surface of a clue is fully readable. "Snakes" is our definition and "ruin" stands out as a possible anagrind, but the following words "a sand pit"  have too many letters until we see "get Daughter out!" we remove the D and "a san pit" becomes TAIPANS. (I didn't cheat with that one, honest!)

17A - Donates time extracting blood type for this!? (3,4)
With my terrible error in 15D, I couldn't get the first word to look right. I put in, as a joke, DUI TEST, and I wasn't too far off the real answer. I am not sure how the clueing of "donates time" leads to the answer: DNA. "Donates -OTES leaves DNA, but OTES as "time"? Is it "time" gives for the N and "extracting blood type" = A?
Answer provided by: John Carney ‏@johncarneyau  

17A is D[o]NA TES T[ime] (“blood type” = “O”)

It's so sweet, I wish I'd gotten that. Thanks John!

19A - Result of a nice long drive, perhaps? (5)
This is a theme clue - once you know that the answer is more visible: EAGLE.

21A - First casualty in queue for mouthwash ... (9)
This is the first time I've seen ellipse clues have an actual connection. We want a "mouthwash" and "first" = IST (1st), "casualty" = ER (emergency room) and "queue" = LINE  so "first casualty" is to go "in" "queue" like this: L(IST)(ER)INE for LISTERINE.

22A - ...line goes out into streets for recruits (7)
"Recruits" is our definition and "line goes out" is fodder+anagrind then "streets" = STS to give ENLI+STS. Here the connection is the word "LIST" used in both clues. There could even be more meaning there, but I was happy to note the same word used.

24A - Initially bored to death, I leave regional city (7)
"Regional city" is our definition. "initially Bored" = B "death" = END and "I leave" = I GO for the city of BENDIGO.

25A - The day Wellington lost 100 southern homes (9)
"Homes" is the definition and "the Day" = D, "Wellington lost 100" = WELLING -TON (a ton being 100 cubic ft. capacity) "southern" = S to give DWELLINGS.

26A - Edit notes about blokes (5)
"Edit" is our definition and I'm not completely sure I have this right. I got this with cross letters. "Blokes" = MEN but I'm not sure how "notes about" = ED, and the ED goes "about" the MEN. I know ED as an abbreviation for editor, edition or editorial, so it's not too much a stretch to think it could be linked to notes.

1D - Winning dog-walking? (7,3,4)
I struggled with this, having the last two words guessed with cross letters until I googled this with "golf" attached and there the answer appeared: HOLDING THE LEAD.

2D - Mum takes vehicle on second mission for pasta (8)
"Pasta" is our definition and "Mum" = MA, "vehicle" = CAR, "ON second mIssion" means to take the IN and the second letter from from "mission" to give MACARONI.

3D - Judge punishes mega-artist (10)
"Judge" is our definition and "punishes mega-artist" is anagrind+fodder to give MAGISTRATE.

4D - Glaswegian 20-down Adam loses tee (4)
"Glaswegian" is our definition and "Golfer Adam loses tee" is to be worked so when I googled "golfer adam"it got me Adam Scott. Lose a "tee" = -T from his surname to get SCOT.

5D - Sledges fat teams (10)
This word "Sledges" gets used a lot in Australia. It means to harass in sporting to provoke a violent response or to intimidate. So does this mean harassment or sledding or slurring words while drunk and trying to say "ledges"? "Fat" = BROAD and "teams" = SIDES so I guess that means Sledges = BROADSIDES. To me, to broadside someone is to tackle them, so does sledge also mean to tackle?

6D - Cockney echoes his god (4)
We're looking for a "god" here and "Cockney echoes his" means we want a word with an H that's to be dropped, but we don't need to look far as there's one here in the clue: "his." Drop the H to get IS, then this is to be "echoed" to make ISIS.

7D - Organ makes terrible din inside locker (6)
We're looking for an "organ" as in an internal body part (One day there will be harmonica as an answer) and luckily there aren't that many organs with six letters. "Terrible din" is anagrind+fodder put inside a three letter word for "locker" = KEY to give us KIDNEY.

10D - Kiss from 20-down Tiger in neighbourhood (4,2,3,5)
It was this clue that got me the answer for 20-down. I'd lightly pencilled "Peck on the cheek" but that soon became obviously wrong. "Kiss" = NECK "Tiger" = WOODS put them into a phrase for "neighbourhood" to get NECK OF THE WOODS.

14D - Exposing record getting beaten (10)
I had most of the cross letters and guess an answer then worked backwards: Record" = DISC, "getting beaten" = LOSING to get a word for "exposing" is DISCLOSING.

15D - Cut finger on finance page feature (5,5)
I feel dumb I didn't get this. I stumbled on the word "cut" focussing on injury and thought SLICE but really I needed to think slice of the pie. It's so obvious now: SHARE INDEX. I even had the "index" part! I used to work for a bank. The shame...

18D - Without effects, Felix referenced Drew (8)
I liked this clue, I got that lightbulb moment here (where was that lightbulb for 15D?) Our definition is "Drew" and "Without effects, Felix..." where "effects" is often shortened to FX (Oh I want to see that movie now!) and "Felix" has those letters. We remove -FX leaving ELI, then "referenced" = CITED to give ELICITED.

20D - (solved at the top)

23D - Love being under the sun, alone (4)
"Alone" is our definition and "Love" = O and "sun" = SOL, put the love under the sun to get SOLO.

24D - Took a Greyhound, say, broke (4)
Homophone clue where "took a Greyhound" = BUSSED and "broke" = BUST and we want the four letter version.

Good fun, right? This is what these puzzles are supposed to be like. Not painful, but a bit of cheeky fun, a bit of a laugh. It's a great way to kick off the week solving a puzzle, even when we miss glaringly obvious answers.

I'll have a look at yesterday's Rufus - fast becoming a dear favourite, then we have a fresh Puck to play with as well.

I have finally managed to finish a couple of blankets for my friend's pending baby boy due to join us all this week. I'll snap a few pics and share because this is supposed to be a blog of my two favourite hobbies, but one seems to dominate the other.

Hope your Tuesday is kind to you.

The Age Cryptic by DA #20,385

That wasn't so bad, that puzzle! I got about half on my own merit and another quarter with the DA Trippers. I only had five clues unanswered before giving up and peeking at the answer key. I'm happy with that effort.

First clues in were 6D and 6A followed by a confident guess at 1A that got me a few down clues to make me feel sure I was correct, even though I couldn't parse the clue just then. I then guessed the phrase for 1D/12A by its last three words. This gave me a big advantage in getting most of the puzzle out. I had to cheat on 24D,25D and 26A, 27A. The two three-letter clues gave me the biggest trouble.

1A - Oscars sight behind screens: Washington, the favoured one (3,6)
I got this as a guess that "Oscars sight" was the definition and the enumeration fit for RED CARPET, but I couldn't see the answer fitting the clue. Lightly pencilled, it began to work with down clues. Rupert at DAT helped clarify this parsing: "Definition is the first two words. behind = 1, 2, 5, 6; Washington = 3, 4; the favoured one = 7 – 9. " Looking at that it's : "Behind" = REAR, "Washington" = DC and "favoured one" = PET put together as RE(DC)AR+PET. I admit to googling famous Washingtons and thought George Washington Carver was a possibility, but no. Although a very interesting person to read about. I do not know the use of the word "screens" unless it's being used as a hint to hide DC into REAR.

6A - Pedestrian over-fussy after boulevard's opening (5)
"Pedestrian" is our definition and "over fussy" = ANAL and "Boulevard's opening" = B for BANAL.

9A - Design technique suitable in hindsight (5)
I had this first put in as "model" thinking "technique" was mode and...somehow I'd figure out the L. Later when that NW corner was going nowhere I had to erase a couple clues to try again. "Technique" = MO (for modus operandi?) and "suitable in hindsight" means take a word for "suitable" = FIT and reverse it to make MOTIF for "Design."

10A - Australian painter admits upstart fled emirate court (3,6)
I got this with cross letters and a guess that "court" was the definition for OLD BAILEY . Once I knew the full definition wasn't "Emirate court" and I stopped looking at royal family names, I knew "Emirate" was part of the parsing and thought "Upstart fled emirate = "DUBAI -U" to fit the middle and left me OLLEY as our Painter, a quick google showed me Margaret Olley. OL(DBAI)LEY

11A - Develop hits over airwaves (3)
I had the first letter, I then had the last letter. Deduction led me to WAX but I don't see why.

12A - See 1-down

13A - Pansy stem I can cut all over the place? (8)
I had this in wrong for ages because "Stem I can" looked like fodder - and it made a word! And it worked with 4D! It didn't fit with either end of the clue for a definition but maybe that's me. No, of course it was the wrong way to work the clue - there's not even a decent anagrind to hint to an anagram. That said, I did not recognise this as a hidden word clue, either. "Cut" is the only word I see as a possible signpost but I usually see that as a subtraction signpost, not hidden word. "panSY STEM I Cut" becomes our word for "all over the place."

15A - Pack astronomy tips in carton for space station (6)
We want the name of a "space station" and "pacK astronomY tips" tips tells us to take either the beginning or ending letters of the previous words and here we want KY, then "carton" = SLAB (Aussie slang for a case of beer) and we want the "tips in carton" like this S(KY)LAB.

18A - Losing $2000 in crippling mortgage near Wagga (6)
I figured we needed to remove two letters from something meaning "losing $2000" and thought it was M or K. But couldn't think of how that was working. "crippling mortgage" made me think that was anagrind+fodder but had too many letters. Eventually I had to search a map of Wagga to see a town nearby called TEMORA, and if you look at the pic you'll see me matching those letters and leaving out the "two G's"= $2000. (the other notation was directed at myself, I assure you)

20A - Heard to twist story out of climber (8)
"Heard" is hinting to a homophone clue. We want homophones of both "twist" and "tale" to give us the name of a climber: WRING/TAIL then one step further for RINGTAIL. That's how I got it, I had to get two versions of ring to be sure.

23A - Chance in time pre-Xmas to suppress secrets now and then (11)
This one took ages and I needed the DAT's help "23A includes a type of calendar used at Christmas after “in” and includes “secrets now and then” Definition is first word." Definition is "Chance" and we need the IN from the clue, "time pre-Xmas" = ADVENT which is what I needed to get the clue. I don't understand "now and then" = RTE to make up IN(ADVE(RTE)NT)

24A - Airhead (again) skips out rest (3)
"Airhead" is our definition and we need the word airhead "(again)" to take the first/head letter A, then "skips out rest" means to remove the word for "rest" from "skips" to leave SS for ASS.

25A - Queenslander prepared ribs for wrong consumer? (9)
We want a slang term for "Queenslander" with "prepared ribs" being anagrind+fodder for BRIS (thinking of Brisbane). If serving ribs, who would be the wrong customer? The VEGAN. BRISVEGAN. Go ahead and google that and be astounded at the lack of hits. That was a faith solve, I just had to trust it was right.

26A - Zurich hub is pricy, wanting a contract's 24-down? (5)
Skip ahead to 24-down and see its solution is ADD-ON. I didn't get this clue, I still don't know how to parse "Zurich hub is pricy" but I could figure out that a "contract's ADD ON" was a RIDER. I've come across that clue enough times in my short cryptics career to get that. Looking closer I think "Zurich's hub" means the centre of the word zuRIch and "pricy" = DEAR "wanting a" means remove the -A leaving RIDER.

27A - Funny trainee accompanies noble, pirouetting (5)
I didn't get this. I knew when I saw the answer I'd kick myself. "Funny" is the definition and "trainee" = L which I'd had in my doodles, it was the "noble" = LORD I was missing. "pirouette" is saying to reverse LORD to make DROLL.

28A - Particularly stitched in pay TV (Turkey) broadcast (5-4)
I got this because I'm a knitter. I could see "pay TV" meant CABLE but I had to trust myself that it wasn't a coincidence that "stitched" and "broadCAST" were knitting terms. I'm not sure what (Turkey) is there for and I'm not sure "broadcast" is meant to be a type of knitting cast-on but answer is CABLE-KNIT.

1D,12A - You can't rush marvels - but Italians may wonder, perhaps (4,5,5,2,1,3)
With cross letters, I could figure out the last three words were "in a day" and then with "You can't rush marvels" the rest fell into place: ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY. It wasn't until it was pointed out by rupert that "perhaps" was an anagrind and "but Italians may wonder" was fodder.

2D - Get clean young soldier, roughly missing fond gestures (5)
I toyed about with this for ages and need to sleep on it to get my head around the clue. "Get clean" is the definition but I needed help with parsing and Robin helped with "2D young soldier roughly missing = 1-3, and fond gestures = 4 and 5 right? Roughly meaning about." So is it "young soldier" = CADET - CA? And Rupert supplied the ending "Fond gestures are found at the end of a letter or email." = OX all for DETOX.

3D - Kind of daft-hearted legend (7)
"Kind" is our definition and "dAFt-hearted" = AF and  "legend" = FABLE for AFFABLE.

4D - Oddly, chief killjoy rapt to be flipping fertile! (8)
"Oddly" is a big hint that we have  a hidden word and its placement is in an every other letter situation. The word "Flippin" tells us it's in reverse. "ChIeF kIlLjOy RaPt" for PROLIFIC as a word for "fertile"

5D - Go out so far (2,4)
Double definition: TO DATE

6D - Hipster's forebear bashed up family (7)
I got this one first. "Hipster's forebear" is our definition, "bashed " = BEAT (easy to mistake as an anagrind) and "up Family" = KIN where "up" means to put this down clue in reverse, bottom to top, to give BEATNIK.

7D - Big mouth in Africa allied with Ten network (4,5)
I saw this with cross letters. "Big mouth in Africa" is our definition and "allied with ten network" is fodder+anagrind to give us NILE DELTA. I've not seen "network" as an anagrind before.

8D - Roadside reserve (3-2)
Double definition: LAY-BY

14D - Devil stops devilish neglect, an open start to be 3-down (9)
I got this with cross letters and we need 3D as it's the definition, AFFABLE. I was stumped on how to solve this and Ray says "4D – “Devil” = letters 2,3,4. “stops” = container indicator. “devilish” = 8 letter synonym. “neglect, an” = remove “an” for letters 1,5,6,7,8. “an open start” = letter 9. Defn = “to be 3-down." That means "Devil = IMP, "devilish" = SATANIC -AN for SATIC and "Open start" = O like this: S(IMP)ATIC+O for SIMPATICO.

16D - Wit spilt beer nuts (3,6)
"Wit" is the definition and "spilt beer nuts" is fodder+anagrind to give us BEL ESPRIT. Yes, not a term I knew and I even had to write out B_L with each vowel to find one I liked because that's what you do when the words are all starting to betray you and play tricks in your mind.

17D - Vintage wanker complains noisily to big wig (4,4)
Great clue. I had fun pulling this one out. "Vintage wanker" is our definition and don't go down the rhyming slang route. "complains noisily" means we want a homophone of "complains" WHINES/WINES and and a "big wig" is a NOB (are we supposed to go KNOB/NOB to fit the "wanker" part, or was there just one homophone?) to give WINE SNOB.

19D - Rallying, tennis legend climbed to seal half a dozen (7)
"Rallying" is the definition and it's very hard to choose through the list of tennis legends and narrow down to one, but never saw  LAVER (Rod Laver) "to seal half a dozen" where "seal" means to put inside LAVER the "half dozen" = VI for six to give REVIVAL (I'd put in Revived so the last two letters were wrong)

21D - Woody in sound? Guys split their jam (7)
"Woody in sound" means a "Woody" known in music, not a homophone as I'd believed. "Guys split" means to take half of "guys" = GU and "their jam" is fodder+anagrind to give us GUTHRIE. My Dad would've gotten this clue, it was his favourite music style. He may have only had an 8th grade education but he could always solve the Jumbles in seconds. He had a natural knack for finding anagrams.

22D - Dire soldier occupies northward transport (6)
I got this from cross letters. "Dire" is the definition and "soldier" = GI and "northward transport" = CART but going from south to north in the grid to give TRAGIC.

23D - Be part of brain without first dreaming, possibly (2,3)
Bleck - What a pickle of a clue! Friggin eck, I didn't get this. Rupert says "23D: Not so much part of brain, as what the brain does, without its first letter and around the first word." What the brain does then take away its first letter? Is that MIND -M? So that means BE+ (part of brain)+"first dreaming"= D put together as: IN(BE)D? I'm not exactly sure at all, but answer is IN BED. I'm not sure where the definition is here, either. Flummoxed!

24D - Extra-modern prof (3-2)
Again I didn't get this. Answer is ADD-ON. That would make "extra" the definition and "modern" = AD and "prof" = DON? Well yeah, down at definition number five.

Sorted! For the most part anyway. I'll have a go at the Paul puzzle later on. We've got another gorgeous day here so I think, since this has absorbed all of my morning (with breaks to wrangle family and bake cookies because I wanted some oatmeal raisin cookies) I have a few errands to run and then my daughter has asked me strip out her hair and dye it pink. I'm cool enough to say "yeah, ok." Because better I do it for her than she try it herself and ruin her hair and my bathroom in the process.

Hope your weekend is glorious, too.

Overwhelmed!

I got my  October issue of Games Magazine yesterday and dug straight into that. I printed off The Age's DP and the Guardian's Crucible...

I got a quarter of each done because I was just too silly with delight at having so much puzzling to do that I never managed to finish one of them. So, I have nothing to share today. If it didn't take me over three hours to write up one post, I'd have this blog cranking - but it does. It's shocking how long, between the time to solve a puzzle, then to write up the solutions. I hope as I improve in solving skills, the solving and writing can occur simultaneously. We all need a goal.

I spend some time with the Cryptic Crossword Learners group where we're encouraged to answer a clue with another clue of the same answer - that's been a great challenge. I'm terrible at it, but I'm having a go.

Otherwise, I'm avoiding the internet because of it being flooded with sad news.

See you soon for Friday's DA.

The Age Cryptic by DH #20,382

I started this in my car while waiting to pick up my daughter from school. That gives me about 45 minutes - hey there are few parking spaces and many massive Klugers and Pajeros (I have a small car) so if you don't get there early you're out out of luck - and I managed most of the bottom half in that time. I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself, then I got home after Guides and tried the top half and got royally stuffed in the NW corner. I'm pretty sure I got 1D right, but 1A, 2D, 3D aren't gelling for me. I'll need to key for those. Maybe 1D isn't right...No, yes it is right. Here's the pic:

A quick whinge; clues for 3D and 4D are ellipse clues which I've read means they're linked in some sort of way. Why does 3D have five dots while 4D has four? When I've got the answers, how are they actually linked? I'm missing something and it's bugging me.



1A - Sailor knocked out in application for public conveyances (9)
"Public conveyances" is our definition and I ran through the few I knew; trams, trains taxis, rickshaw. Nothing fit. I figured "sailor" = AB "knocked out" I missed as anagrind+fodder that's to be put "in" AB, and "applications" = USES to give us A(UTO)BUSES. A word I've never used outside of high school French class.

6A - Some abnormal armistice brings consternation (5)
I got this with cross letters. I had a feeling ALARM was the answer but couldn't parse the clue. I even saw that the end of "abnormal" had some of the letters. I just didn't look close enough to see "abnormAL ARMistice" was a telescopic clue, or that "some" was being used as a hidden word indicator. I was looking for partials. I even thought MALAR was a hidden anagram, ignoring the M in Armistice. Still the newbie.

9A - Offensive duck is in Alaskan town (7)
I had parts for this but did not think I could just use the word IS from the clue to make my answer. I hate when that happens! Definition is "offensive" and "duck" = O "is in" tells us the word "IS" is in the clue but you know I just ignored that because der, "Alaskan town" = NOME for N(O+IS)OME for NOISOME.

10A - Modernised as dead put out (7)
"Modernised" is our definition and "dead put out" is fodder +anagrind. Mix the fodder to get UPDATED.

11A - Some advertisements for major newspaper are present day indicators (5,2,3,5)
With most of these phrase clues you either know it or you don't. With cross letters I got there but always felt unsure of the first word. SIGNS OF THE TIMES. I was more confident with "major newspaper" = THE TIMES than "some advertisements" being SIGNS. Note that "Some" doesn't have a role here as it did in our previous clue. *puts glasses on* No, definitely no hidden words.

12A - True! Monica's men unusually lacking in correspondence (14)
I homed in on "unusually" and counted the letters before it to see Aha! 14 letters. Mixed them up to get INCOMMENSURATE, a word for "lacking in correspondence." wait - it does? No it doesn't, it means disproportionate. If this is a gripe about "I write you more than you write me." then I could see that being fair but I'm unconvinced.

16A - Fuss in tap dancing Old Ed loves crowing sound? (4-1-6-3)
"Crowing sound" is the definition and I got this without the clue. I think it's broken down like this: "Fuss" = ADO to be put "in," "tap" = COCK "dancing Old Ed" is anagrind+fodder, "loves" = O so COCK(A(DOODLE)DO+O. It's not as easy to parse as it was to guess! Only, ADO doesn't go into COCK (stop smirking), it goes around DOODLE (I mean it, stop that) so I'm still a tad off on how the clue perfectly works.

20A - Terrible pity Dr Shant shot old office worker (9,6)
"Terrible" looks like an anagrind, do we have 15 letters following? Yes! "Pity Dr Shant shot" is our fodder remixed to give us SHORTHAND TYPIST as an "old office worker"

23A - Second term in school starts hearing old chant of dwarves going to work (5-2)
Again, I got this on a guess - I mean how many Dwarf songs do you know? HEIGH-HO, but how do we get there? "Second tErm" means take the second letter from term = E, I thought "school" could be "HIGH school" and "starts Hearing Old" means take those first letters to get HO. so H(E)IGH-HO.

24A - Permitting rental? (7)
Double definition: LETTING.

25A - Women assist little dog (5)
"Little dog" is the definition. "Women" = W and "assist" = HELP for WHELP.

26A - I leave Guy prepared for top US universities (3,6)
"Top US universities" is the definition, "I leave Guy prepared" is fodder+anagrind mixed to give IVY LEAGUE.

1D - Man cites problem being forgetful (8)
"Being forgetful" is the definition, "Man cites problem" is fodder+anagrind to give us AMNESTIC. I've never heard this before but always cool to learn new words.

2D - Object is attenuated George (5)
I didn't get this, and seeing the answer I was overthinking this. "Object" is the definition and "attenuated" = THIN and "George" = G as we usually use the first letter of proper nouns, to give us THING. Yeah, I have no excuse for not getting this.

3D - After second failure order Bud, ..... (7)
"Bud" is our definition and...I have no idea what's going on here. Answer is BLOSSOM. I could see "failure" being LOSS but I'm quite stumped. I got help from the Cryptic Crossword Society on Facebook and got this answer from Hema Lata: After = Position indicator, second = B, failure = LOSS, order = OM (Order of Merit), Bud = BLOSSOM

4D - ....top foreman, to follow that lady Sally in South Yorkshire city (9)
I got this in late. "Top Foreman" = F, "to follow that lady" = SHE+F where the F is to follow the words for "that lady" and "Sally" = FIELD, the actress to give us SHEFFIELD as our "South Yorkshire city"

5D - Duck treated thus around Cardinal point (5)
We want a "Cardinal Point" and that means North South East or West. Being only five letters it's North or South. "Duck" = O and "treated thus" is anagrind+fodder to go "around" O for SOUTH

6D - Inspector in German car returning rubbish (7)
"Inspector" is our definition. "German car" = AUDI and "returning rubbish" = ROT  reversed to TOR for AUDITOR.

7D - Tried to coax in arranged date (9)
"Tried" is our definition. "to coax" = TEMPT to be put "in" "arranged date" anagrind+fodder to become AT(TEMPT)ED.

8D - Majority extremely deliberate in being reserved (6)
"Reserved" is our definition. "Majority" = MOST, "extremely DeliberatE" means take the letters on the extremes to use DE that will be put "in" like this: MO(DE)ST.

13D - Dr Coco lie badly? The Reptile! (9)
Is it any wonder I got this one first? "Dr Coco lie badly" is fodder+anagrind to give us CROCODILE for our "reptile."

14D - His last pun in some of Flynn's Swashbuckling (9)
I've quickly learned that italics in these puzzles means sweet FA (But because I do all clues in italics, the real italics are not italicised in the clue. Just to be confusing). "His last" means take the last letter from "hiS"= S, "pun" = WORDPLAY for a synonym of "Swashbuckling" SWORDPLAY.

15D - In Romeo's family men not treated? Malarial fever.
"In Romeo's family" is our definition. "Men = M, "not treated" is fodder+anagrind, and "Malarial fever" = AGUE put together as M(ONT)AGUE.

17D - Sauce boat finished? (7)
"Sauce" is our definition and "boat" = KETCH which means "finished" = UP but you know, no one ever says "I'm up!" when they've finished something. It's "washed up" or something like that. KETCHUP.

18D - The French still extremely talkative making outfit for new arrival (7)
I got this from the definition - I'm a knitter, we make these. "The French" = LA "still" = YET (I learned that yesterday, remember), "extremely TalkativE" = TE for LAYETTE. The three B's: Bonnet, booties and blanket.

19D - Avoid three bridge players revolutionary (6)
"Avoid" is our definition. I made a note asking if Bridge, the card game, uses compass points. I know it's a four person game, so if one was missing was that a hint that our answer is also missing either an S, N E or W? "Revolutionary" = CHE and with cross letters it becomes ESCHEW - so the North player is missing.

21D - Top-class oil mixture in this mayonnaise (5)
"Top class" = AI (A1, but the number one becomes and I), "oil mixture" is fodder+anagrind for AI(OLI) for the "mayonnaise."

22D - Topping here in French New Guinea (5)
We want a "Topping" and "here in French" = ICI the French word for here, and "New Guinea" = NG as we usually take the first letters of proper nouns to get: ICING.

Done! It's all come together in the end, which is great. No wait, can anyone tell me what BLOSSOM and SHEFFIELD have in common? A lot of anagrams in this made it much easier. I'm getting good at spotting them. I say that, but I miss loads, especially on Friday. I have today's puzzle printed and will have a go. I didn't get around to breaking down the Rufus on Monday but Fifteen Squared did a quick breakdown.

I do get wordy in my explanations but I'm trying to help other newbies and to encourage new solvers to learn how to crack cryptics. I've only made solving cryptics a serious effort this year. I love all the support and people I've met in only a short few months of launching this blog. Thank you, fellow puzzlers!

The Age Cryptic by LR #20,381

It's great to have LR back. There's usually a bit of playfulness and whimsy to be had. This was an interesting grid because there were so few down clues, and there were four long phrases. It made sense to tackle the across clues and get as many cross letters in place for the phrases to be easier to identify. Even saying that, it's impossible to resist looking at down clues once an across is entered.

2D and 15A took me a long time to crack and blocked up the whole left side for a while. Once I got them the rest came in easy time - for me that's about 4 hours. One day I'll get into that 1-hour club.

My kids like to take my red pens. I don't know why. One will probably be drawing hearts on things, the other, dripping blood from fangs. Either way, no matter how often I buy them their own supplies, they steal mine. So my cheats, 9A and 13A are in green. I'll have to buy cheap pens and leave them around as stealable so the kids will leave my beloved Uniball Visions alone.


1A - Way to queue for matchmaker's paperwork (6,4)
We want a "way to queue" that's like a "matchmaker's paperwork?" SINGLE FILE.

7A - Freezing fish around 50 (4)
"Freezing" is our definition and we want a "fish" = COD to go "around" the letter L, the Roman numeral for 50. COLD

9A - ... yet waiter dropped iodine in beverage (5,5)
I got the second word easy enough "Waiter dropped Iodine" means to remove the letter I from "waiter" = WATER but couldn't guess what the full name of the "beverage" was and didn't understand "..." meant STILL for STILL WATER.

10A - Deer eats little killer spiders' heads (4)
We are looking for a type of "Deer" and at the other end is our clue signpost "heads" saying to look at the first letters of the other words. "Eats Little Killer Spiders" for ELKS.

11A - Concerning...petrol station seconds away from inrush to water supplies (10)
A charade clue so I'll show the breakdown: "Concerning" = RE, "petrol station" = SERVO (that took me a while, damn Aussie slang) then it's "seconds away from InRuSh" saying to take every other letter from "inrush" so RE+SERVO+IRS as a word for "water supplies" RESERVOIRS.

12A - Lisping Peck family (4)
Definition is "family" and a "Peck" is a KISS but we want to say it like we're "lisping" so it's KITH. Sneaky making Peck capitalised, so we'd think Gregory, right?

13A - Drew Morphett Finally Single: Journalist (4)
I did Google "Drew Morphett" and saw he was a sports newscaster. I couldn't see where this was going until I got the answer key. I think it's "MorphetT finally" means take the last letter T, "single" = I and "journalist" = ED (is that for editorialist?) all together for TIED as a synonym of "DREW" and it really has nothing to do with Mr. Morphett.

14A - Soldiers turn to personalities for autographs (10)
"Autographs" is our definition. "Soldiers turn" = GIS in reverse so SIG and "personalities" = NATURES for SIGNATURES.

15A - Imbeciles plan a destructive section of roads (10)
I struggled with this and had cross letters in place before I remembered - when in doubt don't forget hidden words. Scanning forwards and back, there it was: "imbecilES PLAN A DEStructive" meaning our definition is "roads" and our solution ESPLANADES.

19A - First cousin has every phone (4)
"First cousin" = C the first letter of "cousin" and "has every" = ALL for CALL, a word for "phone"

20A - Huge English film (4)
"Huge" is the definition and we want the E from "English" and "film" = PIC (camera film, I'm guessing) for EPIC.

21A - Fearful response when Moe's pubs go broke (5,5)
"Fearful response" is the definition and "Moe's pubs go broke" is fodder+anagrind. Mix the fodder to get GOOSE BUMPS the symptom of a "fearful response."

22A - Condiment from can on duck (4)
We want a "condiment" from "can" = MAY and "duck" = O (Zero to O akin to goose egg) to give MAYO.

23A - Model rants on neckwear injustices (10)
I liked this clue. It was great to get all the bits and have the answer revealed. It's a charades clue and revealed like this: "Model" = T, "rants" = RAVES and "neckwear" = TIES put together to get a synonym for "injustices" TRAVESTIES.

24A - Kid's Doctor spoke to god (4)
Some clues I get a real thrill out of getting right. I looked at this and thought, "god" is lower case so it might be an old god we're looking for. I thought "spoke to god" might be PRAY. Then "Kid's Doctor" and why is Doctor capitalised? What is the abbreviation for a paediatrician? Then I thought "Well, if not medical Doctor, it could be Dr. Seuss." and what if "spoke" was a homophone indicator - Bam! it was there. SEUSS = ZEUS. (Even though I don't say those two exactly the same)

25A - Dressmaker in ocean has mass anxiety (10)
Charade clue again and our definition is "Dressmaker" I'll break it down: "ocean" = SEA, "mass" = M and "anxiety" = STRESS put together for SEAMSTRESS.

2D - Originally winning (2,3,5,5)
I got this after a few cross letters were in place. Double definition: IN THE FIRST PLACE.

3D - Apple seeing old iCloud errors (6,9)
I kept coming back to this and thinking the words were odd. I had thought about the Google wayback machine, but that wasn't going anywhere. After a few cross letters where in place I saw the answer but still needed to solve the clue to be sure. Definition is "Apple" and "errors" is an anagrind. I had to put "Seeing old iCloud" next to GOLDEN DELICIOUS to be sure they were anagrams.

4D - Former spouses view sex disdainfully! (2-5)
Well, that's a prudish surface. "Former spouses" is our definition, then I noticed "view sex" was conveniently 7-letters and "disdainfully" could be an anagrind. Mix the fodder to get EX-WIVES.

5D - Latest craze is batting with flimsy head guard (2,5)
I had this but thought it wasn't enough to be 100% certain of my answer. I even discarded it as an option at one point because I couldn't parse the clue. "Latest craze" is the definition and I  think "batting" = IN, "flimsy" = THIN and "head Guard" means take the G as head letter of "guard" making our answer  IN THING. I spent too long looking for synonyms of "helmet."

6D - Amateur as I appear, I possess much of northern hemisphere! (7)
A clue that rhymes, how lovely! It is a riddle and also a hidden word clue. The word "appear" was a hint as was "possess" and looking closer we can see "amatEUR AS I Appear" reveal itself EURASIA as our antipodean land mass.

7D - Ogle Summer at the till? (8,7)
This took me a while, even with the cross letters. I'd guessed on the second word with all cross letters in place, but took longer for the first word. I had to think of "Summer" as a person and not a season to get CHECKOUT COUNTER as a place one "ogles" that's a "till."

8D - Enjoy the audience being quick? (4,3,8)
I needed help from Google here as it's not a phrase I'd use as it's very British. I resorted to using One Across for the last word and thought "Like the Flappers?" didn't really make much sense. Then "audience" made more sense to me and I got LIKE THE CLAPPERS. I'd never thought much about that phrase. I'd assumed "Clappers" were irons or handcuffs and those who "go like the clappers" or "from the clappers" were running away from the police.

16D - Cancels generation about top mark on exam, almost (7)
I'm not sure how this is parsed. I guessed "Cancels" was the definition and went with a thesaurus and cross letters. "About" is one of those words that has multiple uses as a signpost. "generation" = GEN - and we need to reverse it. So is "about" an anagrind? A reversal? General word meaning to screw about with letters in any way to make it fit? "Top mark" = A and "exam, almost" = TEST -T. Put together it's: NEG+A+TES for NEGATES. It's the first part I'm not solid about. I mean with!

17D - Commotion surrounding on/off switch of model (7)
One of my last in and with all cross letters I made a guess with "model" as the definition and the Simpson's episode "Lisa's Rival" with that The Telltale Heart diorama. DIORAMA, but I don't understand the parsing. I can see the inside is an anagram of Maori surrounded by DA, There's a designer  DIOR over the award ceremony AMA. With more needling I guess "commotion" could be DRAMA but IO as on/off? Inactive/operational? I might go have a look at the buttons on things to see.

18D - Distorters of food pins (7)
I think, I may be developing that kind of brain that sees things in words. I laughed at this clue when I read it and I immediately wanted to find a word that meant "Someone who hates cakes" for "distorters." Perhaps I see far too many cake pins on Pinterest. Those who diss tortes are not what we're after, although it was a merry path to skip along. No we want a word that means both to distort something and also is a "food pin" SKEWERS.

That was great fun. I even managed to get through The Guardian's Rufus puzzle, which I'll put up late tonight or early tomorrow. I have Girl Guides to run tonight which I hope will be fun - you never know what the kids' moods will be like. These girls all want to race about and exhaust themselves. I'm supposed to do a bit on relaxation and how to calm oneself as part of being healthy - how to manage stress and quiet the mind, but I think they'll be offended. So it's a small bit of that followed by Simon Says and a song about jelly beans. Ending with fresh pineapple and jump rope.