The Age Cryptic by LR #20,680

Good Monday, friends. LR gave us a workout this morning, didn't he. Geez! I must have looked at the page for a few hours and only had 5 or six solved. I admit I was distracted by Youtube and online shopping (I'm planning a holiday) and my husband who's had a tough time at work and likes to use me as his venting wall. Although he'll tolerate a certain amount of looking at the top of my head as I type, his patience is not infinite - the joys of working from home.

Not sure if I was missing something I peeked into Twitter to see if there were any hints (a line of encouragement from @LRxword telling me I can do this) but then I got 1D and from there it started to fall into place. Still did not get it done until nearly 3PM.

What held me up were a couple of Aussie slangs and some where I'm not sure on the definitions. Here's my pic, bit dark sorry:

8A - Girl one caught getting into beer (5)

"Girl" is who we are looking for and I have kvetched about this as an unfair definition but I'll let it slide today since the name is near and dear to me. "One" = I and I think "Caught" = C "getting into beer" = ALE to make AL(I)(C)E.  So why does "caught" = C?

9A - Improvisors who believe in commercial rights? (2-7)

"Improvisors" is the definition and those who believe in liberating commercials? AD LIBBERS.

11A - Beating fine (9)

DD: STRAPPING.

12A- Cheap feline returned to Kentucky (5)

"Cheap" is our definition "feline" = CAT being "returned" to TAC and the abbreviation for "Kentucky" = KY for TACKY.

13A - Beatle admirer in gold section (5)

Hidden word clue: "admireR IN GOld" for RINGO

14A - Lawyer with idiot drivers' glasses (9)

"Glasses" is our definition and "Lawyer" = SC for Senior Counsel which I had to google about for, and "idiot drivers" are HOONERS to make the very Aussie word SCHOONERS.

16A - Signs Noah's boat is entering French seas (7)

"Signs" is our definition and "Noah's boat" = ARK "entering French seas" = MERS for M(ARK)ERS

19A - Quiet stoner moved to this Melbourne suburb (7)

"Melbourne suburb" is what we need and "quiet" = P and "STONER moved" is fodder and anagrind for PRESTON. Never been there, is it nice?

21A - Bank codes to get rubbish suit pattern (9)

"Suit pattern" is our definition and "bank codes" = PINS and "rubbish" = TRIPE for PINSTRIPE.

23A - Group from south-west branch (5)

"Group" is our definition and "south-west" = SW and "branch" = ARM for a SWARM.

25A - Anxious workers co-ordinate (5)

"Anxious" is our definition with "workers" = ANTS and a "co-ordinate" = Y as in an x or y axis math stuff to make ANTSY.

27A - You interrupt composer indeed perverted (9)

"Perverted" is our definition and "you" = U which "interrupts" a "composer" = BACH with a sneaky one-word instruction "in DEED" to make DE(BA(U)CH)ED.

28A - Argument on new colour (4-5)

"Colour" is what we want and "argument" = BLUE and "new" = GREEN for BLUE-GREEN. I haven't come across "argument" = blue before and wonder if it's because of shouting until one's blur in the face? Why does blue mean argument?

29A - Small part arrived with ring (5)

"Small part" is our definition and here we need to think acting and not machinery with "arrived" = CAME and "ring" = O for a CAMEO. The Lemonheads sang it well "I just want a bit part in your life, a walk on would be fine."

1D - Fish doctor has hesitation with instrument from kit (4,4)

"Instrument from kit" is what we need and "fish" = BASS, "doctor" = DR and a "hesitation" = UM for a BASS DRUM.

2D - One born in late September turns 49 over breakfast (6)

"One born in late September" is our definition and "turns 49" = LI (not really it's supposed to be XLIX) reversed to LI with "breakfast" = BRAN for a LIBRAN.

3D - Hobby to breed housecats, perhaps (3,7)

CD: PET PROJECT. This was my first solve - what does that say about me?

4D - Taxi takes popular lead singer to budget accommodation (6)

"Budget accommodation" is our definition and "taxi" = CAB, "popular" = IN and "lead Singer" = S for CABINS.

5D - Gash suffered during somersault in main boat (8)

"Main boat" is our definition and "GASH suffered" is partial fodder and anagrind, "during" is a container signpost for "somersault" = FLIP to make FL(AG SH)IP.

6D - Bloke extremely into sex? That doesn't surprise me (1,3)

"That doesn't surprise me" is our definition and "BlokE extremely" = BE going into "sex" = IT for I BET. I think this is right.

7D - Leaves box in coach on East Street? (3,5)

"Leaves box" is our definition and "coach" = TEACH and "East STreet" = EST for TEA CHEST.

10D - Small hollow tyres caused eye problems (5)

"Eye problems" is our definition and "small" = S and "hollow TY(-r)ES makes STYES.

15D - Take the lid off bolognaise, say available to programmers (4-6)

"Available to programmers" is our definition and "take the lid off" = OPEN, "bolognaise, say" = sauce/ SOURCE (I keep running foul of this homophone. It doesn't work in my accent I'm not that New York and honestly, neither are you Aussies) to become OPEN SOURCE.

17D - Fled as gin & tonic regret resonated (4,4)

"Resonated" is our definition and "fled" = RAN, "gin & tonic" = GT and "regret" = RUE for RANG TRUE.

18D - Type in leak on the surface (4,4)

"On the surface" is our definition and "Type" = KIND going "in leak" = SEEP for S(KIN D)EEP

20D - Mention famous friends made porn...awkward! (4-4)

"Mention famous friends" is our definition and "MADE PORN awkward" is fodder and anagrind for NAME DROP which is the only full anagram in the whole puzzle.

21D - Another option for leaders in Parliament legislating Australia's nasty budget (4,1)

"Another option" is the definition and "Leaders" is a starting signpost showing us "Parliament Legislating Australia's Nasty Budget for PLAN-B.

22D - Retreating to English bed and breakfast to sing topless (6)

"Retreating" is our definition and "English" = E, "Bed and Breakfast" = BB and "(-s)ING topless" = ING for EBBING.

24D - In miserable hat turning emo (2,4)

"In" is the definition and "miserable HAT" is anagrind and partial fodder with "turning EMO" for AT H(OME).

26D - Every second of gym orgy is for guru (4)

"Guru" is our definition and "every second of gYm OrGy Is for" = YOGI.


There we go, it doesn't seem half so bad once it's all solved and explained but really it was quite intimidating with only a few solved and no anagrams to rely on to get us in there. Maybe the Age is far too kind with us and its amount of anagrams.

As always if you have comments, suggestions or alternate solutions, please add them in the comments. We love comments.

The Age Cryptic by DA #20,678

A whopper of a theme for this week's puzzle. Not the usual NB for instructions either but a "WARNING" to strike fear in us all. The warning tells us that ten clues lack a definition and "the 20-21 camouflaged locations," camouflaged? What does that mean?

My first clues in were the 13s followed by the three non-theme clues off 13D. I then got the 20-21 for CAPITAL CITIES. which could mean any capital city in the world at that point. I could get from cross letters that the first word of 27A might be SAINT and then I googled capital cities starting with saint and got SAINT PAUL but then tried to see it and could see a possible anagram but with too many letters and no deletion which makes my frustration and confusion rise. US capitals? Let's try another and the most straightforward clue is 9A which again has too many letters for the (8) enumeration. No patience to be had I pop that into an anagram solver and green lights DES MOINES (I.A. ) That is the "camouflaged" bit in each theme clue, the state's abbreviation. They appear in the clue in the correct order.

I'm not going to break down all of the clues. I have double earache and a fever and I'm headed back to my bed with a fair dose of nurofen but here's the pic and you can pop into the D.A. Trippers where Ray has kindly provided the clue breakdowns for us already. Oh, ok I'll share them here too but the group is great for discussion. Ray, you wee angel.

from Ray:

ACROSS:
1A – Defn = “Model maybe”. “leading” gives a 2 letter word for letters 4,5. “after” = positioner. “wrestling victory” gives a 3 letter word for letters 1,2,3


4A – Defn = “Old Brit”. “German. Yes” gives a 2 letter word for letters 1,2. “by” = positioner. “manoeuvred” = anagrind. Fodder = “cab, one” for letters 3,4,5,6,7,8.


** 9A – “Disturbing” = anagrind. Fodder = “med(IA) noises”.


10A – “Ringmaster” gives a 6 letter name with fourth letter removed (“clown’s seat off) for letters 1,2,3,4,5. Defn = “punt”.


** 11A – “Initial regulars” gives letters 5,6,7. “succeeding” = positioner. “at (GA)la” gives letters 1,2,3,4.


** 12A – “Li(NE)” gives letters 1,2. “gets” = positioner / container. “pass” gives a 3 letter word for letters 4,5,6. “in” = positioner / container. “news” gives 2 letters for letters 3,7.


13A – “Gannet wings clipped” gives letters 1,2,3,4. “retracted” = reverse indicator. “old” gives a 2 letter word for letters 6,5. Defn = “wing”.


** 14A – “out” = anagrind. Fodder = “fa(CT)or” for 4 letters and “I left third” for the other 4 letters.


** 17A – “flogging” = anagrind. Fodder = “Mick’s bra(ND)”.


19A – “Jesus backing” gives letter 1. “religion” gives a 5 letter word for letters 2,3,4,5,6. Defn = “long speech”.


22A – Defn = “Pasta dish“. “distributed” = anagrind. Fodder = “alas” for letters 1,2,3,4. “left” gives a 4 letter word, with second letter removed (“wanting nothing”) for letters 5,6,7.


24A – Defn = “Checked”. “off” = anagrind. Fodder = “deep mid”.


25A – “Writer” gives a 3 letter word / name for letters 1,2,3. “wild” = anagrind. Fodder = “shrine of” for letters 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. Defn = “dog”.


26A – Defn = “Cultivates”. “photos” gives a 6 letter word with first letter removed (“topless”) for letters 1,2,3,4,5.


** 27A – “flounder” = anagrind. Fodder = “I’(M N)uts” and “a plan”.


28A – Defn = “causing deadlocks?”. “Two cheeky things” gives 2 words – a 3 letter word for letters 1,2,3 and a 5 letter word for letters 4,5,6,7,8.


29A – “Jarrah ultimately” gives 1 letter for letter 4. “broke” = positioner / container. “old” gives a 4 letter word for letters 1,2,3,5. Defn = “carpentry tool”.
 
DOWN:


1D – Defn = “Stands”. “whales collectively” gives a 3 letter word for letters 1,2,3. “cracking” gives a 2 letter abbreviation (with “up” = reverse indicator) for letters 5,4.


2D – Defn = “Young birds”. “flapped” = anagrind. Fodder = “linnets” for letters 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. “grass verges” gives letters 8,9.

** 3D – “lost” = anagrind. Fodder = “Hope N(AZ)I” for letters 1,2,3,4,5,6. “vote” gives 1 letter for letter 7.


** 4D – “Soprano Bronhill” gives 4 a letter name for letters 1,2,3,4. “(AK)a” gives letter 5. “the essential trump” gives letter 6.


5D – Defn = “Court’s burden”. “netting” gives a 4 letter word and “legal principles” gives a 4 letter word, which you then “Spooner”.


6D – “Bend” gives a 3 letter word for letters 1,2,3. “edges of Koran” gives letters 4,5. “books” gives letters 6,7. “Defn = “making two loops?”.


7D – “During” = positioner / container. “a” gives letter 1. “Brief row” gives letters 4,5. “getting extremely” gives letters 2,3. Defn = “punchy”.


8D – “Criminal gang” gives a 5 letter word for letters 1,2,3,7,8. “keeping” = positioner / container. “up” = reverse indicator. “racket” gives a 3 letter word for letters 6,5,4. Defn = “in the Caribbean”.


13D – Defn = “Walk”. “across” = hidden indicator. Fodder = “Pambula territory”.


15D – Double defn. Defn 1 = “Account anguish”. Defn 2 = “how jaded authors feel?”.


16D – Defn = “Gets to”. “on the outer” = hidden indicator. Fodder = “accept losses”.


** 18D – “after” = positioner. “31 days” gives 6 letter word for letters 1,2,3,4,5,6. “(ME)at” which loses last letter (“temperature drops”) gives letter 7.


20D, 21D – Defn = “Sofia and Victoria”. “skewed” = anagrind. Fodder = “practicalities”, with 1 letter removed (“ignoring roster from the outset”).


** 23D – “threadbare” = anagrind. Fodder = “M(OR)ales”.


25D – “Extreme desire” gives letters 1,2. “is superior to” = positioner. “desire” gives a 4 letter word with second letter removed (“nonetheless”) for letters 3,4,5. Defn = “dig?”.


Enjoy the day before the terrible rain strikes again. Thanks Celia Fate for checking up on me, you're a doll. I love the puzzle community, so many wonderful people.

The Age Cryptic by LR #20,674

I had a wee struggle with this one but got there eventually. I had about half done before the rest of the clues became tricky. I'd go away and come back, get a couple, go away again and repeat until about 1pm when I finally got 16D and could finish the puzzle. I also got further along on a painting more than I expected.

Another unique grid, too. This puzzle has 33 questions which is odd, and not just literally but I've noticed most cryptic puzzles use an even number clues. I don't see a Nina unless a message to pals Una and Tia.

I had a few I wasn't sure of that I was later able to parse but I'm only left with 11A as the one clue I can't fully figure out. Here's my pic:

Sorry it's a bit yellow but I didn't take a pic during daylight and it's the overhead lights. I had to lean the puzzle against my computer or my shadow covered most of the page.

11A - Singer and muso Brian into opening couple of tracks (5)

With the cross letters and a feeling "muso Brian" was Brian ENO I put in TENOR. leaving just the T & R to parse. Which right now, hours later, I can see clear as day (even though I couldn't see it during actual day) it's from "couple of TRacks" meaning to take the first couple letters from tracks. So my scribbles of "couple" = Two and "tracks" = Rails is a step I didn't need to bother with. Ah well.

Sorry just a quick post. I didn't finish the DA last week either. I'll probably save it for tomorrow or Wednesday. Unless Paul is printed in the Guardian. Oh I did have a go at the Wall Street Journal's Cox & Rathvon puzzle which has a fun theme and I have to wait a week for the solution which means a week to solve. It has "The Seven Cryptic Dwarves" as a theme and all of the answers have been altered by a different dwarf. Not only do you have to solve the clue, you then have to apply one of the dwarves' mechanics to get the answer to enter into the grid. Have a go here! Thanks to Ganesh Nayak for sharing in CCS, always fun to spread torment.

The Age Cryptic by LR #20,668

This Monday sees the return of LR which is going to be great for the next few weeks. My first thought was I liked the grid design. A new one to me and I noticed the large Fs on their sides resembling keys. I'm a bit aware of grid oddities and what they could mean after Phi posted on his blog about his puzzle that had an interesting theme which created a unique grid as well. If anything else was going on here, I didn't find it. No Ninas to my eye.

This puzzle stood out as so many of the clues had answers that were a (4,4) which took me a while as I solved 4A first and then went right to its down clues which aren't (4,4) and once you do see that it makes the longest clue, 15A make much more sense. Here's my pic and an explanation of the scribbles:

Definitions are underlined
Actionable signposts or words are circled
Anagrinds are in rectangles
Anagram fodder has a squiggly underline
Dashes above/below letters are beginning/end letters or odds/evens 
Some clue elements I try to separate are in parantheses
Underlined numbers are not fully parsed unless ticked, and circled numbers are ones I share with the Facebook Cryptic Crossword Learners club.

4A - Begin bible studies with king from sci-fi series (4,4)

"Sci-fi series" is what we're looking for and "begin" = START and "bible studies" = RE (for religious education) and "with King" = K to make STAR TREK

8A - Close contest? (4,4)

A cryptic definition clue: HOME GAME.

9A - Refuse to reduce volume (4,4)

Double definition: Refuse / to reduce volume = TURN DOWN.

10A - Pots banged by band very loudly on second of brief visits (4-4)

"Brief visits" is our definition and "POTS banged" is partial fodder and anagrind with "band" = O and "very loudly" = FF (forte forte the music instruction) with "second" = S to make STOP-OFFS.

11, 14A - Reefer I'd smoked gave welcome lift (4,4)

"Gave welcome lift" is our definition and  "REEFER I'D smoked" is fodder and anagrind to make FREE RIDE, nice cheeky clue.

12A - Kidnap quintet to relax briefly (4,4)

Double definition: Kidnap quintet / to relax briefly = TAKE FIVE.

15A - Curses this puzzle theme! (4,6,5)

Double definition: Curses / this puzzle theme = FOUR LETTER WORDS.

19, 24A - Slack cop lost key (4,4)

"Key" is our definition and "SLACK COP lost" is fodder and anagrind making CAPS LOCK, the keyboard key.

I had a short but funny mental block with this clue because due to watching some videos on Buzzfeed about men wearing women's g-strings for a day, for some reason the anagram I saw first was COCK SLAP.

23A - Teens messed with horses in reserves (4,4)

"Reserves" is our definition and "TEENS messed" is partial fodder and anagrind, "with horses" = GGS (and this is one of those cryptic elements that's purely used only in cryptic crosswords. It's a pretty old term now I believe and its origins are up for debate. British slang for horses is "gee-gees" and it's used around horse racing. I don't know if it's used around horse tracks these days, I'm not a horse person so I've just made a mental note in the puzzle solving section of my brain in case it comes up sometime)  the answer is (NEST E)GGS

25A - Very cool journalist's furniture (4,4)

"Furniture" is our definition and "very" = SO ("It's very cool" and "it's so cool" type of synonym. One that has tripped me up before), "cool" = FAB and "journalist's" = ED'S (short for editor) to make SOFA BEDS.

26A - Popstar in city with a daggy disguise (4,4)

"Popstar" is who we're looking for and "city" = L.A. (for Los Angeles) "with A DAGGY disguise" is partial fodder and anagrind to make LA(DY GAGA)

27A - Miserable divorcee froze (4,4)

"Froze" is our definition and "miserable DIVORCEE" is anagrind and fodder to make ICED OVER.

28A - Aggressive campaign to get tradesmen evenly into corridor (4,4)

"Aggressive campaign" is our definition and "tRaDeSmEn evenly" = RDSE as we remove the even letters and they're going "into" a word for "corridor" = HALL to make HA(RD SE)LL.

1D - Thus loud team leader thanks company for Mexican food (4,4)

"Mexican food" is what we're looking for and "thus" = SO, "loud" = F (forte), "Team leader" = T, "thanks" = TA (British slang or baby talk for thank you) and "company" = CO all together to make SOFT TACO.

2D - 2016 for one jumpy listener? (4,4)

"2016 for one" is the definition and "jumpy" = LEAPY (It's not a real word, how cheaty) and a "listener" = EAR for a LEAP YEAR.

3D - Mitch, Alf, Tim enjoyed parts of interval (4,4)

"Interval" is our definition and the key signpost here is "parts" telling us it's a hidden word clue and there in "mitcH ALF TIM Enjoyed" is HALF TIME.

4, 25D - Begins voyage to collection's auction we hear (4,4)

"Begins voyage" is our definition and "collections" = SETS and an "auction" is a SALE and "we hear" is a homophone indicator making "sale" into SAIL for SETS SAIL.

5D - Goddess starts an ugly rumour over rental agreement (6)

"Goddess" is who we're looking for and "starts" is a beginning/ends signpost telling us "An Ugly Rumour Over Rental Agreement" = AURORA the Roman goddess of the dawn.

6D - Cleaner got IT round to get pass right (6)

"Cleaner" is our definition and "IT round" = TI as we spin it around, "pass" = DIE and "right" = R to make TIDIER.

7D - Prince made three notes about battle (6)

A "Prince" is who we're looking for and "Three notes" means music notes (EGBDF and FACE)  going "about" or around a word for "battle" = WAR and the notes we need are E, D and D to make ED(WAR)D.

13D - Dine at home from each can (3,2)

"Dine at home" is our definition and "each" = EA as its abbreviation and "can" = TIN to make EAT IN.

16D - Knight raises $1000, for no cost, in safe (4-4)

"Safe" is our definition and "knight raises" = SIR being reversed to RIS (raises for a down clue means to enter the word backwards going up), "$1000" = K (metric abbreviation) and "no cost" = FREE to make RISK FREE.

17D - Honest person to ring and write to jeer king (4,4)

"Honest person" is our definition and "ring" = O, "write" = PEN, "to jeer" = BOO and "king" = K to make OPEN BOOK.

18D - How a miner finds courage? (4,4)

Cryptic definition: a miner DIGS DEEP.

20D - Fleet Alpha Romeo has crazy acceleration (6)

"Fleet" is our definition and "Alpha Romeo" = AR (from the phonetic alphabet), "crazy" = MAD and "acceleration" = A to make ARMADA.

21D - Destroyed a yard in toboggan (6)

"Destroyed" is our definition and "A Yard" = AY (To be fair, Yard is usually abbreviated to YD and not just Y)  going "in" a word for "toboggan" = SLED to make SL(AY)ED.  Let me know if there's another way to solve this and I'm wrong about the y/yd thing.

22D - File predicament (6)

Double definition: SCRAPE.

There we are, finished! A nice kickoff for the week. I've had a struggle with Friday's DA and may just slip it into the DNF folder for when I'm in a better state of mind. I've not been in the mood for anything too deep. I got over half done but was hung up in the SE corner and just didn't have the fight in me to push through. My husband had been away and returned from Korea that day and it was better spent with him watching a few episodes of Columbo

As always if you have questions, comments or alternate solutions or funny stories to share please leave them in the comments. Stay dry if you're in Victoria and have a great day.

The Age cryptic by DA #20,660

A much easier offering this week. I got about 25% through last week's before thinking I had better things I ought to be doing than tormenting myself. I gave today a good go and got the LHS done and most of the lower RHS before calling into the D.A. Trippers for a few hints to get me going in the NE. I got 6A&6D in last.

On many I could solve half of the clue which could get me the answer but I couldn't solve the end of the clue. Here's my pic:

11A - Supported seeing the future as doubly old? (8)

"Supported" is our definition and "seeing the future" = ESP but how does "doubly old" = OUSED?

19A - Boxer, thumped on face, came down to earth (4)

"Came down to earth" is the definition and "boxer" = ALI but how does "thumped on face" = T?

29A - Female all but staggered to describe pen stroke (9)

"Stroke" is the definition and I got the "female" = F part and needed cross letters to get that the rest made FREESTYLE but how I just don't see.

1D - Duck dunking wings in dock works (5)

"Duck" is the definition and "DunkinG wings" = DG going "in dock works" = DOE? Why does "dock works" = DOE? Oh is it DOE(-s)? Are we "docking" the end of DOES? That I would understand.

6D - Uni in Paris, or another Euro city, blocking separate vacation (8)

Cross letters and One Across got me this. I had no idea. I couldn't decide on which end was the definition or how to start with this clue.

13D - Rum-soaked sign on Holden wheel, baby (6,2,3)

I got this from cross letters and guessing the definition was "baby" but other than that I don't get it.

15D - Joined firm for beers - cold I shrugged? (9)

"Joined" is the definition and "firm" = CO, "for beers" = ALES, "cold" = C so how does "I shrugged" = ED?

That's me. Finished before 2pm is always a win so I am very thankful to DA for being kind to us this week. I will fire up the BBQ tomorrow and have a few yummies to celebrate the 4th of July and take the kids to out to see a movie or two.

I've been doing some painting, too. I've never tried it before and thought that abstract stuff would be ok to try. I've watched a few Youtube videos and had a go. It's fun. The walls in our house have been bare since we moved in so I'll make something that fix that (No I'm not painting on the walls...well only in the garage), even if they are amateurish. I need the distraction.

Thank you for the kind words and support, they are appreciated. I'm getting along, good days and bad. Have a great weekend.