(click on the clue number to see the hint)
Click on underlined text for explanation of terms.
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The answer is found by removing a letter, letters, or a word (either found directly in the clue or derived) from a word or words (or their synonyms). Subtractions involving synonyms must be done with contiguous letters, that is, a word will subtract directly unless specifically indicated. A subtraction indicator is present to initiate the action.
The answer is found by removing a letter, letters, or a word (either found directly in the clue or derived) from a word or words (or their synonyms). Subtractions involving synonyms must be done with contiguous letters, that is, a word will subtract directly unless specifically indicated. A subtraction indicator is present to initiate the action.
There is only one part to this clue, a definition, and it's usually a play on words. There aren't any indicators.
The structure of the answer involves either letters placed outside other letters, or letters placed inside other letters. Which type of container clue is determined by an appropriate container indicator.
The answer is hidden among the words of the clue. No spare words should be present. A suitable hidden indicator will point to the buried text.
Examples: part of, associated with, types of.
The answer is found by removing a letter, letters, or a word (either found directly in the clue or derived) from a word or words (or their synonyms). Subtractions involving synonyms must be done with contiguous letters, that is, a word will subtract directly unless specifically indicated. A subtraction indicator is present to initiate the action.
A type of clue that involves the mixing up of letters without the inclusion of a letter or letters. This clue will have an anagram indicator to signify jumbling and a subtraction indicator to signify the removal of a letter or letters.
A removed letter may be as seen in the clue, an abbreviation for a word in the clue, or the result of another cryptic device like taking the initial letter from a word. Removed letters may be a whole word as seen in a clue, the synonym of a word in the clue (if that synonym is contiguous within the anagram fodder), or the result of another cryptic device like taking the middle two letters from a word.
The answer is found by butting together parts defined in the wordplay. There may be some positional indicators that change the order of these parts.
The structure of the answer involves either letters placed outside other letters, or letters placed inside other letters. Which type of container clue is determined by an appropriate container indicator.
I decided to attack this over breakfast and managed to get it all out without resorting to the hints. There’s one clue of a kind I haven’t seen in a Stickler for a very long time, plus there’s one I have a quibble about, but I’ll wait and see if anyone else does.
I especially like 24-ac, 2-dn, 22-dn and 26-dn.
Steve – “one clue of a kind I haven’t seen in a Stickler for a very long time”. 27a, I take it? ‘Twas good fun.
And I’m interested to find out where your quibble lies. I didn’t encounter anything which I regarded as dodgy – but my standards are probably lower than yours.
I did not think 27a was unusual. Thee have been very cleverly hidden clues in several recent crosswords, and 24d is another.
18d would be my choice for a quibble – animals. But google satisfied me on that point.
It seems this will be a very short blog session as there appear to be very few issues for the solvers. So I hope Steve will elaborate before Wednesday – could provide interesting discussion
Arthur – I think you’re commenting on the wrong crossword. The “animals” reference was in 18a in Stickler 238.
Yes you are right. It was 238, which I had not filed away. So I have no other quibbles.
Just to clarify.
27a in this puzzle 239 Is it not another &lit?
It seems I put a wrong address when I tried to post a comment similar to this, so I will type carefully now
27a is a cryptic definition, rather than an &lit. Cryptic definition clues don’t appear very often in the Stickler.
Thanks
I admit that I have difficulty in separating the two types. So I will bow to your knowledge. Clue type is not all that important in the overall scheme of things
And if I had read David’s clue hint I would have known it was purely cryptic.
Steve – we never did find out what your quibble was about.
Polished off quicker than usual this week. Liked 8d.
Yes, this one fell into place remarkably smoothly with clues that I found to be clearly decipherable. A good confidence booster! Only two google references were required – 8d to check spelling and 13a for definition. I habitually put a question mark against clues when dubious about the answer or parsing, but this week there are none.
24a was a bit of a surprise but nicely confirmed by the wordplay. I particularly enjoyed getting 27a!
Bombed out last week with two incorrect answers but this week have made a comeback finishing in less than a day. Second last and last in were 4d and 18a.
Liked 12a, 27a, 30a, 4d, 7d, 8d ( didn’t know the answer contained 2 E’s) and 14d. Thanks David
I enjoyed the workout this week. Well constructed clues with a couple of occasions to scramble for a dictionary to check the spelling. I also did not know about the 2 e’s in 8d.
27a particularly appealed to me.
20d was my biggest challenge, particularly when my original choice was needed in 17d. As an ex banker and small time gambler, I liked the reference in 20d.
Another round of applause for our setter. Thanks David.
No less challenging, usual Degree of Difficulty, but somehow must have locked into a distraction-free Zone – all done by Noon on Day One – & NO pesky Four-letter loose threads for a change. YAY!!! …..Liked everyones Picks of the Week. Thought 27a was a real Gem & like everyone else, stumbled at 8d. Many Thanks David – only Six more sleeps!!!
Test
David – I see that you’ve done a successful “test” post. Meanwhile, I’ve submitted multiple posts which haven’t appeared. I’ve also copied and re-posted the same text, in which case I get the message “Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!”
…and now I’ve submitted one which works. Very strange…
Your previous posts ended up in spam according to an add-in called AKISMET. It has been very reliable but sometimes there have been “glitches”, I suspect related to the AKISMET host that checks every message. Your message won’t get posted until it’s checked, so if there’s a time delay and other messages come in, then it could look like spam. Other times it’s related to IP addresses or same person with a different email address. It doesn’t go wrong often (once or twice before with Arthur when he used different email addresses), but it certainly saves me a great deal of grief.
AKISMET’s behaviour is understandable: Arthur and I are clearly dodgy characters.
Yes. My computer cannot spell, (or so I say) so I often get wrong characters in the email address or the blog. And ASKIMET obviously assists David and others in dealing with my shortcomings.