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Either a mixture of letters is placed inside or outside other letters, or letters are placed inside or outside a mixture of letters. An anagram indicator and containment indicator will be present.
A word or series of words that signify a mixing-up of letters.
Examples: changed, at sea, confused, all over the place - anything that indicates change or jumbling.
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.
A word or series of words that signify the loss of one letter at the start or end of a word or string of letters.
Examples: beheaded, cut short, endless, nearly, largely etc.
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.
A word or phrase that defines the answer. All cryptic clues usually have a minimum of one definition which will be located at the beginning or end of the clue.
A word or series of words that signify the removal of a letter, letters, word or words (or their equivalents) from other parts of the clue (or their equivalents).
Examples: taken from, decreased by, less.
Either a mixture of letters is placed inside or outside other letters, or letters are placed inside or outside a mixture of letters. An anagram indicator and containment indicator will be present.
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.
A word or series of words that signify a mixing-up of letters.
Examples: changed, at sea, confused, all over the place - anything that indicates change or jumbling.
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.
A question mark has been used to indicate "language abuse", that is, a word or words in a clue are used in a technically incorrect way, but the meaning can be still inferred.
Example: A indeed (?) could mean to insert A inside deed.
A word or series of words that signify a mixing-up of letters.
Examples: changed, at sea, confused, all over the place - anything that indicates change or jumbling.
A pointer that signifies the placing of one or more parts of a clue (or their equivalents) around the OUTSIDE of one or more parts of a clue (or their equivalents).
Examples: holding, keeping, embracing - anything that creates the image of containment.
A type of clue where the WHOLE clue defines the answer, and the WHOLE clue also is the wordplay (a mechanism to derive the answer through various cryptic devices). "&lit" is short for "and literally".
To qualify as an &lit, a clue must have no unused components either in the definition or the wordplay - it must be readable one way as a definition, and another as the wordplay.
A bit of a tough one today I’m finding. Despite hint 3d proving elusive as is 15d. Any help welcome. thanks.
Hi Cathy.
3 d is my Achilles heel this week.
15d . .think about what a spokesperson for your group is.
Good luck and here’s hoping inspiration comes for 3d.
Oh my goodness!!!! As soon as I posted that comment inspiration came!!!!
Strict is the definition
Cheers
A wonderful puzzle almost lamentably over too soon. 3d – agreed, Joy, then it’s just a matter of following the rest of the clue in order, Cathy, if you haven’t got it already. 15d – turning away as in not wanting to meet? My original answer for 5d needed a bit of tweaking and googling. 15d and 18d took quite a while for the penny to drop and 28d was last with such devious clueing!
Many Thanks for 15d Patrick. That & hopefully this visit to Clue Hints will assist fill some other gaps. Have to say – Loved 26a, magic television, wish ABC would rerun in it’s entirety.
Thanks so much Joy and others. Problem was I had 10a wrong which was throwing me off totally. All finished now Phew!
Great workout once more, Thanks David – but pesky loose ends yet again.
Losing touch? Over thinking? Maybe a little of both.
27a – get “waiting” & get “swell” – but why “rooms at the centre?”
28a – no answer & no idea
8d – get “make happy” – but unsure why
18d – is this answer customarily grouped with the given Two words?
………….Matters of the Soul or whatever?
21d – “elementary” seems obvious – but why “book is a little explosive”
Well Done – those Stickler All-Stars who finished on Day One.
Good morning Richard (well it is here), a bit mystified by your reference to 26a, but being expat maybe I’m a bit out of touch.
27a – where else to find an ‘o’?
28a – very tricky! I went for the only ‘smell’ that fits, then puzzled long over how the wordplay worked – oh, but just now checked the hint above. Face as in front.
8d – abbreviated street name? Questionable grammar and thus the question mark perhaps?
18d – usually taken to be antithetical to both.
21d – it’s a kind of trigger.
Hope this helps, and thanks Richard for thus extending the enjoyment of this weekly exercise!
Thanks for responding Patrick – 26a apologies, yes more familiar in Aust. domestic context. It’s a short segment, animated TV Series about Insects. French made I think. Very clever & very funny ……….& Thanks for the Tips
27a – tick
28a – more thought required (maybe my 21d is wrong, it ends with “L”)
8d – ditto, also more thought needed
18d – YAY – I was on the right track – seriously chuffed here!!! – BIG TICK.
21d – see above.
Extended enjoyment for both of us – I Am Glad…………
21d does not end in l. You probably used the elementary book in prep 1 and 2 (I think you are old enough for that). Other uses for this word are in painting and pumping water. So you have explosives, books and cans of paint and water to get you over the line.
28 a “water running” truncated at the face. On a drive throughthe country you will see many examples of this water running, though not so much in this dry weather. (Most of them have sign posts with their names).
With 8d, just go with your instinct, and try it in the online version.
YES, YES – Patrick & Arthur finally Got It,
the 21d/28a Combo is Absolute Genius.
Only 8d to go!!!
& yes Arthur often have discussions with the very few Friend (One) of that time that still remains – about Preps 1 & 2 then Preps 3 & 4. Seem to remember a nondescript Grey cover somewhere in this recollection!!!
Meanwhile – back at 8d
As suggested by Patrick, I’m going with abbreviated “place” (street) plus a Four-letter word that also could be “make happy”
Here endeth this weeks Mental Gymnastics!!!
I used phone a friend to get the two word combination for easily. This now makes sense
place with ….
I should have twigged to this as it is a similar ploy to 1d last week.
Yes I could not get the Two word comb Arthur & let it be – only Five more sleeps!!!
make that “combo”
If somebody viewed something pleasurably, you might say they viewed it with pleasure. So if they managed it easily they managed it _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
Day one bedtime saw me with only 4 words solved. Was on a roll this morning, but misspelled 26a. Reworking the parsing brought the error to light.
I am really enjoying the variation in indicators – eg 28a, and 2d.
10a, 21d and 27a tickled my fancy although I have not worked out how the solution fits swell as a definition.
8d Like Richard, I have not worked out why this is so. The clue hint did not help. Nor did Patrick’s suggestion. Next Wednesday’s solution might bring clarity.
Liked all the clues and the varying degree of difficulty, but must highlight
1a – pointer
13a – elders
22 – letters’ due
1d – European capital
3d – a fun clue with several artifices.
15d – spokesperson
Yes Arthur another thoroughly enjoyable Romp thru Cryptic Land.
27a – also a Resort on the Mediterranean Sea? OR an Arnott’s biscuit?
Loved all your Highlights, amongst mine too.
Haven’t been doing a List lately it becomes much too long – 10/10 for David.
What a ‘swell’ party this is !
I will certainly drink to That…………….
OK let’s press the Recall button, I SWEAR without “looking this up”
Bing Crosby? Grace Kelly? Frank Sinatra? (never liked him) – HIGH SOCIETY? – 1950’s?
Bing Crosby sang the song.
I think Frank Sinatra sang the other part – “Well did you ever?”
Correct Arthur, it was a duet, can even visualise it. Not bad tho, for off the cuff reminiscences – 60 years on. Must have been one of Grace Kelly’s last appearances before she moved on to a rather different life.
Yup, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra together in High Society as I recall. Oops….. showing our age, we are!
And Richard, I see there are some episodes of 26a available on YouTube and I look forward to watching more. French indeed and a very French-sounding word to boot. Thanks for that.
Regarding 8d, sometimes it’s written/spoken with ‘Oh,’ and a hyphen – to express an exasperated disbelief at someone’s audacity!
See above Patrick, it was a Bing & Frank duet & for sure “those of a certain age” very much in evidence here…
plus there is Much 26a more recent enjoyment in store for you.
Have the 8d answer, just not entirely sure of Why So? – but a minor loose thread I can live with until Wednesday.
Talking of TV, maybe David could design a ‘University Challenge’-style cryptic crossword quiz game with two teams nutting out the answers with bonus points for explanations. Unfortunately there probably wouldn’t be a large enough audience, but on the other hand it could foster a whole new following. People love quizzes they can join in at home. How about it, David? Not at the cost of our weekly Stickler though!
Late to start this week. But all ok in the end. Liked 22a and 28a. Stuck on misspelling of 5d for a while ?
Pretty tough this week. I finally knocked off the last couple of clues last night. Lots of highlights:
13a: this definition of “elders” was new for me
16a: “dope”
22a: “letter’s due” and “beneficial amount”
26a: good fun
27a: “swell”
28a: “down face” was tricky
3d: “people wanted for events”
5d: a new word for me
8d: I wasn’t sure about the wordplay for this one – I thought “place” was doing double duty. But now I’ve looked at the hint, and it finally makes sense. This clue definitely needs the “?” at the end.
20d: “rich people”
24d: Yay!