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Post by Tringa on Jul 4, 2022 20:03:22 GMT
I wish I understood cryptic croswords.
Mrs Tringa is really good at them and now and again when she gives me a clue, and then the answer because I could not work it out, I feel embarrassed but think the answer is very clever.
I saw a clue today which, when I had been told the answer, I thought was excellent, so I thought I would share it here for anyone to try -
Bar of Soap(6,6)
Dave
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Post by faith on Jul 11, 2022 7:49:57 GMT
I actually set cryptic crosswords for a (partial) living (in The Scotsman), but strangely I'm not very good at solving them, and the solution to this has not come to me yet. So if Mrs Tringa got it straight away, she is a very clever lady. What you need for cryptic crosswords – as I'm sure she will tell you – is a twisted mind. The whole aim of the setter is to mislead you, to confuse you, to camouflage things. So if you look at the clue and try to see the opposite picture of what it seems to represent, you are more likely to stumble on the answer. (Says she who has not got this one yet!)
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Post by faith on Jul 11, 2022 8:00:16 GMT
I could have mentioned the botanical connection. For The Scotsman, setters have to have pen-names that sound like real ones, so I chose Ros Sherard. For the BSBI (previously BSBI News but, since that mag's ambition to be like British Wildlife, only the BSBI Scottish Newsletter) with cryptic setter mentality I chose Cruciada. Think about it – in a twisted way.
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Post by faith on Jul 11, 2022 11:57:52 GMT
Yes, I suppose I have got it, but it's not what's known as a Ximenean clue. That is to say, it's a good pun, but a true cryptic clue should have two parts, one being the definition and the other being the cryptic part, such as an anagram or a charade etc. So your paper is definitely not The Times, and probably not the Guardian or the i, all of which are fairly strict about what sort of clues are allowed.
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Post by faith on Jul 11, 2022 15:32:45 GMT
'Bar of soap needed for when the dog comes back' for instance.
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