Seven great clues from the first 1,000 quiptic crosswords
Today, the Guardian’s quiptic crossword series, having offered up 1,000 puzzles, starts off on its next thousand. Here are seven clues I’ve especially enjoyed.
Quiptic solvers: what have I missed? (Omission should not be read as a snub).
Cryptic solvers: if you sometimes forget to do your Monday quiptic, here is a little reminder.
Absolute beginners: here’s our help to get started.
Because they’re setting “for beginners and those in a hurry”, quiptic setters find new and plausible uses for the conventions of crosswording:
3dSon to drag offfare dodger? (8)
[ wordplay: abbrev. for “son” + synonym for “drag off”]
[ S + TOW AWAY]
[ definition: fare dodger?]
The answer is STOWAWAY, then, and if you like her crisp approach, here’s more from Moley. I personally enjoy the lovely surfaces you can find in quiptics. Exhibit A:
13acBother! The sound system won’t start (5)
[ wordplay: type of “sound system” missing its initial letter (“won’t start”)]
[ TANNOY without its T]
[ definition: bother (as a verb)]
TANNOY there from Beale, who has set plenty more besides. Exhibit B:
4dIf able to swim, it can save you at sea (8)
[ wordplay: anagram of IFABLETO (those words “swim”)]
[ definition: it can save you at sea]
That’s LIFEBOAT; there’s plenty more from Hectence and her profile page suggests she is among the quiptic setters we should be talking with in our Meet the Setter series. Exhibit C:
3dOld slang being resurrected among locals in print (10)
[wordplay: abbrev. for “old” + synonym for “slang” spelled backwards (‘resurrected’), both inside map abbrev. indicating a pub, twice (“locals”)]
[O + ARGOT backwards, both inside PH PH]
[definition: print]
A PHOTOGRAPH from Provis (and I believe she goes under the name Magwitch in the Financial Times).
Quiptic clues sometimes do the trick of retaining their secrets until, probably, you’ve got some crossing letters:
20dLookwhat you may get, if you bend down in an American henhouse, say!
[wordplay: soundalike of “ass pecked”]
[definition: look (as a noun)]
Try more from Matilda, and here’s a spot of expectation-stretching:
1ac I did it all right – but it felt wrong enjoying it (6,8)
[wordplay: what “I did it” might be an example of + synonym for “all right”]
[GUILTY PLEA + SURE]
[definition: it felt wrong enjoying it]
There’s more of that from Anto; finally, here’s a reminder that outright playfulness is to be found in the quiptic’s grids:
20d A little-known connection? (6)
[cryptic definition: what connects the words “little” and “known” in the clue]
That’s from Carpathian, whose puzzles include that thousandth last week.
To the devotees: what moments have I missed? And to “the beginners and those in a hurry”: any questions, and what might you like to see next in our For Beginners series?
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