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Obscure vault 99 (7)
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It's the cryptic crossword discussion game. Tease each other with clues, help each other with the dailies, educate the beginners, whatever.
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Dujon]yes both are correct. In the crossword itself the one clue I was unable to complete I did not post,
"In a team, where one is kept if ostracised?(5) with _S_E_. With the 'S' from the end of "Very good apprentices, having these(7)"NOVICES and 'E' from the begining of "Passionately state (and retract) demand?(7)" EXCLAIM.
We went round and round in frustrated circles in the office. Till the anwer in this morings paper, the correct answer was ASIDE, because EXCLAIM should have been DECLAIM.
ACME kick myself apparatus at the ready
Just to keep rolling along, here are two from today. The first letter of the second clue gives the third letter of the first. (If that makes sense)
How active is the skeleton?(4-4)
Some artists apparently made it their life study(4)

But this one remained incomplete
Disadvantages on flinches from (8) _ R _ W _ A _ K
have you ever felt that the answer was on the tip of you tongue but you can't see the wood for the trees?

Inkspot, again
On the tip of your tongue, you will find the word KCABWARD - but that's because you're looking in the mirror (peering between the trees).
oh, and ...
Sorry - forgot to hide that one. I'm guessing that the previous two are BONE-IDLE and NUDE. Just to keep things going - one I haven't got from today's Times.
Daisy pursues man about town (9) D _ _ _ A _ T _ _
Simmul'd
[Wol] I was going to say "Think Cupid" for KCABWARD - I also agree with your other two.
D***A*T** is Doncaster - being "aster" for daisy after Don and c (circa = about).

As for It can make notes to change your beginning as a afterthought (8) ... here are some letters _ S _ L _ E _ _

Blob's
Sorry - forgot to say Yes to my clue ages ago. As for yours, the letters have certainly helped. Now I know it's PSALTERY - a medieval stringed instrument. PS (the 'afterthought') ALTER (to change) Y (first letter of 'your'). Does the word 'beginning' indicate that the PS should be at the beginning of the word or is it pointing to the letter 'y'?
*ting*
[Chalky] You are of course correct - and <hidden> The "beginning" was signifying the first letter of "your" i.e. the Y - The order of the parts was I hope implicit in the way the clue was phrased - once you get that "an afterthought" was PS then that would normally precede whatever the text of the PS was, if you see what I mean. <\hidden>

How about another (easy I think) .... a bit nudge, nudge this one !
Secreted when you hear loose woman is satisfied ? (7)

loosely speaking
Now - could this one be something like HOARDED? ie. sounds like 'Whore did'? . I will attempt to find a couple of clues to post - I appear to be all 'take' and no 'give'.
drawback
And so through the miricle of modern science the ACME kicking machine sweeps into action. Wol]yes and yes
Slightly pointless expulsion under ruling. [10]
Right tracks
[Chalky]Re Secreted ... Part of your answer is on the right tracks - but you're not quite there.
Latest Eye
Have - I think - completed the latest Eye, but can someone explain why Campbell's job: providing great copy (10) is SUPERPOWER. The other options that fit the letters are SUPERPOSES / SUPERPOSED which would make even less sense.
rab...
Surely SUPERMODEL is more apt, as in Naomi Campbell
A-ha!
Of course. Thank you.
Balls
Let's get the, erm, ball rolling again with another, probably easy, smutty one shall we?

Masturbate, fondling ball, getting excited to climax, as it were (2,2,5)

on the ball
I haven't been able to solve the Blob 'loose woman' one above - perhaps someone can finish the job? There's also a rather dull clue unsolved which I posted a while back.
and as for rab's ... SO TO SPEAK - 'Masturbate' = TOSS - 'fondling ball' = O - 'getting excited' [anagrammed] ending with PEAK = 'climax'. Definition = as it were. Well, you get the jist. Nice and sleazy. More clues please.
to the point
Chalky] I went round and round in circles with your clue, all that I could come up with was * ASTUTENESS from astute being almost acute but no idea about the "expulsion" part.
my strange clue
[Inkspot] Thanks for trying - no-one else has. Your answer isn't what I had in mind. It has occurred to me that it's one of those clues that 'could' be several things, therefore, not a very good one! If anyone else wants to have a crack at it, please be my guest. I compiled it myself and deliberately tried to 'crypticize' it, thinking I was being clever. Shall I post some letter clues?
chalk carvings
Yes please.
I was trying to post this last night when MC5 started to go nuts. Seed of the Greenwich time signal (3) In the meantime, Chalky, yes, do letters.
... and again
Slightly pointless expulsion under ruling. [10]
. U . . E . T . . .
Darren - Is it PIP ?
Chalky - yes. Is yours SUBJECTION?
I'll show you mine if you show me yours ....
Darren - absolutely yes. Now, as you seem to know about these things - would my clue have 'held up' even without the letters to guide the way?
Well, "slightly" for SUB took me a while to get. But that's just my failing! "Under" seems a little superfluous to me, though.
I think it works as a clue, however.
erm
Thanks - I see your point. But without the preposition, the definition would have been 'ruling' - which could be perceived as a verb, therefore the solution would have ended .......ING. Yes?
The fact it *could* be perceived as a verb is irrelevant. It's OK to be misleading in a cryptic clue! Just because the straight def ends in "ING" doesn't mean the solution necessarily has to do so, as long as it's still a valid definition.
Can I do one?
Here's one. Let's see how you go:
Attractive ribbon put to sound use [8,4]
GIII
That'll be MAGNETIC TAPE, I think.
This is shoddy, but it's late at night -
Poor man, since returning passport to province [8]
Need a hand!
Searching for place in England, bugger all good to vegetarians (7 down)
err... more clues please
[Noodle] We need the number of letters, not its position in the grid ;o)
oops
Sorry, there are 7 letters, and it is down, although I suppose its verticality is irrelevant.
That's the one...
[Wol] Yes. Is yours Manitoba?
GIII
I'd like to see your full deconstruction of that one - I'd be amused if it worked. But no, that isn't it.
Wol
Not in England as far as I know, but there is an Omstead County in the US. Not that that helps, but then I'm completely useless at crosswords.
Wol - I believe it's INDIGENT and here's why: INDIGENT=poor (straight def) As for the rest, man=GENT. passport (ID) to province (NI) = IDNI, returning (reversing) to INDI. "since" means put GENT after INDI. Hence, INDIGENT.
bravo
[Darren] word - and letter - perfect.
oops.
Silly me, mine was noodle's of course. If anyone has seen a mind lying around, it's mine.
Plez rnig
"One second and a half behind at racetrack" I-O-A. Not good on racetracks, me
[MF] Looks like ISOLA to me (in France). Not sure about the complete analysis, though.
top right
Could you help me out. Would you believe stuck on 1 across, this is all I need to finish off the top corner.
Reassuring, turning up to protect stronghold (10)
So far the letters are -2O- 3* - 4 R – 5 I – 6 G.
These are from the down clues
2. Result?Middle East has to support dismissed officer(7) O UTCOME
3. Deaf, backward Frenchman admitted being, in fact, renowned(5)asterisk
4. Poor skier reaching dead end took chance (6) R ISKED
5. Hanger-on coming and going depending on weather (6) I CICLE
6. Unusually largely built, it attracts viewers (7) G ALLERY
Hmmmm
[Wol] It worked after a gin. It doesn't now.
Inkblotto
I presume it's Comforting... Coming (turning up) surrounding (to protect) fort (stronghold)
Again hmmmm
And the asterisk one being FAMED - "deaf" backwards containing M. for M'sieur
It fits
GIII and MF]thank you for your help, I may be back :)
It's that time again...
"Framework lacking direction for satirical poet" S-L-T-N
picking the bones
[MF] The name SKELTON [the poet] springs to mind - as in 'framework' = skeleton, without the directional 'E' - but that would mean your letter clue is out of line.. Just a thought.
Ye speaketh true
...'cos it's ephemerae, not ephemeral. How very annoying. And well done.
Oh the pain...
Alright, this is bugging me: Speedy French money? Betsy is.(7) No letters found I'm afraid.
Oh.
Someone just filled me in: Mercury. Ahduhduhduh.
[Wol]
IMOLA racetrack :o(
[MF]
Duh :-(. But there is a track called Isola, too.
Everyman
At last! An Everyman I've been able to complete over a cuppa... not managed that for a while.
I'm jealous. Our crosswords are just boring trivia questions.
Mercury
Kayl] Okay i can see why Speedy/Mercury might fit, but can't see the relevance of the rest of it I am afraid.
Speedy Frenchy Money.
Quick Argent.
Quicksilver.

Betsy = Elizabeth
Elizabeth = Queen
->Freddie Mercury.

aaaargh !
Kayl - that is a really bad clue. So the answer isn't really in the clue. I hate that. Wherever did you find that one > ?
An utterly evil friend gave it to me, he swares it's from an American magazine.
I've been trying some of these at thinks.com... ouch ouch ouch. If anyone knows a site with some beginner-level puzzles, I'd appreciate it. :)
Anyway, this one stumped me: React badly when embraced by one scientist or another (14) -- the answer is BACTERIOLOGIST... the definition makes sense, and I understand 'react badly', but how does the rest of it fit?
Oh... I get it now. d'oh.
Throw away food in error
Answer: CHUCK OUT (or at least, -H-C- OUT). But why?
US slang
The OED's 5th definition of "chuck" is food. And if you're 'out' you might have made an error, I guess.
MF
Chuck = 'throw': Out = 'away': 'Chuck = 'food'(e.g. chuck wagon): Out = 'error' (e.g. misalignment) - Looks like a double bubble at a guess?
Don't think so; just 'chuck out' = 'throw away' (single, definitional clue).
Least favourite type of clue, again
Courtesy of the Everyman: Famous Soviet skater in bar accompanied by girl (7). I have R_D_I_A (where the last A might be dubious). Bloody girls' names again. There are, after all, only about three of them...
icing
Yeah rab - we thought it was RODNINA - the first name of a well-known Soviet ice dancer [maybe figure skater] - I think her surname was Tereskova [Sp?]. As you can see, the breakdown of the clue is fairly straightforward.
So over to News Review instead
"Oil is in lots of shiny metal" C-R-S-M (I'm thinking "Chrysom", but I'm not sure)
[Chalky] I have to say Soviet skaters are not my specialist subject, and Google wasn't being very helpful. I'm of the opinion that crosswords should revolve purely around language, rather than "general knowledge" but I seem to be alone in this.
Famous Soviets
rab] the answer is RODNINA as Chalky says, but it is her surname (Irina Rodnina -3 times olympic Gold Figure Skating) as observed : ROD = bar, NINA = girl.
MF] Answer CHRISOM. lots of shiny metal = chrome (less the E - "lots but not all?") IS is in it. Chrisom is a sacramental oil.
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