arrow_circle_left arrow_circle_up arrow_circle_right
Obscure vault 99 (7)
help
It's the cryptic crossword discussion game. Tease each other with clues, help each other with the dailies, educate the beginners, whatever.
arrow_circle_up
Only flesh-eating crone I know is Baba Yaga - which doesn't help me but maybe it will for someone else.
CARNIVOROUS fits the length and what might be the definition, but doesn't appear to fit anything else.
It's something like ----COPHAGE or (more likely) --COPHAGOUS, I think - but the Koranic verses bit has me stumped, and the whole is (I reckon) a word I don't know.
Cop hags
Got it, it's SARCOPHAGUS. The COP/HAG part is at Wol suggested, and it's surrounded by SURAS, i.e. Koranic verses, except it's backwards, which there's no indication of. The definition part is cleverly obscure, I had to search for this to confirm it. , Koranic verses might be indicating SURAS, but SURAPHAGOUS SARCOPHAGUS
Oops
Ignore the fragments after the part that makes sense.
[Raak, Wol] Thunderous applause Good work.
A spot on the unfair side, I think; the experiment was in judging difficulty. If you hadn't got it, I'd have reposted as Flesh-eating Greek crone.... I do wish I could find a way to indicate the reversal of SURAS without losing the neatness and sense of the clue...
unfair ...
Hmmm - seeing as you say so, I'd agree. The English word doesn't mean flesh-eating (or anything like it); it merely derives from a foreign word that means that. Now, if the answer had been sarcophagous ... the clue could have been flesh-eating crone to love following pig draped in Koranic verses!
Plez cnoke etc....
"Paul's about to compile, going back into business for very little money abroad" -E-T-S-M- (Paul is the setter.) And I promise not to emit furious noises if you get it this time!
Piece of piece
[MF] I suspect it's CENTESIMO being the Uraguayan sub-currency. I except you'll be able to work out how to get there from the clue, so I shan't insult you by explaining it. Look forward to sitting down with a crossword later...
I don't geddit
There's an "EN" I can't account for.
Indeed
Took me a while to re-work out the logic: it comes from the fact that Paul's = MINE.
Having finally rediscovered mc5 ...
How about Scale back creature (6)
Blob...
Only thing I can think of is animal, not a common usage of "scale" though.
I think it works, but it's ambiguous. It could equally well be LAMINA by taking the clue the other way.
happy returns
Nice to see you back [Blob]. This game's lost a bit of momentum, what with you being temporarily frozen out - and rab peregrinating all over the place. Anyway, I left a clue a while back - which doesn't appear to have been solved. I think it's disappeared off the top.
Falconry
[Chalky] I'm not sure ever been accused of that before... I hope it's legal.
[rab] Great word, eh? One could imagine Kenneth Williams squeezing every last sinewy syllable out of it - much like the way he uttered his favourite word 'proclivities'.
Animal:laminA
Yes indeed either or both - I agree it's ambiguous, but in a xwd situation you'd soon work out which it was from the letters present - that's often the case with "back" - could apply to either half. As to the use of scale : The Concise OED has for "Lamina", A thin plate or scale - but I agree it's not the first word that jumps to mind for scale.
[Chalky] I'll have a look for your clue.
Whilst I know that peregrinations actually refer (usually) to fairly leisurely wanderings, the word always makes me think of the falcon - which is far from leisurely, being (how to start a arguement) the fastest creature on earth.
Sound out the swimmer after a very soft introduction. (8)
Would that be approach ( a pp (very quiet) roach (fish = swimmer) ) by any chance ?

It can make notes to change your beginning as a afterthought (8)

anna
Though it makes no difference to the clue - grammatically that should of course be an afterthought.
beginners luck
Blob]With several days without any attempts could you give a letter or two clue as if part of a crossword.
In the mean time I have had to retreat from the attemt at solving the crossword in one of the broadsheets as I became depressed in my ever worsening attemts. However, I seem to have found my level in one of the tabloids, as an example of difficulty of my daily battle here are two from todays
Wisdom of metropolis ending involved account (8)
Traits game shows up in man at court (10)
Needless to say when really stuck (frequently) there is always the 'Coffee Time' clues.
Inkspot's No 1 & No 2
Perhaps No 1 sagacity? That is, 'metropolis' = city and 'saga' being an involved account.

Maybe No 2 'magistrate' - an anagram of 'traits game'?

right right
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.
Yup, looks good to me :)
Well, I'd got the rod and thought of 'Tina' but it didn't cross my mind also to consider 'Nina'...
more clues
please :o)
Hokey
[st d] I shall try and think some up later.
Duck coop? (5)
Famous soviets
Thanks st d for Rodnina. However, I don't agree with your definition of CHRISOM. this means the white robe used at baptism. the oil is spelt CHRISM.
[Hugo Rune] DODGE? Double definition, but I'm not quite sure of the connection with "coop".
[Raak] On the right lines...
Rodnina
Grateful thanks for this - I'd hunted high and low for it. Everyman 2981 just makes the post as a result and maintains my record of managing to enter every one for the past couple of years (without a sniff of a prize yet, but that's not important). I thought 2981 easy apart from this damn Soviet skater clue. Your website added to my favourites. 21/11/03.
*blushes*
Wow!
In which case...
...we ought to up the pace of this game a bit... Let's see if I can home-grow a few clues while I have a wee break.
Here's some:
Two-foot tree? (6)
Precisely what a madam might say after intrusion. (4,2)
Closely watch Mr French atop a hill. (7)
(4,2) Bang On ?! [are you making these up or is that from Private Eye ? I find it helps to know where the clue comes form as well - eg if it is Araucaria that makes a big difference to the Telegraph on a Monday]
Two out of three ain't bad.
Haven't peeped in here for ages !
[Rabs clues] Not sure about the tree - but I reckon (2) is BANG ON and I'm pretty sure that (3) is MONITOR.
AH sim'd with st.d who agrees with me on No.2
Upmaking
[st d] They're my own creation, and you're bang on with that one.

[Blob] Both correct. Congrats.

Here are another three to be going on with ...
a) Stories of feet ? (7)
b) Gold deer managed church. Allow beforehand ? The opposite ! (3,2,9)
c) Ring first - ring around by Jove ! (8)
Is b) LET OR HINDRANCE... I think not cos I haven't managed to work the deer in...
[rab] The two-foot tree - PAWPAW?
HIND
Its a reference to The Goilden Hind I do believe and a very tortuous one at that. Well I have a pretty rubbish one that isn't quite right but I reckon could be gotten away iwth in an iffy puzzle :-
Digitally enhance fringes (7)
and two old favorites from the guardian :-
HIJKLMNO (5)
They meet for lunch (5)[_ _ _ T _]
Paws for thought
[Hugo Rune] Yes!
[st d] Please explain the Golden Hind reference.
Fingered by the fuzz
[st d] Your first is FINGERS. As you say, iffy, because the definition defines a different part of speech.
Golden Hind
Not quite Golden Hind. Gold = Or, Giving Or hind ran CE the rest is obvious of course. What about (a) and (c) I thought (a) was particularly straightforward.
[st d] Hah, like the alphabet soup. That'd be WATER, then. My duck coop was FENCE, incidentally.
rab
"digitally touches up fringes"? oh i give up. Its crap anyway. :o)
H2O Bang on!
blob] is it your go in chess ?
Nothing!
How DO you blank out bits of these messages? Or is there a webmaster with an mouse-controlled blue pencil? E2982 complete: are they getting easier?
Blankety-blank
[Jon] It seems so - dictionary required only for one clue this week.

Meanwhile if you want to hide some text you do <font color="white">X marks the spot, ah-ha me hearties</font> like this. If I was clever, I'd find a way to make it easier for you all.

Blank thoughts
[rab] Highjack some little-used HTML tag (strikethrough, maybe?) and jigger it in a stylesheet?
Blankety-blank
which doesn't work if you spell colour colour...
Blankety-blank
Youreallyshouldn'thavetoldmethat!
They Meet for Lunch (5)
is TEETH. I liked it anyway. :o)
Still to do
No-one's had a go at
a) Stories of feet ? (7)
or
c) Ring first - ring around by Jove ! (8)
yet.

[std] re Chess: I'll have a look

Not sure about those
...but the latest Eye is eluding me. Remaining are Time Out's opener on Heath: "Bore" (5) [T_T_D, which leads me to think it's T+O+TED, but none of the meanings of tote correspond with bore, as far as I can see] and Garland on "Learning to be a siren" (7) [L_R_L_I - absolutely no ideas here, although I'm wondering if siren is meant in its ghostly context].
The second must be LORELEI, from the letters. Ok, it works as Learning=LORE, garland=LEI (Hawaiian), siren=LORELEI.
He speaks to the moon, in song. (8)
My suitor left me to become a cobbler. (5)
[Raak] Thanks.
"Bore"
[rab] You're right - "toted" = "carried" = "bore".
Cunning
[Wol] A-ha! Was being too holey in my thought processes...
holeyer than thou
[rab] Bless you my child - for that, thy sins are forgiven thee ...
arrow_circle_down
Want to play? Online Crescenteering lives on at Discord