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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.
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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 ...
Helping hand ...
a) Stories of feet ? (7) * E * E * D *
and
c) Ring first - ring around by Jove ! (8) C * * L * S * *
[Blob] (a) LEG ENDS.
(c) CALLISTO - CALL (ring) IST (first) O (ring) satellite of Jupiter (around by Jove).
*ting* *ting*
[Raak] Spot on. Not that convoluted were they ?
Are there any left to be got?
Raak's?
Ah. Can't do them.
Hints required?
The first is O _ _ _ _ _ _ _, the second is a moderately obscure word borrowed from Latin.
Seeing the half light ...
[Raak] The first one must be ORATORIO [orator + io].. Quite straightforward with the first letter given.
I haven't had time to study the second clue, but is the definition borrowed from Latin?
[Chalky] The word means the same in English as it did in Latin. And of course, the definition is in the clue.
Another clue for the same word:
He'd waste away if sent back to the Soviet Union, but not beyond the last. (5)
Another clue
Poirot used to have someone back to make his shoes. (5)
And two more
"Nonsense!" we wrote back to the cobbler. (5)
Besides the dominie, the other learned man in a Scottish village. (5) (May require specialised knowledge, such as one of Neil Innes' novels.)
Here's another
Some understood the original reason, both at first and at last. (5)
I presume these are all clues to the same word...
They are indeed, and here's two more.
At last, the southern aristocrat has reached the door to Germany. (5)
Roust! Roust! At last! (5)
Of the eight clues:
one consists of just the definition,
one is an anagram,
one is an embedding,
one subtracts a letter from a word,
one uses initial letters,
and three break the word down and clue its components.
(These descriptions are in alphabetical order.)
Right, I geddit...
SUTOR, but never heard of it before
Correct!
Rare, even obsolete down south, but it may linger on in the Scottish dialect.
A new clue (for a different word)
Intended to hold final redistribution of money (7)
the different word
[btw Raak - enjoyed the multiclue]
Yes, MF, FINANCÉ [Intended = FIANCÉ, holding the last letter of redistribution = N,] fits the definition, but I can't help feeling I've overcooked it ...
*ting*
That was quick, well done. Didn't expect the Intended to be picked up so quickly.
In that case, how about ...
Uncommon Ale; one I digest (never my first) - and only very rarely (4,2,1,4,4)
I'm thinking it's ONCE IN A BLUE MOON but can't work out why.
A new clue for another different word
I meant to add this:
Hesitate about small business centre (4)
[Chalky] CO (small business) + RE ("er" backwards).
rab *ting*
[rab]Spot on; it's an anagram but with an M (my first) removed - it would have been harder (but still I think acceptable) to have not included the "- and only very rarely" - the definition then being the "Uncommon" which doubled up as part of the anagram.
Er ....
Hmmm - Apologies - I've just looked at it and seen that somehow I missed out the B - sorry, sorry, sorry - will check them better in future.
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