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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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Do's
[Blob] Fair do's. It was a practice worth highlighting, even if it transpired that you weren't guilty, your honour. But "note" is a single choice of 8. Unless you start including the tonic sol-fa I guess... so although I think this should probably be frowned upon, I would say that if you have less than about a dozen choices you're doing ok. However "boy" expands to a list that spans about 20 pages in my Crossword dictionary and should be banned.
Fair's fair
[rab] I accept your grovelling apology ;-)
Re notes - 8 ? Er, 7 I think ... and yes I suppose 7 ain't too bad. But if it's three such notes then you're up to 343 possible combinations.
Re names - well yes, but usually it boils down to just a few (Sid, Tim & Ian being the favorites) and names such as IGOR are usually clued as "Russian" - but in principle I agree that they are a scoundrel's tactic.
Eight-ball pool
[Blob] Depends on whether you include H, which is German for what we call B.
Hmmm
[rab] A likely story !

Anyway I haven't set one for a while - this one would probably spread over two answers if you know what I mean, as it is 19 letters long, and the max is usually 15 - but we don't have that constraint here.

They come in light, they punish harm - I embraced destruction ! (8,3,8)

None
[Blob] Rab is quite right, H *is* used in Germany (and some other European countries).
H
[Darren, rab] duhh ? So if H = B, what equals A (second time round ?) - or is it A,H,C,D,E,F,G ?
German notation
Germans use eight letters. The British "natural" notes A to G are represented as you so very rightly say above. B is reserved for B-flat. Apparantly it has something to do with a superstition revolving around the use of the letter B. However I suspect it is more likely due to the prevailing mode of the time. (And yes, I do mean mode).
Nota Bene
So it's A,B,H,C,D,E,F,G ... how sensible is that ? Anyway, I don't think a Xwd compiler who used "note" to mean the letter H would be very popular with his subscribers somehow.
Blob's last clue
I guess it is Seraphim and Cherubim ? Being an anagram of "punish harm I embraced".
Very quick
[Bb] It is indeed - I don't think you really had to ask did you - it was unlikely to be an anagram by accident ! I was actually thinking of them the other way round (simply coz. that's the way they are more usually said) but there is nothing in the clue to suuggest the order, so spot on, and *** for getting it so quickly - I thought as anagrams go it was quite tricky - but I seem to remember from the Cryptic Stations games that you have an aptitude for them. wd.
Wow! Singer has pork rump consumed by president. (4,4)
[Blob] Thanks, once I spotted cherub (more by accident), it fell into place. If I can get my brain in gear, I'd supply a clue. I seem to have lost touch with cryptics just lately. Haven't done a crossword in months.
None
Is everyone ignoring my last clue on purpose??
None
[Darren] I don't think so. I've just looked it up.
Punctuation, endlessly one group (9)
Mating
That'll be COMMUNITY = COMM(A) + UNITY or I'll pawn my shawl.
Still wearing my shawl
OK, time for another rude one folks.

Flatulence might raise the temperature when receiving head from call-girl -- coat! (11)

Not so much a shawl ....
More a windcheater methinks - (explanation : Flautlence = wind, raise temp = heater, receiving head (first letter) of call girl = C, inserted wind-c-heater)
Wow!
That was quick. Too easy, clearly...
How about ...
Scheming man outside a pod welcome inside. (13)
None
[Blob] It's MACHIAVELLIAN (MAN surrounding A CHILLI, all surrounding AVE).
None
Ten-ball (2)
Could it be . . .
[Raak] Are you refereing to Io, a moon of Jupiter?
Indeed it could
Martian terror. (6)
None
[Darren] It sure is - well done. I presume the pod rather gave it away, but I couldn't think of a reasonable alternative.
I'm beginning to wonder if the use of <font="white"> is really necessary - coz. once they're solved we're moving onto the next one. What does everyone think ?
None
[Blob] I don't mind either way. Here's one I made up last night:
Sound out the swimmer after a very soft introduction. (8)
None
Well, I don't mind if we leave off the <font color=white> business either. But until we get a majority decision either way... [Raak] It's PHOBOS.
None
[Blob] Btw, regarding your clue, it was actually the "man outside" bit which was the giveaway for me. That, with the scheming part, clinched it.
None
Here's another opportunity to get one's coat... Risk manipulating a turd, even (9)
None
[Darren] Close...
None
[Darren] ADVENTURE.
Phobos &
DEIMOS - Phobos being Fear rather than Terror. Nice dogs those.
None
The farthest dog. (5)
Coat at the ready...
Shower us or show us your bum -- it's a huge gas!
None
...(6)
None
[Raak] That's the spirit. Not in the right frame of mind at the mo, tho. Too many stochastic functions.
None
[Raak] I think there is a theme to your clues . . . . I know what the answers are but not sure how I get the answer from the Shower us . . . clue (unless it's a double sound-a-like).
Golden...
[Boolbar] The BBC-approved pronunciation puts the stress on the first syllable, to avoid the er, assonance of stressing the second.
on the same planet
[Raak] OK - someone has to do this and it may as well be me - URANUS - and, like Boolbar, I would also quite like to know how the 'URAN' bit works. I, do, however, have a hunch, that you may be referring to the practice of the 'golden shower' [which I'm not unfamiliar with] which points to the 'soundalike' that Bb hinted at, ie. 'urine' sounding like 'uran'. It is at this juncture, that I feel it may be best to continue with the 'hidden text' feature!
Raak's first above
It's PLUTO of course, which everyone probably has got by now.
Everyman
Have to say I'm a bit pissed off with this week's Everyman. Bird, girl and river clues aplenty... Also it seems that crosswords can sometimes be like bridges - if you get certain key solutions then the rest fits in around out. If you don't, the whole thing falls over. Maybe I'm just grumpy cos I can't finish it.
Clueless
Well, I'm stuck here at the desk for a couple of days doing tedious accounts work. My brain needs teasing. Is everybody on holiday or exceptionally busy or somefink?
A couple of clues I just made up, so don't expect wonders.
Flow around short length of first baffle (7)
Poor shape breaks into odd cabin (3,9)
[Darren]
First one's flummox.
and...
second one's Bad Condition
Here's a couple from me...
Headless garden pest - a negative in Switzerland (6)
Allowed evil empire with dreadful leader to hold a race (9)
Plez ring, an rnser is requird
1.) Gay sports R-R-D (though not 100% on the D)
2.) Formerly in Greece, young men the last to be hip, perhaps -P---I
[rab] Really? I thought it was quite easy this week. Or was that from last week?
[Big Dave] Permitted?
hmmmm.
[MF] You are correct.

Afraid I can't help with yours, apart from to suggest that Number 1) does not end in "D" - I have written out all the possibilities, assuming that the missing letters are vowels, and nothing seems to fit the clue. Number 2) may end in "phi" (anag. of "hip").
Sorry I can't be of more assistance.
[MF] I think your last one is EPHEBI - Big Dave was on the right track but it's "the last" (E), then an anagram of BE HIP (PHEBI). These are, according to http://76.1911encyclopedia.org/E/EP/EPHEBI.htm "a name specially given, in Athens and other Greek towns, to a class of young men from eighteen to twenty years of age, who formed a sort of college under state control."
Astute and helpful bear
[Darren] Thanx, that's the Sunday Times finished then. I'll send you a page of my new dictionary as soon as I've won it.
[Big D] Lugano - as in the lake?
Correctamundo!
I'll post a couple more this arvo sometime, when I can be arsed to make some up.
Clues I found which I made up some time ago. Posted here if anyone's arsed to solve them! Some of these are pretty old though.
1. A mad, mad, mad toy belonging to family of U2 member. (4,7)
2. Over the top? A Washington city found in Canada! (6)
3. Rustic walkway with shops, says Ian. (8)
4. Yard-arm (without my reconstruction) detects presence of other objects. (5)
[Darren]
1) Adam Clayton?
4) Radar?
[Again Darren]
2) Ottawa?
3) Arcadian?
I'd guess those are right, so here's one of mine. I'm not a great cryptics man, so my goal is merely competence: Ingrained bear of the ocean floor (4-6).
I note my pork rump clue went unnoticed. :o)
[Big Dave/Martha Farquar] Yes, all four correct!
[Hugo] Is it DEEP-SEATED, by any chance?
More monkey puzzling
"Maybe leaves ancient city in the Cape" V-R-U-E
[MF] VERDURE (maybe leaves = defn., UR in (Cap) VERDE).
Aaaaaaaaargh!!
Would anyone believe me if I said I'd just got it? No, probably not. How very annoying that is. Still, that's that finished, anyway
15 minutes later...
[Raak] Thanks
[Darren] It is, yes.
Flesh-eating crone follows pig draped in the Koranic verses (11). This is a work in progress, and an experiment for me, so see how you do...
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.
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