Puzzling

A lot of the time, cryptic setters need to find a way of clueing one or two letters (and sometimes more!) in a clue, to get it to work. It's relatively rare for a word in the grid to fall nicely into a completely perfect anagram, reversal, or other similar device. And this is where abbreviations, foreign words, and proper nouns come in ... Abbreviations Abbreviations are widely used in cryptic clues of all kinds. Abbreviations often trip up new solvers; if you can get a handle on these, it will be an immense help when approaching any cryptic crossword. Say, for example, the word to be clued is TEASE. It can nicely be broken down as: T + EASE So the clue writer has to come up with a way of telling you to "Add a T to ease". Of course, just saying "Add a T" is far too boring and obvious in the cryptic realm! So, they'll use an abbreviation. They could say "Add a tenor to ease ", or "Add a ton to ease " or "Add Thaila...

OK, here we go! Gemini Cryptic #6235 The Canberra Times,  Friday 27 April 2012 Conventions used: The definition is underlined Clue words are set in italics The answer is in CAPITAL letters Indicators are written in brackets after the wordplay device name The definitions in cryptic definition clues are not underlined, as the whole clue serves as the definition ACROSS 1. Sharing out a bit of parsley, perhaps (7)  = GARNISH An anagram ( out ) of sharing 5. Cook beats a mixture (5)  = BASTE Eh, I suppose cook is bearable as a definition for "baste", but only just ... it's an anagram ( mixture ) of beats 8. A wildcat rising? (9)  = REBELLION Cryptic definition: a wildcat strike, or uprising, is a type of strike action taken by workers without trade union approval 9. A record height to climb (3) = ALP Charade; A + LP ( record ) 10. But they could be even for the better (4) = ODDS Cryptic definition, better as one who bets 12. It's held...

Starting this week, I will be explaining the clues from one Gemini or British Cryptic Crossword, as published in  The Canberra Times , per week. I won't hold myself down to doing a set day every week, cos life and work can be a little chaotic at times, and the last thing I need is yet another deadline on a set day every week, and this is meant to be fun after all  ;)  But I will do my best to pick apart at least one cryptic a week. I will publish the post on a day or two  after the crossword is published, to give everyone (including me!) time to have a go for themselves ... A little about the Gemini Cryptic. While there are two cryptics in The Canberra Times , the English Cryptic, and the Gemini, I'm pretty sure that  both puzzles are English. From my sneaky interweb researches, I think it's produced by Gemini Crosswords , a UK puzzle syndication business. The British, and possibly the Gemini, Cryptics are also published in  The   Gua...

One thing it's important to do with cryptic clues is to ignore the surface reading! The surface is the sense you get when reading a clue for the first time, the mental image it brings up. Apart from some very rare clue types, this is only going to lead you astray. What's vitally important to do is to read each clue, word by word, looking for the hidden meaning. Also, there are a few important things to note with the definition part of clues. Firstly — they will always be at the start or the end of the clue, but never in the middle (ie with bits of wordplay around them). Secondly — pinning down the definition is a major part of getting success in solving cryptic clues. And of course, once you've figured out which part is the definition, the remainder of the clue has to be the wordplay! ANAGRAMS So, on to the first of the cryptic devices that you'll find in every cryptic crossword: Anagrams! Anagrams are a very popular cryptic device, and e...

So, seeing as I'm even more au fait with cryptic crosswords now, than I was before, LOL, I'll start a little series of tutorials on this blog, and will post clues and explanations as I go. I'm also planning on doing a weekly analysis of The Gemini Cryptic Crossword , which is published in The Canberra Times , and many other places. SO. What ARE cryptic crosswords (apart from utterly infuriating?!). A cryptic crossword is a British invention, and as such tends to be more wide-spread and popular in the UK and Commonwealth countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India etc). There are a few American outlets for cryptics, but only a few. A cryptic is set in a normal crossword grid, which looks something like this: Note that this is a British style grid, not an American one (main difference is the pattern of and number of black squares, much higher in a British style grid, while in an American grid every single letter is crossed by both an across an...

Pens down! All the writing AND all the editing and proofreading are finished! \o/ Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies (the in-depth 'how to' book, with 16 full crosswords) and Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies (a companion volume, with 56 crosswords) are FINALLY DONE! The books will be out in Australia, the UK, and the USA in August this year. My god, what an effort ... I started work in the middle of last December, so both books were written in just over 4 months. In the past 6 days I've solved and edited every single one of the clues in the second book (about 1,500 of the little toads). My red pen for editing literally ran out of ink on the last page, too! LOL I don't have to work on weekends or evenings now ... it'll take a bit of getting used to!

The writing of both books is DONE, thank heavens. All that remains now is to proofread and make final corrections on the second book ( Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies ), which mainly involves checking all 56 of the crosswords yet again. I will only get a week to do this in, the proofs will probably arrive tomorrow. So, in 4 months I wrote two whole Dummies books, with around 2,500 cryptic clues between them. If there's ever a Volume 2 of the crosswords, I definitely want more time! I can handle writing one cryptic a day – it's intense, but do-able ... more than that is dreadfully exhausting (I've been averaging 1.5 crosswords a day for the past several months). Griff is glad I can leave my desk sometimes, now!