Crossword Puzzle

from MefiMag Issue #6, September 2011

Guide to solutions, with answer derivations
(for newcomers to cryptic style crosswords)

MetaFilter ID: woodblock100
(Dave Bull)

For those who are new to cryptic crossword puzzles, the clues can seem very strange. But there is a very definite ‘logic’ to their construction, and once you have knowledge of a few of the basic tricks and concepts involved, you’ll find them much more approachable.

This is a very basic puzzle, and should provide a fairly painless introduction to a few of the basic concepts. Let’s work through the clues one-by-one, to get you started ...

	Across
	1	Tears of joy without a sort of tune for a happy batsman (7)
The ‘keywords’ to take note of here are without and a sort of. 
The structure ‘A without B’ signifies that we are looking at something like this: ‘AABBBBAA’  The ‘A’ concept is surrounding the ‘B’ concept - in other words, is ‘outside’ it. The ‘A’ part here will be given by ‘tears of joy’, and turns out to be ‘cry’.
The phrase ‘a sort of‘ implies that the word/phrase immediately following must be anagrammed, or sorted. In this case, the word ‘tune’ must first be sorted, then surrounded by the word ‘cry’
We thus end up with  c-entu-ry,  for an answer of ‘Century’, which is a score that will indeed make a cricket batsman very happy.

	4	What to do with her? Always making the wrong change! (7)
This one has no specific ‘cryptic’ keyword involved. Who makes incorrect change? Perhaps it might be the girl at the cash register - the cashier. And what do we do with an employee who is always making errors? We fire them - ‘cashier’ is the (British) verb for this action. 

	7	With plenty of this sort of thing, one wouldn’t start to swear, “It’s cold!” (9)
This is indeed quite an easy puzzle; we have yet another ‘sort’ already! The word ‘thing’ will be anagrammed in this case. The phrase ‘one wouldn’t start’ is actually a keyword - signifying that the first letter of something must be omitted. We also see this sometimes as: ‘not at first’, ‘without one’, or similar structures.
In this case, ‘thing’ sorts into ‘night’, which combines with ‘wear’, to give us ‘Nightwear’, plenty of which will keep you warm ...  

	8	Smarting? From the heavy bag on your foot! (5)
‘From the’ is the keyword here, and you’ll also see it as ‘taken from’, ‘included in’, etc. etc., or sometimes even just ‘in’. It is a real ‘giveaway’ clue. Just parse the subsequent word or phrase (with no spaces) and hunt for the answer there. If you look through ‘aheavybagonyourfoot’, you should be able to spot the word ‘agony’, which is what you may indeed feel if there is a heavy bag on your foot.

	9	Cockney chap leaves a mixed piece, to make a big blockbuster (4)
The phrase ‘Cockney chap’ is always shorthand for the letter ‘e’ - deriving from the dropped ‘h’ common in such speech: “e’s not ‘ome today.”  ‘Leaves’ is another keyword, telling us in this case that the letter ‘e’ will be dropped from ... yes, another sort, this time signified by the keyword ‘mixed’. 
Sort ‘piece’, with the letter ‘e’ removed, and you end up with the big blockbuster ... an epic.

	11	A nice form she loves to expel (5)
No specific keywords here. You’ll just have to play with the suggested ideas - a form (square? circle?) that she (girl? woman? perhaps not a human she?) loves to expel ...
It turns out that ‘she’ is a hen, and we end up with an egg-shape ... Ovoid. 

	13	Captain got evidence of them taking a siesta on board (5)
‘On board’ always signifies the same thing - the two letters SS (steamship), which can partner with (or surround) some other component of the word/phrase. Siesta here is a non-cryptic clue for ‘nap’, and this gives us the photographic evidence ... snaps.

	15	Scouts marching to keep some of the bistro open (5)
We’ve seen this before, in #8 above. ‘some of’ is the keyword here, and is telling you to look inside ‘thebistroopen’ to see what you can find that might have relation to Scouts marching. You should be able to spot the word ‘troop’ ...

	16	Getting by without an arbitrator is rough going (5)
We’ve also seen this before, in #1 ... the keyword ‘without’. An arbitrator is of course an umpire, and following the ABBBA structure, we get our answer, a word indicating ‘rough going’ ... Bumpy.

	17	Hide it in the last ash can in the row (5)
Yet another of the same type of clue! (This is indeed an incredibly easy puzzle ...)  As in #8 above, the keyword ‘in’ should have you parsing through ‘thelastashcanintherow’, to find something related to ‘hide it’. And ‘stash’ is your answer ...
	18	He might be partly lonely behind iron bars (5)
Mention of a particular metal, substance, or element can be a clue to use its scientific symbol. Here the word ‘iron’ tells us that we are going to be using the two letters ‘FE’ in our answer. ‘Partly’ is a keyword telling us to use just a portion of the subsequent word or phrase. Play with this for a while, and you’ll come up with the answer ... Felon. 

	19	Are none shaken by Obama’s first? Perhaps surprised! (5)
‘Are none’ is a keyword telling you to drop the letter ‘R’. Obama’s first name is Barack. Drop the ‘r’, scramble the rest (‘shaken’), and you may be ‘perhaps surprised’, or taken ... aback.

	21	“Where were you? You try standing here for hours!” (5)
No special keyword here, although we are (yet again) playing with another of the same concepts - see #8 above.  The word being hidden here is ... tryst.

	23	Counter-productive way to live (4)
‘Counter’ is our keyword. and (usually) signifies a word that is to be read backwards. ‘live’ reverses to ... evil.

	25	Victorian lady asks some of us to stop rudeness (5)
It’s getting embarrassing how frequently we have the same (boring) clues here! #8 yet again ... something to do with a ‘Victorian lady’ is hidden in (‘some of’) ‘tostoprudeness’.  You don’t have to look very long before you notice ... prude.

	26	In America three hugs will do. Or maybe kisses will be stronger (3,3,3)
Nothing cryptic here. You do know what the XX and/or  OO marks at the bottom of a letter signify, don’t you?  Xs and Os are part of the game ... tic tac toe (the American name for the game known in Britain as ‘Noughts and Crosses’). 

	27	Does a revolutionary squeezing in some bad jokes deserve fisticuffs? (7)
Keyword here is ‘squeezing in’, and is the reverse of the ‘without’ that we saw earlier. The form will now be  BBAAABB. The ‘revolutionary’ squeezed into the middle will be Che (as in Guevara), and the bad jokes are ‘puns’, giving us ... punches. 
	28	Her feat was disordered, but still one for her cap (7)
Do you really need my help for this one? ‘Disordered’ is an obvious keyword signifying sorting. The thing being sorted is not the concept of ‘her feat’, but the actual sequence of seven letters. It sorts into something for one’s cap after the performance of a feat ... feather.

Down
	1	OK to go topless here, but is the light fitting? (10)
This one has no specific keyword, but just plays with words. ‘light fitting’ (light fixture) is a non-cryptic clue, and ‘go topless’ might make you think about burning a bra ...    It’s a bit of a stretch, but we end up with ... candelabra.  (Well, that’s what you get when your puzzle is published in un-edited form!)  

	2	A turbulent reign in the silents (5)
‘Turbulent’ is (yet another) obvious keyword for sorting. Mixing the letters of the word ‘reign’ gives that old crossword puzzle stalwart, from the era of silent movies ... Negri. 

	3	The coxes may have a ______ decide in which ______ place their craft before the _____ the finish. (3,2)
Nothing particularly cryptic here. Can you find a 3,2 phrase that will fill all three spots in the sentence?
‘Row to’ fills the bill ...

	4	The fair left Alabama, America without the Mexican treasure, but with the meat-eating lions. (11)
For the non-pro constructor (like me), long words frequently end up with fairly convoluted clues.  We again have the keyword ‘without’, but this time the structure is AA and BB ‘outside’ CC. ‘The fair’ is ‘carnival’, but it ‘left’ Alabama (dropped the AL). It then combined with ‘America’ (US) ‘without’ the Mexican treasure (‘oro’). All of which gave us meat-eating lions ... carnivorous. 

	5	Place for rough justice in the grange? (7,4)
‘in the grange’ here is anagrammed to find the answer ... Hanging Tree

	6	At this venue, even with parking, can they salvage a draw? (4,2)
An editor would have pulled the word ‘even’ out of this clue, as it confuses the issue. We’re combining the word ‘venue’ with the letter ‘p’ (parking), to give the phrase ... even up (drawing the score in a game).

	10	We hear clearly that the agreement involves great revolutions (7,4)
In an attempt to avoid an overly convoluted clue, we’re simply playing with concepts to be rolled together into an answer: something revolving ... something heard clearly ... come together to give us ... Compact Disc.  (A ‘compact’ being an ‘agreement’ wasn’t defined clearly enough though ...) 

	12	In the tree, bravest ones turn out to have real backbone! (11)
The ones with backbone are the ... vertebrates ... and we find them here in the ‘tree, bravest’ ...

	14	From September to June, perhaps even the young royals echo the rest of us (6,4)
‘September to June’ is non-cryptic, giving us an answer of ... School Year ...  which can also be found in the letters from ‘royals echo’ ... 

	20	A back rub with that foreign water from the dresser (6)
The keyword ‘back’ tells us to reverse the word ‘rub’. We then combine this with ‘foreign water’ (eau) to give a dresser ... bureau. 

	22	Make a donation? In fact it helps (5)
‘in’ is the keyword here, and if you search through ‘factithelps’, you can find ... tithe.

	24	The flowers were damaged from the vet chasing the cat (5)
‘from’ is the keyword, telling you to look inside ‘thevetchasingthecast’, where you will find ... vetch.

Although only a fairly limited range of cryptic techniques were used in this puzzle, I hope it has been a useful introduction to the concept for those previously unfamiliar with this ... ‘sort of thing’.