[HN Gopher] Fun Cryptic Clues
___________________________________________________________________
Fun Cryptic Clues
Author : Caiero
Score : 17 points
Date : 2023-12-07 20:25 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (onwords.substack.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (onwords.substack.com)
| digging wrote:
| This is entirely about crossword puzzle clues, by the way.
|
| (And demonstrates why I don't enjoy crosswords. Perhaps I'm not
| awake enough yet, but the explanation of the answer to "I say
| nothing (3)" is one of those that is so much of a stretch that I
| would reject it if I thought of it. "o" means "nothing"??)
| TheIronYuppie wrote:
| These are cryptics, not crosswords. The idea is that most clues
| have two parts, a literal "I" and a figurative "say == 'e.g.',
| nothing == 'o'".
|
| Cryptics are a language unto themselves - they're not for
| everyone! But i love them so much.
| jameshart wrote:
| Weird piece of pedantry. Most commonly cryptic clues are used
| as clues to crosswords, right?
| mkehrt wrote:
| Not really; they're an entirely different type of clue than
| traditional crosswords. As the poster above found out, if
| you go in expecting crossword clues, you're going to be
| confused and disappointed. The comment you're replying to
| is making this distinction to explain this to them.
| jameshart wrote:
| In the UK the distinction is not really made. All the
| main broadsheet newspaper crosswords are set with cryptic
| clues (often with an alternative solve for the grid based
| on a separate set of 'quick clues').
| mkehrt wrote:
| Huh, interesting. Yeah, in the US cryptic clues are
| almost unheard of and considered very hard.
| jameshart wrote:
| Stephen Sondheim tried to educate y'all in 1968.
|
| https://nymag.com/article/2019/03/stephen-sondheim-on-
| how-to...
| DonaldFisk wrote:
| Usually the quick crosswords are separate (different grid
| and answers) from the cryptics. The Grauniad also has
| quiptic crosswords, which are cryptic but usually easier
| than regular cryptics, and the Glasgow Herald has the Wee
| Stinker, which was smaller and harder than cryptics.
| digging wrote:
| That makes sense on a re-reading. I've never heard of
| cryptics so the title was, well, cryptic to me.
|
| I still think "nothing -> o" is ridiculous though. Is it an
| allusion to some other work or jargon? Or that it looks
| similar to a "0"?
| DonaldFisk wrote:
| > Or that it looks similar to a "0"?
|
| Yes, that's why. It's a tradition in cryptic crosswords.
| Similarly, duck (from cricket) and love (from tennis) can
| also be used for letter O. It's one of the things you pick
| up when you start doing cryptics, along with other things
| like doctor (used as a verb), criminal, and nuts (meaning
| crazy) suggesting an anagram. If you think things like that
| are ridiculous, perhaps cryptic crosswords are not for you.
| gs17 wrote:
| There are a lot of patterns you have to recognize to get
| answers in cryptics and if you try to solve them without
| knowing how the clues work it's just nonsense. Especially if
| you assume they work at all like a normal crossword. I don't
| enjoy them, but I get it.
|
| The article mentions "Spooner" in a clue being a dead giveaway
| there's a Spoonerism, but there's a lot of similar things to
| look for. There's usually a hint that there's an anagram, put
| one word inside another, combine two words and find a new word
| inside them, etc. The clue almost always has a synonym for the
| answer as part of it, so the "I = say + nothing" actually is
| how it's intended to be read, e.g. "saw = dog wearing lead".
| geoelectric wrote:
| There's a really good cryptic crossword trainer on mobile (
| https://www.learncrypticcrosswords.com/ ) that teaches you
| how to recognize these sorts of hint words and parse the
| clues. It costs a few bucks to unlock all the lessons, but I
| started enjoying cryptics a _lot_ more with that basic
| grounding. Turns out it 's actually a very structured
| activity, for all the apparent chaos.
| jrm4 wrote:
| So, I love these kinds of puzzles as well. One intersection that
| I've never much seen that feels natural to me personally. I also
| love lyrically complex/interesting hip-hop e.g. MF Doom - and the
| wordplay is very similar. Haven't really seen much noting this?
| I_complete_me wrote:
| For me the epitome of a cryptic clue is: A number of fingers (5).
| Short, precise, tricky, delightful.
| a_t48 wrote:
| EIGHT? Plus two thumbs?
| mturmon wrote:
| Such fun. I'm not a big solver of puzzles, but I enjoy the clues.
|
| I still remember the clue in the brief, enticing, how-to guide
| for cryptics given on the back page of _The Nation_ (60 years of
| puzzles by former cryptographer Frank Lewis,
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_W._Lewis):
|
| Ground rules (5).
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2023-12-08 23:01 UTC)