A good summer map and leg

Summer orienteering  has started up again on Friday nights (hooray!) in the parks and streets of Adelaide.
Last night we started in the south east corner of the city.
For those who are not familiar, with Adelaide, South Australia (my home city) this needs a bit of a description.

The city of Adelaide was a planned city, laid out in 1837 by Colonel William Light.
The city mile is surrounded by park lands,  and adjoins North Adelaide also has park lands surrounding it.  The Torrens river runs through between the city centre and North Adelaide (beside the famous Adelaide Oval of cricket fame).

Just for interest here is an old 1840 map of the city so you can get the idea. On this map the purchasers of  the acre blocks are written.

The parklands are preserved for recreational purposes and mostly open to the public. There are a few sporting club rooms, and the old Victoria racecourse, the swimming centre etc, but mosly it is just open land with scattered trees, walking and bike tracks.

Where we were orienteering last night was the bottom right hand (south eastern corner of the city.  This area has a mix of buildings ranging from original old terrace cottages on narrow laneways, large old houses with their grounds around them, and newer apartments (also with narrow driveways and lanes) , all still just a short stroll from the parklands.

We started from the parklands and headed immediately into the roads and laneways of the residential area. Of the four varies courses on offer I chose to take on the medium length (about 4.5km). My knee has been a bit of a problem, and I'm trying to give it a chance to recover by not pushing it too hard, so I figured this distance would be manageable, even if I needed to walk most of it.

Close to the start was what I considered the best leg on my course. At control 4 we were faced with an excellent route choice. this sort of puzzle is what keeps me so keen on orienteering.  Not only does it give my body some much needed exercise, but it challenges my mind to quickly decide the best route choice.

The idea is to get from 4 to 5 in the quickest time  (thus finding the shortest route is the quest).
The trick here was that there was a dark line on the route between the two.  This indicates an impassable barrier. Those who did not notice this headed up the side of the narrow (grey) buildings and found themselves at a dead end. They wasted some valuable seconds doing this, then had to turn around and backtrack.

All were faced with an excellent challenge in working out how best to get to the next control. There was no choice but to head back out to the street, but once on the street there were two choices.

You could turn left (heading west) , to the second opening on your left, go down the laneways between the buildings, past the garage (lighter gray) , slip between the narrow opening between 2 buildings and turn left again to run down to the control.

Alternatively you could turn right, go all the way down to the street bordering the parklands, run along to the right, either skip through between the building doing a left turn on the way , or staying straight until the next road, go up the road a little way, and then head in the narrow lane way to the garage area and find the control.

When you are trying to make a decision quickly while running it is not always easy.  It is hard to calculate which route is longer, and with the map jigging up and down in front of you as you run, it can be tricky to see where you can get through and where you can not.

The other challenge that I particularly enjoyed last night was when we emerged from the buildings into the parklands and had to find a control in there. I was not using my compass , so I had to really concentrate on the leg between 8 and 9 as I emerged from the buildings.

I've been caught before in this circumstance, and I was very aware of the fact that I find it difficult to change my thinking from the tight streets and buildings to the open land, where you really have to think hard about your direction and distance. The long grass hid the control itself, although the vegetation was of some help (the green patches show the thicker vegetation) . I was happy with the way I managed the change of thinking last night and really enjoyed that challenge as well.

Thanks Stefano for an excellent course, and to all the helpers who made it happen.

32 cryptic crosswords - Double meanings

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I've achieved the goal, so here is one last hint for the moment before I take a break from the daily posting.

I hope that you have enjoyed the series.  Maybe I will add to it as I find other examples to share.

You wont find an indicator here for a straight double meaning.  You might be looking for tricky clues, and you shouldn't be.  It might be just as simple as two words that have the same answer.

The best hint that I have of this is when the clue is very short. So watch out for that tell tale.

Here is a longer example for you.

Congratulations on order for a steak (4,4) =well done

Well, that's me all done for the moment.
I will see you again sometime when there is something a bit bloggable to share.  In the meantime I encourage you to grab that cryptic crossword and have a go... and if you can have a go in a couple or a group do that too.  It is great to share your random thoughts and inspire each other.

That is what we will be doing on Saturday morning, when we finish our bacon and eggs and make a cuppa.  The Advertiser will come out, and the important thing to do is complete the cryptic crossword.  Then the rest can be consumed if we have time.

Happy Puzzling.

31 Cryptic Crosswords - Tricky word play

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'very aimed  for one a day, and with today's short post I have completed the quest.

I'm enjoying it so much that I will continue for just a few more days with a couple of remaining thoughts that I haven't managed to fit in already.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

Sometimes you can't help but laugh. That's what keeps me coming back to the table and suffering the frustration.
Often the trickier clues come with a question mark. If you see the question mark be prepared for something a bit unusual that might make you laugh.

Like
Drop off iron? (8) -Advertiser Feb 4th 2016
Drop off =decrease
Iron =de-crease (get it???-remove the creases!!)
You would never say de-crease instead of iron, but the answer clearly makes sense.
And it makes you laugh at the wonder contained in the English language.

30 Cryptic Crosswords - Upside down Miss Jane

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.


Sometimes you have to turn a word upside down to get what you need.

"Is up" in the middle of a clue might mean that you need to add "si" into the word.

Indicators might include

• Upside down
• Up
• Backwards
• Turned

We've seen this used with some quite long words.  Be on the lookout.
If you keep your eyes peeled maybe you will see Mr Squiggle! 

29 Cryptic Crosswords - Know your teams

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

Learn your teams
Famous football teams come into crossword setting as well.

Team running last in oval (5,5) -Advertiser 8/2/2016

Last on oval is an anagram of Aston Villa
Running is the indicator for the anagram
Team is the straight clue

Race courses also come into the mix
I had one the other day that required me to know that Epsom is a racecourse!
It's lucky that I have been afan of Dick Francis books for many years, so I had somehow retained this information.

Here is another racecourse one:
Caledonian with a first course (5)
There is the course as an indicator.
Every good admirer of bagpipes (like me) knows that a Caledonian is a Scot.
Put A with Scott and you have another racecourse... Ascot!


The possibilities and scary, and endless.  So good luck with that.

28 Cryptic Crosswords - Unusual words

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

Another way to become good  at cryptic crosswords  is to remember unusual words like those from Medical terms, Languages (how do you say " the " in french or italian?) Or old terminology.

So I hope that you are someone who soaks up those unusual words and can pull them out of your brain again when you need to (Like my son Thom).

Did you know that a junior chef is a commis?
It's helpful to know when you get a clue like:
Apprentice chef is up, working for royalty (10)
Break it up to solve it
Apprentice chef = commis
Is up =si (up backwards)
Working =on (as in a machine)
Royalty is the straight clue =commission


It is tricky to solve a clue when you don't know the word you are looking for. Sometimes we end up with an idea about what the word must be, and we end up looking in the dictionary to see if such a word exists. It feels great when you guess that a word exists and it does.

Today we guessed that interregnum might mean the gap between kings when we had a clue Run Regiment ragged in the gap between kings (11)

See the info on August the 3rd if you need an extra clue as to the logic here.

Or this one was interesting
Prorogue is to put off.
Put off professional scoundrel (8) was the clue.
Pro is professional
Scoundrel is rogue

27 Cryptic Crosswords - Just plain good fun

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Sometimes I come across a crossword clue that I just really enjoy.
It's not special for any particular reason that I can see, but who can explain why your senose of humour is tickled by a particular clue?

Some special ones lately  have been

Small animal rescue vessel is key in the channel. (4) Advertiser 4/3/16
For a start this is such a short word it should be very easy and have a short clue-but it isn't and doesn't.
We started out looking for a small animal as the straight clue but couldn't think of one that fitted.
Eventually we came at it another way.
S = small (as in the size on clothing)
But this next bit is the bit I particularly loved...
Animal rescue vessel=Ark ( as in Noah's)
It turns out that Sark is an island in the Channel Islands (key =island)
Thus giving us a key in the channel.
We had to look up Sark to find out that it was an island.

Not a long shot to fail in trophy competition (5,2)  The Advertiser March 2016
Straight clue is "not a long shot"
Fail =lose
And you need to put this inside the trophy competition (=cup)
Answer is close up

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did.

26 Cryptic crosswords- A letter from a word

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.


Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.
Sometimes a word or two of the clue will give you just a single letter of the answer.

Be on the lookout for indicators such as

• First
• Last
• Final
• Initial
• Beginning
• End

These will often show you that you should take that letter from the word following and use it.

Finally take photograph after a long story (4) -The Advertiser Feb 4th 2016

"Finally take" shows that you should take the last letter from take (the e)

Photograph after = pic ...after the e

The straight clue (on the end, instead of the beginning in this clue) is "a long story"

A long story is an epic.

25 cryptic crosswords - Symbols

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Some symbols can be interpreted into letters
Dollar =s
Pound=£=L
Glasses=00
Ounces=oz
Pound =lb or p
Euros=e
Page=p

Musical terms can also be used
F =loud
P =soft

One example of this is from Thursday July 7 (The Advertiser)
Dollars secured some ice cream and cakes
The dollars are an s at either end of the word (securing the rest of it)
Ice cream is cone
The cakes are scones. (Cone plus the s either end)

24 cryptic crosswords - Tricky turns of phrase

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Crossword compilers love to mislead you with tricky turns of phrase.
I've seen some great ones lately

Nervously pin pad inside ruler when grasping the issue (Advertiser July 8)
Ruler is king
Take the letters from pin pad (nervously) and put them inside of King.
The funny bit is the straight clue... "grasping the issue"
The answer is kidnapping!! Get it???

Here's another that misled us initially..
Mark, a bone head,  is a six footer (6) The Advertiser July 7 2016
Mark is scar
A is a
Bone head is b
We naturally thought a six footer was a man, but no, it is an insect.  We were looking for a type of insect...a scarab beetle.!!

Happy puzzling.

23 Cryptic Crosswords - Take the same bit from a number of words

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

Sometimes you are asked to take the same part (for instance the centre, or the front ) from a series of words in a row to make up your final answer.

We recently had two of these rare ones in  the same crossword (Advertiser 12/2/16)

Sharp back and side kick to the middle (6)
Straight clue is sharp
Then you need to take the centres of three different words to make the word you want.
Take the centre of
Back
Side
Kick.... and what do you get??? Acidic!!
Sharp =acidic


Light centre of path and hall for the very young (8) 
This one had an extra bit added for more fun, and was almost the last word solved on the day due to these tricky convolutions.

Straight clue is on the end (the very young)
Start with a light (neon)
Then add the centre of path and hall (atal)
Put them together and you have..... neonatal!!!

You can't help but love it.


cook can have extra fries for starters (4)
I puzzled over this one for ages.
In this case the starters is the indicator showing that you need to take the start from a number of words
"Cook" is the straight clue
Look closely and you see that the start of consecutive words will give you CHEF

Later I came across another one which I couldn't resist adding.
Funny details of fish and rodents (5) Advertiser 8/9/16
Funny is the straight clue
We could see what the answer might be based on this clue alone as it seemed to end in "ic"
Details indicates that we take the tails off of fish and rodents.
If you take the last bits off of cod and mice you end up with Co and mic.
Can you figure out the answer????



Indicators:

• .... and... in the middle
• Centre of ..... and.....
• Details

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. 

22 Cryptic Crosswords - Pretty flowers

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

Flowers have messed us around more times than is fair over our crossword solving years

Always remember that flowers might be floral or watery (rivers)
Rivers flow, therefore they are flowers.
As soon as you see that word, stop and think.

It can be the same with ranges
(These can be the distance between,or the mountains)

If it is the river or mountain range you are looking for, then I hope that your geography is better than mine.

These are just one more trap that the setter will try to trip you up with.
Keep

21 Cryptic Crosswords - Heraldry

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Believe it or not, heraldry offers some assistance to the cryptic crossword setter too.

Heraldry have their own terminology
And it includes the following:

Gold=Or (this is by far the most common use of heraldry terms-so learn this one well).
Silver or white= Argent

Azure=blue
Gules=red
Purpure=purple
Sable=black
And
Vert=green

I've tried to learn these, and some have stuck in my head, but others haven't.
I hope you have more success.

20 Cryptic Crosswords - Question marks

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

Sometimes the setter will put a question mark at the end of a clue.
This indicates that it is a little out of the ordinary and you might need to think about it a little more laterally than usual.

The word "perhaps" seems to be used in a similar way at times.

I always worry that I won't be able to solve a clue when I see this , but usually we manage it somehow, and often it makes me laugh.

Perhaps stroke play , as a norm (7) Advertiser 26/2/16
"Stroke" is the straight clue
"Play" is the indicator for an anagram
"As a norm" is what needs to be turned around
The answer is OARSMAN
(Not always the stroke, but it might be, and hence the perhaps)

Set aside to be served up again? (8) Advertiser 26/2/16

The question mark is here because the setter has had some fun with one of the words.
The answer is "reserved"
Get it???
Re-served (served up again) . Not something you would usually say or read. Worth a question mark  but also worth a laugh when you discover the answer.

19 Cryptic Crosswords -Unknowns

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Every now and then you might get an unknown clue

Unknown is the indicator word
This is referring to unknown in algebra such as x and y

Unknown firm swallowed up by heavyweight mogul (6) Advertiser 12/2/16
Firm is often company (CO for short) =CO
Swallowed up indicates that this is inside of something else
Heavyweight=ton
Unknown =y
So you get "ton" surrounding the unknown "y" plus "co"
Which gives you tycoon (a mogul)

18 Cryptic Crosswords- Roman numerals

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Knowing your Roman numbers will put you in a good position for solving crosswords too.

I =1
V=5
X=10
L=50
C=100
D=500
M=1000

Given the subject of this post you have a clue as to this answer
Story at last included in the thousandth tall story (4) The Advertiser July 7th 2016

Story at last is y  (the last letter of story)
It's the other bit that gave us a laugh though.  Thousand is M, so thousandth is Mth!
Put a "y" in "mth" and you get a myth (a story)

17 - Cryptic Crosswords -Tricky Repeats

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Every now and then you get a repeat of the same thing .
This can be to form an answer like so-so or chop chop, or can take two answers to the same clue and put them together.

One example of this is
"Boost as one century follows another" (Advertiser Friday July 8)
So you are looking for two types of one century
Once century can be 1C (ic) (1=I and C =century in Roman numbers)
A century can also be a ton in slang
Put "ton" in front of "ic" and you have "tonic" (a type of boost)

16 Cryptic Crosswords - It helps to know a bit about cricket

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Sometimes a crossword compiler will use cricket scoring abbreviations.

If you watch the cricket you will see basic ones on a scoreboard
Runs =r
Wickets =w
Overs =o

But there may also be

Batting =in
Duck =0=o
I'm sure there are others that I can't think of right now.

It's worth developing a love for (or at least learning some basics) of this wonderful sport.

15 Cryptic Crosswords -One part of the word tells you what to do with the other part

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day. Unfortunately for some of the time I will be camping, so I hope to manage this, but it might get a bit tricky if I have no internet access.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

I love these.
You don't see them often, so you forget to watch out for them. Then they come along and surprise you with a visit and make you laugh.

Encircle a US private outright (4) Advertiser 12/2/16-two speed
Encircle is the straight clue
A US private is a GI
But this last bit is the tricky bit
Outright indicates that you should use the letters on either end of right (r and t) to make up the answer
Encircle =girt (GI plus rt)

Stable worker sent offshore twice (10) Advertiser 29/2/16
Here offshore indicates that you need to take the letters shore and make an anagram (in this case you need to do it twice)
The answer is horseshoer.

Not a lover of earthquakes(5) Advertiser 26/8/16
Not a lover is the straight clue
Earthquakes is the tricky bit.
Make "earth" quake and you get hater!

Indicators could be any word starting with in or out. There are others too I'm sure.
Another would be off as in the clue above (Offside, offshore)
Obviously words that have an action in them such as earthquake are also good for this.

14 Cryptic Crosswords-General Knowledge

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

One of the best ways to improve your ability to solve cryptic crosswords is to improve your general knowledge.
Who was the wife of...
mythology
World capital cities
Mountain ranges
Rivers
Plants
Animals -especially the male, female and young of a species
Famous people (what first name goes with Lincoln?)
Currency of other lands
Musical terms

Dance for fear of being carried by ancient ferryman (10) Advertiser 29/2/16
First you need to know who the ancient ferryman was (across the river Styx in the mythology)-the answer is "Charon"

"Dance" is the straight clue
Put a word meaning "fear of " (lest)
Inside the name of the ancient ferryman (the indicator is "carried by")
And you get to dance the Charleston

12 Cryptic Crosswords - Imperial measures

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

I'm afraid that I was born just a little too late to enjoy the conversion in Australia to metric on 14th February 1966.  I still struggle with imperial measurements.

Rood =1/4 acre or 24 feet
Strictly speaking it seems to be an area of one furlong (10
Chains )  in length and and one rod wide

My dictionary explains a furlong as follows: Furlong (The furlong (220 yards or 660 feet) was the standard length of a furrow in a ploughed field ("furrow long" = furlong).  It was supposedly the distance that a horse could pull a plough before needing to rest.  )

An acre is a square furlong
A Chain is 66 feet or 1/10 of a furlong
A Perch is 1 square rod
Rod are also measures of length  
A link =1/100th of a chain
A Pole =1/4 of a chain

There are also old measurements of mass 
A Grain (gr) =1/7000 of a pound
Drachma  (dr) =1/256 of a pound
Ounce (oz) =1/16th of a pound
Pound (lb) =1/14th of a stone
Stone (st)=14 pounds
Quarter (qr or qtr) =28 pounds
Hundred weight (cwt) =112 pounds
Ton (t) = 2240 pounds

And volume
Gill (gi) = 1/4 of a pint(pt)
Quart (qt) =2 pints
Gallon (gal) = 8 pints

As you can see all of these might easily be abbreviated .

A puzzle might have the term "14 pounds"in the clue.  The answer might be st (for stone) 

If you like to memorize information this is information which can be useful to have just sitting in your memory banks for the moment when a tricky compiler comes along and drops one of these on you. 

11 Cryptic Crosswords - Abbreviations

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

It is useful to know the common abbreviations for some words.

Company is often used to indicate CO


Divine school in same building this side of the tracks (8) Advertiser Feb 2016
"Divine school" is the straight clue
"Building" is the indicator for and anagram
This follows "in same"
So take the letters INSAME and have a play with them
On the end (this side) add the abbreviation for railway track (RY)
and you have ... SEMINARY

Common  abbreviations

• Company=Co
• Railway or track =ry
• Street =st
• Avenue=Ave
• Road=Rd
• Crossing=x
• Mount =mt
• Small =s
• Large=l
• Extra large =x
• Medium =m
• Circa =CA 

I

10. Cryptic Crosswords -Sounds like

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day. Unfortunately for some of the time I will be camping, so I hope to manage this, but it might get a bit tricky if I have no internet access.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Sometimes you get a clue that asks you to think about the sound of a word as much as its meaning or look.

You need to be thinking laterally to pick up on them.

Plan a sex talk (6) - The Advertiser Feb 4th 2016 is a good example
Plan is the straight clue
A sex talk is the cryptic clue
"Talk" indicates that this is a "sounds like" clue
A sex = a Gender (let your mind go and listen to it)
Agenda= plan
And there you have it... another word filled in on your grid.

Prepared to travel, we're told, to convention (4) -also from Feb 4th Advertiser
Prepared to travel =packed
Convention=pact
They sound the same.
"We're told" is the indicator

Pelts on catching sound from the bush (5) Advertiser 8/2/16
pelts are furs
Sound is the indicator
"Furs" sounds like "furze"
Furze is a kind of bush
"Bush" is the straight clue

Formal letter read out between the dull and dreary (6) Advertiser Feb 2016
Straight clue is Formal
Letter read out = "ess" (sounds like S)
Dull and dreary = dry
Between is another indicator showing that the "ess" needs to be put between the "dry"
To give......dressy (=formal)


Indicators will include

• Sounds like
• Hear
• Talk
• Listen
• We are told
• Sound
• Read out
• Aloud
• Say
• Heard

9. Cryptic Crosswords -Hidden in the words

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day. Unfortunately for some of the time I will be camping, so I hope to manage this, but it might get a bit tricky if I have no internet access.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

This particular type of clue is one I find difficult to spot, even though it is extremely simple.  I always kick myself when I finally find it.  And then I laugh.

Sometimes the letters are all there in order but hidden over parts of a number of words
You will often get an indicator such as "in" or "hidden"

Like
Happening in centre of flat estuary
"Happening" is the straight clue
"In centre of" is the indicator
FLAT ESTuary is where the word is hidden

Clone of short tempered right winger (4) Advertiser 17/2/16
"Clone" is the straight clue
"Short tempered" is the indicator
"Twin" is hidden in right winger

Nonconformist let there be light inside (5) Advertiser Feb 2016
"Nonconformist" is the straight clue
"Inside" is the indicator
Have a look inside "let there be light" and you find REBEL!

Indicators

• In
• Hidden
• Short
• Inside
• In centre of
• About
• Lessen
• Diminish

Day 18 Red Centre trip August 7th-Cowell to home

Today we orienteered in the Eyre Peninsula champs.
It was a long hard course.  The fact that I have been sick was clearly shown in my energy levels, the amount of sleep I am in deficit was shown in my inability to navigate well (particularly in my 30 minute error between control 2 and 3) , and my overall time reflected the quality of my performance.  Trev did much better, still out of the placings, but not embarrassingly so (like me) .

I stupidly forgot to take pictures of the unusually  green countryside (the grass hid the rocks so they could trip you).
Once we had caught up with the Lincoln and Saltbush orienteers and enjoyed their lovely hospitality we headed for home, stopping at Pt Pirie for a break and a meal with our good friends Peter, Belinda, Isabelle and James.

It was late as we drove into town, and we were very weary travellers.   Total distance for the trip was 5427.7 km.   Total cost for the fuel was $925.80  Apart from food  and the tour at Uluru there were no other expenses.  Pretty good entertainment value at less than $35/day each.  Tomorrow is a work day,  so we are right back into it with great enthusiasm (as you can probably imagine)

Over the next few weeks we will readjust to living in a house with so many comforts available. We will also reassess our camping setup and driving setup.  How can we do it better??? In the meantime we will catch up on sleep and the backlog of work which has accumulated and start planning for the next time.

We agree that our days of intense 4WD ing were probably our favorites,  so maybe something with some interesting and challenging tracks and good camping along the way (and not too many people) . Any suggestions?

Here are some picture of quandong seeds and tree in the yard of the house where we stayed in Cowell, and one of the house itself.  It you are ever looking for somewhere to stay I am happy to recommend this place.

8. Cryptic crosswords -Take a letter out

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day. Unfortunately for some of the time I will be camping, so I hope to manage this, but it might get a bit tricky if I have no internet access.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Sometimes you need to remove one letter from a word

Tool having sketchy use, except for book ending (6)- Advertiser Feb 5th 2016
Book ending=k
Take the k out of sketchy
Now think of a tool that is an anagram of the remaining letters.
A scythe!

Often this involves removing the front or last letter of a word , as in the example below

One below the top of fireplace (5) Advertiser 8/2/16
"Below the top of " is the indicator that you need to lose the top of the word
One is the straight clue for the word that you need to lose the top of
One =single
Fireplace is the straight clue
Now this was a challenge for us because we were not familiar with he word "ingle" meaning fireplace. Once we had the I_G_E though, it became pretty clear that the word we were going from might be single, and thus we looked up ingle and found that it can, indeed, mean fireplace.

Valued the shortage and paucity (6 ) Advertiser 1/3/16
"Paucity" is the straight clue
"Valued"=dear
"Shortage" is the indicator
"The"shortage =th
The answer is DEARTH


Pass up electing assembly after spurning international leader (7) Advertiser 26/8/2016
Here the bit we need to leave out (spurn) is the international leader (i)
That leaves us trying to figure out what we need to leave it out of.
If we take the word "electing" and leave out the I we have the right number of letters to assemble...
Now let's see. .. we want something that means pass up...
Neglect!


Indicators:

• Except for
• Below the top
• Above the bottom
• Shortage
• Spurn
• Leave 
• Without

7. Cryptic Crosswords -First or last

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day. Unfortunately for some of the time I will be camping, so I hope to manage this, but it might get a bit tricky if I have no internet access.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

This is about using only the first or last letter in a word

Original spread once wasted on cake (5) Advertiser 1/3/16
"Original" indicates that you should only use the s from spread
Wasted is also an indicator for an anagram ( of once)
The answer is SCONE

Prove hopeless, finally in Vietnam War offensive (4) Advertiser 1/3/16
General knowledge is helpful here. Tet was a Vietnam offensive.
Take that final "s" from hopeless
Put it inside of "tet"
And you have another meaning for prove (TEST)

Indicators

• First
• Last
• Original
• Final or finally

Day 17 red centre trip-Cambrian campsite (Flinders Ranges) to Cowell

Day 17
August 6th
Flinders Ranges to Cowell -387km

We have arrived in Cowell and settled in to our own little house (thanks to airbnb) for the night and enjoyed our first shower in about 6 days (and did we ever enjoy it) .

We enjoyed taking longer than expected through the Bunyeroo Gorge after leaving our camp this morning.  This involved some simply breathtaking views over the ranges from some spectacular high points.

Our camp last night

Bunyeroo Gorge road

We drove along the road with a stream also flowing along it, cached, walked to lookouts and investigated a Heysen Hut along the way.

  We discovered wood duck dam with its' lovely reflections and had a burger with runny egg at Hawker before heading through the Pichi Richi Pass to Pt Augusta and onwards to Cowell, via Whyalla.

We are going to head out to the pub for tea, and then crash for the night.

Our house here is a traditional old town house, and has a quondong tree in the driveway with bright red quondongs on it, and the tell tale seeds on the ground that I remember fondly from when I was a kid.

Day 16-red centre trip. Breakfast time creek to Cambrian campsite, northern Flinders Ranges.

Day 16

5th August

Breakfast time creek to Cambrian campsite (Flinders Ranges) -161km

We had a reasonably slow start to the day, waiting for Erica's swag to dry out from the cold night air. This did give us a chance to admire the many caterpillars who are having a party after the recent rains and chomping on the tasty greenery.

A quick loo,stop at Parachilna , and we were heading for last night's intended route.

We took a quick break at the end of the Heysen Trail.  This 1200 km walking trail snakes across SA, and one day we might learn how to camp from a backpack and do  multi day walks.  If that ever happens we ight try at least some of this trail.

The road towards Moolooloo Homestead is a lovely one , tracking over many creeks and along them. We were forced to stop for a cuppa in a wide pebbly creek bed with huge old gums, and young Flinders Ranges Pines.

Eventually we turned off of the road on to a PAR travelling through Moolooloo land which became even more attractive with a lovely winding track even more narrow than the road. We stopped to gape at Hannigan Gap before taking the side route to Patawarta Gap. This was a much slower drive, with many deeply rutted creek crossings, and routes that needed careful navigation across uneven ground.

We were rewarded with some breathtaking views of the surrounding ranges, and by finding a geologists hammer, when we stopped to check out an old hole in the ground. At times the area looked like a park, with old green pines towering over grassy ground,with drifts of yellow flowers.

Returning on the Patawarta track, we continued on to the Artimore homestead ruins where we expected to find a campsite, but did not.

It looked as though the cache there would also elude us for quite a while, but eventually this was found after a pause for lunch. There are a few ruins of buildings here, one being a huge building. We wondered if maybe that was a barn of some kind.

As we continued our drive we spotted a bunch of camels and riders (out on a tour?) along with many skittish euros, kangaroos, wallabies, goats and emus. We also had a brief chat with the only person we sighted, an American geologist camping out there and doing her PHD.

We popped out of the other end of the PAR and headed towards Blinman and into the national park. We stopped and looked at the Great Wall of China formation (very impressive)

 and then turned in along the geological trail towards Brachina gorge. The geological features are signposted and require regular stops to read the signage and to try to grasp the information. Earlier  alongthe road is a small walk in to see Emma Smith's grave. National Parks have put a replacement  plaque saying that she was a 2 year old, who died during transporting of copper. There must be more to this story.

Eventually we arrived at our campsite for tonight - the Cambrian campsite (it is a 4WD campsite, so we thought we might have it quieter). Sure enough we have the place to ourselves and Trevor had time in daylight to tackle the nearby mountain and find yet another cache, while I set up dinner, built the fire and took some photos of the strange rock arrangements that people have left behind.

It is going to be yet another clear and chilly, starry night. We are burning the last of our wood, and wish we could prolong this last camping night of our red centre adventure for 2016.

Day 15 Red centre trip. Strangways Bore to Breakfast time creek

4th August

Day 15 -361km

Strangways Bore to Breakfast time creek camp (between Leigh Creek and Parachilna)

Our first detour for the morning was at Beresford Siding, where we stopped to check out the camping around the large dam, wondering if we would have had a night full of mosquito bites if we had stayed there. There were lots of noisy birds in the trees, jostling for the top branch. The Beresford siding boasts a kennicott water softener (desalinator) as well as a water tank. We will need to look up how they work when we get home. There is a lot of space to camp here, but we have the impression that you would rarely have the whole place to yourself.

As we had both travelled up the track just recently we didn't do so many detours. The next stop was after the Lake Eyre South viewing area, but just before the Borefield Rd that goes out to Roxby Downs. Here we found an attractive pull off beside the creek with lots of shade from a beautiful big gum tree and views of a distant railway bridge across the road and down a little. Craig went for a walk and pronounced that camping over behind the bridge might be quite good too. We had a break for morning tea, and then headed onwards.

At Marree we stopped to search for a cache (no luck) and for a loo stop, but got distracted by a Vista RV towed by a landcruiser and parked outside the pub. We were paying it so much attention and having so much discussion about it that the owner walked across, opened it up and showed off his recent $60,000 + addition. He is very happy with it, and they are certainly an interesting (if expensive) option. It is a relatively compact tow, and looks like it would go anywhere, with no canvas required.

 If we wanted to tow, this might be the expensive option for us. As we drove on we decided that we still take too many "not sure where this goes, but let's follow it" tracks that bring us rough driving or the need to reverse. Neither of these are good if you are towing. We agreed that for us, just a vehicle is the way to go, and the discussion continues over what exactly our best set up would be. We've already agreed that the present vehicle needs a lift if we keep it, and that long range fuel tanks are a must. We are starting to wonder about a twin cab ute with box on the back for the storage in a more organised fashion.

About 60 km down the track we popped in to Farina again for our lunch break. The bakery is now closed again till next year (no yummy hot food available) but the campground has beautiful rustic tables under lovely gum trees. The campsite is a large and attractive campsite with a donkey hot water heater for the showers. Alas, no stopping to heat the shower was to be had today. We ate our lunch together, then said a fond farewell to the Colwells who are heading in further to the Flinders today and need to get their skates on.

For Trev and I the next detour was a short track in to the lonely stones in a large cemetery. Maybe it was my melancholy mood, but almost quarter of the listed deaths were under 2 years of age, and this had me in tears. I know how hard it was back then and how difficult child birth could be and how far away health help could be, but the enormity of the pain that these people must have borne really overwhelmed me as I looked at that board and those lonely graves on this harsh, dry plain. What amazing and desperate people they were who came out here and make lives for themselves.

We drove on from Farina, aiming for a campsite on a PAR off of the Angorichina road in the Northern Flinders Ranges.

Then we were way laid by a trip in to Aroona dam, near Leigh Creek. We followed a road winding in between beautiful hills and picturesque gullies, with huge river gums for about 6 km to what appears to be a man made water supply dam for Leigh Creek. There were so many beautiful camping spots at the recreational spot that we were greatly tempted to break the rules and just camp here, but we eventually stopped our oohing and ahing and travelled onwards.

By the time we got to Lyndhurst it was starting to dawn on us that we were never going to negotiate a 4WD drive and find our intended campsite in daylight, so we picked Breakfast Time creek, and drove in for about 500m. There we parked in the creek, (something we know we should never do) with just the birds for company, made ourselves a little campfire, cooked ourselves dinner and boiled the billy, then sauntered off to our swags under yet another beautiful and crisp starry night.

6. Cryptic Crosswords -Top and tail

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day. Unfortunately for some of the time I will be camping, so I hope to manage this, but it might get a bit tricky if I have no internet access.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

Removing the beginning and end of one word to make another

Top and centre of playground construction (3)
The straight clue is top
You have to find a piece of playground equipment and then leave only the centre of the word.

Playground equipment =slide
Centre of slide=lid=top
Answer is lid.

The next one is similar but different
Improve on cuckoo perching inside (6)

"Improve on" is the straight clue
"Cuckoo" is an indicator for an anagram... but of what??
Perching inside = erchin
Make an anagram of erchin and you have....ENRICH!

Indicators

• Heartless
• Inside
• Emptied

5. Cryptic Crosswords -One word inside another

For Blaugust this year I decided to publish a series of cryptic crossword posts.
I'm aiming for one a day. Unfortunately for some of the time I will be camping, so I hope to manage this, but it might get a bit tricky if I have no internet access.

Many of our friends over the years have said that cryptic crosswords don't make sense. They certainly do play with your mind, and that is why I take delight in them.  I love the surprising discovery inside a puzzle and the challenge of twisting the usual thought patterns and making them do something different.

So here is today's offering...

You should be able to see an indicator of the fact that one is inside another- like

•  In
•  Around
• Covering

Now butt is kept in shot (6) 
If you figure our the straight clue that always helps. In this case it is Now.
You might pick the indicator , (kept in) . If you pick this up first it helps you to pick which is the straight part of the clue, and which is the cryptic part.
So now you know that you want to take something that means "butt" and put it inside of something that means "shot". Since this is only a six letter word, these two will both need to be very short words.
So I figure our that shot =try
Now I am looking for a word which starts with t or tr and ends with y or ry.
Now what could that be.? And it means "now"
I think more about "butt" and realize that butt=end
And I have my answer...
TRENDY!

Here is another for you that is a little more complicated.

Extremely accommodating with boundless truth (6) Advertiser 8/2/16
Extremely=very
Accommodating shows that the letters of very need to surround something else
With boundless shows that you need to take the outside off of "with" to give "it"
Now put "it" inside of "very" and you get verity
Truth (the straight clue) =verity

Indicators are

• In
• Around
• Surrounding
• Incorporates
• Accommodating
• About
• Inside
• Wrapped around

Red Centre trip Day 14 to Strangways Bore.

3rd August

Day 14

Peake Creek to Strangways bore (including Lake Eyre North) -304km

We had intended to go further today, but interrupted the travel miles by taking the rather sizeable detour in to the shores of Lake Eyre.

We stopped for a while at "Old Woman Creek" for morning tea beside a sandy creek with some lovely gum trees (would make a reasonable camp site) , before heading on towards William Creek. We were hoping to find Duff Creek , and to check out the camping there for a future visit, but we couldn't even identify the correct creek!

We were a bit interested in flights over Lake Eyre (it's something we wish we had done in 2000 when the Lake was full when we came through here) , but the timing (and price) wasn't right ($420 for a 2 hour flight, and better early morning or late afternoon). We opted for a drive out to Lake Eyre North. The 70 km or so track out there goes through varied countryside, including sandhill country, black moon like plains, pale sand and red tracks. In some areas there was deeply rutted road where there is obviously lots of great mud when wet. Many cattle were hanging around near the dam/mound spring, including some cute calves.

Makeshift warning on a trouble spot

Moon landscape on the way in to Lake Eyre

Salty surface on the lake edges

Water or mirage? It is hard to tell here.

Old branding fence at the cattle yards along the track

At ABC Bay we could hardly even see any water, but at Halligan Bay it seemed a bit closer. We were surprised to see toilets and shelters out at the tip of land. We went for a bit of a walk, and could see where cars had driven out on the lake surface and sunk through into the sticky mud. The memorial along the track to a German tourist who perished out here is a stark reminder of the need to be prepared and to stay with your vehicle if you get into trouble.

By the time we had finally made it back to the Oodnadatta Track it was about 4 pm, so we only made it another 30 km or so to Strangways Bore, before we again took a nice side track, and found ourselves a group of trees to hide in behind, about 500m or more in off of the road. Here a friendly (?) hawk was waiting to pose for us as we set up camp and settled down to build a fire for some nice coals to cook on.