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.
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