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
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