How to Solve Cryptic Crosswords with Confidence?

[siddharth]

About cryptic crosswords
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crosswords"

Here is today's crossword
http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/16/stories/2006011600060900.htm"

I have put my guesses to the right of the clue in white (after the "--"). If you don't want to read my guess and want to work it out by yourself, don't highlight that part!

Across
1 Toss and turn with the aged at the doorway (9)
5 Sorceress with a key inside (5) -- WITCH[/color]
8 A flier, fit, can be made less intense (8)
9 In traffic it has a stop and go effect (6) -- SIGNAL[/color]
11 Statesman— what a run he managed! (5)
12 Canine transport in America (9) -- GREYHOUND (?)[/color]
13 An area to ignore, possibly (6) -- REGION[/color]
14 Royal Indian party figuring in the papers (8)
16 Moving around small island, prepare for action (8)
18 Half of them, except Kelvin, get on board (6) -- EMBARK(?)[/color]
22 A tribal do produces flap on lorry (9)
23 Bird that managed to get into church (5)
24 Needlework in the theatre (6) -- SATIRE (?)[/color]
25 Badly spoiled, hard, but refined (8)
26 A girl's bit of banter (5) -- SILLY (?) [/color]
27 Swollen and destined to suffer, with a bit of dysentery (9)

Down
1 A coach to coach the queen (7)
2 Inconsiderate driver, a swine by the way (4,3)
3 Ellis Island monument, a gift from the French (6,2,7) -- STATUE OF LIBERTY[/color]
4 Treat boil e.g. and do a favour (6) -- OBLIGE[/color]
5 Scale that got Angie chewing him out (8,7) -- WEIGHING MACHINE[/color]
6 Shaving the head is not new, certainly (7) -- TONSURE[/color]
7 Chemicals in skins contain aluminum (7) -- HALIDES[/color]
10 One body part or another in extremes of heat (5) -- HEART (?)[/color]
15 Testing a metal- arsenic, for example (5)
16 Cell division- is it some endless mystery? (7) -- MITOSIS[/color]
17 English city where Lt. Boris worked (7) -- BRISTOL[/color]
19 At a party, journalist is disconcerted (7)
20 Prepared the dough as required, reportedly (7)
21 Do bounced promissory notes become repulsive? (6)


So, any help for the rest? The answers will probably be out by tomorrow but I want to crack this one before that.

 

[tribdog]

2 road hog
20 kneaded

 

[siddharth]

That was fast tribdog! Fits perfectly!

 

[tribdog]

that's what my girlfriend said

 

[Gokul43201]

11 A : Nehru
22 A : Tailboard
25 A : Polished
19 D : Abashed
21 D : Odious

 

[tribdog]

I thought you abandoned us

 

[Math Is Hard]

I think 27 Across is probably DISTENDED
16 Across looks like it might be MOBILIZE or MOBILISE

 

[selfAdjoint]

15 down is ASSAY (As - symbol of arsenic + Say=for example)

 

[Math Is Hard]

Aha! I think 1 Across is THRESHOLD

8 Across must be ABATABLE, and for 1 down TRAINER fits.

23 Across seems like it might be CRANE but I'm not sure of the word play on this one. I'm not sure about 14 across either but it looks like PRINCESS.

 

[siddharth]

Gokul, you got them perfectly right. But I don't understand how 21D is odious.

Math is Hard, all your guesses are right as well. I got ASSAY and PRINCESS but the other 6 left me stumped.

Guess I need way more practice before I can solve it completely.
Here's the solution
http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/17/stories/2006011700370901.htm"

And today's crossword, which I just started to attempt

http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/17/stories/2006011700370900.htm"

10A -- DUMBBELLS, 16A -- Could it be IDOLS?, 28A -- ADULATION, 29A -- GETTHEMESSAGE, 17D -- LITERATE, 24D -- GROUSE[/color]

 

[Mk]

I got one! 19A -- cubic[/color]

 

[Math Is Hard]

Thanks for sharing these puzzles, Siddarth. They are really fun! I used to do the New York Times and Washington Post crosswords every Sunday, but I have never tried "cryptic crosswords" before.

Do they publish these on Sundays? That's my only free day to indulge in puzzles. Yesterday I was off work for a holiday, so I had some free time, and it was really fun to work on the puzzle with you guys. It made me realize how much I had missed this.

Do you play Scrabble, also? That's my favorite board game.

 

[Moonbear]

Gokul, you got them perfectly right. But I don't understand how 21D is odious.

Bounced promissory note = Owed + ious = odious.

These are fun! I've never done this type of crossword before either, but it sure exercises the brain! I only seem to see where the answers come from in retrospect though...still having trouble getting the hang of it on my own here.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Do you play Scrabble, also? That's my favorite board game.

Really? Have you seen http://www.vidlit.com/craziest/craziest.html yet?

 

[Mk]

I'm never going to nationals again. :uuh:

 

[siddharth]

I got one! 19A -- cubic

Not quite. Here is the link to the solutions of the previous one
http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/18/stories/2006011802381101.htm"

Thanks for sharing these puzzles, Siddarth. They are really fun! I used to do the New York Times and Washington Post crosswords every Sunday, but I have never tried "cryptic crosswords" before.
Do they publish these on Sundays? That's my only free day to indulge in puzzles. Yesterday I was off work for a holiday, so I had some free time, and it was really fun to work on the puzzle with you guys. It made me realize how much I had missed this.
Do you play Scrabble, also? That's my favorite board game.

The Hindu newspaper publishes one crossword everyday. The people who set these must be quite clever! You can access the crossword of each day from the main site of the link I gave earlier.
I used to play scrabble when I was younger, but I don't play anymore. I'm not that good at word building.

 

[Gokul43201]

Bounced promissory note = Owed + ious = odious.

That's close, but not quite how the crossword maker intended it to be solved.

The clue : Do bounced promissory notes become repulsive? (6)

"promissory notes" = IOUs (I Owe Yous)

"do bounced" = od ("do" backwards)

od + ious = odious = repulsive

 

[Gokul43201]

Here's today's grid : http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/18/stories/2006011802381100.htm

ACROSS

1 Subtle lie acted unexpectedly (8)

5 What the mechanic stocks but does without (6)

10 Caught, debtor may shrink with fear (5)

11 Girl cut short, causing apprehension (9)

12 Checking the parentage is a means of diagnosis (5,4)

13 A reportedly agreeable set of rooms (5)

14 Material used in an airline network (5)

16 What lit London streets once? A Boyer-Bergman movie (8)

18 Embassy official has to plot amid confusion (8)

20 Unknown direction that gets a raise in the bakery (5)

24 The place for a plane trip (5)

25 I am quick with union leader, without having rehearsed (9)

27 One of those in the Mayflower (9)

28 Instrument for repairing roads (5)

29 Qualities revealed when difficulties fail to begin (6)

30 Cosmetic look at ship (8)

DOWN

1 Sound measure (7)

2 Despicable, stunted sand dune (3-4)

3 Restored to health by crude treatment! (5)

4 Angry outburst reveals frame of mind (6)

6 Author, English, in clerical garb (9)

7 Growing fruit? Good (7)

8 Way to include, say, people in a division (7)

9 It has no place in a `no smoking' area (3,4)

15 Source of illumination that was long in the making (4,5)

17 Excellent city like Paris, for example (7)

18 Kind of healer who makes an impression first (7)

19 Signallers' afternoon (3,4)

21 A painkiller for the endlessly hopeful (7)

22 Sound of heavenly applause? (7)

23 Indifference, yes, about course of action (6)

26 Bird left on baggage conveyor without motor (5)

 

[siddharth]

16A - gaslight, D1 - Decibel, D3 - cured, 15D - Tubelight [/color]

 

[Math Is Hard]

Really? Have you seen http://www.vidlit.com/craziest/craziest.html yet?

Wow! That... was.. an amazing story!

 

[neutrino]

Nice thread, Siddharth. I do the Hindu crossword now and then, but never have I managed to complete even one. I've been solving a few in the past week, and solved the most number of clues in the one that Gokul has posted.
Btw, 15D is NEON LIGHT