cryptic crossword —— 将wordplay进行到底

Posted on Edited on Waline:
一文带你入门Cryptic Crossword

在从国内到国外的puzzlehunt中，不得不品鉴的就是各种crossword（纵横字谜）了，想必大家应该会在各种各样的场景看到过crossword吧

image-20240711093054956

基本上可以说crossword是一场对语言，文化和脑电波的考验，关于它没有什么大的技巧，

而今天要介绍的则是在此基础上更加丧心病狂的 cryptic crossword

豪德，但是什么是cryptic crossword？

well，这是一类更加注重wordplay的crossword，通常这涉及到对单词字母的打乱重组，同音词，双关义等等

每个合格的cryptic crossword都需要有Straight-part 和 Cryptic-part，举个例子

Circle back to reservoir (4)

  • Circle 是 Straight-part，它提示了答案与 circle 在某种程度上同义
  • back to reservior 是 Cryptic-part，它提示了答案是某个 “蓄水池” 的倒序
  • 值得注意的是Cryptic part 中的back to ，它暗示了我们要对单词进行的操作，也被称为信号词（signal）

Tip：在每一条线索（clue）中，Straight-part只会出现在句子的开头或结尾，不会插在句子的中间。

Remember that the straight part is always at the beginning or end of the clue.

你学会了吗？没学会我们来做一道例题吧！如果你没有做过，强烈建议跟着本文的顺序一起试试喵~

一道题带你入门Cryptic crossword

image


ACROSS

1 Stinging insect damaged paws (4)

3 Sketch a 1-all score (4)

5 Bouncer holds a little weight (5)

6 Mislaid in Buffalo State (4)

8 Orange food makes automobile decay (6)

10 Some of the Islam use mental entertainment (9)

13 Hens to become truthful? (6)

15 Who's shaken up the display (4)

16 Interior of dinners (5)

17 Lisa mistaken to travel by sea (4)

18 Bound to sound like the tide (4)


DOWN

1 This planet whired, I hear (5)

2 Stop changing the mail! (4)

3 Daring is expensive! (4)

4 Walt's mentioned a dance (5)

7 For a change, son, I'm the simple man who met a pieman (5)

8 Teach about swindler (5)

9 Bee leaves branch for cattle station (5)

11 Uses axe on meat cutlets (5)

12 Prize for a hospital department (5)

14 Wicked to live backwards (4)

15 Type seen in Windsor tie (4)

1 ac Stinging insect damaged paws (4)

anagram

Anagram clues are commonly indicated with words connoting violence (“ruined,” “destroyed”), altered states (“loony,” “drunk,” “nuts”), or reconfiguration (“in a new way,” “redesigned,” “novel,” “fresh”).

paws — wasp (String insect)

2 dn Stop changing the mail! (4)

anagram

stop — post (the mail)

1 dn This planet whired, I hear (5)

homophone

Common indicators for homophony are words relating to sound or speech: “heard,” “to an audience,” “said,” and the like.

whired — world (this planet)

6 ac Mislaid in Buffalo State (4)

hidden word

In hidden-word clues, the answer is a sequence of letters inside the clue. Indicators might be “includes,” “entertains,” or simply “has.”

Buffalo State — lost (mislaid)

5 ac Bouncer holds a little weight (5)

hidden word signal

Bouncer — ounce（a little weight）

3 dn Daring is expensive! (4)

double-definition

Instead of a straight part and a cryptic part, double definition clues have, essentially, two straight parts: two different definitions of the same answer word.

Dear (Daring, expensive)

3 ac Sketch a 1-all score (4)

double-definition

draw (sketch, a 1-all score)

4 dn Walt’s mentioned a dance (5)

homophone

Walt’s — waltz (dance)

8 ac Orange food makes automobile decay (6)

assemble, double-definition

Also called “charade” clues, assemblages work by breaking the answer into chunks and cluing each segment individually.

automobile decay — Car rot — orange food

7 dn For a change, son, I’m the simple man who met a pieman (5)

anagram

son I’m — simon (I’m the simple man who met a pieman)

8 dn Teach about swindler(5)

anagram

teach — cheat (swindler)

10 ac Some of the Islam use mental entertainment (9)

hidden word

the Islam use mental — amusement(entertainment)

9 dn Bee leaves branch for cattle station(5).

deletion

A deletion clue is what it sounds like: a prompt to remove the start or end of a word. Indicators include “headless,” “first off,” “half,” and “endlessly” or “without end.”

branch - B(bee) — ranch (cattle station)

13 ac Hens to become truthful? (6)

anagram

hens to — honest(truthful)

11 dn Uses axe on meat cutlets(5)

double-definition

chops(Uses axe, meat cutlets)

15 ac Who’s shaken up the display? (4)

anagram

who’s — show(dispaly)

14 dn Wicked to live backwards (4)

reverse

Reversals signposts include “turned back,” “in reverse,” or “going up” (for words reading downward in the grid).

live — evil (wicked)

17 ac Lisa mistaken to travel by sea (4)

anagram

lisa — sail (travel by sea)

16 ac Interior of dinners (5)

hidden word

dinners — inner(Interior)

15 dn Type seen in Windsor tie (4)

hidden word

Windsor tie — sort (type)

18 ac Bound to sound like the tide (4)

homophone

tide — tied (bound)

12 dn Prize for a hospital department (5)

double-definition

????? (prize, a hospital department)

And now you’re finished, you won a AWARD!