# Cryptics **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [March 29, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525 "2016-03-29T14:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/201 "2016-06-08T04:45:04Z")
Well, I got the Haile Selassie one. But I am lost on the other two. I wish we had crossing links somehow like in a real cryptic puzzle. In a standard or variety cryptic I can get about a quarter of the answers if I am lucky, but then the rest is figured out with help of the crossing letters. In this thread, we have the advantage of several solvers, but the major disadvantage of not having helpful crossing letters. I am stumped on your two cryptics so far. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/202 "2016-06-08T05:51:21Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Last shape heading for Ottawa. (4) FOOT (FOr OTtawa) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/203 "2016-06-08T05:53:27Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Well, I got the Haile Selassie one. But I am lost on the other two. I remember hearing that on the radio and just letting out a huge groan. Good thing I wasn’t in the audience for that one. > [@](#): > > I wish we had crossing links somehow like in a real cryptic puzzle. In a standard or variety cryptic I can get about a quarter of the answers if I am lucky, but then the rest is figured out with help of the crossing letters. > > In this thread, we have the advantage of several solvers, but the major disadvantage of not having helpful crossing letters. I am stumped on your two cryptics so far. Crossing letters are good, but just one or two doesn’t usually help me much. Either I grok the clue and I don’t need any letters, or I need enough crossing letters to just guess the word outright and then see if I can wrestle it into the clue somehow. On the other hand, I’m still working my way back through the puzzles on the WSJ site. I like to print them out and take them with me when I go out to eat. Last night I started a new puzzle and got about 1/3 of the way through it just during one meal. I may actually be starting to figure these things out. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Forbidden literature from Rat Packer’s period, so I hear. (8) \_ \_ \_ \_ Z \_ \_ \_ (it’s not a very common word) > [@](#): > > Last shape heading for Ottawa. (4) \_ \_ O \_ (On preview, I see you got it.) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/204 "2016-06-08T11:48:42Z")
First ban literature, music, and painting, then finish with a restriction for a movie featuring returning Rat Packer. (4,5) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/205 "2016-06-09T02:11:12Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Forbidden literature from Rat Packer’s period, so I hear. (8) One more letter please, preferably before the Z. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/206 "2016-06-09T02:42:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Forbidden literature from Rat Packer’s period, so I hear. (8) Another letter not necessary! SAMIZDAT (Sammy’s dot) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/207 "2016-06-09T03:18:12Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Another letter not necessary! > > SAMIZDAT (Sammy’s dot) Correct! I was kinda proud of those two, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/208 "2016-06-09T03:59:32Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Correct! > > I was kinda proud of those two, actually. Both were well constructed clues, in my opinion. ××××××× Way of measuring poor opinion entirely misguided (7, 4) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/209 "2016-06-28T21:21:37Z")
Just found this thread, and saw this one was unsolved: > [@AppallingGael](#): > > And I’ll provide a crossing letter for my latest [‘Sailors hat will last forever’ (10)]– > > \_ \_ B \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ GOBSTOPPER (“gob’s topper”, and an Everlasting Gobstopper was a candy in _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_) xxxxxx Strange recent creature (6) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/210 "2016-06-29T00:35:49Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > GOBSTOPPER (“gob’s topper”, and an Everlasting Gobstopper was a candy in _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_) > > xxxxxx > > Strange recent creature (6) TENREC\* And thanks for solving the “sailor’s hat” one. That particular cryptic kept me up a few nights… but I just could not get it. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/211 "2016-06-29T02:26:42Z")
Repeat after Delaware Republican, “This really blows.” (7) ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/212 "2016-06-29T03:49:10Z")
> [@biotop](#): > > repeat after delaware republican, “this really blows.” (7) DERECHO (de + r + echo) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/213 "2016-06-29T05:30:45Z")
Score high on the Fourth of July (5) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/214 "2016-06-30T14:32:45Z")
Wow. This looks like fun. Here’s a link to an article [“Jaw-Dropping Puzzles”](https://tmcaylifeasapuzzle.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/jaw-dropping-puzzles/). I have not read the actual article because I think it may give away answers to what look like some amazing printable variety cryptic crosswords, which are linked at the beginning. Thought I’d share the find. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/215 "2016-06-30T22:08:59Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Score high on the Fourth of July (5) TALLY (tall + y) xxxxx House? Yes, for Russian exclave in Africa! (7) ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/216 "2016-07-02T05:55:42Z")
Just want to promote the first puzzle in the link at #214. The “Middle of the Road” cryptic variety puzzle by Patrick Berry is amazing. Print it out and try it. The puzzle took me a few days… but was so very worth the effort! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/217 "2016-07-22T04:12:22Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Just want to promote the first puzzle in the link at #214. The “Middle of the Road” cryptic variety puzzle by Patrick Berry is amazing. Print it out and try it. The puzzle took me a few days… but was so very worth the effort! (This probably won’t make much sense to someone who hasn’t done the puzzle in question.) Have you tried “A Deadly Game” yet? I’ve got it mostly done; got the Evidence words, and the replaced words. The instructions say the Evidence is linked to the guests by wordplay in two ways. I know one of the two ways; haven’t worked out the other, the links, the killer, or the fate of the killer. Not giving up on it yet. Not sure how much I like it. There are a couple very obscure answers in the grid. And there are some answers, the ones replaced by Evidence, that have to be solved cold (no possibility to fill in any letters by solving crossing clues). Just started “Middle of the Road”. Too soon to tell if I’ll make any headway on it. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/218 "2016-07-22T04:53:22Z")
Yes. That puzzle was great fun. I like when the lightbulb finally went off on the roles. Those “aha!” moments are what cryptics are all about. But I cannot make heads nor tails of the final room in “Bluebeard’s Castle.” The puzzle was super tough and I got it almost all, except for that damned final room. I really enjoyed getting as far as I did with that one… but please please please let me know if you solve what is going on in the final room. What’s worse is that I think the many days work I did on that BC puzzle got tossed in the recycling by mistake by my wife after I gave up on it. I can probably remember a lot of it though. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/219 "2016-07-22T05:24:21Z")
Here’s what I’ve got so far, **biotop**. I suspect that there might be two solutions, so I hope I’m not giving away one you haven’t found. [spoiler]The evidence words correspond to the beginning of each secret. BULL and COW are ELEPHANTS, FLAN is a PUDDING, etc. (For NUTSO all I have is BEANS, which I’m not all that certain of.) If I leave HEYDAYS out of the lower grid, it spells CAUGHT RED HANDED in the shaded squares, so the FLANEUR is the killer. Here’s what I think I’m missing. The instructions say each guest is linked to evidence via wordplay in two ways, and I only have one (the first part of each word). Five of the guests may also be found linked to their evidence in the completed grid, and I don’t see that at all. (a FLANEUR is an IDLER, but I can’t make a similar connection with any of the other secrets; and it seems that FLANEUR is the one who’s supposed to be the killer.) The killer is the guest who has fled the scene, whatever that means. Is there more? Am I close?[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/220 "2016-07-22T05:50:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Here’s what I’ve got so far, **biotop**. I suspect that there might be two solutions, so I hope I’m not giving away one you haven’t found. > > [spoiler]The evidence words correspond to the beginning of each secret. BULL and COW are ELEPHANTS, FLAN is a PUDDING, etc. (For NUTSO all I have is BEANS, which I’m not all that certain of.) If I leave HEYDAYS out of the lower grid, it spells CAUGHT RED HANDED in the shaded squares, so the FLANEUR is the killer. > > Here’s what I think I’m missing. The instructions say each guest is linked to evidence via wordplay in two ways, and I only have one (the first part of each word). Five of the guests may also be found linked to their evidence in the completed grid, and I don’t see that at all. (a FLANEUR is an IDLER, but I can’t make a similar connection with any of the other secrets; and it seems that FLANEUR is the one who’s supposed to be the killer.) The killer is the guest who has fled the scene, whatever that means. > > Is there more? Am I close?[/spoiler] I do not have my copy anymore (recycled in the cleaning purge)… but you have figured out who the players are in the game, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525.md?page=12)