# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/101 "2016-04-19T08:19:33Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > NEARING. N(ational) E(ducation) A(ssociation) + ring. > > ### > > I sing of a drunk English sailor and a great one (5,5). Miley Cyrus! (LIMEY drunk and CYRUS the Great) ETA: Too slow! ---
**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:** [April 19, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/102 "2016-04-19T13:36:00Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > Maybe not, but enough cryptic solving guides mention “Aboard” as a signal for an SxS container that it’s certainly not an unfair clue. Guides, you read guides? I am entirely self-taught. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/103 "2016-04-19T14:10:13Z")
They surely make cryptic guides, sirs (9) ---
**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:** [April 19, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/104 "2016-04-19T14:28:35Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > They surely make cryptic guides, sirs (9) That should be: They surly make cryptic guides, sirs **(10)** ---
**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:** [April 19, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/105 "2016-04-19T14:37:42Z")
Music not playing for my recent clue snafu (8) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/106 "2016-04-19T15:52:48Z")
Leftover from yesterday: Player - to initiate thread: defrag, restart 3 (and a bit more) times. (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:** [April 19, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/107 "2016-04-19T19:56:38Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > Sadist slips backwards through gate leaving room for interpretation (10) Also unsolved from a few days ago… ---
**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:** [April 19, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/108 "2016-04-19T20:52:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Guides, you read guides? I am entirely self-taught. I originally learned from GAMES magazine’s “Big Book of GAMES” from way back when. They had a guide included. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/109 "2016-04-19T21:26:22Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Also unsolved from a few days ago… Sadist slips backwards through gate leaving room for interpretation (10) **Stanislaus** , come back and bring a clue!! ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/110 "2016-04-19T21:27:03Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > I originally learned from GAMES magazine’s “Big Book of GAMES” from way back when. They had a guide included. That’s where I first met cryptics as well! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/111 "2016-04-19T21:35:28Z")
Estimating selected dog parts strewn about the ruins of Appomattox? Timeless! (13) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/112 "2016-04-19T21:37:18Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > That’s where I first met cryptics as well! I first saw them in the NY Times when my mom would do them, back when the NYT was almost impossibly hard. I didn’t understand them, except for the anagrams, but picked it up in The Nation and Harper’s in recent years. The NYT only seems to have Puns and Anagrams lately, and very rarely a cryptic. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/113 "2016-04-20T00:36:59Z")
_Harper’s, World of Puzzles_ and the _Wall Street Journal,_ are the only places guaranteed to have variety cryptics now that I know. You can still get the excellent \*Cryptic All-Stars \* (1 and 2) collections from Amazon. There are also some \*Cryptic for You \* books available there from some guy (I think his name is Williams) that are OK for beginners. Most old cryptic anthologies and collections are out of print and sell for ridiculously high prices if you find them at all. Makes me wish I had bought extra copies years ago. The late Henry Hook’s \*Hooked on Cryptics \*books were some of the best. Years ago I went back to the University Library at UVA and copied every old \*Harper’s \* and \*Atlantic \*puzzle going back decades. That sure kept me busy for a long time. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/114 "2016-04-20T02:59:13Z")
There are a handful of online cryptic crosswords, a few of which update daily. Many are UK-based which adds a bit extra difficulty for us Yanks when cultural specific clues are used. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/115 "2016-04-20T03:20:13Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > _Harper’s, World of Puzzles_ and the _Wall Street Journal,_ are the only places guaranteed to have variety cryptics now that I know. You can still get the excellent \*Cryptic All-Stars \* (1 and 2) collections from Amazon. There are also some \*Cryptic for You \* books available there from some guy (I think his name is Williams) that are OK for beginners. Thanks for the info. Cryptic All-Stars 1 was available so I grabbed it even though some of it may be beyond me! The reviews for the Williams ones made them sound on the easy side. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/116 "2016-04-20T03:28:05Z")
> [@biotop](#): > > music not playing for my recent clue snafu (8) MISCOUNT (music not) ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/117 "2016-04-20T06:13:42Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Estimating selected dog parts strewn about the ruins of Appomattox? Timeless! (13) This looks like it must be APPROXIMATION, but I’m not sure I see it all. Appomattox ruined without the t’s leaves RITIN to deal with, which might be RIN for the dog and IT for selected, or maybe “selected dog” means that someone has claimed Trini from Scottsdale on [petfinder.com](http://petfinder.com)? My intro to cryptics came when my father used to do the Times of London puzzle, which appeared in New York magazine. I later found the Harper’s/Atlantic type more enjoyable, what with the secret messages and such built toward. Another: Oprah in shape, with a changed diet? Beauty queen! (9) ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/118 "2016-04-20T08:13:00Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Sadist slips backwards through gate leaving room for interpretation (10) > > **Stanislaus** , come back and bring a clue!! I think I might have screwed up the definition here by trying to make it too allusive. Clue: “Sadist slips backwards through gate” = wordplay; “leaving room for interpretation” = definition Clue 2 Sadist is the slightly older terminology, and would then have been paired with a masochist. Nowadays a sub needs a… Answer Postmodern. POSTERN and DOM. “…but your interpretation is as good as mine” might have been a better definition. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/119 "2016-04-20T13:33:07Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > This looks like it must be APPROXIMATION, but I’m not sure I see it all. Appomattox ruined without the t’s leaves RITIN to deal with, which might be RIN for the dog and IT for selected, or maybe “selected dog” means that someone has claimed Trini from Scottsdale on [petfinder.com](http://petfinder.com)? You got it. I made this one up, so thanks for trying it :-). So, “timeless” meant remove one T. “Selected dog parts” were letters from Rin Tin Tin (RIIN). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525/120 "2016-04-20T13:34:16Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > I think I might have screwed up the definition here by trying to make it too allusive. > > Clue: “Sadist slips backwards through gate” = wordplay; “leaving room for interpretation” = definition Whew! I did think of “dom” but couldn’t make it work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptics/750525.md?page=7)