Yes, you know you’re among crossword enthusiasts if you can shout “There’s an erne!” and everybody in the crowd looks up to the sky.
The B train runs from Herald Square to Bedford Park in the Bronx.
My favorite Will Weng clue is: 5-sided brass container (eight letters)
Pentagon
makes a mental note to stop at the bookstore to get a couple of NYT crossword compilations tomorrow
I forgot how much fun the good ones are…
I remember seeing the cryptic crosswords in Games magazine about 15 years ago, and they seemed impossible to me. But a few years ago I picked up a copy of the Atlantic magazine, and it has a puzzle in every issue. (Not only cryptic clues, but unusual means of constructing the puzzle, too.) If I’m dilligent and lucky, I can just finish it before the next issue comes out.
Two that I remember:
Picasso beginning to paint a blue lake orange (5)
I complain about one of the Judds (5)
Pablo and Naomi - hope I’m meant to do that.
It’s okay, Waccoe, although next time you may want to put it in spoiler tags so other people won’t see the answers by accident if they’re still trying to figure it out.
And good job on the answers.
Actually, I do these sorts of puzzles and people inevitably ask me what I’m doing. I explain, and they say those sorts of things are totally impossible. So I give them a lesser challenge and tell them the clue and the answer. Then, all they have to do is explain why my answer is the correct one. Often, even this is too hard for those not used to cryptic crosswords. Those things really take some getting used to.
[spoiler]Pablo comes from the first letters of “paint a blue lake orange.” The direct definition is “Piccasso” and the initialism nature of the solution is indicated by “beginning to.”
Naomi is “I moan” spelled backwards. “I complain” can be read as “I moan” and “about” indicates the reversal. “one of the Judds” gives the direct definition.[/spoiler]
These puzzles are all about figuring out which parts of the clue are direct and which parts are wordplay.
From here, and personal observation.
You guys are NUTS.
[sub]How many of you sneak off to the restroom at work, crossword tucked away?[/sub]
Ah, yes. Variety cryptics are fun for those of us who find regular cryptics too easy. If you want a primer, buy the collection of New Yorker cryptics. I used them to train my daughter and her boyfriend when they were originally published, since I could knock through them in 5 minutes usually.
However I have a terrible time with London Times puzzles, since there is too much local knowledge. Sorry, I don’t feel like memorizing the names of football teams and Underground stations. I found the Telegraph collections slightly easier.
My favorite, though I’ve seen it a couple of times.
Clue: A little lower? (4-letters)
Answer: calf
Beethoven’s fifth, for instance (8)
Dodododo
no.
That’s not Beethoven’s Fifth; that’s two extinct birds! 
The puzzle that annoyed me the most was one where I was sure that I was getting the clues correct, but the letters weren’t lining up when they crossed. None of them. Finally I noticed that the clues were titled, not Across and Down, but Across and Up.
I still think it was a filthy trick.
Ok,
The brown stuff on a piano bench, then?
Howzat?
Aspirate
From today’s Times puzzle:
Place for sweaters? (3)
I’ll even give you a clue: P
Just fill in the 1st and 3rd letters.
SPA If that doesn’t make sense, think of ‘sweaters’ as people who perspire, which is what they often do at SPAs (I’m told).
:smack:
Sigh…
I was hoping someone else would ask, but I’m just not getting this one.