# Please explain these crossword clues/answers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816 "2009-02-07T17:02:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/41 "2009-02-08T06:30:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, the NYTimes does this sometimes, usually on Thursdays, if I’m remembering correctly. I remember one puzzle in which they used card suits (heart, club, spade, diamond) in one square. So, the answer may be something like HEARTBREAKER, but the actual squares were filled in (symbol of heart)BREAKER, for a total of eight spaces. I also seem to remember one where the answers would snake around in a weird way, so that the answer might start going forward across, but will wind down and backwards on itself in the next row. These sorts of tricks can be unfair if you don’t know to look out for them as a possibility. Like I said, I think it’s a peculiarity of Thursday puzzles only in the NYTimes, but I may be wrong about that. Lots of puzzles do stuff like this. I remember a Sunday puzzle where the answer had to be seen relative to another one - below, above. Puzzles in the better magazines sometimes use these tricks also. > [@](#): > > Got that one right away, but it was easy when you know it’s going to be a trick. If you’re stuck on a crossword clue, especially the NYTimes, it pays to step back for a second and see if there’s another way the clue can be read. Show-er/shower, Flow-er/Flower – these are very typical examples of the way crossword puzzle makers deliberately (but fairly) try to misdirect you. A crossword wouldn’t be fun if it were merely straight definitions. It’s exactly this sort of wordplay that makes crosswords an enjoyable time waster. It seems to me that these are half steps to cryptic type clues, some parts of which use the same kind of wordplay. I have an S&S book of old style crosswords, which are full of obscure words. The new ones are a lot more interesting and fun to do. My mother in law used to do the old type with a dictionary near at hand. You don’t need one with the new kind so long as you have a good supply of crossword words and a supple mind. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/42 "2009-02-08T06:32:10Z")
> [@choie](#): > > **esne** used to be as big as **oleo** in the crossword filler realm. The free Baltimore paper used to have a comics column which had an “oreo” watch in the Sun and the NY Times, ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/43 "2009-02-08T07:05:20Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > It seems to me that these are half steps to cryptic type clues, some parts of which use the same kind of wordplay. One would think, perhaps, but cryptics are a step or two beyond this. I simply cannot figure out cryptics. I’ve tried, I’ve read the online guides to the types of clues used, and yet I don’t think I have ever even solved a single cryptic clue. It’s just a whole different kind of thinking to me, beyond the simple flow-er/flower type of wordplay. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/44 "2009-02-08T08:14:09Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > At least twice in the past couple months, the NY Times Sunday crossword has had a clue referring to a “number”. Both times, the reference was to a dentist (a numb-er). “Number” is probably my favourite of these little trick definitions. The most difficult one I remember seeing is “supply”, to mean “in a supple manner” rather than “provide”. I think the answer was “lithely”. Dictionaries do list “supply” and “supplely” as adverbial forms of “supple”, so I guess it’s valid. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/45 "2009-02-08T08:36:10Z")
Try this 11 letters Purple prose science fiction author ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/46 "2009-02-08T17:21:56Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Try this > 11 letters > > Purple prose science fiction author Zane Grey? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/47 "2009-02-08T23:02:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > One would think, perhaps, but cryptics are a step or two beyond this. I simply cannot figure out cryptics. I’ve tried, I’ve read the online guides to the types of clues used, and yet I don’t think I have ever even solved a single cryptic clue. It’s just a whole different kind of thinking to me, beyond the simple flow-er/flower type of wordplay. Yeah, only a half step, since these clues don’t involve anagrams and containers and a bunch of other cryptic conventions. If you want to start on them, I’d advise the New Yorker book of cryptics. They are fairly small and simple. I got my daughter started on these when they were running in the New Yorker. For the first few puzzles, read the answers which usually explain the wordplay, and then reread the directions again. It takes a while, but you’ll get there. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/48 "2009-02-08T23:05:33Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Try this > 11 letters > > Purple prose science fiction author I’d guess Isaac Asimov (Mauve). The main character in Gerrold and Niven’s **The Flying Sorcerers** was called “As a Shade of Purple Gray.” That book was full of puns on sf authors names. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/49 "2009-02-08T23:44:45Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’d guess Isaac Asimov (Mauve). The main character in Gerrold and Niven’s **The Flying Sorcerers** was called “As a Shade of Purple Gray.” That book was full of puns on sf authors names. Better than my guess of Rodden_berry_. (Which doesn’t work for the ‘prose’ part.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/50 "2009-02-09T00:41:21Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Yeah, only a half step, since these clues don’t involve anagrams and containers and a bunch of other cryptic conventions. > > If you want to start on them, I’d advise the New Yorker book of cryptics. They are fairly small and simple. I got my daughter started on these when they were running in the New Yorker. For the first few puzzles, read the answers which usually explain the wordplay, and then reread the directions again. It takes a while, but you’ll get there. I’ll give it a shot. Really, I feel like a total moron doing cryptics. I’ve gone through the online guides that explain all the types of clues and the “code words” that flag if something might be an anagram or whatnot, and I’ve read through the answers and understood them, but then, when left to my own devices, I have the cryptic solving skills of an addlepated goat. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/51 "2009-02-09T00:51:48Z")
I did a New Yorker diacrostic a few years ago with the clue, this building should be traditionally next to a church It was… laundromat…cleanliness is next to godliness. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/52 "2009-02-09T01:29:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ll give it a shot. Really, I feel like a total moron doing cryptics. I’ve gone through the online guides that explain all the types of clues and the “code words” that flag if something might be an anagram or whatnot, and I’ve read through the answers and understood them, but then, when left to my own devices, I have the cryptic solving skills of an addlepated goat. It took me a couple of years to get good at them. Once you master them, though, they’re the most fun imaginable. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/53 "2009-02-09T04:03:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ll give it a shot. Really, I feel like a total moron doing cryptics. I’ve gone through the online guides that explain all the types of clues and the “code words” that flag if something might be an anagram or whatnot, and I’ve read through the answers and understood them, but then, when left to my own devices, I have the cryptic solving skills of an addlepated goat. Great. I think they were designed to appeal to people new at cryptics. Small does not mean easy - I bought my daughter a book of mini-cryptics, by Henry Hook. I found it when we were cleaning out her room. She had some of the first one and then gave up. No wonder - they are small but tough. Stay away from English cryptics. I think you need to have grown up in England to do them well - too much local knowledge, like football teams, required. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/54 "2009-02-09T04:33:37Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’d guess Isaac Asimov (Mauve). The main character in Gerrold and Niven’s **The Flying Sorcerers** was called “As a Shade of Purple Gray.” That book was full of puns on sf authors names. 'That’s it - purple prose = “as a mauve” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/55 "2009-02-09T13:45:21Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Great. I think they were designed to appeal to people new at cryptics. Small does not mean easy - I bought my daughter a book of mini-cryptics, by Henry Hook. I found it when we were cleaning out her room. She had some of the first one and then gave up. No wonder - they are small but tough. Stay away from English cryptics. I think you need to have grown up in England to do them well - too much local knowledge, like football teams, required. Henry Hook is a godlike figure to a certain subsection of the crossword incrowd – I don’t get it. I find all of his puzzles damn close to unsolvable, in part because his answer words are obscure. Cryptics are hard enough when you recognize the word or phrase once you’ve got it. (I’ve got the same minibook, BTW, and with about 20 years’ experience solving cryptics have fully completed fewer than a quarter of the puzzles in it.) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816/56 "2009-02-09T19:24:20Z")
Two of my favorite clues - Long lunch (4 letters): HERO School of the future (3 letters): ROE [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-these-crossword-clues-answers/484816.md?page=2)