Last picture of me in the suit, seriously. I'm not sure if I'll be able to show my face in public if I put too many of these up.
Day 3: Some success at Times Crossword 24,208. Not much, but some.
Quicker way to stop circuit court imprisoning you in hearing (5,3)
After some thought, some connecting clues, and no solid logic I came to the conclusion that the answer for this clue was short cut.
Piano solo's beginning, frequently (4)
Read as 's beginning' and frequently=oft, therefore the answer is soft. Oh yeah.
Financial wrongdoing concealed by boards I'm on? Yes (6)
Concealed = look for the word in the clue. Simony (-the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges, for example pardons or benefices) happens to be a financial wrongdoing. Sussed.
Artist repeatedly stopping at Biblical mount (6)
I'm not sure how good your knowledge of Biblical mounts is, but Ararat is the supposed landing place of Noah's Ark. You got that one too? Excellent.
Successful period that could make one ladyfied (5, 3)
Ladyfied? Suspicious. It just so happens to contain all the letters to make field day - a successful period. Coincidence? I think not.
A party connected with, e.g., American red or blue state (8)
A party = a do. American red or blue = color. Connected they make Colorado, a state.
Sit there, improperly in casual wear (3, 5)
'Sit there' mixed about ('improperly') becomes tee shirt, an item of casual wear. Score another one for The Cryptic Crusader.
Meat cooked in two ways for sporting colleague (4-4)
Meat? Two ways? A sporting colleague? Why, it's a team-mate of course!
Breaking off due to strain of second trial (8)
Second = S, trial = hearing, put 'em together and you get shearing - breaking off due to strain.
Golding's novel released before autumn (4, 4)
Released = free, autumn = fall (for Americans). Hence the clue refers to Free Fall, the 1954 novel by William Golding about a renowned artist going mad in a prisoner of war camp.
Part of Henry IV, as a last resort, included in some folios (8)
Now my reasoning for this is not really acceptable, but it fits in with other clues and is very close. A last resort might refer to a fail safe. A character in Henry IV is Sir John Falstaff. That's enough to satisfy me.
11 clues, and weak ideas for many of the rest (29 clues in today's puzzle). A marked improvement on my past performance. Stay tuned folks!
Good work! For your two "psychic solves" you seem to have remembered an important rule: Every clue has a definition of the answer, possibly misleading, but often quite precise when correctly understood. Keep that in mind, and you can gradually pick up all the rest from observation and determined guessing at answers that fit the grid/checking letters and a possible definition in the clue. Borrowing from Theroux, this is the "Slow boat to Cryptic Solving". These two clues were covered by the Times for the Times blog, though maybe not with all the details you'd want. Do speak up there if the explanations are too brief.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: do you mind being better known? For Times crossword setters, the experiences of a beginner are at least as interesting as those of old hands like me, so you'd be an excellent contrast to Times for the Times, which a few of them read from time to time. I'd like to mention this blog there, and/or link to you in its list of other solving blogs, for as long as you carry on writing similar reports.
I don't mind people linking my blog, but I doubt it will continue to be of much interest in any one area. The purpose of this blog is just to try new things, share my observations on interesting and banal things. The crossword thing is just for a week. Whilst I will continue to attempt to become a master, I won't be continuing to blog about my struggles. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blogging efforts! It's making my move to becoming a cryptic crossword man so much easier - keep it up!