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I know I promised Tom Toce’s big mental_floss cryptic puzzle today, but after my puzzle primer post, I thought you all could use just a wee-bit more practice. Today’s theme isn’t Einstein, rather Shakespeare, William Shakespeare (hint: William Shakespeare’s work, his name, anything, really, that can be tied directly back to William Shakespeare). Tom and I have put together 15 new clues - the harder ones are his, the real easy ones are mine. (read: blame him if this makes you feel dumb!)
First one to get ‘em all gets serious bragging rights. For those just joining us, you can check out my primer here, or any one of these great sites on how to solve cryptic clues.
1. Crushed oreo and milk top any romantic lover (5)
2. Bashful, secure, and a real Jew (7)
3. At the Center, Wilson netted 14 lines (6)
4. Japanese version of Reversi is also Desdemona’s vehicle (7)
5. Ernie’s pal broadcast on the fourth and fifth for Elizabeth (6)
6. “Carpet beaten, Mimi? Really beaten.” “Ta-DAH! all five feet.” (6, 10)
7. Over an accident, a fair town shaken (6)
8. Waffles, honey–hold the corpulence (5)
9. Limerick lord’s liltingly lustful look (4)
10. Seinfeld, for example, is reticent but taking something to help the problem (6)
11. To hear a case about the elderly is a sad thing (7)
12. Firstly, guys, let’s overcompensate by ending the whole world (5)
13. Hard, rubbery disk put over ice by Wolfgang (4)
14. Nova rerun sponsored by perfume company (4)
15. Colorless turned artsy in college (4)
Comments (14)
Comment
What is ‘primmer?’
Perhaps another word would be ‘more proper?’
posted by Bassman on 11-30-2007 at 6:52 am
“Primmer” is one of those smart-people words that educated folks around me say often.
Those of us not as smart spell it “primer” but it means the same thing regardless of how you pronounce it. It’s an elementary guide to something, as in “a spelling primer.”
posted by Aaron on 11-30-2007 at 7:23 am
I’ll steal the easy ones ;)
1. Romeo
2.
3. Sonnet
4. Othello
5.
6. Titus Andronicus?
7.
8.
9. Lear
10. Comedy
11.
12.
13. Puck
14. Anon
15.
posted by Ashley on 11-30-2007 at 9:00 am
1. Romeo
2. Shylock
3. Sonnet
4. Othello
5.
6. Iambic Pentameter
7.
8.
9. Lear
10.
11. Tragedy
12.
13. Puck
14. Avon
15.
posted by Proper Charlie on 11-30-2007 at 9:42 am
1. Romeo
2. Shylock
3. Sonnet
4. Othello
5.
6. Iambic Pentameter
7. Verona
8. Flesh
9. Lear
10. Comedy
11. Tragedy
12. Globe
13. Puck
14. Avon
15.
posted by Proper Charlie on 11-30-2007 at 10:16 am
15. Pale
posted by SaiSai on 11-30-2007 at 10:57 am
1. Romeo
2. Shylock
3. Sonnet
4. Othello
5. Burton
6. Iambic Pentameter
7. Verona
8. Flesh
9. Lear
10. Comedy
11. Tragedy
12. Globe
13. Puck
14. Avon
15. Swan?
posted by Proper Charlie on 11-30-2007 at 11:00 am
These are great, guys! Nearly there. Bonus points for the person who explains how he/she figured out the clues.
posted by David on 11-30-2007 at 11:10 am
1. Romeo
2. Shylock
3. Sonnet
4. Othello
5. Burton
6. Iambic Pentameter
7. Verona
8. Flesh
9. Lear
10. Comedy
11. Tragedy
12. Globe
13. Puck
14. Avon
15. Bard
posted by Brad on 11-30-2007 at 11:14 am
OK,
1. Anagram of oreo + the top of milk i.e. ‘m’
2. Bashful = ’shy’ secure = ‘lock’
3. Wil - son net - ted (14 lines in a sonnet)
4. Alternative name of reversi is Othello which is the play Desdemona’s in
5. Ernie’s pal = Burt put on ‘on’ Richard Burton was Elizabeth Taylor’s 4th and 5th husband (I think). Played Hamlet (I think).
6. Anagram of ‘carpet beaten, mimi’ and there are 5 metrical feet in an iambic pentameter.
7. Anagram of ‘over an’
8. Waf -fles h- oney. Corpulence relates to flesh and a pound of it is in the ‘Merchant of Venice’
9. Edward Lear wrote limericks, lewd look = leer, King Lear.
10. Seinfeld is a comedy, Reticent = ‘coy’ with ‘med’ in the middle
11. Hear a case = ‘try’ with ‘aged’ in the middle
12. First letters ‘G’uys, ‘l’et’s ‘o’vercompensate ‘b’y ‘e’nding. The Globe Theatre was where Shakespeare’s plays were performed in London
13. Ice hockey puck, character in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
14. Anagram of ‘nova’, river in Stratford, Shakepeare’s birthplace.
15. Swan? Wan with an ‘S’ on? Theatre in Stratford currently? Very tenuous.
posted by Proper Charlie on 11-30-2007 at 11:30 am
1. Romeo
2. Shylock
3. Sonnet
4. Othello
5. Burton
6. Iambic Pentameter
7. Verona
8. Flesh
9. Lear
10. Comedy
11. Tragedy
12. Globe
13. Puck
14. Avon
15. Rose
posted by Aunt Shell on 11-30-2007 at 11:33 am
Brad is right with Bard as the answer for #15.
Colorless is “drab” - turned indicates an anagram and “Bard” is a prominent art school in New York as well being as the primary epithet for Willy S.
I struggled forever with this one and really do think it’s the most clever of the set.
As for #6, “iambic” has six letters, right?
posted by Aaron on 11-30-2007 at 12:04 pm
Right on all counts Aaron! NIce work.
posted by David on 11-30-2007 at 12:09 pm
Good job! David, I think they’re ready for the competition.
A couple of minor clarifications:
AVON:NOVA and BARD:DRAB aren’t just anagrams, they’re reversals. And “rerun” and “turned” could be anagram indicators, but in these cases they’re a little more specific, they suggest reversals.
I liked the BARD clue a lot, too. I thought the surface clue was cute–”Colorless turned artsy in college” paints a nice picture of something that could happen to someone. The clue breaks down as colorless–>DRAB and “turned”–>BARD, and the definition is “artsy ‘in’ college.” I don’t know whether Bard is still an “in” college, but it once was, and it surely still is artsy.
(Its president Leon Botstein is a sometime musician whom I believe David knows, but I’ll let him tell you about that.)
A good cryptic puzzle clue will never require you to make an anagram unless all the letters are present in the clue. They are for NOVA:AVON, but they aren’t for DRAB:BARD; you have to make DRAB first. So I would never ask for an anagram of a derived word. A reversal of a derived word is fair game, imo.
The Puck clue is also a double definition, as “Wolfgang” is the first name of the famous chef.
And Richard Burton did a lot of other Shakespeare, too, besides Hamlet. (And he was indeed Liz’s 4th and 5th husband.)
posted by TomT on 11-30-2007 at 3:17 pm