
There were two clues in The Stickler Weekly 193 that got people talking: 12-across Mountain track up for restoration say ? (11,4) and 4-down. Continue reading

There were two clues in The Stickler Weekly 193 that got people talking: 12-across Mountain track up for restoration say ? (11,4) and 4-down. Continue reading
The Stickler for this week is now available. Please select your preferred solving format.
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The solution to this puzzle will appear next week.
| Clue Hints for The Stickler Weekly 193 | |
| Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 193 | |
| Solution to The Stickler Weekly 192 | |
| Insights for this week | |
| Invest in the Future of The Stickler |
Please include comments or discussion about this crossword below.
Request help in the Clue Hints blog entry so all can see.
It’s a weekly crossword, so please don’t give/discuss any full answers until the solution is posted (such posts will be deleted/edited).
Enjoy!
(click on the clue number to see the hint)
Click on underlined text for explanation of terms.
Need more hints for these or other clues? Just leave a reply below.
Examples: holding, keeping, embracing - anything that creates the image of containment.
Example: A indeed (?) could mean to insert A inside deed.
Examples: holding, keeping, embracing - anything that creates the image of containment.
Examples: beheaded, cut short, endless, nearly, largely etc.
Examples: part of, associated with, types of.
Examples: holding, keeping, embracing - anything that creates the image of containment.
Welcome all cryptic crossword solvers.
Some cryptic crosswords are tough purely because local lingo is used and not understood by all, especially those living outside of Australia. This post seeks to fill this vernacular gap.
The clues listed here may contain a component not familiar to all outside of Australia.
(click on the clue number to see the inside information)
Like to add something I’ve missed to help others, or comment on a meaning, term or expression? Please leave a reply below.
Example: A indeed (?) could mean to insert A inside deed.

| Across | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | STRUCK | |
| Small vehicle involved in a collision (6) | S + TRUCK | |
| 4 | IMPASSES | |
| Fools behind troublemaker’s insurmountable difficulties (8) | ASSES after IMP | |
| 9 | INTENT | |
| Design under canvas? (6) | IN TENT | |
| 10 | BACHELOR | |
| Person who has studied a famous composer, recalled part (8) | BACH + (ROLE reversed) | |
| 12 | PHONETIC | |
| One in perfect pitch (not!) representing vocal sounds? (8) | ONE inside anagram of PITCH | |
| 13 | SUBDUE | |
| Withdrawn coach expected defeat (6) | BUS reversed + DUE | |
| 14 | ||
| One involved in returning unsatisfactory messages (1-4) | I inside (LAME reversed) | |
| 15 | DEFEATIST | |
| Swallow is wrapped in handy wet blanket (9) | (EAT + IS) inside DEFT | |
| 18 | SLENDERLY | |
| Just creditor operating in secret (9) | LENDER inside SLY | |
| 19 | DREAM | |
| Imagine front of daily paper (5) | (D)AILY + REAM | |
| 21 | LOCKED | |
| Having hair fastened with a clasp? (6) | Double Definition | |
| 23 | FRONT-END | |
| Retrieval of web handled by palm-top computer? (5-3) | (NET reversed) inside FROND | |
| 25 | EQUIPPED | |
| Prepared comedienne finally said something funny (8) | COMEDIENN(E) + QUIPPED | |
| 26 | FOLATE | |
| Three-quarters of people ate healthy stuff (6) | (FOL)K + ATE | |
| 27 | TAKE NOTE | |
| Observe gambling game played in state down south (4,4) | KENO inside (STATE minus S) | |
| 28 | TESTES | |
| Established couple recalled balls (6) | (SET twice) reversed | |
| Down | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | STIPPLE | |
| Pepper and salt put on drink regularly (7) | S + TIPPLE | |
| 2 | RATIONALE | |
| Reasons to limit supply of alcohol (9) | RATION + ALE | |
| 3 | CONCEALED WEAPON | |
| Peace deal now in trouble after fool pocketed gun, say? (9,6) | Anagram of PEACE DEAL NOW after CON | |
| 5 | MEAL | |
| Trimmed beef, say, served with large quantity of food (4) | (MEA)T + L | |
| 6 | A THOUSAND AND ONE | |
| Overwhelming number at home carrying contaminated DNA identified by an expert (1,8,3,3) | AT HOUSE outside (anagram of DNA + AN + DON) | |
| 7 | SOLID | |
| Upstanding one bound by auctioneer’s call (5) | I inside SOLD | |
| 8 | SURFEIT | |
| Swell match held up an excessive amount (7) | SURF + TIE (reversed) | |
| 11 | GIRDER | |
| Embarrassed engineer pushed back metal beam (6) | (RED + RIG) reversed | |
| 16 | FLYERS | |
| They flog, without advertising initially, promotional material (6) | FLAYERS minus (A)DVERTISERS | |
| 17 | INELEGANT | |
| One angle formed in mesh is not neat (9) | I + anagram of ANGLE inside NET | |
| 18 | SALIENT | |
| Conspicuous foreigner standing in the middle of street (7) | ALIEN inside ST | |
| 20 | MADNESS | |
| End up participating in mass hysteria (7) | END reversed inside MASS | |
| 22 | CHUCK | |
| Throw out meat (5) | Double Definition | |
| 24 | VENT | |
| Opening item on a programme started late (4) | E(VENT) |

I saw a newspaper article the other day discussing the difficulty of not being tech-savvy in this modern age. Continue reading

I’m thrilled many of you had a go at writing a few clues and experienced just a taste of what I go through for about 30 clues every crossword. I intentionally picked “good” words to clue, with a mix of vowels and consonants, multiple definitions and fairly obvious wordplay paths. Next time I might add a harder one.
I’m just back from 10 days away celebrating 30 years married to Linda. I’ve been planning this trip for 6 months, but not everything turned out well. There was five days in Mollymook, south coast, NSW, with four friends who attended our wedding. Somehow, I contracted the flu before the start of the holiday and managed to infect the rest. Two friends went home, and the other two travelled with us to Stroudover Cottage in Bemboka, southern NSW, to attend a live-in cooking course, tailor-made to our requirements. Day one was exhausting as I was really ill and the others gradually got worse. At the start of day two, I contacted the chef and cancelled what was remaining AND a cheese-making course that we had tagged on to the end of the cooking course. Graciously, the chef offered us extra accommodation and the chance to recover and complete both courses, which we did eventually, but with great effort and without the enjoyment that such an experience should involve. Saddest of all, the flu zapped our appetites – the last thing we wanted! We had planned to visit friends in Merimbula, far south coast NSW, but that leg had to be cancelled completely.
We left Stroudover Cottage on the improve but the chef and his wife were suffering quite badly from the flu. A memorable trip, and one that didn’t allow me to be as actively involved with all the clueing efforts as I would have wanted. Still not 100% but back on deck, I’ll endeavour to go through the submitted clues and report back (maybe next week).
If you like cooking, I can’t recommend chef Patrick and Stroudover Cottage highly enough. He created a plan specifically for our needs and at a very reasonable price. Please check it out.
Best
David
The Stickler

My wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary yesterday. As a result, I’m giving myself a week off, but I thought I’d give fans a chance to get their hands dirty and write a few clues. I know most of you aren’t interested, but give it a go anyway. Even if you don’t end up posting a clue, I would like you to go through the process of trying to devise a clue.
I used to give my community college students the task of writing just one clue to open a window into my world. There’s no doubt they had a different appreciation of the art of clue-writing after trying to write their own.
Here are three words:
SEPARATE
RESTRAIN
AEROPLANE
Submit clues here for one or more of these words, and feel free to comment on what’s posted but remember this isn’t easy, so be constructive and nice.
You’ll need:
A definition
Wordplay
Nothing else
Best of luck.
The Stickler Weekly will return next week along with last week’s solution.
David
The Stickler
The Stickler for this week is now available. Please select your preferred solving format.
![]() |
![]() |
The solution to this puzzle will appear next week.
| Clue Hints for The Stickler Weekly 192 | |
| Overseas Help for The Stickler Weekly 192 | |
| Solution to The Stickler Weekly 191 | |
| Insights for this week | |
| Invest in the Future of The Stickler |
Please include comments or discussion about this crossword below.
Request help in the Clue Hints blog entry so all can see.
It’s a weekly crossword, so please don’t give/discuss any full answers until the solution is posted (such posts will be deleted/edited).
Enjoy!
(click on the clue number to see the hint)
Click on underlined text for explanation of terms.
Need more hints for these or other clues? Just leave a reply below.
Examples: holding, keeping, embracing - anything that creates the image of containment.