It seems that although many people have time off over the Christmas/New Year holiday period, they don’t spend it solving cryptic crosswords. I suspect people generally take a break from what they regularly do, which is fair enough. Consequently the website stats show that most people are in catch-up mode (or still on a break), so I’m pausing for a week to hopefully let people get back into the swing of things.
Those right up-to-date might like to take on another clue-writing challenge, something that seemed to tickle the fancy of many Stickler solvers the first time round.
Here are four words:
DISCOVER
PIONEER
CONCISE
BALANCE
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
Tip: Some of the words have obvious wordplay breakdowns – write good clues using these breakdowns BEFORE attempting other wordplays.
Best of luck.
The Stickler Weekly will return next week.
David
The Stickler
DISCOVER…Bad rap the tribute band’s performance.
BALANCE…First degree for aspiring knights (jousters to make it easier)
PIONEER..We hear dessert will be served soon.
CONCISE..Tree feature holds regular gender.
Michael – good wordplay, but each clue also needs a definition at the beginning or end.
I’ll be doing No. 68 from Jan 19, 2015
Not sure I’d ever be able to crack the clue, but pioneer is pretty funny.
Sorry, that was meant for Michael!
I’ll give 68 a shot too.
DISCOVER……….Bring to light the disco version.
PIONEER………….Confused one ripe founder.
CONCISE…………..Prisoner with half an activity in a nutshell.
BALANCE………….Head of bank shifts clean equity.
Like all of them.
It took a moment to work the half activity, which is good. So are the rest.
DISCOVER – Find record flipped.
Like
PIONEER – To take the lead, detective using organic listening device.
…announced listening device
Like
I am having trouble with on. Suggest “To take the lead, detective working announced listening device”
Arthur – “using” and “on” can be synonyms, e.g. “on heroin” = “using heroin”.
While on heroin is okay, I find on organic= using a bit of a stretch. But that is okay.
I still have not put time into working on viable clues.
BALANCE – Initially, Batman used a spear to bring justice.
Like
Me too
CONCISE – Condensed ice ingredients mixed and shared amongst criminals.
Like
Not sure the s in concise is in the right order. Concept appeals
68 for me as well
* Learn parts of disco version (8)
* Establish π + 1, just before outskirts of Exeter (7)
* Jailbird ices mangled thumbnail (7)
* Steady lab, facing west, can unsteadily point (7)
Good constructions in all
Revised to include definitions per Mr. Mansell’s suggestions.
DISCOVER…Find a bad rap of the tribute band’s performance.
BALANCE…First degree for aspiring knights hangs in it.
PIONEER..First to hear dessert will be served soon.
CONCISE..Short tree feature holds regular gender.
Reply
Like
Three years on, level of difficulty for #68 seems on a par with David’s current work.
To those taking on the Definitions Challenge – very Courageous – I salute you.
I’m not even remotely contemplating giving up my “Day Job”
Surprising number of remember this Echoes, Three years on.
Thoroughly enjoyed this re-visit. Couple of Notables:-
10a, 13a, 25a (always unclear about meaning of this – No More)
2d & 7d -Alphabet Soups (of course) & 11d last in – Cute.
PIONEER………..Original one breaking into a jetty.
Like
Stumble upon divorces.
Remaining half of an anchor cuts into a bundle.
Laconic company since shuffled.
Like
Like all these
DISCOVER: Find record on top
PIONEER: The first constant on an organ, we hear.
BALANCE: Even a degree and treat a boil.
Like
PIONEER – Colleague captured lion without learning first to explore.
*firstly
Like
BALANCE – Reconcile the last to leave ball with the first to leave dance.
Like!
Good construction, with some wit to entertain
DISCOVER – Explore the town where the white cliffs are found around island with whispering sea.
Like
CONCISE – Short escape with icon frustrated?
Like
“Short” doing double duty and the Question mark imply an &lit to me. But I then have trouble with the word play. Icon frustrated (anagram) is fine. but that leaves “cse” in that order, which could be a short escape “esc” but it needs to be reversed.
Never really accurately understood the question mark’s function. Could ‘frustrated’ apply to ‘short escape’ as well as to ‘icon?’ That was my intention, but perhaps not valid?
Ian, here’s some info on the use of question marks:
http://www.australiancrosswords.com.au/WPblog/the-stickler-weekly-9-solution/
The Stickler
Thanks for that David. Very helpful and even mentions double duty.
Like Ian I do not fully understand trhe use of questions marks, so the blog was very useful – again.
Discover – To find out may lead to unplanned divorces (8)
Like
Nice!
Strip like explorers do
Find Diana’s umbrella
That’s all I have time for now. Hope to be back later
Like
These are good clues Arthur, short and effective. well done
Especially like Diana’s umbrella. It also opens the door to others – ‘Locate Diana’s shelter.’ Or ‘Reveal Diana’s secret identity.’ Thanks for the inspiration!
* Invent vinyl again (8)
* I appear with drugs in trashy porn trailblazer (7)
* Compressed, deformed conic sections truncated by 75% (7)
* Be around polluted canal residue (7)
Like these, but think vinyl has had a good workout. Nos 2 and 4 impress.
I like the 4th one too
DISCOVER – To notice disco versions
PIONEER – the pilgram went towatds pier one.
CONCISE – brief compact.
BALANCE – counteract to ban lace.
This is fun. I love the inventive approaches.
DISCOVER….. A high jumping record?
PIONEER…….. A soft ten, close, say, to start something.
CONCISE………To be exact, is needs to be in view, say, after study.
BALANCE………An academic weapon could be financially high or low.
Interesting construction for clues which I like
I think pioneer would be better without the “a”. The clue works without it, and to me it is in the category of “nothing else”
I like the use of homonyms in Pioneer and Concise.
The clue for DISCOVER should read…… Find a high jumping record?
Discover: Find Mr Viscious is back with one hundred and six balls.
Pioneer: First to look around one working.
Concise: Short in some dictionaries.
Balance: Agitated barnacle loses the right for scales.
Good examples of the genre – charade, container, and deletion/anagram. Not sure whether there is an & lit as some dictionaries may be concise, whereas the definition probably appears in almost all dictionaries.
Like ’em all. Agree with Arthur that #3 is not quite an &lit.
Here they all are including the one posted earlier
Discover:- To find out what may lead to unplanned divorces
Balance:- Device used for weighing the amount of money in your bank
Pioneer:- Rags removed from ripe oranges sorted out an early settler
Concise:- Carbon Monoxide since changing is brief but comprehensive
Like ’em all
PIONEER
My rival first to find out right way to convert ferrous metal to charged particle.
CONCISE
Terse criminal is welcome in the arms of the church.
BALANCE
Poise and qualifications needed to prick festering boil.
DISCOVER
Sinners find asbestos shield needed in Hades.
Like 2 & 3.
1 & 4 each need a definition at the beginning or end.
* Denigrate “Old Man River” pioneer (8)
* Discover phone with pH=0 in middle of pile (7)
* Crisp cone taking about one second (7)
* Stabilise chaotic north-east cabal (7)
Alternative Concise: In brief – a mixed trig function about the speed of light.
Also on a different approach.
Balance: There is poise in our strange herbal ancestry.
* Find disoriented divers encircling conscientious objector (8)
* Found drugs in mutated prion (7)
* Crisp, broken cone [sic] (7)
* Bowled Alan before middle of recent match (7)
*Find out what is in cadis – covertly.