John Updike wanted to wear leather patches when he grew up, and smoke a meerschaum pipe, roaming a shaded campus with the golden aura of a writer.
(He also wanted to be a cartoonist, but after a year at Ruskin Art College in Oxford, he figured nah – writing is much more fun.)
And nimble. And inquisitive. [...]
And now for those last cha-ra/de answers:
1 fur-row
2 he-athrob-in-son
(And if that last answer makes you go whoooo, look at these impossible machines.)
3 Inca-Tati-on
4 nothing (o)-to write (pen)-home (in)-a-bout
5 teaser-vice
6 doodle-bug
Until the Cryptic Roll-Call of Fame next year -
More charade clues, the lushest, leanest, trickiest half-duzz of 2008. Hard hats only beyond this point.
Rut that animal libbers may get into! (6) __ __ R __ O __
Cartoonist chap beating popular boy (5,8) __ E __ __ __ / __ [...]
“Movie. Three words. First syllable. Sounds like”¦”
Not quite the charade we have in mind, but the same idea holds good, namely the custom of breaking words and phrases into smaller units. Subject to snap (5) = TOPIC (TO + PIC.)
Now you’re awake to your topic, here are six of the best charade clues from last [...]
If ‘Fancy dressing (6)’ = RELISH, then you should relish these next delectable double-meaning clues, lovingly hand-picked from last year’s crosswords.
A lot of water transport (4) __ A __ __
Flashback (6) __ __ __ __ N __
Close walrus relative (4) __ __ A [...]
Warning, the next six Container clues will throw most mortal solvers into their own pine box. See how many answers you can dig up before time catches up with you.
Man with capital M accepts one old religion (10) __ E __ T __ __ __ __ [...]
Tupperware, maker of airtight boxes, sponsors the next two posts – the ‘containers’ among the Clues of Repute. You know the kind, where TIME in CENTRE gives you CENTIMETER. But that (and a few scattered letters) are the only inches of leeway you’re getting.
So here we go with the 12 best containers of 2008, with [...]
Time to turn your ear to homophones, those sounds-like species of clue that rated highly among last year’s crop of English cryptics. So pay attention, and attune.
Slide or photograph, say (6) __ __ __ __ E [Gemini]
Germans scorer’s name announced on radio (6) __ __ N __ __ __ [Paul]
Cut from ear to ear? (6) [...]
Love the spread of signposts among these six: subtle and compatible. Each clue is a pure anagrams, and every specimen as delicate as they are tricky. Savour.
For “irrigated” read “wet ground” (7) __ A __ __ __ E __
Alien as a Martian ship (5,5) __ A __ [...]
I swear – my new year’s resolution is to take greater pains in ascribing a compiler credit where it’s due. In other words, pinpoint the setter in question, or at least the Times grid number, for the best clues of 2009.
In the meantime, honouring the cream of the 2008 crop, below are the humdinger anagrams, [...]