Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Thepipe…, thanks for your replies.

Deciphering cryptic clues is a joy at times - but also hard work at times! It's only through years of solving that I've picked up knowledge of the common abbreviations, the intentionally misleading words, the indicators for anagrams and much much more.

I was/am slightly suspicious about the E for 'error', but accepted it in a 'foreign' crossword - for all I knew, it could be common usage in America. I typed 'can E mean 'error?' ' on various search engines and two sites listed it as valid.

This might help:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crossword#Types_of_cryptic_clues

The solution, with shorthand explanations, is now available:
https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/SolutionVisionQuest1228.jpeg

Thanks Syzygy,

I've only just got round to this and, judging by the comments, I didn't find it anywhere near as straightforward as others. Still, got there in the end and really enjoyed it.

There is one clue that I'm still a bit puzzled over....

20a Where you might place a mobile call initially with kid (4) - CRIB

The parsing is clear, C(all) + RIB (kid) but I can't quite get the definition - "where you might place a mobile" - can anyone elucidate?

Hi Brendan, I think it refers to mobiles that are put on babies' cribs, to keep them entertained.

Got it, that hadn't even crossed my mind.

Many thanks Mattrom.

brendan: I've often talked about the WSJ setters on the forum; they're my favorites. They used to do puzzles for the Atlantic Monthly before it moved from Boston to Washington and became little more than a political rag and as smarmy as the New Yorker. The AM puzzle was always wonderful- charming clues with dazzling construction. I remember being awed by one that ended up having unclued genetic terms weaving through the grid in a double helix. I'm quite sure you could find them archived, or in book form on Amazon.

Thanks Aristo,

I'm in the middle of a Harpers at the moment - Hex Signs from June 2019.

I've bookmarked the pages on this Forum with the lists of both the WSJ and Harpers (I just put both titles in the search box and Voila!) and will slowly work my way through them.