Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

HILL?

How does that relate to dock?

Thane has always meant some form of titled nobility to me? Does. “Sane” then mean it’s an anagram?

From the Chambers dictionary - fell: An upland tract of wasteland, pasture, or moorland

Hi Druh6sm,

I know cryptic crosswords can at times appear impenetrable and look like a whole other language but, as others have said, with patience and practice the secrets will eventually unlock themselves so have faith:-)

6a - think of a 4 letter speech defect that would cause the pronunciation of "sane" to sound like "thane"

10a - is a word meaning "dock" as a verb (like a boat might do) the other definition is very tricky, or at least I didn't know it, and needed Chambers to confirm it.

Anagram indicators or "anagrind" for short are usually word that imply movement, chaos, or madness with such examples as "bananas", "slyly", "recklessly", "corrupt" and a million others:-)

Brendan, I knew that usage because I used to be a distance runner and was aware that "fell running" is a (big) thing in the UK!

Maybe it's a northern thing Geeker. I used to do cross-country running - is that the same thing?

Brendan, it seems like more of a northern thing. I used to read about races in Scotland and (especially) the Lake District. Boundaries are kind of blurred...courses are hillier and rougher / more "extreme" than cross-country, but the distinctions between "fell/hill running", "trail running" and "mountain running" aren't really clear to me.

I appreciate the help folks.

I managed to get LISP.

I had to google everything else.

Hi druh6sm,

as a beginner I found doing the Quiptic in the Guardian (every Monday, but all previous ones are on the website if you want to practice) incredibly helpful as a way of honing my abilities as a cryptic solver. Firstly, the clues are not as hard, and secondly, you have the option (unlike in the Everyman) to reveal either the whole answer, or just certain letters if you want to check that you are on the right track.

Another helpful website is Fifteen Squared, which gives all the answers but, importantly, explains the parsing as well.

Favourites were 1a and 3d, both of which I thought very funny, Didn't understand the parsing of 1d until coming on here, and now think that was a great clue too.