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druh6sm

26th January 2025, 14:59
Brutally challenging for me as usual; I have solved 7 clues.

1d - is this a homophone? Not that it matters as the rest makes no sense to me.

9a - complete gibberish to me. I don’t know where to begin.

7a - see above.

Can I ask for some gentle nudges please?




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tonystock

26th January 2025, 15:09
Hi Druh6sm, 1D yes homophone. 9a def is Jalopy parses as 6, 4….7d ? Anagram.
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bowergirl

26th January 2025, 15:43
Keep at it Druh.
7d is an anagram of lacks power. Definition is offices etc.
The 6 letter conductor in 9a conducts the LSO and has just turned 70, as mentioned earlier. The 4 letter bit means to confine, or capture, as you would a mouse or rat perhaps. 1d think of a homophone of ex Eastenders actor Danny that means awful….
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druh6sm

26th January 2025, 16:01
Thank you guys.
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ohcelt

26th January 2025, 19:20
If the first word does not have "runs" in it, it becomes a word for a kind of prison.
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daz

26th January 2025, 19:25
This was for me one of the easier Everymen, and some clues were really good.

But consider these clues:

Topless – impertinence – starting again! (10)

Detective Inspector, cop, old copper, last thing in obnoxiousness: dinosaur! (10)

Outstanding isle for exile: constantly speak up (7)

I lament that Everyman solvers — especially beginners — are missing one of the very best parts of the cryptic solving experience: Smooth surface meanings.

I recognize the difficulty of writing a new cryptic every week.

But these clues, and many, many other Everyman clues, utterly lack a coherent surface sense. (Almost any sequence of word can trigger an image, but that's not what cryptic crosswords are about.)

I strongly recommend that beginning Everyman solvers widen their scope and attempt cryptic puzzles from other venues (like Games magazine and this cache of many cryptics: https://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/puzzles/cru/, which uses the freely downloadable and innocuous Across Lite crossword software).
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bowergirl

26th January 2025, 19:50
Hi ohcelt. Other way round re 24a, if the first word has “runs” in it, it is a type of prison. And if you take “runs” out of the second word you get a word for trouble…..Rather clever.
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katylanka

27th January 2025, 10:23
Thanks for the explanation Jono. Makes sense! Unlike some clues ;)
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daz

27th January 2025, 17:20
Someone has inserted a link to searching in a web browser for cryptics.

No, that is the opposite of what my post was about.

I suggested two sources of cryptics that I know were well edited, for one reason or another.

Perhaps there is a rule or custom here of not recommending any commercial product (like Games magazine). If so, I apologize. I have no connection of any kind with the magazine, and I rarely read it myself.

But if you search with a web browser for cryptics, you will find ones of all quality levels, defeating the purpose.
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