Tuesday, 15 March 2011

Clue Challenge: Annotate These Answers II

annotate-clues On popular demand, here is another edition of Clue Challenge: Annotate These Answers with eight clues I found tricky to parse when I solved them. As before, the clues are given with their solutions. Your challenge is to figure out how the answer is derived from the clue. Have fun!

Update (17th March 2011): Annotations added.

1. Times 24658: Fit in nurses with opening of sanatorium (8) HANDSOME
Annotation: HOME (in) nurses i.e. contains AND (with) + S[anatorium]; definition: fit.

2. Guardian 25165 (Brendan): Annoyance concealed by German repeatedly (5) ANGER
Annotation: ANGER is hidden in "GermAN GERman"; definition: annoyance.

3. Times 24520: Particular person, on reflection briefly, short and plump for a queen  (9) NITPICKER
Annotation: TIN[y] (briefly, short) reversed, PICK (plump for i.e. choose) ER (a queen); definition: particular person.

4. Guardian 25228: Miniature person getting from A to B in the end (9) THUMBNAIL
Annotation: HUMAN (person) – A + B, inside TAIL (the end); definition: miniature.

5. Times 24776: Troops, new to work (8) COMMANDO
Annotation: COMMA (,) N (new) DO (work); definition: troops. Look up how to interpret punctuation in clues for more examples of punctuation as wordplay.

6. FT 13637 (Cinephile): Art spy with orders (6) PRIEST
Annotation: [thou] art spy = [thou] priest, based on "pry"; definition: …with orders. An adjectival phrase to define a noun is not Ximenean but FT does allow the liberty on occasion.

7. Guardian 25242 (Paul): A hospital with a few recovered, feeding three times, no more (2,3,4) AT THE MOST
Annotation: A, H (hospital) + SOME (a few) reversed, in TTT (three times); definition: no more.

8. Times 24777: Henry, out of practice, comes in second: unfair! (1,3,5) A BIT THICK
Annotation: H (Henry) taken out of HABIT (practice) and moved into TICK (second); definition: unfair.

Related Posts:

If you wish to keep track of further articles on Crossword Unclued, you can subscribe to it in a reader via RSS Feed. You can also subscribe by email and have articles delivered to your inbox, or follow me on twitter to get notified of new links.

at

14 comments:

  1. Meghna Agarwal15 March 2011 at 10:46

    Interesting clues. Thanks for the post.

    1. WITH (and) + S (opening of sanatorium) in HOME (in) to give HANDSOME (fit)

    2. GERM (AN GER) MAN - Hidden

    3. (-y)NIT (Small, on reflection, briefly) + PICK (plump for) + ER (Elizabeth Regina, Queen)

    4. HUM(-a+B)N (person) in TAIL (end)

    5. COMMA + N + DO

    6. No clue

    7. A + H (hospital) EMOS (few recovered) in TTT (3 times)

    8. Henry (H) out of (H)ABIT (practice) + H (Henry) in TICK (second)

    ReplyDelete
  2. SandhyaP15 March 2011 at 15:14

    1. Fit in nurses with opening of sanatorium (8) HANDSOME

    H{AND}{S}OME


    3. Particular person, on reflection briefly, short and plump for a queen (9) NITPICKER

    {(-y)NIT<-}{PICK}{ER}


    4. Miniature person getting from A to B in the end (9) THUMBNAIL

    T{HUM(-a){+B}N}AIL

    5. Troops, new to work (8) COMMANDO

    {COMMA}{N}{DO} :)


    7. A hospital with a few recovered, feeding three times, no more (2,3,4) AT THE MOST

    {A}{T} {T}{H}{E MOS<-}{T}

    8. Henry, out of practice, comes in second: unfair! (1,3,5) A BIT THICK

    {(-h)A BIT} T{=H}ICK}

    ReplyDelete
  3. dram15 March 2011 at 16:47

    Blimey these are hard Suchi! I managed to crack number 2,
    Annoyance concealed by German repeatedly (5) - the solution is germAN GERman

    I'll, er, let others have a go at the rest!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bhavan15 March 2011 at 19:06

    Wicked collection Shuchi. To be honest, I had seen some of them before and had therefore spent time, so:

    1. Times 24658: Fit in nurses with opening of sanatorium (8) H(AND)(S)OME

    Fit = Handsome
    In = Home
    Nurses = c/c indicator
    with = And
    opening of Sanatorium = S

    2. Guardian 25165 (Brendan): Annoyance concealed by German repeatedly (5) (germ-)ANGER(-man)

    Annoyance = Anger
    German repeatedly = Germ(an Ger)man

    3. Times 24520: Particular person, on reflection briefly, short and plump for a queen (9) (y-)NIT<-(PICK)(ER)

    Particular person = Nitpicker
    Briefly = Tiny
    Plump for = Pick (as in support)
    Queen = er

    4. Guardian 25228: Miniature person getting from A to B in the end (9) T(HUM(+B)(-a)N)AIL

    Miniature = Thumbnail
    Person = Human
    A to B = Humbn
    End = Tail

    5. Times 24776: Troops, new to work (8) (COMMA)(N)(DO)

    I remember reading a discussion about this one somewhere, probably in DIY

    Troops = Commando
    , = Comma
    New = N
    Work = Do

    6. FT 13637 (Cinephile): Art spy with orders (6) PRIEST

    Not yet !

    7. Guardian 25242 (Paul): A hospital with a few recovered, feeding three times, no more (2,3,4) A T,T(H)(E,MOS<-)T

    No more = At the most
    A Hospital = A H
    Few = Some
    Three times = T T T
    Feeding = c/c indicator

    8. Times 24777: Henry, out of practice, comes in second: unfair! (1,3,5) [(h-)A, BIT,][T(+H)ICK]

    Unfair = A bit thick
    Henry = H
    Practie = Habit
    Second = Tick

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous15 March 2011 at 19:24

    First pass:
    2. Telescopic in “German German” ie, German repeatedly, annoyance=def
    7. (A)(T) (T)(H)(E MOS<-)(T) i.e. A+Hospital+three Ts+ SOME recovered

    Others partial, require more emanciated monarch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. dram15 March 2011 at 22:11

    I've got one more

    Particular person, on reflection briefly, short and plump for a queen (9) NITPICKER

    Def: particular person
    on reflection briefly, short: TIN(y)>
    plump for: PICK
    a queen: ER

    I love the COMMANDO one but read the explanation elsewhere so won't pretend I was able to solve it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sanhelmet16 March 2011 at 01:15

    1. Fit = definition, in = home, nurses = container indicator, with opening = and s
    2. Annoyance = definition, hidden in German German
    4. Miniature = definition, human in tail with b replacing a
    5. Troops = definition, , = comma, new to work = n do
    7. No more = definition, a = a, hospital with few recovered = h (some)< , feeding = insert indicator, three times = ttt
    8. Unfair = definition, [h]abit + h in tick?

    Really great set!! Good fun!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shuchi16 March 2011 at 08:53

    No answers for #6 so far. A hint: think of Shakespearean English.

    Comments hidden for one more day. To all who could parse any of these - bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  9. sanhelmet16 March 2011 at 22:20

    3. Particular person = definition, on reflection briefly short = (tin[y])<, plump= pick (British), queen = ER

    6. Is it a form of pry as in pri'est? Though not sure what definition is... Art?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sunnyside16 March 2011 at 23:56

    2. When German is repeated, we see GermANGERman.
    5.COMMA(,)N(New)DO(work)
    8. H taken out of HABIT & entered into TICK (second as in clock/watch)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Raghunath17 March 2011 at 07:15

    1.H{(AND)(S)}OME. IN= Home,nurses indicates With (AND) & S come inside IN.
    2.GERM{AN GER}MAN.
    3.{(-y)NIT<-} (PICK)(ER) Pick: Plump.Short: TINY
    4. T{HUM(-A)(+B)N}AIL.
    5. Come And Do ~ COMMANDO. New: Homonym ind?
    6. P(RI)EST. Spy = trouble = PEST. Orders=Religious Instructions (RI).[When trouble comes, they come not in single spies but in batallions., from Macbeth][I can't figure out the definition of PRIEST?]
    7. A [T, T{(H(E, MOS<-)}T].
    8. {(-H)A,BIT},T(+H)ICK TICK: Second.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Raghunath17 March 2011 at 07:34

    Without the answers I could not have solved even a single clue.

    ReplyDelete
  13. dram17 March 2011 at 17:49

    For number 6 I can get 'art spy' as 'pries' and 'orders' must relate to holy orders... but that's not really a definition and what about the T?

    Stumped.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Shuchi17 March 2011 at 21:11

    @Meghna Agarwal: Welcome to my blog. That was fast work, I'm impressed.

    @dram: You bet they are hard! Congrats to you and @samhelmet for getting the toughest one PRIEST almost right.

    @raghunath: Fantastic try with #6, didn't know that line from Macbeth! Great solving with the other clues.

    @SandhyaP, @Bhavan, @Kishore, @Sunnyside: Well played!

    Explanations updated in the post.

    ReplyDelete