Friday, 31 July 2015

Ten Bird Clues

birds Each of the clues below has a different type of bird in it. The bird's name may be the answer or part of the wordplay.

Can you find all the birds? [Answers updated]

Times 25048: Bird thus soaring over quarry  (6) OSPREY
SO (thus) soaring i.e. reversed, PREY (quarry)

Times 25106: One that flies from a part of NW Europe (3) AUK
A UK (part of NW Europe)

Guardian 25556 (Araucaria): They say sea is seabird's water supply (7) CISTERN
C (sea, they say) IS TERN (seabird)

FT 13669 (Sleuth): Bird circling lake making one shrink back (6) FLINCH
FINCH (bird) around L (lake)

Guardian 26160 (Picaroon): Unoriginal commenter's standard twaddle (6) PARROT
PAR (standard) ROT (twaddle)

Times 25147: Struggling university secretary gets the bird  (2,7,2) UP AGAINST IT
U (university) PA (secretary) GAINS (gets) TIT (the bird)

Guardian 25030 (Rufus): Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) FLAMINGO
FLAMING (ruddy) O (duck)

Sunday Times 4509 (Dean Mayer): Led, as a bird would in race (11) SPEARHEADED
A RHEA (bird) 'D (would) in SPEED (race)

FT14773 (Bradman): Bird not high up first to reach ground (3) OWL
LOW (not high up), with the initial 'L' moved to the end

Guardian 25966 (Philistine): Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11) REGRETFULLY
R[eall]Y around EGRET (bird) + FULL (no longer hungry)

Enjoy bird-spotting!

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12 comments:

  1. Raghunath31 July 2015 at 14:27

    Times 25048:: OS<= PREY
    Times 25106:
    Guardian 25556: Sea~C+IS+TERN
    FT 13669:F(L)INCH
    Guardian 26160: PAR+ROT
    Times 25147: U+P,A+GAINS+T
    Guardian 25030: FLAMING+O
    Sunday Times 4509: SPE(A+RHEA'D)ED
    FT14773 (Bradman): Bird not high up first to reach ground (3)
    Guardian 25966:R(EGRET+FULL)Y

    ReplyDelete
  2. SandhyaP31 July 2015 at 21:31

    Stumped by the 8th clue :(

    Bird thus soaring over quarry (6){OS<-}{PREY}

    One that flies from a part of NW Europe (3){A}{UK}

    They say sea is seabird's water supply (7) {C(`sea)}{IS}{TERN}

    Bird circling lake making one shrink back (6) F{L}INCH

    Unoriginal commenter's standard twaddle (6) {PAR}{ROT}

    Struggling university secretary gets the bird (2,7,2) {U}{P A}{GAINS}{T IT}

    Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) {FLAMING}{O}

    Led, as a bird would in race (11)

    Bird not high up first to reach ground (3)(-l)OW{+L}

    Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11) R{EGRET}{FULL}Y

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nadathur Rajan31 July 2015 at 23:00

    1. (OS<=)(PREY)
    2. (A)(UK)
    3. ~sea C/IS/TERN
    4. F(L)INCH
    5. (PAR)(ROT)
    6. (U)(P A)(GAINS)(T TI)
    7. (FLAMING)(O)
    8. {SPE(A/RHEA'D)ED}
    9. [-L]OW(+L) not high up LOW first L to reach ground (move down) Defn: Bird
    10. {R(EGRET)(FULL)Y} ReallY gutted - RY, having eaten CC Indicator; bird EGRET, no longer hungry FULL; Defn: alas

    ReplyDelete
  4. Krishna2 August 2015 at 17:26

    Times 25048: Bird thus soaring over quarry (6) OSPREY
    OS<- PREY = quarry

    Guardian 25030 (Rufus): Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) FLAMINGO
    FLAMING = ruddy, O = duck

    Guardian 25966 (Philistine): Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11) REGRETFULLY
    RY around EGRET+FULL

    ReplyDelete
  5. Vasant2 August 2015 at 19:14

    Times 25048: Bird thus soaring over quarry (6) OSPREY=(OS<)(PREY)
    One that flies from a part of NW Europe (3) AUK=(A)(UK)
    They say sea is seabird's water supply (7)CISTERN= C(~SEA)(IS)(TERN)
    Struggling university secretary gets the bird (2,7,2) UP AGAINST IT (U)(PA)(GAINS)(TIT)
    Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) FLAMINGO= (FLAMING)(O) & LIT
    Led, as a bird would in race (11)= SPEARHEADED= SPE(A)(RHEA'D)ED{something amiss with ANNO)
    Bird not high up first to reach ground (3) OWL= LOW with L going from first to last(ground)
    Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11)= REGRETFULLY; not sure of the ANNO but got the answer with EGRET & the first letter R given by you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Vasant2 August 2015 at 19:17

    Bird circling lake making one shrink back (6)= F(L)INCH

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sumitra2 August 2015 at 19:20

    8. spearheaded(CD)

    ReplyDelete
  8. michael3 August 2015 at 00:10

    (In order of solving)
    They say sea is seabird's water supply (6)
    "C",IS,TERN

    Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11)
    REALLY gutted = R(-eall)Y
    R{EGRET,FULL}Y

    ReplyDelete
  9. Venkatesh3 August 2015 at 03:27

    (OS<)(PREY)
    A/UK
    C (~sea)/IS/TERN
    F(L)INCH
    PAR/ROT
    U(P,A)(GAINS)(T,IT)
    FLAMING/O
    SPE(A/RHEA’D)ED
    [-L]OW(+L)
    R(EGRET)(FULL)Y

    ReplyDelete
  10. Shuchi3 August 2015 at 08:55

    @Raghunath, @Krishna, @michael: Well solved. Looks like the shorter answers were trickier!

    @SandhyaP, @Sumitra: The bird is RHEA. A RHEA'D in SPEED (race)

    @Nadathur Rajan, @Venkatesh: Perfect.

    @vasant: gutted = destroyed the insides of, so 'really gutted' = R[eall]Y
    I read FLAMINGO with 'wading bird' as the definition, and 'ruddy duck' (a different bird) as part of the wordplay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vasant4 August 2015 at 12:23

      Really understood!
      This was the first time I cold solved clues..
      Quite an enjoyable experience. Thanks.

      Delete
  11. Shuchi3 August 2015 at 08:55

    Answers updated in the main post.

    ReplyDelete