April 2015 ~ Crossword Unclued

Janus A few years ago, I was awestruck with the cleverness of this winning clue from the Azed Slip Archive:

The jungly mass one cleaves (7) MACHETE
[M (mass) +ACE (one)] cleaves i.e. holds (THE)*
The whole clue is the definition: a machete is something that cleaves i.e. cuts through the jungly mass.

This clue plays on a special property of 'cleave': the word has two meanings diametrically opposed to each other. The clue's wordplay uses one meaning of 'cleave' (to hold/cling), while its definition uses the opposite (to cut/divide).

Thanks to a Mental Floss article, I found a name for such words with contradictory meanings. They are called contronyms (or contranyms), from the Latin contr[a] (contrary, in opposition) + –onym. Contronyms go by many other names: autoantonyms, antagonyms, or Janus words, called so after the Roman god of beginnings and endings, usually depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. [T-Rex must be alone in calling them homographic homophonic autantonyms.]

A few examples we use commonly: DUST (to remove dust; to add dust), SCREEN (to show; to conceal), VARIETY (many types; a specific type). The folks at DailyWritingTips have compiled a pretty long list. Many contronyms are formed due to the prefix 'RE-' added to imply 'again': this meaning may contradict a separate meaning. RESIGN (renew a contract; give up on a contract), REPROVE (support or prove again; strongly disapprove), REPLACE (restore to initial position; remove from initial position) are some such words.

As you can guess, contronyms have great potential in cryptic clueing. They make even the basic double definition delightful.

Times 25889: Good or bad (6) WICKED
Independent 8822 (Phi): Spring and fall (4) TRIP

Contronyms can add mystery to the clue's definition.

Guardian 26124 (Nutmeg): Using old Latin in will could be wise or foolish (6) OWLISH
O (old) + L (Latin) in WISH (will). 'Owlish' could mean wise or foolish.

Or they can act as deceptive double-edged indicators.

Can you think of contronyms in other languages? One in Hindi is कल (KAL), which might mean yesterday/in the past or tomorrow/in the future.

Solve These

A few contronym-based clues for you to solve.

Times 25743: Making harder or softer (9) T________
Times 23609: On right, with fixed agenda, no Democrat! (6) ___G__
Guardian 25731 (Rufus): Certainly less than 50% (3,4) ___ H___

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Elementary Deceptions

As chemistry taught us, every chemical element has a unique symbol, a short character representation usually derived from the element's name. Fe = Iron (from Latin ferrum), O = oxygen, K = potassium (from Latin kalium) are a few popular examples.

Element name <-> symbol substitution forms the basis of some ingenious wordplay in crosswords.

Chemical elements whose names coincide with other meaningful words fit beautifully into cryptic clues. For example, 'lead' isn't just a metal - it can, among other things, stand for 'leash' or 'precedence' or a verb meaning 'guide'. Similarly, 'tin' can be can, 'copper' a policeman, 'iron' a verb about the pressing of clothes. The non-element meaning can misdirect the solver on the clue's surface while the element symbol contributes to the answer.

Sunday Indy 1292 (eXternal): Female's accepting lead on family film, new actress (7) HEPBURN
HER (female's) around Pb (lead) on U (family film, from the U certificate) N (new)

FT14789 (Io): Take 7Up out of tin at all? (4) EVER
R (recipe, take) + SEVEN 'out of tin' i.e. without Sn, with 'Up' implying reversal.

Further jugglery can happen with the element name <-> symbol substitution:

Sunday Times 4486 (Tim Moorey): Restrain dog with the small part of lead (4) CURB
CUR (dog) b (the small part of 'lead' i.e. the lowercase letter of 'Pb')

Sometimes, in place of the element name, a broader definition can get used.

FT14642 (Mudd): Precious thing, wind, in summer (6) AUGUST
Au (precious thing – the symbol for gold) GUST (wind)

Times 25065: Most curious split appearing back on shiny metal (4) AGOG
GO (split) reversed, after Ag (shiny metal – the symbol for silver)

Uppercase Illusions

What's more devilish is the use of the element symbol on the clue's surface when it happens to match another unrelated English word.

Guardian 25872 (Arachne): I have supper after ten (6) IODINE
DINE (have supper) after 10 (ten). The personal pronoun is also the chemical symbol for iodine.

Guardian 25818 (Paul): At sea, Titan at sea (8) ASTATINE
(SEA TITAN)*. 'At' is also the chemical symbol for astatine.

The initial capital of the chemical symbol poses a hurdle in clue-writing: since false lowercasing is not OK, the clue cannot say "at" when it means "At" for Astatine. The workaround is to make the initcap of the chemical symbol look like an inconspicuous punctuation-driven uppercase.

A D-by-E that uses this trick with two such symbols:

Guardian 24730 (Arachne): They're essential. Am I? (8) ELEMENTS
Am and I are examples of elements: Am is americium, and I iodine.

Other such words to watch out for: As = arsenic, He = helium. But don't rule out yet element symbols that by themselves mean nothing, as the setter can do this:

FT 13938 (Crux): Pub's empty – could indicate some kind of poisoning (4) LEAD
Empty 'Pub' = Pb, the symbol for lead. And then there's lead poisoning.

Solve These

Enjoy solving these cryptic crossword clues that play on element names and symbols.

Times 24143: Lead put into gold (two billion) in only a bit of a lather! (4,6)
Times 25767: He, I, and then you, we hear, occupying leadership position (6)
Guardian 26234 (Arachne): White copper put black boy in cell without clothes (3,4)
Indy 8817 (Monk): Tough guy possibly viewed as female? (4,3)
Indy 8847 (Anax): As is one kind bearing malice, running after the man (8,7)

Also try this Guardian puzzle by Brendan, themed on chemical elements. And see the blog on FT14457 by Loroso (the crossword is no longer available on the FT site), in which all the Across clues have an element symbol omitted from the wordplay.

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