Post the annotations in the comments section.
Update (2nd March 2015): Annotations added
1. Guardian 26600 (Qaos): Watch over hearts, this unwelcomed game? (8) DRAUGHTS
Annotation: GUARD (watch) over i.e. reversed, H (hearts) T[hi]S (this unwelcomed => THIS without a greeting/HI); definition: game.
2. Times 26159: Pay attention — this statement is out by a factor of five (6) LISTEN
Annotation: The statement 'L IS TEN' i.e. '50 = 10' is out by a factor of 5; definition: pay attention.
3. Times 26227: With first item taken, second doubtful (4) IFFY
Annotation: JIFFY (second) with first item 'J' taken; definition: doubtful.
4. Times 26252: Teams catch a couple of them in an impossible situation! (7) ELEVENS
Annotation: A couple of elevens is 22. Catch-22 is an impossible situation; definition: teams.
5. Guardian 26714 (Screw): What open doors and often don't close, shock horror! (5,4) SPLIT ENDS
Annotation: 'opEN Doors' and 'oftEN Dont' close i.e. contain 'EN D's i.e. split ENDs; definition: shock horror.
6. FT 15106 (Mudd): Best ever, as is ace in lap? (6-8) RECORD-BREAKING
Annotation: A (ace) in LAP is breaking LP (record); definition: best ever.
7. Independent 9144 (Donk): Appropriate, what finishes off John Does? (10) COMMANDEER
Annotation: COMMA (,) [joh]N DEER (does); definition: appropriate.
8. Guardian 26690 (Puck): Some Mother’s Pride? Worried about one slice having no crusts (4,3) LION CUB
Annotation: ([a]BOU[t] [o]N[e] [s]LIC[e])*; definition: some mother's pride.
Visit our past clue annotation challenges: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X.
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.
Older Post
Follow on Twitter
Join us on Facebook
Get RSS
19 comments
7. Def : Appropriate
, COMMA
What finishes off (Joh)N
Does(female deer) : DEER
1. Watch over = GUARD reversed; Hearts = H; This unwelcomed = THIS - HI = TS Game=def
2. Pay attention = def; L IS TEN (ie 50=10) is "out by a factor of 5
3. Jiffy (second) - J (first "item" in JIFFY); IFFY = doubtful
4. Teams = def; "Catch two of them" = Catch 22 (an impossible situation)
5. Shock horror = def; END is "closed" by "opEN Doors" and "oftEN Don't"
6. Best ever = def; LAP is A (ace) in LP (record)
7. Appropriate = def; , = COMMA; "What finishes off John" = N; Does = DEER
8. Some Mother's Pride = def (with false caps); anagram of (a)bou(t) (o)n(e) (s)lic(e)
2) Pay attention — this statement is out by a factor of five (6) LISTEN
Def = pay attention, "L (fifty) IS TEN" is a statement that out by a factor of 5.
3) With first item taken, second doubtful (4) IFFY
Removing 1st char from JIFFY (second) to get IFFY, def = doubtful
1. Guardian 26600 (Qaos): Watch over hearts, this unwelcomed game? (8) DRAUGHTS DRAUG<< H T(-hi)S (greeting =hi)
2. Times 26159: Pay attention — this statement is out by a factor of five (6) LISTEN L is TEN = 50 is 10 ;5*10=10 which is out by a factor of 5?
3. Times 26227: With first item taken, second doubtful (4) IFFY (-J)IFFY
4. Times 26252: Teams catch a couple of them in an impossible situation! (7) ELEVENS LE(arn) for catch in EVENS?
5. Guardian 26714 (Screw): What open doors and often don't close, shock horror! (5,4) SPLIT ENDS
opEN Doors and oftEN Don't close
6. FT 15106 (Mudd): Best ever, as is ace in lap? (6-8) RECORD-BREAKING
A is breaking LP (long play, record) here
7. Independent 9144 (Donk): Appropriate, what finishes off John Does? (10) COMMANDEER
COMMA johN DEER
8. Guardian 26690 (Puck): Some Mother’s Pride? Worried about one slice having no crusts (4,3) LION CUB
aBOUt oNe sLICe anagram
1. Guardian 26600 (Qaos): Watch over hearts, this unwelcomed game? (8) DRAUGHTS
Def: Game
GUARD< (watch over)
Cannot figure the rest!
2. Times 26159: Pay attention — this statement is out by a factor of five (6) LISTEN
Def: Pay attention
L (50) IS TEN (reduced by a factor of five)
Cannot figure why L = this statement
3. Times 26227: With first item taken, second doubtful (4) IFFY
Second: JIFFY
(-J)IFFY
4. Times 26252: Teams catch a couple of them in an impossible situation! (7) ELEVENS
CD
Ref: Catch-22 (Impossible situation)
Catch + (11x2)
5. Guardian 26714 (Screw): What open doors and often don't close, shock horror! (5,4) SPLIT ENDS
Def: shock horror (shock referring to hair)
END hidden twice in different, split fodder: opEN Doors, oftEN Don't
6. FT 15106 (Mudd): Best ever, as is ace in lap? (6-8) RECORD-BREAKING
Def: Best ever
ace in lap: L(A)P - ace (A) breaking (is contained in) LP (record)
7. Independent 9144 (Donk): Appropriate, what finishes off John Does? (10) COMMANDEER
Def: Appropriate
COMMA(,) + (joh)N +DEER (does)
8. Guardian 26690 (Puck): Some Mother’s Pride? Worried about one slice having no crusts (4,3) LION CUB
Def: Some Mother's Pride
(a)BOU(t) (o)N(e) (s)LIC(e)*
Anagrind: worried
Deletion indicator: having no crusts
1. Watch: GUARD (as in, "I'm going to the bathroom, watch my purse.")
over: reversicator
hearts: H
this: THIS
unwelcomed: without HI
game: DRAUGHTS (in America, it's checkers; but in crosswords, checkers are something different :P )
{DRAUG<}{H}{T(hi)S}
2. Pay attention: LISTEN
this statement: L IS TEN
L: Roman numeral for 50
IS: =
TEN: 10
L IS TEN is off by a factor of five because 50=5×10 (Very funny!)
3. ??? Wordplay isn't clear to me yet
4. Teams: ELEVENS (soccer/football teams)
catch a couple of them: catch 22
in: is seen in
an impossible situation: catch-22
5. What open doors and often don't close: What the phrases OPEN DOORS and OFTEN DON'T enclose: "EN D"s: SPLIT ENDS
shock horror!: "shock" as in hair; SPLIT ENDS are a nightmare scenario for hair.
6. Best ever: RECORD-BREAKING
as is ace in lap?: what A is doing in LAP: splitting LP: RECORD-BREAKING (LP and EP are types of records)
7. Appropriate: COMMANDEER (appropriate as a verb)
,: COMMA
what finishes off John: johN
Does?: DEER (I feel like they could have clued for the singular "deer" by saying "...Doe, for example")
8. Some Mother's Pride?: the pride of a mother is her child, and the word "pride" indicates it could be a lioness's child, a LION CUB (a bit of a stretch, using "pride" to hint at another species)
Worried: anagram indicator
about one slice having no crusts: ABOUT, ONE, SLICE, without the "crusts" (first and last letters)
{*(a)BOU(t) (o)N(e) (s)LIC(e)} makes {LION,CUB}*
2. With first item taken: without the first letter
second: JIFFY
(j)IFFY
doubtful: IFFY
That was quick
7. Independent 9144 (Donk): Appropriate, what finishes off John Does? (10) COMMANDEER
COMMA (,) N (end of John) DEER (Does)
1) GUARD<= + H + T[-hi]S = (DRAUG)(H)(TS)
2) L/IS/TEN 50=10 (In this statement, x5 is missing, i.e., out by a factor of 5)
3) (i) [-j]IFFY (second JIFFY, first item J taken), (ii) IFFY (doubtful) (DD)
4) (i) teams = ELEVENS, (ii) catch 22 (2x11) - Joseph Heller's novel = impossible situation
5) “open doors” and “often don’t” have two “end”s separated/split.
Defn: Shock (a bushy mass of hair on a person's head) horror - is “split ends”.
6) Defn: best ever. A in LAP - is breaking LP - RECORD BREAKING
7) Defn: appropriate. , COMMA + johN + does DEER = (COMMA)(N)(DEER)
8) Defn: some mother's pride. Anagram of [-a]BOU[-t] [-o]N[-e] [-s]LIC[-e]; worried - AnagrInd LION CUB*
3. Times 26227: With first item taken, second doubtful (4) IFFY
(-J)IFFY; Jiffy=second; Remove first item; hence -J; Iffy=doubtful is definition
7. Independent 9144 (Donk): Appropriate, what finishes off John Does? (10) COMMANDEER
,=comma; N(what finishes off johN);Does=deer[doe a deer a female deer(!)]; Appropriate=commandeer is the definition
4. Times 26252: Teams catch a couple of them in an impossible situation! (7) ELEVENS
Catch twenty two=Impossible situation; a couple of elevens=twenty two
Teams=elevens is the definition
Superb Clue!
2. Times 26159: Pay attention — this statement is out by a factor of five (6) LISTEN
L=Fifty; five times ten is fifty; L Is [five times; (out by a factor of five) ) Ten
Pay attention=listen is the definition
Lovely!
1. Guardian 26600 (Qaos): Watch over hearts, this unwelcomed game? (8) DRAUGHTS
Watch=Guard; Over=reversal Indicator; hence DRAUG<
HearTS; -EAR(this unwelcomed); DRAUG<+HTS=Draughts=game,definition
Still doubtful on the parsing of HTS.
5. Guardian 26714 (Screw): What open doors and often don't close, shock horror! (5,4) SPLIT ENDS
I think this is a CD & DD
Shock=hair; hence split ends or split hair would be Shock horror
Split ends would also make doors open & wont make them close
or am I missing something?
1. Guardian 26600 (Qaos): Watch over hearts, this unwelcomed game? (8) DRAUGHTS
Anno: DRAUG<-H(earts)T(hi)S
2. Times 26159: Pay attention — this statement is out by a factor of five (6) LISTEN
Anno: L(fifty)IS TEN (five is a factor of TEN)- confusing, not able to explain :(
3. Times 26227: With first item taken, second doubtful (4) IFFY
4. Times 26252: Teams catch a couple of them in an impossible situation! (7) ELEVENS
Anno: Something related to CATCH 22- impossible situation ? 11*2 = 22
5. Guardian 26714 (Screw): What open doors and often don't close, shock horror! (5,4) SPLIT ENDS
6. FT 15106 (Mudd): Best ever, as is ace in lap? (6-8) RECORD-BREAKING
Anno; A breaking LAP - LP - RECORD BREAKING
7. Independent 9144 (Donk): Appropriate, what finishes off John Does? (10) COMMANDEER
Anno: COMMA(after appropriate) JohN Does-DEER
8. Guardian 26690 (Puck): Some Mother’s Pride? Worried about one slice having no crusts (4,3) LION CUB
Anno; Anagram of aBOUt oNe sLICe
@SurpiyaM, @SudarshanJ: Yes! It seems the punctuation trick doesn't mislead seasoned solvers at all :-)
@Qix, @Nadathur Rajan, @michael: All correct, nicely done!
@Ramki: I found LISTEN tough as the first thought it led me to was 'Isn't 10 a multiple, not a factor, of 5?' Good job parsing that right.
@Ajeesh: Catch-22!
@Ganesh N, @vasant: You got almost all of them!
Indicators of the 'unwelcomed' kind trip me up too...
@LV: Well done. I bet 3 and 5 are going to look obvious once you see their annos :-)
Yes Shuchi :D I was struggling with annos almost for a week :P
Thanks for such nice clues...really challenging & enjoyable
Post a Comment