XWord Muggles Forum

What I learned this week: that "dances," in the arcane world of cryptics, is a surefire indication that anagramming is used. Who knows? Perhaps that information will come in handy at some later date!
I also learned a lot about square dancing and the Greek hora and watched a lot of Disco Stu clips.

Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:44 pm What I learned this week: that "dances," in the arcane world of cryptics, is a surefire indication that anagramming is used. Who knows? Perhaps that information will come in handy at some later date!

Writing that down...

59 NOP & 61 CDE Down, then 62 NOU (all in prime indicator entry real estate) had me CIRCLing the grid with arrows going from one 3-lettered word to the next with one letter different. I detest spending that much time on something I know is incorrect, but do it anyway, because nothing else is popping.

1. I can’t remember any other MGWCE or WSJ puzzles that relied on cryptic cluing in the title or possibly anywhere else. I’m sure there must have been some. Muggles with better memories than mine and who have been at it for longer may have something to add.

2. My first rabbit hole was AMMO dancing around a letter B to make MAMBO. (Don’t ask where the B might have come from. I have no idea.) Unfortunately, none of the other circles fit with that strategy.

3. My Hail Mary was going to be HOKEY POKEY with the H and P sharing a circle to make it a 5-letter word. It’s the only circle dance I know except for HORA (four letters, but who’s counting?).

4. I know about cryptic clues, I know about anagrams, I know about multiple-use clues. Still, I needed serious nudging to get it. Hats off to those who solved it sans nudges.

I thought maybe the "dances" was an anagram indicator, and saw the CLERIC/OBLATE connection, but didn't figure out to use those circled letters. I saw PIRATES was anagrammed PRIEST plus a letter, and spent some time looking for other religious leaders. And too much time on the dead ends others have mentioned. That's a good thing about short streaks. A time-consuming loss, but not a painful one.

My deepest rabbit hole started with K in a circle as the marker for Kosher food - and there's Kosher mentioned in the clue for BLT. An empty circle is a degree - that's not mentioned in the clues, but maybe that's OK. A circle with an I and O (usually vertically) is a power switch. And a circle with DOO or AMMO - that's doesn't mean anything that I could find despite trying way too hard.

It took me a day to realize that all caps, besides meaning initials (I'm looking at you, RC cola:) or shouting could also mean an entry in the grid.

Over the weekend I realized that CIRCLE anagrammed to CLERIC which was a good match with OBLATE, but then I got to thinking that OBLATE is a kind of flattened CIRCLE and looking for other things like that that kind of circled around on themselves and not finding any. It wasn't til late last night that I circled (hah:) back to that original thought and threw CIRCLEK into an anagram solver and out popped CLICKER and I knew I had it.

Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:44 pm I also learned a lot about square dancing and the Greek hora and watched a lot of Disco Stu clips.

Did you have to pay to watch them? After all...

I don't usually do cryptics, so the title went right over my head. I spent the weekend on the moon - seeing "Io" in a circle and with words like PHASING, OBLATE, ARC and REMOTE in the grid, trying to match the circles with moon phases was a rabbit hole too deep to climb out of.

Great puzzle, but I never would have thought of anagraming in a million years. Short streak over, but I got a nice brain stretch out of it.

So never ever ever, but my favorite clearly wrong path, as nothing else came closing to following the same pattern, is that AMMO was inside a G_N. So I thought the 5th letter might be U!

I also thought the 5-letter answer was going to be the next in the sequence after the 4-letter AMMO, if I could just figure out the pattern! Alas.

I’m terrible at cryptic clues, so I was also stuck looking for literal dances. D’oh!

Great puzzle overall though!! Enjoyed failing spectacularly!

Gorgeous puzzle. Part of the fun (and I'm being serious here, and this isn't sour grapes) is when you look at a puzzle afterward you didn't get after finally pushing it through (with several after-deadline nudges) and realize you've been bested and you're just like, "Applause, applause."

Definitely a humbling experience, this one! Going to start a new streak with a Week 4, of course, since that's how that works (positive thinking!).

I share my "Buzzer Beater" badge with those generous muggles who helped me through a particularly difficult 3rd week meta. And to those who attribute their own struggle on lack of a cryptic experience - it didn't help me and I've been successfully solving cryptics for 40 years. Even acknowledging that CLERIC is an anagram of CIRCLE didn't open the gates, so to speak. Too many steep steps for me to climb on my own.

TMart wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 2:16 pm I don't usually do cryptics, so the title went right over my head. I spent the weekend on the moon - seeing "Io" in a circle and with words like PHASING, OBLATE, ARC and REMOTE in the grid, trying to match the circles with moon phases was a rabbit hole too deep to climb out of.

Great puzzle, but I never would have thought of anagraming in a million years. Short streak over, but I got a nice brain stretch out of it.

What a ridiculously good attitude.

There's a slight irony here: In the Zoom session with Matt Gaffney and Pete Muller, they were asked if they were interested in constructing cryptics, and both said no. And then it turns out that the key to this week's MGWCC depends on a cryptic convention......

You want anagram indicators. We got anagram indicators. These are from the most recent Guardian crossword.

Single forehand shot and scores are settled (2,4,8) NO HARD FEELINGS
“Shot” is the anagram indicator

Mushy peas served with pork pie, right for trainer (8) ESPALIER
“Pork pie” is Cockney rhyming slang for “lie.”
“Mushy” is the anagram indicator.

Make secure? RESCUE
“Make” is the anagram indicator

Their own pants became threadbare (4,4) WORE THIN
“Pants” is the anagram indicator

Dual Asian model somewhere in southern Europe … (9) ANDALUSIA
“Model” is the anagram indicator

Film of float at a tantric gathering (5,10) FATAL ATTRACTION
Gathering is the anagram indicator

A father’s wise rewriting of an idiot’s novel (1,7,2,5) A PASSAGE TO INDIA
“Rewriting of” is the anagram indicator (AN IDIOT after A PA’S SAGE)

But wait, there’s more. How about these from The Financial Times

No team player, no fellow playing? (4,4) LONE WOLF
“Playing” is the anagram indicator

Drunken alky, dipso (so gone) drinking new cocktail (4,4) PINK LADY
“Drunken” is the anagram indicator

Turkey twizzles I assert beyond dreadful for starters (8) DISASTER
“Twizzles” is the anagram indicator (after D – starting letter of “dreadful”)

And the Independent
My mount bolted, after shot of German weapon (5,3) TOMMY GUN
“Bolted” is the anagram indicator

Game flapper mixed a woeful gin (6,4) GUINEA FOWL
“Mixes” is the anagram indicator

I tape cork up in cavity full of gas (3,6) AIR POCKET
“Up” is the anagram indicator

And so on.

Aren't you glad you don't do cryptics?

Wow I never would have got this one, congrats to those of you that did! I misread the title at first as CIRCLE Dancers, which sounds like Circled Answers and almost went down a homophone rabbit hole. Looking at the circled answers though I came up with Circle K as in the gas station, IO moon, and round of ammo, maybe a hole for the blank one, so thought I was onto something there but I couldn't come up with anything for Doo or make anything out of what I had. I did notice that all the letters in CIRCLE were capitalized but I did not figure out the significance of that.

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:16 pm You want anagram indicators. We got anagram indicators. These are from the most recent Guardian crossword.




And the Independent
My mount bolted, after shot of German weapon (5,3) TOMMY GUN
“Bolted” is the anagram indicator

Game flapper mixed a woeful gin (6,4) GUINEA FOWL
“Mixes” is the anagram indicator

I tape cork up in cavity full of gas (3,6) AIR POCKET
“Up” is the anagram indicator

And so on.

Aren't you glad you don't do cryptics?

Very.

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:16 pm You want anagram indicators. We got anagram indicators. These are from the most recent Guardian crossword.

...

Aren't you glad you don't do cryptics?

That is WHY I do cryptics.

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:16 pm You want anagram indicators. We got anagram indicators.

Why am I hearing this in the voice of Frank Costanza?

lol picked a good week to not have enough time for the puzzle. I don't think I'd ever have gotten there, but congrats to those who did.