Elle Cryptic #1

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• riso 14:15 · 2023-10-12T03:16:47.017Z

  LETS GOOO ELLE !!! this was so much fun. this was the first cryptic i had a chance at. i got stuck on CUE, LATTE, and BELTS which i thought was BLISS. i loooved NIL, ALIENLIFE, and ANECDOTAL. THANK YOU !! make more of these sometime pls

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-12T04:31:18.666Z

    I’m glad you loved it! It was fun (although more time consuming) to create!

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• Shivangi 3:09 · 2023-10-12T03:40:17.778Z

  So good!

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-12T04:31:25.465Z

    Thanks! Nice time!

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• kurtalert 🤓3:42 · 2023-10-12T03:27:30.846Z

  Nice job! I'm terrible at cryptics, but your clues all made sense to me!

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-12T04:32:10.210Z

    Awesome!

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• Brian Callahan 6:50 · 2023-10-12T04:56:35.477Z

  This was great! Very, very accessible for a non-cryptic solvers (like me)

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-12T06:43:41.542Z

    Thanks! Happy to make accessible crosswords :)

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• merlinnimue 5:35 · 2023-10-12T04:54:13.239Z

  great puzzle, very smooth

  (honestly, though, at this point why do i even bother)

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-12T06:43:28.091Z

    that’s (the spoiler text) a compliment, right?

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    • merlinnimue 5:35 · 2023-10-12T14:03:30.936Z

      No its a lamentation on how the gap keeps widening between me and the rest of you geniuses and how my "ability" to do puzzles has completely deteriorated... I tried to spoiler it to stop from being too negative, but like me it was of no use

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      • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-12T15:35:53.188Z

        I try to keep my puzzles somewhat accessible so let me know if something trips you up!

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• JR 🤓6:10 · 2023-10-12T19:10:28.197Z

  This is about the limit of my skill at cryptics, heh. Thanks!

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• tuber 🤓5:00 · 2023-10-12T23:28:16.286Z

  I think in general the across clues work better than the down ones - 4D in particular is a shocker (indirect anagram of ET AL with unindicated homophone "tea" = T??) and I can't work out 9D at all!

  7D though has a lovely adjective/noun switch on "prompt" which makes it my favourite clue in the puzzle.

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  • tuber 🤓5:00 · 2023-10-13T00:03:09.987Z

    o yeah I gotta mention 2D as well. Cryptic setters have to give scrupulously fair definitions (because they get to be sneaky in every other respect,) and DEBT (a noun) can never mean OWE (a verb.) Heads have rolled for less

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    • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-13T01:45:45.846Z

      Oh no That one slipped past me. I'm still using all my braincells trying to get my head around constructing the clues that I forgot the basics...

      Please try my Cryptic #3!

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    • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-13T02:01:45.763Z

      I have changed:

      • OWE to "Rowen takes his clothes off, need to pay (3)"
      • LATTE to "Extract flattering coffee, perhaps (5)"
      • GUIDE to "Lead mentor (5)"

      ---

      Do they work?

      Also, should device indicators always be in 3rd person present tense? e.g. Could I instead write "Rowen took his clothes off" to help the surface reading?

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-13T01:44:24.475Z

    Thanks for the feedback! Hmm, I thought things like "oh" = O were fair game. 9D Wild (scramble) budgie holding a bee (BUDGIE - B = UDGIE) to get advisor (GUIDE)

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    • tuber 🤓5:00 · 2023-10-13T10:40:25.404Z

      Cryptic-land is weird sometimes, but if you can justify something by reference to a reputable dictionary, you're usually on safe ground. For this reason "Uniform = U" is completely fine (thanks to NATO,) and "bend" = U is considered alright, because apparently "U" can mean "anything shaped like a U", but "You = U" is considered objectionable because there's no dictionary entry. It would have to be "You heard", "You said", "You texted", or some other such thing.

      "Oh" = "O" seems safer, though - Merriam Webster gives "O - interjection - less common spelling of Oh" - but again this is based on a dictionary definition, rather than "oh" just sounding like the letter O.

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      • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-13T17:07:44.557Z

        Got it, thanks for the explainer!

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      • dooiemus 🤓2:52 · 2023-10-19T12:06:43.703Z

        To be fair, You = U is used quite a bit in the broadsheets, as is why = Y. cf. This risque Vlad clue: "Congress in Recess - why? (5)

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• Pedagogue 6:38 · 2023-10-13T03:06:04.899Z

  Very entertaining! I loved 7D because it mislead me for some time! 5D I try to avoid acronyms in cryptic crosswords. 8A "Age sneers" is a nice anagram of "eagerness" and would give a more satisfying surface. 12A Definition by example - a question mark is useful as an indicator.

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-13T17:08:24.352Z

    great, thanks!

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• girlcow 🤓3:31 · 2023-10-13T16:06:20.322Z

  Thanks !!!

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• Lia 9:51 · 2023-10-13T16:27:36.411Z

  Yay, another one that makes me feel I have a fighting chance at these LOL. Thanks again!

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  • Elle costruttore · 2023-10-19T16:29:52.656Z

    glad to hear it!

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