In the example clues below, I explain the two parts of each: the definition of the answer, given in bold type, and the wordplay – the recipe for assembling its letters. In a genuine puzzle environment, of course, you also have the crossing letters, which greatly alleviate your solving load. Hence “crossword”.
The explanations contain links to previous entries in this series on such matters as spelling one word backwards to reveal another. And setters’ names tend to link to interviews, in case you feel like getting to know these people better.
The cargo of cryptic clues is laden with many abbreviations. You will be familiar with most of them: “afterthought” usually means PS, like you might write at the end of an email; and “nowadays” may mean AD, as you might see in a date.
Other abbreviations, though, are more … peculiar, which is why often the best way to get used to cryptics is to share the solving with a friend or family member who has absorbed the conventions.
Today’s bits and pieces, for example, are likely to be familiar only if you’re solving on shore leave from active naval service, possibly in the 19th century, when crosswords hadn’t yet appeared. They will soon become second nature, though.
Tar
This is the perfect example. You doubtless won’t have heard a sailor referred to as a “tar” … at all. But because they find tarpaulin useful, “sailor” in a clue was once a fair way to hint at TAR in an answer, and the convention has stuck. Here’s a recent example from Gordius …
18ac Savour impertinence from sailors? (6,5)
[ wordplay: synonym for ‘sailor’ twice (because ‘sailors’) + synonym for ‘impertinence’ ]
[ TAR + TAR + SAUCE ]
[ definition: savour (as a noun, not a verb) ]
… and this being a prize puzzle, an explanation is available for all its answers, including TARTAR SAUCE.
AB
In the same vein is AB. An able seaman (a rank below leading seaman) is, in naval abbreviations, an AB. And so when Boatman – a setter especially given to seafaring clues – writes this in a puzzle of last month …
17ac Boatman — to relish, ultimately, or detest (5)
[ wordplay: abbrev. indicating ‘boatman’ + last letter of (‘ultimately’) RELISH + OR (‘or’) ]
[ AB + H + OR ]
[ definition: detest ]
… we use AB to get ABHOR. Let’s sidestep the controversy among those who enjoy such controversies about why AB might denote “able seaman” (thinking “able-bodied seaman” is a good way of remembering AB); what a solver needs to know is that an able seaman is superior to an ordinary seaman and so “sailor” and the like may sometimes – though not often – indicate OS.
Jack
I wrote “‘sailor’ and the like’” for a reason. There’s no shortage of slang terms for seamen, and so lots of ways of indicating AB, TAR and OS. Setters being devious creatures, they like to use those which will appear at first to mean something else: “salt”, “rating”, “gob” and so on. Here’s Nutmeg …
16ac Standard sailor suit has one (4)
[ definition: synonym for ‘flag’ (‘standard’) / slang for ‘sailor’ / something a suit in playing cards has one of ]
… and a clue where she pulls off a triple definition. Let’s have something more familiar next?
RN
As the RAF is to the skies, the Royal Navy is to the seas. So when Chifonie uses the word “navy” …
9ac Embellish trouble with the navy (5)
[ wordplay: synonym for ‘trouble’ + abbrev. for ‘the navy’ ]
[ ADO + RN ]
[ definition: embellish ]
… we swap that for RN, en route to ADORN. Finally for now …
SS
Maritime pedants may bristle at the use of “SS” for boats more modern than steamships; again, all we need to remember in crosswords is that when something is “on board”, it can be quite literally inside the letters S and S. Imogen uses that trick …
13ac On board ship are people with non-PC views (7)
[ wordplay: inside SS (‘on board ship’), synonym for ‘are’ ]
[ EXIST inside SS ]
[ definition: people with non-PC views ]
… in this clue for SEXISTS. Of course, “ship” might refer to some actual ship, so it’s good to keep in mind those vessels with letters that setters find useful: ARGO, ARK, SCOW and even DHOW.
Before long, you will forget there was ever a time when you didn’t think of sailors as TARS. Bon voyage! Newcomers: any questions? And seasoned solvers: what nautical tips have I missed?
More guidance
Cryptic devices: hidden answers; double definitions; soundalikes; initial letters; spoonerisms; containers; reversals; alternate letters; cycling; stuttering; taking most of a word
Bits and bobs: Roman numerals; Nato alphabet; Greek letters; chemistry; abbreviations for countries; points of the compass; playing cards; capital letters; apostrophes; cricket; alcohol; the church; drugs; music; animals; cars; cities; rivers; when the setter’s name appears; when the solver appears
