Clued In (Blogs)

Clued In #350 | Cryptic clues aren’t boring, they’re boring deep

 |  20 July 2021

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Setters may seem like they are out to frustrate you, but they are actually a very benevolent and large-hearted lot. Even though their entire career is fundamentally based on direction, the fairness of their clues is actually pointing you in the right direction and ushering you towards the solutioin. In fact, the fun of cryptic crosswords stems forth from your ability to tell their misdirections and direcetions apart.mis

Was the above clue fun to solve? Did you get a kick out of understanding how to work out the answer to a cryptic crossword clue? Did you enjoy being given a random sentence that ultimately leads to a completely unexpected but totally decipherable answer? Do you feel like you could use some help to guide you towards the answer for each of the 20-30 clues that usually bamboozle you in each puzzle? Well, look no further!

Ok, look just a little further. Because, every Sunday, The Hindu Crossword Plus posts a ! Go ahead and bookmark that link and play the latest puzzle.new The Hindu Cryptic puzzle with annotations for each clue

Each annotation will give you helping hints and hold your hand as we work out the answer together. If you liked the long-winded explanation to the above clue, then you will surely enjoy the crisper versions we give you in puzzles, when you click the button ‘Reveal’ and then ‘Show a hint’.The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday

And guess what, is .The Hindu Cryptic on Sundayabsolutely free! All you have to do is sign up to play

To become better at solving cryptic crosswords, you should do one simple thing. Just subscribe to The Hindu Crossword Plus. That’s the place where you can solve cryptics live to your heart’s content. Come over to Clued In to get your doubts cleared and your craft honed.

Click right to subscribe to the interactive THCrosswordPlus, so you can solve on your mobile phone, get hints, and even check your answers on the go!here

The Hindu Cryptic #13305 | Dr. X | 10 AcrossClue explained:Youngster left boring, endless lecture (5)CLUE:

: abbreviation, insertion, deletion of tailClue types

: youngsterDefinition

:AnswerCHILD

We need a simple 5-letter word here that means ‘youngster’.

An abbrevaition for ‘left’ is L.

Another word for ‘lecture’ is CHIDE.

‘Endless’ is an deletion indicator which suggests that we must remove the last letter of CHIDE, and be left with CHID.

‘Boring’ is an insertion indicator (a bore well is so called because it involves us boring a hole in the ground and inserting a pipe deep into an underground acquifer to draw water). And so we insert L into CHID.

And altogether, that makes CHILD, our 5-letter synonym for ‘youngster’!