Crossword Solutions—Community Action Issue
By The Anymen
Well done for having a go and hopefully completing the fourth Anymen crossword! Congratulations to Darragh Maguire who won the third prize draw and received a Greater Gpvanhill T-Shirt. The winner of this issue’s prize draw is Dance Moves For Friends! Congratulations. The Greater Govanhill team will be in touch with your prize.
This issue was a first for the Anymen—a crossword that is cryptic for the across clues, but standard for the down clues. Hopefully the mixture was enjoyable for and gave a way in for people beginning their cryptic journey.
For the cryptic clues, as usual: we have written the solution to each clue below accompanied by step by step breakdowns of the answers. In case you’re not familiar with the core premise of cryptic crosswords, the clues tend to (although not always!) break down into a literal definition and wordplay. The definition can either be at the start or the end of the clue, and the wordplay consists of the remainder of the clue, with a series of words that can be played around with to fit the definition.
Key concepts
Indicator word: a word or phrase which tells you to play around with some of the other words or letters in the clue. For example, jumbled, in the mix or muddled are classic words which indicate an anagram. Similarly, in reverse or subverted indicates that you should flip the letters so they are back to front. Finally, the word audibly or out loud indicates that the sound of a word out loud will have the same meaning as the one written down.
Content words: this is referring to the literal letters that will be used to create the answer. So in a clue that has an anagram indicator, the word/s next to the indicator will be the ones that you anagram!
Double definition: these sorts of clues don’t have any wordplay in them. Instead the clue states two things which have the same definition.
The solutions below are formatted so that the word in bold is the literal definition, words in italics are indicator words, and words underlined are content words.
Across
1. Road to headless mountain-top is no regular point for meat tavern (5,3) - Steak Inn
This charade requires knowledge of a couple of common cryptic abbreviations to be correctly parsed. ST (Road), goes before PEAK without its head, followed by every other letter in ‘is no’ and finally N for ‘point’, point here being a compass point. Often with this kind of clue it can help to guess for the definition and then work backwards, maybe with the help of a few crossing letters.
5. Representative’s soil dirty after gym (6) - Pelosi
The representative in question here is Nancy Pelosi, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. PE is a synonym for “gym”, followed by LOSI, an anagram of “soil”.
10. Enjoyed messy deli with heart of a thousand (5) - Liked
LIED is an anagram of “deli”, with heart of i.e. enclosing K, a common abbreviation for a thousand.
11. Protest and leverage economically should initially join element and energy; it will be free (9) - Palestine
PALES initially from the first part of the clue, with TIN for “element” and E for energy, for the definition.
12. Dixon Avenue leaders slid off bizarre yellow park residents? (9) - Daffodils
DA is indicated by “leaders”, and FFODILS from an anagram of “slid off”.
15. Yield reported kernel (4) - Seed
An out-loud clue, with a synonym for yield (“cede”) sounding like SEED, or kernel.
17. Mackintosh’s middle medicine (6) - Rennie
More or less a double definition here, with “Mackintosh’s” middle cluing to RENNIE, after the Glaswegian architect and designer.
18. Airpods tangled with one’s scattered population (8) - Diaspora
“One” gets abbreviated to A, which when combined with an anagram of AIRPODS gives us the definition.
22. Pavarotti intended to sing flat (8) - Tenement
“Pavarotti intended”, or “Tenor meant”, when said (or sung) out loud, sounds like TENEMENT.
23. Film lab mogul abides sample (6) - Gulabi
“Sample” here indicates that the Torrisdale Street based film lab can be found within the clue.
25. A day of Spanish greeting (4) - Ahoy
In this case the Spanish day is “hoy”, or today.
28. Shapely erotic gem! (9) - Geometric
An example of a clue where the definition is also the wordplay- “shapely” is both the indicator of an anagram, and the definition of that anagram.
30. Elaine gnaws endlessly without initial interruption in a hurry at local garden (5,4) - Agnew Lane
Removing I, the first letter of “interruption” will allow you to solve an anagram ELANEGNAWS for the definition.
31. Yearning within Holmlea geriatric (5)
Another inside clue.
33. Little Alan left in front of gateway (6)
PORT, the nautical term for left, goes before AL for the gateway that is also a cafe on Govanhill Street.
34. Tire first in Queen’s Park, perhaps (8)
FLAG, or “tire”, before POLE (in pole position) go together to indicate an iconic Queen’s Park landmark.