Our penultimate clue is from the author of Chambers Crossword Manual, Pasquale:Ģ0dExhausted, only 10% there at the end in capacity (6) Inside HIS, we get our “hostile takeovers”: HIJACKINGS. And since we’re told they share 25%, that something is not JACKKING but JACKING. What is that something? Well, we paraphrase “knave” for JACK and “top man” for KING. This time, we’re using the container device: “in his” tells us we’ll be putting something inside the letters HIS. In the remaining three examples, the reminder that the actual solver will already have some crossing letters applies double.įirst, here’s mathematical educationist Brendan:ġ1aKnave sharing 25% with top man in his hostile takeovers (10) It might be doing a job similar to but not the same as the above. It might indicate the letters PC, as listed in all good dictionaries. … and sometimes, it’s something elseĪ percent sign is a versatile little collection of marks. … we take the first four letters (“a little under 50%”) of ALLEGEDLY, then jumble them (“at fault”) for our airline, EL AL.ġ5aAs written, all the world is 80% male? (4)įirst, we decipher the theatrical reference (“all the world’s a stage”) and retain the first 80% of STAGE for STAG (“male”). When the mysterious Puck give us this …ġ9aAirline allegedly a little under 50% at fault (2,2) First, let’s have the top banana among devices. However we get there, we lop ITALY’s Y and stick the remainder on CAP for CAPITAL.Īnd setters, more often than not, use more than one of the devices we’ve been looking at in the same clue. We don’t have to work our way through 24 names: we might use crossing letters, we might imagine a country most of whose name might follow CAP to make a word – or we might work backwards by thinking of a CAP_ word which means “stock”. Next, we’ll take a five-letter country name down to four. So here’s Picaroon (a novelist among other things):ġ7dBetter country with 20% less stock (7)īefore any chopping, we swap “better” for a synonym (CAP). But it’s not always that simple …Īdding or removing the x% may not give us the whole answer. We take “salaries”, replace it with a word we happen to have mentioned in the previous clues (WAGES) and lose 20% for AGES (“a long time”). Here’s Qaos, who’s a mathematician and quite fond of a “%” in a clue:Ģ5dFor a long time, salaries drop 20% (4) In fact, if it might look insultingly easy to give us the word we’re to chop, we might get another that means the same thing. This time, we remove the first halves of YOUR and WAGE, leaving UR + GE: URGE (“strongly recommend”). Here’s sometime academic and bookseller Arachne:ġ1dStrongly recommend 50% reduction in your wage (4) Is it always to be the first half of some word? It is not. Philistine hopes we will take the first halves of the words “Take pies or cake”, giving us TA + PI + O + CA: TAPIOCA, defined by the rest of the clue (“starch”). Here’s an example, from heart surgeon and crossword compiler Philistine:Ģ4aTake pies or cake – all 50% starch (7) Sometimes, setters are considerate enough to tell you precisely how much to chop. If you use a Hint, you won’t get a ranking.Ĭlick/tap Continue to show the Scorecard with your time, rank and RETURN option so you can play again.Solving crosswords entails a lot of finding words and chopping them up. Click/tap the Reveal button indicated by the tick icon to display incorrect letters in red for 5 seconds OR select the red Clear button to remove any incorrect letters from the grid.įills in the correct letter for the square you’ve highlighted.įills in the correct word for the space or clue you’ve highlighted. Provides a 5-second peek at the entire solution.Ĭhecks for mistakes. (Click/tap the Hint button again to go back to Menu options). Click/tap Resume when you wish to restart play.Ĭlick/tap on the Reset button indicated by the circle arrow to clear the grid and restart the crossword.Ĭlick/tap the Hint button to display the hint options in the top menu bar. To pause during play, click/tap the Timer (or the pause icon on your smartphone). Click/tap Show to restore your view of the Timer. If you do not like working against the clock, select Menu then Hide at the top of the puzzle. The Timer indicated by the clock icon begins counting as soon as you start the crossword. Once the square is highlighted, use the Backspace key to delete the letter OR click/tap on the square you want to change and simply type in a new letter. Click/tap on the letter you wish to delete.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |