XWord Muggles Forum

Love cryptics but have trouble with a one of these.. 23A Anyone help?

Loved the puzzle but also didn’t get 23A!

Jeanrosz wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2023 7:04 pm 23A Anyone help?

Leslie wrote: ↑Sat Aug 26, 2023 11:39 am Loved the puzzle but also didn’t get 23A!

“Take back” is the definition, followed by wordplay using a container format.

Need help on 4A. I have one space left. The 5th letter is missing for me and I have it starting with a difficult letter. But 4D makes sense to me.

Well I got it to work but I had to change 4D. I still need an explanation for the answer to 4A. Why do I do cryptics?

Another gem from Hex but I am still stumped on word play for 4A, too.

Joepickett wrote: ↑Sat Aug 26, 2023 7:53 pm I still need an explanation for the answer to 4A.

KayW wrote: ↑Sat Aug 26, 2023 10:46 pm Another gem from Hex but I am still stumped on word play for 4A, too.

The 4A clue is “Topic for a bachelor almost in conniptions” — Definition is “topic for a bachelor”, wordplay is a container with “almost” in “conniptions” -> FI[NE AR]TS or FINE ARTS, which is a field of study for a bachelor’s degree. The entry undergoes some “insider trading” to give — FIRE ANTS.

Thanks to Kay for pointing the puzzle out to me. I thought the C&R popped on the first Saturday of the month. Obviously, I was wrong. Fun puzzle!

Another fine HEX puzzle, perhaps took a little longer than normal because of the "shady doings."

23A explanation below:
23A: Take back= Reannex. King (REX) capturing queen (ANNE)

iggystan wrote: ↑Sun Aug 27, 2023 12:28 pm Another fine HEX puzzle, perhaps took a little longer than normal because of the "shady doings."

23A explanation below:
23A: Take back= Reannex. King (REX) capturing queen (ANNE)

My kind of hint.

I have more or less 80% of the fill, not all of which makes sense, zero clue about the shade spots, and calling it a day. Doesn’t seem to me letter rearrangements are confined to those shade spots but I could be wrong about that too.

Amazing. Got the fill except for 16A, 19D, 20D

Once I figured out that the shaded squares weren’t the key to the switcheroos it got more clear.

33A was the tip-off.g

Would not call this easy except that I (mostly) got it so probably qualifies.

In another era there were long (and educational) discussions about these puzzles.

Got to this one late. (We were away.) Much fun. I especially enjoyed counting the changed entries as I went. “How many so far? Really?? There are twelve???”