Quiz Guy John Chaneski has a word game worthy of the Saturday puzzle called “Cryptic Crosswords.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Cryptic Crosswords Word Game”
You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. And joining us now is our quiz guy, John Chaneski. John, hello.
Hi, Martha. Hi, Grant. How’s it going?
Hi, John. What’s up, buddy?
Hey, you know, once again, I’m here to proselytize.
Okay.
I’m here to spread the good word about cryptic crosswords.
Yay! Hallelujah.
Yes, I’ve told you before how I consider cryptics one of the gold standards of puzzling.
So, today’s lesson is about cluing individual letters.
For example, here’s a question for you.
What’s the 4th of July?
Oh, so that’d be Y.
Y, that’s right.
Because it’s the 4th letter of July.
That’s right.
Not only is it a U.S. Holiday, it’s the letter Y.
The letter Y is the 4th of July.
That’s how cryptics work.
If I gave you the clue, 4th of July pub drink, for the definition Ivy League school,
What 4-letter proper noun would you get?
Oh, my gracious.
4th of July pub drink.
For the definition Ivy League school.
Yale?
Yale.
Very good.
How is that a pub drink?
Help me out.
Well, Y plus L.
Oh, YL.
Oh, I see.
Okay, very good.
That’s how cryptic clues work.
They give you the word in the form of wordplay, and then they give you a definition.
Okay, very good.
That nets you Yale and Ivy League school.
Very good.
We’re going to do a few more with 4th of July, okay?
All the answers will be four-letter words today, all right?
Okay.
Here we go.
Fourth of July metal-bearing mineral for the definition time long ago.
Your.
Your.
So Y plus or.
Or is your.
Very good.
Long time long ago.
Very good.
Here’s the next one.
Fourth of July everything for southern plural pronoun.
Y’all.
Y’all.
Y plus all equals y’all.
Good.
Here’s the next one.
Fourth of July, sense organ for once around the sun.
Oh, I was going to say nosy, but that’s…
Your bit?
No.
Year.
Year.
Year plus Y.
So it’s year.
Very good.
I get it now.
Fourth of July, Y, sense organ, ear, year.
Once around the sun is year.
Very good.
Here’s the next one.
Fourth of July, actress Thurman for the definition,
Southwestern American Indian tribe.
Oh, Yuma.
So Yuma plus Y is Yuma.
Very good.
How about 4th of July Director Li for the definition Chinese masculine principle?
Oh, so Yang.
So Yang Li, the director of Incredible Hulk.
Now, that’s only one way to clue one letter.
I’m going to switch it up a bit on you now.
So here we go.
First of May help for a female domestic.
Maid.
Maid, right.
Maid.
Want to explain to everyone how you got that?
I threw a dark.
No, M is the first of May.
First of May, right.
And then assistance or help is aid.
Right, for a female domestic.
Very good.
Here’s the next one.
First of May finale for fix.
Mend.
Mend.
Yes, mend.
M plus M.
Good.
Next one.
First of May anger for swampy land.
Mire.
Mire.
Nice.
Mire plus M.
Mire.
Very good.
Now, this next one is a combo, so get ready, all right?
First of May plus Fourth of July for Mr. Patinkin.
Whoa.
Mandy.
Mandy.
First of May, M plus, and Fourth of July, Y, for Mr. Patinkin.
Mandy.
Okay, now get ready to switch it up one more time.
Ready?
Yep.
Okay.
End of the road, snitch, for mild oath.
Snitch.
If you snitch on somebody, you don’t.
Rat.
Drat.
Drat is correct.
Very good.
Very good.
Snitches, yeah.
Here’s the next one.
End of the road kill for remove a hat.
Doff?
Doff is right.
Oh, so you lost somebody.
Very good.
Yeah.
I have one last switch up for you.
This is the last one.
This one’s tricky.
Get ready.
End of the road consumed for 4th of July.
End of the road consumed.
Consumed.
Eaten.
I would say ate.
Date?
It’s a date?
Fourth of July is a date.
Yeah.
Oh, he’s going.
Very good.
Nice.
Fourth of July is not just a cryptic way to clue why.
It’s actually also a date.
Anyway, you guys were fantastic.
Go get some cryptic crosswords and start.
You’re ready to go.
John, thank you so much.
Thank you, guys.
That’s always fun.
If you’ve got questions for us about language, grammar, and so forth,
Or send us an email.
We read everything to words@waywordradio.org.
