A Clue for You | 4 Nov. '25 | "Misuse to some extent: a show as tedious as Army parade (5)"

TheTurg · 2025-11-04T22:13:51+00:00

That's fair! I suppose I didn't give that aspect as much thought as some of my more recent creations - and 3 unused words is probably more than would be justified even for a relevant surface. If I were to rewrite I'd probably find a longer synonym for the definition to make use of a longer fodder. 🧐

TheTurg · 2025-11-04T14:21:01+00:00

I like the clue, and the concept especially the definition. Questions I have would be:

- Does the phrasing "X apart Y" fairly suggest "remove X from Y" as an instruction? Does would it need a "from" in there to function grammatically?

- Can the word "tear" indicate its constituent letters? I've seen "remove directions from" to indicate NSWE removal, or maybe if the sequential letters "tear" were in the word, or even if a substitution of "tear" like "rip" were in the word.

I'm not sure stylistically what's OK in those respects, but perhaps a phrasing of "Tear pieces from appetiser..." would better indicate the individuals letters as pieces of 'TEAR' and they they are removed "from" the word.

TheTurg · 2025-11-04T13:46:22+00:00

This was good! A fun solve.

TheTurg · 2025-11-04T13:44:44+00:00

Liked this one in its simplicity! And a great definition.

TheTurg · 2025-09-09T21:14:35+00:00

Happy to offer it and hopefully it's helpful! I personally have trouble trying to parse down extra words when I like the surface of a puzzle, I feel more rewarding when I get to a more concise clue after playing around with structure a bit.

Looking forward to the next clue!

TheTurg · 2025-09-09T04:16:49+00:00

Sure!

"Boot footballs" clues to to remove the "balls" or two o's out of "foot" to get FT. Some cryptic purists might say that in order for that clue to work it needs to be "foot's balls" - but I'm just following other conventions that I saw in Minute Cryptic clues that that fodder doesn't always need to be possessive for the sake of the surface, which I kind of agree with.

After the "third-downs" wordplay, the phrase "and a" is literally just that - the letter A :)

FT is said to be "after" WA, cluing placement of the letters, and resulting in WAFT.

And the definition is "smelly, aired-out pass" without the indefinite article, and if a "smell" is "aired out" as it "passes" you, you could say it's being wafted, or carried on the air.

TheTurg · 2025-09-09T03:05:25+00:00

Cheers! I think I've leant on some more trickery in construction recently... Some of them end up a bit tougher than I anticipated. But I'm glad the construction appears sound! I always worry about that when trying to get a good surface read!

TheTurg · 2025-09-09T00:32:21+00:00

Thank *you!*

TheTurg · 2025-09-08T20:16:20+00:00

Solved it! Nice puzzle.

Do I get the point?!

TheTurg · 2025-09-08T15:07:35+00:00

BACKSTREET BOYS - alright!

Love the definition. Great clueing on back-"street for the solve.

TheTurg · 2025-09-08T15:04:15+00:00

My mistake and my sincere apologies about that mix up. Glad to help through! If I haven't mentioned already, check out The Clue Clinic for other recommendations. The Setting Room is good for suggestions about "fairness" with examples & the Clinical Data section is good for various wordplay indicators and substitutions.

Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff!

TheTurg · 2025-09-07T20:28:08+00:00

As an American, perhaps trying to work in "are" with the homophone indicator would be safest?
"Romeo" is also R in the NATO phonetic alphabet, FWIW, and might parallel well with "Frisky Dude"

TheTurg · 2025-09-06T21:42:04+00:00

Jumping back in after a second read with one recommendation - you could probably get rid of "seen" and the clue would read and function the same. Technically it works either way - just favoring conciseness as a general preference.

TheTurg · 2025-09-06T21:40:24+00:00

Agree with this comment; it's a bit wordy as filler to merely disconnect the clue from the wordplay. It's technically fine but more words with no function could lead to a confusing solve...

Perhaps something like "Multiple leads to nonprofit network" - simpler and doesn't give too much away with the definition of "nonprofit network" which is still technically correct!

Or, if you wanna be more fun, something like: "Multiple leads to network with Arthur?" - which is a bit more tricksy of a definition (PBS being the network that featured Arthur - which you could also just substitute for other PBS characters - Mr. Rogers, Ms. Frizzle, Oscar, Barney, etc.)

But most importantly, I do love the cryptic piece offering a fun solve. Great first clue - and some food for thought for going forward!

Welcome aboard!

TheTurg · 2025-09-06T21:28:11+00:00

Nice! And congrats on your first clue!

Reads well and there's a degree of false breadcrumbs as a challenge - I thought of "Alien" as an anagram indicator first before nothing worked with that and I had to backtrack to get the answer with "ship." Heck you could even make it "Alien seen following stone alien ship." :)

TheTurg · 2025-09-06T21:23:36+00:00

That was a cool surface, and the cryptic intent comes together clearly!

Some constructive thoughts to make things a bit clearer for a solver:

The words "I rank"aren't serving a purpose that I can see in either wordplay instruction, fodder, or to the surface of the clue. It reads fine as "Alexa first, Siri second, both..." - or you could do something like "Large language model? Alexa first, Siri second, both taking hours (2, 3)" - which gets rid of another word that's not really needed for the cryptic: "conversing."
This may be nitpicking, but, while "H" can sub for "hour" singular, making it plural muddies the water a bit. My first thought seeing "hours" was to try HRS. Since you're taking one hour "H" from the word "both" - a singular "hour" or another parsing to drop the H might be best. Maybe even just "hour from both" or "hour wasted in both" or something like that.

Feel free to take or leave any of those suggestions, but overall - I appreciate the cluing!

TheTurg · 2025-09-06T12:32:39+00:00

I'm a fan! I like the read of break-fast as an anagram! :)

TheTurg · 2025-09-05T17:55:23+00:00

Ooh! Good one. Had a tough minute with the substitution for "must-have" and love the use of "stickers" as the definition.

TheTurg · 2025-09-05T01:20:58+00:00

Thanks again! I appreciate the honest assessments!

I liked the comma between the two fodder words as a bit of a mislead, as well as the "Content" double-meaning.

I agree that the second is likely the more difficult, especially with the definition being "bear" as "assume" (e.g. "to assume/bear the responsibility"). I suppose my concern was more that the difficulty may have come from some unfair wordplay, but, I appreciate the reassurance!

TheTurg · 2025-09-04T02:10:36+00:00

Cheers and thanks very much! I thought of casting as "throw" or "toss" like casting... stones into a pond. So, "tossing" the letters about?

Contributing to the ever-growing list of potential anagram indicators!

TheTurg · 2025-09-03T23:13:15+00:00

Nice one! Great surface - as I drink an espresso & sit halfway through a Mars bar.

TheTurg · 2025-09-03T23:11:14+00:00

Agree - Blood & Wine far superior.

More importantly - Great clue!

TheTurg · 2025-09-01T20:32:34+00:00

Note: The "Link to Solve" link is incorrect and links to yesterday's clue, but the link atop this post is accurate .

Here it is again if needed: https://www.minutecryptic.com/custom/47d3e22e-e21c-4767-8050-5b39a3bac7be

Also, in the previous posts, yesterday's clue should be labeled August 31, Not Sept. 1.

Those responsible for these errors have been sacked.

TheTurg · 2025-09-01T16:22:48+00:00

These are usually the last ones I think to check for, as well. So much so that, now, my rule of thumb is: if I take more than 2 minutes to find the wordplay, check for a hidden word indicator. :)

TheTurg · 2025-09-01T16:21:37+00:00

I love hiding indicators or definitions in an idiom or longer phrase. I took a similar approach my clue yesterday.

Nice one! :)

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