Chapter 5

Treacherous Cryptics

IN THIS CHAPTER

Having a go at some really tricky cryptic crosswords

Putting everything you’ve learnt to the test

Rising to the challenge

In this chapter I present you with a collection of ‘no holds barred’ cryptic crosswords. These have normal sized grids, and occasionally stray into more difficult vocabulary.

These puzzles have fewer anagram clues, and use a wider range of abbreviations.

Check the reference lists in Chapter 2 if you’re stuck, as the hard abbreviations and more unusual anagram indicators used in this chapter are included there.

Puzzle 44

Across

1. Bounding mammal locks, by the sound of it (4)
6. Oberon’s knave provides ice hockey disc (4)
9. Choose the French relish (7)
11. Egyptian capital’s air injected into gas (5)
12. Carroll’s heroine has adult parasites (5)
13. Ivory Coast at back of the Italian fortress (7)
14. Many engaged in quiet lethargy (5)
16. Curiously normal, missing first tooth (5)
18. Victor bisecting hammered nail on blacksmith’s block (5)
20. Fish gets one German vitamin and analgesic (7)
22. Ran back to evaluate verbal account (7)
24. More washed out doctor represents Sicilian capital (7)
26. Insanely himself? He’s from Brussels! (7)
27. Bert’s buddy comes from a Great Lake outside Norway (5)
28. Treasure commercial ore (5)
31. Force put in danger with check for weapons (5)
34. Excavate it, Capone, it’s not analogue (7)
35. Hindu monk did backstroke, for example, to India (5)
36. Arsenic gets in, yet produces bread raiser (5)
37. Care of medium pot with English poached fruit (7)
38. Seasoning for sailor (4)
39. Regretted some of untrue diatribe (4)

Down

2. A note to go to Spanish friend (5)
3. Manage going back to Hungary’s era (5)
4. Polish remover is very good added to pitch (7)
5. Albert, join in the boy with a lamp (7)
6. Sacred song affected the lamps (5)
7. Celsius elevation to freeze? (5)
8. Lays the blame, missing middle high cards (4)
10. Cut short strange low dam (4)
15. Tear old jazzy dancer’s outfit (7)
17. Creative experts in desperate straits (7)
18. Accompaniment piece for Japanese cartoon (5)
19. A boy has the French soup server (5)
20. [[value 21]]You called out to sheep (3)
23. Slam into wreck, reversing (3)
25. Gold magi returned with yours truly, showing paper art (7)
26. Discord, missing queen’s stories (7)
28. Primate getting around southern church recess (4)
29. Criminal koalas left out of Japanese port (5)
30. Correct text about Cuba’s official proclamation (5)
31. Air passenger’s pamphlet (5)
32. Ludicrous canine lost his head and went to pieces (5)
33. Alternatively, knit them a wind-borne toy (4)

Puzzle 45

Across

1. Male poem to fashion (4)
3. The Thing lay off European country (5)
6. Irregular exams are leaderless for Christmas (4)
11. Crooned short tune backwards, to get a Spanish drink (7)
12. Left ante with qualified nurse’s lamp (7)
13. Desiccated and tiresome (3)
14. Bitter leaves are randomly veined (6)
15. Loaned the Italian legume (6)
16. Use a spade to even edging (3)
18. Wrinkle new flaxen cloth (5)
20. Float high in the air (5)
22. Amelia’s attention to hotel art (7)
23. Donate money for conclusion to expression of pain (5)
25. Compel politician to get into floral garland, in retirement (5)
28. Very well, tints cut at first (3)
29. Vulture Rod went back after Con (6)
30. Volcanic rock formed by barium with sodium chloride (6)
31. There’s a fuss, even in the sand-box (3)
33. Bright red clarets mixed up (7)
34. Asian teetotaller breaking pale artist’s board (7)
35. Wine is harmless, with potassium instead of fluorine (4)
36. I can get into twisted elms, and grin (5)
37. Depend upon answer lacking heart (4)

Down

1. Game error? Is diamond found in meal? (7)
2. New Zealand port’s sand bank commotion (7)
4. Amphibian has toes, I’ve heard (4)
5. Flower is vigorous without centre (4)
7. Conductor’s whirlpool ripped off 50 metres (7)
8. Undershirt torn? Glisten! (7)
9. Wow! Verbal nerd edited Huxley novel (5,3,5)
10. Tireless, yet failing debate badly (13)
16. Daughter gets complex, racy Austen heartthrob (5)
17. Minimalist composer has transparent substance (5)
19. Admirer gets iodine for fine swimmer, Thorpe (3)
20. [[value 21]]Opponent sounds false (3)
23. Bridge player has 90 applications and defences (7)
24. Degree letter sent to Mark’s country (7)
26. Blather quietly with baby’s toy (7)
27. Sweepstake batch on terrace with Yankee (7)
31. Smallest piece found in anatomy? (4)
32. Gem ring next to friend (4)

Puzzle 46

Across

1. Vague man’s indebted arrangement (6-6)
7. Set fire to abandoned first vase (3)
9. Georgian place at lake has worker area (7)
11. Uncovered broken rosary part around Regina (5)
12. Greenish duck (4)
13. Resort to tree (5)
14. Embargo encompassing English coffee, maybe? (4)
17. Oddly neat snail relating to the nose (5)
18. Fantastic niece’s boa makes a gesture of respect (9)
20. Impediments from old boy and felines running back to Les (9)
22. Alternative section of planet’s path (5)
24. Introduction missing from reluctant sworn statement (4)
25. Upset about German submarine! (1-4)
27. Help with one Verdi opera (4)
30. Remove weapons from United Nations branch (5)
31. Missiles with parking, instead of resistance clothing features (7)
33. Meat’s bad, actor! (3)
34. Rogue prison peahen causes trepidation (12)

Down

1. Canberra’s area to take the initiative (3)
2. North America is after an edition for Dame Everage (4)
3. Amphibian ransacks, climbing up mushroom (9)
4. Permeate with sublime mixture (without quarter litre) (5)
5. Dash about with a missile (4)
6. Deep resentment expressed in underground prison with diamond for point (7)
8. Extinct humans’ earthen lands changed (12)
9. Sir David bought ornate cuckoo (12)
10. Tilts over and acquires skills, without resistance (5)
15. Wash crushed lace with gas (5)
16. British racecourse tie (5)
19. A piece of cake eases a yip upset (4,2,3)
20. [[value 21]]Settled on cost with a tangerine (7)
23. Salty water and soft French cheese coating pole (5)
26. Incendiary device added to eastern dessert! (5)
28. Husband gets Arabic piano instrument (4)
29. Decorates a cake with faults — no top! (4)
32. Evenly strewn number (3)

Puzzle 47

Across

3. Even middleman has a notion! (4)
5. Very quiet in the straw, content (5)
8. Slacken Liberal noose, after a fashion (6)
10. Apologetic, coming from street in Paris with bad flu (6)
11. Dodgy foreign bod shows fearful apprehension (10)
13. Crazy sniper mom provides fruit (9)
17. Therefore, go back to get monster (4)
20. Paddle mohair regularly (3)
21. Molten rock from Los Angeles and Virginia (4)
22. Sir returns in the afternoon for a triangular glass (5)
23. Give silver to artist at Taj Mahal site (4)
24. Indict university during quarter (3)
25. Spear wheeling animals (4)
27. Shifty archer yet to reveal perfidy (9)
31. Goals I’ve got: breaking things (10)
34. Motorway 51 to European Union environs (6)
35. Rank temperature (6)
36. Southern border of papyrus, for example (5)
37. Vegetable acceptable to sun god (4)

Down

1. Point after 150 foot fissure (5)
2. Rough sounding, like a stallion, I hear (6)
3. Irregular ion around fluorine led to little data (4)
4. Auntie befuddled without an old needle case (4)
6. Ameli to make a speech, and make things better (10)
7. Poor person’s broadsheet got around Uruguay (6)
9. Comfortably-designed nice groom’s puzzled (9)
12. Grow faint? I am after a vitamin (3)
14. Restoring confidence for us in new earrings (10)
15. Unbalanced pious mute is impulsive (9)
16. According to hearsay, a complex network produces corn (5)
18. Freelancer shows flair and enthusiasm (4)
19. Lawyer sailor let the cat out of the bag (4)
20. [[value 26]]Albert gets tree from high mountains (6)
28. Removed head from light beer (3)
29. Return to note on French green (6)
30. Crooked Anglo-Saxon went to the Royal Botanical Gardens (5)
32. Yes, in German club with king and knave (4)
33. Fish has alto’s last part of composition (4)

Puzzle 48

Across

1. Intoxicated crackpot jailer is a prankster (9,5)
9. Obstreperous coach pony makes a horrible racket (9)
10. Thailand gets approval for gecko (5)
11. Surround restless clones with energy (7)
13. Brisk papa involved in assault (5)
15. Dismissed beginner, and wrote parrot-fashion (4)
17. How women in America are widely known? (7)
19. Passes English slip-ups (7)
21. Pa returns during delay, changed to 29 February (4,3)
23. Blockade worker outside? Yes — in Spain, for example! (7)
25. Put together bomb’s device (4)
26. The lady will get a conch, perhaps? (5)
28. Account goes to wading bird in underworld river (7)
29. Feminine hideaway’s style (5)
31. New rebel alto is fairly good (9)
33. Get the whole gang to work from defective second dank hall (3,5,2,4)

Down

1. Canon in D composer’s cheap bell is broken (9)
2. Bit of a circle contained in research (3)
3. Crept through the tulips? (7)
4. Coquettish around fine queen’s food preparation (7)
5. So far, found in tardy baby’s clothing (7)
6. Mammal’s ceramics lost edges (5)
7. The Spanish king’s moose (3)
8. Daughter gets unknown edition coloured (4)
12. Guevara gets around vocal sacred work (7)
14. French scientist’s history on back street in Paris (7)
16. The Spanish exist for European flower (4)
18. Waste time with bread (4)
20. The Grapes of Wrath author’s a bachelor wearing assorted neckties (9)
22. Batty aunty gets around California and Mexican state (7)
23. Hounds second-class birds of prey (7)
24. Has got back to ace, sprinted from the biggest desert (7)
25. [[value 26]]Sieve fits poorly (4)
26. Mischievous, after left conifer (5)
30. Tool found on catwalk, even (3)
32. Insect sounds like a follower (3)

Puzzle 49

Across

1. Drag oneself along, inexperienced in Sri Lanka (5)
4. American Indian coachmen adapted (8)
9. Starry Little Bear roams ruin complex (4,5)
10. Jolly fellow from Pole gets a northern thank you (5)
11. Apropos in caption (3)
12. Intro to blended rich Italian ice cream (7)
13. Long Island Doctor’s branch (4)
14. Twice carry out extinct bird (4)
16. Melanie and Ange’s mixture (7)
18. Cumbersome work involved in honour (7)
20. State Jambalaya cooked without Juliet or Yankee (7)
23. Appreciates present day swamps (7)
25. Retreats are very black in El Salvador (4)
26. Short time to embrace hooligan (4)
28. Wicked light sources (7)
30. German letter set (3)
31. American state’s chief declared (5)
32. Crushed remnant amid very large knick-knacks (9)
33. Uninterrupted, the French get into baffled masses (8)
34. Maine descendant’s particle (5)

Down

1. Add the nobleman (5)
2. Land down under’s Alcoholics Anonymous embraces odd rituals (9)
3. Poke fun at American diver about amplifier (7)
4. Tell all to remarkably fine doc (7)
5. Perverted drama in Uranus’ satellite (7)
6. Retreat capital of Nepal is French (4)
7. Vietnamese capital’s Chinese dynasty has ocean unit (5)
8. Caribbean island’s scholar gets Botswana soda tipped over (8)
13. Bill has endless inadequacies (3)
15. Pulled car without front, and was in debt (4)
16. Yours truly and Alan let out; served up dinner, perhaps? (8)
17. Brave Georgia is with me (4)
19. Pal is near fantastic flying machines (9)
21. That is, leaving fawn’s request (3)
22. Sailor, unaided, gets a tasty mollusc (7)
23. Climbs up a pole roughly to stumps (7)
24. Smallest mother goes after miniature (7)
27. The thing’s collected by one French ally (5)
29. Lazy woman spins around? (5)
30. Microbe right inside jewel (4)

Puzzle 50

Across

1. Unscrupulous doggy gets vitamin for George (5)
4. Tin half of melodious finch (3)
6. Roasting at the Spanish traveller’s establishment (5)
9. Stylish Kenneth’s fowl (7)
10. Erin absolutely gets to Greek Furies (7)
11. Khan designed symbol of life (4)
12. Monster tenor to rotate (5)
13. Paragon has a silver deer (4)
16. Demonstration in Public Record Office exam (7)
18. Aria about scoundrel Pan’s home (7)
20. British police devilishly bold and sick (3,4)
21. Doctor should produce a dry spell (7)
23. Six have this French perversion (4)
25. Italian children unknown, and need to scratch (5)
26. Street printer’s measure leads to plant part (4)
30. Rice found in hectic barrio by the ocean (7)
31. Gourmet cocktail recipe includes uranium! (7)
32. Dadist is in Paris, embracing nurse (5)
33. Regularly scald — miserable (3)
34. Husband has a little routine (5)

Down

1. Champion following of the French surrealist (7)
2. Imbibe a dram of pen liquid (5)
3. Hitch up short country bumpkin (4)
4. Best wishes on giddily saluting actor! (15)
5. Insanely darned the leaden sewer’s equipment (6,3,6)
6. What we breathe audibly, next in line (4)
7. Romantic meeting with translator in messy sty! (5)
8. Cooked analgesia, without, that is, an Italian dish in America (7)
14. 51 in hexadecimal coil (5)
15. Component without loud thespian (5)
17. Kimberley’s banker even toured (3)
19. Hound the hound (3)
20. Get rid of it, above complex (7)
21. [[value 22]]Shakespeare’s last storm (7)
24. Driver’s compartment in stateroom (5)
27. Hut fractured doctor’s digit (5)
28. Brazil and Utah are very dry (4)
29. Top greeting next to Ghana (4)

Puzzle 51

Across

1. Skinflint is in French sea (5)
4. Skirt seen on two Tuesdays (4)
6. Mother gets the Italian post (4)
10. Wellington Lake, for example, is unauthorised (7)
11. Tempted to cite badly, in the end (7)
12. Policemen go back around chaotic raid, it’s irregular! (8)
14. Bring to mind Eve, retaining approval (5)
16. Naughty beetle, pay us for prettifying snooze! (6,5)
18. Chop down with Yankee, in place of hard conifer (3)
20. Squabble cut short in health resort (3)
22. Expert judge curses onion soup (11)
24. King and I infiltrate Poland, leading to immediate danger! (5)
25. Dirty Harry actor comes from the oriental forest (8)
28. Stalemate — I am out of date (7)
29. Merry four involved in lively fêtes (7)
30. Tough girls lost central playthings (4)
31. Tail end tenor aboard bus going in reverse (4)
32. Misbehaving cougars forget company, and get something sweet (5)

Down

1. Crowds bishop in between months (4)
2. Dished out weapons to get mangetout (4,3)
3. Head of state from Uruguay (and the French) rides in the Rolls Royce (5)
4. Wrench is evenly strung (3)
5. Sadly, our cheaters are perfidious (11)
7. Chief has nothing against getting into any preserved fish (7)
8. Guided Georgia to the shelf (5)
9. A tango entices — gives it a whirl! (8)
13. Impartiality is trendiest, somehow (11)
15. Wading bird heads off legal defences (4)
17. Inconsiderate thanks to Connecticut, with not as much (8)
19. Heat up tungsten appendage (4)
21. Shrivel up an ace prize cup (7)
23. Crumbling damage ignored (7)
24. Important fact: platinum captures active ion (5)
26. Insects looked back to postscript (5)
27. Shred eye drop (4)
29. Invent a story arc out of new fabric (3)

Puzzle 52

Across

1. Animosity to little rodents astride Albert (6)
4. Advertisement involved in escape adventure (8)
10. Fresh ice ran out for liqueur (9)
11. Snap up aerobic sample of immature insects (5)
12. Recline, with a piece of fiction (3)
13. Kindly father dotes liberally (4-7)
15. Demented geriatrics don’t have Ire of the Stomach (7)
17. Expose academic occupying sunk wreck (6)
19. Taiwan’s capital note about first class exercise (6)
20. Tenor — finish, right at the Italian vine’s support (7)
22. Liberal cleanest inn’s 100th anniversaries (11)
23. Costume conceals belly (3)
24. Gang of eight hug Connecticut alien (5)
26. I am with it, wearing scars from Eastern swords (9)
27. Subside frenzy around right to pay out funds (8)
28. Settled on silver marsh grass (6)

Down

1. Mushroom field’s gloomy with unknown carbon mixture (8)
2. I got stuck into legends from French river (5)
3. Attach ropes incorrectly — disaster! (11)
5. I assault author insanely in Adelaide’s state (5,9)
6. Viper’s sudden intake of breath initially lost (3)
7. A very quiet place around the Queen’s first course (9)
8. Corrects letter epilogues (6)
9. Purists often stir spice mixtures (14)
14. Berating awful ma hiding son (11)
16. Nate’s after a deer that stands still (9)
18. Peeped at George with extraordinary dimples (8)
21. Air conditioning cable agreement (6)
23. Traffic art back to Delaware (5)
25. Greek letter regularly found inside teacup (3)

Puzzle 53

Across

3. The French added to Common Era tatting (4)
5. Adult maize nut (5)
8. Audibly scratches part of sentence (6)
10. Hang on to bridle restraining tenor and alto! (6)
11. Despicable sort of snowman (10)
13. Rolled tortilla left in hacienda accidentally (9)
17. Gestures to contrary son pinching daughter (4)
20. Hothead hides article (3)
21. Nurse tackles artificial intelligence in shower (4)
22. All the rage to be in post office snapshot (5)
23. Benin’s after the Spanish woman (4)
24. Blaze misses finale for Christmas tree, for instance (3)
25. Sliced top off native American’s tent with a fencing blade (4)
27. Bewilder old boy with broken faucets (9)
31. Tedious wayfarer (10)
34. Bolt south and run off (6)
35. Musical Greek god’s first-class survey round (6)
36. Impressive keyboard (5)
37. The Spanish got into Sri Lanka’s biological unit (4)

Down

1. Fight anarchic redcaps? Ed, get out! (5)
2. Hideous moan going around? Run out and desert! (6)
3. Meagre incline (4)
4. Cudgel Society (4)
6. Allot nicer new insect repellent (10)
7. Dilapidated uniform kept in messy diner (6)
9. Tear-drops panic hunting animals (9)
12. Afflict regularly, rapidly (3)
14. Elaborate sweet pie often conic (10)
15. Spontaneous sprite to frolic on Tuesday (9)
16. One upset joker is forbidding (5)
18. Voices agreement aboard steamship (4)
19. Avenue without borders of willow, perhaps (4)
26. Cosset Bond’s boss during exam (6)
28. Take advantage of half of justification (3)
29. Dessert of no consequence (6)
30. Deplorable notion to miss tea, I’ve heard? It causes tears in the kitchen! (5)
32. Deer overshadows last character’s rest (4)
33. Navy elite’s mammal (4)

Puzzle 54

Across

9. One from France protects Sri Lanka’s relative (5)
10. Twin’s foolish idle antic (9)
11. Insupportable lawyer tucked into uneaten stew (9)
12. Cleverness to use whiskey, instead of one’s muscles (5)
13. Implore English son cleaving big tree (7)
15. Very fashionable seen around Ed from Uppsala, for instance? (7)
16. Shortened words, at length? (13)
20. Old ties found in broken car tubs (7)
22. Doctor operation to allow a tiny tear (7)
23. Porcelain country (5)
24. Elaborate altar base of white stone (9)
26. Open forcibly and take Robin Wild (5,4)
27. Get away from late stages of overture (5)

Down

1. Residential areas’ substitutes receiving a back rub (7)
2. Improvised singing? Beat it! (4)
3. Romeo and one German bring back water grass for caribou (8)
4. Naughty! Bad vibes! Shame! (10)
5. Iron tellurium for charity event (4)
6. Secure farm building (6)
7. Wriggly cocoa snail is sporadic (10)
8. Husband set in splint, abandoned statue bases (7)
14. Submerged warships snub armies all over the place (10)
15. Lose self-control, and haul on flower (10)
17. Singled out irregular diastole (8)
18. Drink addition that is around this French baby bear (3,4)
19. Celebrity, Little Edward, got underway (7)
21. State’s adult apprentice? Ask ace (6)
24. Composer of Rule, Britannia oddly arranged (4)
25. Tense teetotaller went around Australia (4)

Puzzle 55

Across

1. Sips are plentiful on board ship (7)
5. Bolster Mark around us (7)
9. Involving both sides in able trial, confusingly (9)
10. Revamp bridles, without fringes (5)
11. Sky broadcast (3)
12. Letter with fine, single Japanese mushroom (5)
13. An Aussie afternoon with Arkansas Five-O (4)
14. Monumental power in crushed ice (4)
17. Decrease the hush on the ice skating arena! (6)
19. Loathing the rostrum, missed entrance (5)
21. The Spanish and African antelope (5)
23. Disqualify the German embracing a scholar (5)
25. Publisher’s employee Edward and I go to a rocky hill (6)
27. Hit around hard Thai currency (4)
30. Devours oils, getting energy for foxtrot (4)
32. Surmises a ship, with hesitation, goes to El Salvador (7)
34. Brief expert employed by reprobates (3)
35. Bacterial dish of cooked tripe (5)
36. Estimated massage calms mind (9)
37. Ruination Men return to El Salvador, and Iceland (7)
38. Maria transfixed by doctor’s xylophone (7)

Down

1. Douse substitute at French sea quarter (8)
2. Nobler emu strangely represents Victorian capital (9)
3. Ian’s after the Italian television from Riga (7)
4. Elegant tree (6)
5. Unusual aims, locking up Alan’s sausages (6)
6. Fly up to Somalia first-class, right? (4)
7. Sillier abandoned leader is following (5)
8. Slender pole shaft (6)
13. Friend from Paris is a regular barmaid (3)
15. Fruit’s a penny apiece (5)
16. Cryptogram about poem (4)
18. Engineer broke, forgetting Ocean Road’s edge (4)
19. [[value 20]]Last offer revealed by powerful Tim at Umbria (9)
22. Dubliner’s main flower at hotel next to South East Anglia (5,3)
24. Coach covered by rosebushes (3)
26. Own ape arranged a bow, perhaps? (6)
28. First character roams randomly to find perfumes (6)
29. Tenor and little Emily have a two-wheeler for two (6)
31. Carry French man’s tribal symbol (5)
33. Yes, Spanish rodent jumps up to lute (5)
34. Old Indian coins for baked treats (4)

Puzzle 56

Across

1. Settled down around Buck — demolished the old trombone (7)
5. Enhanced humans come from the Cyprus Borg Society (7)
9. Bird alien accepts retrograde energy unit (5)
10. Ten operas developed with a constructed language (9)
11. Insists, donning very French crosses (9)
12. Indian PM’s strangely humaner without Ma (5)
14. Canoes floundering, leaving South Pacific, perhaps (5)
15. Concerning the German, after main residue (9)
18. Wrapped up bridge player, residing in occluded building (9)
20. Bud’s second-class weaving rig (5)
21. Frenetic hysteria, with Mike in lieu of Penny (5)
22. Eradicated oil, and bashed fudge (9)
24. Prehistoric reptiles rampaging around sis! (9)
26. Propose the chart (5)
27. Fauvist leader’s the French man with a siesta composition (7)
28. Son Oscar in pursuit of a lawful request (7)

Down

1. South-western English and French pudding (5)
2. Dreadful carnage near seaweed thickener (11)
3. Resentful northern marshbird (7)
4. Prized step around, confident (9)
5. Manages priests’ cloaks (5)
6. Atrociously drub University in African country (7)
7. I got out of the downpour and fled (3)
8. Silence over old Yugoslavia’s sauce (5)
13. Mutated hybrid pooch repels water (11)
14. Monster initially only reaches Caranthir (3)
16. Asylums’ treatments do shame us (9)
17. Bizarre spirit (3)
19. Copper and saint get stuck into the Spanish grasshoppers (7)
20. Bri’s group returns to British port (7)
21. Polite address is reversible (5)
22. Swear at area public transport, Elizabeth! (5)
23. Lived in Lithuania, after wed anew (5)
25. Final tulle (3)