In the sample clues below, the links take you to explainers from our beginners series. The setter’s name often links to an interview with him or her, in case you feel like getting to know these people better.
The news in clues
Bravo to Brummie for discerning the potential in a relatively recent coinage …
14d English international lacks energy to run, for the main part (5,5)
[ wordplay: nickname for England footballer (‘English international’) without E (‘lacks energy’) + synonym for ‘to run’ ]
[ LIONESS – E + HARE ]
[ definition: the main part ]
… in a clue for LION’S SHARE. And from Django (known locally as Fed) in the Telegraph, one of those clues that reads like a line from a story elsewhere in the newspaper …
7d Without Pence working on basics with Trump, a desire to hide the full facts is revealed (12)
[ wordplay: anagram (‘working’) of ONBASICSTRUMP minus P (‘without Pence’) ]
[ anagram of ONBASICSTRUM ]
[ definition: a desire to hide the full facts ]
… which also works as a clue for OBSCURANTISM.
Latter patter
Here’s a delight: a collaboration between Nutmeg (whom we bid farewell to here) and Arachne (whom we interviewed here). And it’s an uncommon treat because there are a pair of identical clues with different answers:
3d Trim dealer? (11)
[ cryptic definition ]
13d Trim dealer? (11)
[ cryptic definition ]
One dealer is a HAIRDRESSER and the other a HABERDASHER, a word with multiple meanings. In North American English, a haberdasher may be what we would call a men’s clothing retailer. During Shakespeare’s time (whose brother Gilbert was a haberdasher), a haberdasher could have been a publican, although Gilbert’s profession typically referred to a dealer in needlework supplies.
And briefly around the 17th century, a haberdasher was also a trade that is the subject of our next challenge. Reader, how would you clue HATTER?
Cluing competition
Thank
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