Tuesday 27 July 2010

A See Not Easy To See

see-ely SEE is "look" as we all know, but it has another less obvious meaning that crossword setters love to use. SEE is the official seat or jurisdiction of a bishop.

Ely, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, is often a match for "see" in cryptic clues. The clue typically uses "see" as the verb on the surface – don't fall for that bluff – the word has to be taken as a noun.

Have a look at these examples:

Times 24387: See bank hasn’t opened (3) ELY RELY – R
FT 13305 (Armonie): See about dreadful tangle with grace (9) ELEGANTLY ELY around (TANGLE)*
FT 13403 (Loroso): Dead but also animated, see (10) ABSOLUTELY (BUT ALSO)* ELY

This trick is quite like the cows = neat = lowers one: baffling when we see it the first time, blinding obvious from then on.

Solve These

Times 24544: Periodical we see displayed round front of kiosk (6)
Times 24462: See fringes for teenagers coming back in fashion (5)
Times 23707: Drink chap returned, see, soberly (8)

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5 comments

Shyam said...

WE E{K}LY
ST YLE <-
{DE}{MUR}<- ELY

S.Vini said...

1. Periodical we see displayed round front of kiosk (6)- {we}{e{k}ly}
2. See fringes for teenagers coming back in fashion (5) - {s}{t}{yle}<--

Anonymous said...

24544 [WE][E[K]LY]

Anonymous said...

24462

ST YLE

Shuchi said...

That got solved super quick!

Shyam - Amazingly fast, congrats.

S.Vini - Haven't seen you around here before...a warm welcome to you!