Friday 31 August 2012

Ambassador Abbreviated

ambassador-he If you are new to cryptic crosswords, you will probably wonder at the connection between 'ambassador' and 'he' in this clue:

Everyman 3405: Long account given by ambassador (4) ACHE
defn: long, verb; wordplay: AC (account) + HE (ambassador)

In my early days of solving I used to think this was a case of using the personal pronoun with awed respect, in the style of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The actual explanation turned out to be less far-fetched.

HE is short for His/Her Excellency, the honorific style used for ambassadors. Heads of state, governors, royalty, aristocracy and ambassadors in the clue can all map to HE in the answer.

With that insight, have a go at these clues:

Guardian 25700 (Crucible): Writer recalled ambassador's wife's relative (6)

Times 25161: Nothing on before noon? Ambassador will ring eminent people (4,2,4)

Times 25020: Ambassador entering Peru, not worried at that point (9)

Times 24971: Governor's found in a sleazy bar? That’s sticky! (8) _D______

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9 comments

Balaji said...

Guardian 25700 (Crucible): Writer recalled ambassador's wife's relative (6) NEP<- HE W

Times 25161: Nothing on before noon? Ambassador will ring eminent people (4,2,4) H{ALL OFF AM} E

Times 25020: Ambassador entering Peru, not worried at that point (9)T{HE}EREUPON (with anagram finder's help)

Times 24971: Governor's found in a sleazy bar? That’s sticky! (8) A D{HES}IVE

Chesterley said...

Writer recalled ambassador's wife's relative (6)

NEP<+HE+W (pen rev.)

Nothing on before noon? Ambassador will ring eminent people (4,2,4)

H(ALL OFF+AM)E

Ambassador entering Peru, not worried at that point (9)

T(HE)REUPON* (Peru not anag.)

Governor's found in a sleazy bar? That’s sticky! (8)

A+D(HE'S)IVE

Anonymous said...

Got only 3:

NEP< HE W
T(HE)REUPON*
A D(HE'S)IVE

Lakshmi Vaidyanathan said...

Guardian 25700 (Crucible): Writer recalled ambassador's wife's relative (6)
Ans: Nephew( NEP <- PEN + HE + W
Times 25020: Ambassador entering Peru, not worried at that point (9)
Ans: THEREUPON (PERU+HE+NOT)
Times 24971: Governor's found in a sleazy bar? That’s sticky! (8) _D______
ANS: ADHESIVE ( HE'S+ A+ DIVE)

Venkatesh said...

1) (NEP<-)(HE)(W)
PEN <- + HE + W
2) H(ALL OF F)(AM)E
HE around (ALL OFF + AM)
3) T(HE)REUPON*
HE in (PERU+NOT)*
4) (A)(D(HE'S)IVE)
HE'S in A DIVE

Shuchi said...

@Balaji: That was quick! Perfect but for an extra E in the 3rd answer :-)

@Kishore, @Lakshmi: Almost all, congrats. I had had difficulty with HALL OF FAME too.

@Chesterley, @Venkatesh: Clean sweep! Well played.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't understand why sleazy bar = dive.

Shuchi said...

@Anonymous: It's one of the meanings of 'dive' - slang for a disreputable bar/club.

Shuchi said...

@Anonymous: It's one of the meanings of 'dive' - slang for a disreputable bar/club.