Friday 31 July 2015

Ten Bird Clues

birds Each of the clues below has a different type of bird in it. The bird's name may be the answer or part of the wordplay.

Can you find all the birds? [Answers updated]

Times 25048: Bird thus soaring over quarry  (6) OSPREY
SO (thus) soaring i.e. reversed, PREY (quarry)

Times 25106: One that flies from a part of NW Europe (3) AUK
A UK (part of NW Europe)

Guardian 25556 (Araucaria): They say sea is seabird's water supply (7) CISTERN
C (sea, they say) IS TERN (seabird)

FT 13669 (Sleuth): Bird circling lake making one shrink back (6) FLINCH
FINCH (bird) around L (lake)

Guardian 26160 (Picaroon): Unoriginal commenter's standard twaddle (6) PARROT
PAR (standard) ROT (twaddle)

Times 25147: Struggling university secretary gets the bird  (2,7,2) UP AGAINST IT
U (university) PA (secretary) GAINS (gets) TIT (the bird)

Guardian 25030 (Rufus): Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) FLAMINGO
FLAMING (ruddy) O (duck)

Sunday Times 4509 (Dean Mayer): Led, as a bird would in race (11) SPEARHEADED
A RHEA (bird) 'D (would) in SPEED (race)

FT14773 (Bradman): Bird not high up first to reach ground (3) OWL
LOW (not high up), with the initial 'L' moved to the end

Guardian 25966 (Philistine): Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11) REGRETFULLY
R[eall]Y around EGRET (bird) + FULL (no longer hungry)

Enjoy bird-spotting!

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12 comments

Raghunath said...

Times 25048:: OS<= PREY
Times 25106:
Guardian 25556: Sea~C+IS+TERN
FT 13669:F(L)INCH
Guardian 26160: PAR+ROT
Times 25147: U+P,A+GAINS+T
Guardian 25030: FLAMING+O
Sunday Times 4509: SPE(A+RHEA'D)ED
FT14773 (Bradman): Bird not high up first to reach ground (3)
Guardian 25966:R(EGRET+FULL)Y

SandhyaP said...

Stumped by the 8th clue :(

Bird thus soaring over quarry (6){OS<-}{PREY}

One that flies from a part of NW Europe (3){A}{UK}

They say sea is seabird's water supply (7) {C(`sea)}{IS}{TERN}

Bird circling lake making one shrink back (6) F{L}INCH

Unoriginal commenter's standard twaddle (6) {PAR}{ROT}

Struggling university secretary gets the bird (2,7,2) {U}{P A}{GAINS}{T IT}

Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) {FLAMING}{O}

Led, as a bird would in race (11)

Bird not high up first to reach ground (3)(-l)OW{+L}

Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11) R{EGRET}{FULL}Y

Nadathur Rajan said...

1. (OS<=)(PREY)
2. (A)(UK)
3. ~sea C/IS/TERN
4. F(L)INCH
5. (PAR)(ROT)
6. (U)(P A)(GAINS)(T TI)
7. (FLAMING)(O)
8. {SPE(A/RHEA'D)ED}
9. [-L]OW(+L) not high up LOW first L to reach ground (move down) Defn: Bird
10. {R(EGRET)(FULL)Y} ReallY gutted - RY, having eaten CC Indicator; bird EGRET, no longer hungry FULL; Defn: alas

Krishna said...

Times 25048: Bird thus soaring over quarry (6) OSPREY
OS<- PREY = quarry

Guardian 25030 (Rufus): Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) FLAMINGO
FLAMING = ruddy, O = duck

Guardian 25966 (Philistine): Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11) REGRETFULLY
RY around EGRET+FULL

Vasant said...

Times 25048: Bird thus soaring over quarry (6) OSPREY=(OS<)(PREY)
One that flies from a part of NW Europe (3) AUK=(A)(UK)
They say sea is seabird's water supply (7)CISTERN= C(~SEA)(IS)(TERN)
Struggling university secretary gets the bird (2,7,2) UP AGAINST IT (U)(PA)(GAINS)(TIT)
Wading bird? It's a ruddy duck! (8) FLAMINGO= (FLAMING)(O) & LIT
Led, as a bird would in race (11)= SPEARHEADED= SPE(A)(RHEA'D)ED{something amiss with ANNO)
Bird not high up first to reach ground (3) OWL= LOW with L going from first to last(ground)
Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11)= REGRETFULLY; not sure of the ANNO but got the answer with EGRET & the first letter R given by you.

Vasant said...

Bird circling lake making one shrink back (6)= F(L)INCH

Sumitra said...

8. spearheaded(CD)

michael said...

(In order of solving)
They say sea is seabird's water supply (6)
"C",IS,TERN

Really gutted, having eaten bird, no longer hungry, alas (11)
REALLY gutted = R(-eall)Y
R{EGRET,FULL}Y

Venkatesh said...

(OS<)(PREY)
A/UK
C (~sea)/IS/TERN
F(L)INCH
PAR/ROT
U(P,A)(GAINS)(T,IT)
FLAMING/O
SPE(A/RHEA’D)ED
[-L]OW(+L)
R(EGRET)(FULL)Y

Shuchi said...

@Raghunath, @Krishna, @michael: Well solved. Looks like the shorter answers were trickier!

@SandhyaP, @Sumitra: The bird is RHEA. A RHEA'D in SPEED (race)

@Nadathur Rajan, @Venkatesh: Perfect.

@vasant: gutted = destroyed the insides of, so 'really gutted' = R[eall]Y
I read FLAMINGO with 'wading bird' as the definition, and 'ruddy duck' (a different bird) as part of the wordplay.

Shuchi said...

Answers updated in the main post.

Vasant said...

Really understood!
This was the first time I cold solved clues..
Quite an enjoyable experience. Thanks.