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Solution: The Copy Culture Cryptic Crossword

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from the filling-in-the-blanks dept

Sat, Apr 27th 2013 12:00pm — Leigh Beadon

Last Saturday, I posted The Copy Culture Cryptic Crossword, just in case there were any cryptic fans in the Techdirt audience. It turns out there are quite a few, including at least one AC who almost solved it in less than 24 hours. All in all it was a great response, and while I can't promise regular cryptics on Techdirt, I will definitely try to put another one together in the not-too-distant future.

But, for now, it's time to reveal the solution to last week's puzzle. The completed grid is below, followed by a list of answers. I've used some basic notation to show how the answers were arrived at wherever it's easy to do so in a self-explanatory way; as for the rest, I'll answer any questions (and accept any criticisms for sloppy clue-writing) in the comments! One reasonable concern was already raised, which is that BMG is not quite a "collection society" by definition, and on that one I offer a mea culpa.



ACROSS

1. Kick start (4)
BOOT

3. Right after six, America gets infection (5)
VI+R+US

6. With acknowledgements, reveals modification (4)
HACK

8. Collaborated on and bragged about bad grade at bad church (12)
CROW(D+SOUR+C)ED

10. Software publishers initially bemoan slow adoption (3)
BSA

11. Television standard is oddly not a sect (4)
NTSC

13. Terrible prefix and terrific prefix for the obsolete (4)
DINO

15. Note measurement for collection society (3)
B+MG

16. Cultural commons remixed old iambic pun (6,6)
PUBLIC DOMAIN

17. Activists cut short, shortly (4)
ANON

18. Amended drier amendment (5)
RIDER

19. Bully sacrifices rights for a fee (4)
TOLL
DOWN

1. Join in bed, CENSORED (7)
B(LOCK)ED

2. The post-singularity internet? (3,3,2,4)
THE WEB OF LIFE

4. Breach in perimeter - deliberate, we heard (12)
IN+FRINGE+MENT

5. Without fail, freely feeds 16D (4)
SEED

7. PAC is revising bad security bill (5)
CISPA

9. Short albums earn points slowly at first (3)
EPS

12. Means “passage” (7)
CHANNEL

14. Communication regulators, internally, hit undo (3)
ITU

15. Pursue eBay item and double down, almost (3,2)
BID ON (BI+DON)

16. Endlessly looks to 5D (4)
PEER
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Filed Under: crossword, solution

45 Comments

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Reader Comments

The First Word

“

Cryptics more common in Britain (I think?)

The slightly baffled might like to refer to some of the internet guides on (I would say, normal) crosswords

http://solving-cryptics.com/
http://www.gptucker.net/crosswords/solvinghelp.htm

An d if you're prepared to get hooked
http://puzzles.telegraph.co.uk/site/crossword_puzzles
gives access to a decent cryptic
—Steve
 ”

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  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Tine, 27 Apr 2013 @ 2:49pm

    Crossed words

    This crossed words game is stupid! So glad so many people are having fun playing.
    I myself am brain and pain overload and i am only interested in one love one life... So have at another word play game im outtie.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2013 @ 6:03pm

    weird and stupid

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      G Thompson (profile), 27 Apr 2013 @ 11:10pm

      Re:

      Why yes OOTB and his ilk are absolutely

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 12:57am

      Re:

      The fact that you don't understand cryptic crosswords doesn't make everyone else stupid. If anything, it's the opposite.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 4:40am

        Re: Re:

        IP extremists have a very hard time with the English language and it's not because they speak any other languages either.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Akari Mizunashi (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 8:02am

        Re: Re:

        I'm at a loss how you jumped from the statement being against the puzzle to "everyone".

        Nevermind. I forget this is the internet.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 10:30am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Well, calling the puzzle stupid suggests the person who made it and the people who enjoyed it are stupid. In this context, that's what I meant by "everyone"

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:38am

        Re: Re:

        Got it, everyone? If you didn't get this crossword, it's YOUR fault for not being a twisted son-of-a...anyway, no funniest or favorite posts of the week?

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:41am

          Re: Re: Re:

          no favorites -- funniest/insightful coming at the usual time

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:47am

          Re: Re: Re:

          "Got it, everyone? If you didn't get this crossword, it's YOUR fault for not being a twisted son-of-a...anyway, no funniest or favorite posts of the week?"

          No... I didn't get most of the clues either, but unlike you I don't suffer from an inferiority complex, so I can still understand why a lot of people find them fun and challenging.

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 4:10pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Is that your diagnosis, Herr Doctor, seeing as how you know me so well and all?

            [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:21pm

        Re: Re:

        oh, we understand cryptic crosswords just find, done many of them.

        What we are commenting on is THIS "cryptic" crossword, if you can call it that.

        We did not say cryptic crosswords are stupid or weird, JUST THIS ONE.

        It appears when your not good at something, then you just post it at TD.

        I am not an American, I don't have the US level of "understanding" you have.. fortunately.

        I no I don't really give a shit where you come from.

        I agree, in general a good cryptic crossword is a please to do, a good crossword.. this one is simple really bad.

        Very bad, even for a first effort.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:49pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          "just find"? "I no"?

          I'm starting to see why you feel fit to shit all over this attempt, darryl. Your command of the English language remains atrocious. Do they really not teach you proper spelling in Australia or is that just you?

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Steve, 28 Apr 2013 @ 1:32am

    Cryptics more common in Britain (I think?)

    The slightly baffled might like to refer to some of the internet guides on (I would say, normal) crosswords

    http://solving-cryptics.com/
    http://www.gptucker.net/crosswords/solvinghelp.htm

    An d if you're prepared to get hooked
    http://puzzles.telegraph.co.uk/site/crossword_puzzles
    gives access to a decent cryptic

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 10:36am

      Re: Cryptics more common in Britain (I think?)

      More common on Britain indeed. I remember the other day I saw Victoria Coren on some panel show comment on doing crosswords, and someone asked her if she meant cryptic or regular. Her response? "Cryptic, obviously -- I'm not an idiot." :)

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 3:21am

    I really do not understand how the answers are derived. Would it be possible to explain.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike Masnick (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:24am

      Re:

      I really do not understand how the answers are derived. Would it be possible to explain.


      I'm with that AC. :) A little more explanation, please.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 10:19am

      Re:

      Not really room here to give a full explanation of how cryptics work... but here's a good intro guide: http://www.crosswordtools.com/cryptic-crosswords.php

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:24pm

        Re: Re:

        when you have to 'explain' a cryptic crossword EVER AFTER giving the answers, that shows you have FAILED COMPLETELY...

        that is all they are saying. it is SO BAD, that even after being provided with the answers people cant work out your 'logic and reason'.

        People can only conclude that it's YOU at fault, who are unable to construct a crossword..

        The term "total failure' comes to mind;

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
          identicon
          horse with no name, 28 Apr 2013 @ 7:08pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Cryptic crosswords are basically a way of saying 'I am smarter than you are'. It seems the author has issues in that area.

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Shadoefax (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 7:13am

    A full explanation of clues would be nice

    While not a complete stranger to cryptic crosswords, I was never really good at them. Sometimes the clues make some sense after the solution is revealed and others are so cryptic they completely escape me.

    For instance:

    1. Kick start (4)
    BOOT

    Ok ... a bouncer may boot (kick) an unruly patron from a club, and you must boot (start) your computer before you can use it. That makes sense.

    8. Collaborated on and bragged about bad grade at bad church (12)
    CROW(D+SOUR+C)ED

    I see how 'Collaborated on' is synonymous with the correct answer CROWDSOURCED. And I can see 'bragged about' (CROWED) a 'bad grade' (D). That leaves SOUR+C somehow equating to 'church'. I don't get it. Am I missing something?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Rikuo (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 7:59am

      Re: A full explanation of clues would be nice

      Well...Bad can = Sour...and church....I dunno...church begins with a c?

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 10:17am

      Re: A full explanation of clues would be nice

      Church becoming a C is a fairly common abbreviation in cryptics.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 10:22am

        Re: Re: A full explanation of clues would be nice

        and SOUR comes from the second use of "bad" so

        CROWED = bragged, which goes "about" (around) "bad grade at bad church"

        bad grade = D
        bad = SOUR
        church = C

        thus...

        CROW(D+SOUR+C)ED

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      CheckersSpeech (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:46am

      Re: A full explanation of clues would be nice

      Yes, the church thing flummoxed me as well. I'm looking forward to an explanation ...

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:54am

        Re: Re: A full explanation of clues would be nice

        "Church" most commonly translates to "CE", "CC" or "CH" in cryptics -- though that's a very british thing in my mind. In some clues, though, it merely becomes "C"

        Mostly I try to minimize the use of those types of one-letter abbreviations in cryptics, since I often find them annoying. But, they exist for a reason... and that's one of the clues where one slipped in.

        Don't worry, you won't catch me using "sailor" to mean "AB" or any of those other weirdly obscure ones -- those drive me nuts.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 9:02am

    Code Breakers

    Yes, Cryptic Crosswords are more common in the UK, the "Times Crossword" being one of the best known.

    And they are very challenging and require a particular type of mindset, so they tend to be most popular with "intellectuals" - many of the most famous code-breakers during the second world war were excellent at solving them.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    CheckersSpeech (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:43am

    I get a lot of the cryptic clues [I got BSA and CISPA right off], but I'm still baffled as to how "Terrible prefix and terrific prefix" result in "dino". (Yes, I understand that dinosaur is slang for obsolete. But how are the "prefixes" supposed to guide me there?)

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:48am

      Re:

      "Dino" is technically not a word by itself, thus the specification of "prefix". Overall, that clue is one that's slightly more on the playful side -- I had considered putting a "?" at the end as is sometimes done on such clues, but I didn't think it quite warranted that, and worried that the "?" might actually be misleading. So basically it's a double definition clue, with one of the definitions being more suggestive than direct:

      "Terrible prefix" = DINO, quite literally (dino- as a prefix means "terrible", derived from greek)

      Then "DINO" is also a "terrific prefix for the obsolete" in a less literal sense, merely a suggestive one

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Anonymous Numbskull (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:56am

        Re: Re:

        And just as I logged in to reply with something along the lines of this, a post shows up saying exactly what I was about to say.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 11:58am

        Re: Re:

        (I suppose "dino-" can have a few different meanings as a prefix -- in "dinoflagellate" it means "whirling" -- but certainly the most common is "dinosaur" in which it means "terrible")

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
          identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:36pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          so try this google 'dino' first 2 hits you get are for

          Dean (Dino) Martin

          2) is the Dino 206 GT car, then the Dino 256 GT and the Dino 308 GT4

          also plenty of references to restaurants.

          Also as most here are Americans, a Dino is some place you stop to get a coffee and a mean.

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2013 @ 2:36pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            There's also musician Dino Kartsonakis and some other Dino guy who had a hit in the 80s or something.

            [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:31pm

        Re: Re:

        Dino is not a prefix of Dinosaur !!!.

        face it leigh, you are fucking hopeless at this, please NEVER do it again..

        better yet, stay from all things technical or intellectual. It's just not your thing.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:41pm

    "17. Activists cut short, shortly (4)
    ANON "


    except, Anonymous (group) are HACTIVISTS...

    not activists.. HACTIVISTS..

    you cant even get the answer right Leigh !!!!
    once again, you are just not good at this, and one day you might find what it is you are good at..

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 6:51pm

      Re:

      You're not aware of Anon's analog attempts to inform people about Scientology, are you.

      FFS, darryl. I know research and truth-telling aren't your thing but this makes it even harder to believe you're a solar panel engineer of a caliber any higher than "shit".

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Leigh Beadon (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 10:21pm

      Re:

      except, Anonymous (group) are HACTIVISTS...

      not activists.. HACTIVISTS..

      Hactivists are to activists as squares are to rectangles.

      Wrestle with that one for a bit darryl :)

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Shadoefax (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 7:50pm

    oh, we understand cryptic crosswords just find, done many of them.

    What we are commenting on is THIS "cryptic" crossword, if you can call it that.

    We did not say cryptic crosswords are stupid or weird, JUST THIS ONE.

    "We"? Who are you, Yoda?

    It appears when your not good at something, then you just post it at TD.

    Like writing grammatically correct sentences? Yep, you're living proof of that fact.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2013 @ 8:01pm

    Wow...!

    Interesting. Leigh decides to have some fun creating a cryptic crossword. Some readers are happy to take up the challenge and see if they can solve it. Others feel so humiliated by the fact that it's way beyond their limited mental capacity that they resort to throwing insults instead. Very sad. Human nature I guess.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Rikuo (profile), 28 Apr 2013 @ 10:57pm

      Re: Wow...!

      No, they're not throwing insults. They're throwing shit. I wouldn't call what they wrote insults. Where I come from, insulting someone is an art-form and what darryl et al did...is NOT.

      Now darryl, I have to admit - I too found this a bit beyond me. What I didn't do is turn up on the comments and fling my feces around, bemoaning that fact. By constantly complaining about it, you've only driven more attention to your single digit IQ.
      You did not have to even attempt this little puzzle. Since you found it too hard, you then didn't have to screetch about it. Drop it and move on. But no, I forget. This is Techdirt, where the trolls have OCD times infinity.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2013 @ 12:24am

        Re: Re: Wow...!

        darryl's IQ isn't single digit. I'd wager it's three digits... with a minus sign in front.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    dennis deems (profile), 29 Apr 2013 @ 5:01am

    I've been solving cryptics for twenty years. I enjoyed the puzzle and thought it was very well done. I might quibble with one or two definitions, but so what. I find the complaints posted here beyond bizarre. There's a favorite saying in a church I used to belong to: "If you don't like it, you can't have any!"

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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