Lite of the mind (a light-hearted look at all things Chicago)
Cryptic campus crossing:
Hints
Puzzle by Kevin Wald, SM’94, PhD’99
In cryptic crosswords each clue is a puzzle in itself, solved using wordplay such as anagrams, homophones, charades (two smaller words form a new one: port and ion form portion), curtailments (chop off the last letter of a word: badge from badger), deletions (remove a letter: caper from camper), containers (insert a word inside another: try and aged form tragedy), and hidden words (words embedded in the clue, as dint is here). The clues hint at the wordplay sought, so the word scramble, for example, tips you off that the answer is an anagram.
Across
1. Brings out English legal experts, ultimately [charade]
5. As a sun-baked Caribbean capital [anagram]
9. Remove front of device that holds light [beheadment]
11. Pain that's briefly felt by actor Ken's scaly anteater [charade]
13. Lee the cake-maker primarily needs plastic wrap [charade]
14. French king taking in second half of Merman's Gypsy [container]
15. Most diaphanous piece of cloth worn by topless Ares [container, deletion]
19. TV man Griffin is in Somerville [hidden word]
21. Questionable religious group has converted UPS [container, anagram]
22. Component of blood from that guy and yours truly [charade]
23. First Lady meets Republican at some point [charade]
26. Kind of balls in an arcade go downhill fast, I hear [homophone]
27. Deer possessing power and information [container]
28. Art, Theo, changed how some comments are taken (_two words_) [anagram]
30. Lips unfortunately mispronounce certain sounds [anagram]
31. Science fiction writer Frederik's first letters in particular outdo his literature [acrostic]
32. Said to take advantage of sheep [homophone]
33. My liege, the Goddess of Discord is upset [reversal]
35. Part of spout REM erected overseas, in France (_hyphenated_) [hidden word]
36. Finally, Plato gets into it with a Greek character [container, charade]
37. Historic holy man is wandering, chartless (_two words_) [anagram]
41. Iranian language is far stranger [anagram]
44. Write about Cassius Clay in the tongue of the Sherpas [reversal, charade]
46. Betrayal of the leader of the cause [charade]
47. Expressed contempt for quarrel [double definition]
48. Showing luminous objects remain outside train [container]
49. Don't admit holding guitarist Paul back like a fool [container, reversal]
Down
1. Lady portraying small girl [charade]
2. The Peruvian claiming I'm in the capital of Peru [container]
3. Evita reedited resumes [anagram]
4. Bisected Sam's iron strongbox [charade]
6. A lover of Zeus embraces a grand Shakespearean villain [charade, container]
7. Some will hold mass in a WWI battle site [container]
8. Sail randomly for Spanish island [anagram]
10. Publicity is, in Madrid and in Paris, arranged in advance [charade]
12. Peaceful, roaming pioneers (_two words_) [anagram]
16. One third of residents jeer film again [charade]
17. Spilled the salt in secrecy [anagram]
18. Heard of those people at that place [homophone]
20. Show feelings in tiny piece on the Web? [double definition]
20. Show feelings a tiny bit on the Web? [double definition]
21. Second amphibian eats miso with the consistency of Gouda or Muenster [charade, container]
24. Call upon six to remain in place [charade]
25. Translated prose lines [anagram]
29. Antwerp's without its two foremost jerks [beheadment]
34. Cooked less with a lower frequency [double definition]
38. Fish swallows large oaf [container]
39. Housman, the poet discussing 10,000,000 centuries [charade]
40. Israeli airline brought back a bit of light beer (_two words_) [charade, reversal]
42. Tossed tomb raider Croft in an Asian sea [reversal]
43. Mr. Gershwin's north Indian garment [reversal]
45. Top a cop's last erstwhile partner [charade]
Stuck? Need some help?
- See wordplay definitions and hints to each clue.
- See a breakdown of how to solve each clue.
- View the satisfying solution (PDF).