Minute Cryptic Crossword Workshop
One of the things I have been really enjoying during my career break is learning to tackle cryptic crosswords. I am still not very good at them, but I can solve clues today that were dark to me a year ago, and that’s pleasing progress.
I was delighted to see that the authors of the Minute Cryptic book I mentioned on National Crossword Solvers Day are about to release a second book and were hosting a workshop at Melbourne Writers Festival at the weekend. I pedalled down to the city after timekeeping at Parkville parkrun on Saturday and had a lovely time hearing about how Minute Cryptic got started and how it’s growing.
One thing I have come to appreciate about cryptic clues is that there’s a very fine line between some clues and Dad bad jokes. Perhaps that’s where some of the appeal comes from. There were a lot of audible groans in the room during the workshop as solutions were revealed to clues like:
One goes into debt flying private jet? (5)
You can see the solution to this in the Minute Cryptic YouTube channel.
(Yes, DJ, I met a “YouTuber”!)
After this experience, I was inspired to have a go at writing a couple of clues this week, which I am sharing here for you.
“Fe-female!”, made heavy metal fans run to the hills! (4, 6)
Complete lack of lighting at the weekend made concertgoers paranoid (5, 7)