theduckmedic

Contests started: PI DAY (2, 3), TINDER (6), EN GARDE (2, 5), DELTA (5), IMDB (4), OLIVIA (6), MULTIVERSE (10), WORDLE (6), ESPERANTO (9), ANY CLUE WITH TWO DEFINITIONS, TWO ANSWERS, AND A SHARED WORDPLAY (?) (?), SCARLET (7), BREAKING BAD (8, 3), DR. NO (2. 2), INTERROBANG (11), SPRAY (5), SCRABBLE (8), ANY CLUE THAT USES A MATHEMATICAL SEQUENCE OTHER THAN EVENS/ODDS TO INDEX (?), WES CRAVEN (3, 6), SPRING (6), FINALE (6), CREAM CHEESE (5, 6), TICONDEROGA (11), BROADWAY (8), HADES (5), THANOS (6), ANY URL (?), UNICODE (7), CANDELABRA (10), TARGET (6), ANY TRIPLE-OR-MORE DEFINITION CLUE (?), SANDSTORM (9), AGENDA (6), ANY CLUE THAT USES SAT-STYLE ANALOGIES AS WORDPLAY (?)

Contests won: INCOGNITO (9), SISYPHUS (8), TARTAN (6), ANY PVZ PLANT (?), HAPAX LEGOMENON (5, 9), SWEPT AWAY (5, 4), CONGLOMERATE (12), BLACK SWAN (5, 4), FORTIFY (7), NEPAL (5), PRIMER (6), COTILLION (9), ANY CLUE WHICH INCORPORATES THE NUMBER 100, 101, OR 102 (?), COPPER (6), THIRTY (6), PRESS F (5, 1), BREAKING BAD (8, 3), INTERROBANG (11), ANY CLUE RESOLVING TO A PAST FREEFORM PROMPT (?), ANY CLUE BUT THE WHOLE THING HAS TO BE IN THE FORM OF A POEM - IT DOESN'T HAVE TO RHYME BUT IT SHOULD BE RECOGNIZABLE AS A POETIC TRADITION (ANY), ANY CLUE IN THE STYLE OF SONG LYRICS TO “WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE”, WHERE EACH ITEM REFERENCES A 21ST CENTURY EVENT. EXTRA CREDIT FOR RHYME SCHEME (?), EARLY (5), FORWARD (7), RABBIT (6), EXPONENT (8), ANY CLUE THAT LOOKS LIKE AN &LIT BUT ISN'T ONE (?), 11780 (5)

All Submissions

Clue ID Contest Clue Explanation (hover) Submitted By Likes
8932 ANY CLUE BUT THE WHOLE THING HAS TO BE IN THE FORM OF A POEM - IT DOESN'T HAVE TO RHYME BUT IT SHOULD BE RECOGNIZABLE AS A POETIC TRADITION (ANY) "Against splitting: no breaking up, lossless erelong." // The cryptic setter owns a bit of doubt before // To a specific female in a song. /// The oft-unwritten silence clangour boasts, Along // with quietness as indicated in a score. // "Against splitting: no breaking up, lossless erelong." /// Four seasons' time evaporates from thirst or long; // A languid, energetic team's beginning four // To a specific female in a song. /// An ugly and decrepit woman leaves a throng // To overshadow neuroinformatics' core. // "Against splitting: no breaking up, lossless erelong." /// A woman chaste to whom the clothes of air belong, // The head of Aristophanes revolving or, // To a specific female in a song /// A paper pact to harbor secrets reddens wrong // A note of gratitude and debt, but me? Ignore. // "Against splitting: no breaking up, lossless erelong," // To a specific female in a song. (5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 5, 5, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 3, 6, 3, 6, 3) This is a villanelle by the way.

I'm just going to link a google doc with the explanation (and poem with nice line breaks)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YpLNKP9pLKuNDAovtJG7tHmiI0TTYNQBSxuUv27nsNY/edit
theduckmedic 14
8399 PRESS F (5, 1) Express forlorn heart! (5, 1) _PRESS F_ &lit
You press f to grieve or show that you're sad
theduckmedic 5
8243 PRIMER (6) Appetizer is bottomless cut of beef without tail (6) PRIME R(-ib) theduckmedic 4
8288 COPPER (6) Brass constituent! (6) Brass as in the authorities (copper = police)
or copper is in the alloy brass
theduckmedic 4
8385 THIRTY (6) Horny, wanting for a bit of something XXX (6) THIR(-s)TY theduckmedic 4
9053 EARLY (5) Not modern, like a British aristocrat? (5) punny ddef.
not modern = early
like a British aristocrat = EARL-Y
theduckmedic 4
9752 ANY CLUE THAT LOOKS LIKE AN &LIT BUT ISN'T ONE (?) Badly fail around player! (9) F(ACTOR)IAL*

def: !
theduckmedic 4
7430 SISYPHUS (8) Sneaky leader is bound to push rocks after end of treachery (8) S_ + IS + _Y + PHUS* &lit theduckmedic 3
8149 NEPAL (5) Turbulent plane brings you to Asian country (5) NEPAL* theduckmedic 3
8262 COTILLION (9) Number with a dancing couple! (9) OCTILLION with OC swapped &lit
(cotillion is a couples' dance)
theduckmedic 3
8264 ANY CLUE WHICH INCORPORATES THE NUMBER 100, 101, OR 102 (?) No no. I love to read aloud (3) def = Nobelium number, or 102
I = 1, love = 0, "to" = 2
theduckmedic 3
8731 A CLUE THAT MUST SOLVE TO BOTH BENGALS AND RAMS, DEPENDING ON HOW WORDPLAY IS PARSED (7) AND (4) Tonight's winning team of units taking back a good quarter (7 or maybe 4)) Tonight's winning team = Bengals or Rams
~~~~~~~
units = bels
good = g
quarter = N as in north
thus BE(N+G+A<)LS
~~~~~~~~~~`
units = grams
quarter of "good" is "g"
grams, taking back "g", is rams
theduckmedic 3
9532 EXPONENT (8) a shortened ordinal at the end of "e to an unknown power" ! (8) E + X + P + ONE + NT(-h)
&lit
credit to rpl for first bit
theduckmedic 3
9800 CLUE THAT'S ENTIRELY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (ANSWER, DEFINITION, AND CRYPTIC READING) Estas amuze serĉi mislokitan ĉapelon (5) translation: "It's fun to look for a misplaced hat"
definition: "it's funny" (fun and funny are the same word)
serĉi, when the hat is moved, becomes the answer "ŝerci", meaning joke
theduckmedic 3
9806 CLUE THAT'S ENTIRELY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (ANSWER, DEFINITION, AND CRYPTIC READING) Expressway “aisleway eBay” outweigh (8) Translated from Pig Latin:
Express "I'll be" out
ddef
Express "I'll be" = wonder
Out = under (e.g. unconscious)
either is UNDERWAY in Pig Latin

for fun all words involved also valid in English
theduckmedic 3
9842 11780 (5) Slim minority obligated imaginary number to be fabricated on a calculator! (5) slim minority of OBLIGATED = OBLI
imaginary number = I
OBLII created using calculator-spelling is 11780
&lit
theduckmedic 3
12204 HEART (5) "Deer" is a homophone of something that indicates "love" (5) "hart" lol theduckmedic 3
7429 TARTAN (6) A ship's sailor bronzed by the sun (6) TAR + TAN theduckmedic 2
7433 IDEAL (5) I give cards to every other member in the ring, e.g. (5) I + DEAL https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Ideal.html theduckmedic 2
7460 HAPAX LEGOMENON (5, 9) Lol, gaming convention toy figures going to be appearing only once (5, 9) HA + PAX + LEGO MEN + ON theduckmedic 2
8284 PIRATE (6) Roman governor switching sides to become criminal (6) PILATE with L swapped for R theduckmedic 2
8516 BREAKING BAD (8, 3) Having a meal without referring to Gilligan's TV show (8, 3) BREAKING B(-re)AD
(Breaking Bad is created by showrunner Vince Gilligan)
theduckmedic 2
8733 (0) No-one is taking off clothes (0) IS minus the first and last letters theduckmedic 2
8825 ANY CLUE RESOLVING TO A PAST FREEFORM PROMPT (?) Every submission on this site is made of batsh*t lunacy energy (3 4) (ANY CLU)* + E = Every submission on this site

https://cryptics.jackbrounstein.com/contest/1274-any-clue
theduckmedic 2
9531 MANTISSA (8) Part of double-precision ray envelops satellite (8) ray = manta
satellite = ISS
MANT(ISS)A
def: part of double-precision
theduckmedic 2
10708 MOOCH (5) Beg for an embarrassingly short period of time (5) ddef
"Mooch" being the unit of time lasting 11 days representing the length of the brief tenure of Trump's White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci
theduckmedic 2
12124 NATICK (6) C. Wyeth located in (gross) the town at the eighth mile of the Boston Marathon (6) N. + AT + ICK theduckmedic 2
7392 PORTAL (6) Removing bismuth from an electron density pattern creates a trans-dimensional wormhole (6) P-OR(-bi)TAL theduckmedic 1
7401 TWO-BIT (3-3) 10.25¢ (3-3) 1 and 0 are two bits, .25¢ is also 2 bits. theduckmedic 1
7424 INCOGNITO (9) Avoiding concerning, problematic recognition! (9) (-re)COGNITION* theduckmedic 1
7435 TOKYO (5) City to the west of a former Japanese capital (5) TO + KYO_ ;) theduckmedic 1
7437 DUCK KONUNDRUM (4, 9) Complicated series of instructions: dodge a strong punch and the front end of nunchuck, and strike (4, 9) DUCK + KO + NUNchuck + DRUM
at least the partial is not indirect
theduckmedic 1
7449 ANY PVZ PLANT (?) Victory condition, Mr. Musk, is a wax gourd (6, 5) WIN + TERM + ELON theduckmedic 1
7471 SWEPT AWAY (5, 4) Moved as if by a flood, turning, twisting in church benches (5, 4) (YAW + AT + PEWS)< theduckmedic 1
7472 SWEPT AWAY (5, 4) Stagger around, cried, "One is annihilated" (5, 4) S(WEPT A)WAY theduckmedic 1
7492 ACE (3) A minor swell (3) ddef. The A minor chord is ACE, "that juice bar sure is ace. Flameo, hotman!" theduckmedic 1
7575 RECURSION (9) Primarily, the answer to this cryptic is one, containing non-terminating solution! (9) R_ + (E(CURe)SION)* & lit
where "the answer to this" is "RECURSION"
theduckmedic 1
7813 CONTRACT (8) Develop understanding (8) double def. theduckmedic 1
7873 FAFF (4) Really really loud about a waste of time (4) Fortississimo (FFF) around A theduckmedic 1
7874 DORK (4) Either component of a Call of Duty ratio for a gamer, maybe (4) ddef "D or K" theduckmedic 1
7876 CONGLOMERATE (12) African country gains fifty, emirate loses one: leader moves to form consortium (12) CONG(L)O + M(-i)(E)RATE theduckmedic 1
8270 ANY CLUE WHOSE WORDPLAY IS REVERSE LETTER BANK (?) Pancake mix made of everything except Java-glazed pharynx of flatworm (8) {JAVGLZDPHRYNXOFT*W*RM}^C = {BCIKQSU}
which is letter bank for Bisquick
theduckmedic 1
8397 RAGTIME (7) Migrate haphazardly to syncopated music (7) MIGRATE* theduckmedic 1
8517 BREAKING BAD (8, 3) Cooking sourdough, moving about, and turning evil (8, 3) BAKING BREAD with the RE moved around theduckmedic 1
8619 TWEED (5) Gween fabwic (5) Gween = Treed but with the same rhotacism.
(;
theduckmedic 1
8786 INTERROBANG (11) In the ends of text, use for part-probe, part-anger‽ (11) IN + texT usE foR + _ROB_ + ANG_
&lit
cheekily using ‽ instead of ! just for fun
theduckmedic 1
8946 ANY CLUE IN THE STYLE OF SONG LYRICS TO “WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE”, WHERE EACH ITEM REFERENCES A 21ST CENTURY EVENT. EXTRA CREDIT FOR RHYME SCHEME (?) 🎵 Facebook, toxic pipes, containing a bit of hype, robot dogs and trackers: a Black Mirror tale 🎵 (9) META + L(H_)EAD

Metalhead is an episode of Black Mirror with robot dogs and intravenous trackers.
theduckmedic 1
9052 EARLY (5) The beginning of the last 10/12 of each 12-month period (5) The beginning of the last 10/12 of each 12-month period def = "The beginning of" as in "early June"

(-y)EARLY, the last 5/6 of "each 12-month period" = YEARLY
theduckmedic 1
9102 FORWARD (7) Brazen dwarf or rogue (7) Def = Brazen
FORWARD*
theduckmedic 1
9152 RABBIT (6) Religious man, by gossip, is a prolific breeder (6) RABBI + T as in "spill the T" theduckmedic 1
9647 ABANDON (7) Forsake the heart of Hades turning to the end of sin in the bottomless pit of the underworld (7) soul of Hades = D
end of sin = N
the bottomless pit of the underworld = Abaddon
ABA(d->N)DON

def = Forsake
theduckmedic 1
9753 ANY CLUE THAT LOOKS LIKE AN &LIT BUT ISN'T ONE (?) Sand rotating around bottle and pool ball (&lit) (3, 9, 2) SAND rotated = ANDS
around bottle = LITER + pool = ALLY
ball = O
def: (&lit)
ans: AND LITERALLY SO
theduckmedic 1
10588 ANY CLUE WHERE A PUNCTUATION MARK IS INCLUDED IN THE PARSE In the Bible, break apart the parse involving "@" unorthodoxly (10) SEPAR(AT)ETH*
def = In the Bible, break apart
theduckmedic 1
7899 BLACK SWAN (5, 4) Statistical rarity—squib lacks wand heartstring (5, 4) _b lack s_ theduckmedic 0
7900 FORTIFY (7) Hold up if breaking 40 (7) FORT(IF)Y theduckmedic 0
8157 CHESHIRE (8) Cheers, dancing around, salutation for the birthday boy! (8) CHEERS* around HI theduckmedic 0
8161 ASPIRE (6) The babe that suckles Cleopatra's breast / Precedes a rage to long for, as a quest (6) ASP + IRE
Idk, just felt Shakespearean today. Might delete later
(Cleopatra describes the asp she uses to kill herself as a baby sucking the life out of her)
theduckmedic 0
8175 MULTIVERSE (10) Pack animal carrying vanadium in layers to parallel worlds (10) MU(TI(V)ERS)LE theduckmedic 0
8542 PITY (4) Grieve for spirituality without energy (4) PI(-e)TY theduckmedic 0
8790 ANY GEOGRAPHICAL PLACE (?) One place in Norway (1) One = A
place in Norway = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85,_Meldal
theduckmedic 0
8793 ANY GEOGRAPHICAL PLACE (?) Is a district attorney able to place? (6) CAN A DA? theduckmedic 0
8795 ANY GEOGRAPHICAL PLACE (?) Japan: a map hides a nation (6) _PAN A MA_ theduckmedic 0
8823 EUNICE (6) European storm European European city (6) EU + NICE (, France)
lol
theduckmedic 0
9311 BUFFET (6) Cafeteria batter (6) DDEF theduckmedic 0
10707 XENIAL (6) Hospitable and cheerful, but rated considerably more adult-themed (6) replace the "G" rating with an "X" in "GENIAL" theduckmedic 0

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